#which is stunt with the kid in matching pajamas

[larrylimericks]

27Dec23

Some boys be like, “I know a place...” Then take you to s̶t̶u̶n̶t̶ swim in a lake In water quite frigid And swim trunks quite fitted, Hitties free, beanie locked into place.

[wazzupmrstark]

instead of you [part eighteen]

pairing: [best friend’s brother] tom holland x college!reader

summary: you didn’t expect to spend your summer pretending to be your best friend’s girlfriend- then again, you didn’t expect to fall for your best friend’s brother, either.

warnings: swearing, mentions of +sex

word count: 2k

series masterlist

“Sam and I will take the bunk beds.”

The room was a decent size. It was definitely bigger than Sam’s dad had made it sound. A large window on the back wall flooded the space with natural light and offered a view of the city below. By the door was a small fridge and a countertop with a sink and a couple of burners built in so that guests could cook their own meals. There was a queen sized bed jutting out from the western-facing wall and built into the adjacent wall were two twin-sized bunks, one on top of the other, making the room feel... cozy.

Harry and Tom traded looks with each other.

“Kidding.”

The boys visibly relaxed and chuckled awkwardly.

“If I ever have to share a bed with Tom again it’ll be too soon,” Harry sighed.

“Is that any way to treat your big brother?” Tom scoffed.

“I’m taller than you.”

“For now.”

“The fuck’s that supposed to mean? You’re twenty-five, you’re done growing.”

Tom shrugged. “Yeah, but I could always make you shorter.”

“Oh, what are you going to do, cut my legs off?” Harry challenged.

“I never said that.”

“Jesus Christ guys,” Sam said, finally cutting in. “Can we not threaten each other until we’ve had at least a few hours of sleep?”

“Whatever,” his twin grumbled, kicking off his shoes by the door.

Tom slung his backpack onto the top bunk and pulled his sweatshirt off over his head, exposing a strip of his stomach in the process. You looked away instinctively, hoping that you hadn’t drawn any attention to yourself while doing so.

“You always get the top bunk,” Harry whined.

“Yeah, because I’m older.”

“That’s not fair!”

“My brothers are actually ten years old,” Sam explained to you, raising his voice so that you could hear him over the bickering.

“No, I think ten-year-olds know how to take turns,” you said dismissively, not missing the glares from the other two Hollands.

“You’re right,” Sam agreed. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and sighed. “Reminds me of the family vacations we used to take. The six of us used to share one hotel room when we traveled.”

“Four boys... I don’t know how your mom did it.”

“None of us do.”

“I thought we were going to sleep,” Harry muttered from where he was already laying down on the bottom bunk, clearly irritated.

“Give us a minute to settle in, dude,” Sam shot back before dropping into a whisper. “It’s going to be a long week.”

You shook your head, putting your hands on his shoulders. “Everyone’s just cranky because they’re tired,” you reasoned. “We’ll get some sleep and then grab some food and then maybe they’ll be in a better mood.”

“You don’t know them like I do,” Sam warned.

“That’s true, but won’t they tone it down since I’m here?”

Sam snorted. “Wishful thinking.”

You rolled your eyes. “Whatever, I’m going to hop in the shower. I feel gross after being on a plane for so long.”

“I’ll go after you,” Sam replied with a nod. “Let me know if you need anything.”

You thanked him with a kiss under the watchful eyes of his brothers who both groaned in protest.

“Oh, fuck off,” Sam growled against your lips.

“By the way, sharing a bed doesn’t mean you get to mess around because I don’t want to hear that shit.”

“Harry!” Sam and Tom shouted, Tom going as far as throwing a pillow at his younger brother from the top bunk.

“Just being honest! We heard you going at it like rabbits when you had your own room, and I didn’t say anything about it then-”

“Harry.” To your surprise, it was Tom who cut him off, raising another pillow in warning. Thankfully, Harry took the hint that time and shut up, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance.

You smiled to yourself with the knowledge that your little Easy A stunt had worked, and looked over to see that Sam was wearing a matching smirk. He winked at you before turning to glare at his brothers.

“On that note, I’m going to shower,” you said, mostly to Sam, and made your way over to where you had dropped your suitcase by the door.

You gathered a set of pajamas to change into and then wandered into the bathroom, quietly closing the door behind you. It was one of those rolling doors so you had to be extra careful not to knock it off its hinges or the track and cause even more noise than necessary. You set your change of clothes on the counter next to the sink and began to undress, leaving your worn clothes on the floor.

The shower was kept in a room separate from the room with the sink and vanity, something you had read was common for Japanese washrooms. Inside the second room was a bathtub with a complicated looking panel next to it. With a closer inspection you determined it was used to fill the bath with water and customize the temperature. The showerhead was secured to the wall just to the side of the tub which meant you would have to hold it while you showered, but you didn’t mind. You were used to holding the showerhead for... other reasons.

Your shower was quick. You didn’t want to take too long when you knew other people were waiting for it. You were drained too. Even as you dried yourself off with a towel you could feel your arms start to get heavier.

You wrapped your hair in your towel and put on your pajamas shortly after, trying not to cringe at the way the fabric clung to your still-damp body. Usually you wouldn’t get dressed in the bathroom right after taking a shower because it was always so humid and sticky, you’d go out in the bedroom to do it, but as Sam’s girlfriend the latter wasn’t an option. So you dealt with the discomfort and ventured back into the main room.

It was dark now. Someone, you assumed Sam, had pulled the blackout curtains shut so that the daylight could no longer stream through the window. Harry was already fast asleep, but Tom and Sam were still awake, scrolling through their phones on their respective sides of the room.

Sam was perched on top of your bed, resting comfortably. He wasn’t underneath the covers, probably because he knew you didn’t like to share a bed with someone who hadn’t showered.

He smiled when he saw you and pushed himself up onto his elbows.

“Shower’s all yours,” you said.

“Thanks.”

You watched him rifle through his suitcase for pajamas and then eventually disappear into the bathroom before finally flinging yourself onto the bed. You still needed to take your hair out of the towel and brush your teeth, but you took a moment to just. Lay there.

Tom didn’t acknowledge you, hadn’t so much as looked at you since you came out of the bathroom, but you still found yourself looking over to him.

At the airport he had seemed at least a little concerned that he would have to share a room with you. Even in the cab to the hotel he kept sneaking glances at you when he thought you weren’t paying attention. But now he looked completely relaxed and you were second guessing yourself. Maybe you’d been projecting. Maybe he hadn’t been anxious at all.

You, on the other hand, felt like you hadn’t been able to exhale since Dom had announced that you’d be sharing a room with Sam’s brothers.

It had dawned on you as soon as you stepped into the hotel room that you’d never be able to let your guard down. Before this point you had at least been able to take breaks, retreat to your hotel room with Sam and be yourselves without worrying that one of his family members was around. You hadn’t needed to keep up the act 24/7, but now you had no other choice. It was only for a week, but you knew it was going to be exhausting. You weren’t even sure that your current performance was believable, and that was without all of the more intimate interactions couples had in private. The good night kisses, the cuddling in bed together, falling asleep in each other's arms, the good morning kisses, all things you’d have to take into consideration. Most couples you knew moved in harmony, like they were one person, half of a whole. You and Sam were more like the hands on a clock. You were always moving in the same direction, and once in a while you’d overlap, but more often than not you were facing each other on completely opposite sides of the clock. It was what made you such good friends. Best friends. But what would make you terrible lovers.

To be fair, a lot of people misunderstood your dynamic, which you had been using to your advantage. They assumed that since you were always together you were basically the same person- and they weren’t necessarily wrong. You and Sam spent a majority of your time together. You knew each other well enough to finish each other’s sentences, to voice aloud what the other was thinking before they even said it.

The vibration of your phone next to you disrupted your train of thought. It was a text from Sam.

Can you come here rq? I need help lol.

Confused, you pushed back the covers and stood up. You dropped your phone back on the bed and walked over to the bathroom, keenly aware of the way Tom stiffened in his bed.

You rolled back the door and found Sam standing in his boxers next to the tub.

“What is it?” you asked, shutting the door behind you.

“How did you figure out the shower? I can’t get the water to be hot.”

“This is what you called me in here for?” you said, exasperation dripping from your voice.

“Yes! I don’t want to take a cold shower.” He said it like it should’ve been obvious.

“Did you try messing with the knobs? That’s how I figured it out.”

Sam’s cheeks turned a faint shade of pink as he pursed his lips, thinking about how to answer.

“Not all of them,” he admitted.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Sorry?”

“It’s the one on the left, dumbass,” you said and twisted the knob for him.

“Thanks,” he mumbled sheepishly. “I just didn’t want to fuck up the shower or anything.”

Men, you thought to yourself shaking your head.

“I’m going to bed,” you told him. “Before your brothers think I’m in here giving you head or something.”

“Let them think what they want,” he said, shrugging it off.

“I want to preserve what little amount of respect they have for me, thanks.”

Sam just chuckled and thanked you again as you let yourself out into the room with the sink. While you were there you hung up your wet towel and brushed your teeth with your finger and the toothpaste the hotel provided. You were too lazy to go get your toothbrush out of your bag.

“That was fast.”

You jumped, hand racing to your heart when you realized it was just Tom. He was still in his bed, but had rolled onto one side so that he could talk to you.

“You scared the shit out of me!” you hissed.

“Sorry.” He didn’t sound very sorry. “What did my brother want?”

God damn it, Sam.

“Why do you ask?”

Tom shrugged. “Just wondering.”

“He needed help figuring out the shower,” you explained.

“Glad he has you for that.”

You narrowed your eyes at the boy in the top bunk. He was trying to get under your skin. Why?

The ball was in your court. You could be the bigger person and let it go, or-

“He has me for a lot of things.” You pushed your tongue against your cheek so that there was a visible outline and brought your fist up to your mouth, moving it back and forth subtly so that he’d get the idea without being too obscene. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?"

lmk what you think i always appreciate feedback!!

forever tags: @mischiefmanaged49 @bookingbee @cloverrover @captainbuckyy @perhaps-he-schnapped-blog @awkwardfangirl2014 @the-queen-procrastinator @tastingthestarz @sleepybesson @everythingbooknerd @sunshine96love @bitchymathematician @livingincompletesilence @melsbooktrash @swim-deep-or-die @fizzy828 @spider-slutt @theamuz @nedthegay @astroasethic @stuckonspidey @darlingtholland @sgtbookybarnes @tinyplanet-explorers @dragonage2011 @uglypastels @gen-tlehoe @devin-marie @r-wooooosh @hell-yeah-peter-parker @itssnowingandimstuckinside @relise-thefury @osteporosis @legendsofwholock @peterunderoos @fuckyeahhomerun @nobelwarriorheroes @delicately-important-trash @thwip-it-real-good @claryfray101 @gioandrolli @tomhollandseverything @cool-ultra-nerd @marajillana @dinasaur36 @farfromhaz @hanlons-wp @moon-390

@parkerstylesperalta @httpchrisevans @screeching-student-unknown @almondholland @noisyzineeggsbandit @5sos-microwave @quackson-love @smilealways19 @quackeroos @softholand @my-patronus-is-mabel-pines @wolvesofthewinter @mukesnugget @mytonycinematicuniverse @itsjusttor @percysmcu @peterquillzblog @lovewolfspirit @love-sick-blues @quacksonhehe @biebsmylife95 @a-disappointing-teen-author @justanotherusername80 @b-buckys @sunkisseddreamer @hufflepufprincess24 @princessxcryxbaby @tinyyoungblood @holyfrickfracks @amii-nyc @clara-licht @veryholland @captainamirica @ultrunning @cocoamoonmalfoy @nellbellzz-blog

@bookfrog242 @nellabellaa @its-the-solar-system @spiitfiires @tomhollandfangirl1 @parkeromanoff @randomstufflol29 @pogueslandia @hollandswife @bunnyweasley23 @determined-overthinker @spideywebshooters @madz-hargreeves @hi-yekaterina @rinaaaa334 @elishi03 @abcxrandomx @hiraethenthusiast @pottergirlinlovewithademigod

send me an ask to be added/ removed from a taglist

[soulmate-game]

Well, here is the stupid thing I was alluding to. It’s mostly a filler chapter, but yeah.

Harley’s Plea for Help, Chapter 3

“Well, that took a while,” a relatively deep female voice smoothly drawled. The plants placed right next to the window pulled away, no longer blocking the pathway inside. The two figures who were perched right outside the windowsill took the invitation and climbed inside, the shorter of the two looking at the woman who had spoken and smiling widely.

“Auntie Ivy!” Marinette happily exclaimed, making the redhead across from her grin back.

“That’s me. It sure is nice to actually see you in person, little Marigold,” she held out her arms for a hug, which Marinette instantly ran in to accept. “Video calls are never quite enough, are they? You’re so tiny! Are you sure you eat alright?”

“Auntie Ivyyyyyy,” Marinette whined, knowing full well that Ivy was just teasing her.

“So, what took you all so long?” Ivy asked Red Hood, even as she kept her arms wrapped around her soon-to-be daughter in law. “Usually you bats are all about getting back on the streets to punch people, we didn’t think you’d be bringing her in at almost one in the morning.”

Hood shrugged, thumbs hooked in his pockets. “Your little garden fairy nearly gave us the slip. Went straight out the back exit instead of doin’ anything showy like we half expected and we almost missed her.”

“I stopped as soon as I noticed who they were, I swear!” Marinette pulled away from Ivy, holding her hands up in mock surrender. “I didn’t expect Momma to send them to babysit me before our first full day being in Gotham. In hindsight, though, I really should have.”

“Yeah, you should’ve,” Ivy agreed with a smirk, ruffling Marinette’s hair and making her pigtails go a little crooked. “And I know for a fact that you’ve done some stunts off your balcony back in Paris, so at least I know you can be responsible and hold yourself back from doing the same here. Must get that from me, because we both know it doesn’t come from Harley.”

