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unmaskedagain · 4 years

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Ladybug in Smallville

You can’t fix a broken heart, her grandmother told when Marinette was young and had ask why the older woman why she never remarried.

“You can forgive here,” Gina Dupain had pointed to her head. “And you can tell yourself every day that you forgive him, that all is well. And maybe you do. Maybe not right away, like you tell people but eventually… you do. You move on. You find some kind of peace. But that doesn’t mean your heart’s forgotten. Especially during the worst of it, when it’ll remind you every day just how much you’re still hurting.”

The silver haired woman had look so dejected, so cynical compared to her usual chipper, charming self that it left the little girl stunned.

“Until one day, it doesn’t,” Gina continued. “And yet, your heart’s not the same. You’re not the same. No matter what you tell yourself. Sometimes, you’d swear it’s just a giant scar on your heart. Because at least that means it’s healed; beaten up, bruised, and permanently disfigured but healed. Other days when you think too hard about it, and you are walking through memory lane; you can just barely admit the truth. That you can still feel every jagged edge, sharp angle still there from a shattered heart. And once on a very blue moon, you admit to yourself the truth; you can’t fix a broken heart. It’ll always be broken. Love has consequences.”

She looked Marinette deep in the eyes, “The trick is learning to live with it. Learning that a broken heart doesn’t mean it doesn’t work.”

“Broken… but still good,” Marinette quoted Lilo and Stitch.

Her grandmother beamed, “One of the hardest things is the world, sweetie, is to not let that broken heart stop you. You can cry. You can be angry. You can vengeance on the entire world. As long as you never let it stop you from living.”

“And loving?” Marinette asked. “You learned to love again.”

There was a pause. A thoughtful look. And then a sigh, as Gina finally answered, “No, I never fell in love again. I could never trust the same as I did before. Never managed to figure out how to love with all of my heart like I used to when I was young. And it always felt wrong not you; but that’s just me. I learned to love myself, though. And that is the greatest thing you can ever learn. Love yourself.”

Marinette had been nine-years-old at the time and hadn’t quite understood what her grandmother had been talking about. But she never forgot, the cold look on her grandmother’s face and the sorrow in her eyes.

It was only years later, when the biggest liar to ever walk the planet proved that not all villains are easily defeated, when her friends had all turned their backs on her, when the boy who she swore she was going to marry someday was more of a cowardly frog than a prince, when even her parents bought the fabrication of Marinette being a bully, a thief, a jealous liar that Marinette finally understood. Because not only had her heart been broken, but it had been shattered.

Marinette couldn’t even go to Fu as the man had used the last of his power in a fight against Hawkmoth because Chat Noir never showed up and Fu refused to give out Miraculous to people Marinette didn’t trust so the turtle had to fight. They had won but Marinette swore she’d never forgive Chat Noir for not showing up and costing a good man his life, and Marinette her mentor.

Master Fu’s last act had to strip Chat Noir of his ring and name Marinette the new guardian. Before he faded, he warned Marinette that some people weren’t worth fighting for. Sometimes, a hero’s first priority has to be to save themselves.

However, even then, Marinette had refused to give up. She kept trying to get her friends to listen, even when they made it clear they weren’t her friends anymore. Most didn’t reply to the texts anymore. And the ones that did, Alya mostly, ridiculed her; scorned Marinette’s very existence.

She tried to get Adrien to stand up and help her like he’d promised, only for him to ignore her calls, texts, and have Nathalie tell her that he didn’t want to be involved.

Despite the furious silent treatment from her mother and her father’s disappointed looks, Marinette still tried to convince them of her innocence. She had begged for them to listen to her, to trust that they raised her right, to believe her. It was only after two weeks into her expulsion, when Marinette found luggage waiting by the door that Marinette understood. Nothing would change their minds.

They explained quickly that Marinette was going to be sent to live with her father’s godmother, one of his mother’s best friends. A good woman who promised to set Marinette straight. Or at least keep her out of trouble.

Marinette was on a plane an two hours later to a little old Kansas and then to a small town rightly called Smallville.

A kindly older blond man name Jonathan Kent had met her at the airport. Marinette had given him a polite, quiet, greeting and when mute for the rest of the ride to their farm. She hadn’t known what to expect. Feared the worst. Feared that they thought she was the bully her.

As soon as they arrived at the farm, a rather pretty greying redheaded woman walked out of her house with a mixing bowl in one hand and a sturdy wooden spoon in the other. Marinette steeled herself as she got out of the car. She raised her head up, “Bonjour, Madam.”

“Well, aren’t you the sweetest little thing,” The woman had greeted. “And I swear, you look just like your grandmother. It’s that spark in your eyes. Every time I saw it, I knew there was going to be trouble. Particularly, for the fools that messed with her. That’s how my cheating ex boyfriend’s dorm accidently caught on fire.”

Marinette blinked once. Then twice. What?

“Accidently, Martha?” Jonathan chuckled as he got Marinette’s bags out of the car.

Martha shot him a smile, “They could never prove otherwise.” She looked Marinette over, “Gina said your parents have their heads in a place sun just can’t seem to reach. Wanted to me to look after you. Get you away from all that drama. Get you with family. And the lord knows, that woman doesn’t know how to sit her butt anywhere long enough to leave an imprint. So come on inside, let’s get you unpacked and some food inside you.”

Aunt Martha, as Marinette had been instructed to call her, had led her to an empty room that was just a bit bigger than the one she used to have and had a desk by a large window, a twin bed covered in a plaid blanket, and a few other standard amenities. Plus an old sewing machine on the desk. Marinette’s eyes lit up at the sight of it.

“Your grandma told me you like to design,” Aunt Martha smiled kindly. “I don’t use old Bertha myself anymore but I’d thought you’d like her. You can decorate your room anyway you’d like. Let me know if you need any help.”

Marinette nodded and couldn’t stop herself from hugging the woman. She hadn’t been able to take much with her (Clothes, phone, laptop, a stuffed animal or two, the guardian box) but she made sure to bring all her sketch books and had just barely enough time and money to drop off a few boxes of her designing equipment and supplies at the local mail service carrier to be shipped to the farm in the upcoming weeks. The fear had been weighing on her of what ifs. What if it all got lost in the mail? What if Marinette couldn’t design anymore?

Martha simply hugged her back, no probing questions. When Marinette let go, Martha said, “Now Kara and Conner’s rooms are either side of you. Conner’s mostly here on the weekends. Kara visits enough to still have room. They can be a… little nosy. But ignore it. My son, Clark, is visiting next week. They just can’t wait to meet you. I wouldn’t be surprised be any of them suddenly drops in.” She laughed, and it sounded a little like jingle bells.

Then suddenly, Martha straightened up and gave Marinette a soft look, “You let me know if you need to talk or… Anything really.”

Marinette felt her throat close up a bit and nodded stiffly.

“Dinner will be on the table soon.”

“May I help, Madam?” Marinette asked.

Martha looked her over, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. You can go ahead and get settled in.”

Marinette blinked again. No one ever turned down her offer to help before. “I want to.” And so she did.

Cooking with Aunting Martha was different that with her parents. While, she knew her parents loved to bake. It always felt like a job with them. One more responsibility Marinette had. Cooking with Aunt Martha was relaxing. They shared stories with each other and Marinette got more insight of her grandmother’s past than she ever had before. And even when it got silent, Marinette didn’t feel the need to fill it for once. And neither did Martha. It was nice.

Eating dinner had been the same. Enjoyable and lovely with promises of teaching Marinette all about the farm. Uncle John laughing at wide-eyed Marinette reaction to idea of her milking a cow. It was a relief not to deal with her mother’s stony silence and her father’s blatant disapproval.

Marinette knew from just one night that the Kents were good people and if she let herself, she could enjoy her time there. That didn’t stop Marinette from crying herself to sleep for a few nights.

During her first week, Marinette didn’t hear a word from her parents. Or the second. Marinette knew they were more than likely waiting for her to make the first move like she always did.

