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xoxo-teddybear · 3 years

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She’s Baby - Bakugou Katsuki

Bakugou x f!reader

Warnings: Cursing, fluff, crack

Summary: On a mission, Y/N gets hit with a quirk. Basically, she returns back to being a baby. And obviously, her boyfriend is left to take care of her.

BAKUGOU’S MASTERLIST

A/N: Y/N has the Cheshire quirk I mentioned in another post. The main thing you’ll need to know is that she can teleport and she can shape shift into any feline creature.

“......What am I looking at right now?”

Bakugou stared down at the small child being held by Kirishima. She oddly resembled his own girlfriend, with the same E/C eyes and H/C hair. Kirishima stood nervously as he let out a chuckle while sweat dripped down his face.

“Uhh..this is your girlfriend Bakugou. Some things happened on the job with Fat Gum and now Y/N’s a baby,” Kirishima explained. It took a second to process but once Bakugou finally got it, he started cackling. He bursted out laughing with tears streaming down his face. He went to pull out his phone and took a picture of your baby form, which was currently chewing on her foot through her pink onesie.

“Hehe, cute.” He whispered to himself as he looked at the photo.

“Ehem, anyways. Considering you’re in a relationship with Y/N, we decided to have you be her caretaker until she returns back to normal, which should be in just a few hours.” At his teacher’s words, Bakugou’s eyes popped.

“What?! Do I look like some damn babysitter to you?!” The blonde screamed.

“No, you look like her boyfriend. So man up and deal with her!” Kirishima said as he shoved you into your boyfriend’s arms and shut his dorm room door. Bakugou grunted and sighed before he looked down at baby you in his arms, he softly smiled down at your cute form that was cooing at him and reaching for his face.

“If our future kids look anything like you, they’re gonna be cute as fuck.” He said as he tickled your tummy.

—

After a few hours of having baby Y/N in his dorm room, Bakugou thought it’d be a good idea to get you both some food. A healthy meal made by the Japanese Gordon Ramsey himself should suffice.

Bakugou walked out of his room with you, not in his arms, but you standing on his shoulder, tugging on his blonde locks. Your baby form apparently loved high perches, which made sense due to your quirk being cat-related. As the two of you made it to the common rooms, the students of class 1-A took notice of the oh-so casual Bakugou that held a baby-you atop of his head.

“Uhh, Bakugou? You have a baby on your head.” Kaminari mentioned from the couch.

“I’m aware, Dunce Face.” Bakugou said as he entered the kitchen. “It’s just Y/N. She got hit with a quirk and now she’s like this.”

“Ohh, she’s so cute!” Mina said as she walked up to you two and took you away from Bakugou.

“Hey! Give her back!” Bakugou said as he reached for you. Mina moved back to dodge his attempt and succeeded.

“No! I wanna hold her! You’ve been with her all day!” Mina argued.

“Because Mr. Aizawa told me I had to take care of her!” Bakugou replied.

“Well if you don’t want to then I’ll happily do it!” Mina said.

“No! She’s my girlfriend so give her back!” Bakugou said, finally successfully getting a hold on you.

“She’s my best friend so let me have her!” Mina said as she jumped on Bakugou. Unfortunately, they both fell to the floor and landed next to each other on their backs. As he fell, you flew out of Bakugou’s grip and everybody looked to your falling baby form and gasped. “Oh no!”

Before you landed, your body teleported next to Bakugou. Your boyfriend looked at you in shock before grabbing onto you. “Shit! You scared me, Y/N.”

“Woah! She can still use her quirk?” Sero said as he walked to you three.

“I guess,” Bakugou replied.

“You guess?!” Mina said. “So she could’ve fallen and you weren’t gonna do a thing about it?!”

“It all happened so fast, okay?! And besides, I didn’t see your dumbass doing anything!” He argued as he held you against his chest.

“Because I was on the floor!” Mina argued.

“And that was your fucking fault!” The blonde said before he got up. He perched you on his hip as he grabbed ingredients to make a simple dish. He began cooking while still holding onto you and while some students offered to hold you so that he could focus on the meal, he only growled at everyone’s attempt to take you away from him. He refused to let anyone but him hold you after that almost falling fiasco.

—

Finally, it was time to feed you! Unfortunately everything Bakugou made wasn’t to your liking. Udon? No. Tamago Sushi? No. Curry? No. Oyakodon? Nope! Eventually he gave up and brought you to the supermarket so you could pick out some baby food. While you looked for food, your boyfriend couldn’t help but notice the stares he was getting.

‘These damn idiots must think I’m her daddy or something....well in a way I guess they’re right,’ the hormonal teen joked to himself ‘but I’m not no damn teen father!’ Bakugou went back to searching for something for you to eat and gagged as he looked at all the jars of mush.

‘Peas and Carrots. Spinach. Chicken and Rice. Gross. Who would feed a baby this shit?’ He thought. He held you in his arms as he watched you reach for a red-ish, pink paste in a jar. You smiled as you held it up to him while he read the label. “Dragonfruit and Chia Seeds..doesn’t sound half bad. Alright brat, let’s go,”

—

Back at the dorms, Bakugou set you in the common room couch. He would’ve put you in the kitchen, but there were no booster seats and that put you at a safety risk. The couch was the next best thing. Low to the ground, soft cushions, and you would have a carpeted fall if an instance were to happen.

While you got comfy on the couch, Bakugou took a seat infront of you on the coffee table. He pulled out the small jar of food along with a baby spoon and that’s when his group of friends walked in.

“Hey man! Whatchu’ doing with lil Y/N?” Kirishima asked as he hunched over the couch to allow you to play with his hands.

“Just feeding the brat,” Bakugou said as he opened the jar. “C’mon Teddy Bear, you gotta eat.”

Kaminari snickered at the pet name. “You’re still calling her ‘Teddy Bear?’”

“Yeah? She’s still my girlfriend dunce face!” The ash blonde said waving the spoon around. “She’s just, in a different body.”

“Yeah, a baby body,” Mina teased with a laugh. The Bakusquad (minus Bakugou) all laughed with her.

“Well at least I’m not calling her ‘babe’ or anything like that!” He reacted fiercely. “Whatever, Y/N, just eat the food.”

You looked at the spoonful of mush that your boyfriend was offering you and after staring at it for a hot minute, you smacked it out of your face. The scoop of food landed against the wall making a splat sound. The group of teens all looked at you in shock as you just laughed and clapped your hands together in excitement.

Bakugou was getting irked as he knew what was coming. But there’s no way, right? This kind of stuff only happened in TV. Right?

—

He was wrong. The jar was empty, but Y/N wasn’t full of any food. She had flung spoonfuls of dragonfruit on the walls, the ceiling, the floors, and the Bakusquad. You were the only thing in the room that was clean. The group of friends all stood covered in pinkish blotches as they circled you. They now all had a spoon that held the last bits of food. They were going to feed you. No matter what it took.

“Go!” Sero screamed and the friends all jumped into action. Kirishima dove in first but you teleported out of the way. He spilled his spoon as he hit the ground. When you reappeared, you looked to your left and saw Kaminari standing there. He smirked down at you with a crazed grin and when he tried to grab you, you transformed into a little kitten and knocked the spoon out of his hand, dropping its contents. You transformed back into your baby state and there, you met Sero. Not because he was standing there, but because the mad man was swinging with his tape trying to get to you. You once again teleported and he crashed into the wall, obviously getting the small amount of food on there as well. You stood on the kitchen island and Mina popped up behind you and got a hold on you. She successfully got the food into your mouth and smiled at the sight. She held you up in victory and the squad all cheered. Unfortunately, as Mina brought you closer to her face level, she looked at you and you spit the food right back into her face.

“Ah!” She screamed at the feeling of having baby mush in her eyes and dropped you. You teleported again and stood on the coffee table. There, Bakugou gently picked you up in his arms and cradled you. You fussed but he held the spoon in front of you and begged you to eat.

“Please Y/N. Just eat the damn mush.” He softly spoke. You looked up to your boyfriend who stared down at you with pleading eyes and you kindly took the spoon into your mouth, swallowing the food. The squad cheered again while Bakugou contently sighed in relief. He pecked your forehead before putting the spoon in the sink. “Hey Pinkie, mind giving Y/N a bath while I clean the place up?”

“Why me?” Mina asked, wiping her face.

“Because you’re both girls?” Bakugou said, looking at her as if she was dumb.

“So? You’re her boyfriend. Are we gonna act like you haven’t seen Y/N naked yet?” Mina said, smirking at the blushing blonde with a hand on her hip.

“S-Shut up! And this is different! I’m not looking at her bare baby body!” Bakugou complained while looking flustered with red cheeks.

“Fine, fine,” Mina said as she walked to Bakugou, taking you from him. You whined at the loss of touch from Bakugou and reached out for him with sad eyes and grabby hands. He smiled down at you and played with your baby hands.

“Relax you damn brat,” he said with a soft smile, “it’s just for a little bit. Okay?” He asked and you cooed at him, almost as if you were telling him you understood. He kissed your forehead before going off to clean the room while Mina walked away with you to give you a bath.

—

Mina returned with a clean baby in new clothes that she had Momo made. She gave you back to Katsuki who was waiting for you on the now clean couch. Once you were in Katsuki’s hold, you giggled and reached for his face. He smiled and leaned forward to allow you to squish his cheeks, just like how you would if you weren’t a baby.

“Yup, you’re definitely Y/N.” He chuckled before giving you another forehead kiss. The Bakusquad all sat with him again and watched their friend interact with the mini you. Kaminari was sitting next to Bakugou and kept trying to play with you, and you definitely enjoyed the electric blonde’s entertainment.

“Hewo there my baby waby~” Denki cooed in baby talk as he tickled your chin. “Our lil coco-moco-chucka-wucka-OW!” You bit his finger. The squad all laughed at the sight and even the bitten blonde chuckled before petting your baby head...in hesitation of course. Bakugou laughed before bouncing you in his arms to get more comfortable. He leaned back on the couch and you crawled up to his upper chest and got comfy. He held a hand below you to make sure you didn’t fall as he smiled in content. It was an adorable sight, truly.

“You know man, you’d make a pretty good dad.” His best friend said. Bakugou looked towards Kirishima with a weird face.

“Ugh, Shitty Hair, this is my girlfriend, not my daughter.” He said, rubbing your tiny back.

“Yeah we know, but the way you interact with her baby form, you’d make a great father!” Mina said. “And plus, we all see how Y/N is around children. Kids love her. You guys would be really good parents.”

The thought of you and him being parents put a blush on his face. You, him, a mini Y/N and a mini Katsuki. A dog with a big yard in the back of a big house once you guys are big shot pros. Sounds like a dream to Katsuki. He snapped out of his daydream once his friends all awed at him for blushing and smiling as it was obvious to what he was thinking.

“Shut up you idiots! We’re going to bed!” The ash blonde said before getting up and carrying you back to his room. He placed you down on the bed before turning around to get some sleeping clothes for himself. As his back was turned, a white glow went on behind him and when he turned back around, he saw you in your normal form, naked under his blankets.

“Uh, Suki? You mind?” You asked with a little giggle. He smiled at you before handing you a big tee and a pair of his compression shorts. You put that on and once again got comfy under the sheets. Bakugou got dressed for bed and joined you by jumping into the sheets.

He covered you in kisses and you giggled at his touch. “I missed you baby.”

Man did it feel good for Katsuki to call you that again and not have it be weird. “I wish I could say the same but it feels like I just saw you before I left for the job.”

“Well, you were with me the whole day. I guess that quirk just puts your brain on pause for a bit while you’re in baby form so it makes sense that the last thing you remember is the battle.” He said.

“I still can’t believe I was a baby. Bleh. Tell me about it!” You giggled. He laughed with you in his arms.

“Uh, I don’t fucking know. You were a cute kid.” He mentioned.

“Were? Baby, I’m still cute.” You said with sass and flipped your hair, he laughed at you again and kissed your cheek in agreement.

“Yeah, you are. But baby-you was really adorable. You almost fell but surprisingly your quirk still worked and you knew how to control it so you were safe.” He told you, but you pushed his chest away to look at his face.

“You almost dropped me?! Katsuki!” You yelled at your boyfriend.

“I know! I know! But, you didn’t fall!” He replied. You only huffed and sighed before having him continue,

“Anyways. Then I had to feed you but your picky ass wouldn’t take anything I made. Which is weird because you love my cooking. Mini you just wanted to be a pain in the ass.” He said ruffling your hair. “So I took you to the store and everyone there thought I was some teen fucking dad or some shit!”

“Wow Katsuki~ I didn’t know you had kids. Who’s the mom?” You teased.

“Shut up, dumbass.” He said with an eye roll, “besides, if I were to have a kid with anyone, it has to be you. I’m not putting a kid in anybody else. I refuse.”

That made you giggle and you felt the heat rush to your face. “Same here Katsuki. I don’t want anyone else but you.”

A comforting silence came over the two of you as you remained cuddled in his arms. A few minutes of silence and Katsuki finally asked his burning question. “Um...how would you feel..about growing up with me? And getting married. And-..I don’t know, kids?”

His breath got stuck in his throat as he waited for your answer. You looked up at him with a sweet face before giving him a loving smile and peck on the cheek. “I only want my future to be with you, Katsuki.”

He smiled again and kissed your lips. “Same here, Teddy Bear.”

A/N: Horrible ending but..whateva i guess :/

Taglist: @sxcker4you @aomi04

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blackbat05 · 3 years

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Day by Day

Shangqi x Reader

A/N: My love for this man has hit an all time high so let me capitalize on it while I still can! If you read everything, I sincerely thank you for doing so!!! And holy cow 2 fics in 2 days have I gone back into my prime days?

Genre: PG-13

Notes: As the title mentioned, I’ll probably set it some time after endgame. You could see it as a prequel to my first post! Reader is a social worker and she’s just dealing with all the mess that the snap bought back. The reader’s name as Jen Lee. I also apologize in advance for the potentially long fic.

***

‘Excuse me, I’m looking for my child? Her name’s Wang Yiman and she’s seven.’ Another frazzled-looking parent fought her way to the front of the receptionist, approaching the helpless intern who looked like she was going to be on the verge of tears if another request came in.

‘I got this,’ a hand calmly reassured the young intern as she beckoned the relief parent. ‘Mrs Wang? My name is Jen Lee and I’m the social worker here.’ I offered my hand for the anxious mother. ‘Oh thank god! Is Yiman ok? She must have been so scared!’ I slowed to a stop outside the room at the end of the corridor, gently sitting her down.