Marinette and Hood both had to laugh at that. Being responsible was definitely not a trait that Marinette could have inherited from anybody in her family tree, that was for sure.

“Are ya makin’ fun of me in front of my daughter?” the comically scandalized voice announced the arrival of one Harley Quinn, who walked into the room in white onesie pajamas with a poker print on them. All of the “joker” cards were crossed out heavily with red sharpie, and a few of them had black-sharpie devil horns and handlebar mustaches vandalizing them. Marinette even caught one such card with a googly eye on it, the matching eye having fallen off and leaving only a small circle of since-dried hot glue where it used to be. “If you guys are gonna be that way, fine! Ivy dyes her hair!”

“No she doesn’t,” Marinette deadpanned, clearly fighting against a giant grin. The corners of her lips gave her away, they never stopped twitching with repressed mirth. “But you do. I got the pictures to prove—- aah!” Harley tackled her daughter to the ground, attacking her with tickles immediately.

“Take it back! My hair is naturally blond!”

“Yeah, naturally— hahahahaha! Sandy blonde! You— hahaha! Have just as much brown— stop I can’t breathe! hahahaha!— as yellow!”

“Hmph,” Harley finally backed off, crossing her eyes and looking away from Marinette with an exaggerated pout. “How dare you reveal my darkest secret?”

“I was a natural redhead even before I got my powers,” was all Ivy had to say, looking all too amused at this turn of events. “Your original costume completely covered your hair.”

“Don’t worry, Harley,” Red Hood butted in, reminding the three girls that he was still here. His tone suggested that he was definitely smiling under his helmet. “We found out about your hair dye years ago.”

“I just cover up the brown parts! It’s not like I’m changin’ much,” she argued before standing up again. “Thanks for gettin’ my cupcake back safely, little birdie. Oh, that's right! I made cupcakes! Hang on, lemme grab one for your trip back!” with that, she span on her heels and ran back further into the apartment. Marinette dashed over to Hood, immediately shoving him to the window.

“Quick, save yourself! Momma can’t bake for her life!” she whispered urgently. “I’ll say you were called away for an emergency, just hurry!”

“It’s not even a lie, getting away from Harley’s baking is an emergency,” Ivy agreed, waving as the vigilante took their advice and fled. It was only three seconds later that Harley slid back into the room, nearly falling due to the feet of her onesie having pretty much zero friction. Her face immediately fell when she saw that her victim was gone, leaving her standing there with a cupcake that was about twice as much frosting as actual cake, covered in sprinkles like a kid’s craft project that was smothered in glitter. The frosting was also shapeless, just heaped on the cake like a half-melted scoop of ice cream. She sighed in despair.

“There goes my chance of giving a bat diabetes. You guys warned him, didn’t ya?”

They both nodded shamelessly. “We’re not that cruel, Harley,” Ivy defended, getting up from her spot on her cushioned armchair and wrapping an arm around her fiance’s waist before she kissed the top of her head gently. “Hood got our little Marigold back safe and sound, and he’s even started a garden at his apartment. He doesn’t deserve to be poisoned by you.”

“I thought you said he got a single cactus at the flea market last month,” Harley deadpanned, making Ivy shrug.

“Might as well be a garden for him, and it’s something he’s not likely to kill so that’s a plus to me. He’s actually taking really good care of the little baby.”

“Speaking of garden!” Marinette gently took the sad excuse of a pastry away from her mom and sat it down on a side table before ushering both of them over to the living room and onto the sofa. “My garden back home is growing so big, I don’t think I can keep everything much longer. I barely have room to walk on the terrace, with all the vines and leaves and branches. Got any ideas of what I can do?”

“Of course! Do you have pictures, Marigold?”

—*—*—*—*—*

Slipping back through her hotel window at six in the morning was risky, since it involved climbing the wall and hoping nobody saw, but her classmates were so unpredictable that it was the only way she could be sure nobody would find out that she had violated curfew and snuck out. Of course, having Red Robin waiting outside her mom’s apartment’s terrace to escort her back helped. At least she knew that no street cams would record her comings or goings, and his grappling hook made the whole scale-the-hotel-wall business much more efficient.

Once she was inside, she sighed happily. “Thanks, now—“ her apology was cut off as Red Robin held up a finger to tell her to wait.

“Hold that thought, be right back. Don’t move.”

Thinking, rightfully, that something was wrong, Marinette obeyed. She watched Red Robin leap off of her hotel balcony and disappear into the streets. Immediately, she began a search to make sure her room had been left untampered— everything important had been packed in the backpack that she had taken to her mom’s place, but still. Could never be too careful. By the time she finished checking for bugs or any signs of snooping, Red Robin landed back on her balcony.

“Here we go.”

Turning to face him, Marinette opened her mouth to ask what the problem had been— only to tear up a little and walk over to the vigilante.

“Oh, my hero. Truly, my one and only savior. Knight in shining red Kevlar. I’m running on two hours of sleep and you have read my mind!” The pigtailed drama queen eagerly took the coffee that he offered her, and he sipped from a larger cup that looked like he had grabbed it from the same place. Marinette almost instantly sighed in gratitude when the hot drink lightly scalded her tongue. This. This was the elixir of life.

To his credit, Red Robin was able to restrain himself to merely an amused smirk. Probably because he was running on just as little sleep as she was. “Sorry it’s only a small, I figured it was best to have something you could finish quickly and easily hide the evidence for. If you need more caffeine, I happen to know that Wayne Enterprises has a very good coffee shop in their main hall. You’ll be touring there today, right?” He asked, taking another sip as he waited for the answer that he already knew.

Marinette nodded absently, drinking in the euphoria of her coffee as she tried to both savor it yet finish it as quickly as safely possible. When she came up for air, she said; “Yeah, that’s right. We’re touring Wayne Enterprises for most of the day, having lunch there, and leaving for dinner after the tour. Then we have a visit to the Gotham Museum of Fine Art, and we’ll stay there until about eight-thirty before heading back to the hotel.”

Red Robin nodded, then turned and looked out the window at the slowly rising sun. Sunrise was always a bit later in Gotham, partly because of the abundance of high-rises and partly because of the thick cloud cover and ever-present fog on the edges of the city making everything seem darker than it should have been. He had to be at work soon himself, which is why he had been chosen to escort her to the hotel in the first place, but that meant that he had to be heading off.

“Alright. We arranged for a bodyguard we trust to keep an eye on your class during the WE tour, but he doesn't know who you are or that we’re the ones who asked. We’re still in the process of arranging someone to shadow you after the tour, but we’ll tell you about that once it’s solidified. Until then, follow the usual self-defense procedures if you suspect anyone of following you. You have the panic button we gave you?”

Marinette nodded, gulping down the last of her coffee and carefully putting it in her room’s tiny trash can. “Got it. Thanks, again. Seriously,” she met his eyes— or, probably did since they were hidden behind that weird white film that the whole Batfam had covering the eyeholes of their masks. “I mean it. For listening to me, for listening to Mom. It means a lot. I’ll keep the panic button on me, and I’ll use it if I think I can’t handle a situation on my own. I’ll cooperate with the people you get to watch over the class, and I’ll do my best to not get into any trouble. No promises, but I’ll do my best,” she maintained eye contact until Red Robin nodded, hiding his expression behind his coffee cup. After a second, he cleared his throat.

“Well then. We’ll contact you once we have anything to say about your intel. Until then, I gotta go. And by the way?”

Marinette tilted her head curiously as Red Robin paused for just a moment on her balcony railing, aiming a smirk back at her. “Yeah?”

“Welcome to Gotham.”

And if she couldn’t help but smile widely as he grappled off into the fog-veiled sunrise? Well, only she had to know. She wasted no time closing and locking the glass balcony door, and pulling the curtains over it completely. Once that was done, she couldn’t help but do a little shimmy of Joy. She was caffeinated, she met Auntie Ivy in person for the first time, she got to sleep next to her momma— and she was in Gotham! Technically her hometown— or town she was conceived in? Didn’t matter. Point was, even with the chaos and dark energy clouding the very air, she couldn’t help but feel like she belonged in that city. Like that was where she was always meant to end up, where she could thrive and the environment that she was made to thrive in. The environment that she was born to start fixing.

She beamed at herself in her bathroom mirror as she gave herself one more once-over. Yeah, so far her visit to Gotham was going much better than she could have hoped. Now, she just had to make sure it stayed that way.

Three businesslike raps sounded against the door to her room, just in time for Marinette to feed Tikki one more cookie and straighten her purse on her shoulder. Madame Mendelieve’s voice called out from the other side of the door in her usual no-nonsense bark;

“Dupain-Cheng! Room check! It’s time to get up, we’re meeting down in the lobby in ten minutes.”

Marinette ran up to the door, not quite able to contain her energy, and swung it open with her trademark large, beaming smile.

“Way ahead of you, Madame Mendelieve!”

Her science teacher blinked, adjusting her glasses on her nose as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing.

“Ah. You’re already awake and ready?”

Marinette giggled and nodded. “Yup! I was so excited for the tour that I could barely sleep! Does the hotel breakfast include free coffee?”

—*—*—*—*—*

The hotel breakfast did, in fact, include coffee. What it did not include, however, was free coffee that Marinette could reasonably stomach. Especially after the heaven in a cup that Red Robin had gotten for her earlier, the watered down motor oil in the hotel lobby had been unbearable. She had barely managed two sips before regretfully throwing the rest away. Which is what brought her to stand in line at the very same coffee shop that Red Robin had mentioned was in the main hall of Wayne Enterprises, as the rest of her class mingled and waited for their teachers to check their tour group in and their tour guide to arrive.

“Hmm. Sorry, this is my first time ordering here,” she apologized when she reached the counter, gaining a slight lopsided grin from the barista at the register. “Um, I usually like strong coffee, with a lot of caffeine, but I also like something sweet. I don’t need anything too complicated though, do you have any recommendations?”

The barista gave her a customer service smile that seemed just a tad softer at the edges than usual. “Sure! So, we can add an extra shot or two of espresso to any of our drinks, to make it stronger and give it an extra kick. If you’re looking for good sweet flavors, the classics are our white chocolate or caramel. But we also have a seasonal syrup right now that I personally love, which is our cinnamon butterscotch. Did you wanna try that?”

Marinette smiled widely. “That sounds delicious! Then, if I could have your largest size café latte, hot, with… two extra shots and that syrup? Does that sound good?”

The barista actually let loose a soft laugh, already keying in the order. “If you’re a coffee lover and a sweet tooth at the same time, then you’ll love it. If not, come back during your tour’s lunch break and I’ll make you something else.”

Marinette made a little more small talk as she handed over the proper cash for the order, and grabbed her drink after just another minute’s wait. She turned around, taking a sip of the unsurprisingly heavenly coffee and started off to join her class.

Only to realize none of them were where she had left them. She sighed, starting to reach into her purse to see if anyone had texted her about where they were going, but a heavy presence stopped her. She could feel him approaching from in front of her, slightly to her right, but she couldn’t hear him at all. On guard, she straightened up and turned to observe the potential threat.

A security guard. Marinette blinked, running over what she had been told earlier that morning. Was he..?

He seemed to notice her instinctually defensive posture because he raised his hands to show he meant no harm. “Sorry, didn’t mean to catch you off guard,” he apologized. “I’m the guard that was assigned to your tour group. I offered to stay behind until you got your coffee while the rest of your group went ahead and got the run-down on all the boring rules and whatnot of the tour. Figured you’d already know everything they had to say anyway, you’re the class president right?”

Marinette relaxed her posture, nodding and sending the man a relieved smile. “Yeah, that’s right. Well, that explains why they left without me then. Usually Madame Mendelieve is strict about following rules though, how’d you convince her to go on without me?”

The man chuckled, jerking his head to show that she should follow him as he began to lead the way to a side door. Marinette kept her guard up just in case, but wasn’t too worried. If nothing else, she was still in the middle of a super crowded building and the other security guards around didn’t seem concerned. She could easily yell for help if she needed to.

“Well, can’t you tell it was my devilish charm?” He teased, grinning. He waited until she rolled her eyes to continue; “but really, I’m like a second tour guide. She made me show a lotta proof that I’m actually assigned to you guys and not just faking it, not that I can blame her. Eventually she saw the logic in my suggestion and agreed. See, there they are,” he pointed casually ahead of them in the large side hallway they had entered. Sure enough, near the end of the hallway was her class at what looked to be the tail-end of a standard rules-and-guidelines speech from the tour guide. “By the way,” the guard spoke up again, holding his hand out. “My name’s Jason. You’ll be seeing me more often, since I’m supposed to guard you guys for all of your visits to the Tower. Call me if you need help with anything, ‘kay kid?”

Marinette grinned, now positive that this guy really was the guard that Red Robin had said was assigned to her class. She switched the hand she was holding her coffee in so that she could properly grab Jason’s hand for a shake.

“Got it, Monsieur Jason. Let’s both hope I don’t end up needing your help though, I think that would be easier on both of us,” she joked, earning a chuckle from the large man. And— yeah, now that she was relaxed, he really was big, wasn’t he? Then again, Marinette didn’t always realize when people were a bit larger or more buff than they should be. Living with her dad had seriously skewed her perception of the normal size of an adult male (which, she learned when she was seven, most definitely was not almost seven feet tall and muscled enough to make a pro wrestler jealous). But she would like to think she had gotten better in that aspect, and Jason was definitely a big guy. A little over six feet tall, she thought, and though the guard outfit hid a good portion of his physique, she could tell he carried enough muscle to do serious damage if he wanted to.