But unfortunately for them, Marinette was done. She was done with fake friends and disappointing crushes. She was done with being made out to be the bad guy. She was done always being the one to fix everything. Save everyone. Because she knew, without a doubt, that this time. Her first priority had to be save herself. Marinette had to fix herself. (Of course, Marinette still had to use the horse miraculous to go save Paris nearly every day but innocents needed her help.)

So Marinette let herself be immersed in the smallville way of life. She helped out of the farm. She competed with Aunt Martha over who had the best pie recipe. Blinked in confusion when Martha wrapped a plate of Marinette’s special double chocolate salt caramel cookies to be delivered and muttered something about “Alfred finally getting his” and the Kent family reigning victorious. Marinette had just been happy to be considered family.

Speaking of family, Marinette had become rather fond of her new “Cousins”. Jon was the youngest and reminded Marinette of a very hyperactive puppy. He constantly dragged Marinette away to play games and pretend. Connor was a bit sullen but had turned out to be a giant teddy bear once he opened up. He loved to talk about his friends; particularly someone named Tim. The beautiful blond Kara loved girl talk and arm wrestling Connor. She raved about Marinette’s designs and over her pictures with Jagged Stone. Clark, the oldest of her cousin, was a sweetheart; a geeky reporter who was married to a man named Bruce, worked mainly out of Metropolis, and had somewhere between five to seven kids. There was a lot of names and nicknames that left Marinette’s head spinning.

None of them had taken kindly to Marinette’s story of how she ended up on the Kent farm. Wondering who could bully such a sweet angel?

Though Marinette decided he wasn’t ever going to be her favorite after the blueberry scone incident.

Over the next few months, Marinette learned what her grandmother had meant about letting herself be angry and getting some vengeance. Because was allowed to be angry. And she was allowed to get payback.

After a rather nasty Akuma, Ladybug had taken the time to do an interview with Nadja. She had confirmed that Chat Noir was never returning, that the Ladyblog and its journalist had lost her trust forever after Ladybug had learned about the lies the blog was posting.

“What lies,” Nadja had asked, glad to finally stick it to the girl, Alya, who had been so mean to her honorary niece.

“Well for example, who the hell is Lila Rossi?” Ladybug asked when Nadja pulled up the website on the blue screen behind them. They scrolled through the website pointing out lies and inaccuracies. “That girl is not my best friend. I saved her from her own akuma save five times now. That’s it. I don’t know the girl. I don’t like the girl. What was written would only serve to put Lila in danger. And what’s this about Lila saving Jagged Stone’s cat? From a plane? Which airline was this? Who could be so careless?”

Nadja nodded and looked quite stunned herself at what was on the blog. “I highly doubt Clara Nightingale stole Lila’s dance moves. Or strictly guarded Prince Ali invites random girls, even Ambassador’s daughter, to discuss his country go green intuitive. Or that she came up with the entire plan herself. This is just ridiculous! And what this about you curing Tinnitus?”

Ladybug quickly shook her head, “That’s not possible. And it gives people false hope.”

“So Lila’s lying,” Nadja had to fight to keep the smugness out of her voice. She had told Sabine she was wrong. Had been absolutely furious that Marinette had been sent away. Some journalist should really learn Check Her Sources.” She said the last part with a smirk. “And what’s this about Gordon Ramsey?”

It went on from there, with brief intervals so Marinette could recharge. Ladybug had blasted her former school, its’ principle, and her old teacher Bustier to shreds. For allowing bullying of students, victim blaming, and sheer negligence. Reciting how many times Ladybug had to deal with akuma from that school, particularly from Bustier’s class.

“I heard one poor girl even got expelled,” Ladybug shook her head. “From what I’ve heard, there was no investigation, just word of mouth, easily planted evidence, and then expulsion. I’m surprised I didn’t have to deal with her Akuma.” Ladybug’s sad tone was clear to hear. “I looked into the incident a bit. A rather brilliant Robot name Markov had been recording the room at the time.” Marinette nodded to the screen. “I had them blur the students faces for security reasons. The girl with the short hair is the victim in question.”

The video played. And it was clear that a long haired girl had stolen the answer and planted them.

“I’m just sorry I couldn’t fix the issue,” Ladybug sighed. “By the time, I heard of it girl was been sent away by her parents. Not even they believed her.”

“I know the girl you’re speaking about,” Nadja frowned. “She’s stronger than she looks. Still, she deserved better. I swear to you that I’ll be leading the charge in investigating the wrongful expulsion.”

Ladybug smiled.

It took less than an hour after the interview to air for Marinette’s phone to start blowing up. Her ex-friends, her old classmates texted up a storm of apologies.

The call from her parents had come in no longer after. Her father had full of apologies and swore to make it up to her. Her mother had been in tears.

They were met with silence from Marinette. A forgive didn’t come. Marinette made it clear she still loved them but she was staying with the Kents. She would not be returning to Paris. It was her father’s turn to cry.

Marinette would forgive them in time. But that wasn’t her priority was herself at the moment.

While the Kents, Marinette was free to just be Marinette. Not anyone’s “Everyday Ladybug”. And was finding that she liked who she was.

She liked designing clothes for Kara and dresses for Aunt Martha. Doing everything possible to get Clark out of plain. (She would be victorious!) She liked hanging out around town with Connor and being someone’s little sister, as he called her. Though she wouldn’t mind if he lost the overprotective streak. She wasn’t some damsel in destress. There was no more panic attacks. No more dealing with pushing best friends. No more waste time on crush on a blond loser.

The only near heart attack she had was the blueberry scone incident. Marinette had gotten an akuma alert. She had yelled to Aunt Martha that she was going on a walk, hid behind the farm, transformed and portal’d away.

Unfortunately, Uncle Clark had heard that Marinette had made her famous scones and had been FLYING overhead to the house at the time and had saw her.

Uncle Clark had been waiting for her when she got back, with crossed arms and a stern look on his face. Before Marinette could open up her mouth to give a multitude of excuses, Clark held up one hand to silence her. Then he spun around faster than she’d ever seen anyone do before. And then Superman was standing in front of her.

Marinette’s heart had stopped, she’d swear.

After that they both de-transformed. Uncle Clark had led her inside where the entire Kent family was waiting.

Turns out Uncle Clark was a tattletale. And he was never going to be her favorite.

“Snitch,” She told him simply before anyone could say anything.

Clark blushed a little but shrugged.

After that everyone introduced themselves. Or rather their superhero identities. Each taking turns to tell their story. Marinette had shed a few tears about the loss of Krypton. Marinette had introduce the Kwamis’ to the Kents. Jon had let out a squeal of joy at the sight flying creatures.

Aunt Martha had only laughed when Plagg flew up to her face and said, “Cheese.”

Marinette told her story from when she first got Tikki to then. There was no happy faces in the room.”

“You’re a superhero?” Kara was the first to burst out. “Ladybug the Parisian hero.”

“You work an entire city?” Connor asked. “I’m now even allowed to do that yet.” He shot quick glare at Clark. “Even the Teen Titans has league supervision.”

Clark raised an eyebrow, “The Justice League doesn’t usually tread on other heroes’ territory. Ladybug had always managed well.” He then gave her a look. “However, we were unaware that Ladybug was a teenager. I think its time we took a closer look at Paris.

#ml salt #ml salt fic #batman #clark kent #connor kent #smallville #Marinette deserves better #marinette dupen chang #saltinette #adrien agreste

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ashintheairlikesnow · 4 years

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Reconstruction: Karen Renford’s Boys

CW: Depictions of stitches and semi-graphic description of wounds, dehumanizing language (used in a positive context? Kind of?), pet whump. But I promise this is uplifting! Sort of!

Takes place directly after Insecurity by @spiffythespook. Read that and Dismantled for context.

Henry and Wright Farling (referenced) belong to @spiffythespook

“He needs a doctor,” Henry hissed, glancing sidelong at the door to the kitchen. He was fiddling nervously with the shock implants along his collarbone with one hand, the other tapping fingernails in a staccato rhythm on the table. “Not us. We don’t know what we’re doing.”

