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amor-immortalem · 3 years

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Everything Undesired chapter 12

chapter 11

Warning: kidnapping

A/N: I hope y'all are ready for a very heavy chapter because toward the end our Greed boi is going to go to a very dark place with his real thoughts on Cyrus.

“Do you think he does?” Belphie asked as he watched his older brother feed the baby.

“It would make sense.” The second-born shrugs. “I think Lucifer realized it too ‘n that’s why he was in such a big hurry for Beel and him to leave.”

The seventh-born only nods in response. “Hey I heard you three are going up to the mortal world after the term... Is that true?”

“Yeah... ‘Rella says she wants to go back to her home in York. I like the idea- been there a couple times with her after Solomon taught her to summon us. It’s nice. Hardly anybody stops by so it should be relaxin’ ‘n maybe it’ll do the baby some good to get away from the house for a bit.”

“More power to you, since we don’t know a whole lot about what kind of nutrients cambions need to begin with, it’ll probably be good for him to get some sunlight, I guess. Hey, why’re you holding the bottle that way? Doesn't it make more sense to hold it higher so he finishes eating faster?”

“Nah, any higher and he could take too much and inhale it while he’s eating. Learned that out the hard way with Satan. Plus, lowers your chances of gettin' spat up on.”

“It’s crazy that you stepped up like that for him... How did you do it?” The Avatar of Sloth leans his head against Mammon’s shoulder.

“Lots of sleepless nights and lots of coffee- I swear, m’blood probly consisted of just coffee back then,” Mammon pulls the bottle away from Cyrus after he had finished eating and started to burp him, “at least for those first few months anyway.”

“I’m not surprised,” Belphie hums.

“S'why our rooms are right next to each other. That way I wasn’t having to risk poppin’ my stitches runnin’ through the halls just t’get to him before he could wake any of y’all up. Man, that thing took forever t’heal. Not t’mention it kept getting infected since between watchin’ out for the lil’ ball of wrath that was our brother ‘n school, ‘n plannin’ Lilith’s service, I only had the time t’really take care of it when I showered save for the rare moments I had to change my bandages...” Mammon is silent for a moment, “I don’t regret it though. Gettin' to see him grow up to become a strong demon and knowing I made that possible, makes it all the reward itself.”

The younger brother only nods as he notices the infant’s eyes were glued to him- more specifically at his face. “What’re you staring at, kid? Do I have something on my face?”

“Nah, it’s just a thing babies do around this age. Its more about learning faces and facial expressions right now,” The older brother explains.

“Considering what you went through, you seem awfully calm now when you deal with him.”

“It's parental instinct and nothing more right now. Think of it as your body moving on its own. If I’m being honest with you, it’s still kind of hard- especially when he gets clingy like this but I think I’m gettin' better with him- acceptin' reality for what it is and learning to bond with him. Believe me, Belphie this isn’t how I wanted to have my first kid, but,” Mammon lets out a depressed sigh, “I’m a father now... and that means I have to suck it up and get my shit together. It’s what he deserves at the very least.”

“Wow, I guess what they say is true, huh? You really do change your ways once you have a kid.”

“Whatcha mean by that? I feel like I should feel insulted...”

“Sorry, it wasn’t meant to come out that way, Mams... It’s just that it feels like you’ve changed. Before all this, there wasn’t a single day where you went without thinking of easy ways to make a quick grimm, not a day where we didn’t have to take inventory of our stuff in fear that you had stolen something valuable of ours, went on massive shopping sprees whenever you could, but now... now, you don’t do any of that. It’s like you grew up somehow... like you’re back to how you were when we were angels and how you were way back when we had just fallen and your sin hadn’t quite settled in yet, you know?”

“Let’s just say priorities have changed...”

“Well, whatever the reason, it’s a nice change. I’m going to head to bed now. See you around.” Belphie smiled as he got up and left.

“See ya, Belphie.”

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

He doesn’t remember how long he sat with Cyrus until the little one fell asleep against his chest, but once he placed the infant in the crib, he just stood there, lost in dark thoughts.

“It’s funny...” The white-haired demon’s voice was hardly above a whisper, “I should resent your presence in my life- wish you were never born, hate you. The worst part of me- the scummy part of me- does. You took everything that I was reserving for my child with Arella and you’re a representation of everything your birth mother did to me but... I can’t- and that’s what I hate most about you. Maybe my reason for keepin’ you comes from a fear that I won’t have the guts to risk my mate’s life that way so I just took the closest alternative I could ever get to that... I know... I know I’m being selfish by keeping her for myself as long as I can and not giving her that family with me she wants so badly and it makes me angry to watch her give a child that’s not even hers so much love when you shouldn’t have ever existed in the first place... Now it's far too late to get rid of you without hurting her.... I made the wrong choice for me even though I know ultimately it was the right one for you.”

He bit his tongue as a snarl formed on his face. Here, with no one to hear him, Mammon would let out his true feelings as wrong as it was. As if letting them out would somehow change his feelings for this child.

“For now, I’ll lie and pretend for your sake and everyone else’s. No one will ever know the way I wish Lucifer just would have done away with ya and part of me wonders... if a lower demon were to attack you and none of my brothers or Arella were there to spur me to action, would I even bother to protect you or would I dare to act selfishly and just let you die? Let the problem resolve itself? Ya better prove that you were ever worth what I’ve been putting myself through in the first pla-”

A sudden bout of clarity strikes the demon, the weight of what he had just said hit him like a stack of bricks and suddenly he can’t breathe. Oh devils, he can’t breathe under the weight of it all. Was he really that messed up in the head that he would do this to his own child? That he would force Cyrus to earn his love when he knows he should just give it to him unconditionally? What happened to all that progress he thought he’d been making? What kind of father would that make him? His eyes widened in horror at the thought as he broke down in silent tears.

How unfit of a father am I? He thought, He’s my son and I can’t even bring myself to love him? I really am the worst scum of the devildom. I’ve been holding some kind of grudge against a baby for crying out loud! Is this how I would act if Arella and I had a kid and they killed her?! The thought terrifies him. He wanted so badly to be a father and now that he was, this is the way he reacted to it? Unforgivable. Mammon remembered how it felt to fight for his father’s love and how he felt when Arella told him about her horrible mother and he felt so disgusted with it but wasn’t he just the same?

As he sank down to his knees, he felt a tiny hand grasp one of his fingers and his head snapped up. There was his son who had managed to wiggle his way closer to the edge of the crib, watching him with eyes full of what appeared to be fear. It froze his blood to see that look on anyone, let alone his own child. Without thinking, the Avatar of Greed rushes forward, scoops the child up and holds his son close to his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers as fresh tears begin to fall. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.” Apologies tumble from his mouth in between choked sobs. “I said all those terrible things to ya. I don’t mean them. I don’t.” He doesn’t know who he’s trying to convince more at this point. Was it himself or his son? “I love ya. I love ya. I love ya. I’ll change. I’ll do anything I can for you- give you everything ya deserve.”

The baby only cooed softly, trying so hard to lift his head up, but with the way his father was held his head to his chest left no other option but for Cyrus to pat his hands against his father’s chest.

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

Over the coming years, Mammon held true to his word on that dark night. He embraced his son fully and finally formed a deep bond with him. There were some good days, some bad, but never once had the demon let his mind wander back to that dark place of hate and malice. At some point, the Avatar of Greed was even able to move past the rape all together and he felt completely at peace with everything that had happened to bring his son into his life. He and Arella had even decided to take the chance to bring a new life into this world and were now expecting a set of twins. Everything felt right. But peace is never lasting for demons and Mammon has always been unlucky.

It was five minutes. Five. Damn. Minutes. Mammon should have known better. Cyrus had gone with his father to one of his photoshoots. Typically, he kept the boy in his sights at all times but this time he allowed his director to turn his attention elsewhere for a better shot from a different angle. When the demon turned back to check on his child, Cyrus was nowhere to be seen and the Avatar of Greed panicked. It was only five minutes but he was gone. He hoped the little one had just gone off to use the bathroom and would be back shortly, but after a few minutes of nervous waiting, Cyrus never reappeared.

The whole set went into a frenzy searching for the child but he was nowhere to be found in the building. Mammon wanted to scream. How could he have let this happen? His child was taken. The white-haired demon couldn’t even finish the photoshoot as he dashed out the door searching- looking for any possible trail that would lead him to Cyrus, but there was nothing. Not even a scent trail to follow. He feels his heart break as horrible thoughts ran rampant through his head. That crushing weight from five years earlier was back.