‘Yiman has been a very brave girl Mrs Wang, but I will not lie to you. The sudden disappearance of their parents has traumatized a lot of kids. We’ve managed to explain to them what was going on but they will need a lot of support.’ I gave a glance over Mrs Wang’s shoulder, nodding to my colleague, Tammy who was holding the hand of a little girl in pigtails and a floral dress.

妈妈! mā ma (mommy!)

The young girl ran into her mother’s open arms, allowing the floodgates to open from both ends. I turn to Tammy as we shared a silent agreement to leave the area. ‘That’s the last one for the day,’ Tammy unceremoniously plops herself onto the chair, letting out a groan. ‘Thanks for your hard work Jen.’

‘Right back at you.’ I entered the last bit of paperwork before uploading Yiman’s case file onto the portal. Yiman’s reunion with her parents meant the Children and Youth Centre were halfway in getting every displaced child back to their parents. Looking at the dingy television that was hung on the walls at the waiting room, despite not being able to hear anything, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on. S.W.O.R.D was apparently in a stand-off against Wanda Maximoff? Reported rumors that Sam Wilson didn’t want anything to do with the shield? It’s been a crazy few weeks but that was utter-

‘Bullshit! If anything it’s the government. They must have psyched him into giving up the shield.’ My chair swiveled to face Tammy who returned a nonchalant shrug. ‘What? You know I’m right. Doesn’t matter if half the world’s gone or our universe gets split into two - they’re the true evil here. I’m still struggling to find a place after I found a couple making out in my apartment! And you know what the global repatriation council told me? We’re only dealing with urgent cases right now. Well I say f-’

The incessant ringing of the bell interrupted our conversation, replacing Tammy’s tirade into a cheeky grin. ‘Look who’s here!’

Shangqi stands behind the counter, dressed in his usual red varsity jacket and jeans, holding bags of what I could only make out as takeout from the Chinese restaurant that was run by a friendly Singaporean couple. ‘Did I interrupt something?’ He scratches his head nervously. ‘Nope, in fact you just saved me from Tammy’s monologue, any further and she’ll explicitly tell me what she saw in her apartment when she got dusted back that day,’ I shivered in mock fear. ‘Still haunts me up till today.’ Tammy meets us by the door, bag in her hand.

‘I thought you were staying? We got fried dumplings and 泡饭 pào fàn (poached rice).’

‘Last minute duty - A parent called, gotta run! Enjoy your dinner date.’ She waggles her eyebrows suggestively, much to our embarrassment. ‘What? It’s not...’ Shangqi stutters, trying to form intelligible sentences. ‘Get out before I throw a fried dumpling at your face Tammy!’ She winks at me, before darting out of the door. Once my nosy colleague was out, I turn towards a red-faced Shangqi. ‘I’m so sorry... just don’t mind her.’

‘Huh?’ The man was knocked out of his stupor. ‘Oh yeah... sure,’ in an attempt to forget everything that had just happened, he opened the packets of fried dumplings. ‘Ready for war?’

‘I was born ready.’

Thirty-five minutes later, all that was left were the remnants of fried dumplings and three empty containers.

‘This should be illegal,’ I patted my stomach in satisfaction to his amusement. ‘Laugh at yourself! You lost track of how many dumplings you had and ended up taking my share!’

Raising his hands in defeat, Shangqi starts to clear the table up. ‘So how’s the center? Everything alright?’ I nodded numbly.

The past five years had been a blur. Hazy, even. All I remembered was a kid running into the office telling me that half of the staff disappeared during a school holiday program that we were running with a dozen other kids. Parents who survived the snap rushed to our center, demanding to see their children. We couldn’t give them any answer as we too, were equally perplexed. Maybe the only thing that made sense was Shangqi and Katy bursting into the center to help us with the chaos.

Coming back from what could be the 1000th phone call, I got a glimpse in the children’s playroom where the five years old kids were at, treating myself to an amusing sight. They all had red cloths draped around their neck, each holding a stick that was from the abandoned prop box. Katy wasn’t spared to as she was wearing her own red cloth that seemed a few sizes to small for her. Not that she didn’t seem to mind.

‘Alright my warriors! Chargeeeeee!!!!!!’

In unison, little pairs of feet pattered across the room towards their ‘enemy’, a cardboard cutout of a monstrous creature who was really just Shangqi in disguise.

‘RAWR! I’ll eat anyone who stands in my way!’ He stands up, mimicking a dinosaur that was about to trample an entire city. I decided that the paperwork could wait, standing near the door to watch an Oscar-worthy performance. With great effort and bravery from the kids, they finally managed to take down 5 foot 10 worth of muscle.

‘Again! Again!’

I chuckled upon seeing Shangqi on the floor, about to drift off into wonderland. It was time for me to step in. ‘Alright kids that’s enough for today! Dinner’s here.’ As the kids dispersed with the help of Katy, it was just the two of us left to clear up the mess. ‘Thank you so much, both of you. I honestly can’t think of what would happen if you guys didn’t come to help.’

Perhaps my body language was screaming ‘I’m dead tired, please just knock me out’ as Shangqi takes a cloth from me, folding it back into the box. ‘It’s what we would have done, this place, it means a lot to us - to me.’

A small knock on the door diverts our attention away from the trash. Little Yiman stands at the door, as she stares at the both of us with big round eyes.

‘Yiman, it’s late, what are you doing here?’ I squat down to her eye level. The little girl beams, ‘ 妈妈 said that I could give this to you!’ She passes me a juice box together with a handmade card with colorful scribbles. Maybe I was carrying too much on my shoulders, as I suddenly felt a boulder lifted off me. ‘Thank you,’ I smile at her sweetly, ‘I love apple juice.’ Happy with the response, she runs to Shangqi. ‘Shangqi 哥哥 gē ge (brother)!’

He breaks out into a smile, opening his arms wide. Yiman nuzzles her head into his shoulder before breaking out into uncontrollable giggles from his sudden attack of tickles. ‘Are you hear to help Miss Jen?’ I took the trash from his hands, giving him some time with the girl.

‘Yes I am. Miss Jen needs some help so I’m here today!’

‘Are you her boyfriend?’

Shangqi freezes on the spot. He had undergone what could be the toughest training by his father, fought the greatest assassins in the world and here he was - stumped by a question from a seven year old. ‘Well... I’m her close friend since when we were very young,’ Yiman looks at him expectantly. ‘She helped me when I was in trouble so I had to be a good friend when she was in trouble too.’

‘Like how Ningning helped me when I injured my knee?’

‘Yeah... something like that.’ He breathes a sigh of relief, thankful to escape his first crisis. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure if he was telling himself the truth.

‘Yiman! Your mother’s here!’ The little girl gives him one last hug before running to the waiting room. Shangqi takes a moment to recollect himself. ‘Here I am thinking that you finally managed to have some stamina while interacting with young children, maybe I was wrong.’ I teased as I sat beside him.

‘Har har, hilarious.’ He tosses me a straw for our peach teas, as we were greeted by the amazing night view of San Francisco. ‘Enough about me, you good though?’ Looks like he didn’t forget the conversation that was cut off earlier. My mind goes back to a few minutes earlier, eavesdropping on the conversation.

‘I had to be a good friend when she was in trouble too.’

Life has been so unpredictable, I don’t even want to think too far into the future. With appearances from more superpowered beings, I don’t know what’s real anymore.

‘Yeah. To be honest, it’s been so crazy and overwhelming but I’ll get through it. I have you don’t I?’ Giving him a wink, I slowly sipped on the sweetness of the tea, savoring the pearls. He pauses for a moment, nodding thoughtfully.

Life isn’t the same as it was before. But maybe, just maybe... if I had Shangqi, I’ll take each day on one at a time. Day by day.

[END]

A/N: Hoho! I literally spent the whole afternoon writing because I just had to get this idea out and also because work was pretty slow today. I have no idea what is up with my first two fics hinting at unrequited love? I guess I got inspired by Shangqi’s and Katy’s platonic relationship because I thought it was so well written but I also love Shangqi so I guess is a compromise kinda thing. Again, do like and comment if you wish! Really thankful that y’all have been so kind to me so far!

Perhaps I’ll try my hand at shorter ones like headcannons before this girl exhausts herself out and I don’t want to do that because I believe I have more to show!

#xu shangqi #shangqi imagine #shangqi x reader #katy shang chi #shang chi #shang chi x reader

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beskarberry · 3 years

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Krayt’s Teeth

Bargaining with Beskar, Chapter 3 (The Mandalorian x f!reader)

The sound of crashing and shouting was hot on your tail, the other hunters had followed you and were gaining fast. You saw a light rapidly approaching ahead of you, and the two of you burst out into the brilliant daylight to the worst possible place: a dead fucking end.

Rating: Explicit

Word count: 6.7k

Content warnings: Canon typical violence, killing in self defense, headcanon angst, FLUFF, sensory deprivation, body worship, oral sex (f receiving).

A/N: These are my headcanons regarding Mandalorian culture in terms of sex, I didn’t find much lore on it so whether it’s accurate or not idk but I like them and that’s all that matters! Enjoy~

<-Previous Next->

You could have slept forever, even on that horrible little cot you were so comfortable that you could have been out for days, but the only one on it was you. You did’t know when Mando got up from the tiny space you both shared through the night, or how he managed to get out from your tangled bodies without waking you up. You opened your eyes to tiny green baby hands tugging at your fingers.

“Hey booger, is it time for breakfast? Where’s your papa?” You started to sit up, but the horrible sticky mess underneath you made you reluctant to move, a mix of passion and pain from the day before. “Yikes. I’m gonna run all his water out if I have to keep using the fresher. Come on, let’s get scrubbed up.” The baby gibbered excitedly at you, though you weren’t sure how much of what you said he actually understood. You scooped him into your arms without looking back at the sad little cot and all its stains. “You’re water proof, right?”

The ship’s engines were rumbling away, so you guessed tin man was up in the cockpit flying you towards your next bounty. Or Nevarro. You would have to find Mr. Mystery later, the grossness that was you had to be dealt with. Between you and the child your shower took forever, the two of you getting water and soap bubbles from top to bottom. You didn’t care. You had been on Tatooine for months without having a real shower, being consigned to the sonic freshers that vibrated the sand off of the moisture farmer’s bodies; and this was the second real shower you’d gotten to have in twice as many days. You spent a good deal of time trying to get your chatty friend to hold still long enough to be dried off, the little fart squealing with joy every time you went for him with the towel.

An ordeal later you were both fresh and presentable, but your host was still nowhere to be seen, though the ugly sheets had thankfully disappeared from view. The ship was quiet now, without the engine running you knew you had to be back on the ground, and you could hear a distinct hum of activity coming through the walls. Space port? He flew us into town? The thought was replaced immediately with a rich, savory smell coming through the air vents: FOOD! Your gut grumbled loud enough to resonate through the cabin and earn you a confused look from the baby. When was the last time you really ate? You’d been living on ration packs for the last couple of days. That was going to change right now.

“Ya hungry buddy? Me too! Maybe that’s where your dad is, hmm?” Grabbing your old backpack and hooking the baby under your arm you started punching buttons on the wall to get the door open, sending walls sliding and cabinets opening before you got one of the access ramps open. Bright double sunlight nearly blinded you, and on reflex you covered the baby’s giant googly eyes. It took a moment for your own to adjust to the radiant light of the Tatooine morning, and the smell of cooking food hit you like a ton of bricks, making your mouth water. As your eyes adjusted you were able to take in your surroundings: though it was bright outside you were parked low inside a maintenance bay, the walls of which soared high above you; littered with engine parts and humming with droid activity. Sound was the last input your hungry brain could process, but when it did you didn’t like what you heard. The sounds of an argument echoed around the hangar, high and shrill.

“I already told you, you can’t park here! You’re bad for business!”

“I just need to park here long enough to get supplies.”

“Well you’re gonna have to pay up, Mando! I’m not running a charity here! You got credits for supplies you got credits for parking! Up front this time!”

Oh no.

Of all the mechanics and docking hangars in Mos Eisley he had to pick this one. The fireball of a woman barely came up to your partner’s chest, but she made up for it with unbridled fury; and the giant cooked animal leg she was swinging around like a club between bites made her look even more formidable. She noticed you coming down the ramp and stopped grilling your comrade long enough to glare daggers through your skull.

“Oh NO! No nope nuh uh! You can turn right back around and get back on that ship, missy! I knew it! I knew you were bad for business, Mando! What’re you doing running around with her? I hope she’s your bounty because she’s your problem!”

“Peli.” Your words were cold as ice, but the squirming baby in your arms took all the malice out of your stance. He wiggled until you set him down, and he ran towards the mechanic with open arms.

“Baby! You can stay but your dad’s gotta take the mean lady somewhere else! She cheats at sabacc!”

“You lost fair and square, Peli! Try playing a better hand next time!”

“Ladies please!” Mando cut through your bickering, holding his arms up between the two of you like he was trying to corner a pair of wild blurgs. “If I let the child stay with you for the day, will you let me park the Razor Crest here? Just for a couple hours?”

Peli bounced the child on her hip, offering him a bite of her breakfast. The baby squealed happily while he sank his little teeth into the mighty snack, though the size of it comically dwarfed his itty bitty hands. “I’ll tell you what, you let me keep him and then maybe I’ll let you park here in a week.” Mando cocked his helmet at her with disdain and she huffed loudly, “Well if you put it that way, I guess you can park here, but you gotta put five hundred credits down, and not a cent less!”

Mando reeled, stabbing his hands to his hips with indignation. “Five hund- absolutely not! What am I going to buy our-” You interrupted his tirade with a hand on his shoulder, waving a slew of credits in front of his eyes. Peli snatched them out of your hand, fanning them out like cards to count them.

“Who’d you cheat these outta?”

“Don’t worry about it.” You leaned casually against your metal man, eyeing Peli with a smug look on your face. “Let’s go, Mando. Bye baby green bean, have fun with Auntie Cheats-at-Sabacc!” You spun him around by the hand and dragged him towards the exit, ignoring the insults being slung at your back. “We are getting breakfast and that’s final!”

The Mandalorian allowed you to pull him along a few feet before grinding his heels into the sand, shaking his head. “You have to stay here.”

Now it was your turn for sassy head tilts. “I just paid for your parking, buckethead, that makes me in charge and I’m hungry! I’ll buy you breakfast too if you want.” He didn’t budge, fixing you with that intense stare of his and grabbing you by the shoulders.

“You are still being hunted. Mos Eisley isn’t safe for you.”

Ah.