“You are not helping me with my confidence,” Sebastian murmured in a slow even tone, his eyes focused with total concentration on the tiny needle he was currently trying to thread with the supplies from Karen’s first aid kit. Next to him was a small tablet, flat on the table, playing a tutorial video on how to give stitches.

“I just don’t understand why she won’t get him medical help,” Henry said, looking hesitantly at the oldest of them. "WRU has a clinic, an on-site hospital…" He shuddered at the memory of waking up in one of those rooms, Karen sitting next to his bed with that slight, coldly satisfied smile on her lips as she pressed into the newly-implanted circles over his collarbone and watched him fight back the sound of pain.

Then that gross scientist or whatever came in all bright smiles, ruffling his hair, and the other one with her stupid flat eyes...

"He needs someone who… who's at least done this before," Henry gestured at the tall man in the chair next to him.

Dex had had to be all but carried down the stairs by Sebastian and Peter, and he looked wrecked. His face had been totally torn open - Henry could barely stand to look at the wet pinkish tissue visible now that Sebastian had carefully cleaned away the fresh and dried blood.

Dex was covered in still-bleeding welts and bruises. His light brown eyes stared blankly off into space, but thankfully he didn’t seem to be… to be hallucinating any longer, like when they first tried to help him up and he flinched away from the corners of the room, panicked and lost trying to hide from things only he could see.

Kept trying to sign with broken fingers and letting out awful little cries of pain when his broken fingers couldn’t move the way he wanted.

“Look at him,” Sebastian said, without raising or changing the tone of his voice. “If we take him out, they’ll know she lost her temper. Can’t have that.” Sebastian’s mouth twisted, bitterly, as the thread finally went through the needle's eye. “Can’t have anyone knowing the ice queen nearly beat her perfect pet to death.”

Dex shivered, the only sign he could hear them, and blinked slowly. Henry had never seen anyone look as totally… destroyed… as Dex did, right now.

“So… so what? So you’re just going to sew up his face? With your experience of, of fucking cooking?”

Sebastian paused and looked over at him. His eyes were gentle, and understanding. “Henry. He’s going to be okay. I promise. I’ll get him sewn up, this is the only one bad enough to need stitches. If I don’t do it, it won’t get done.”

“But-... but she could have killed him!”

“She still might,” Sebastian said calmly. “I don’t know what happened up there, but-”

“I… I do. She said he loves someone and he’s not allowed to. When sh-she… when she told m-me to clean him uh-up…” Henry’s voice began to tremble and waver. His throat closed around the words he wanted to say.

Peter scraped his chair across the floor, pulling closer to Henry, sliding his arms around him just below his shoulders. Henry hated being touched, but in the moment, with Peter, he leaned into it and turned his head to press his forehead into Peter’s neck, clenching his eyes shut to force back the tears that threatened to come out. “She did that to him because he cared about somebody else that wasn’t her!”

Over his head, Peter and Seb looked at each other.

Dex mouthed something - it looked like his lips pushed together and then apart, one syllable - but no sound came out of his mouth. He didn’t look at any of them - he had focused his vision on a spot on the cream-colored wall and stuck there.

“Why does he look like that?” Henry asked, and his voice was caught in his throat, it kept coming out too high, too young.

“Facility stare,” Seb said flatly, with false casual ease. “We all get it. Coping mechanism."

“It lets you go away in your head,” Peter said reassuringly. “When it's so bad you can't keep going any longer. He’ll come back after a while. It’s just… it’s just something we all learn how to do in training. Trust me, Henry, he’ll come back. He’s… he’s been doing this a really long time.”

It was only at that second that Henry really realized that Dex was old enough to be his father. He could see the hints of lines in his face, the spread of stubble along his jaw, and yet… he still looked so young, too. Especially now, blank and empty, battered and bleeding and broken.

“All he d-did was have a f-feeling for someone,” Henry whispered, burying himself against Peter, who tightened the arms around him. It was a feeble hint of defense against the evil that had trapped them in this house… in Henry’s case, literally.

He pushed his palm into the little circles, the fucking-... the fucking things she’d put in him that went off if he got within five feet of the stupid fucking wall that circled her property. Trapped here until he could be trusted.

Until he was as broken as the others.

Sebastian sighed, turning back to his work. “It was really a matter of time,” He said softly to Peter. “He’s lucky she didn’t notice before. I kind of wondered… but honestly, I thought, who could care about that stupid creep? I figured he just, you know… wanted sex so badly he’d even take it from... him.”

A strange expression passed over Peter’s face, and he cleared his throat, swallowing. “Yeah… I thought so, too. I, I guess… I guess maybe it was more than that…”

“Clearly. She beat the fucking shit out of him. She’s been sending him to see that, that bastard since way before I ever came home… Jesus, Dex.” Seb looked up at him. Dex showed no indication he could hear. “You got yourself in deep shit, huh?”

Dex blinked once.

“I can’t believe he’d get himself this wrecked over that fucking creep,” Sebastian muttered. “That asshole thinks it’s art, what Karen does to us. He’ll probably think it’s funny when she tells him she beat Dex up like this.”

The weird expression passed over Peter’s face again, and he just shrugged. “Maybe. Doubt it, though.”

Henry had found himself staring at Dex again, thinking about the older man, that he’d been here for decades and he was forty and Karen still beat him up… and he just had to sit there and take it. Henry’s life would look just like that, now. If she found out Peter was so nice to him, that he cared about Peter more than he did anybody else - except she knew, didn’t she, she’d said he was making moon eyes…

“Oh, god,” Henry said softly. “Oh my god, this is it, isn’t it, this is… this is it… this is my whole future."

“It’s okay,” Peter said, rocking back and forth, his mouth moving lightly against Henry's hair. “It’s okay, Henry.”

“No, it’s not,” Henry half-whined into Peter’s neck. “It’s not okay and it’s never going to be okay again. All he did was care about someone!”

“Sssshhhh, she’ll hear you.” Peter rested his chin on top of Henry’s head and held him, and slowly Henry raised one hand to grasp onto his arm, breathing in shaky shallow gasps as he tried to calm himself down. “Don’t let her hear, Henry. It’s just us down here, let’s keep it just us.”

Henry nodded against Peter’s skin, trying not to think about the way she’d sounded, so perfectly calm with little spots of Dex’s blood on her face, telling him that if he didn’t learn to care more for her than Peter that she’d take everything away, just like she’d done to Dex.

He thought of Dex’s broken fingers, bent all out of shape, and the awful sound of him screaming in that strange inhuman hoarse voice, like an animal's scream, and shuddered.

There was a soft hiss, and Henry blinked back tears to turn his head and look. Dex was still staring at that spot on the wall as Sebastian carefully, slowly stitched up his face.

The only way to even know that he felt it was by the soft, constant hissing sound he made each time the needle slid into his skin and back out again. In and out, in and out, and Henry’s stomach lurched. He had to close his eyes and stop watching or he’d throw up all over the kitchen table.

“Wright Farling’s not fucking worth this,” Sebastian muttered. “Why, Dex? Huh?”

Dex didn’t even look in his direction. He just kept staring at the wall.

“So, what do we do next?” Peter asked, softly, nearly a whisper. “What comes next, Seb?”

“We have to splint his fingers. I’ll… I’ll find a video for that, too.” Sebastian sighed, pausing to carefully tie off the end of the thread, clipping it as close to the skin as he could, sitting back to look over his work. Stitches ran from just above Dex's jaw on the left side nearly to his ear, looking nearly fake, like they'd been painted on, compared to his sun-starved pale skin.

Seb's face was ash-white and greenish around the edges, but he did not waver, did not shake, did not cry.

“If we’re careful, we can set them right, and he’ll be able to sign once they heal up.”

“I’ll set his fingers,” Peter said, almost too quickly. “You and Henry go… go, uh. Clean, clean up her office. Get her clothes out of the hamper and soak them. I’ll set his fingers. I… need a minute alone with him.”

“What?” Henry pulled back, looking at Peter’s face, the hint of curl to his dark hair.