With shaking hands, he pulled out his D.D.D. from his pocket and called his older brother. Told him everything that happened. How he let his child be abducted because he got careless, how he’s searched every conceivable place he could think of. After that, the entire family mobilized. Levi ordered his Navy to search for the boy, other smaller search parties were formed as well but nothing ever came of them. They even asked Solomon to search the mortal world and there were some leads but that too led to dead ends.

Mammon, Arella and the rest of the Avatars were left heartbroken by the loss. Not even with the birth of their twins were the parents able to find peace. Six months went by, then a year, then three- after five, the searches were called off. His body was never found, which left everyone with hope. It was hope that Mammon would hold onto until he was left with no other choice.

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There’s one more part left: an epilogue stay tuned folks.

Find more on my masterlist

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me swd #obey me! shall we date?#obey me angst #mammon angst #obey me mammon #om! mammon #obey me belphegor #om! belphegor

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justaghostingon · 4 years

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Cogs in a Steel Heart

Chapter 2: Building Trust

Hugo struggles to adjust and Cyrus gets the tea. Aka. Hugo’s got a lot of complaining to do, and Cyrus is having way to much fun watching him struggle at the whole ‘teammates’ thing.

Link to ao3 version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24331849/chapters/59001811#workskin

The next time Hugo came to report to Cyrus, he and his new team had already completed the water trial. Now most people would be a bit more excited after completing an ancient trial that lay incomplete for centuries. Or maybe just twenty years? Cyrus wasn’t paying attention when Donella explained that. Point was, the way Cyrus saw it Hugo should have been happy, or at least proud.

He was not.

“It’s like pulling teeth with these people!” Hugo tugged at his own hair for emphasis. “I don’t know how I’m going to survive!”

Cyrus raised an eyebrow as the usually calm and in control Hugo proceeded to have as near to a tantrum as he’d ever gotten, ranting and waving his hands like a madman. It was almost...funny.

“The firecracker keeps interrupting me when I’m working, and posturing about catching me in my ‘evil’ scheme-” And heavens above, Hugo actually made air quotes. Cyrus hadn’t realized he even knew what those were, “-as if I’d ever be stupid enough to make something to defeat them in the middle of their camp, what kind of rookie does he think I am? All he’s really doing is getting underfoot when I am trying to help! I need this to work out too! He’s just...uugh!” He threw his hands in the air with such violence it sent him stumbling backwards into a tree.

Cyrus bit the inside of his lip as Hugo sprang back up to punch the tree and scream at it. Thugs don’t smile on the job, and never let it be said Cyrus was not a professional. But he’d never seen Hugo so completely frazzled by simple human interaction. It was karmic really, considering everything Hugo’s usual interactions with people.

Eventually Hugo’s strength gave out and he leaned his forehead against the tree, looking the picture of defeat. And really, if two kids was all it took to wipe him out, Cyrus should have recommended him for babysitting to his neighbors ages ago. Would be good for him.

Hugo let out a deep sigh as his shoulders sagged. “And then there’s Goggles,” he said as he turns himself around to face Cyrus. “He’s a whole ‘nother problem. Always trying to compare notes, talk about “how my day was,” showing off to the kid...” Hugo crosses his arms across his chest. “And he’s not even that good at it! Like half the things he makes blow up! But when I point out his errors, which could get us blown up mind you, he gets all passive-aggressive and tries to do it his way and like come on! I’m not going to die in an explosion because he’s too stubborn to take the help he obviously needs!” Hugo huffed and turned his head away.

“If they are such a hindrance, why not just take both the totems and complete the trials by yourself?” Cyrus points out. As much as he was loving this, they did have a schedule to keep, and the sooner they were done, the sooner they could both go home. He’d get to see Mona in person again, instead of the picture tucked safely against his heart and her daily letters.

Hugo shifted from foot to look, hugging his arms close. “They might not be completely useless in trials,” Hugo grumbled. Then jumped up. “Not that I don’t do most of the work! like 95 percent really, they couldn't do it without me at all.” He ran his fingers through his hair and refused to meet Cyrus’s eyes.

Oh no. Cyrus knew that look. That’s the ‘I screwed up look.’ But surely it couldn’t be too bad, the trial was complete after all.

“But they might have helped a bit at the end there, especially with the final test,” Hugo finished. “I didn’t see through the enchantment like at all, but Goggles,” Hugo sighed. “He pushed it off like it was nothing and dragged me and Firecracker out all by himself.”

Oh. That wasn’t so bad. Why had he been so upset about that? Donella had told him to infiltrate for a reason. His mind flashed back to the first mission he’d ever had with the kid.

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

“What did you do?” Hugo screamed in his face, half soaked and feral as a wild cat.

“My job,” Cyrus replied as he pushed the body out of his way in the rain soaked street.

“You ruined the job!” Hugo threw a hand down towards the body between them. “It took me months to get him to trust me!”

Cyrus crossed his arms. “He was about to kill you.” Kill didn’t quite cut it. Rip in half was more fitting, and much as Cyrus disliked the kid, the scene of the twig-like body struggling against an iron grip as the man’s expression twisted into one of sadistic delight...

“I had it handled!” Hugo snarled. “I could have stopped him in a hundred different ways!” He shoved a finger in Cyrus’s chest. “Now we’ll never know where the supply was coming from, and it's all because of you!”

Cyrus slowly reached out and pushed the fingers down. Hugo’s expression tightened for a second under his grip. “My orders were to ensure that man was not a threat. He was a threat. Therefore, I did my job.” He let go and Hugo instantly jumped back, clutching his hand close to his heart and eyeing Cyrus with fury in his eyes.

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

“Hmmm,” Cyrus mused. Out of the corner of his eye, Hugo flinched at the sound. “Did you say thank you?” Cyrus asked.

Hugo’s head snapped up. “What?”

“When someone saves you, normally you’re supposed to say thank you,” Cyrus shrugged. “It’s polite.”

Hugo stared at him, mouth hanging open. “I-I totally forgot about that.”

“Might want to give it a shot,” Cyrus pushed off his own tree and started walking away. “See you next week!”

Behind him Hugo let out a very frustrated groan.

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

“And then he goes to the boss, whining about how trigger happy I am. Me!” Cyrus took a sharp swig from his drink, feeling the alcohol burn its way down. “After I saved his life!” He smashed the cup down on the table.

“Hey man, I get it,” Lester gives him a hearty slap on the back. “I served my time with the crazy lady and the brat.”

“He’s something else alright,” Cyrus scowled into his drink. “Like some kind of heartless machine.” He turned to look Lester in his slightly blurry face. “You know his eyes were completely blank when that guy was trying to kill him, it's like he wasn’t even there. Freaky.”

“Maybe the crazy lady made him in the back lab,” Lester jokes. “Explains why he never leaves.”

“Makes sense,” Cyrus’s grip tightened on the handle of his mug. “Robot designed to make thugs miserable.”

“Hey man.” Lester shoved him lightly with his shoulder. “You can always quit like I did.”

“Yeah,” Cyrus took another swig and sighed. “But winter is coming, and Mona and I can’t really afford me outta work right now.”

“That sucks man,” Lester took a sip of his own drink. “Hey!” he slammed the mug down so quickly Cyrus nearly fell out of his seat. “I think I know a guy who can help you!”

Cyrus shook his head as he righted himself on his stool. “You do? What’s his name?”

Lester went cross eyed as he tried to think. “No idea,” he said, and grinned. “But when I do I’ll let you know!”

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

Hugo’s team had barely crossed the border to the next kingdom by the time it came for Hugo’s next report, a fact that Cyrus hoped would mean it was mercifully short. He was wrong.

Hugo seemed in a better mood as he approached, arms loose and swinging. “I’ve got some good news for the report,” he said with a two fingered salute.

Cyrus grunted, and Hugo took that as an opportunity to launch into an elaborate story about him and Firecracker. Apparently Hairstripe, who Cyrus assumed was Goggles and not the donkey, had suggested Hugo and Firecracker go on an errand for “team bonding.” Hugo had added air quotes around the last two words, and heavens was that going to become a thing?

According to Hugo, the whole trip had been an absolute bore, in some nowhere town where the only building of consequence seemed to be the jailhouse, (A jailhouse Cyrus did not remember being there when he’d passed through) which had quickly turned into an unmitigated disaster when some noisy shopper had tried to steal their ingredient from Hugo’s hands.

“Well I wasn’t going to stand for that,” Hugo rolled his eyes. “But the shopkeeper was inhuman, I’m telling you. I couldn’t schmooze anything more than a promise not to sell it until sunset, and then only to the party with the most money by the end of the day.”

“How unfeeling,” Cyrus states dryly.