With a wave, she left him to join her class and sipped at her latte. She had figured that the Bat Clan’s criteria for civilians that they would put to guard her class had to be high, but now she had to wonder just how high. Most police officers or security guards were fit, sure, but not like Jason. Casting a quick glance back at him, she confirmed that he had quite a few faded but visible scars. Again, more than your average officer even for Gotham. Who had they tasked with her class’ safety, exactly?

An elbow in her side distracted her from her thoughts, forcing her to blink and stop her cup from going back to her lips. The grin of none other than Adrien Agreste greeted her when she snapped out of her own head long enough to pay attention to her surroundings. He jerked his head to indicate that the class was already starting to move off.

“Come on, Mari or you’ll get left behind again,” he teased. She grinned back at him, rolling her eyes but falling into step beside him as they followed at the back of their class. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were gonna marry that coffee. You haven’t zoned out that badly in years,” his tone was light and cheery, but Marinette didn’t miss the concern in his emerald eyes. She sighed, gently bumping her shoulders against his in silent reassurance.

“I’m fine. Just didn’t get much sleep last night, that’s all. But this really is good coffee. Elixir of the gods,” then, just to provoke him, she took a giant gulp of the still steaming hot drink. Adrien grimaced in pained sympathy even though Marinette didn’t seem affected at all.

“Oww, Marineeeeeeeeeette,” he whined. “Don’t do that, my throat hurts just watching you guzzle hot coffee like that,” he complained, rubbing at his neck to make his point clear.

“Wimp,” she teased, unrepentant. Adrien just groaned dramatically.

“I’m not a wimp, you’re just concerningly used to burning your throat from the inside out,” he accused. “Anyway, how’d it go?” He was being deliberately vague, but it was obvious to her what he meant. He was only one she had told about visiting her mom, after all, just in case she needed a quick getaway.

In fact, he was the only one of her friends that she had even told about her biological parents. Alix knew too, but only because of time shenanigans. Marinette was fine with it now, but still.

“It went great,” she smiled widely at him, keeping her voice low but casual. “If I have a chance, I’ll introduce you sometime during the trip. I have a feeling you’ll love Auntie Selina, but I have to meet her first. All I have so far are stories.”

“Fair enough,” Adrien agreed easily. “But you don’t have to, you know that right? I’d love to meet your family, but I’m also fine just being your pseudo-brother like I have been up until now. I know it might be a bit… uncomfortable, for you.”

“Nah,” Marinette shrugged. “Nerve wracking, maybe. But that’s also about half the things that I do in my life period, anxiety is no joke. I’ll catastrophize for a while, but I know you’ll love them and they’ll love you.”

“Sounds like they have paw-some taste,” he didn’t even miss a beat with his puns, earning a playful glare for his efforts.

“Never mind. You’re a heathen. Disowned. Who are you?”

“Mariiiiii,” he whined, causing them both to laugh for a while before focusing on the tour.

So far, so good, Marinette thought.

—*—*—*—*—*

Part 1 Part 2

@emotionalsupportginger @alysrose-starchild @emistar0 @kibastray @justanotherfanficlovinbitch @alyssadeliv @blackroserelina @blackstarlight-co @readingalldaysleepingallnight @maanae @aespades @jaybird-and-co @fleursroses @probably-a-hologram @misterpianoman @deathssilentapproach-blog @user00000003 @frieddonutsweets @blur-of-colours @prettylittlebutterflie @ladyqnoirr @a-star-with-a-human-name @mizzy-pop @laurcad123 @dorkus-minimus @chocolatecatstheron @tazanna-blythe @golden-promises @literaryhiraeth @asrainterstellar @hewantedbeefintheparkinglot @miraculous-trinity-leo @missanalysis @lovelyautumnsunflower @lolieg @ann0631 @whitetiger1249 @meow-now @toodaloo-kangaroo

[petri808]

@kyoruweekofficial One Bed prompt

What do you do when you have two co-workers who obviously have crushes on each other, but neither have the guts to make a move? Well, according to Arisa Uotani, you make it for them. So, with the help of co-conspirator Saki Hanajima, the pair decide to play Cupid and stage a romantic intervention. For you see, Saki is the project manager at their company, and it was her job to schedule conference attendances for the employees. How lucky for them that the perfect opportunity presented itself. Oh, this was going to be good! They just wished they could have been there to see it.

The longer the hotel receptionist talked, the more Tohru could feel her ears burning and her cheeks turning a cherry tomato color. “W-Wait a minute, are you telling me we were booked into the same hotel room?!”

“Yes, ma’am, that’s what your company booked for you and Mr. Sohma. Four days in our honeymoon suite while you attend the conference. Is there a problem?”

“Yeah, there’s a problem!” Kyo Sohma, Tohru’s co-worker grits back. “Our company must have made a mistake, so change the booking to two separate rooms.”

“I’m really sorry sir, but the hotel is at full capacity because of the conference, so I can’t do that. If there’s a cancellation later, I could put in a request, but that’s all I can offer.”

“It’s okay, Kyo,” Tohru’s meek voice cuts in before the man has a chance to respond. “There’s nothing this lady can do and it’s just three days, so w-we can figure something out.”

He turns and realizes just how embarrassed his co-worker looked. Though her eyes were averted to the ground, her rosy cheeks, and the glow in her face, stops him cold. Fuck, she looked so cute like that! “Fine,” he feels the heat in his face increasing, “then just give us our keys please, so we can be on our way.”

Kyo takes hold of both their luggage handles, “grab it from the woman,” he tells Tohru and walks toward the elevator to wait.

“I’m really sorry,” Tohru apologizes to the receptionist. “This was a surprise for us.”

“Don’t worry, mistakes happen ma’am.” She placed the items on the counter. “Here are your card keys that includes the WiFi password on the sleeve along with instructions. If you require any extra amenities, do not hesitate to call the front desk for assistance. You’re scheduled to be here for three nights and four days, with check out at 11am on Thursday. Again, I’m very sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Not your fault.” Tohru politely thanks the woman and grabs the items, then joins Kyo to head towards their room.

While he waited, Kyo fumed over the whole situation. Being sent to the same conference as Tohru was the first red flag, but not completely out of the norm since they were working on the same project, so he’d chalked it up to coincidence. But now the receptionist said it was a honeymoon suite. Why would Saki book them a honeymoon suite! Rhetorical question, he had a pretty damn good suspicion on the answer. ‘Those two meddlers!’

“Kyo, I have the keys. The room is on the top floor.”

He’d been so focused on his mental dialogue, Tohru’s voice suddenly right beside him, catches him off guard. His body stiffens for a second as if caught in the act of a crime. “Great.” He acts like nothing’s wrong and hits the up button for the elevator. ‘Just... great...’

As soon as they walk in, the pair deadpan at the interior of the room. What did they expect when they’d heard the worlds ‘honeymoon suite,’ a normal hotel room? ‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me?!’ Kyo let’s go of the luggage handles and makes a visual sweep, before landing on the single bed near the window. Not only were they sharing a room, but sharing a bed, and a bathroom for four days! ‘They’re dead. Saki and Arisa are so dead when we get home!’ What the hell were they thinking by sticking us in this kind of a room! ‘If they’re so hell bent on hooking us up, have they ever heard of a blind date?!’

Tohru at this point was faring no better, but instead of frustration her emotions ran more along the lines of simple embarrassment. She was starting to realize that this whole situation was set up by their friends, and she didn’t know if she should thank them or never speak to them again. Because deep down, she was a little excited for this opportunity to be closer to him, and also terrified if Kyo happened to feel the same way. Saki and Arisa were adamant that the man liked her too, a lot, and maybe he, they just needed a push to get things moving. But this was a pretty big push!

“I could just sleep on the floor?”

“What?! No,” what kind of man does she take him for? “I’m not gonna let you sleep on a floor, that’s crazy Tohru. I-it’ll— it’ll be fine,” Adam’s apple bobbing hard, “it’s a big bed, w-we can make it work.” ‘Have to make it work.’

“O-Okay,” she smiles and pretends that everything really is so. If they were going to be stuck in this situation, they might as well make the best of it. “It’s a really pretty room.”

For that Kyo had to agree, and he wondered just how Saki was able to justify its rental in company records. The color ambiance screamed love and romance. Come on, a velvet red bed frame, matching love seat and contrasting white bedding. Red walls, red curtains, and dark cherry oak furnishings really heightened the overall affect. The full bar was definitely getting tapped tonight!

They go about their business pretending everything was fine, hanging up clothes and putting away their things, setting up the bathroom with their items in a ‘his and hers’ manner. If they were going to be stuck together, they needed to be civil and not let things get too awkward. Or so they hoped. At least they had things to prepare for the conference to keep busy, information to go over including a booklet that was sent ahead of time to familiarize themselves with the schedule. The organizers planned on break-out sessions for participants to meet with others working on similar ideas so they could bounce ideas off of each other. It was interesting add on considering these are competitors, but because green initiatives has been a focus for the government, they’ve pushed for more collaborative efforts.

When dinner time rolls around, the pair go to the hotel’s restaurant for convenience, since it was on the property. It had fairly decent reviews on its food offerings, and Kyo was more than ready to have a few beers to settle his nerves. They put the meal on a company credit card. Tohru orders a simple meal, but Kyo spares no opportunity to take full advantage of the most expensive offerings. ‘Saki can kiss my ass on the bill!’

He was quite surprised when Tohru ordered a glass of wine cause he’d heard she wasn’t much of a drinker. Kyo chuckles in his head, she probably needed a relaxer just like him. It irritated him a bit to know other guests probably assumed they were a couple. They sure did look like one, on a date, a romantic one at that, and he swore the server had almost asked, then changed their question at the last second.

By Kyo’s third beer, Tohru’s rosy complexion was really making it hard to stay professional. He knew it was just the alcohol working, but it made her look nervous and embarrassed in a first date kind of way. So innocently adorable, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. They managed to keep the conversation casual, but it was slowly becoming evident, they’d had other thoughts going through their minds.

When the server returns with their credit card slip, the man asks them if they were there for the conference to which they reply yes. “So, you’re co-workers, not a couple?”

“Yeah, why,” Kyo responds to the man.

But instead of answering Kyo, the server brazenly turns to Tohru instead. “I think you’re really pretty, and since I’m about to finish my shift, I was wondering if you’d like to go to a club with me?”

“Eh?” Tohru freezes, “I-I...”

Kyo stands up quick as a flash, getting right into the servers face. He jabs a finger into the man’s chest. “Fuck off guy, or I’ll report you to management!” He then grabs Tohru’s hand and pulls her away from the table, “let’s go!” Oh, he was so pissed! Co-workers or not, the balls on this guy to pull such a stunt right in front of him, what the hell was he thinking?! ‘He’s lucky I didn’t knock him on his ass!’

She knew better than to say a word and simply let Kyo pull her away towards the elevators. It was a little weird, wonderful, surprising, and frankly endearing for him to have defended her like that. Her cheeks were now heating up for other reasons, and the warmth of his hand in hers made her feel special. Did he realize he was still gripping tightly to her hand? Even as they stood there waiting for the elevator and the threat now over, he held on. As she watches his face carefully through her periphery, his serious expression wasn’t wavering. So, hoping not to startle him, and to avoid further embarrassment when he realized what he was doing, Tohru gently squeezes his hand back.

“Yeah?” Kyo’s eyes flare wide. “Oh!” Shit! He lets go. “My apologies.”

“It’s okay,” she smiles softly and keeps her voice low. “Thank you for defending me back there.”

“It was nothing,” he turns his head to hide his blush, mumbling a response. “That guy had some nerve interrupting us like that.”

Safely inside their hotel room, the pair preps for a quiet evening. Tohru changes into a comfortable set of pajamas, while Kyo sticks with a t-shirt and cotton shorts. Nothing racy at all. He offers her another drink as he grabs a beer and again is surprised when she takes another glass of red wine. “You know,” he questions as he pours the glass for her, “everyone said you’re not a drinker.”

She sits down on the bed and takes the offered glass, placing the rim to her lips as if to muffle her words. “I’m usually not,” Tohru answers honestly, but leaves out more details like she needed a bit of courage juice to make it through the evening.

Leaving about a foot of space between them, Kyo sits down on the bed as well. He takes a deep swig of the bottle. “Me neither.” Which was true, he only drank on occasion when he’d go out with friends. But tonight, it was keeping his nerves in check.

They sit there quietly in a companionable silence, sipping their drinks and lost in thoughts of what to say or do next. Kyo would never try to take advantage of Tohru, but the desire to make a move ate away at him, practically screamed to do something to break the stalemate. He’s had such a major crush on the sweet woman for so long, but he always thought he wasn’t good enough for her. As far as Kyo was concerned, Tohru was a perfect complement to his more outgoing nature, and yet deserved someone better. Their co-workers teased him so much about the crush too. Ugh, his cousin Hatsuharu kept telling him if he didn’t make a move soon, he’d steal Tohru. It was a hollow threat considering the man was already seeing another woman, but it still got under his skin.

He could still remember the day Tohru was hired to his family’s company. She was friends with Saki and Arisa, and they’d given the woman glowing reviews so the Co-CEO Shigure Sohma decided to give her a chance. Tohru walked into his office confused trying to figure out where she was supposed to go, and it was love at first sight. That was two years ago.

Tohru could feel the effects of the second glass of wine coming on stronger than the first one had hit her. Which is what she wanted to happen. It made her feel much more relaxed, but not quite drunk, and warmed up in the cooler air conditioning of the room. It wasn’t however, helping with the courage department. She wanted to ask him so badly, just to finally know where she stood, if Kyo had any romantic interests in her. What if he said no? But what if he said yes?!

“That guy was right...” Kyo suddenly breaks the stalemate. “You are very pretty.”

Eh?! “I, um, thank you,” Tohru sputters but goes for the gold. “You’re very handsome too.”