Peter shook his head “Just… go with it, Henry. Seb knows how to clean blood. Just go with him and do what he tells you. I’ll set Dex’s fingers.”

Dex’s broken hand twitched, as though he were listening, wherever he had gone deep inside his mind. He hissed, again.

“But why do you need to be alone-”

“Henry.” Peter turned, biting down on his lower lip, looking pained. “Please. Just trust me that it’s important, okay? Just trust me.”

He and Sebastian looked at each other, and Henry wondered how long he would live here before he had all those unspoken communications like they did, until he and Peter could have whole conversations without saying a word.

“Okay,” Sebastian said softly. “We’ll head upstairs, and leave you two alone. Just… don’t fuck up the splints, okay, Peter? Please. He needs his hands to talk. He can’t-... don’t let her take that away from him, too.”

Peter nodded, slowly, seriously. His jaw was set, his eyes sparkling. He looked like a man on a mission, and Henry thought it felt like there was more to that mission than just fixing his hand, but he couldn’t think of what.

Dex never moved, even though Henry knew he had to hurt so, so badly. He held himself very still and stayed blank and empty while Henry took out the supplies to splint his fingers. He carefully laid each item out on the table, trying not to think about the fact that Karen had supplies for this just lying around the house, ready. Finally, he couldn’t stop himself. “Has she broken your hands before?”

Sebastian, in the process of pulling up the tutorial video for Peter, shrugged. “Not mine. A cook without working hands isn’t much use, and she’s not about to start cooking for herself again.”

“She’s broken mine,” Peter said quietly. “Early on. These are probably all still here from then. But not in a long time, and mine healed up well enough. All right, I’m going to watch the tutorial a couple of times and then I’ll do this.”

“Okay.” Henry hesitated, not quite willing to leave Peter, not entirely sure why. Finally, Sebastian stood and jerked his head in the direction of the stairs, and Henry swallowed hard, nodding. “Peter…”

“You’re okay,” Peter said softly, soothingly, looking up at him from where he sat next to Dex. “She’s not going to hurt anyone else today. We’ll be okay.”

“But he’s not okay,” Henry said. “And… he won’t be, will he?”

Once more, that look that Henry couldn’t quite read between the other two. Peter looked over at Dex, and licked his lips, thinking. “He’ll be okay,” he said finally. “You’ll see. Now go on.”

Henry followed Seb out of the kitchen, but paused just on the other side of the doorway.

“Dex, are you listening?” He heard Peter say, in a low voice. “Please. I need you to be here with me. I know it hurts, but I need you to come back. This is important.”

There was a soft sound, not quite a grunt. Some kind of acknowledgement.

“Good.” Henry could hear Peter’s deep inhale from where he stood. “Okay. While she was… while…” He paused. Henry swallowed back an urge to go back in there and help, somehow.

At the stairs, Sebastian paused and turned when he realized Henry wasn’t following him. Henry put a finger to his mouth, hoping Seb would take the hint and be silent. Seb rolled his eyes, but… after a second he came back and stood next to Henry.

“While you were still upstairs,” Peter said softly, voice shaking a little, “Do you remember when the phone rang?”

There was a soft sound of assent.

“Okay, good. So… so the phone call… was, um, was from… Wright Farling.”

The sound that came from Dex’s throat was a nearly inhuman, despairing wail.

Henry felt his knees buckle under the weight of it.

“N-no, Dex, please, be quiet and don’t get her attention-” The sound cut off and then changed into more hoarse sobbing like Henry had heard coming from upstairs when she was hurting the older man, when the sobs had been punctuated by the thwak of her cane against Dex's skin.

Henry's eyes welled up with tears again and he jammed the palms of his hands against them to force the tears back.

Dex sounded so fucking gone.

This is what the rest of your life looks like, Henry.

Peter's voice became insistent. “Dex, please don’t try to sign, you’ll only hurt yourself-... Can you please-... Dex, god damn it, stop signing-”

There were new sounds Henry didn’t understand at first, rustling and scraping of the chairs. He managed to peek around the doorframe without being seen, and caught a glimpse of Peter holding Dex, the taller man slumped against him, weeping with his teeth ground together so he wouldn't move and tear open the new stitches while Peter petted gently through his dark hair, shushing, whispering into his ear.

"Please, Dex, you're all right, you're good, we're good boys, you're a good boy…"

Henry felt a lick of disgust down his spine, but realized Dex had visibly started to calm at the words. Henry wondered - not for the first time - if he really should feel grateful to Karen that he hadn't been forced to learn the way the others had, at the Facility, dehumanized until good boy - something you said to dogs - meant more than nearly any other kind of reassurance.

Henry turned to look and next to him, tears were running freely down Sebastian’s face even as he had a hand over his own mouth to keep himself silent. Seb caught Peter looking at him and shook his head. “He’s been here so long,” Seb whispered behind his hand. “She's taken his voice and his whole life. He felt something she didn’t like and she took that, too. What else is left for her to fucking take?”

The answer hung unspoken between them.

She would take anything.

She would take everything.

Dex’s sobs finally quieted back down, as Peter continued to murmur soft good boys to him. Henry's heart beat in his throat.

“Dex, listen to me,” Peter said softly. “Wright Farling didn’t call for her. Okay? He called to give me a… a secret message for you.”

Dex went perfectly, utterly silent.

Holding his breath.

“He said to tell you he called,” Peter all but whispered. “He wanted you to know.” The sound barely carried to the two men eavesdropping in the hall. “He said… he said to tell you he’s sorry, for this. For what she did.”

There was a pause, and then Dex began to cry again, but this time the sound was different in some way Henry couldn’t have defined but understood instinctively. It wasn’t despair, now, in Dex's tears - it was something like a fragile, barely-there hope.

Sebastian grabbed his arm and pointed towards the stairs. Whatever else Peter said to Dex, Henry didn't hear it, as he let Sebastian lead him away.

Halfway up the stairs, Henry said quietly, “Does that mean-”

“Sssshhhh,” Sebastian whispered, but the tears in his eyes had changed, too.

Hope.

For Dex, if no one else.

“Give Dex a minute with Peter,” Sebastian said softly. “Let’s… let’s go clean up her mess.”

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mononijikayu · 5 years

Text

I Will Follow You Into The Dark

note: i plan a levi mini series too wooo hooo he's alive in the manga whoooo hooo idc if you think he's dead he's alive to me he's gonna open that bloody tea shop and be a grumpy old grandpa

imagine: the day erwin decides to join the survey corps

SHE HAD NEVER THOUGHT SHE WOULD EVER WORRY ABOUT HIM BUYING FOOD AND HOUSE SUPPLIES. But she was. As she looked at the window, distracting her from the woolish feeling of the scarf she could not help but purse her lips as she sank onto her thoughts. Erwin Smith was never late, arrival and departure combined. He never gets home late, not without telling her.

She sighs.

It has been almost two and a half years since she and Erwin had started to live with one another. After the death of his father, Erwin had nowhere to go. The home he had known all his life had been dug in and out, many books missing from the bookshelves, papers missing from the desks, little trinkets Erwin's father had made disappeared.

(Y/N) (L/N) had been so horrified when they went inside, but if there was any horror or anger or any emotion inin his head, Erwin did not show it but merely started to pick up things here and there, turning to her in order to ask for her to do the same.

They slept in that house that night.

Bottling up whatever feelings they had, laying in the bed that Mr. Smith had once slept on, together.

Erwin however after that day asked if he could live in her house instead. Perhaps that night they spent in Erwin's home was just a needed closer, to make it seem real to him that he had truly lost his father.

She agreed, helping him pack all the things he needed to bring and helping him hide the things he was going to leave behind to ensure them to be safe. She thinks there would be a day when he is truly healed from his loss that he would return to this house. It was after all his father's house and now that he was gone, it had belonged to Erwin as young as they were. She had given Erwin one of the extra rooms to call his own.

There was plenty of room in her house, as her mother had told her father that she would like as many children as possible, had the labour not been hard on her.