You knew you could look after yourself, and he himself had compared you to a ferocious rancor just yesterday. You groaned loudly, “Shit balls of hell. But dad, I’m huuunngry!” The man bristled at your paternal harassment, sighing heavily and letting his helmeted head fall to the side like the world was ending. He glanced around the hangar exit, his shiny beskar snapping to each object of interest until he located a protocol droid corpse that was missing everything from the waist down. He strode over to it and held it down with one boot, yanking it by the head until it popped off. He began prying the droid’s vocorder apart at the mouth, pulling it wide until the droids face plate broke off with a snap! Tossing the rest of the logic processing unit to the ground, he held the face plate up to the light, inspecting the clarity of its photo receptor casings. He bent back down to the junk pile and fished out a stray wire to thread through the ruined audio processors, then tossed the finished creation to you.

“Put that on.”

You turned the makeshift mask over in your hands to check for sharp edges before you pressed it to your face. The bug eyes on the front were dirty, but you could see well enough. Before you could clean them more thoroughly you felt the weight of fabric on your head, his cloak now worn as your own. The thought of how you must look made you giggle. “You make me take my clothes off, now you want me to put clothes on. It never ends with you, Mando. Next you’ll be forging me beskar. Now can we eat something, please?” Without a word the armored man turned on his heel and walked out the hangar exit. I’ll take that as a yes.

Mos Eisley buzzed with life, people and animals and things you couldn’t explain made their way up and down the bustling streets. The smell of food led you to a vendor selling something that could have been a root vegetable, covered in herbs and spices and grilled to perfection. You couldn't wait, all thoughts of self-preservation went out the window as you hauled ass to the stand, waving two fingers in the air. When you had both of your prizes in hand you stuffed the savory veggie under your mask, sighing contentedly at the taste of real honest-to-Maker food. “Hey tin man, I hope you like... whatever this-” You turned to offer your partner something to eat, but he had disappeared from the crowd. “Alright... more for me.”

Taking a newspaper from the vendor you wrapped the extra snack up tight and threw it in your pack for later, continuing to chow down on your own. You would find Mando eventually, and you had credits to spend. You had held onto your hush-money for months to avoid suspicion, but now it was burning a hole in your pocket. Wandering the streets of Mos Eisley from merchant to merchant you began accumulating a small hoard of supplies, ranging from bacta to hand tools, and food. Whatever you could get your hands on that would survive hyperspace when you inevitably left this fucking dirtball for good; though you still weren’t convinced that you wouldn’t be making that flight in carbonite. You picked out new clothes and underwear, a much-needed bedroll, and some soft bantha-wool blankets. Something further down the marketplace caught your eye, and you made your way to the fancier items that glittered in the double daylight. You didn’t wear jewelry yourself, a poor choice of attire for a hunter, but the way the trinkets caught the light still made you wistful. Your hidden eyes danced over the glittering treasures; jewels and geodes that had been found deep in the sands and polished to a radiant shine.

You spotted something opalescent at the end of one table and found a pair of krayt teeth, each about the size of your palm. They had been sanded to a smooth, flat finish and carved with intricate desert patterns. The backs of them had tiny fittings that could be sewn on as buttons, or pulled off to reveal magnets. Something about their shape seemed familiar, though you couldn’t imagine why in that moment. You purchased the unique pieces anyway, something to remind you that even the harshest of places could hold hidden beauty. After a while you had so much junk piled in your arms that you could barely see over it, and tin man was nowhere to be found. You spotted a courier droid and paid for it to deliver your treasures back to Hanger 3-5, though you kept the pricey teeth in your pockets. With your arms free you started looking for your missing comrade.

The streets were busy with people, you would have to get somewhere out of the way in order to scan the crowds. Your eyes went from shimmer to shimmer, looking for his reflective chrome dome. “Big jerk,” you mused to yourself “‘Mos Eisley’s not saaafe...’ If he’s so worried then where the hell is he? Bah!” The scratched-up photoreceptor casings of your mask made it a challenge to see through the crowd, and you took a moment to adjust the iris apertures so you wouldn’t have to keep squinting into the double sunshine when you felt a hand on your back. Finally. “Mando, where have you-”

“Mando? Whos’sis man-do? Nah sssweetheart, I think you got me confused wi’ sssomeone elssse.” The slithering voice in your ear made your blood run cold. Not Mando! You rocketed your elbow backwards, connecting with the gut of the stranger on your back with an -oof! The hand let go long enough for you to make a run for it, and you tore off down the streets of the busy spaceport, smashing into bystanders in your wake. You cast a quick look behind you to see a large reptilian body flying after you, brownish scales catching the reflection of the noonday suns. Though you had your blaster, the risk of hitting a civilian was too great, so running would have to do. You were thankful for the courier droid that had freed your hands just minutes before as you barreled down the busy streets.

Market stalls flew past you, your boots kicking up sand and dust. The mask on your face, as dirty as it was, kept the debris from your eyes as you raced through the sunburnt city. You had to lose this fucker and fast. You turned down an alley, left, right, another right, leaping over supply crates and low fences like a lothcat. You turned to see if you had lost your chaser, breath heaving and heart pounding. Behind you was clear, but you took your eyes off your path for just a second too long, and were taken by surprise when a heavy weight fell on you from above.

The Trandoshan had gone over the low sandstone roofs, chasing you easily through the alleyways of Mos Eisley while you were none the wiser. He pinned you under him quickly, ripping your blaster off your hip and pointing your own barrel in your face. “Tha’ss enough, princesss! Nice n’ quietlike now. You gonna make me a pretty penny you are.” The lizard’s words dripped with metaphorical venom, though you were sure by the look of those fangs that real venom was probably right behind. “Ahm gonna cart yer arse right back to th’ Guild’n I’ll become th’ most famous hunter in th’ galax -urk!” With a sickening gag the hunter above you grew a shiny new fang in the back of his throat before falling down dead on top of you, a vibroblade protruding from back of his skull.

“Took you long enough!” You hollered at your chrome companion, who was stepping forward to kick the carcass off of you. “Where the fuck have you been? Getting your rifle polished?” He pulled you to your feet, handing you your blaster while readjusting the mask on your face. You swatted at his fussing hands, but when you looked at him you were shocked to see not one but three blinking bounty fobs dangling from his belt. On the ground by the dead lizard was a fourth, flashing rapidly in the sand.

“I told you you weren’t safe! We need to leave right now.” You were barely able to grab the remaining bounty fob while you were being tugged away by your allied hunter. He had a death grip on your hand, pulling you along behind him towards what you hoped was the docking hangar. You would have to cross the main street to get there, and as the pair of you plowed across the dusty, busy road there came shouts from either side. More hunters, fucking Guild! You didn’t have a single second to assess them before you were lead through an alley on the other side of the street. These were darker than the ones you had run through on the west side of town, and shady bodies moved quickly out of the way of your living locomotive.

At the end of a narrow alley you both burst through a door leading into an abandoned building. The darkness was almost worse than the blinding sunlight, you would need time for your eyes to adjust but the Mandalorian had enough sensory detection equipment that he ghosted through the ruinous building with ease; never once letting go of your hand as you tripped and stumbled through the dark. The sound of crashing and shouting was hot on your tail, the other hunters had followed you and were gaining fast. You saw a light rapidly approaching ahead, and the two of you burst out into the brilliant daylight to the worst possible place: a dead fucking end.

“There! Get down!” Mando pointed at a pile of rubble, probably big enough to hide behind, but that’s not how you handled business.

“Fuck you! I’m not going down without a fight!” You pulled your blaster out and aimed at the incoming assailants. He growled at you and stepped closer, putting his body in between you and the door. The reptilian hunters burst from the darkness of the warehouse, firing rapid shots of blaster charges that bounced off of Mando’s beskar. You fired over his protective arm, taking out the first one and tripping up the second, who fell over his cohorts limp body. Mando took shot after shot to the chest, reeling with each impact. His other arm cocked back and shot out, sending a wall of fire into the last of the Guild’s hired guns.

Both of you were panting, shaking and sweating from flying through Mos Eisley, but the sound of blaster fire would draw attention and you knew there was no time to waste. You stepped over the incinerated corpse, making sure the fob it carried was melted, the second body still squirmed in the dirt, and you weren’t going to let it get a second chance, firing your blaster through it’s scaly skull. You picked the remaining two fobs and stuffed them in your pockets, making a run for it back through the building with Mando right behind, the blaze of his flamethrower lighting your way.

You took a different door out of the building and were relieved to see the words ‘HANGAR 3-5′ painted in bright blue Basic straight ahead. You skittered through the entrance, rounding the corner and dropping down behind the edges of the hangar doorway. Mando did the same on the other side, both of you pointing your blasters back towards Mos Eisley’s dark heart. Bootsteps behind you made you snap around, and you nearly shot your mechanically inclined host.

“You kids have fun out there?” Peli stood over where you were hunched, and you lowered your blaster to the ground. At her feet your little buddy was holding onto her pant leg, making big puppy dog eyes at you. You looked over to Mando to make sure there weren’t any more coming, but he still held his blaster out ahead. After a few tense seconds he lowered it down until it was back in its’ holster, then pulled himself to his feet.

“We can’t stay any longer, we’re putting you in danger. Time to go, kiddo.” His charred beskar still shimmered when he bent down to pick up his adopted son, who chirped with delight. “Thank you for watching him.”

“He can stay any time! Oh and thanks for all the snacks you made that droid bring me!” Peli called after the three of you as your party quickly boarded the Razor, making you turn around and stick your tongue out at her. She happily flipped you off and started closing the ground entrance to the bay, letting you board the ship uninterrupted. Fortunately, the courier droid’s delivery had made it to the ship, though you couldn't help but notice a few of your most carefully picked snacks had been taken as collateral. Fucking Peli. As much as she infuriated you, there wasn’t another person on all of Tatooine that you would rather play sabacc with.

The old rust bucket rumbled to life, taking off into the midafternoon sky and pointed towards the stars. Finally! Bye motherfucker. The hazy atmosphere of the outer rim planet fell away below you until the light of the bright yellow world illuminated the Crest’s stern. The pre-Imperial scrapheap started howling with noise, and you were almost thrown to the deck when it blasted into the safety of hyper space.

Your heart was still racing and you struggled to catch your breath. Once you had yourself in order you started busying yourself with putting the supplies away, filling the food larder to capacity. The child was contentedly telling you about his day with his auntie in his cute baby gibberish, and you picked him up off the ground to give him a much needed hug, pushing your stolen identity onto the top of your head to give him kisses. You almost wanted to ignore the sound of heavy armored boots hitting the floor panel under the ladder, their wearer opting to jump down from the cockpit rather than climb. You could feel the fury coming off of him as he stalked over to where you were sorting your treasures.

“You could have been hurt! I knew it was a bad idea to let you go wandering around, even with your face covered. What if they’d caught you? I picked three of them off before you even saw one!”

“I had it under control, Mando! I’m not some princess that needs you coming to her rescue at every sign of a struggle. And you don’t get to let me do anything, you don’t own me!” The man under your scrutiny paced the cabin on stiff legs with his hands on his hips, helmet snapping with rage.

“I know you can handle yourself, but I need to protect you.” He said with a huff, “And that lizard was... he had you pinned down, had his filthy, scaly claws on you... Nobody should touch you like that! What if.. what if he... I- I- didn’t like that he was...” Listening to the sound of the gears jamming in his head made you realize the ridiculous thing he was trying to say.

“Are you.. Mando are you jealous?”

“No! I- I’m.. Cyar’ika I... ”

Oh no, you don’t get to be cute right now. “I don’t know what that means, Mando! What is that, some kind of sexy little pet name you use on all the girls you take underneath of you?”

“NO! I didn’t- I would nev- I’ve never had... There’s never been- no!” Oh how you wished you could see his face, watching him flail trying to defend himself from your accusation, he was probably white as a sheet under all that armor.

“Never what, Mandalorian?”

“I’ve never had anyone in this ship before!” The Mandalorian’s confession lost steam halfway through as embarrassment and fear crept into his throat, threatening to choke him with his own secrets.

“Wait.. wait wait. Never? You’ve never had anyone in this ship or...” You started approaching him, analyzing his visor for hints of meaning. “Or you’ve never had anyone at all?” The Mandalorian stopped his pacing, but his shoulders looked like they were carrying the weight of the galaxy. His silence told you everything, and the last piece of his puzzle fell into place. “Mando...was I your first?”

“Y-yes.” His visor tilted up to you, hands fidgeting at his sides. His voice was faint and sheepish, a stark contrast to the thunderstorm you were arguing with a moment ago. Your eyes were full of questions, all racing through your mind so quickly none of them made it to your mouth. The metal man answered them all for you in one singular motion, raising his fist to knock a couple times against his beskar helmet. His creed.

“So, what, you guys aren’t allowed to have sex?”

He sighed his heavy, trademarked sigh and plopped down on the nearest supply crate with a defeated thud, cradling his head in his hands. “No it’s not that. Not... not exactly. In Mando’a the word we use is me'dinuir. It means ‘to give’, specifically to give yourself to another. And... when you give yourself away to someone-“ He turned the black gloss of his single eye up to you, “-you belong to them. That is The Way.”

The weight of his words made your blood cold. He was jealous, but not just because that other hunter had put his scaly hands on you. Everything about his attitude around you suddenly made sense, the way he had looked at you when you were presenting yourself to him that first day, why he never threw you in carbonite when he probably should have, and how he had stayed with you through the night after you nearly died hunting his bounty. His mysterious way of life decreed that giving his body to you meant that he had also given you his soul, and that made you just as important to protect as his foundling.

Mando reached out to pat the fuzzy green head of the baby you were still holding, who gibbered sleepily up at his armor plated papa. “I’m sorry to put that on you, and I’m sorry for how I acted. You’re not my bounty anymore, and I shouldn’t try to control you. I understand if you don’t want to continue with me to the next bounty. You can take whatever you want from the armory when we land next. I’m.. I’m so sorry.” The monolithic man looked so tiny now, sitting on the edge of the crate with his shoulders hunched. He reached his arms out to take his infant son from you, hugging him to his blast-burnt chest and smoothing his massive ears. "I didn’t get to thank you for washing him earlier, he smells really good.”

You desperately needed to know more, though the sight of him fawning over his sleepy son made your heart swell. “I kinda got the feeling that you were rusty when we met, but that was actually your first time? And what does that mean ‘you belong to them’? How can you belong to me? I don’t even know your name.”

"It means that I’m now sworn to protect the one that carries my soul. I’m not asking you to do the same, you’re not Mandalorian.”

His words made you feel sick, ashamed that you had taken something so sacred from him without a second thought, but how could you have known? He could have stopped at any time, you were the one in cuffs that day, not him. No, out of trillions and trillions of sentient beings in the galaxy he chose to give himself to you, knowing full well what his heritage decreed. Why you? Arms crossed, you dug deeper. “You’ve never seen another naked body than your own?”

He shook his head. “Just... holo-vids...”

You were going to have to ask him about those later. “Nothing? You’ve at least kissed someone before though, right?”