“I know right?” Hugo huffed as he placed a hand on his chest. “No one can resist my schmoozing!” Where was I? Oh yes. Then Firecracker insisted we work for the extra money.” He spat the word work like it was an insult. “Instead of just scamming some quick cash. I pointed out we couldn’t exactly get a job, and he said we could just sell firecrackers.”

Oh that’s going to make this story confusing Cyrus thought. Firecracker selling Firecrackers, it sounds like a kids rhyme Mona would read to the kids next door.

“Meanwhile our dear commentators were doing absolutely nothing with their time, even as we started getting quite a few customers. So naturally I schmoozed up to them to figure out what was going on,” Hugo flipped his hair dramatically.

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. Some confidence after it failed you so miserably earlier in the day, he didn’t say.

“But the blind fools were completely unimpressed,” Hugo pouted. “And then they tried to frame me for thievery. Me!”

The sheer look of outrage on Hugo’s face made the corner of Cyrus’s mouth twitch up. So much for schmoozing.

“I escaped, naturally.” Hugo waved his hand in the air. “But Firecracker got caught when they accused him of stealing their fireworks.”

At which point Hugo derailed the story to rant about how he didn’t really want to save the kid, really! But there was no way Hairstripe would let him stay if he didn’t bring him back, so he really didn’t have a choice, blah, blah, blah.

Honestly it sounded more like Hugo was trying to justify it to himself after the first thirty minutes, but who was Cyrus to judge?

“The point is,” Hugo said as he finally stopped ranting, “I went to the jail as the sun was rapidly sinking in the sky, certain we were going to lose. Only to see the jailhouse before me explode into a gazillion pieces as Firecracker came running out the side.”

That explains why I didn’t see the jail house, Cyrus thought, and why there was a burning pile of rubble while I was walking through.

“Firecracker was pretty happy to see me,” Hugo smirked. “Apparently he didn’t think I would actually come back for him. I asked how he managed to blow up the building when the police had taken all his supplies. Turns out exploding moss grows on old brick. Who knew right?”

“Who indeed,” Cyrus said.

“And this,” Hugo raised a single finger. “Is where I succeeded in forwarding my infiltration goal. You see, I proposed a fiendishly clever plan to get revenge on those who robbed us, and get the prize, and you know what? Yong actually listened to me! He totally backed me up when I told them the exploding moss was a rare alchemic ingredient, and didn’t even lose his cool when one of them held a knife to his neck and demanded we tell them how to use it!”

Hugo threw back his head and laughed at the memory. “The look on his face when it exploded in his hands is one I will treasure for years,” he gasped as he wiped away a tear.

“And exploding a rival helps with your infiltration how?” Cyrus crossed his arms.

“I’m building trust,” Hugo waved the question away.

“Blowing people up doesn’t seem like the most trustworthy habit,” Cyrus pointed out. Especially for someone who is trying not to get himself caught by unstable alchemists willing to destroy whole buildings.

“Oh please, the kid blows up everything in his path if he can help it. I’m just speaking his language. Besides,” Hugo’s shoulders straightened. “I can’t keep up the goody-two shoes act twenty-four seven. I’d go mad. But this way, I’m causing problems for them. So they’ll see me as an asset they can exploit and keep me around.”

Assets for exploitation weren’t typically sent on feel-good-get-along missions with teammates, Cyrus didn’t say. No one cares enough to try to make their work life pleasant. He should know. He had worked for Donella for six years. This Hairstripe, or Goggles, or whatever his real name was, seemed to genuinely want Hugo to feel at home, despite his less than stellar introduction.

But there was no sense pointing that out to Hugo, he thought as he watched the boy preen under the weight of his own cleverness. Not when they had a mission to complete. The less Hugo noticed, the less it would hurt when he inevitably had to leave.

#varian and the seven kingdoms #varian and the 7 kingdoms #seven kingdoms au #varian #hugo the human #yong #cyrus

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andieperrie18 · 5 years

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Night at the Opera (R.Taylor x Opera singer reader) (prt.1)

PROMPT: Freddie's has twin who is an opera singer. And she meets her brother's band on her surprise arrival.

Freddie has a sister, a twin to be exact that they have been supportive of each other since they were kids. Y/n Bulsara loved her brother dearly and Freddie in vice versa. They are the first fan of each other when they achieve their dreams.

Freddie and Y/n both have the same dream and that is to sing and they are total fan of operas when their family first took to one in London. The male loved the idea of singing one day in a stage but he didn't want to be stuck in one genre but for Y/n she wanted the spotlight, singing a note higher that her own voice, the orchestra singing to her very voice and the crowd astounded by her voice that will send them to the heavens.

"All the shines of the thousand spotlights~

All the stars we steal from the night sky will---"

A knock from her room door woke her from her focus as she founds Freddie walking to the side of her bed, plopping to her left as he places an arm around her.

"Hows your lyrics coming up?"

"It's coming up pretty well, for me I guess." Her voiced slowly dropped to a whisper at the end.

"Come on now darling sister, you can't be thinking negatively at the moment. Mum, Dad and I we'll be there at your audition, if it makes you feel better, I'll be the first to applaud you." The male encouraged as she stared at him, her heart clenching from the huge amount of emotions the gesture is generating within her.

"You really think I could do this?" She tries to reassure.

Another wide smile glowed upon her brother's face before he placed a loving kiss on her forehead.

"Y/n buttercup, you will be the English Nightingale of London."

And the title was now forever etched to her heart. Y/n got her big break when she sang her first piece she had written for her brother in her first live audition opera where contestants like her will already have the biggest audience in the industry of music. And with her song, she sang to the world how her brother always been the best and the most hardworking person in the world despite his dislike to his own race. She sang, and sang that even her parents didn't even know that she could reach. She sung and sung her heart out that every lyrics hits Freddie to tears that had him screaming "WE LOVE YOU BUTTERCUP!! SO PROUD OF YOU" after the performance. And he kept his promise to be the first one to applaud followed by her parents then the whole audience, asking for an encore along the way. Although the whole performance is pure acappella with a few brilliant insertions of the conductor, she succeeds. Y/n landed a lot of projects and signing the week after. At first she didn't like it as she would be driven away from her home, her family's comfort but with another pep talk from her twin and her supported parents and other siblings, she went on her career.

As the year pass, the girl with a big drea, grew up to be a woman of vision. Every year the bigger her crowd grew, either the twice or thrice than her first one. Along her maturity, her creativity grew as well. Creating song after song that never fails to hit the very hearts of her audience. Her secret, she writes about her family.

"Y/n dearie, beta would be very happy to see you come home early! Oh he also said that he will bring friends as well!!" Your mother chirped through the phone as you could only smie in delight, you have been on tour from all around Europe for five years.

Y/n M/n Bulsara became Y/n Night, the English Nightingale of London.

Though Y/n told your handler that she'd rather prefer her real name, she just went along but always introduce herself in her real in parties. Her open mindedness and quick maturity from a girl to a woman didn't allow any bad critiques, comments and backstab to stain her good nature.

She always remember her father's word as it kept her standing on the top till the day.

"Good Words. Good Thoughts. Good Deeds." She would mumble to herself at all time when she comes to a party or before she comes to the stage to do her thing.

"I miss him so much mom, I miss you, dad and Kash. I can finally see your faces again." Y/n whimpers, as she thought of the long years of longing for the people she loved. How alone she felt.

"We all do buttercup. We all do and now your coming home! And I am so thankful Mr. Groban for allowing you to rest for a year!"

The call ended with her father switching with her mother, him crying through the call of how much he missed his darling buttercup. Y/n cried in so much joy that night, that she was getting antsy to leave her hotel room and hop in to her flight to London.

Now, she actually has one last show before her break begins and that is in London which was a perfect moment to have her family watch how much she has grown as an operatic singer. Cyrus Groban her handler and the conductor who had discovered her had always been kind and the old man would gladly and humble accept any request from her as he already saw her as his own child.

Roger Taylor sat beside Kashmira in the dining table with an attempt of flirting here. The table littered with conversations, Mary's father eyeing Freddie across him ever since he witness his mouth say quite informal words toward her daughter. It went for quite awhile until Freddie's mother began about their origin, about Freddie being born in Zanzibar. She began to distributing the photo album that contain all memoirs of the Bulsaras. Freddie left the table as he isn't really talking about his origin. Roger could tell that as he watched the said man from across the room trying to drown the conversation as he sings.

"Mrs. Bulsara, I was wondering but I kept seeing this girl with Freddie every once in a while in each pictures? Who is she?" Mary said, attempting to fix the rather awkward situation even the male across them had immediately smiled at the topic that was about unfold. To her luck, the mood did lift when Freddie's young sister Kash spoke in a rather lively tone.