Her father returned a few weeks after, his expedition causing a shoulder injury after he saved his commander from dying and becoming Titan dinner.

Her father had been very horrified when they told him of what had happened to Mr. Smith and how powerful people might be involved. It wasn't pity that was in her father's eyes when he told Erwin he could stay here for as long as he wanted, it was genuine sorrow. When he needed Mr. Smith's help, the man freely gave it and took good care of (Y/N) while he had been away on his expeditions.

He could not believe that Mr. Smith would just be killed like that, because of a story that they had no sure knowledge if it was even true or merely a fabricated lie. Erwin had brushed her father off as soon as he started to brood about it. There was no need to worry about it all when it was already done, or at least that was what Erwin said.

Respecting the boy's wishes, Captain (L/N) nodded.

They entered in a comfortable routine living together. They got up before dawn, lighting the lamp to start cleaning the house. Erwin for the most part was just as good at working on with his hands as he was with his bookish knowledge and he made repairs on things that need mending around the house like tables or chairs.

Erwin would start working on mending the garden, taking the ripe fruits and vegtables from where they had grown and started to plant some new ones on the emptied spots.While she dug out the weed from the various specks of the land with gloves on.

Then for a little while they would read and study together as the morning sun rises above the highest peak. She would stop after a while, knowing she had to get breakfast running.

Erwin continued to read but he gave her small glances, almost asking her if she wanted help. Erwin insisted he makes breakfast but she had made him agree once he came to live with her that she would cook breakfast but after she lost to him in a game of chess, Erwin managed to convince her that they take shifts everyday. But of course, that does not help because he still wonders if he could help around even if it was his shift.

She would always pull him to a chair and force him to read.

But the stares continues.

There was a point where she could not stop him and that's when doing laundry. He was the one who takes water to the house from the well while she gathers their clothes and washes it. Of course once and a while, Erwin would join her and help her hang their clothing.

And when they would hunt to gather food, they would have constant competition on who gets the biggest catch for their lunch and dinner. Often times it turns into a real warzone, with Erwin and her chasing each other down or foiling each other's plan. But they always manage to find something. There never was one winner, it always ends in a tie.

Then they would spend the entire day walking around, playing around in the river or going onto town or just climbing up a hill to see the sunset. Before they'd return and sometimes when they would come back, rain would come.

Erwin would start the fire while (Y/N) made tea and they would sit together in silence just to enjoy each other's company. At times, (Y/N) would sew or even play her viola and Erwin would play on a small harp.

It was always good to listen to music when the storms get harsh.

A year into this however, her father was killed saving his new cadets, which left her in the end, without a parent.

She cried a lot during the funeral. Despite the fact that her father was always away, he always made sure that she knows he loves her and that he cares for her. And she was going to miss him very much. Every time he was away, she lamented that he never comes home more often. But now he never was going to come home.

The commander of the Survey Corps had given her his condolences and his thanks that a man of honour and bravery like her father had exist and promised her that his salary would be continuously sent to her as a sort means to keep herself alive.

But what need is money when she lost someone who was dear to her?

In her time of grief, Erwin had been there to comfort her and give her strength. He had made sure she never missed a meal even though she didn't want to eat, he made sure she was not filthy by forcing her to bathe when he could. Once he had to dump water on her head just to get her to move to the bathroom.

She didn't get angry at him for that.

She knew he was taking care of her.

Like he always does.

But as she looked down on the scarf she had been knitting, she wonders if she'll be able to take care him more. If she could ever repay him for the things he has done for her. She doubts she could but she knows she was willing to try to. She was willing to do anything to take care of him.

He was all she had.

There was no one else but him.

That's why....

The sound of the door creaking made her look up, hiding the scarf below her. The sun had nearly set. She had been waiting for him for a while now but it seems he has returned. His growing figure turned to her with his blond hair a little out of place and his blue eyes unreadable but his smile was there as he faced her.

She pursed her lips.

But she smiles immediately.

He was hiding something.

"I'm sorry I'm late." Erwin sheepishly says with his smile. "I had to run all over town to get what you asked me to get. Honestly, we're only two people."

"I already told you," She says, wrapping everything she had been doing into a messy bundle to keep Erwin from seeing what she had been making and quickly hiding it away in her room. She pops her head out from her door. "It's your birthday, Erwin! We are not missing celebrating it."

"But I've told you a million times-"

"It's not fair we celebrate my birthday but not yours."

"Your birthday is much more important-"

"Well your birthday is just as important!" She pouts as she looks at him. "I'm gonna do something for a bit. I'll be right back."

She closes the door.

Erwin sighs.

But he smiles sadly.

She was the only thing he had.

He clenched his chest for a moment.

A little later, she had gotten out and Erwin had already started cooking. She scolded at him at how it was his birthday and there was no need for him to cook but he insisted that it had been his birthday that he'd have the courtesy of being the one preparing the festive meal.

But of course they compromised.

They cooked together for the sake of no arguments.

The meal was enormous, more than what could be had between two young kids but (Y/N) decided that this was an occasion that happens once a year and went all out for the day. There was meat stew and roasted chicken with mash potatoes. She had also baked a tea cake, making sure it was just enough sweetness as Erwin was not that fond of it.

They were full by the end of it and rested together after drinking some lavender tea to help them feel a bit at ease after that feast. Erwin looked at her as she lay up beside him in bed. She had been looking at the window for a while, in awe of the sky.

"Do you wanna go out and see the stars?" Erwin asked her as she looked back to him, smiling with a nod.

"But just wait a moment, I have something for you."

His eyebrows furrowed. "(Y/N), you didn't-"

She was blushing as she beamed brightly at him when she handed him the wrapped item. "I know it probably isn't much and you'll probably be embarrassed to wear it..."

He immediately opened it.

A scarf.

Just like the colour of his eyes.

He looked at her.

"I didn't want you to be cold." She tells him softly. He couldn't stop looking at the scarf. "It's going to be winter very soon. I wanted to keep you warm at the very least."

"Is this what you've been working on for weeks? The one you wouldn't let me see?"

She nodded, giving an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry for not telling you anything, Erwin. I wanted to keep it a surprise. It is your birthday after all."

He felt a lump at his throat.

She was sorry?

No, she should not be sorry.

He should be the one saying sorry.

"I don't deserve this." She was startled by his words as she saw him looking at the scarf with guilt. He seemed in pain as he looked at her. "I don't deserve you."

"Erwin, why would you say such-"

"(Y/N), I'm joining the military." Her eyes widened as he said those words. "They've been recruiting for a few days and I'm sure it will continue for a while but I decided on it. I signed up today...that is why I was truly late."

Tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Y-you're leaving me?"

"I...I don't want to but.."

"But you already said you decided on it!" She responded with sorrow. "Of all days...you..you decided to..."

"I didn't mean for you to feel this way." Erwin admitted but guilt was eating him. "But I need to do this...I...This is the only way."

"The only way?" She furrowed her brows as the tears slowed. "The only way to do what, Erwin?"

Silence overtook them.

"Erwin...you know you can tell me anything."

He looked down on the floor and sighed. "I've feel guilty."

"Guilty? Erwin, you have committed no crime-"

"But isn't it my fault that my father is dead?" He retorts back at her lowly. "Isn't it me who killed my father with my foolishness. I...I was my father's killer, (Y/N) and for the past two years I've been living inside that guilt, wishing I can do something to repent for it. To have some sort of punishment."

"Erwin," Her hands take his face to meet her gaze. "It was not your fault."

"But why does it feel like it is? Why does it feel like I killed him with not only my words but with my own two hands, two hands he had mended and cared for?" He finally meets her gaze. But tears were pouring down from his eyes. "Why does that feeling never go away?"

"Believe me when I say that it is not your fault, Erwin." She says to him softly, wiping away his tears. "I know that he does not blame you wherever he may be now. Your father has loved you and will always love you. That's why there is no way it would be your fault. You didn't know what could have happened."

He does not move.