“Kissed?”

Maker fucking help you. “Yeah you know, kissing? The thing you do with your... oh, right." You reached up and tapped him twice on the beskar. “You need your face to do it.”

He cocked his helmet at you. “Can you show me?”

The innocence of his question made you melt. Fuck you, tin can, you’re not supposed to be cute when you’re in trouble. You reached your hand out, demanding he give you his, and shyly he obeyed. You pulled his hand to your lips, unsure of how much he could actually feel through his thick leather gloves. You pressed his hand to your lips and watched his whole body snap straight. “Kiss, like that.”

He was staring at his hand like he’d never seen it before, and after a moment he pulled your locked fingers to his head, tapping his forehead with the back of your hand. “Kov’nynir, But we do it with our helmets.” At this rate you’ll be speaking Mando’a in no time. He still held your hand gently, running his thumb over your fingers. “I think I like your way better. Could... Could you do that again?”

So polite, maybe having him stuck with you wouldn’t be so bad. You pulled his hand back to you, giving him another soft kiss on the side of his thumb, and you heard the sound of his breath catching in his modulator. Your lips pressed to each of his knuckles, and then you turned his wrist to kiss his palm. “How’s that?”

“That’s amazing.”

“You like that? Watch this.” Addressing the bantha in the room would have to wait. You tugged his glove off, revealing the warm bronze skin underneath and kissed him again. The hitched breaths coming out of his modulator were honey to your ears, and you turned his wrist over to kiss his bare palm again, hunting for more sweet sounds. His body was so stiff, so tightly wound you thought he might snap. “Are you ok? Do I need to stop?”

“I- I- want to... Can... Can I try?” You nodded, your heart jumping to your throat at the thought of him removing his helmet in front of you, but instead he gently reached up to the busted droid face you still wore on your head. With a twist of a knob the armatures inside of the eye casings coiled shut, and when he slid the mask down into place you were thrown into total darkness. “Can you see?” You shook your head. “Promise?”

You sighed, long and frustrated. “I promise, dark as a sarlacc’s backside.” You were met with only silence. Then, after what felt like an eternity you heard the sliding sound of metal as the child’s pram shield slid closed, then the shuffle of armor being removed, and lastly the dull thunk of something heavy being set down on the crates. His hand found yours again, and he pressed his lips against your skin. They were hotter than you were expecting, and soft, almost plush. You understood right away why he was so rigid when you were doing the same, it was amazing. Gentle kisses made their way over the back of your hand and made heat flood through your veins. He moved slowly over each joint, following the same pattern you had shown him, then turned your hand over and kissed at your fingertips. Something fuzzy brushed along with his lips, and you imagined that he might have a mustache. The shivers that crept their way up from your captured hand knocked all the strangeness of your conversation out of your mind, but when he reached your wrist he stopped.

“Where else do you kiss at?” You nearly fainted at the sound of his unfiltered voice, a rich baritone that dripped with dark intentions and stole all the words from your mouth. You could only point with your other hand at the forearm attached to the hand he held. Again you felt his lips on your wrist, then slowly, inch by agonizing inch he made his way up your arm, each kiss slower than the last until your toes were curling in their boots. When he reached the edge of the tunic’s sleeve that hung at your elbow he paused again. “Where else?”

“Everywhere.” Your tormentor hummed at your consenting words and let go of your hand to run his palms down your clothed thighs. When he reached your knees he pulled on their joints, bidding you to bring your legs up over his lap. When you were seated on him he resumed his trek up your arm, kissing at the crease of your elbow and then upwards over your tunic until he reached your shoulder. When he got to your neck you almost buckled over, but his hands were at your back in an instant, wrapping heavily around your waist. Your own hands made their way to the nape of his neck, and your fingers found the edge of his hairline that you had felt before. To your delight you felt that the tousled curls went all the way up, and you tangled your fingers in them, exploring their softness while he explored you.

His journey led him up your neck to the base of your jaw where he nipped gently at the sensitive skin like you had done to him last night, sending a fresh wave of goosebumps from your head to your toes. When his nose bumped the edge of your mask you were suddenly aware of how silly you might look with your big bug eyes. “Can I take this thing off?” you asked in a whisper. “I won’t look.”

“I have a better Idea. Hold on tight.” You dug your hands into his shoulders and felt his arms wrap under your legs as he stood up, lifting you with such ease that you wondered if he felt your weight at all. His boots echoed through the cabin until he stopped at the other end. You hung on for dear life while he climbed the ladder with you still wrapped around his front. When you both reached the top you let yourself unwind from him and scooted on your butt over the floor, listening to the sound of him pulling himself all the way up. You remained seated as your host fussed around the flight deck, the noise of buttons pressing and switches being thrown the only input to your deprived senses.

You were only unattended for a moment, then his hands found your waist, fishing for the edge of your shirt. The tunic was pulled up and over your head, taking your mask with it, and you squeezed your eyes shut to protect his modesty; unsure of what his unconventional oath to you included in the fine print. Your diligence was rewarded with a kiss on your forehead, then down to kiss both of your closed eyes, and then lastly to your lips. The searing heat of his mouth on yours threatened to throw your eyes open, but when they fluttered all you saw was darkness. The transperisteel’s blast shielding had been closed, and the only light in the cockpit came from a handful of illuminated buttons on the dash.

He was lying over top of you on the metal floor, one arm wrapped under your neck for support. The cold decking under you was uncomfortable, but you couldn’t be bothered to care, letting yourself be consumed by his kisses and becoming drunk on the scent of leather and adrenaline. The soft fuzz of his facial hair tickled slightly as he pressed into your lips, and you couldn’t help but smile. Your hands went to his face, running your thumbs over his cheeks and feeling what you weren’t allowed to see. His face was scruffy but not unkempt, and the bristles went all the way from his jaw up to the bottom of the defined nose that bumped against your own. You felt the creases on the corners of his eyes, wishing you could see his smile lines and all the stories they would tell.

You kissed him back, letting your tongue glide over his plush lips and making him inhale sharply. You licked into him again, and this time you were met with his tongue as well, just the faintest touch of its tip. He hummed in your mouth, and the sound of him so close made your belly pool with heat and your kisses bolder, sending your tongue deeper into his mouth until he was almost vibrating with the sensation of you exploring something as forbidden as his human body. He mirrored you as best he could, rolling the smooth muscle over your lips and the edges of your teeth until you were both lost in each other’s taste. He pushed his forehead against yours, pulling his mouth away with frantic breaths that spread fire over your skin. “Everywhere?”

You pushed your lips against his again, giving him an ambitions ‘Mmhmm’ as an answer. His growl made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, and you realized where his goal was. He kissed and nipped his way down your throat, letting his tongue glide over your skin. He made his way to your breast, taking its’ tender tip between his teeth and making you gasp. He sucked at it gently, rolling his tongue around it while it grew harder for his efforts. The hand not under you groped at your free breast so it wouldn’t be ignored.

"Beep!”

An urgent chime echoed in the tiny space, the hyperdrive indicator was flashing its countdown warning: 10 minutes remain.

The Mandalorian’s growl on your breast made your blood turn to ice and your core flush with heat at the same time. He wanted to devour you, taste every single inch of your exposed skin, but time was not on your side; and he became a man on a mission to prove himself worthy of you. Bristles dragged over your skin as he slid down your belly until he hit the edge of your pants. They were yanked off so fast you briefly worried about the krayt teeth that were still in their pockets, but you didn’t have long to think before Mando was poised over the apex of your thighs, kissing at each leg to make his intentions known. Those must be some good holo-vids you’re watching, tinman. You let him push your legs apart with his chin, receiving a soft kiss on each one once they were far enough apart for him to stuff his face in between.

Your back arched, hard, followed by the most ragged moan you‘d ever heard escape your throat. The grip on your thighs kept you in place as he lapped at your clit, sucking and teasing in an experimental way. His inexperience didn’t seem to matter, his hunger for you fueling his efforts and making you squirm in delight. Your hands sought desperately for something to grab onto to keep yourself grounded, finding his lovely curls to bury your fingers in deep. It was all you could do to hold on for dear life, tangling in his hair and struggling to breathe as he worked you into a frenzy.

The noises coming from below your waist were heavenly, wet and greedy in between his hums of contentment. It took you a while to realize they weren’t hums at all, but alien words of worship being prayed at your sinful altar; but the blood pounding in your ears and the gasps from your throat were too loud for you to hear his devotion.

“Beep beep!” Five minutes remain. Fuck.

The Mandalorian’s efforts doubled, running his tongue almost too quickly in his attempt to eat you alive. You let your hips grind into his mouth, begging him to bring you your release, and it wasn’t long before he succeeded. Stars flashed behind your eyes as you came into his hot open mouth, but he refused to leave until he had drank his fill of you. Eventually he pulled his face away from your spent heat with agonizing slowness, as if he would rather drown than address the impending drop from hyperspace. He kissed at your shaky thighs, your soft belly, and each breast before pressing his lips into your panting mouth, pushing the taste of you onto your own tongue. His breath was ragged, and you could feel the sweat of his brow where it was pushed against your face.

He lifted away from you, and the weight of the handmade mask was draped over your face, making you groan with the displeasure of your passion being cut short. However, once it was in place, it was almost immediately pushed under by strong fingers to lift its edge, and you were given one last kiss to swear his promise of return to you.

“Din. My name is Din.”

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#the mandalorian #the mandalorian x you #the mandalorian x reader #self insert #bargaining with beskar

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toastedkiwi · 4 years

Text

Seatbelts

Summary: you and Bucky go for a drive. (this came off of my wattpad)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Wife!Reader

Bucky woke up crying and gasping for air whilst sitting up in bed. A small hand gripped onto his much larger hand and another hand went over his bare sweaty chest. It rubbed circles and Bucky looked over at his pregnant wife, you.

"I'm- I'm s-sorry, Doll," Bucky whispered.

"It's okay, I was already up," you said.

"S-She's kicking again?" Bucky asked.

You nodded softly and he hesitated before placing his flesh hand onto your bump. Your hands went over his.

"Let's go for a drive, honey," you whispered.

Bucky nodded softly and pressed a kiss to your cheek. You both get out of bed but you sit at the edge. Bucky comes around the bed grabbing your black slip on Vans that managed to end up on his side. He got down on one knee and slipped on both shoes to your slightly swollen feet.

"Thank you," You whispered.

He stood up placing both hands on your barren stomach. The baby of course kicks. His fists end up right by your hips causing the bed to dip under the weight. He leans down and tilts his head. He presses his lips against yours and your arms wrap around the back of his neck.

"I love you," Bucky whispers against your lips.

"I love you too," you whispered.

He grabs his big black NASA hoodie that you love off of the bench at the foot of the bed. He gives it to you and you put it on. You already have grey sweatpants on that are also Bucky's but he honestly could careless as long as you are comfortable. He helps you stand up before he puts on another black hoodie and slips on his black and white high top sneakers. You both take each other's hands and leave the bedroom.

You both head down the stairs of your new house. Tony had movers and everything taken care of as an "I'm-sorry-that-I-almost-killed-your-husband-slash-father-of-your-unborn-child-on-a-mission" present. Bucky is still pretty pissed about the incident.

Bucky heads to the front entrance while you head to the garage. He grabbed the keys off the hook and you waddled to the passenger side of the black SUV. You annoyingly kept yanking on the handle as you wait on Bucky.

"You're a pain in the ass," Bucky said standing in the doorway of the garage.

"You look like a ninja," you said.

He chuckled looking at his all black outfit that he's in and closed the door behind him and locked it. He comes to you opening your door for you. He helps you climb in since it's a much bigger car than your last one and you graciously let him help you. Bucky kisses you before closing the door for you and you buckle yourself in. He goes around the SUV and he opens his door.

"Can you grab the fuzzy blanket? Your favorite one? The one we always cuddle in? Can you grab that one?" You asked looking at him with eyes he can never say no to.

"Of course, babydoll. Anything else?" He asked grinning.

"Nope. But we gotta go to Roxie's 24 hour drive in and get shakes," you said.

"That's two hours away, baby," Bucky said.

"I know," you said.

"Alright, my cheeky little wife," Bucky said smiling.

You blushed and smiled at him. He went back inside quickly and grabbed the giant fluffy gray blanket. He comes back to the garage after also grabbing his wallet. Bucky hops into the car and passes the blanket to you. He closes his door and presses the garage remote button that's on the overhead console.

"Anything else, baby?" Bucky asked.

"You need your seatbelt on," you said.

He rolls his eyes and grumbles.

"Hey, you don't wanna get into a crash and have no seatbelt on —it can be fatal, James. I don't need to be raising this baby all by myself cause you are a dumbass who didn't put on his seatbelt," You sassed looking at your man.

He chooses not to argue with you and puts his seatbelt on. You smiled happily at the man and he smiled back at you. He pulls out of the driveway and then makes sure the garage door closes before he drives off to the drive in.

~~~

"I got the large fries, your cheeseburger, my cheeseburger, onion rings, strawberry shake, chocolate shake, annnnnd ketchup," Bucky said coming into the car with a huge brown paper bag of food and a drink carrier.

You gleamed happily and you took both shakes out of the carrier. You put them both into the cup holders and Bucky tosses the carrier into the back. He closes his door and starts taking the food out and handing you it.

Soon enough, the two of you are happily eating in the car with the radio playing softly. There's frat guys and other college kids around making the drive in pretty busy at 12am in the morning. Bucky has made sure that all the doors are locked so you two won't have to deal with a drunken kid trying to get in.

"I love you so much," you squealed holding the burger in your hands.

"Are you talking to me or the cheeseburger?" Bucky asked.

You close your mouth and look at Bucky then the cheeseburger. Bucky bursted out laughing and threw a fry at you. You caught in your mouth knowing you are not wanting to waste any of this food. He grins and leans over the console. He presses his lips against yours.

"Pickles are disgusting," you announced tasting pickles on your husband's lips.

"I'll fight you," Bucky said sitting back in his seat.

"I'll stab you," you said.

"I can't wait," Bucky said sending you a wink as you two continued eating.

~~~

Bucky has his holding yours as you are peacefully sleeping for once. He wishes he was asleep with you but he's very grateful that you got him out of the house. Usually, you would be the one driving him around if he had a nightmare or just a panic attack but your doctor said that she rather you not be driving. Bucky has taken the doctor's orders very seriously to the point where he's dropped out of all missions he's been put on just so he can be the one driving you around.

He loves these types of drives that you and him have. Most of your dates are just in a car. That's how you guys started dating. He had a very bad nightmare and you were the one to wake him up from it. His metal fingers wrapped around your throat and your response to it was "kinky" even though you were struggling to breath. He laughs about it now but he was truly embarrassed and let go. Then you told him to put on some pants cause the two of you are going to Roxie's Drive-In and getting milkshakes at 2am.