When he looks at Tohru, Kyo finds her staring at the floor with her adorable red cheeks on fire. He chuckles inwardly and places his beer on the nightstand, then reaches over and takes the glass from her, placing it on the table as well. It was now or never. He tips her chin up and forces her eyes onto him. “May I?” His eyes zero in on her lips, communicating his desire. She nods sheepishly with her approval, eyes closing as he leans in and places a soft kiss on her lips.

This wasn’t her first kiss, but it was the best one by far. His lips were so soft and pressured, his fingers gently keeping her from pulling away. They move from her chin to cradles her cheek, his thumb sweeping lightly against her skin as their heads change in angle. Oh, it was such a sweet move! It’d been worth the wait! As he pulls away, Kyo places one final kiss on her forehead.

“We probably shouldn’t rush things but,” he takes her hand and kisses the back of it, “is it too forward to ask if we could cuddle tonight?”

Fuck no! Tohru squeals giddily in her head, but on the outside kept her cool. She smiles and squeezes his hand back. “I’d really like that.” And reminder to self to thank Saki and Arisa when we get home...

[peachhsocks]

Bloodlines

After a year of avoiding Camp Half-Blood (and his friends, and everyone, and everything) in the aftermath the Giant War, Percy returns. He quickly realizes that the gods never change, running from the past never works, and family is the one thing that might make all of the nonsense worth it.

read from the beginning on ao3

Chapter 4:

Percy curled up on the sand, just within reach of the biggest swells of the tide. The Sound wasn’t exactly the ocean, but it was the closest he’d been in the last year. It was nice, calming. No matter how angry he was at his father, his domain always made him feel safe. He soaked up the salty air, the sand between his toes, even let himself get wet when the water reached him.

Something poked his back and he wiggled around, reaching for Riptide, but it was just Thalia looking down at him. Her boot a few inches from his side.

She’d kicked him.

He threw sand at her.

She spluttered a little and then sat down. Whereas Percy felt like he could blend into the beach if he wanted to, exist there forever as part of the landscape, Thalia stuck out, at complete odds with their surroundings. She placed both her hands into the sand and her face contorted with disgust.

She turned that same look toward Percy. “You really are losing it. I mean, I’d heard, but I didn’t believe it...”

Percy sat up, scowling. “Gee, Thalia. Thanks.”

She laughed, so he threw another handful of sand at her.

“Ugh, stop,” she said, batting at the cloud and trying to disperse it before it hit her face.

“Well, stop saying I’m losing it.”

“I’m just calling it like I see it. You’re still in pajama pants. You haven’t put on shoes today—”

Percy wanted to protest that there was a very logical explanation for that, which was that he’d been up since 1AM, but he supposed she and Nico had been, too.

“Nico said you were sweeping glass? I didn’t ask. Then you walked out of the Big House in a panic-induced stupor and now you’re what? Laying on the beach waiting for the tide to drag you out? I don’t think I need any sort of degree to say that you’re losing it.”

Percy focused on the ocean. It was easy to slow his breathing to match the lazy waves, but it didn’t get rid of the lump in his throat.

“Is that what Annabeth’s telling people?” he whispered.

Thalia scoffed. “Of course not. Don’t be an idiot. She’s held people at knife-point just for suggesting it.” She nudged her shoulder into his. “And by people, I mean me. Like, twenty minutes ago. I thought she was going to stab me through the trachea.”

The thought of Annabeth defending his honor made him blush. He almost wished he’d stuck around to see it.

“She’s worried about you,” Thalia said. “Everyone is.”

Percy tried to look at her, but her eyes were so intense that he couldn’t do it for long. She always seemed older than him. No matter how apparent their physical age difference became, all Thalia had to do was open her mouth and her words made Percy feel fourteen again.

She messed with his hair, trying to shove it all down into his face. “Not me, though.”

He swept it back up. “‘Course not.”

“I am worried about Annabeth,” she admitted and Percy straightened. “I mean, she’s trying so hard to prove to everyone that she’s fine—throwing herself into the Labyrinth, and college plans, and even making sure you’re okay. She’s going to snap at some point. At least you’re unraveling slowly. That seems easier to put back together.”

It wasn’t a completely revelatory idea to Percy. He’d had the same thoughts and fears as Annabeth went back to school and excelled in every way she had before, with disturbingly few hiccups. But he’d chalked it up to being his own failure. He was generally bad at things and Annabeth was generally good at things. So, she could cope better than he could, too. What else was new?

“You guys were in Tartarus, Percy.” Thalia’s voice cracked a little. “By the time I even found out about it, you’d already made it through. You could have—”

“Stop,” Percy said through clenched teeth.

The tide surged, spraying water into Thalia’s face. She coughed once, then wiped her eyes.

“Sorry,” she said.

This really was her version of being nice, then. Normally she would have zapped him for daring to pull a stunt like that. He ducked his head between his knees and focused on control—keeping the waves at bay.

“But, see? This is what I understand.”

Percy rolled his head to the side. She gestured to the waves, then to him.

“I mean, not this specifically,” she said, cocking her head at the water. “But you’re angry. And scared. And you show it—you lash out and run away. Maybe I’m not good at helping you, but I get it. With Annie, I don’t even know where to start.”

Percy didn’t either. The last thing he wanted to do was risk screwing with the peace that she seemed to have come to, so they never talked about any of it all. Except in numbers.

Thalia hung her head for a moment, then arced her neck backward to stare up at the sky. “I know you’re mad about the Labyrinth.”

He rubbed his temples. A monster headache was coming on—and he should know, he’d dealt with lots of monsters. But he appreciated that she went with ‘mad’ instead of the arguably more accurate ‘spiraling’ or ‘pretty sure you’ll drop dead the moment you go inside because your heart will stop out of sheer terror’.

“Are you actually coming or were you bluffing in there?” she asked. “Nobody would blame you if you didn’t. And I mean literally not a single person. Fucking Clarisse went to bat for you after you left.”

It was just another mind-boggling event to add to the list. Percy already felt so scrambled, they might as well pile on now before he had time to adjust.

“I’m going,” he said. “Those kids need us. And Annabeth—she’s going either way, right? I can’t let her do it alone.”

“Then you need to sleep.” Thalia struggled to her feet, brushed some sand off her legs, then reached down to help Percy up. “Solace mandated an hour-long nap for those of us who were up all night, negotiated down from five—five more hours, Percy, as if they wouldn’t be dead three times over by then.” She shook her head. “I know Nico’s all doe-eyed over that kid but he seriously needs to go.”

“I think I like Will,” Percy said.

Thalia rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.”

His feet felt like they were sinking into the ground as they walked back toward the cabins. It was an old trick that Gaia used to pull on them last summer, but this time he didn’t think it was her doing. They’d defeated her afterall. It was in his mind now.

He only had an hour. That was no time to prepare for the Labyrinth. It had taken him a month to work up to camp. He rubbed his hands over his arms.

“Get some sleep, Percy,” Thalia said as she dropped him at the door of his cabin.

“You too.”

It was a weird thing to say in broad daylight.

“And try not to have another nervous breakdown.”

Percy stuck his tongue out at her back and pulled his door open.

Annabeth was sitting on the edge of his bed, hitting her Yankees cap against the inside of her thigh. At her feet sat two backpacks: one Percy’s, one hers. They both looked stuffed, probably filled to the brim with clothes, nectar, ambrosia, other items that Annabeth had deemed useful for their journey.

“Thanks,” he said, nodding toward the bags.

She set her cap down and re-crossed her legs the other way. “No pressure. I just wanted it to be ready in case.”

Always the planner. But not as much as she used to be—a few years ago she probably would have hidden the backpacks until Percy confirmed he was going. They’d both rubbed off on eachother, evening out in the process. Percy’s mom said that was what made them so good together.

“Thank you,” he repeated, flopping onto the bed and rolling onto his side. “Thalia said an hour, is that right?”

She hummed in affirmation and scooted toward him, laying down once their heads were at the same height. “I should have told you about the Labyrinth. I didn’t want to give you another thing to worry about. In hindsight—well, I’m sorry.”

Percy didn’t really get it. He definitely wasn’t thrilled with the idea of Annabeth keeping stuff from him because she thought he couldn’t handle it, but he still nodded. “It’s okay. I just want to be someone you can count on, too. You know?”

Annabeth’s eyes dropped from his. They took longer to drift back up. “Percy, you are. You always have been.”

Lately he didn’t feel like it. Thalia had just confirmed it on the beach.

“What’s it like down there?” he asked. “Greater than or less than?”

She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, searching his face. “The first time—less, like a four. But after the initial drop, it’s not bad at all. Greater than. Like a seven. You’ll be fine. I know it.”

Percy didn’t want to second guess the truth behind Annabeth’s words, but he didn’t quite believe them. He didn’t think she was lying to him or anything like that, but everything Thalia said was eating at him. Plus, if it was a seven for her, that made it at best a five for him.

“How about you?” She ran a hand along the side of his head. “Greater than or less than?”

His heart was pounding so loud in his ears that he was sure she could hear it too, but he forced himself to smile. “I’ll stick with equal to. I’m tired.”

“Then go to sleep, Seaweed Brain.”

He snuggled closer to her, pressing his face into the same spot where he’d rested it before the meeting, between her neck and shoulder. This time, his eyes refused to stay closed, despite how heavy they were.

Everyone kept saying the Labyrinth was different. So far, it didn’t seem that way. The entrance was still in Zeus’ fist.

Percy fiddled with the straps of his backpack, then patted his pants pocket, even though it was a redundant check. Riptide was always there.

Annabeth’s nerves seemed almost as frayed as his. She kept opening and closing the little device that Leo had made. Supposedly, it stored the route and directions, along with functioning as a tracking device.

“I’ll lead,” she said.

Nobody protested. Thalia slung an arm over her shoulders and walked with her to the entrance.

They lowered themselves into the crevice between the two rocks one at a time. Percy’s heart jumped into his throat when Annabeth fell from sight. He ran a shaky hand through his hair just so he’d have something to do with it.

Piper slid through next. Percy wasn’t sure how that had happened. He’d thought that Jason would have finagled his way onto their mission. It would have made sense. One of the kids out there was related to him, too. But instead, Piper was here and Percy figured he should focus on getting himself through the day rather than worrying about any possible drama he’d missed at the end of the meeting yesterday.

“Alright,” Will said. “Who’s next?”

“I’ll cover our back.” The words tripped over his tongue on the way out. They were the first ones he’d said to anyone other than Annabeth after their short nap. “I’m the oldest,” he added when they looked at him uncertainly.

“Go ahead, Will,” Nico said.

He shrugged and disappeared. “See you in a minute.”

Maybe Thalia had a point about him, it was a pretty cursed thing to say at a time like this. A line straight out of his mom’s favorite horror movies, spoken the scene before that character gets picked off by the serial killer and never seen again.

“Percy?” Nico took a step toward him.

He wiped his forehead against his wrist. It was sticky with sweat. He tried to smile, but it felt like more of a grimace. “Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“Me?” It was only the two of them left. Of course he meant him. “Yes. Go for it. I’ll be right after.”

Nico looked like he wanted to disagree, but he didn’t. He turned around after positioning himself over the opening. “It really isn’t as bad as it was before. It doesn’t constantly change. I don’t know if that makes you feel any better, but…”

“Definitely.” His voice came out as more of a squeak.

Nico frowned, like he wasn’t the least bit convinced, but he still dropped out of sight.

Percy doubled over, hands clasped on his knees. He sucked in one breath, then another, until it didn’t feel like his head was filled with helium anymore.

He approached the entrance to the Labyrinth. Darkness, so black that it almost hurt to look at, filled the space between the two rocks. Percy closed his eyes and dipped one foot through, immediately pulling it back. There was nothing there. He’d fall forever, down, down, down. They’d fallen for days, floating through nothingness, unable to see. The only thing he’d had was Annabeth in his arms. Now, he had nothing.

He shook his head. “Stop.”

It was the Labyrinth, not Tartarus. It was bad, but not that bad. He took a deep breath and plunged one foot in, leaving it there for a moment before lowering his other leg through. He started to fall and he clutched at the rocks to stop himself.

He was dangling on the edge again. An abyss stretched below him, but he already knew what would happen. Unspeakable terror awaited. It all flashed before him—the Cocytus, Arachne, the Curses, Nyx, titans, giants, Tartarus himself. The worst was Akhlys, or at least Annabeth’s face afterward.

He scrabbled at the rocks, trying to claw his way back out. They weren’t sturdy, started to roll under his weight.

“No,” he yelped.

And he fell.

He landed almost immediately.

His hands and knees hit the floor with a jarring thud that he felt in every bone.

“You did it.”

Percy blinked upward. Nico was crouched next to him, a hesitant smile on his face.

“It’s just the Labyrinth. Nowhere worse.” He chuckled a little. “Wow, imagine saying that to our younger selves, huh?”

Even though Percy’s muscles were trembling, he tried to make them work with him, drag him to his feet. Nico offered his hand to help him, but yanked it back as soon as they touched. His fingers came away stained red. Percy realized it was his hands’ fault. They were cut up—peeling skin and dripping blood. They must have gotten scratched on the rocks.

“It’s okay. Will’ll patch those up,” Nico said, smiling encouragingly at Percy again. He grabbed his wrists instead and hauled him up.

That should be the other way around. Percy should be the one reassuring Nico. He’d been in Tartarus, too, alone, and he was younger.

“Um.” Nico twisted the skull-ring on his finger. “Percy—you’re scaring me a little bit. Can you say something?”

He nodded, then realized that still wasn’t saying anything.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Where are the others?”

“Up ahead,” Nico said, gesturing down the never-ending hallway. “I told them Grover showed up to talk to you and we’d catch up. I thought you might need a, uh, minute. I know I did when I first came down here after—you know.”

“Thanks, Nico,” Percy said.

He shrugged it off and pointed over his shoulder. “We should get moving.”