"OH-oh! That's Y/n!! Our eldest sister and his twin. They were really inseparable back when we were kids!!"

Roger finally had a turn to photo album, he did notice the constant appearance of the girl y/n in each picture that has Freddie on it. The two would either had an arm on each other, or hugging. He found it quite adorable how the girl would have Freddie lock in her arms.

"She's hugger isn't she. You're looking rather choke up here mate." The drummer cracked earning a few laughs from the company.

"Y/n always had the best hugs." Kash muttered, looking rather sad at the end. Freddie walked behind her sister, placing hands on her shoulder for comfort as Kash held his hand in return from the gesture.

"I remember we would sing together while playing piano. She would always hit the highest note like it was nothing." Freddie told them while rubbing her sister's shoulder.

"She sings?" Brian smiled, his heart warmed with the way the siblings speak of their other sibling.

"In an Opera, she's really great. I am one day hoping I get to see her sing again on a stage."

Mary stared at her man as she marvel's the sparkle in his eyes as she he speaks of her twin sister like she was the best person in the world.

Roger, Deacy and Brian had never seen their lead vocalist be so compasionate about a person unless its Mary. The way he tells them about how he would bond with her sent smiles to their lips.

"Where is she?" Roger asked as he eyed a photo of Y/n where she is standing on a stage, singing with a smile.

"She's touring around Europe."

"WOW! She's a big time singer."

"You could say that." Kash answered. "She probably call us tonight.

Bomi and Jer left the table to get more photos, the table was drowning on and on about the child hood the Bulsara twins had.

" You all must really miss her." John muffled in his palm, staring at Freddie mainly. "We do."

Roger smiled at him as he was now rather intrigued with the existence of this second sibling.

"Ahh, I'd give anything to see buttercup again. I'd give her the biggest bear hug!!!"

**"Why don't you give it to me now then?" **

A female voice made everyone sitting by the table turn to its owner, except for Freddie who was stunned at the sudden familiar voice.

They eyed the female from the far entrance of the dining room. She had long (h/c) hair that cascaded down her shoulders with grace. Wearing a bohemian dress under white fur coat, her body perfectly shaped through the fabric and lastly a pair of beige open toe stilletos. Roger was eyeing her, not even bothering to blink at the moment. This person wasn't a girl like the ones in the photo anymore, this is a woman. Her chin up, as if she was some royalty.

Kash, was the first to react, removing herself from Roger's side and tackling the woman in a hug.

"Y/N!!!"

Freddie slowly spun to meet the gaze of his beloved sister. And ten strides across him stood his twin, his blurred like water as she stared at the beautiful woman across him.

"Hello Freddie." She smiled.

Waiting not a moment longer, the Parsini male strided towards his twin within seconds. His arms enveloping her waist and hers around her shoulders.

"You're home!! YOU'RE ACTUALLY HOME FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!"

Roger had his eyes on Y/n the whole time, barely even allowing himself to look anywhere. It seems that her arrival lifted the spirits of the people in that celebration, that it had completely tampered mood of their parents.

Mary, oh how the girl fell in love with her personality the moment she saw her speaking to her father, in complete sign language. She could see the sparkle in her father's eyes as he conversed with this woman and seeing the delight in her face made Freddie smile.

"When did you learn to sign language, Y/n? You seem a bit awfully good with it?" Brian opened as he had answered everyone's question in their minds.

"Oh I learned it when I was ten. I practically father to get me into classes as it always intrigued me on how people do it in the telly." Y/n answered, her voice flow like silk in the blonde males head from across her. Roger loved it, he can only imagine how his name would sound like in her voice.

"I have a reason to believe that one's a lie." Freddie pour a glass of water on Y/n's glass as she sent him a face.

"It's true!"

"Well yes darling, thats the second reason. But mum knew the real reason you did it. Don't you mother?"

Jer smiled at the question, her eyes lingering to her daughter.

"I went to her school one day to fetch her, I was waiting for her to come outside until her teacher came towards me and asked if I was her mother and if I could come with her."

Every ears and eyes around the room were trained on the mother.

"They led me to the school library where I found buttercup 'talking' to two kids about her age in the moving language. The teacher we quite curious to how she learned sign language just a few weeks after the foreign exchange students who had speaking disorder just came in. They told me that she's been attempting to talk to them since day one but because of their problem, they can't converse rather well."

Y/n smiled at the memory of her childhood as her father caressed her hand in pure delight. Kash rested beside her with her arm around her figure.

"You learned it for your friends? Wow, thats a very great thing to do." Deacy complimented earning a thankful nod from the female.

"Yeah, I did. Jean and Pedro have been my friends for quite awhile now and we still do. They finally got their disorder cured as they were to speak again after we graduated at uni. The two are working with me now."

"Your sister says you are an Opera singer. How's that career going for you?" Roger finally had the chance to speak, he almost jolted when she met his eyes, the way they glowed made his do aswell.

"Yes, yes I do. Oh! Which reminds me about my last tour. I would like to invite all off you to my last Opera performance for the year."

Freddie's face curled with the term last. Y/n saw this, she took his hand and smiled wider and brighter.

"Last, because I'll be on a year and half break." This returned him to his positive state but twice higher.

@mercurycrowley

#ben hardy jones #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy #ben hardy roger taylor #bohemian rapsody movie #bohemian rhapsody #roger taylor #x reader #opera

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seriestrash · 5 years

Text

Summer-Salt

Summary: A tyrus one shot inspired off Mount Rushmore or less. It follows the events during and after costume day. It wasn’t intended to be a ‘fix-it’ piece but I suppose it could be read that way :)

Word Count: 7330

read on ao3

■ □ ■ □ ■

Pre Summer:

It’s Wednesday afternoon and TJ sits at his kitchen counter doing homework whilst his mother Tess prepares dinner. TJ is interrupted when his phone buzzes. The basketball captain reads an email from the principal about costume day.

“This Friday?” TJ mumbles to himself.

“What’s that, hun?” TJ’s mother stops chopping vegetables and picks up her gaze.

TJ shrugs as he puts his phone down, “It’s just an email about costume day being this Friday.”

“That’s short notice.” Tess crinkles her brows. “Are you going to participate this year? I know you didn’t want to last year.”

“I think I might...” TJ nods his head casually. “But I already spent this weeks pay on the new video game I’ve been saving for.” TJ frowns.

Tess’ expression falls, mirroring her sons, “Teej, I can give you some money.”

TJ smiles almost guiltily, “I didn’t mean it like that-“ which was a lie, he did mean it how she took it. TJ hated taking money off his mom since she worked so hard as a single mother to keep things afloat for her three kids. “-I just like to be independent, I’m trying to prove to you I’m responsible enough for a dog, remember?” He adds with a smirk. His mother smiles too although she doesn’t believe his excuse.

“I’m sure we will be able to whip something up from things we already have at home.” She smiles happily, “Are you going to do something on your own or something with your friends?”

TJ thinks for a moment, things were strained between him and Reed -not that Reed was much of a costume day guy himself- and sure he could ask one of his friends on the basketball team but what TJ really wanted to do was ask Cyrus.

“I might see if Cyrus has anything planned yet...” TJ says with a slight shrug, his mothers smile picks up.

“That will be nice.” She affirms.

“You got any costume ideas?” TJ leans forward and rests his chin in the palm of his hand.

She purses her lips and then a look of delight sparks across her face, “At the work office party I went to a few months back a couple went as salt and pepper shakers, it was adorable.”

TJ scrunches up his nose as he turns that idea over in his mind. It also made him nervous that his mother suggested a couples costume.

“Well I don’t know, honey.” She laughs at her sons reaction, “What’s something the two of you have in common?”

TJ rolls his head around in his palm as he thinks. They weren’t a lot alike in the way of interests which was funny since they got along so well. It was more moments that bonded them together. They had the swings but that didn’t seem like a plausible option considering he didn’t have money to put towards the costume. There was of course the somersault but how does one dress up as that? Then it clicks in TJ’s mind. Somersault that was it.

“Thanks mom!” TJ gets up excitedly from the counter.

“What?” She’s confused, “You’ve changed your mind about the salt and pepper costume?”

“Not exactly,” TJ quickly scoops up his books from the counter, “I’m going to go work on my half of the costume-“ TJ was already halfway down the hall but stops, “Is our strainer still blue?”

“Well I’ve not purchased a new one..” She furrows her brows.

“Doesn’t matter, I’ll switch,” TJ swats the air, “Do we have a beach ball?”