She sighed, lowering her hands from his face and taking the scarf from his hands and into her own. Then she gently put it behind his neck and started to wrap it around him. His eyes watched as she did.

Her hands were warm.

"If this is what you want to do, then...then I'll go with you." She says with a determined look, his eyes widening at her words. "I'll join the military too."

"(Y/N), You musn't say something you don't mean!" He scolds her but she shook her head.

"I mean it." She confirms to him as she looked at his hand, taking it into her own. She squeezed his hand. "I'm going to go with you. You are all I have, Erwin. I...I don't want to lose you too. And if the only way to be with you is to go to the dark, then Erwin Smith, I will follow you through the dark."

A few weeks later, they were both in the military training camp.

A few weeks later, their lives were forever changed.

A few weeks later however, they were still together.

Even in the dark.

'Hey, Erwin.' Erwin turned his attention to Levi as he was placing his winter coat over his back. 'I have a question.'

'What is it, Levi?' He asked as he firmly placed his winter coat over his arms. 'Is it about the new tea I've bought in?'

'Oh, I already know about that.' Levi retorts. He points to Erwin's long sky blue scarf. It looked a little old, but it looked well cared for by the Section Commander. 'I was going to ask about your scarf. I've never seen you wear any other one. For weeks now, its the same thing.'

'Well I'm not like Hange, Levi.' Erwin pointed out. 'I don't do experiments that wear out or kill my scarves.'

'Just answer the question, will you?' Levi says with a growl as Erwin laughed, lowering his gaze to the scarf.

Erwin allows his fingers to feel the softness of it. Almost just as soft as so many years ago.

'It was a gift by the most important person in my life. Among other things. ' Erwin exclaims with great fondness to him as Levi saw the shine on the blond man's eyes. 'I wouldn't trade it for just any other scarf. This one is special.'

'Alright, stop there you damn sap. I got my answer.' Levi says, stretching out of his chair. 'I'm heading to bed. I presume you're going to go meet with this important person?'

'Of course. But rest properly. Don't take the day off for granted. I presume though you're not getting any rest. She's coming over too, isn't she?' Erwin smiled softly, bidding his friend good night.

Levi glared at him but Erwin laughed. 'Make sure the vice captain is comfortable, Levi.'

'Shut the fuck up, Erwin.'

'So...she's coming by?'

Levi groaned.

Erwin laughed once more. 'I'm going to go now, Levi. She's going to be mad if the food gets cold. Come by some time. She'd love to have you too. Perhaps we'd even invite the vice-captain.'

'Tch. Better prepare your house, eyebrows." Levi retorted back at him as he walked off. 'I'll do a cleaning inspection.'

Erwin had to laugh.

Life was good.

Despite it all.

There was still light in his dark world.

#commander erwin #erwin smith #captain levi #levi ackerman #aot manga #aot #aot spoilers #aot season 3 #aot s3 #attack on titan #shingeki no kyoujin season 3 #shingeki no spoilers #shingeki no kyojin #snk manga #snk #snk spoilers #snk season 3 #snk s3

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nerdforestgirl · 7 years

Text

The Adolescence Alternative

Chapter Six: Prom

Previous Chapter: Chapter Five: Discovery

Amy went to get her nails done with Penny and Bernadette the day before prom, and she was happy to have not only a date to the prom, but also the required friends to do that preparations with beforehand. It seemed that everyone was meeting at Penny's house to get dressed and do their makeup before the guys came to pick them up. Amy's mother said that was okay with her as long as they all stopped by the house before they went on to dinner so she could take pictures. Amy was embarrassed when she explained this requirement to her new friends, but they said it wasn't a problem. Apparently Bernadette's parents wanted the same thing.

“You look so pretty!” Penny told Amy when she showed off her new dress. “Now, let's do some makeup.”

“I don't really know how.”

“That's okay. We'll help,” Penny assured Amy. When Amy sat down, she didn't really know what to expect. Penny painted her face with a number of products, but wouldn't let her look until she was finished. Amy suddenly worried that it was a trick because girls like Penny weren't usually nice to her.

“What do you think?” Penny asked Bernadette.

“I like it. The shadow really brings out her green eyes,” Bernadette responded.

“Okay. You can look,” Penny promised as she handed Amy a mirror. She was worried that Penny would overdo it, but she didn't. Amy's features were highlighted nicely.

“Thanks, Penny!” Amy said.

“No problem. Now, I need to do some touch ups. Oh, and here is the lipstick you are wearing. If you and Sheldon start making out and you need to fix your lips, it will be nice to have this,” Penny added as she handed over a lip color.

“I don't think Sheldon will want to make out,” Amy assured Penny, but she put the lipstick in her purse anyway.

“You never know. You do look very pretty. Maybe he won't be able to keep his hands off of you,” Bernadette teased with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“Don't forget the corsage,” Mary reminded Sheldon as they heard the honk from the car waiting to pick him up. Mary straightened his tie and smoothed his hair. “And make sure you take good photos with Mrs. Fowler. She promised me copies. And most importantly have fun.” Mary kissed her younger son the cheek.

“I will,” Sheldon promised. He picked up the flower in the box and went to get in the car.

The rest of the guys were already in the car when Sheldon went to get in. He was the last stop before going to Penny's to pick up the girls. Then they had to do all of these photos. Sheldon still didn't get what the big deal was with prom, but he loved Amy enough that he would play along.

“All ready get some, Sheldon?” Howard teased.

“Get some what?” Sheldon asked.

“You have lipstick on your cheek,” Leonard said as he handed over a tissue. Sheldon wiped at his face and cursed his mother under his breath.

When they pulled up to Penny's, everyone loaded out of the car. Sheldon felt a little nervous now that he was about to see Amy Farrah Fowler. Penny's dad answered the door and invited them all in.

“Wow,” Sheldon said when Amy came down the stairs after Penny and Bernadette. All of the girls looked pretty, but he thought Amy was especially so.

“I don't get a wow?” Penny teased Leonard.

“The wow is implied. I always think wow when I see you,” he answered.

“Smooth,” Penny said as she inspected Leonard. She smoothed his jacket and gave him a kiss.

Amy made her way over to Sheldon. She thought he looked amazing in his tux, so she reached out and touched his chest to make sure he was real. She grinned at her when she touched him. He was definitely real.

“You look very pretty,” Sheldon said awkwardly.

“So do you,” Amy teased back.

“Thank you,” Sheldon said without a hint of irony. Then he presented Amy with the corsage his mother helped him pick out. It was blue and white to match her dress. Sheldon slipped it on Amy's wrist. Then she quickly kissed Sheldon. She didn't want to ruin her lipstick, but she couldn't help herself.

The group took a lot of photos. Then they climbed into the car to go to Bernadette's house to take even more photos. Then again to Amy's where they took even more photos. It was getting a little tedious, and Amy apologized to everyone for her part.

“Moms like photos. We get it,” Leonard assured her as they climbed back into the car.

After the nice dinner, they all loaded up to go on to the dance. Neither Amy nor Sheldon had ever been to a school dance before, so they didn't know what to expect. It was just in the high school gym, but Amy was impressed by how much work had gone into decorating it.

“Care to dance?” Sheldon asked immediately while everyone else was still just looking around. It was a dance, and he wasn't sure what else he was supposed to be doing here.

“Sure,” Amy said as she took Sheldon's hand.

They went out to dance for a while. Amy was surprised by how light on his feet Sheldon was. She giggled the first time he dipped her or twirled her. They weren't dancing at all like the others, who were all fast dancing instead of waltzing, but it was still fun.

That was until Amy started to twirl and she heard a rip.

“My dress,” Amy complained as she felt the cool air suddenly hit a spot on her back. She had been having too much fun to realize that someone had been standing on her dress when she started to spin. As if they didn't stop dancing, Sheldon ushered Amy off the dance floor and out into the hall. Then he found an empty classroom to take her into.

“Should we go?” Amy asked Sheldon. She was embarrassed about the split on the back of her dress as she held it closed with her hands.

Sheldon moved Amy's hands and inspected her dress. “I can repair this. Please remove your dress,” he said bluntly.