Nico had a device in his hands that looked identical to the one Annabeth had been messing with before she’d entered the Labyrinth. He explained that Leo had made two of them, in case they needed to split up. They could each lead to the other beacon, or toward the exit in Nebraska.

Percy walked with his palms extended, facing upward, in an attempt to keep from dripping his blood on the ground. He’d made that mistake before. Demigod blood on the ground was bad news. It might unlock sleeping ancient deities.

It was probably best not to think about ancient deities.

“It does look different,” Percy noted so he’d have something else to focus on.

Nico’s head bobbed up and down. “It is. There are still traps and monsters, but not as many. I don’t think Annabeth even understands what’s happened to it. And she’s been down here the most.”

Percy paused for a second, before continuing. “Oh.”

Nico glanced at him. “Too much?”

“No… It’s just, she didn’t even tell me about it until yesterday.”

“Yeah. I sort of figured. Based on how the whole thing went down.”

Percy couldn’t fathom why Annabeth would want to be down here all the time. It wasn’t fun when they were younger, and it certainly wasn’t fun now. Two days ago if someone had asked him, sword-tip to his heart, if Annabeth would go into the Labyrinth voluntarily, his answer would have been an emphatic no. He would have been shish kebabed.

“Hey, Percy?”

He looked up. “Yeah?”

“There’s going to be a—well, it’s a pit, on your right. It was a trap, but we disabled it so it’s not dangerous anymore. There’s plenty of room for us to walk around. But it looks a little—familiar.” Nico kept checking over his shoulder as if trying to gauge his response. “Just wanted to give you a warning.”

He didn’t understand why anyone would subject themselves to this, ever. The air felt staler the closer they got to the pit, thick and hard to breath. It burned down his throat and into his lungs, like poison. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it or not.

After Percy caught his first glimpse of the pit, he screwed his eyes shut and stuck his elbow out to stay in contact with the wall on his left. He tried to focus on something his mom had told him a few years ago, when he’d still had the Curse of Achilles. He’d been even more tired then. His body was burning up too fast, everyday. And he had been angry too. He’d wanted to fight. The feeling had scared him so bad that he’d run into his mom’s room in the middle of the night like he was much younger and far less brave.

“Everything comes and goes, baby,” she’d told him as they’d sat on the edge of her bed. “Even more so for you than the rest of us. You ebb and flow like the tide.”

He coughed a little as the pit’s fumes clogged his throat. It made his hands sting and itch, too. He rubbed them on his shirt.

“Okay,” Nico said, voice hoarse. “That’s the worst thing for a while.”

That was the sort of thing you should never say as a demigod.

Percy opened one eye, then the other when he confirmed Nico’s assessment that the pit was behind them.

Nico twisted something on the outside of the device. “We’ve almost caught them. If we move a little faster, we should be there in no time.”

They walked past a four-way intersection. Percy eyed the perpendicular hallway. He could hear a clock—multiple clocks, ticking on either side of them. Or maybe it was clicking.

“Nico—“

The walls, floors, ceiling started to move, crawling toward them in six-legged segments until they were surrounded. Myrmekes —giant ants. There had to be dozens. Nico drew his sword and Percy clenched Riptide in his still bloody hand.

He swung a few times and the ants closest to him skittered backwards. It didn’t last long. They came right back and didn’t seem as scared of the dull glow of the bronze the second time.

He took a step back, right into Nico. “What do you think?”

“There are too many.”

Percy bit back a sarcastic, oh, really?

Nico took a deep breath and Percy had a chilling premonition of what he was about to do. He squeezed his eyes shut as the ground shuddered and crumbled around them. It was so much like the day they fell. Everything had been vibrating, pieces of Arachne’s lair falling away. And then they’d been falling, too. He’d cursed himself for the whole way down. Why had they stayed on the edge of a gaping hole in the ground so long? Why hadn’t he noticed the web around Annabeth’s ankle sooner?

After the shaking and roaring stopped, the only sound was Nico’s heavy breathing.

Percy opened his eyes. The ants were gone. The ground around them was, too—in every direction. They were suspended in black that stretched forever, the small circular platform they stood on all that was left. His brain short-circuited.

“Hopefully that’s all there is,” Nico said between pants. “I won’t be able to do that again any time soon.”

Percy stumbled back from the edge, landing hard on his back, but he could still see the darkness, the nothing, the falling. That was all there was.

“Percy?”

He covered his face to block it all out, but it didn’t help. They were hanging over a vacuum. The expansive nothing below was sucking the oxygen out of the Labyrinth.

“It’s okay.” Nico shook his shoulders, gently at first, then harder. “Percy? It’ll close up. Just give me a few seconds.”

The rumbling started again and Percy flinched. Nico kept talking to him, but he couldn’t make out anything more than syllables, intermixing with the sounds of the ground sealing back together.

Then it all stopped.

“Come on.” Nico tried to pull him up by his arm. “I’m going to get you back to camp, okay?”

That jolted Percy back into himself. Going back meant passing the stretch by the pit again and disappointing Annabeth and failing his little sibling. It was bad enough that Nico had seen all that. He didn’t need the rest of his friends and everyone at camp hearing about it. He shook Nico off and stood.

“Why would we go back? Didn’t you say we were close to the others?”

Nico opened his mouth, then closed it, pressing his lips together. Thankfully, he decided against saying anything—just took the device out of his pocket and led the way.

Percy trudged after him, trying to steady his breathing.

“There’s blood all over your face,” Nico said without looking back. “From your hands. I assume you want to get that off before Annabeth sees you.”

Percy pulled up his shirt and started scrubbing at it.

His mom’s words floated through his mind again. There’d been a lot of flowing in the last couple of years. He was ready to ebb.

[pop-punklouis]

Hi hope, I have a difficult question & I don’t mean it in ANY negative or trolling way. I just don’t know who else to ask. In regards to Freddie, I think he really very much looks like Louis? & I feel like I can’t admit that because people will try to rip me apart for it. I’m not sure what I believe about bg & I think HL are together, but my big question is... how do people explain how much he looks like young Louis? Not trying to be problematic!! I just don’t understand how everyone is so sure?

hi love! no don’t feel hesitant at all with me! i understand completely because this stunt has gone on a long time, and it can be difficult when it’s never ending and the kid can look like louis in certain frames. it’s natural to feel that way and to have doubts. the jungwirths know how to get freddie to look strikingly similar to louis with that one, tried and true pose they snap him with all the time. the tight lipped smile and the squinty eyes. any kid who looks vaguely similar to louis would be docked up 50% by doing that pose which is always tied to louis in a fan’s mind. yet, when he’s not exactly doing that face his similarity decreases which is why he’s rarely seen without that face. with the theory that brett is the real father, me believing that included, it gets more difficult to pin the kid to only one face as he looks incredibly similar to brett as well and that’s in all poses. he also has a striking similarity with his “uncle” austin who is almost the carbon copy of brett. without taking into account any of the times freddie has called brett “daddy” or been photographed with austin with captions about brothers/wearing matching pajamas with brett tammy and austin about parents and children— just visually analyzing photos of brett and tammy as children as well as their family tree displays freddie looking much more like them than he’s ever looked like louis (and keep in mind louis family has strong genes). i think it can sometimes get difficult because we like to compare babies to their parents as adults but most babies look similar to their parents as children and as they grow. so, when you look at modern louis, he can look similar but if you look at photos of louis from when he was a child, there is nothing to contribute the similarities to freddie. all the characteristics are off.

here are a couple of posts/threads that go more into detail over brett/freddie similarities and dismissing louis’ role:

• Short masterpost from 2016/2017 shadyshit91 created

• Big thread made in 2018 on twitter that goes down the entire family tree and gives a great and thorough analysis (it’s not in english so if you don’t speak that native language just translate it!)

[hoodie-lover]

Berry’s Little Secret

Blue, or Blueberry as he was nicknamed because of his color scheme and chub, was quite the fighter. When Blue skipped, yes he skipped instead of walking or running, onto the battlefield those who did not flee were handed their asses on a shiny silver platter as Blue extended a hand of friendship their way. It got to the point where Underswap was protected by Blue and Blue alone, people knowing how fiercely he protected people he didn't know, trembled at the thought of hurting someone he knew and cared for.

Error, the World Destroyer, respected the blue Sans. No one knew what happened, but during the period of time in which Blue was held hostage by Error, the Destroyer had gained a great level of respect for him, even letting him go and giving him a non-poisoned chocolate bar. Neither spoke of how this occurred, but the destruction of AUs slowed, but didn’t stop, and chocolate was plentiful in Underswap.

Despite his reputation, there was one skeleton considered his equal, Dust. Not as powerful, but his lack of control made the two evenly matched, and he was more violent, contrasting with Blue’s skill. The strangest thing was the sexual tension they had between them. Dust flirting with Blue and Blue flirting back, Dust drooling when Blue spun during his flips, and Blue often staring at the curves Dust had when the mad skeleton summoned ecto during their battles to tease his opponent.

“I swear Blue, are you sure you guys aren’t dating?” Ink joked after the artist once again drank himself sillier than he usually acted.

“As if I’d date a crazy murderer!” Blue said, crossing his arms and huffing.

“Then why do you flirt back? And we all have caught you staring.” Dream said, cleaning up the bottles of booze Ink had emptied while Dream and Blue were out on patrol.

“I decided to flirt back to mess with him. And I can acknowledge when a person is attractive, looking doesn’t mean I have a crush. I’ve told you two this hundreds of times.” Blue said, sighing. “I’m off to bed.” Blue said, walking off.

“See Dream, you *hic* scared ‘im off.” Ink said, blacking out.

“And I see you need to sleep. I don’t even know how you got so much alcohol.” Dream said, picking up Ink.

“Creativity!” Ink shouted as Dream teleported to Ink’s room and threw him on the bed.

Ink’s room was big, it had a king-sized bed in the center and paintings all over the walls, there were also sewing projects on the floor, a hot glue gun stuck to the wall, and a flute stuck in a flower pot. The floor was a fluffy carpet stained with paints of all types and the walls were rainbows.

“Goodnight.” Dream said as Ink passed out on the poorly made and horribly stained bed.

Dream headed off to his room, which had pale yellow walls and wooden floors. A large window taking up almost an entire wall was across from the door. His bed was white with fluffy blankets and a dresser in the corner with a small mirror on top.

“Why me?” He asked himself as he changed into pajamas and laid on the bed, snuggling into the blankets as he fell asleep.

Blue waited until midnight, making sure everyone was asleep. He packed a suitcase with many pairs of clothes, toiletries, and electronics. His room was small with baby blue walls and a white carpet with a small bed that had a few sheets and a fluffy pillow. Blue was nervous, he did this stunt weekly, but he was still nervous about being caught.

He sent a text and a portal appeared before him. It led to Nightmare’s hideout, which was a small cottage in a small corner of dark woods. It was very crowded, but it had a soul unlike the large castle Blue generally lived in when he was busy with the Star Sanses, which his AU was thankfully oblivious of.

“Dad!” A small voice cried out and Blue was embraced by his son, Sprinkle. They had a dark blue hoodie with a purple hood, a purple bandanna, cyan shorts with purple stars and had one blue eye with a yellow pupil and the other blue eye had a red pupil.

“Hello Sprinkle. How are you?” Blue asked as he entered the cottage and was greeted by the Dark Sanses.

“Hello there my beautiful husband~. How are you?” Dust asked as he kissed Blue on the forehead.

“Awesome.” Blue said as he sat down on the couch and removed his gloves.

His hands were scarred, held together by bandages, and a ring with an amethyst gem and silver band rested on his ring finger.

“Will you tell us how you hurt your hands?” Cross asked, and Blue shook his head. “Fine.” Cross said and went to the kitchen to get a chocolate bar.

Nightmare came in the room and glanced at Blue. “Welcome.” He said before walking away.

“He still doesn’t like you.” Sprinkle said as he climbed onto his dad’s lap.

“Can’t expect everyone to.” Blue said as he held his son in his arms. “Guess what?” Blue asked and Sprinkle blinked.

“What?” He asked, bouncing a little bit in anticipation.

“I’m staying for a whole week!” Blue said as he grabbed his kid and threw them in the air before catching them.

“Yay!” Sprinkle said as he embraced his dad.

“A week?” Killer said, and Blue nodded.

“I really wanted to hang out with Sprinkle, since based on Papy’s notes we might be in for a genocide or two.” Blue said and everyone shrugged, accepting Blue’s lie with ease.

“Let’s go set up your room.” Dust said, and Sprinkle followed his parents to the guest room and they shut the door.

“Why are you really here?” Dust asked and Blue sighed.

“Is Nightmare planning something?” Blue asked, and Sprinkle sat on the bed.

“Always scheming aren’t you?” Dust said, growling and Blue rolled his eyes.

“I want to keep as many people safe as I can. And I know Nightmare is planning something big, I just need to figure out what.” Blue said. “We both know Nightmare is planning on breaking the agreement. It’s only a matter of time.” Blue said, unpacking a few items, but keeping most of his stuff in the suitcase.

“Yes I know, he’s been looking at Sprinkle and making threatening gestures his way.” Dust said.

“And you haven’t planned to run away have you? Too afraid to take your child’s life into your own hands?!” Blue said, snarling as Dust rolled his eyes.

“Mom, Dad...?” Sprinkle said, and the two looked at him. “Can we pretend to be a normal family for this week? I know you two have your rivalry, but can we...” Sprinkle said and the two skeletons ran up to him.

“I’m so sorry, we can have some fun with each other, and if we play our cards right, we can get you and your mother out of this.” Blue said and Dust sighed.

“To keep you safe, yeah. You’re pushing me to redemption, you little bugger.” Dust said as he noogied his child.

“I got it from Dad!” Sprinkle said and Blue giggled.

“Naturally.” Blue said, smiling.