“Check the twins room..” Her look of confusion remains as her son disappears down the hall completely.

Pre Salt:

After Cyrus parts ways with TJ the afternoon TJ shared his costume idea, he’s picked up by his mom. She’s barely done asking Cyrus how his day was before he interjects.

“Can we please stop by the mall on the way home? I want to get a shirt for costume day.”

“I thought you only needed a sheet for Mount Rushmore?” Leslie is lightly perplexed.

“I’m not doing that anymore.” Cyrus shakes his head.

“Andi changed her mind?” She questions.

“No.” Cyrus wears a look of guilt. “TJ asked me to match and I’m more excited about his idea..”

“Fair enough, but is Andi alright with you pulling out of the group costume?”

Again Cyrus is hit with a wave of guilt, “I’ll talk to her.”

“Alright.” Leslie smiles trusting her son will do the right thing, “What kind of a costume are we shopping for?”

“I just need a white shirt, I’m going to get the graphic tee designers to print an S on it.” Cyrus says enthusiastically. “I should have the rest at home already.”

“An S?” Leslie questions.

Cyrus laughs as he realises his mother has no idea what he’s talking about, “I’m going as a salt shaker, TJ’s going in beach wear. Together we are somersault.. It’s an inside joke.” Cyrus smiles to himself.

“Very clever.” Leslie doesn’t push for any further information, instead she smiles at her happy son for a moment before pulling out of the parking lot and heading towards the mall.

Thomas Jefferson:

Costume day was officially over and Cyrus begins to walk home, blue in the face —or more accurately grey in the face— and he reflects on how drastically things can change in a few hours. Barely even 24 hours before, Cyrus had been texting with TJ about his costume coming together but now he found himself questioning their friendship. There was no other way to describe how Cyrus was currently feeling other than completely and utterly devastated.

Cyrus is still exiting the school grounds when he hears someone calling his name. It’s his fellow president —also still grey in the face— Buffy.

“Hey, Buffy.” Cyrus says flatly once she catches up.

“You still bummed TJ changed his mind?” Buffy asks gently.

“Oh no, this mopey walk home is because it’s my turn to wash the dishes tonight.” Cyrus jokes weakly.

Buffy wears an empathetic smile, she might have had a blast reconnecting with Marty as half of Mount Rushmore but she couldn’t ignore that the other half —consisting of her two very best friends— were not enjoying the day as much.

“I can’t believe TJ bailed without telling you,” Buffy seems angered, “After it was his idea!”

Cyrus just gives a weak shrug of his shoulder, “Maybe this is my karma from bailing on Andi without telling her.”

“Cyrus,” Buffy frowns at her friend, “You at least knew there would be someone to fill in for you with Mount Rushmore.”

“I still should have said something to Andi myself.” Cyrus mumbles.

“True.” Buffy answers honestly but she stops Cyrus walking and holds his gaze, “But that doesn’t mean you deserve this.”

Cyrus only shrugs. “It just hurts coming from TJ of all people, you know?”

“I know.” Buffy nods softly. “You really like him, huh?”

Another weak shrug combined with a tiny nod from Cyrus. His voice is soft and he stands so small and unconfident as he says, “The worst part is I let a tiny piece of myself believe that maybe, just maybe, he could like me too.”

Buffy coaxes her head with a heartbroken expression, “Cyrus-“

“I guess that’s why they call it a crush, because that’s exactly how they make you feel.. Crushed.” Cyrus exaggerates a sigh as he wanted to try and end the conversation or steer it differently at the very least. “So TJ likes Kira, time to accept that and move on.”

“You think TJ likes Kira?” Buffy questions. “Are you sure?”

“He was willing to bail on a costume with me for her after knowing her all of five minutes so sure, I think it’s possible.” Cyrus nods, “If not I’ll have to entertain the idea that TJ got a better offer for costume day and doesn’t value our friendship as much as I do so he was willing to change his mind just like that.. and I’ve been disappointed enough today, so...”

“Cyrus-“ Buffy begins but Cyrus cuts her off again.

“I don’t feel like talking about this, I’m going to go.” And with that he quickly hurries home.

Cyrus thought about going to the swings to make himself feel better but there was the issue of being painted grey and looking strange in the park but the real reason he doesn’t go is because he wanted to distance himself from TJ as much as possible.

Once home Cyrus quickly tries to retreat to his room to continue his wallowing in peace but he’s stopped by his mother.

“Cy, your face?” Leslie stokes his cheek with her thumb, “What happened to your salt costume?”

“Jonah pulled out of Mount Rushmore so I subbed back in.” Cyrus lies to spare having to open up about his disappointment.

“Oh no,” Leslie frowns, “Was TJ okay with you changing last minute?”

“Yep,” Cyrus forces his smile although it felt terribly sad resting on his face, “he was perfectly okay with it.”

Dribble:

TJ was no stranger to self-loathing but never had he hated himself more than he did come costume day. And it wasn’t just that he had ditched Cyrus without warning —because it was that— it was why he did it and he is so embarrassed of himself for being such a jerk, to Cyrus of all people.

TJ was sure he had spent the day looking like a criminal. Guilt written all over his face. To make it worse, Kira had glued herself to his side any chance she could. The only escape TJ really got was class as they didn’t have any together and then he’d keep his jacket zipped up like he was trying to hide the evidence.

Final bell couldn’t come quick enough. All TJ wanted to do was get home as soon as possible but before he gets the chance Kira stops him and asks for a photo before they go. TJ tries to brush her off as he didn’t want to document today in anyway, he wanted to try and forget any of this ever happened. It doesn’t help that TJ hears Buffy call after Cyrus whom TJ had noticed changed costumes soon after TJ’s betrayal was revealed. Kira calls back for TJ’s attention and he makes an excuse to leave.

“I really have to get going. I’m supposed to pick up my brother and sister from preschool.” TJ shifts awkwardly on his feet.

“Kippen you are such a buzz kill.” Kira sighs, “Were still on for tomorrow right?”

TJ mumbles some form of agreement before Kira finally leaves.

TJ is halted again before being able to leave himself, this time by Buffy whom seems to be approaching with a rage bubbling and considering TJ knew she’s just come from Cyrus, he can only imagine the verbal beating he was about to receive. To try and lessen the blow TJ starts walking so they’d at least not cause a scene right in front of school.

“Is Cyrus mad at me?” TJ asks with a loud exhale once their strides were in sync.

“No, Cyrus isn’t mad at you- I’m mad at you.” Buffy says in a frustrated heap. “How could you do this to Cyrus. Why did you do this to Cyrus?”

“It was a last minute decision. I didn’t mean to ditch him.” TJ lies, “I wasn’t trying to be a jerk.”

“Yet amazingly,” Buffy throws a lot of sarcasm into her statement, “You managed to be one.”

“Yeah, I get it.” TJ huffs. He really didn’t need this right now —although he knew he deserved it— he didn’t want to feel like Buffy hated him again.

“And for Kira?” Buffy scoffs, “Do you even know her?”

TJ remains unresponsive.

“That just makes it worse.” Buffy grumbles. “I’m not beyond believing people are redeemable but Kira isn’t a nice girl. So the fact that you’d ditch Cyrus for a costume with her is infuriating.”

“Buffy, I get it.” TJ huffs again.

“I’m not sure you do.” Buffy folds her arms. “Did you see how upset Cyrus was today?”

“Yeah, I’m a jerk.” TJ shrugs.

“Do you know he blew off Andi to match costumes with you?” Buffy questions.

“He did?” TJ frowns.

“Yeah. He did.”

“Well I didn’t know.” TJ sighs. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble or upset Cyrus- You don’t understand. I just had to go with Kira.” TJ is trying to get the conversation over and done with.

“You’re right, I don’t understand.” Buffy states. “You had to?”

“I wanted to, same difference.” TJ scrambles.

“I’m not sure it is.” Buffy shakes her head.

“I really didn’t want to upset Cyrus,” TJ is genuine but his expression is defeated, “It’s just- complicated.”

Buffy softens. “I hope you know you can talk to me.. About Kira.. Cyrus.. Anything...”

TJ studies Buffy’s gentle and understanding expression and he had no doubt she knew exactly what was troubling him —well maybe not exactly but enough of the details to know he liked Cyrus— TJ suspected she’s known for at least a little while, he’s caught her trying to hide a small smile or side glance at the two of them when they all hang out which was enough to make TJ nervous about being obvious but he at least trusted Buffy was the kind of genuine person not to say anything, that’s why Kira’s forwardness scared TJ enough for him to hurt Cyrus in an attempt to protect himself.