“What?”

“I can repair your dress if you remove it,” Sheldon repeated. Then he turned his back to Amy while he shrugged off his tuxedo jacket. He handed it back without peeking at Amy in only her under garments. When Amy had the jacket pulled tight around her, she told Sheldon he could look.

He picked up her dress, and then started getting into his supplies from his pocket. A few things fell out while he tried to retrieve his sewing kit.

“Condoms?” Amy asked when she picked them up. “I'm not. I mean. I love you, but I'm not ready,” Amy stammered.

“You love me?” Sheldon asked in shock. “I love you, too.” Then he pulled Amy in for a hug, which Amy was struggling to process. She was barely dressed and had her boyfriend's condoms in her hand.

“I'm not ready,” she repeated when he let go of her. She held the condoms up to show him, and hoped that he wouldn't be angry. He took them back from her and shoved them back in his pocket.

“Those? I'm not ready either. My brother gave me those in case we engaged in coitus on prom night per tradition. But even he said we shouldn't unless we were both ready.”

Amy nodded. She felt better that he didn't seem to have any expectations about it. She sat down to watch Sheldon mend her dress.

“Hey, kids. Back to the gym,” Mr. Avery, the principal said as he opened the door. He realized that Amy wasn't dressed, and he was about offer them both suspensions for engaging in sexual activity on school grounds. Amy screamed and pulled Sheldon's jacket even tighter around her even though it already covered her to her knees already.

“Cooper? What are you doing?” Mr. Avery asked. Sheldon didn't seem like the kind of kid who would sneak off for something like this.

“I ripped Miss Fowler's dress while we were dancing, so we came in here to fix it,” Sheldon explained without looking up from his project. He just added another stitch to the tear.

“Five minutes, Cooper,” Mr. Avery told them before leaving them alone. Only a kid like Cooper would sneak off to fix his date's dress. They didn't seem to be up to anything, and he felt a little uncomfortable being a room with an underdressed teenage girl.

Amy watched as Sheldon carefully sewed up the tear in her dress with his sewing kit. Once he finished he handed Amy back her dress and turned so that she could get dressed.

“I can mend it properly if I use my mama's sewing machine, but this will get you through the rest of the night,” Sheldon promised as he inspected his work on Amy.

“Thanks, Sheldon.”

“I'm always prepared,” he told her proudly. Amy thought of the condoms in his pocket when he said that. She supposed it was good that he was ready for the possibility even if they had never even spoken of it. She eyed him as he held the door for her, and thought it wasn't the worst idea in the world.

They went straight back to the gym, and Sheldon even gave Mr. Avery a wave to show that they had returned, both fully dress in less than five minutes. Sheldon took Amy right back to the dance floor near where Leonard and Penny were dancing.

“We're going to a party in, like, fifteen minutes,” Penny told them after they arrived.

Amy was nervous because she had never been to a high school party. She had only seen them in movies, and it seemed like a lot alcohol drinking. Still, she joined the group as they all climbed back in the car together. Penny gave the driver the address, and they were off.

The party was actually... boring. It was just a bunch of people talking. A few people were dancing in the backyard. There was plenty of alcohol, but Sheldon just grabbed himself and Amy sealed cans of Coke from a cooler. Then they sat down to talk.

It was a little too loud to really talk, and Amy was tired of leaning over to say “What?”

“Can we go find somewhere a little more quiet to talk?” Amy finally asked. They looked outside, but people were either smoking or playing music everywhere. Sheldon eyed the upstairs and started up there. It was more quiet, and they thought about just sitting in the hallway. But a couple just left a bedroom together as Sheldon and Amy got up there. They looked at each other wordlessly and decided to just go in instead.

It looked like the room belonged to the host's parents. Amy felt a little strange being in a stranger's room, but she went to sit on the bed all the same. She was really careful not to touch anything else.

Sheldon didn't want to sit, so he stood while he talked to Amy at first, but eventually she urged him to join her. When he did, Amy leaned forward to kiss him. It wasn't often that they had this level of privacy, and Amy wanted to take advantage of it. Sheldon leaned into the kiss, and felt himself rather than decided to push Amy onto her back.

“Do you still have those condoms?” Amy asked after she pushed him back.

“You said you weren't ready,” Sheldon reminded her.

“I want you to be my first,” Amy admitted. She wasn't sure she was ready to sleep with Sheldon, but she was still sure that she wanted it to be him. Heaven knew that she didn't want to do it here on this strange bed, but they were running out of time. Not that Sheldon knew that. Amy still hadn't gotten up the courage to tell him that she was moving in what was now just a couple of weeks.

“We have time,” he said into her neck.

“We don't,” Amy confessed.

“Don't be melodramatic. We are young and in love. I'll take you to my pop pop's cabin at the end of the summer. We'll be miles from anyone. It'll be nicer than someone else's dirty sheets,” Sheldon said as he remembered where he was. He pushed himself off the bed. “I guess I thought about it more than I realized,” he admitted to Amy with a smile.

“I won't be in Texas by the end of the summer,” Amy finally told him.

“I can work around your schedule. The only time anyone is out there is the Fourth of July. We can have it anytime.”

“No. I'm moving as soon as the school year is out. We only have two weeks left together. I love you Sheldon. I think we should do this. I want it to be you.”

Sheldon just shook his head. In his mind, this didn't add any urgency to the sex situation, but he couldn't understand how she hadn't told him that she was moving.

“How long?” Sheldon choked out.

“Two weeks,” Amy said.

“You've known for two weeks, and you didn't tell me? Why?” Sheldon growled.

“No. I move in two weeks. I... I've known that I'm moving for three months,” Amy confessed with a sob.

“That's the whole time you've been my girlfriend,” Sheldon shouted.

“I found out the night of your birthday. I wanted to call you that night. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I liked you—no, I love you. I didn't want to ruin things between us. I wanted you to be my boyfriend. I shouldn't have lied, and I'm so sorry. I just couldn't stand you breaking up with me because I was leaving.”

Sheldon didn't say anything. He was furious as he left the room and slammed the door behind him. Then he ran down the stairs and out onto the street. He didn't even know where he was, but he picked a direction and started walking. He walked East for nearly a half hour before he realized that it was the wrong direction and turned around. All in all, it took an hour and a half for him to get home. That was an awful lot of time to think.

Amy went to find Penny to ask for her help getting home. Penny took her to the car and told the driver to take the crying girl home.

“Are you sure you're okay? Was it Sheldon? Did he do something to you?” Penny asked.

“I'll be fine, and Sheldon didn't do anything to me. I hurt him. I don't even know where he went. I think he went home,” Amy said.

“Call me tomorrow, okay?” Penny asked as she closed the door on the limo.

“I will,” Amy promised. Then the driver took her home. Mother was waiting up for her.

“Did that boy hurt you?” Amy's mother asked when she saw Amy in tears as she walked in. She worried that sweet seeming Sheldon might have done something.

“No. I hurt him. I finally told him about the move. After we told each other that we love each other,” Amy sobbed.

“This is the second time you've told me that you love him. The last time you played it off like you were being dramatic. Do you love this boy, Amy Farrah?”

Amy nodded. She had been holding it all in because she didn't want to make the moving thing harder for her parents. They didn't know she loved the dork from her biology class when they decided to move again. Amy had always been the good girl who went along with whatever her parents wanted. Another move was planned, so she wasn't going to put up a fight.

“Oh, Amy Farrah,” Amy's mother cooed as she hugged Amy to her chest.

“It's fine. It's only been a few months. It's better to end things now than wait until we have to go our separate ways for school,” Amy conceded.

“Amy Farrah,” Amy's mother chastised. “I know that all of these moves have put a lot of stress on you, but I thought I never thought I raised you to keep quiet on your needs.”

“I don't need him,” Amy lied to herself just as much as her mother. Then she went up to her room, which was where she spent the rest of her weekend. She even thought about asking her mother to call her in sick on Monday, but it was near the end of the school year. Too close to finals to be missing school.