“I know you only got into this situation to keep me safe, but I do hope we can make it out of this in one piece.” Sprinkle said.

“I do too.” Blue said and Dust nodded.

A knock on the door startled them, and Cross peaked his head in, a chocolate bar sticking out of his mouth. He took it out when he saw that he had the trio’s attention. “Lunch.” Cross said and stuck the candy in his mouth before closing the door.

“It’s midnight in the base. But a midnight snack never hurt anybody.” Blue said, and Dust howled with laughter.

“Yeah. ‘Got to sleep! We can have breakfast in the morning!’ what changed your mind?” Dust asked as he grabbed the top of the back of Blue’s pants.

Blushing like the fruit he is named after Blue smacked Dust right across the face. “Since I started this gig up, and staying with you my sleeping and eating schedule has been a mess. Even more so since most AUs have their own separate clock.” Blue said, readjusting his pants from the intrusion.

“Fine. Just don’t tell anyone you said that.” Dust said and Sprinkle got off the bed.

“Are we going to be ok?” Sprinkle asked, and Blue smiled.

“You’re going to be just fine.” Blue said, and Sprinkle noticed how Blue didn’t guarantee himself and Dust being ok.

The table was set up with salads and a variety of fruits. Most of it being grown at or near the cottage. Blue was a little upset he couldn’t make tacos, but he could deal with it. Maybe eating edible food would help him think.

“Glad you like this. We’ve been trying to grow our own food for ages, it’ll keep us healthy and whatnot.” Killer said as he chomped on a carrot.

“Or maybe it’ll help you avoid social interaction besides each other.” Blue said and everyone laughed.

“Where’s Nightmare?” Sprinkle said, holding onto Blue’s leg tightly.

“He said to bring him some food, apparently he has a big project going on and doesn’t want to stop working on it.” Horror said, popping out from behind the door to the kitchen.

“Thanks Horror.” Blue said, smiling as he ate some of the juicy fruit.

Sprinkle clung to Blue as the Dark Sanses ate their food, and he saw Dust keeping an eye on him the whole time.

“You’re kid is cute. Maybe he can finally open up to us.” Cross said as he pat Sprinkle on the head, making the kid flinch, and Blue and Dust growled.

“Ok. Fine.” Cross said, raising his hands in surrender.

Blue and Dust lead Sprinkle to the couch, keeping him between the two and Dust tracking the locations of everyone in the room. It was silent as everyone ate, the clock ticking as the seconds went by, and the clouds covering the sun as the wind beat against the stone walls of the quaint cottage.

Footsteps were heard coming from upstairs, Dust held his child close as Nightmare showed himself. “Hello, Blue. I want to see you.” Nightmare said and Blue got up, kissing Sprinkle on his head as he followed his best friend’s arch enemy.

The upstairs was dark and dusty. Cobwebs littering the corners and the windows were blacked out. Mirrors lined the dark hallway as Blue followed Nightmare, he led his spy to a room at the end of the hall.

“How are you?” Nightmare asked, sitting at a desk when Blue closed the door.

“I’m good.” Blue said as he sat in a chair in front of Nightmare.

The room was dark, candles lined the walls, but Blue could only see Nightmare’s glowing eye and outlines of bookshelves on the walls.

“That’s nice. How is my brother?” Nightmare asked, smiling.

“He’s good. Though a little overwhelmed from Ink’s drinking habits worsening.” Blue said, unwavering in his eye contact with Nightmare.

“You did good. I would have never thought getting Ink addicted to alcohol.” Nightmare said.

“Forgive me but he is not addicted. He often goes days without drinking, but when he does, it makes up for it.” Blue said and Nightmare scoffed.

“Still, thank you. Any idea when it would be opportune to strike?” Nightmare asked, tilting his head.

“When I leave. Dream will be tired and Ink will have a hangover. It is also the day I am to return to Underswap. Attacking a well known AU around that time, I suggest StorySwap, would be best for you. Unless you have other plans?” Blue said, wringing his hands under the table and out of Nightmare’s field of vision.

“That is absolutely perfect. I was planning on attacking that area anyway.” Nightmare said. “Now for my favorite part, got any drama?” The King of all Evil asked.

“Red is planning on asking me out, Lust is flirting with Reaper and Geno is most likely going to murder Lust for flirting with his fiance.” Blue said, and Nightmare appeared to lick his non-existent lips.

“That sounds delicious. I can’t wait to eat those emotions up.” Nightmare said as he hummed in delight.

“Am I excused?” Blue said and Nightmare nodded.

“You can go back to your husband.” Nightmare said, picking Blue up with tentacles and placing him on the other side of the door he opened with another tentacle.

“Thank you.” Blue said as he walked to the stairs.

Next

[joyfuladorable]

< Vol. 9 | Vol. 11 >

Rereading Oresama Teacher Volume 10

You would think that Yui would stay on brand and have ninja pajamas, but the comfy polka dots with matching cap is pretty cute

Cuteness is always raised when you wear animal onesies

This ninja training montage is funny and adorable

Also, Yui short-circuiting from the praise and the friendship… Bless

Hojo big mad

Lol @ Kosaka trying to water walk and all his koi fish friends just watching as he struggles

Huh, I wonder what would’ve happened if it had been Kanon doing the audit instead?

Planning while eating a bunch of snacks is great

Yui just wants a bunch of ninjas to hang out with

It’s so good to see the clubs from the past!  Yojimbo turning into the Recreation is wonderful.  And the Horticulture Club!  Please train your plants to not chomp on other students

Dang, Yui’s created such a persona for himself that it’s so difficult for him to recognize his own feelings about other people

All the Macho teens being in Cultural Clubs is incredibly soft

Of course Goto would be in the Prize-Winning Club

Oh huh, the localization worded the ‘reason’ for Yui leaving the Student Council differently.  Instead of his reported reason being that he has a crush on Mafuyu, it was just a theory presented by Hojo’s helpers

Hojo is now mad jelly

Club #Canceled

Hayasaka’s off to do his own thing, and Yui and Mafuyu are gonna have some ninja time… which doesn’t work at all

Hojo’s got big crush but Yui’s as dense as a star

Pfft, the kids who were looking forward to chasing Yui by training to be like him.  Just start the Ninja Club, guys

Oh, the reason that Hojo doesn’t have her ‘protectors’ with her is because the Occult Club dude gave them all diarrhea, lol

The only way Hayasaka can keep his braincells is by doing his work without Mafuyu around.  Best Friend rejection, how cruel

HMMMMMMM!!!  I really don’t like how it’s portrayed that Mafuyu likes that she’s useful to Saeki.  Please don’t base your self-worth on being useful to other people

Yui!!!  You emotionally-stunted clown!!

“No one cares about people who don’t care about others.” oh FUCK MAFUYU GET HIS ASS

SPROING! LMFAO Usa-Chan Man to the rescue!!  What a cursed page.  I love it

Yoinking that stamp to draw the attackers away from Hojo is so noble

Hayasaka, your admiration for Usa Chan is off the charts

Yui unwittingly saved her with a trap.  Nice

Emotional Therapy session in a tree with a masked person.  Ideal

UsaChanXHojo!!!  I need to write something for that, lol

Eyy!  A genuine smile from our ninja son!

Yes, please celebrate Hayasaka doing all the legwork in compiling the documents you needed to be approved as a club

Gosh, the Hojo-Miyabi-Yui dynamic is so great.  I absolutely polyship it

Need to apologize to Hojo?  Just get her some red bean soup in a can

[meowloudly15]

Stranded: Day 2 - LOZENGE BOMBARDMENT

I make my triumphant sort-of-return! Chapter updates may or may not be on schedule from here on out. If they can't be, then I'll post them as soon as they're ready. Thought you guys deserved to know ^w^

Start | Previous | Next

Gwen stopped running when she saw, not too far in the distance, a large suspension bridge supported by two massive stone columns. She surveyed the area for street signs and saw one that read, "Brooklyn Bridge /|\".

There wasn't much further to go.

What would she do when she got to this town called Brooklyn?

Again, she needed to find shelter. And food, she recalled, as her stomach growled.

She would cross that metaphorical bridge when she came to it. Right now, Gwen needed to cross a literal bridge.

Was there a sidewalk running alongside it, or a maintenance walkway?

There was only one way to find out.

Gwen headed to the bridge. Sure enough, the sidewalk continued up a flight of stairs and crossed the bridge, running parallel to the road.

As she walked, Gwen tried not to think about Peter.

She couldn't help it.

Memories flooded back into her head, memories that she had tried to repress for two years.

Peter J. Parker had been Gwen's best friend since junior high, despite being a grade above her. They first met by chance: Gwen was held after school for detention (she had been caught letting Kevin Martin cheat off of her), and Peter had stayed after to attend coding club. Gwen had left the detention classroom and was on her way to the office so she could call her father for a ride, when she passed by Kevin, who was hassling Peter.

Kevin yelled at him, "What did you call me, pipsqueak? What did you call me?"

Gwen walked over to them. "Hey, Kevin! What're you bothering him for?"

"Stay out of this, blondie." Kevin grabbed Peter's shirt collar and started twisting it. Peter yelped in surprise.

Gwen stepped closer, hands on her hips. "What did he do to you?"

"He called me a… a… simple-"

"A simplistic prokaryote," squeaked out Peter. "But, you know, they both mean-"

"Let him go," demanded Gwen.

Kevin looked at her. "What did you say?"

"Are you deaf and dumb? I said let him go!"

Kevin folded his arms and pouted. "All right, fine, whatever."

Peter scampered away, and Gwen trotted after him.

They introduced themselves and started to chat. Apparently, they lived pretty close to each other. Peter had been on Gwen's bus until the bus schedules had been swapped around. They also both liked science class best (although Gwen initially claimed to prefer lunch). By the time Peter's aunt had arrived to pick him up, the two had become fast friends.

Although their paths diverged upon entering high school – Peter was fascinated by chemistry and studied it intensely, while Gwen chose to neglect her schoolwork in favour of music – the two remained close, although they never ventured beyond platonic friendship. Peter had a massive crush on Em Jay Watson, whom Gwen had admired at the time and who was considered "simultaneously the most beautiful and most rebellious girl in school". Gwen dated a couple of guys to seem cooler but was never truly interested in a relationship.

After the ill-fated field trip to Ozcorp in which Gwen was bitten by an irradiated spider, she had confided in Peter about her newfound abilities. He, of course, was extremely excited, at least at first.

"Holy cow! Holy cow! Do it again!" he yelled, eagerly hopping up and down after watching Gwen do a standing backflip in his basement. Gwen grinned, repeating the stunt. She was just as enthusiastic as he was, if not more so.

Peter jittered around for a second, then darted to his desk, grabbed a notebook and pencil, and started scribbling down notes. "Is that all you can do? Just the agility thing?"

Gwen replied, "I don't think so. That's not even the highest that I can jump."

She bent her legs and sprang up, easily placing her palm flat against the ceiling, which was around eight feet off of the ground. However, instead of coming down, she remained stuck to the ceiling.

"What the…"

Gwen panicked. She started jerking herself around, trying to unstick herself. She swung her legs up against the ceiling, bracing herself against it and pulling downward. All her efforts only made the drywall crack a bit.

"Peter! Pull me down!"

Peter obligingly rushed over and wrapped his arms around her torso. With their combined effort, they broke the plaster and freed Gwen's hand. She was left with a handful of sharp chips of plaster for her efforts.

They looked at each other.

"You can stick to things," Peter commented as Gwen asked, "Is your aunt gonna get mad that I broke your ceiling?"

They both started yelling at each other.

Eventually, after a lot more testing and just as much confusion, Gwen managed to get a handle on the extent of her powers, and Peter took it upon himself to design her a costume and a pair of web-shooters. He drew upon research from Ozcorp to develop a fluid that, upon exposure to air, would harden into a solid for a period of time and then disintegrate. Of course, he needed somebody with superpowers to be his guinea pig.

Gwen stood on the roof of her house at one in the morning for the first trial of the web-shooters. Peter watched from below, holding a stopwatch and notebook. "Whenever you're ready," he called up.

Gwen took a deep breath, stepped backward a few paces, and then ran along the ridge, firing her web-shooter at a nearby tree. She jumped into the air, grabbing hold of the webline, and plummeted to the ground as the line disintegrated in her grasp.

Peter ran over to her, saying, "Hey! Gwen! You okay?"

Gwen extracted herself from a rosebush, grumbling, "Oh, Dad's gonna be ticked off."

"I'm sorry it didn't work. Next time, I'll-"

"My dad's gonna be furious at me, and you know why? It was your bright idea to go jumping off the friggin' roof in the first place! And it was you who said we could just field-test this batch before we make any more! And now I've ruined my mom's old rosebush!"

Peter snapped. "'We'? Who's this 'we' you keep talking about? You're not the one who's taking huge chunks of time out of his schedule to help out a friend! You're not the one who spent hours slaving over Ozcorp's research papers! You're not the one who started getting Bs on all his assignments because of all the time he spent working on this, this stupid little pet project! You're the one parading around with your spider-abilities, starting impromptu arm-wrestling matches in the cafeteria to win pocket change, showing off in gym class, all because you think you're so special! Well, you're not! You're just a stupid wannabe punk kid who just happens to have superpowers and who'd be failing in algebra if it weren't for me!"

Gwen blinked, then huffed. "Go home, Parker. I'm going to bed."

It wasn't until later that night when Gwen realised how much of a jerk she had been to Peter. She had made him freak out, all because she was mad about a stupid rosebush. She should have known that Peter's confidence was as fragile as his body.

Gwen apologised to Peter, but their friendship was never quite the same after that night. Peter did perfect the web-fluid formula and gave her instructions for making more, but he stopped going out of his way to contact her. Indeed, even after stopping his web-fluid experiments, he seemed paler and more exhausted than usual.