“I don’t have anything to talk about.” TJ lies, “I didn’t want to wear a dumb costume so I changed my mind.” Being jerky was his easiest defensive mechanism, he hoped it would work enough to make Buffy angry and leave him alone.

Buffy knew TJ was deflecting to protect himself so even though his words angered her she remains calm, “When you finally decide to apologise to Cyrus for being a jerk, try and not call the costume dumb to his face, you’ve hurt him enough.” And with that Buffy turns on her heels and leaves.

TJ retreats home and ignores his mothers chirpy greeting. He’s also short with the twins and grumpily heads to his room. He very dramatically removes his dribble shirt and throws it towards his waste bin with a grumble.

TJ flops down on his bed with a sigh and pulls out his phone. He clicks on Insta and finds Buffy’s happy snaps with whom TJ now knows is Marty from the party. The last photo in her thread was a forced cuddly picture with Cyrus. It was cute even though Cyrus looked uncomfortable sandwiched between Buffy and Marty. Then TJ tries to convince himself that it wasn’t so bad he bailed because Cyrus had Mount Rushmore to fall back on but he knew that was a weak attempt at trying to make himself feel better. Not surprisingly it didn’t work.

TJ flips over to his texts and finds Cyrus’ thread close to the top. The last message he received from him was two emojis; a beach umbrella and a salt shaker. A text in which TJ ignored this morning after a whole lot of back and forth with how he was going to tell Cyrus he was bailing. TJ had committed to Kira’s costume idea out of fear but what he feared more was disappointing Cyrus so in an even more cowardly move he decided not to text him at all that morning. Much like he did that night —even though he spent hours wondering if he should text a simple ‘sorry’— eventually, he passes out for the evening.

Summer:

The following morning, TJ knocks on the front door of Cyrus’ home. Leslie answers with a smile.

“TJ, I didn’t know you were coming over today.” She welcomes him inside.

“I’m just stopping by, is Cyrus home?”

“He’s awake, he’s in his room. You can go back if you like.” Leslie says.

“Thank you.” TJ smiles but was growing more anxious knowing what follows.

“Oh and I’m sorry to hear about costume day.” Leslie says before TJ parts, “I hope Cyrus changing last minute didn’t spoil your plans.”

TJ furrows his brows for a second but ultimately casually brushes past her remark and makes his way to Cyrus’ room.

TJ gently knocks on Cyrus’ bedroom door and realised he was holding his breath.

“I told you I’m not hungry, mom.” Cyrus’ voice is muffled behind the closed door.

“Uh, it’s TJ. Can I come in?” TJ calls back.

“TJ?” Cyrus opens his door with a confused expression an expression that is even more perplexed when he sees what TJ’s wearing.

“Hey.” TJ says with a guilty look upon his face.

“You’re about a day late, summer.” Cyrus has a weak glare pointed at TJ’s summer themed ensemble.

“I know.” TJ frowns, “But since I didn’t know what an apology costume looked like I thought I’d come in this..”

“You don’t need to apologise.” Cyrus shrugs casually and sits back on his bed.

“Yes I do.” TJ frowns. “It was a jerk move and I clearly upset you yesterday-“

“You’re mistaken,” Cyrus forces laugh, “My down nature yesterday was because I got stuck doing Mount Rushmore. I love Andi but I wasn’t too invested in the idea.. so I mean sure I was bummed our costume plans fell through but no big deal.”

“Really?” TJ asks unconvinced.

“Yes. Chill.” Cyrus laughs. “Sure a text would have been nice but why end a friendship over it?”

TJ was so relieved by Cyrus’ response he let himself believe it. “So were good?” TJ asks for final confirmation.

“We’re perfect.” Cyrus forces his smile.

“Good.” TJ let’s out a breath of relief. “So you told your mom you were the one that changed your mind about costume day?”

“It was easier that way.” Cyrus says nonchalantly, “the therapist in her would have made it into a bid deal like we needed to spend forever talking about it.”

TJ nods mindlessly and an awkward moment passes between the two.

“So..” TJ —still standing in the doorway— swings on his feet, “What are you doing today?”

“Pretty much this.” Cyrus motions referring to him sitting in bed. “Comfort sweater and everything.”

“Your bash mitzvah sweater?” TJ raises a brow.

“Yeah I guess it is kind of dorky.” Cyrus frowns down at his blue hoodie that has his own face on it. “I guess you probably threw yours out. Anyway, forget it.” Cyrus shakes his head after accidentally letting his insecurities slip through. “You want to hang here too?”

“I can’t, I actually have- Work.” TJ frowns.

“Okay. Tomorrow?” Cyrus questions. “There’s a few good movies out I want to see.”

“Maybe we could just hang out at your dads? Play some ping pong, go in the pool maybe..” TJ suggests.

“Sure.” Cyrus bops his head. “See you tomorrow.”

Cyrus:

Shortly after TJ leaves, Cyrus drags himself out of bed. He didn’t feel like lying around anymore and not because their talk made him feel better. The talk made him feel worse actually so he wanted to do something to distract himself. Unfortunately his attempts are futile as all Cyrus can think of as he walks to the park is his how cowardly he felt for lying about his true feelings towards the costume day situation. The only reason he had done so was so TJ didn’t get weirded out by him being overemotional or catch onto his hidden feelings. Cyrus just wanted to protect himself from seeming too invested in the friendship.

Cyrus was planning on meeting Andi at The Spoon for a round of apology baby taters and he decides to take a detour through the park on the way.

It’s in the park where Cyrus quite literally bumps into Kira.

“Cyrus.” Kira says with a growing smile as she steadies herself.

“Kira..” Cyrus says awkwardly and he gives her a quick wave with the intention of brushing past her.

“Sorry about costume day.” Kira grimaces.

“Plans change last minute, no big deal.” Cyrus forces a casual shrug.

“I know but just because he was embarrassed doesn't mean he still shouldn't have called you about the change in plans.” Kira says.

“Embarrassed.. About ditching me?” Cyrus asks almost hopeful that was all TJ was worried about.

“Sure,” Kira stifles a smile, “That’s what he was embarrassed about.”

Kira’s delivery was enough to hurt Cyrus all over again and confirm his dreaded thoughts that TJ was embarrassed by him.

“Anyway,” Kira swats the air, “Personal jokes are fun and all for anyone involved but our costume was good for everyone. The guys on TJ’s team got a kick out of it- which is good considering they’re going to be my teammates soon.”

Cyrus must have looked somewhat perplexed since Kira continued with an explanation. Although Cyrus didn’t actually care for one since he was on a thought spiral about how hurt he was by TJ.

“Didn’t he tell you?” Kira coaxes his head, “Since Buffy won’t let me be on the girls team I’m going out for the boys team.” She grins from ear to ear. “TJ’s going to help me prepare for tryouts, actually, he should be here soon.” Kira says glancing at her watch.

“Oh.” Cyrus says quietly. “Well I’ve got to get going but good luck with everything.”

Cyrus was quickly trying to make an escape but as he sets on his way he meets the guilty looking expression of TJ. Instead of saying anything, Cyrus tries to continue past him in silence but TJ grabs at Cyrus’ arm to stop him.

“I didn’t know you got a new job as a coach.” Cyrus scoffs.

“I would have told you.” TJ says unconvincingly.

“How come you lied?” Cyrus questions, “Why say you have to work when that’s not true?”

“I thought it might be weird because of the whole Kira thing.” TJ looks past Cyrus and towards Kira who was still where Cyrus left her, looking at the two of them intently. TJ drops his grip from Cyrus’ arm. “I didn’t want it to look like I was ditching you again for her.”

“I’m not like obsessed with you.” Cyrus scoffs but it turns into more of a nervous laugh. “You can hang out with whoever you want.”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all..” TJ furrows his brows. “I just- I don’t know.” TJ shifts awkwardly on his feet before he looks back at Kira again.

“You better get going.” Cyrus says in a defeated way.

“Are we good?” TJ asks, already fearful of the answer. “We’re still on for tomorrow right?”

“You mean hanging out at my dads house where you don’t have to be embarrassed by me in public?” Cyrus asks after the emotions he was trying to squash got the better of him.

“What?” TJ’s voice is quiet but full of guilt.

“It’s all good, TJ, you don’t have to do me any favours pretending to be my friend anymore.”

“How could you possibly think I’m pretending to be your friend?” TJ is hurt by the suggestion.

“I know I can be over the top and persistent but you didn’t have to be my friend, you didn’t have to go along with it.” Cyrus frowns. “I was nice to you when you were awful to my best friend because I thought I saw something she didn’t. Something you didn’t even see.”