#NFG fan fiction #the adolescence alternative

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weirdo-in-the-snow · 7 years

Text

~Forever Home (Part 2)

Summary: Morty L-117 is going to live in yet another dimension with yet another Rick. Hooray.

Chapter word count: 1,580

Warnings: Abuse mentioned

Chapter: 2 of 2

Author’s note: Hey again! so yeah second and final chapter of my first multichapter fanfic. Yay! Anyway, this is about my Mortysona and @gibbytrash‘s Ricksona and how they meet pretty much. sorry for the edgy backstory but whatever, enjoy!

The front door of the cream-colored house opened smoothly, with barely a squeak. As soon as we stepped through the doorway, a sweet smell tickled my nose. It was the kind of scent that was synthesized from a compound of chemicals that somehow smelled just like flowers.

My new Rick lead me past a puce wall that was cut by a staircase leading to the second story of the house. On the side closest to him, an empty dinner table sat expectantly in an off white dining room.

I wondered where the flowery smell was coming from. It was probably from a candle or one of those little air fresheners you plug into the wall. Or maybe I just hadn’t picked up on a fragrance this imitation Rick was wearing.

“Beth, sweetie, I’m home!” he called out, cheerfully. We came to a stop in the living room. A teenage girl and her mother sat on the couch, the former munched on popcorn while the latter nursed a glass of wine, the half-empty bottle sitting on the coffee table in front of them. It wasn’t even 4:30 yet.

The two looked up from whatever reality show they were watching, their eyes drawn to me. The stranger. The elephant in the room. The black sheep. I immediately felt uncomfortable, becoming the center of attention in an instant. I felt their eyes pressing into me and I broke into a nervous sweat.

“Guys, this is Morty,” he was all bleach-white teeth and stretched lips as he introduced me to my new foster family. Synthetic flowers still bloomed nearby.

“Uh, hey,” I said.

A truly stunning first impression. I realized that this bland, overwhelmingly teenage greeting was the first thing I’d said since I’d left the daycare. One of the only things I’ve said in the past week or so, actually.

“Isn’t he just the cutest thing?” his rhetorical question asked with such enthusiasm, I half expected an answer. “Morty, this is Beth and Summer. And you can just call me Rik, spelled R-I-K.” He twirled his finger in the air as he spelled. The pair on the couch stood up to greet me.

I swallowed. The entire experience was very vexing to me. I was so used to being ignored, used, passed around by strange and abrasive hands. It confused me to be fawned over or to even be properly introduced.

The woman I knew as Beth stood with her arms raised hesitantly in an uncertain offer for a hug. I accepted it awkwardly, wrapping my arms around her, squeezing weakly. She smelled like cheap wine, lipstick, and hair dye.

“Welcome home sweetie,” she said, her voice soft and compassionate. She seemed so nice. My original mom had died because of complications during my birth so I never got to meet her. My dad would beat me and ignore me and even spit on me, telling me that it was my fault she was dead. And I always believed him.

I had only met one other version of the Smith family, but the only interactions I had with them were tense or sullen, if they weren’t just straight up ignoring me. Shunning me for not being the right Morty. For not being their Morty.

The “replacement Morty”.

I turned to Summer. I only have faint memories of my original sister since she was much older than me and was nearly eighteen years old by the time I was five. Home was awful and almost every conversation between her and Dad morphed into an argument, ending in slamming doors and tears.

Not even a month after she graduated, she got the hell out of Dodge. I remember her promising to me before she left that she’d come back and save me. She would take me far away to somewhere better and nicer where no one would ever hurt me again. I never saw or heard from her after she left.

I don’t blame her, though. Who knows, she could have died. It’s not like Dad would have told me. But even if she did just forget about me or just abandoned me, I never thought bad of her. I probably wouldn’t have come back for me either.

This Summer was a bit different than the few I’ve seen. She was noticeably thicker in her arms and legs as well as having broader shoulders and smaller breasts due to lack of body fat. We were practically the same height, but I knew that she could easily sling my scrawny ass over her shoulder and carry me around if she tried.

Her tanktop hugged her sides, showing the shape of her lean midriff and muscular hips. Her ginger hair was pulled up, drawing attention to her bright brown eyes and clear complexion. There was no doubt that she had a few admirers that were head-over-heels in love with her.

Neither of us could look each other in the eye, our gazes floated aimlessly around the room, hoping to never cross paths. I could tell she felt just as awkward and unsure as I did.

Our hug was brief, her giving my back a small pat while my hands stayed completely still. We pulled apart quickly before continuing our little eye avoidance game. The air hung heavy with pregnant silence.

Rik beamed obliviously off to the side. After a few suffocating moments, Beth had had enough and turned towards the transvestite.

“Dad, why don’t you give Morty a tour of the house?” her question made Rik perk up. He started towards me, overjoyed to show me around.

“Of course, of course! C’mon Morty, let’s go see the rest of the house,” he grabbed my arm again, leading me through the rooms of small suburban home. I was just glad to leave.

I followed Rik though the kitchen and dining room, the table still sitting there, empty. He opened a door that lead into the garage. It seemed to be used as more of a supply room seeing as it was full of an assortment of clothes-making materials (bolts of fabric, dressmaking dummies, a few sewing machines, some broken, others still in their original boxes) as well as stacks of cardboard boxes.

Between the clutter and the garage door was the strangest looking spaceship I had ever seen. Its design was reminiscent of cars from the 1960s, even having those little wings coming off the back. It was the same grotesque pink as Rik’s portal gun, giving the vehicle a very imposing air of femininity.

I didn’t listen to Rik as he talked about the rooms of the house as we went through them. I instead focused on predicting how long it would take for me to somehow end up back in the daycare, waiting for my next home.

All the rooms seemed to monotonously blur together until we walked up the stairs towards the bedrooms. We passed the room that was (in my experience) usually mine, alternatively going towards the smaller guest room just down the hall.

“And this room is yours!″ Rik announced cheerfully as he opened the door. Behind it was a small room, the walls painted a bland dark grey and a pair of shelves protruding from the far wall. One of the two was completely empty while the other had a miniscule variety to choose from.

Half the selection was made up of health and fashion magazines and parenting books. I think there was a English to Spanish dictionary thrown up there, too.

The rest of the room was entirely empty save for a single lamp that sat in the middle of the room, unplugged. I stared at it for a moment.

“Lamp,” I said flatly.

“Sorry it’s a bit... sparse,” Rik apologised,embarrassed. “We didn’t have much time to prepare and this was all we had on short notice.”

I walked inside, setting my stuff down, letting my arms rest. Rik started to follow, but hung back, hovering uneasily in the doorway.

“Don’t worry, though!″ he consoled me somewhat frantically. “We’ll go out and get you everything you need as soon as possible.”

“It’s fine, really,” I said, turning in a slow circle to examine the bedroom. It was small, but cozy. I had never felt at home in big rooms anyway.

“Oh, I could help set up a little spread for you to sleep on!” Rik offered.”C’mon, it’ll be fun!”

I sat on my makeshift mattress of blankets and comforters, admiring the personal touches I added to my new room. My duffel bag of clothes lay splayed open at the foot of my “bed”. several glass tanks of varying sizes lined the far wall, each holding a pet of mine. The empty shell of my red wagon tucked neatly into a corner, a small stack of books from the shelf next to my spread, the dandelion light of the lamp softly illuminating the sleep space.

Having already eaten at the Citidel, I decided to turn in early, mumbling goodnights to my adoptive family before retreating upstairs. Luckily, they seemed okay with my numerous animal companions,though I could tell my snake somewhat bothered Rik in particular.

As I settled into my cocoon of covers, I realized I felt relaxed, content, almost happy. Something I haven’t felt in a while. I wondered how long it would last as I reached for the lamp’s switch.

I pressed it, dowsing the lamp’s light, filling the room with a calming, quiet darkness. Maybe I could call this place home.

#abuse mention//#words #like hella words #mortysona #ricksona #L-117 #GA-331 #my writing #fanfic #rick and morty

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