Gwen noticed a little itch at the back of her skull, a little voice in her head whispering "GREEN MONSTER", every time she saw Peter. For the most part, she ignored it.

Gwen flinched unconsciously upon remembering these things. She wished she had listened. She wished she had reached out more.

But then again, at the time, she hadn't known about her precognition. She hadn't thought that Peter needed her friendship as much. She hadn't known what he had been planning.

Gwen finally shook herself free from her memories as she reached the end of the bridge and looked around. So this was Brooklyn.

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY

She really needed a map, but going to a police station to fetch one was out of the question. Was there a tourist centre nearby?

Maybe she could get a better view from above.

Gwen put her mask and gloves back on and shot a webline to the top of the tallest building nearby. She leaped up and started hauling herself up the line, hand over hand, until she reached the fire escape to which her webline had attached.

LOZENGE BOMBARDMENT

Gwen furrowed her brow, tensing up, preparing herself for any sort of action, no matter what it might be.

She turned sharply upon hearing a high-pitched scream inside the brick apartment and saw a little girl standing at the half-open window in her pajamas. The girl threw a cough drop at her and beat a hasty retreat inside.

Gwen chuckled to herself. She then realised that the little girl's mother would probably be on the warpath, so she decided to climb up to the next level of the fire escape in order to survey Brooklyn.

VISION OF BROOKLYN

The message was accompanied with a persistent, very faint itch at the nape of her neck. Gwen had to slap her hand to the back of her head to make sure there wasn't a bug on her. She spotted a billboard that read, "Visions Academy. Give your child a brighter vision for their future. Enroll now."

That must have been it. That was where she needed to go.

Gwen studied the billboard more closely. Did it mention the school's location anywhere?

Sadly, it did not. Oh well. She had nothing better to do than to look for it.

Gwen had begun to absent-mindedly drum her fingers on the railing of the fire escape when she saw a middle-aged lady peek her head out from the window of the apartment below. She hurriedly pressed herself up against the brick wall.

The lady pulled her head back in and said, "There's nothing out there. No need to worry."

"But I'm telling you, I saw a ghost! It was wearing clothes and stuff, but its skin was totally white, and it had no face! And it had this big weird lump on its back!"

"That's nice, Cassie. But there's nobody out there."

"Exactly! It vanished! It's a ghost!"

Gwen chuckled. She supposed her costume did make her look a little bit like a ghost.

Anyway, she had to find that school, but first, she needed something to eat.

Start | Previous | Next

[jchnnybender]

promma mia | the cut section

Everything had been planned down to the last detail. And although he had initially been terribly skeptic about going to prom to begin with, Allison had been the one to talk him into it. They’d been sharing an illicit cigarette behind the gym while cutting class when Allison brought up the subject:

“Andrew asked me about prom yesterday.” She said, ever so casually, causing John to start coughing mid-puff on the cigarette she provided (although she, much like John, told Andrew she would kick the habit).

Once John managed to regulate his breathing, he asked: “Well, don’t just throw that out there and leave it alone – what’d you say?”

Allison took the cigarette back, idly rolling it between her forefinger and thumb, not meeting John’s eyes and not speaking for a long moment before saying: “I said yes.”

“You fucking sellout.” John fumed, shaking his head. “We promised we wouldn’t let these uptown kids change us.”

At this juncture, Allison looked up at him, her dark eyes flashing as she sneered, “Yeah, well, I don’t live with my girlfriend in her gilded cage, now, do I?”

“Fuck you. You don’t know my life.” John spat before he could think twice about it.

“And you’re a fucking liar. I know everything about you, stupid. I’ve known you since we were five. Don’t mistake me here. I’m glad you had an opportunity to get out of a shitty situation and you took it. But, really, you’re the sellout here. Especially if you’re gonna get pissy at me for breaking a stupid deal we made years ago.”

“Oh, like freshman year was so long ago. Have the pills deep fried your brain, Allie?”

“Go fuck yourself, John Bender.”

“You first, you fucking Judas.”

Things went more like this until Allison finally broke the tense silence. “Claire is hoping you’ll ask her, you know.” John scoffed around the cigarette, rolling his eyes. “Come on, man,” Allison said, her tone almost unnaturally soft. “It’s the least you could do for her. She fucking took you into her home and let your stupid ass move in. She helped you get your grades up. She’s done so much for you these past seven months. She loves you – which is totally dumb because you’re actually the fucking worst.”

“Yeah, she could do better than me.” John admitted, scuffing the toe of his boot against the remnants of March snow that had turned to gravel-filled slush. “I dunno. I’ll think about it... Okay?” He looked over at his childhood friend, who was giving him a rare, small smile.

Brian had helped him create a budget – the first one he’d ever had in his life – to save up for this prom business. Before this, John’s only knowledge about prom was that girls got stupid excited about promposals and would gossip about where to buy dresses and what was in style at any possible location in school starting around January. He knew because by the time he had the conversation with Allison, there had been multiple times where his locker neighbor and her little sophomore friends would block his locker to gossip about getting an upperclassman to ask them. Usually, he’d scare them into dispersal with a well-timed glare. But Brian’s budget had him working more than usual to save up. He talked his boss at the garage into letting him work longer on the weekends and more during the school week – just for now, he’d promised.

He knew Claire was at least a little bit miffed that he had told her that he was not into going to prom. But he also knew that she knew better than to drag him to things he didn’t wanna go to. She had seen that firsthand when they’d gone to her cousin’s engagement party and John had gotten so bored that he’d almost inadvertently set the curtains of the venue aflame. He’d had to do a lot of apologizing for that little stunt. But he was certain that she didn’t want something similar happening to the historic Drake hotel – that year’s locale for the prom.

He had, however, let himself be brought along to her appointments at a variety of upscale boutiques and department stores – even a David’s Bridal, where John broke into hives whence surrounded by all the wedding dresses and accoutrements – where she modeled dresses for him. He was given some power of veto, but the choice was ultimately hers. And besides, John enjoyed sneaking into the dressing room to fool around just a little too much. He bought himself a ticket the same day she bought hers, offering to at least buy her ticket for her, which she seemed pleased about. He then handed over his ticket to Brian for safekeeping.

It was with Brian and Andrew that he’d even gone suit shopping for the first time in his life. The last time John knew he was ever in a suit was for his father’s wedding to his stepmother, he was eight and the shirt’s collar made his neck itch until his father slapped the back of his hands to make him stop. The back of his hands were still red in the photo from the day mounted on the mantle above the fireplace. But Brian and Andrew made the day a little fun, with Andrew borrowing his dad’s prized Cadillac for the drive into Chicago and Brian bringing a silver flask – that he proudly stated had belonged to his grandfather – filled with scotch from his mother’s liquor cabinet. John was proud of the nerd’s small act of rebellion and promised to buy them all the finest Cuban cigars for post-prom. They’d had a cool time, goofing off and horsing around in the shops, while still giving each other good feedback on different looks. John had chosen what was cheap but still looked nice – the classic black suit with a soft tie that matched the color of Claire’s dress.

From there, it moved into the next step of the plan: Execution. He’d gone ahead and bought Claire a corsage and himself a matching boutonniere, with the help of prom-literate Andrew. He had the corsage delivered while he was working and without a note the morning of prom, all too amused by her reaction – which was to send him a photo, with the accompanying text: You didn’t have to. – Oh, but he did have to. He came home in time to see her off, giving her a kiss and a playful tap of her perfect ass, telling her to have fun with her friends. He knew she and her friends (and their dates) were going to dinner – he had already called ahead and pre-ordered dessert for her – so he had time to get ready before Brian, Andrew, and Allison were due to meet him in front of the hotel. He’d showered, shaved and made sure everything was ready. He had already rented a room at the hotel (thanks to an immaculate fake ID and a credit card he barely ever used) and gone there at check-in time to collect room keys and drop off some things. He’d packed a bag for Claire, too, with some pajamas and comfortable clothes for the morning after.

[adarkroomandawallflower]

Does This Mean I'm Special to You? (Peter Maximoff x Reader)

Based on a hc by @sxmmersloving Your now husband held onto you tightly as you kicked the door to your hotel room open. You were cradling him, bridal style, holding him close to your chest. Peter didn't really have much say in the matter, but he definitely wasn't complaining. How many guys can say that you carried them bridal style into your hotel room for their Honeymoon? Only one man could, & that one man was him. "Here we are!" you exclaimed gleefully as you carried Peter towards the large bed the two of you would be sharing for the next several weeks. You set him down on his back on the huge mattress, the fresh scent of linen overwhelming his senses, "I'm going to change out of this thing & then we can get this Honeymoon started," you declared, digging through your suitcase for some more comfortable clothes. Once you found your pajamas, you turned back to Peter, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, "I'll be back," as you went to pull away, Peter already had his hand to the back of your neck, pulling you back in for another kiss. His lips were warm & you could taste the remnants of your wedding came against them, making you grin into the kiss. Once he pulled away, he pressed his forehead against yours & whispered against your lips, "Don't keep me waiting, Mrs. Maximoff." "I won't, but only if you're a good boy." "Babe," he whimpered, the nickname already making him needy for you. You smirked softly as you pulled away, "Be a good boy," you reminded him, locking yourself into the bathroom to change. He pouted at the door, sighing softly as he shifted to lie down on his back once more. He watched the bathroom in anticipation, eagerly awaiting your return. He couldn't stop thinking about the wedding, the memories flooding his mind as quickly as he ran: you at the altar, the dopey smile on your face that most certainly matched his own, sharing your first kiss with him as a married couple, you shoving an entire slice of cake in his face, & his most favorite & cherished memory: sharing your first dance as husband & wife. That was the best part of the entire wedding to Peter, even moreso than when the minister legally pronounced you both husband & wife. The way you locked eyes with him & couldn't look away, along with that beautiful smile he fell in love with so quickly, all those years ago, had him melting. He couldn't help but kiss you, over & over again as he held you close & danced. When you exited the bathroom, Peter was smiling brightly at you, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that you were both married. "Come here," he whined for you, extending his hands out towards you in a grabbing motion. You couldn't help but smile at his childish demeanor as you made your way over to him. He grabbed your waist as you cautiously climbed into the bed, swinging your legs over his hips & pressing your knees beside them, straddling him gently. As you towered over him, he stared up at you expectantly, his soft, doe eyes locking onto your own. He always looked so sweet & innocent, but you always loved the view of him underneath you more than anything else. He reached his left hand towards your face, cupping your cheek gently & running his thumb across your cheek. You nuzzled your face into his palm, pressing a kiss to the inside of his thumb. He let his thumb gently trace your lips, bringing his own lip between his teeth as he did so. "What are you doing?" you asked quietly, a hint of amusement evident in your tone. "Just making sure you're real," he replied, just as quietly. You didn't reply, but simply pulled him into a loving kiss, clearly appreciative of his sweet yet unexpected response. He did that a lot, catching you off-guard. He was the sweetest person you'd ever met & the fact that he was yours and yours alone made your stomach do somersaults. Peter's hands gripped your hips tightly, pulling you closer as he deepened the kiss eagerly. Along with his loving attitude, his eagerness caught you off-guard frequently as well. Even the slightest kiss had him rushing you both into his bed, eager & ready for you. Not that it bothered you, because it surely didn't. You pressed yourself against him, causing him to sigh into your mouth as he lifted his hips up to meet yours, eager to feel your cool skin against his. He squeaked as you teasingly nipped on his bottom lip, letting one of your hands tangle into his hair. Before your fingers brushed against his scalp, where his ultimate nut button was, Peter remembered something he had brought that he planned on using tonight. Suddenly, your soft, silver husband was no longer underneath you, or in your lovely bed at all. You looked up to find him digging through his suitcase, causing you to roll your eyes. Thinking he was grabbing a condom, you made yourself comfortable, "I've been waiting to do this all night," he declared, standing in front of you once more, his hands behind his back. "Me too," you grinned, leaning in to pull him in for another kiss; however, before you could press your lips to his, Peter showed you the object he had concealed behind his back & it wasn't a condom. In his hands, he held a huge jar full of colorful wrappers, "Peter, what the Hell is that??" "This," he gestured to the jar with dramatic effect, "is a jar of all the Starbursts wrappers from every single piece of Starburst candy I've eaten since I was a kid." "Why would you save candy wrappers?" you asked, completely flabbergasted. "Because," he removed the lid off the jar & grabbed one of the wrappers, holding it out to you, "these have dares on them! I've been saving these babies for a special occasion & what could be more special than our wedding night?" You stared at the wrappers for a moment before you looked back up at your husband with complete shock, "You can't be serious, Peter! It's our wedding night!" "But baaaabe," he whined, "it'll be so fun! Come on," he gave you his signature, puppy-eyed & dimpled smile, "Please?" You debated it thoroughly in your mind for what felt like hours for Peter before you finally sighed, "Fine, but you better make such passionate & sweet love to me after this that I won't regret it." He grinned from ear to ear, pressing a quick kiss to your lips before he sat down beside you, suddenly in his pajamas as well, "Alright, the wife gets to pick first." "What an honor. If I knew marrying you came with such prestige I would have done it sooner." "B a b e don't sass me you know how much it turns me on," he blushed, biting his lip as you reached into the jar & grabbed a wrapper, smirking & winking at him. You stared at the brightly colored wrapper, skimming the words before you read them outloud, "Do five push ups," you rolled your eyes at the silliness of the dare, but if it amused your husband, you'd do it. You got onto the ground & got into the push up position, slowly lowering yourself just enough so your nose brushed the ground before bringing yourself back up. You completed this circuit of actions four more times before getting back into bed. Peter congratulated you with a happy kiss before he eagerly began rummaging through the jar. "Ask your crush out," Peter grinned at you, wiggling his eyebrows, "Babe, will you go out with me?" "How could I say no to a guy who wants to play with candy wrappers on his wedding night?" you laughed. He grinned at you happily & you gave him a soft kiss as a congratulatory gesture before digging in the jar for your next dare, "Chug a full glass of water in one sip," Peter was suddenly dangling a tall glass of water in your face, grinning stupidly. You rolled your eyes playfully & took the glass from him, chugging it down effortlessly. It didn't take long for those wrappers to turn into a full-blown competition, which both of you were taking very seriously. With each dare, the kisses got deeper & longer & adrenaline was rushing through your veins more & more. Peter was notorious for taking things too far, but now, you were wrapped up in it too, & you weren't about to lose to a silver-haired kleptomaniac with dimples the size of Texas, regardless of the fact that he was your husband. When Peter had to do a handstand at one point, you were sure you would win, but alas, his persistence always won. "Peter, you're going to hurt yourself!" "I don't care, I want that kiss." "We're married now. You don't need to do some silly stunt just to kiss me, you can kiss me whenever you want to." "Shhh, babe, I'm concentrating," he somehow managed to do the handstand & the heated game continued. It was around three in the morning when you grabbed the last wrapper in the jar, yawning as you read the final dare outloud to Peter, "Tell someone special to you how much they mean to you," Peter's eyes widened, knowing that you'd win the competition with a dare that simple. You closed the distance between you & your husband, a soft smirk on your face as you pulled him into your lap. You pressed feverish kisses against his jaw, wrapping your arms around his waist & pulling him close to you. He bit his lip shyly, his cheeks turning a soft shade of pink, "Wh-what are you doing?" "They say actions speak louder than words," you breathed. He blushed darker as you pressed hot kisses against his throat, making him whimper softly as he wrapped his arms around you tightly, trying to pull you closer. Peter bit his lip as he nudged his nose into your neck, brushing his lips against your throat as his breath fanned against your skin, "Does this mean I'm special to you?" he asked softly. You stopped, stunned by his question. You knew he was serious from the soft, hesitant tone in his voice, so you pulled away slightly, grabbing his face in your hands. His cheeks were still pink, his eyes fearful & warm. You rubbed his cheeks with your thumbs, a soft smile appearing on your face, "It means you're the most special person in the whole world to me. There's no one else as special as you & I love you, more than anyone & anything else," his cheeks turned a darker shade of red as he blinked back a few tears. "I-I love you, too," he whispered, sniffling slightly. "Come here, you; you owe me a victory kiss," you teased, but he smiled widely & returned to his previous comfortable position in your lap. You ran your fingers through his hair, causing him to close his eyes & let out a soft moan. That was all you needed as you pressed your mouth against his, kissing him sweetly & softly as you tugged at his smooth, silver locks.