TJ didn’t know how to defend himself against what Cyrus was saying so he tries to make it about something else, “You’re clearly not over the costume day thing and that’s exactly why I was afraid to tell you why I really couldn’t hang out with you today. ”

“Of course I’m not over the costume day thing, I lied to try and spare all this..” Cyrus huffs. “But you’re changing the subject. You know what it doesn’t matter.” Cyrus lets out a defeated sigh.

“It does matter,” TJ says quietly, “I’m sorry about costume day and I’m sorry for lying today too.” TJ sounds sincere but his gaze continued to flick back to Kira every so often as she was still intently watching them just out of earshot. “You are my friend, Cyrus, you have to know that.”

Cyrus follows TJ’s gaze for a moment and his own sad expression lands on Kira for a second before pointing all his attention to TJ once more. “Okay I do know that.”

“Yeah?” TJ looks almost relieved but he still didn’t feel confident in how things were turning out.

“I tried to play the whole double dribble thing off like I was cool with it because I didn’t want you to think I was being weird or obsessive but I do value this friendship. A lot. And I know I’m that weird and half the people at school make fun of me because I’m different and that’s just whatever,” Cyrus shrugs lightly, “So you can be embarrassed by me, —god knows Andi and Buffy are half the time— but I cant be friends with someone that makes me feel like I should embarrassed about myself.”

“Cyrus-” TJ could barely even get his name out.

Cyrus interjects, “I’ve made it weird now. Weirder than it has to be. Just forget about it. No hard feelings, okay?”

TJ:

After Cyrus made a quick escape, TJ is left standing there at a loss for words. Once the whole encounter was over, Kira approaches the basketball captain.

“That seemed dramatic.” Kira chuckles softly. TJ tries to ignore her and walk away but she stops him. “Kippen, you're supposed to help me prepare for my tryouts?”

“You were the star player at your old school, you don’t need my help.” TJ rolls his eyes and starts to walk away.

Kira coaxes her head with a challenging look, “I guess Cyrus would agree with me that you’re not someone who follows through with their commitments.”

TJ stops in his tracks and spins back towards Kira with an angry look upon his face, “Why are you doing this to me?”

“Doing what?” Kira shrugs innocently before folding her arms.

“You know exactly what.” TJ grumbles, “Cyrus thinks I’m embarrassed of him because of you and he’s probably never going to speak to me again because of it.”

“I didn’t make you switch costumes, TJ.” Kira says without a care. “If Cyrus thinks you’re embarrassed of him it’s not because of me.”

“You're acting innocent, you know what you were implying when you bullied me into doing the costume with you.” TJ is hurt and his voice is shaky but he tries to hold it together.

“Bullied? That's rich coming from you.” Kira laughs almost hysterically. “I might be new around here but you’ve got quite the reputation.”

“That’s in the past.” TJ lowers his gaze.

“I know. You’re a real...softie...now.” Kira smirks.

“You're doing it again.” TJ's expression deflates.

“I’m not doing anything.” Kira insists, her innocent act unwavering.

“I have had my fair share of awful moments but using my feelings or anyones against them like this is- I literally don’t have words.” TJ lets out a frustrated huff.

“I haven’t said a single thing about your ‘feelings',” Kira uses her air quotes around the word, “You jumped to your own conclusion about what I meant, so this is on you, TJ, not me.”

TJ lets out another frustrated groan and he knows he has to remove himself from the conversation before she sends him into an anger spiral he wouldn’t be able to pull himself out of.

“Whatever,” Kira rolls her eyes, “Have the weekend to mope over your little fight with Cyrus but I still want your help on Monday before my tryouts.”

After Kira walks away, TJ is wondering how Kira was still somehow manipulating him into spending time together. There was an anger bubbling inside of the basketballer and he storms home with no real idea on how to calm down. This whole situation sucked. He had Cyrus feeling bad about himself —which was crazy, TJ wouldn’t change a single thing about him— but was it easier to let Cyrus feel bad about himself because the alternative would be telling Cyrus the truth, thus causing TJ to reveal his hidden feelings. The Cyrus of it all was devastating and TJ had no idea what to do so he instead solely focuses on his anger towards Kira and how she was still playing coy about her emotional manipulation even after TJ called her out on it. But perhaps what angered TJ the most was even though he knew exactly what Kira was doing, he still didn’t have the courage to go against her out of fear of what others would think if they knew.

Once TJ arrives home he storms into his apartment ignoring his mother on the way through. Fed up with her sons grumpy attitude for the last two days, Tess uses TJ’s full name in a stern tone and demands him to stop but when her previously angered son turns around with a broken expression she immediately drops her hardened stance and throws unconditional love and understanding his way.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Tess asks full of concern.

“I don't want to talk about it.” TJ continues on to his room but Tess follows anyway.

“Something has been bothering you since you came home from school on Thursday.” Tess states, “I'm guessing it has something to do with costume day and why you changed your mind last minute.”

“I wish I never even tried for costume day in the first place. I hate that kind of stuff.” TJ hugs at a pillow on his bed whilst trying his best to avoid his mothers kind and understanding expression out of fear he’d crumble and tell her everything that has been bothering him lately.

Tess gently coaxes her head and corrects, “You used to hate those sorts of things.”

She was right. They both knew it. TJ looks up and he does meet his mothers loving stare and just as he feared, he crumbles and opens up about everything. Costume day, Kira and the Cyrus of it all.

TJ has always been a boy of few words, not exactly distant but he was definitely reserved when it came to his mother. Tess knew TJ struggled with his father leaving them a few years back and that made his behaviour spiral and she also was aware of how hard TJ could be on himself about his learning disability. Although TJ has come leaps and bounds in the past year in ways of his happiness and self acceptance, Tess still feared these things weighed on him. What Tess didn’t know was that there was a whole lot more to her sons distance than she originally believed.

So when her son of few words gave her an emotional ramble that just kept on coming she almost didn’t know how or when to respond to it all. Tess summarises the main points in her mind. 1) My son is gay 2) My son has feelings for his good friend Cyrus, and 3) My son feels pressured to come out or be outed. Although surprising, naturally, only one of those things upset her and deeply.

After TJ’s outburst fades into something less coherent Tess grabs her sons hand and forces his watery eyed gaze. Just as every parent should, Tess assures her son he’s loved and accepted unconditionally before trying to help him cope with the Cyrus and Kira situation.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of but no one should make you feel pressured to be who you are before you’re ready.” Tess says, “It’s your choice to share when you want.”

“I don’t want to now.” TJ shakes his head.

“Then that’s perfectly fine.” Tess nods. “Why don’t you talk to Cyrus about it?”

“I can’t do that!” TJ say frantically.

“I’m not suggesting you tell him everything, you’re not ready for that and you might never be and it’s okay-” Tess assures, “But Cyrus seems to be an understanding friend.”

“I don’t want to tell him about the crush and I don’t want to tell him about me either.” TJ shakes his head.

“Okay.” Tess nods, the last thing she wanted to do was force her son into anything. “How about just talking to him about the Kira situation then, remove feelings and just tell her how she was implying something?”

“So Cyrus can think I’m an unaccepting jerk?” TJ scoffs. “No thanks.”

“I don’t know, honey.” Tess wear a weak smile as she’s out of options, “You’re not ready to talk to Cyrus about it yet. That’s fine, you don’t have to, but you’ve got to give him something, hon because I know you’re not ready to lose him.”

“That’s the problem, mom,” TJ looks at her with sad eyes, “I don’t want to lose him but I don’t know how to apologise without opening up to him about it.”

“I think you can talk to him - not about the feelings - about Kira.” Tess says and before TJ can reject her again, she continues, “He knows the real you, Teej. He’ll know you’re not ‘an unaccepting jerk.”

“I don’t know.” TJ mumbles. “What if I say something and it makes him question my feelings. What if I stand up to Kira and she spreads something around the school?”

“Even if what she’s saying is true it’s just gossip coming from anyone but you.” Tess puts it simply, “The truest thing about this whole situation is that you and Cyrus are friends. If neither of you care about what people are saying then everything other than your friendship is just gossip.”

TJ really takes what his mother said on board. Maybe she was right, maybe he could explain to Cyrus that Kira was trying to make nothing into something and he handled it poorly. Who cares if people did talk about their friendship in a speculating way, if TJ could manage to salvage a friendship with Cyrus after the damage he has caused the last two day then that was all that really matter. TJ figures his mom was right, just because Kira’s silent accusations were true doesn’t mean they are true to anyone else, what was true was his friendship with Cyrus and that was more than enough to find some courage and fight for it.