The light is green and Bucky drives into the intersection. His eyes are on you briefly and a semi barrels through the intersection on his left.

Bucky is not wearing his seatbelt.

#bucky x reader #Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes x pregnant!reader #bucky barnes x wife!reader #marvel #winter solider #white wolf

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kyber-crystal · 4 years

Text

department of matchmaking || s.r

summary: in which you’re asked by aunt may to babysit peter while she’s away at a business conference & steve tags along. peter, being the innocent smol bean he is, tries to get you and the Captain together.

words: ~3.1k

warnings: none, just fluff & a little matchmaking spider-man :) and OH steve’s blue jacket heheh. tony’s your dad in this oop cant resist a stark child. shhh CW never happened bc i’m still in denial

Peter: Aunt May says she has a couple errands to run so she won't be back until later this afternoon. Can you pick me up? School just ended.

You: Of course!

Peter: Ned and I are planning on building the Lego Death Star tonight. I know you're a sucker for building stuff :)

You: You know me so well, kiddo. I'm definitely in. How could I miss out on our weekly date nights?

Peter: You're the best! See you soon

You: See you!

"Where are you going?"

"May's busy, so I gotta go pick Peter up from school," you explained to Steve as you slung your purse over your shoulder and grabbed the keys to your (Tony's) Audi, sliding your sunglasses on. "We're having one of our weekly Friday movie nights, and he and Ned just got a new Lego set that they want me to help construct. You wanna come along?"

"Sure, I don't mind."

You headed outside to the car together, sticking the keys into the ignition as Steve slid in next to you in the passenger's seat. "I hope you don't have anything else planned for the rest of tonight. We might be there for a while...I know we were gonna see that new action movie in theaters tomorrow. I'm sorry."

"Nope, no plans," he smiled, "I'm free for the rest of this weekend. As long as I get to spend time with you, it's okay."

You couldn't help but feel your heart flutter a bit at his words.

But you quickly brushed the thought off, knowing the last thing you were supposed to do was fall for someone after you'd just gotten over a nasty breakup.

Soon enough, you pulled up in front of Midtown High School and saw Peter standing with Ned by the curb. You rolled the window down and called out to them. "Hey, boys. Need a ride?"

"My favorite Avenger! Hi!" Ned greeted as he and Peter got into the backseat, strapping their seatbelts on.

"Ouch, I'm offended," Steve placed a hand over his chest and pretended to look hurt. "I thought I was your favorite?"

"Captain America! It's an honor!" he exclaimed. "I've heard so much about you from Peter!"

"Oh, really? I hope he only told you good things?" the super-soldier chuckled.

"Yup!"

"So, how was school?" you glanced back at the two teenagers from the rearview mirror. "Anything interesting happen?"

"No, except they actually served something edible in the cafeteria for lunch today," Peter rolled his eyes. "Which is a first."

You sighed, placing your hand back on the wheel, "School food isn't the best thing ever."

"So uh, I have a question," Ned spoke up as you headed down the street, "are you and Y/N a...thing? ‘Cause I hear a lot of fans are speculating that the kickass agent and America’s golden boy are dating."

"What? No," you and Steve replied in unison, exchanging a knowing look before bursting into laughter. "No."

"Okay..."

It was mostly quiet for the rest of the car ride back to the apartment. Peter pulled out the keys from his jacket pocket and slid it in the lock, pushing the door open and gesturing for the rest of you to come inside.

"So," he breathed out, setting his backpack down by the front door and dusting his hands off. You sat around the sofa together, glancing at the massive Lego set on the coffee table. "Here it is, in all its glory."

"How many pieces is this?" Steve questioned, looking at it in shock.

"Almost 4000."

A buzzing sound from his phone made Peter look down, swiping a few times before unlocking it and scanning over the new notification.

"May has an overnight business conference and she won't be back until tomorrow evening. She wants you to babysit," he explained as he looked up at you.

"Fine by me," you shrugged. "Cap?"

"Sure, why not."

"But I'm 15 and 8 months! I'm not a baby."

"Well, kiddo, I'm 28 and Tony treats me like a baby even though I’m not a baby anymore. Steve's going on 32, and acts like he's 12."

"I do not!"

"Yes, you do."

"I do not!"

"Yes, you do."

"Arguing like a married couple," Peter coughed, and Ned wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "Cute."

"For the last time, we're not a thing," you let out an exasperated sigh, but felt a blush creep up your cheeks as you spoke.

Two hours later you were a little over halfway done with building the Death Star, and fatigue was beginning to catch up with you after you neglected your sleep schedule and pulled three all-nighters in a row bingeing Netflix with Sam.

You let out a yawn as you flipped through the instructions pamphlet, stretching your arms up in the air.

"You tired?" Steve asked. You were too tired to respond, simply leaning into him and closing your eyes.

"You can take her to the guest room. Straight down the hall, then turn right," Peter said as he noticed you'd now fallen asleep on him. "We can continue this after dinner."

Steve scooped you up into his strong arms and carried you down the hall, pushing the door to the guest room open with one hand before carefully setting you down on the bed, tucking you in.

"Sleep tight," he whispered, a ghost of a smile on his face as he leaned down to kiss your forehead and left.

"Ahem. Now that she's gone," Ned cleared his throat, "time to plan on how we're supposed to get our OTP together!"

"Ned, really-"

"You should ask her out, Cap. I see the way you look at her," Peter raised an eyebrow at him, "I mean, it's clear to everyone how you feel about her, and the way she feels about you. Sam sees it, Mr. Stark sees it, heck, I think May has her suspicions as well because she wouldn't stop talking about how great of a couple you two would be over dinner last night-"

"Look, Peter, I don't think she's ready for a relationship."

"Why not?"

"She just broke up with her boyfriend two months ago. I doubt she'd be willing to date again."

"But you're her best friend! You're literally the perfect man for her!"

"It doesn't matter. I'm not taking advantage of someone when they're vulnerable. That isn't right."

He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and kicking his feet up against the coffee table, tossing a spare Lego piece up and down in one hand. "Yeah, I totally believe the great Captain America isn't in love with the great Y/N."

"She's my friend. A teammate."

"Friends with benefits!" Ned chimed in. Steve made a face at this. "No, not like that. I mean that as in, you guys do all the things that regular couples do, except you're not officially a couple. And I think that's big enough of an indication that you should get together for real."

"I'm just waiting for the right time."

"AHA!" both boys shouted. "So you are in love with her!"

"Keep it down!" he scolded. "She's asleep!"

"You didn't deny it this time..."

"Fine, whatever. What do you guys want for dinner? I'll go pick it up."

"Pizza."

"If Y/N asks where I am, just tell her I went to go get the food."

"Okay."

As soon as the door shut behind Steve, Peter and Ned's heads immediately whipped over and they faced each other, exchanging evil grins.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ned practically squealed.

"Yeah, I'm thinking what you're thinking!"

"Romantic dinner and movie night setup!" both boys whooped and hollered.

"I'll light the candles and get the napkins. May always keeps a stock of scented ones when Y/N comes over because she loves the smell of cherry blossoms."

"...I'll grab the rose petals and tablecloth."

"Rose petals?"

"Mind if I tear apart the flower on your desk?"

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Also, the regular tall candles are in the cabinet below the sink in the bathroom."

"Yessir."

Twenty minutes later, Steve came back with the pizza in hand, setting the keys on the counter and closing the door, stopping dead in his tracks as he observed the scene before him.

"What is going on?"

"We set up a date night for you two because we know you've been working hard this past week and deserved to relax," Peter explained happily. "So, here you go!"

"Peter," Steve sighed, rubbing his forehead, "I appreciate your effort, but Y/N isn't ready for a relationship and neither one of us has feelings for the other."

"But you guys deserve a break! After working nonstop you should at least rest or something."

"Alright, alright. I'll go get Y/N. You guys set the pizza on the plates for everyone, okay?"

"Got it."

You yawned and rubbed your eyes, then stretched your arms up into the air, skidding to a halt as you observed the sight before you.

“Wh...what’s going on?”

Peter and Ned grinned from where they sat on the couch, paper plates on their laps. “We thought you deserved a nice break, so we set up a little something for you guys!”

“A romantic dinner? Why...”

"It looks pretty and gives off a relaxing mood. Why else?” Peter laughed nervously. “Now eat!”

“Okay...” you started growing suspicious, but didn’t question it, “alright, then.”

You fell into an awkward silence after that, aside from the occasional sound of silverware clinking against plates and drink glasses being set back down on the table. The atmosphere felt heavier than before and you couldn’t help but wonder what it was.

“So, uh...how have you been holding up?” Steve asked you tentatively. He knew the topic of your ex-boyfriend was still that of a rather sensitive one - you’d come storming through the elevator doors and gulped down half a bottle of vodka (you never drank, so this had everyone genuinely worried), before heading upstairs and taking a forty-five minute shower, then afterwards, proceeded to lock yourself in your room for the rest of the afternoon.

When you wouldn’t come down for dinner, he had to carry up your food to you and when you refused to eat, he was the one to force-feed you. When you suddenly broke down sobbing when he asked you if you were alright, he was the one who held you in your arms. He was the one who got you out of bed to bring you downstairs for some fresh air and to interact with the others, and not once during the time he was having to take care of you for, did he question any of your behavior. You were hurting and that was all that mattered. If you were hurting, he was hurting, too.

“It’s been a rough eight weeks...” you sighed, rubbing your forehead with one hand as you took a sip of wine. “Could be better, but...I’m alright. I just wish I could’ve seen that coming from the moment I went on that blind date with him.”

“What do you mean?” Steve was confused - you’d never mentioned any details of your relationship, you were a very private person, for that matter. You rarely ever opened up to anyone. “I thought you were...”

“Happy? Hell no, I don’t even know why I stayed,” you scoffed as you took another swing of your drink. “It was so easy to fall into a routine. There was this gaping hole in my heart, and...I needed it to be filled somehow. Then Agent Williams comes along, a seemingly perfect new SHIELD recruit, almost everything a girl could possibly want in a man standing right in front of me...how could I not fall for his façade? I didn’t realize it was doomed from the start until about a week into the relationship...but I held my tongue. I knew if I dared to speak up against him, he’d somehow manage to use my words against me, twist everything I said into a whole new lie...he manipulated me, day after day...yet I still didn’t leave because I genuinely believed he’d change.

“But I was wrong. I was naïve, I stayed because I was so desperate to experience true happiness that I went as far as to stay with someone I knew would do a number on my mental health in the long run. I shouldn’t have been surprised when I walked into HQs one day to drop stuff of for Coulson, to see Williams on top of someone else...in the gym. In the gym...of all places. I only didn’t blast him because I didn’t want to destroy Fury’s property. So I slapped him and left. That’s it. This whole...fling, or whatever the hell you want to call this shitty relationship, lasted only twenty-six days before everything fell apart. God, I’m so stupid - I should’ve known. I was so stupid, I’m such a horrible person for doing what-”

Steve felt his blood boil with anger. Williams had cheated on you - that’s why you’d broken up. All this time he’d been thinking that you simply fell out of love, or maybe ended it on friendlier terms - when in fact, it was anything but.

Nobody deserved to be treated this way, especially you. I could treat you much better, he thought to himself.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he said softly, reaching a hand up to wipe the stray tears that fell from your eyes. Instead of letting his hand fall back at his side right away, he let it linger there for a moment, gently stroking your cheekbone with his thumb. The feeling sent electricity up his fingers. “It’s not your fault. You’re not a bad person...he is.”

“Shit, I think our plan’s backfiring,” Peter hissed into Ned’s ear as they watched the scene unfold from the couch. “What the fuck, Ned!”

“Shh! Hold on, they’re having a really deep conversation. Let them be for a second.”

“I was stupid enough to stay, when he was giving off all the wrong signs...I should’ve listened to Tony and Nat. They knew. They knew from the moment we first got together, but I didn’t listen...”

“It’s okay. You didn’t know any better,” he reassured you, absentmindedly taking your hand in his and rubbing circles across your palm, “you just wanted to be happy. To experience that feeling that came along with being in a relationship. Frankly, I think I would’ve done the same thing.”

“And what makes me feel even worse,” your voice caught in your throat as you spoke, “...were my true intentions of staying. I wanted to be happy, I really did. But I realized I’d never achieve that with someone like him...in a way, I was using him too, I guess. Not for my personal gain or anything, not to boost my social status, like he did...he always made a point of walking around and declaring that he had an Avenger girlfriend. But...”

“But what?”

“I knew if I was in a relationship with someone, that’d prevent me from thinking about being with anyone else. Well...that plan failed...horribly.”

“...What are you saying?”

“Of course, I didn’t figure that out until not long ago...but yeah. The heart wants what it wants...and it didn’t want him.”

“Then who was it?”

Your gaze flickered down to your now-intertwined fingers. You hesitated for a moment before speaking again. “...I think you know who it is, Steve.”

“See!” Ned kicked Peter in the shin as he was in the middle of finishing off his second slice, and he winced. “It’s getting saucy!”

“Ow!”

“I think we both know,” Steve murmured.

You let out a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a sob. “I don’t know why I tried pursuing a relationship that wouldn’t fulfill me in the long run. I should’ve known it was you all along, huh? You know me like the back of your hand. For Odin’s sake, you remembered every detail of my SHIELD file, my favorite color, my exact birth date, everything there is to know about me. It’s always been you-”

“...It broke my heart to see you with someone who wasn’t me,” he said quietly.

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t want you to feel like I was meddling in your love life. I know you hate it when people do that.”

“Steve-”

“I knew you weren’t as happy as you let on. I shouldn’t have stayed silent...I should’ve at least said something. I was terrified to speak up, thinking that you wouldn’t reciprocate my feelings-”

“You...you what?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled lightly, “I’m in love with you.”

Peter let out a squeak. Ned chucked a pillow at him, a giddy look on his face.

“Good news,” you laughed, “because I’m in love with you too.”

“FINALLY!” Ned whooped, unable to contain his excitement for any longer. He and Peter exchanged a fist-bump. “FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY! I can’t believe our ship finally sailed! Though I gotta be honest, I had no idea pizza could bring out people’s true feelings like that.”

“We’re geniuses!” Peter squealed, pulling out his phone.. “Oh, wait until Mr. Stark hears about this!”

Your eyes widened in realization. “Peter, don’t you dare c-”

Too late. A buzzing sound came from your phone, alerting you of a new notification, and you unlocked it to see a text from your father.

Mr. Stank😡: Took you long enough, honey. I expect a grandchild soon.