[seven-oomen]

The hug and the headcanons were much appreciated.  :D  (You say it started getting long like that’s a bad thing.  But then I am apparently the embodiment of that comment like you’re the drunk girl in the bathroom at the club post, so perhaps I am not the best judge.)  And I don’t know if you were trying to kill me with that new preview, or make me want to kill Chris, but either way, mission accomplished.  I swear, that boy.  He’s gonna give me gray hairs before this is over.  XD  *basks in the warm, fluffy goodness anyway*

Omg, Craft Dad Peter may be one of the best things I’ve ever heard of.  Chris and Noah never have to buy another scarf or pair of gloves, Peter makes them for them (and often for the rest of the pack, too, but his mates get the best) as a way of subtly staking claim.  Bonus points if he finds a way to spin his fur into the yarn (or finds someone to do it for him.)  And it’s all kinds of crafts, too, from a huge painting he does with Allison of the view of the Preserve from Makeout Lookout Point that goes above the mantle at the new house, to macaroni art and finger painting with his youngest kids.  

Also, I feel like one year, maybe after most have gone off to college and sneaking is a bit easier, Malia badgers her siblings and other dads into finding whatever old baby/toddler clothes they might still have and helping her make them into a patchwork quilt for Peter since he had to miss so much (if not all) of that time with them.  Chris and Noah also throw in a couple of their shirts from high school; faded flannel and ratty band gear intermixing with brightly colored superhero logos an well worn sports jerseys, corduroy, and denim and a little bit of lace, in all colors of the rainbow from jewel tones to pastels.  She even leaves some room to add stuff from the later kids, because she knows they’re going to want more.  

Needless to say, there are a lot of tears (like, a LOT), and it instantly becomes his favorite for curling up in front of the TV, or out on the porch to watch the sunset, or just wherever, in whatever form.  It goes over so well they end up making another one with stuff donated from everyone in the pack so that it ends up huge and always comes out for movie nights and puppy piles.  (Wow, that idea kinda got away from me, but I ain’t even mad.)

Loving the descent into nsfw and related ideas.  Always here for those three teasing the ever-loving shit out of each other, because that’s just the way they are.  I feel like Chris and Noah are much more successful at pulling stunts in public, because they’re much better at faking innocence and making it seem accidental.  Lbr, Peter is terrible at looking innocent, even when he is.  

They both get so low-key annoyed that Peter’s werewolf healing means they can’t really leave much in the way of lasting marks, whereas Chris ends up with bruises and stubble burn in the most inconvenient and awkward places, and Noah seems forever doomed to look like he got attacked by an extremely aggressive push broom from the neck down.  

Oh god, Peter and Chris would totally rig anything that needed repair around the house so that it would only finally break when Noah was off so they could see him up a ladder changing light bulbs in a snug, worn t-shirt, or reaching underneath a sink or cabinet.  They just lean back and enjoy the show with a nice chilled drink.  He gets them back by conveniently being on shift whenever one of the kids moves back for a while and needs furniture moved.  

All the Omegas in the pack get extensive training in proper self defense, which leads to Peter getting banned from the premises because his expressions and scent while watching Noah and Chris spar to demonstrate creeps everyone else right tf out.  

I feel like Chris probably does a lot of the cooking, between having lived on his own the most and debatably being home the most.  So sometimes when they have the house to themselves Peter and Noah try to get Chris to cook wearing only an apron (frilly or not is up to you).  (Actually, depending on what share of the chores he takes on my brain just screamed out of nowhere FRENCH MAID’S OUTFIT and now I can’t stop laughing, oh god, I just keep picturing these terrible porny roleplays where the police officer is just checking in because there have been reports of break-ins and he “just wants to make sure all entrances and exits are properly secured” and of course the maid just wants to be helpful and fetches the master of the house[is he wearing a smoking jacket and silk pajamas? 

 I think the answer is obviously yes] to assist their “routine search"  [oh god, please help, I’m wheezing.])  I’m pretty sure somebody gets fucked on the washing machine (and by somebody I obviously mean both of them.  They go through a LOT of cleaner in that house, lbh.)  

And poor Stiles just will NOT let the Incident, as he calls it, go.  Whenever he’s irritated with one of them he’ll send them some variation of the "right in front of my salad” meme to be an asshole.  

They very definitely make sure that all the bedrooms have nicely soundproofed walls, because there are things none of the kids want to hear (except maybe Erica or Lydia).  Totally here for pet names/sweet nothings/dirty talk/whatev in a variety of languages, especially French and Polish, obvs.  (cue Gomez mode - “Why Chris, that’s French…”)  

And I do love that drag queen headcanon so much, especially for this ‘verse.  The Stiles and Jax better be careful or their dads might just be forced to prove how much they can still rock that look if they want to (I may or may not have had a running list/idea in my head of which outfit from a Lady Gaga video each parent would wear if they were all dressing to theme for some reason [I don’t really remember why.  You might have noticed my mind goes off on weird, unexplained tangents when left unattended.])

Love all the family bonding stuff.  I feel like Peter would totally organize back-to-school shopping trips for all the pack kids so that they can all head back with all their necessary supplies and rockin’ new wardrobes.  Chris teaches them camping and outdoor survival.  Noah somehow ends up organizing sing-a-longs when they have bonfires while Chris is in charge of s'mores ingredients (neither tries to make Peter or Derek join in if they aren’t feeling it, and take turns to go and check in with cuddles and support throughout the evening.)  

I always liked to headcanon that Noah was a drummer, mainly I think because Dylan is, so people usually made Stiles one, so I figured he might have learned from his dad.  This was also because I loved the idea of Stiles having everybody over for a Rock Band party and having his dad sub in for him on the drums so he could grab some food, and everyone being utterly astounded at how well he could play (since the drums seem the closest controller to the actual instrument.)  

But the idea of him and Malia playing duets together is super adorable, particularly the idea of them playing Polish lullabies for the twins (or Ben, or other Argent-Hale child), or Chris singing French ones for the little ones (or the dads could team up Three Men and a Baby style, I’m here for all of it, really.) 

 And all the wolfy goodness!  Wolf Peter just straight up flopping across one or both of his mates while they try to read or watch TV because he needs attention right now and wants to cuddle.  Chris scratching all the right places.  Noah using a variant of the healing magic to loosen all of Peter’s tensed muscles as he pets along his back and sides.  Good stuff.  (Occasionally Ben or one of the younger wolves, if there are any, will shift and climb up next to them to nuzzle at his face or gnaw on his tail.  Usually by then he’s so relaxed he doesn’t even mind.)  Using him as a bonus cushion when curling up together.  World’s Biggest Teddy Bear.  

And Jackson would totally take advantage of his cuteness.  He got Peter’s ruthlessness and Chris’s puppy-eyes skills.  The younger kids keep finding ways to work him into their Halloween costumes because he can somehow convince people to give them more candy even though “dogs can’t have chocolate…"  He doesn’t mind helping his baby siblings, and enjoys the chance to prove just how good he is.  

Malia is totally the one who’d just nope out of the conversation, but I think she’d also be the one to (most) help Ben develop his shifted skills and really feel comfortable in both forms.  

Poor Derek, he’s just like "I am not a goddamn herding dog, corral your kids!”, but he’s not fooling anybody and loves the way the twins just stare at him mesmerized and gently petting at his soft fluffy fur.  He absolutely lets them climb on him and ride around until they get too big to do it (then they just hang off his arms or piggy back whenever he visits.)

And that last flash-forward headcanon is so cute.  I feel like the spot should be on a porch swing, but given how much time I spent on my grandparents’, I’m probably a bit biased .  There’s a wind chime made of broken guitar strings and spare car parts (with a base carved by Stiles) that hangs nearby, ringing gently in the breeze as they sway.  They curl up under one of Peter and Malia’s quilts, legs tangled together, backs pressed up against pillows set up against the arms for support.  Peter sits on the steps, leaning on the banister, or maybe gently sprawled in a nearby matching chair, enjoying the view of his family and the quiet peacefulness of the moment. *insert reaction shot of Ghost Rider going “yessss- YESSSSS-” here*

Anyway, I’m glad your day was stupidity free, and I hope your cat is feeling calmer and well comforted.  And hopefully the weather cleared up there like it did here, though also hopefully without leaving as much humidity behind as we got.  Ah well, pretty much standard for summer around here, so.

Oh man I definitely got carried away a bit and no, there’s nothing wrong with that but I also idk, I’m not used to talking about something I love I guess. Especially not so freely with someone who’s really genuinely interested in hearing it.

Also idk what it is, probably fatigue and dyslexia in my add brain, but I have enormous trouble concentrating right now. So, I decided I would answer this submission before bed instead of writing. Well technically I’m writing now too, there’s that. Anyway...

Where was I? I feel like I just had an entire conversation in my brain and it’s already gone.

Okay, okay, Imma try to do this.

Chris is just, he’s a very scarred boy who’s very insecure. Noah will help him though and I hope it feels in character but fluff is coming.

And I really don’t have the focus to answer all of these headcanons but I love them, they made smile and giggle and they got me through hell today and I just. I really wish I had the brain capacity today to answer all of them.. Because yes to everything!

Do you know how hard it is to ask someone about their wifi connections when you’re reading about French Maid outfits and bad cop outfits and body cavity searches??? Do YOU??? 

It’s very hard and I had to try so hard not to laugh while guiding one lady through her ‘my remote is not working’ emergency.

And the quilt thing killed me, YEEEESSS. Omg I love your headcanons so much.

I also can’t stop picturing Peter as Gomez and Chris & Noah as Morticia. Also, Jackson is Wednesday and Stiles is Pugsley. I don’t make the rules.

Ughhh omg Idea for a pack run where they all go camping in the woods and Peter initiates a pack run, the first for Ben and Jackson. And they’re all wolfing out and Peter, with his red eyes, just howls up and everyone just howls with him. But Ben can’t keep up and just start hiccuping (This is what I  imagine Ben would look like anyway and it’s the cutest thing) and cuddles up to Chris because it’s all a bit much. 

So Peter comes over and gently nuzzles the cub until Ben’s wagging his tail again and being all playful. And that initiates a pack play session where Ben ‘takes down’ Peter and the other wolves just nip and bark around them playfully while Chris, Noah, Allison, and Stiles watch them with their cameras out and smiles on their faces.

The pack then takes off for a run and return ten minutes later all tuckered out, Ben’s held up by the scruff of his neck by Peter. Jackson is practically asleep on his paws and Malia is yawning by the time they get back. So they curl up with their respective twins and mates. Malia is curled around Stiles and Allison protectively curls around Jackson’s huge wolf form. Ben’s curled up in Chris’s lap, Chris and Noah are huddled together and Peter’s just curled around the three of them. Derek curls up with both sets of twins to keep them safe.

Full moons are extremely lively for this family.

And Derek is such a sucker for the pups in the pack. He keeps complaining and bitching, but honestly, he loves kids, he loves babies and he’s such a sucker for them. Ben, the twins, and the new baby just can do no wrong for him. He’ll keep corralling them and cuddling them when he gets the chance.

God, I love these threads so much, but I think I already said that. lol

Anyway, that’s what my brain has right now, but honestly, I love all of these. Every single one is precious.