TJ tries texting and calling Cyrus over the remainder of the weekend but all go unanswered. TJ considered going around to Cyrus’ house to try force him to listen to his apology but he didn’t like the idea of cornering the boy. Instead TJ devises a plan to get through to him at school. A way of making Cyrus understand that he had it wrong, TJ didn’t want to hide their friendship at all.

Cyrus:

Monday morning rolls around and Cyrus was dreading facing his problems. He had ignored all of TJ’s attempts to reach out. The last thing Cyrus wanted was to suffer through a forced apology from TJ. One he felt obligated to give because Cyrus had gone all overemotional on him.

After filling in Andi and Buffy about all that had transpired between them he asks his bodyguards if they’ll take an extra shift for the day. The two girls agree to shield Cyrus from the drama.

Cyrus makes it through his morning without a hitch but come lunch he couldn’t help but feel like people were staring at him.

“Do I have something on my face?” Cyrus asks Jonah in a panic as they walk towards the cafeteria.

“No- Not on either of your faces.” Jonah says but he’s not looking at Cyrus.

“What do you me-” Cyrus follows his friends line of sight and his gaze falls upon a very blue sweatshirt that sports a big picture of his own face hanging off TJ’s body. “Holy Bash Mitzvah sweater.” Cyrus says with wide eyes as he springs towards TJ. “Why are you wearing that?” He looks around at a few of their peers quietly chuckling.

“You assumed I threw mine out. I didn’t.” TJ jokes lightly trying to break through the tension. “You wouldn't answer my calls and since I couldn’t tell you I’m not embarrassed by our friendship I had to find a way to show you.”

“Well you’re embarrassing me now.” Cyrus says in a hushed tone, “Take it off, TJ!”

“Are you going to listen to my apology?” TJ asks.

“You can’t blackmail me into hearing you out.” Cyrus frowns.

“I’m desperate.” TJ shrugs.

“Fine.” Cyrus whispers, “but please take it off?”

“Fine.” TJ agrees and removes the blue hoodie on their way out of the cafeteria.

They stop in the relatively empty hall but before either of them could say something Kira interrupts.

“TJ, I’ve been waiting in the gym for fifteen minutes.” Kira huffs.

“I’d hate to interrupt your plans again,” Cyrus almost rolls his eyes but he doesn't, “I’ll leave you two be.”

“I should have known you’d be with Cyrus.” Kira scoffs. “I heard people talking about some dorky sweater you were wearing today but I thought it was a joke.”

Cyrus’ cheeks burn red with embarrassment.

“Kira, had you of gone about things differently I might have been happy to try help you get on the team, girls or boys but I’m not going to let you bully me into it.” TJ says firmly and his statement completely perplexes Cyrus.

Kira knows she’s lost her hold over TJ so she surrenders, “Whatever. I’ll get myself on the team.” Kira looks somewhat embarrassed although she tries to keep her composure in front of Cyrus but TJ could see her act was unraveling. “I hope you two are happy together.” With that she walks away.

“What just happened?” Cyrus is confused.

“I don't want you thinking that I’m embarrassed by you and even more importantly I don’t want you to think you should be embarrassed about yourself.” TJ says quickly like he needed to get it out before being interrupted, but when he’s met with Cyrus’ still lightly perplexed stare he slows down and continues, “I have not met anyone like you ever and I mean that in the best way possible. You are persistent and weird but I wouldn’t change a single thing about you. I really need you to know that.”

“I do know that.” Cyrus says quietly. “That’s why I was so upset when I doubted it. You have only every encouraged me even when I’m being my most Cyrus-y self.”

TJ lets out a sigh of relief.

“So if you’re not embarrassed by me I still don’t understand how Kira fits into this. She said you switched costume ideas because you were embarrassed..”

“She did?” TJ furrows his brows. “Of course she did.”

“Now she’s bullying you into helping or hanging out with her?” Cyrus is still confused and almost unconvinced, “TJ, what is going on?”

“I didn’t want to do costume day with Kira at all, I really wanted to go as summer-salt with you.” TJ says.

“Then how come you didn’t?” Cyrus questions.

“Kira made me feel like I had no other choice.” TJ is still struggling to find the courage to explain things, even if he had talked himself into it over the weekend.

“I don’t understand.”

“She was making it out like people would talk about us if we did a matching costume together.” TJ says and Cyrus seemed like he still wasn’t following. TJ groans internally, this was a lot easier in his head after his pep talk.

“How’s it any different than doing a matching costume with-” Finally it clicks in Cyrus’ brain and Kira’s ‘I hope you’re happy together’ comment makes sense too. “So what?” Cyrus is upset and is defensive, “It’s not like we dressed up as Romeo and Juliet- and who cares if we did-”

This definitely went better in TJ’s head, he was supposed to be all ‘sorry, if people talked you might have been uncomfortable and I didn’t want you to be weird about our friendship because I value it’ but it was coming off more jerkier than that. Feeling cornered once more TJ decides to be a little more truthful with his friend out of fear of completely losing him because Tess was right, TJ wasn’t ready for that, he never would be.

“I cared.” TJ admits quietly, “I didn’t want people to talk because I wasn’t ready for them to.” It takes everything in him to control the shakes in his voice.

It takes a second for Cyrus to make sense of that and when it registers in his brain his expression flashes to wide eyed surprise.

“I forgive you.” Cyrus blurts out. “You didn’t want people to talk, I understand, you’re not a jerk. We're good and I actually mean it this time.”

TJ’s heart was racing at this point, he had more than subtly implied he was gay to the boy he has a crush on. “Do you even understand what I’m trying to say?”

“Yes I do. And I don’t want you to say it- or I do- I really do-” Cyrus speaks quickly and a little frantically so he tries to compose himself, “I just want you to tell me because you’re ready and that’s what you want, not because you feel cornered or pressured into it by Kira or anyone for that matter.”

“And you’re okay with that?” TJ asks surprised. “Just walking away from this conversation and pretending like nothing happened?”

“If you’re okay with it.” Cyrus nods. “This is your choice, who you tell and when.”

A smile creeps on TJ’s face, he already knew he was accepted by Cyrus without actually having to tell him anything but Cyrus was still giving TJ his choice back and that meant the world do him.

“Okay.” TJ’s smile remains as he nods, “But before we start pretending like we’re not talking about it, how will I know when I’m ready to say anything to you or anyone?”

“Okay, for example... Let’s say it’s us,” Cyrus begins, “We’re sitting in my dads basement like we always do and we’re playing ‘who am I’ and I guess something so ridiculous that you laugh so hard you squirt chocolate milk out your nose and naturally you’re really embarrassed and mumbling how you’re a stupid cow and apologising because I was in the splash zone but I say-”

“I like cows.” TJ jumps in with a look of light awe on his face and Cyrus smiles. This story was awfully familiar although in real life the roles were reversed, Cyrus being the milk offender.

“You’ll be thankful I said something so accepting, one of those moments where you feel truly accepted and you’ll think ‘there’s no better time than now’.” Cyrus continues, “And even though the moment was perfect you still might chicken out and that’s okay too, other moments will come up that feel right too.”

TJ was in shock about what Cyrus was now implying. “Cyrus are you-”

“Hey, I’m giving you your moment.” Cyrus coaxes his head. “Let me keep mine too.”

“I was just going to ask if you wanted to hang out after school.” TJ chuckles lightly. “I hear there are lots of good movies out.”

Cyrus laughs softly too. “It’s a date-” As soon as the words left his mouth, his eyes widen, “That's just a saying, you know what I mean... buddy.” Cyrus playfully punches TJ’s shoulder.

“Sure.” TJ laughs nervously. “I know exactly what you mean...”

They might have an agreement to leave it unspoken for now - whether their moments arise tomorrow, the next day or months from now - but it might be a little harder than they thought to pretend things haven't changed between them. Fortunately, not all change is bad, not even slightly.

END NOTES: HEY FRIENDS! It’s been months since I’ve written something! As most of you know that’s because I’ve been travelling! But boy have I missed this. I actually started this one shot right after the episode aired but I never got time to finish it until now! At least the hiatus played in my favour and that this is still relevant lol.

Anyway! Sorry if it seems like I was super villainizing Kira in this one shot, what she did was nasty but I’m sure the show as a redemption arc coming up for her too and I’m totally open to it. Just wanted a little disclaimer that I’m emphasising her manipulation for the purpose of this narrative and not because of any hate I harbour for the character.

Sorry if you don’t like the ending of this one shot. I went back and forth about how to end it for a while, I didnt like that TJ felt like he had to come out to apologise so I wanted to give that back to him. I hope it works for you guys too x

#tyrus #andi mack #tj kippen #cyrus goodman #kira (andi mack)

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