Mr. Stank😡: But I’m gonna be honest, I wouldn’t want any other man for you than Capsicle himself.

You let out a loud groan, shoving your phone back into your purse. “Oh, come on.”

A buzzing sound came from Steve’s phone as well, and he took it out of his pocket to take a look.

Stark: You better not knock her up until after you get married and then leave. I learned that lesson too late. I’m being serious when I’m telling you to treat her right - she hasn’t been the same since her mother walked out all those years ago. You make her happy, though, so I won’t try to intervene.

Stark: But if you hurt her in any way, I’ll break your face. Capiche?

Steve: ...Capiche.

“Ooh! I just got a promotion for telling him about you guys!” Peter clasped his hands together. “I’m joining you on your next group mission!”

“That’s great, Peter!” you congratulated, “but...why would he give you a promotion for...this?”

“Because he’s been waiting for this to happen for the longest time! Oh and also, your food’s getting cold.”

“We could just reheat it. Or...if you guys are still hungry, do you want to go to Olive Garden?” Steve looked over at the two teenage boys.

“YES.”

“Y/N, what about you?”

“It’s a date,” you winked. You let out a small laugh upon seeing his cheeks flush red.

#avengers imagines #steve rogers x reader #avengers x reader #captain america imagine #captain america x reader #marvel fic #avengers fanfiction #steve rogers one shot #captain america one shot #steve rogers fanfiction #chris evans x reader #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you

312 notes · View notes

sunflowerspecter · 4 years

Text

any moment, any time (a.h.)

summary: being in love is hard, in your line of work. you only hope you can tell him all of your feelings before it’s too late. unrelated, his brother is your best friend.

warnings: yep, this part is angsty too... but there’s so much more fluff, i promise.

pairing: aaron hotchner x reader (gender neutral)

words: 2408

part: 2/2 part one

note: i forgot last part that if i italicize something on my doc, it won’t transfer onto tumblr. however, now that there are no italics last part, why start now? i’m sorry

Everyone took shifts waiting, while the others went back to the hotel and rested and recharged. You almost didn’t, because you wanted to be there for Aaron for every last moment, but Emily practically forced you to (you only ended up being gone for an hour, and then you fell asleep in the chair beside his bed). It was your third day of sitting and waiting. Except for the daily hour in which the team forcibly removed you and made you eat and rest, you sat beside him for three days. You did paperwork on your knees as you sat there, waiting for him. You tried playing a game on your phone after the paperwork had finished, to not seem quite as bothered as you were, but in the end, it was three days of sitting, holding his hand, and waiting for him to wake up.

On the rare occasion you were alone with him, you whispered things to him.

“Wake up,” you said. “Please, wake up. I’ll fight for you, I will, until the day I die, I swear. I’ll never turn away. Just wake up.”

“I love you, and I didn’t tell you, and I’m so sorry.”

“I’ll hold you every single night, all you have to do is get better.”

It didn’t ease your soul to say such things, but you hoped it eased his.

Other times, you would sit alone with JJ. She also didn’t want to leave Hotch’s side, but not in the same way you did.

“You know, he’s going to wake up,” JJ said. She was sitting across the room, by the window, one knee pulled to her chest.

“I know that,” you said.

“You’re staring at him like you’re trying to force life into him with your mind.”

You shook your head as Rossi walked in the room, handing a coffee to both you and JJ.

“No movement?” he said, sitting by the door.

“Nope,” JJ said. Your phone rang, then— it was Sean.

You stepped out of the room, just far enough that your conversation couldn’t be heard, but close enough that you could watch Aaron through the door.

“Hey,” you said.

“Hi,” Sean said, “How is he?”

“No change. How’s Jack?”

“He misses his dad.” There was a shuffle on the other side of the phone. “He wants to talk to you, is that alright?”

Tears brimmed your eyes (how were you supposed to talk to your comatose boss’s son?) and you turned away from the room, but you said, “Yeah, of course,” nonetheless.

“Ms. Y/n?” the boy's voice said, shaking.

“Hey, Jack, how are you doing?”

“I am worried about my dad,” he said quietly, and your heart wanted to burst.

“He’s going to be okay, I promise. He’s resting, right now, but he’s going to get better.”

‘Hey, if there’s anyone up there listening, please ensure that I did not just lie to a child.’

“I trust you,” the quivering voice said, and you broke. Hot, heavy tears down your cheeks, as silently as possible because you cannot let Jack know that you’re upset.

“Hey, bud, it’s kinda late, right? I think your dad would want you to get some rest, yeah?”

The boy yawned loudly. “‘Kay.”

Sean was back on the phone, then. “Can you keep the promises you made him?”

“I don’t know, Sean,” you muttered. “How are you holding up? He is your brother.”

“I mean,” he hesitated. “I don’t want to lose him. What about you? JJ told me you were a mess on the ride to the hospital.”

“You were talking to JJ—no, wait, of course you were.”

“Well, plus, I mean, you’re in love with him, so I figured.”

“I’m what?” you said, too loudly. A few nurses looked over at you, and you could feel JJ’s eyes on the back of your head.

Sean laughed. “Come on, you’re my best friend, Y/n, I know when you’re in love.”

“Wait, so you aren’t upset?”

“Why would I be upset?”

You sighed. Of course he wasn’t upset, you felt silly for even thinking he would be. “I’m in love with my best friend’s brother. That’s like, a high school trope, isn’t it?”

Another laugh (at least you were getting laughs out of him. That had to count for something). “I suppose, but I’ve always marched to the beat of my own drum, haven’t I?”

“That you have, Sean Hotchner.”

“I gotta go put my nephew in bed, but you should call me later, okay? Love you, bye!”

You smiled as the phone clicked off. Leave it to Sean to make you feel better in the middle of a very serious situation.

Speaking of which, there was a commotion of noise behind you (a heart rate monitor was beeping rapidly). You turned and Aaron was awake, looking rather discombobulated.

(“Is the team okay? Is Y/n okay? Here? Where?”)

“Hey,” you said, walking in the door. He looked at you and his eyes softened, and JJ and Rossi froze.

“See, I told you Y/n was right outside,” JJ said to him, patting his shoulder lightly. To you, she said, “I’m going to go get the nurse.”

You and Rossi sat on opposite sides of Aaron as he gathered himself.

“Everything hurts,” he mumbled, and it made your heart ache, so you grabbed his hand in yours and pressed a kiss to his knuckles.

“I’m so sorry, love,” you said. “I’m so sorry.”

“Is anyone else hurt?” he asked, looking between you and Rossi.

“No, Aaron,” Rossi said. “We got the guy.”

Aaron nodded, and JJ walked in with the nurse. “Let’s give the nurse some space, help me call the team?” JJ said, and you and Rossi nodded, standing. Aaron didn’t let go of your hand.

“Stay?” he murmured, and you shook your head, kissing his forehead.

In his ear, you whispered, “Tell me in the morning if you mean it.”

And as you pulled away, he gave you puppy-eyes (he was very obviously very drugged up) and you blew him a kiss.

JJ elbowed you as you stood in the waiting room. “So, you and the boss-man?”

“You sound like Morgan,” you said.

“I agree with JJ,” Rossi said, and you groaned.

“Okay, but that’s how you’re supposed to act when people were just shot and are now really drugged up. Sensitive.”

“Does sensitive include kissing him and calling him love?” JJ asked, smirking.

Maintaining eye contact with her the entire time, you picked up your phone and dialed Reid. “Hotch is awake,” you said.

“We’re still talking about this, later,” JJ said.

~~~oOo~~~

He wanted to hold your hand.

He was helpless in the eyes of the team, all surrounding him, but you could tell he wanted to hold your hand again. His palm was open toward the ceiling, right in front of where you sat.

And, hell, you would have held his hand, if not for JJ, staring daggers (well, more appropriately, cupid’s arrows, because Garcia was fueling JJ’s matchmaking tendencies) into your soul.

“When do we get out of here?” Aaron asked, clearly already restless after having been awake for less than an hour.

“When the doctor says it’s okay,” Rossi said. “We’ll probably end up driving you back.”

You could see the look of horror on Hotch’s face. “That’s like… a lot of time.”

“About 28 hours, to be exact,” Reid said, and no one on the team said anything, they just smiled.

“Well, sorry Hotch, but you’re on your own for that one,” Emily said, and you giggled, elbowing her knee.

“I’ll drive with you,” you said, and he smiled dopely at you. JJ checked her watch.

“It’s late, we should let Hotch rest,” she said. “He needs to get better so that hopefully he can fly back.”

The team slowly said goodnight and filed out, save for you.

“There goes me being in the field for a while,” he joked. You laughed halfheartedly, then sighed.

“I thought I lost you,” you mumbled. “I was so worried, Hotch.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking down at his hands, folded in his lap.

“It isn’t your fault, not at all, love.” You dropped your elbows onto your knees and then your head into your hands. “Sean’s taking care of Jack, by the way. I’ve been calling with him. Jack misses you.”

He glanced up at you, then said, “Is it too late to tell you I love you?”

“Hmm,” you mused, grinning (and trying to ignore the blush crawling up your neck). “No, I think it’s okay if you tell me now.”

“Well,” he said, and you could see him almost shying out of it, “I… I love you.”

“Good,” you said, “because I love you, too.”

He smiled at you, a big goofy grin, and you stood halfway, kissing his cheek, and then pecking his lips.

“Go to sleep, and we’ll talk in the morning.” You made to leave the room, but he stopped you.

“Please stay?” he asked. “Just until I fall asleep?”

You nodded, sitting back in your chair. “But only because I love you.”

He grinned and closed his eyes as you ran a hand through his hair. “That feels nice,” he said.

“You know what else would feel nice? Sleeping.” He laughed, and you pressed your finger against his lips. “Go to sleep, my love.”

“Do you promise to come back?” he said, opening his eyes. You practically melted under his gaze.

“I promise.”

You didn’t have to pray to know you would keep that promise.

~~~oOo~~~

“Remind me again why we do this when we could spend the evening by ourselves,” he whispered, pressing soft and sweet kisses against your neck from behind you, his hands on your hips as you set the table.

“Because neither of us can cook and Rossi offered?” you said, turning around in his arms, kissing him quickly. He smiled lazily down at you, hair in his face. “And also because we promised to let them see you everyone once in a while while you’re on leave? We’ve done this every other week for the past six months, Hotchner.”

“You know, we probably have time before anyone gets here,” he said, right as the doorbell rang. “Damn,” he muttered, and you stepped away from him, giggling.

“Hey Spence, hey Emily!” you said, ushering the pair inside. “Emily, it’s unlike you to be so punctual. I expect this behavior from Spencer, but—”

“Spencer offered to give me a lift,” Emily said, shaking her head. You were going to shut the door, but a car pulled up and you recognized JJ’s car. She and Will stepped out, Henry in her arms. She set the boy down and he ran to you, and you bent down to hug him.

“Jack’s in his room, you know where it is,” you whispered to him, and he ran off.

Soon, your kitchen was full, Garcia and Morgan having a heated debate with Reid about… something, you weren’t exactly sure, JJ and Emily bothering Rossi while he cooked, and Will and Aaron discussing… crime, probably. Or children.

You smiled, throwing an arm over Garcia’s shoulders. “I’m just saying that it would probably be cheaper for us to fly commercial,” Reid said.

“Yeah, that’s not a conversation I want to have,” you giggled, and Garcia poked your side.

“So, I know you said we’re not allowed to ask in the office, but how’s Hotch?” Morgan asked.

You shook your head. “You ask about Hotch all the time; he’s doing fine. Getting stronger.”

“He means,” Garcia sighed, “how are you and Hotch.”

“We’re good,” you said sighing, realizing you would have to tell her sooner or later anyway. “We’re really good.”

The group of you moved to sit at the table, and Aaron sat beside you as everyone settled into chairs, squeezing your shoulder. JJ came in with the kids, who sat next to each other at the far end of the table.

“So, Hotch, when are you coming back?” Emily asked the inevitable question.

He shrugged. “Soon, I hope. I’m becoming domestic.” The table giggled, and you shared a look with Reid.

“We miss you,” he said, and Aaron smiled.

“I miss all of you, too, but we’re here now, so,” he said, and the conversation took three million different turns, then.

After dinner, the group moved to the living room, where you all were set to watch a kids movie (about so-and-so who wanted to do something or other and then met so-and-so who inspired them, according to Rossi). Jack sat on your lap and you leaned into Aaron’s side, and across from you, Will, JJ, and Henry practically mirrored you. Morgan and Prentiss were sitting practically on top of each other, and Garcia and Rossi were being respectable and sitting normally, and Reid was sitting between you and JJ, holding the hands of Jack and Henry.

Family.

The doorbell rang, and Aaron looked at you, raising an eyebrow (who could that be?). You grinned and put Jack in his arms, running to the door.

“Sean!” you said, throwing yourself into his arms. “God, it’s so good to see you.”

He laughed, hugging you back. “Good to see you too, stranger.” You pulled him through the door and into the living room.

“Sean Hotchner, everyone, everyone, Sean Hotchner!” you said loudly, glancing over to see Aaron.

Jack ran to his uncle, getting a hug, and Sean looked at you.

“You didn’t tell him,” Sean said through his teeth in your ear.

“It was a surprise,” you said in a smile.

But then Aaron smiled and embraced his brother (being exclusively domestic for so long had made him go a little soft, having not had to go into work-mode in so long, and you absolutely adored him like this). “Good to see you, Sean,” he said.

“You too, Aaron,” he said. Then Sean turned to you, and said, “I feel like this speech goes for both of you, now, as my brother and my best friend, but if you hurt each other, I’m going to hurt both of you.”

You threw your head back and laughed and Aaron pulled you into his arms, grinning at his brother. “Not a chance.” He kissed your temple, and Sean made a face, going to introduce himself to Garcia and Morgan. “Thank you,” Aaron whispered in your ear.

“Forever and always, love,” you said.

“Good, love.”

hotch taglist (lemme know if you want to be added or removed)-

@quillvine @winterscaptain @genevievedarcygranger @word-scribbless @angelsbabey @agenthotchner

#aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner imagine #criminal minds #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds imagine #hot cheetos #hotch x reader #hotch imagine

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palettepainter · 3 years

Text

Sick

Some more angst because none of you can stop me. I promise I have other stories that aren’t angst related-

In this story Higari is 7 and Hono is 2 - just so I don’t forget I’ll also add here that Kaigo died when Higari was 14

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Higari scurried his way back inside the home, bursting open the back door and rushing in from the garden glass jar in hand. He eagerly rushed inside, doing his best not to slip as he darted into the kitchen to proudly show off his finding “Ma!” He yelled, quickly scanning the kitchen only to leave a second later when he saw it was empty. “Mmmmaaaa!” He yelled again, rushing into the hallway to peer up the stairway and then dart back into the lounge.

From the floor, Hono, his two year old brother, curiously peered up, watching with big eyes as his brother screeched to a halt by the sofa. “Dad dad dad!” Higari cheered, noticing his dad sprawled on the sofa. His dad blinked open one eye “Hm..Sweetpea” he sat up, scratching at his beard and neck with a tired smile “You know not to yell in the house..” he said, thankfully the missus was currently out, so Higari wouldn’t be getting a scolding this time.

“Sorry..” Higari said before quickly brightening, holding out the jam jar to his dad “But look!! I found a hopper!”

“Heh, slow down there whirlwind! Alright, lemme see” Kaigo hummed, leaning forward on the couch to peer into the glass jar, where amongst the pieces of twig and leaves was a tiny grass hopper. “Hm, so you did” he said with a nod, his hand going to fondly ruffle Higari’s head of ginger hair “But make sure the hopper stays in the jar until you put it back outside. We don’t wanna repeat of last you let something inside the house”

Higari looked off to the side before muttering a shy no

The last time he’d found a critter in the garden he’d found a giant toad, sitting in a murky puddle of water right outside by their porch. Needless to say his mother had a..passionate reaction when she found the thing hiding behind a cushion in her favourite arm chair.

His dad chuckled, before breaking out into a sudden fit of coughs. Higari flinched back, the change in his behaviour causing Hono to let out a scared whimper. Kaigo’s eyes flicked up to them, his throat burning, but he tried to force a smile “D-Dont worry Higari, its just a cough!” He cleared his throat, trying to force down the urge to cough more “I’m fine now, see?”

Higari didn’t look so easily convinced “Are you sure?” He asked, tilting his head to the side. Hono peered back up to his older brother, before mimicking him and turning back to their father. Kaigo couldn’t help but smile at the sight “Don’t worry, I’m fine. You ain’t gotta worry your head off over me” his hand went back to ruffle his hair again, which successfully earned him a string of giggles “Your mother does a good enough job of that on her own” Kaigo pretended to look left and right, as if to check no one else was listening before he leaned down to whisper “She can be a little pushy at times when it comes to being all healthy and clean, can’t she?”

Higari snickered, obviously amused

The two’s laughter was cut short when they heard a thud noise coming from the hallway, it was the familiar sound of the front door being opened and closed.

Magaru, Higari’s mother, wondered into the lounge after hanging up her coat. At the sight of their mother Hono let out an excited squeal noise, prompting their mother to peer over “Hey boys” she said, already scooping Hono up off the floor as the excited tot instantly latched his arms onto his mother in a hug “You two where good for your dad?” She asked, looking down to Higari with a smile and then to her husband

“A course” Kaigo said in a lazed manner, looping one arm round Higari “These two are nothin’ but sweet lil angels” Higari tried to pull his best innocent child look. Their mother hummed, rolling her eyes - knowing that same ‘innocent’ child had been the one to break the shower curtain less then a week ago “Uh-Huh” she said, amused.

“Mama!” Higari picked you his glass jar he’d left on the table and then quickly held it up to his mother and baby brother. “I found a hopper in the garden!”

“All by himself” Kaigo added matter of factly with a a raised finger

Magaru peered down into the glass, watching as the tiny big tried to hip up at the glass only to slide back down into the bottom of the jar. “Well done Higari” she said, giving him a quick pat on the head “But please, keep the bug inside the jar” she repeated what his father had told him minutes ago, leaning forward to press her finger onto his nose “We don’t want a repeat of last time!”

While Higari pouted and rubbed at his nose, another familiar guest entered the room. “Evening Kaigo”

Kaigo hummed, peeking up at the sound of his brothers voice before he turned on the couch to smile at him “Hey Tsūkin” he greeted, his brother bowing his head in return as he placed his hat on the kitchen side. “Hi Uncle Tsukin” Higari waved over towards his uncle, and then held up his bug friend “I caught a hopper!”

Tsukin fiddled with glasses and squinted down at the jar his nephew seemed so proud over. “Ah yes, very good job Higari!” He praised, Higari beaming a toothy smile and letting out a small squeal at the praise.

“One day you’ll have to show me all the good bug catching spots!” His Uncle said, his last attempt to brighten the mood before he knew it would become somber “Though..I am here to talk with your dad, about what’s making him sick”

Kaigo tensed, but didn’t let his smile fall. Better to hide his nerves in-front of his two children, he didn’t need them fretting. “How exciting” Kaigo mocked, still smiling as he stood up from his chair. Kaigo walked over to Higari who looked to be trying to mimic the grass hoppers chirping noises “Alright sweetpea-“ he gently nudged Higari towards the entry way to the hall “-time for bed, say g’night to your Uncle”

Higari, like any child, turned up to his dad with a whine “But I’m not tired!” He insisted, trying his luck. Kaigo rose a brow and leaned back up with an “Oh?” Higari gave a sure nod “Mhm!” Kaigo hummed “Is that so?” He asked again, leaning against the kitchen counter while Magaru, his wife, gave the teeniest of smiles at her sons antics

“Yeah, I don’t want to go to bed” Higari turned to place his grasshopper down on the dresser and then crossed his arms “I’m not tired at all! Nu-Uh. I’m a big boy” he tried to balance on his tiptoes, but gave up when he ended up nearly toppling over. “Mhm” Kaigo gave a slow nod, managing to not laugh “You certainly are getting bigger” he stated

“Yeah!” Higari agreed, whirling up to look at his dad “So can’t I stay up for a little longer?” He rushed up closer to his dad, and under the mane of ginger hair, Kaigo made out a single turquoise puppy dog eye staring up at him “Pleeeaasseee?”

Kaigo once again hummed “.....Nope” he said, popping the P “Off to bed Higari”

Higari let out a long groan, throwing his head back and turning away from his dad with a huff. Kaigo didn’t take it to heart “Don’t pout” he said, kneeling down to be more closer to Higari. His son only further turned away from him with his cheeks puffed out in anger, it was arguably kinda cute, Kaigo thought.

Kaigo attempted a final time to try and make eye contact with the pouty boy, but when his attempt failed, he resorted to his last move. Higari let out a startled yelp noise when he was all of a sudden throw up into the air and caught again by his dad, who then launched a raspberry right onto his cheek, making him squeal and kick his legs like a flailing piglet. “I said don’t pout!” Kaigo teased, before blowing onto raspberry onto Higari’s cheek, eating up his delighted giggles and squeals

“Daaaddd!” He whined, trying to sound angry despite the smile that was now drawn ear to ear over his face.

From the doorway Magakure shook her head lightly, Hono giggling at her side “Alright Higari, that’s enough” she ended their fun before it drag on any further past Higari’s bedtime. Kaigo peered over to his wife briefly, and then looked back to Higari “Alright sweetpea, time for bed” he placed him back down on the floor “For real this time!” He nudged Higari over towards his mother, who held out her hand when Higari was close enough “Off to bed, and don’t forget to clean your teeth this time!” He yelled after them as Magaru lead them up the stairway to the boys room.

Hono was easily tucked away in bed, asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow. Higari took a little longer, as his mother tucked him into bed and closed up his bedroom window “Goodnight Higari” She said, leaning over to kiss his forehead before she turned off the night light, and quietly made her way out of the room.

Higari curled into the warmth of his blankets, happily drifting off into dream land. Being a country bumpkin he naturally dreamed of driving a giant tractor, a big red one with nice shiny paint! And it of course had a giant horn to boot, added coolness, he’d honk the horn and it’d let out a noise like a grasshopper...grasshopper?

“Hopper!” Higari bolted up in his bed, he’d left his grasshopper downstairs on the dresser! Higari knew his mother was insistent on then staying in bed when it was their bed time, he’d be herded straight back to bed if he was caught sneaking about. He debated the idea, weighted the pros and cons - and easily discarded the idea of sleeping in favour of retrieving his bug buddy.

As he put on his slippers Hono stirred in his sleep, rubbing at his eye when he noticed his brothers bed across from him was empty “Higari?..” he called quietly, yawning. Higari jolted, not realising Hono was awake “Shh!” He quickly shushed his baby brother who continued to look confused “You need to be quite! If Ma catches me I’ll be in trouble-“

Halfway through his sentence Higari heard muffled voices through the floor, coming from downstairs in the lounge. He couldn’t make out what it was they where saying, but it must have been loud in order for him to hear them from his bedroom. “Shhh..” he hushed Hono again, this time more gently. His baby brother slapped both hands to his mouth and nodded as Higari kneeled and pressed his ear to the floor. He still couldn’t hear any of the words they where saying

“Stay here..” Higari said, pointing to Hono who nodded again, tugging at his blanket. Deciding to push on Higari quietly creaked open the bedroom door, checked the hallway for either of his parents, and then crept towards the stairway. He could hear the voices more clearly now, they sounded irritated. Higari felt as though he should turn and go back to bed, yet he found himself walking further until he was standing just by the entryway to the lounge. He wondered maybe if he could get away with peaking his head inside-

“What do you MEAN it’s getting WORSE?!”

Higari startled, jumping back and almost falling over onto his butt. That was his dads voice, but he’d never heard him that angry before

“Honey, clam down” His stern yet still concerned sounding mothers voice came soon after

“K-Kaigo please-” the voice of his uncle followed

“I have done EVERYTHING the doctors have asked me! I’ve taken the meditation, the treatment, time off work: HOW can it still BE GETTING WORSE?!”

“Kaigo please! Calm down! They’re doing their best to try and find a way to help, but- b-but with where you live it makes visits and appointments so much harder!”

Higari tried to back up to the stairs, but he was too scared to move any further, none of the adults seemed to notice he was there, and kept yelling.

“I can’t just up and leave! I have the house, a wife, CHILDREN!”

“Y-Yes I know you do! But-“

“I have Higari and Hono to think about, I need to be here for them! If this is going to get worse I have to beHERE! I CANT LEAVE THEM!”

“I’m not saying you have to leave them!” Tsūkin pleaded, trying to calm his furious brother “But PLEASEconsider that moving to the city for treatment would benefit you! E-Even temporarily!” He tried to bargain, and failed

Kaigo shook his head “I worked to build a home here Tsūkin, I’m not giving up everything I’ve worked for just because of some silly sickness-“

“It’s NOT a silly sickness! And YOU KNOW IT-“ Tsūkin’s yell fell flat as he suddenly noticed Higari standing frozen in the doorway. Kaigo, noticing his change in behaviour, glanced over his shoulder.

His eyes shot open at the sight of his son “Sweetpea what are you doing up?” His tone had switched to soothing and calm in an instant, hurriedly walking over and scooping up the child into his arms, not sparing his brother or wife a word as he took Higari back up to his room.

When the door to Higari’s and Hono’s bedroom opened Hono quickly ducked back under his covers, badly faking sleep as Kaigo already knew he was wide awake. Higari was quite even as his dad tucked him into bed, but Kaigo made no move to leave. He sat on the edge of the bed and Higari was worried he was going to be told off. He nervously fiddled with his fingers, waiting for his dad to scold him “Higari?” Higari shyly peered up to his dad “...You” Kaigo rubbed his neck “..You shouldn’t eavesdrop on conversations. Okay?” Kaigo stood, not having the courage the make eye contact with his confused son “Now go to sleep okay?”

“Dad?” Higari’s voice stopped him from stepping out of the room. Kaigo swallowed, and then turned around “What is it Higari?”

Higari toyed with his blanket, suddenly shy. Kaigo took half a step back into the room, the way in which his son looked so nervous not helping his conscious. Kaigo was sure he caught a quite sniffle from his son before he quietly spoke “Are..You’re gonna get better right?”

Kaigo’s grip began close to crushing on the door frame, with his iron claws it would be easy to break through the wooden frame. “I..” words failed him in that moment, of all moments he had to loose his voice he thought. From his bed Hono poked his head out from his blankets, looking up to his dad in the doorway while Higari looked away, trying to discreetly wipe his eye.

“..Aw, sweetpea don’t be upset” Kaigo turned back into the room, picking Higari up into a soothing hug. Higari curled into his dad, trying to hide his face in his shoulder “..Dad just..” he struggled to think of a way to explain without making Higari and Hono more confused, or scared. “..I’m just a little sicker then we thought, that’s all” he said, nodding - trying to reassure himself

Hono instantly sensed the change in his big brothers behaviour, and with a determined look in his eye he scrambled from his bed and made a bed line towards him. Kaigo hummed, watching Hono as he attempted to clamber onto the bed. Despite how heavy the atmosphere felt he shook his head with a smile and picked up Hono with one hand, sitting him down on his other knee.

“Hug!” Hono clumsily leaned over to grab Higari in a hug, his brows furrowed - it was like he was trying to hug the sadness out. Higari tried to wriggle away, but Hono remained glued to him like a leech “Aw see?” Kaigo smiled down at Higari despite him trying to shove his little brother away “Hono wants to make sure you’re feeling okay? You don’t wanna make your baby brother upset do you?”

“Mngh..” Higari gave one last attempt to shove Hono off, before accepting his fate “I guess..” he mumbled under his breath.

“...Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“Do..” Higari paused, looking down at the floor “Do the doctors know what’s making you sick?” He asked. Kaigo grit his teeth, why did kids always have to ask such difficult questions??

Kaigo looked away to collect his thoughts, he’d need to word his answer carefully “Well..” he started, not rushing “You know how...dads been sick for a while now?” Higari nodded. Kaigo moves further back along the bed until his back was leaning against the wall “You see...well, the doctors think it..might be more then a tummy bug”

Higari thought for a moment “Tummy bug and..a headache?”

Kaigo chuckled lightly “Uh- No no, a..a bit more then that too”

“Like what then?” Higari asked innocently, Hono following Higari’s gaze while still hugging Higari’s arm in a vice grip

“They’re..not sure yet...But don’t worry!” He placed Higari and Hono down on the bed, Higari thought his dads eyes looked oddly watery, an emotion behind his smile that Kaigo tried hard to hide “T-The doctors are gonna find a way to help, that’s why your uncles here! Because..we don’t live in the city near a hospital, he’s here to make sure I’m doing okay” he added “Don’t you worry your little heads off, alright?” He gently brushed Higari’s fringe out of his face and then did the same to Hono “Before you know it I’ll be fit as a fiddle! You won’t even remember I was ever sick”

Higari looked away with a whimper “That wasn’t what you said downstairs..” he mumbled, catching Kaigo off guard.

He pulled his hand away, stuck. Not sure what he could say or do next to reassure him. Dammit, why did he have to hear that?? Guess reality liked to play cruel. Kaigo sighed through his nose and shuffled up the bed “Okay, how about this” Kaigo laid down, moving the boys further up so that he could lay beside him “I’ll stay here until you fall asleep, will that make you feel better?”

Higari didn’t need much more persuasion, as he curled up into his blankets, sticking close to his dad but not quite falling asleep just yet, despite how heavy his eyelids felt and how cozy he was. Kaigo let out another sigh, one arm carefully wrapping around Higari in a gentle hug

Hono scowled at his dad, and then wriggled his way in-between the two before sticking his tongue out, arms latching onto Higari’s other arm “...Pfft-“ Kaigo raised his hand in the face of his youngest ones glare “Alright alright, you can hug Higari” Hono narrowed his eyes more at his father as if to say ‘I’m watching you’ before he soon gave a cute yawn, and then laid down next to his brother.

At seeing Hono settling down, Kaigo carefully moved his arm back over his two sons, reaching down to lightly tug the blanket over them both so they wouldn’t get cold. “You need to try and sleep now, okay?” Kaigo shifted on his back, trying to get comfy on the bed that was obviously too small for someone so tall “You’ll be exhausted in the morning!”

“...Dad?”

Kaigo hummed

“...You’re not...g-gonna leave, are you?”

Kaigo instantly snapped his eyes down to Higari “What?!” He shook his head “N-No! No no!” Kaigo began to gesture with his hands, as if trying to grasp the words, starting a sentence was always the hard part “I wouldn’t-...You need to understand that-“ Kaigo wasn’t sure what he was aiming for, but words just kept pouring from his mouth in a desperate attempt to put his concerned child at peace “I-...I-I’m not...” he pressed his lips into a thin line, looking lost, Higari turned to press his face into his pillow, sniffling.

It broke Kaigo’s heart

...He gently ruffled his head again, leaning down to kiss his forehead, smiling - at the last end of his strength when it came to keeping the sad quality from his tone and the tears from pouring “I’m not going anywhere for a long time” he finally said “It’ll take more then some sickness to get rid of me buddy”

“Promise?..”

Kaigo held eye contact with Higari, his big blue eyes staring up at him - he just wouldn’t understand...

“...Alright” Kaigo said with a sigh “Okay Higari, I promise”

Higari at last finally smiled, a weight lifted off his shoulders at the sight, some happiness seeming to make its way back into the room. “...As long as you try to sleep!” Kaigo poked at Higari’s tummy, and the boy quickly curled up in a fight of flight response, ready to protect himself from an onslaught of tickles “Okay okay!” He pressed, flopping his head on his pillow to make it look like he was asleep.

“Good” Kaigo said, laying his head down also, before yawning himself. No sooner then a second later Higari yawned too, letting his body sink into his mattress and pillow, the warmth welcoming slumber as his eyes drifted slowly shut “G’night you two..” Kaigo said, waiting for Higari to fall asleep. It hasn’t taken long, bless him, he was probably exhausted - it was very late at this point.

Kaigo calmly watched his two sons sleep, their little chests rising and falling, even in sleep Hono hugged onto Higari’s arm as though it was some treasured teddy bear. He gently tugged the blanket over them more and slowly stood up from the bed.

He saw no point in trying to pry Hono away from Higari, not when he’d just gotten them to sleep. The moment he was out of the room and in the safety of the hallway he let out a breath, pulling his hands back through his hair. He let his nails drag along his scalp and then pull at the skin under his eyes. He mumbled nothings to himself, rubbing his face to try and calm himself

He let out a shaky exhale, teary eyes upon the ceiling, a sinking feeling in his gut

“...What the hell am I gonna do?..”

#mha #powerloader #powerloaders family #Kaigo #Hono #Magaru #Tsukin #Angst #Was in the mood to write this after some asks I got #Also to proove that once upon a time Hono did care for his brother #He wasn’t always a grump

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kgraces · 4 years

Text

Tire Iron

Read it on Ao3 here

Jason crouched next to the Batmobile, working on freeing the final tire, and he was so focused on the car, he didn’t notice he had company until a soft voice spoke from behind him.

“Um, you do know that’s Batman’s car...right?”

Jason whirled, tire iron in hand. Unfortunately, the speaker was just about the same height as Jason’s arm as it came swinging around. The tire iron knocked him in the temple, and he crumpled to the ground. Jason really hadn’t meant to do that. He found himself looking at a kid, just a little slip of a thing, really. He’d been spooked, though, and accidentally knocked the boy unconscious. Jason knelt next to him and poked his cheek a few times, trying to rouse him. The kid groaned and sat up, rubbing his head.

It was just his luck that Batman chose to return to the Batmobile at that exact moment. A looming shadow fell over both boys, and Jason glanced back to assess the potential threat. He only relaxed minutely when he saw who it was, but at least he didn’t think Batman would hurt a couple of kids. He kept a wary eye on the Bat as he turned his attention back to the dazed kid.

“You alright?” He asked. The kid blinked up at him, wide, pale eyes bright, even in the shadows of the alley. He nodded, looking nervous and a bit star-struck. Batman moved to crouch next to Jason, studying the gash at the boy’s temple.

“Back off,” Jason growled. “The kid doesn’t have anything to do with your missing tires.” Batman leveled a flat look at the tire iron still in Jason’s grip, and Jason rolled his eyes. “You do realize we’re in Crime Alley, right? Gimme a break. At least the kid was trying to stop me.” Batman turned his attention to the pale boy sitting on the filthy concrete.

“Can you tell me your name and age?” Batman asked, his voice a low rumble.

“I’m Tim, and I’m ten.”

“Timothy Drake?” Batman asks. He frowned as Tim nodded. “You shouldn’t be so far from home so late at night.”

“And you should tell Nightwing his quadruple flip is more recognizable than he thinks,” Tim countered, crossing his arms. He pouted at Batman, who looked dumbstruck.

“Are you...blackmailing me?” Batman asked after a moment’s pause. Jason snickered, and Tim folded his arms, looking petulant.

“I think you’re my new best friend,” Jason said, still laughing. Tim looked at him with poorly concealed surprise, mixed with an innocent sort of glee. Batman sighed and gave Jason a stern look. Jason grinned at him, crookedly.

“So,” Batman grumbled. “I’ve got a thief and a blackmailer on my hands. And...they’re both children.” He pinched the bridge of his nose over the cowl and shook his head. “Alright, why don’t you tell me your name?” He asked Jason. “Then you’re going to put my tires back onto my car, and afterwards, we’ll get you boys home. I’m sure your parents are very worried.”

Jason figured that last sentence was meant for Tim, but it doesn’t stop him from cracking up, anyways. To his surprise, Tim snorted out a little laugh, too. The two boys made eye contact and burst into more giggles. Tim shook his head and winced with the movement. Jason gave him a pat on the shoulder, feeling guilty, and Tim rolled his eyes, giving Jason’s shoulder a light shove. Jason stuck his tongue out, ready to make a snarky comment, when Batman cleared his throat. Jason blinked once. Twice.

“I’m Jason,” he said. “And I hate to break it to you, but I’m already home.” He gestured to the alley around them. “Cozy, huh?”

“You could come back with me!” Tim immediately piped up. “My house has plenty of rooms—enough to play hide and seek in! Well, it’s a little bit boring with only one player, so it’d be nice to have someone else around for once.”

“What.” Batman frowned, looking between the two boys with a subtle sense of befuddlement.

“Oh,” Tim said, blushing furiously. “My parents are in Argentina for the next three months, and then I think they’re going to spend a month or two in Mexico, after that.”

“Are you telling me that you,” he looked at Jason, “are homeless, and you,” he turned to Tim, “are left alone for months at a time?” Both boys nodded, and Batman sighed again, heavier this time. “Get to work on those tires, okay Jason? And Tim, let me make sure you didn’t hurt your head, alright?” He received another round of nods, and he hoisted Tim onto the hood of the Batmobile as Jason wandered off to fetch the tires he’d stolen.

“He didn’t mean to hit me,” Tim said softly, as Batman checked his head. “It was an accident.” He paused for a moment, fiddling with his fingers. “Are you mad at us?”

“Of course not,” Batman replied immediately. He offered Tim a small smile. “Am I correct in assuming you know who I am?”

“Sorry, Mr. Wayne,” Tim said, a shy tone creeping into his voice. “I figured it out last year, but I promise I haven’t told anyone!”

“I believe you,” Batman said. Tim relaxed a little and started to swing his legs back and forth. He leaned over to watch as Jason ambled over and started to put one of the tires back onto the wheel. Batman reached for his comm, smiling as the two boys started to chatter at each other, like two little birds. “Agent A? Do you think you could make three mugs of hot cocoa? And a snack?”

“Am I correct in assuming you’re about to do something monumentally foolish?” Alfred’s prim voice replied.

“Oh, absolutely.” He turned to the small child sitting on the hood of his car. “How do you feel about taking a ride in the Batmobile?” Tim’s eyes lit up, and his face broke into the biggest, brightest smile he’d ever seen. Tim made a little squeaking sound, so excited he couldn’t speak.

“And Jason, too?” He finally asked, voice wobbly. He looked down at the other boy, who’d glanced up at the sound of his name.

“Yeah,” Jason agreed gruffly. He sent a sharp look toward Batman, before turning his attention back to the final tire he needed to fix. “Gotta make sure you get back home safe, Timbit.” Tim’s expression twisted to one of confusion at the nickname, but then he smiled again, pleased.

“New best friends, right?” He asked. Jason reached up and swatted at Tim’s ankle without looking up. Tim looked over at Batman, still grinning. “You’re pretty weird,” he said.

“Weird,” Batman parroted back. This child was bewildering in every way.

“Jason stole your tires. I know, and you’re letting us ride in the Batmobile and giving us hot chocolate and snacks?” He shrugged his little shoulders. “Weird.”

Jason stood up and grinned, finished with the tires. Tim hopped down, practically buzzing with excitement as Batman opened the door for them to crawl into the backseat.

“This is the coolest moment of my entire life,” Tim said. “I can die happy, now.” Jason raised a brow.

“Nope, not gonna happen.” He ruffled Tim’s messy hair, careful to avoid the cut at his temple. “Hot cocoa first, right? Then hide and seek?”

“Yes!” Tim said brightly.

“I’m thinking it’ll be a little late for hide and seek after you boys eat your snacks,” Batman said. His voice lifted a little, more Bruce than Bat. “But I bet the manor has more hiding spots than your house, Tim. You two can stay the night, if you’d like.” He eyed Jason, knowing the boy wouldn’t be inclined to trust him, but Jason surprised him by deferring to Tim.

“Whatcha think?” He asked, slinging an arm around Tim. “Creepy or cool?”

“Cool!” Tim practically shouted. “So, so cool. Would it really be okay to spend the night? I mean, if it’s too much trouble, we can totally just stay at my house,” he added sheepishly.

“I’d rather not let you two troublemakers stay there all by yourselves,” Batman admitted. “And I’m sure Agent A will agree.”

“Oh, okay then,” Tim said. The Batmobile roared into the Cave, and Tim had to stop himself from leaping out of the car before it parked. “I was wrong earlier. This is the coolest moment of my entire life.”

“Secret lair,” Jason mused, glancing around the Cave with a critical eye. “Cool or creepy?” Tim turned and gaped at him, looking scandalized.

“My new best friend is the worst,” he complained, leaning against Jason’s side dramatically. He turned to Batman, who was watching their antics with a small, genuine smile. “Can we explore?”

“Tomorrow,” Batman replied. “For now, why don’t you two go upstairs? Alfred will be waiting for you in the kitchen. Down the stairs, second door to the right.”

“Okay Mr. Wayne,” Tim said, grabbing Jason’s hand and tugging him toward the stairs. “See you in a little bit!”

“Wait a sec,” Jason said, stunned. “Wayne?”

Tim’s cackle bounced around the Cave, lingering even after the boys had gone upstairs. Batman went through his usual routine, slowly putting away the vigilante to become Bruce again. He made his way up to his study, sparing a moment to email his legal team about two new potential custody cases, and went to join the others in the kitchen. Alfred passed him a mug of hot cocoa, smiling at him knowingly. Tim and Jason were still chattering happily, if a bit sleepily, and the plate of snacks had been reduced to a handful of crumbs. Once the mugs were empty and the laughter had petered out into yawns, Alfred ushered Jason and Tim upstairs to get some sleep. When he returned, the look he gave Bruce was both chastising and brimming with approval.

“So, shall we tell Master Dick he’s soon to have two little brothers, or shall we let him come home to a surprise?”

#my writing #dc #batfam #tim drake #jason todd #red robin #red hood #bruce wayne #batman

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nataliedanovelist · 4 years

Text

GF - All Star

Summary: A deep, dark secret about Ford is slowly revealed to his family, and he’s not ready.

For Skaleigh, wherever she may be...

~~~~~~~~~~

A few days after Weirdmegeddon, Ford was exiting the basement, taking a break from cleaning it out today. Stan had been recovering from his memory loss beautifully and so Ford decided to get a certain chore done on this rainy day. He could hear something, however, that made him freeze as a shiver ran down his spine and his race turned as red as his sweater.

“... start coming and they don't stop coming,

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running.

Didn't make sense not to live for fun.

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb.”

Recognizing who’s voice that was, Ford began to relax. The sweet smell of vanilla and sugar graced his schnoz and he followed the music to the kitchen. There, Mabel was in her little pink apron over her sprinkle-sweater, dancing around the kitchen as she mixed icing with food coloring in little bowls. The radio was playing on the kitchen table, a little dirty with flour, and the whole kitchen was a mess, but Ford couldn't help but smile at his beautiful niece as her hair flew everywhere as she danced and sang her heart out. When the chorus came, she banged her head and put the bowl of light-blue icing on the counter to dance more freely.

“Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play!

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid!

And all that glitters is gold!

Only shooting stars break the mold.”

At the words “shooting stars”, Mabel attempted a flip and fell on her face, just like she did at the dance party at the beginning of summer. Ford winced and made a move towards her, slightly emerging from his hiding spot at the doorway, but stopped when Mabel sprung up, unhurt, and declared to herself and the kitchen, “I’m okay!” Her eyes landed on her uncle and she grinned. “Grunkle Ford! Whatcha doin’?”

“I thought I would take a break from cleaning.” Ford explained casually with a shrug while Mabel turned down the radio a little so they could talk better. “Having fun?”

“Yeah!” Mabel pointed to the twelve cupcakes that were cooling on the stove and said, “I’m making everyone a snack. Want one?”

“I would love one, my dear. Thank you.”

“Ah, ah.” Mabel wiggled a finger at him. “You have to do something for it, first.”

Ford raised an eyebrow at her and held his cleft chin. “Oh?”

Mabel opened the drawer she knew Ford kept his apron in and pulled out his old My Other Oven is a Bunsen apron. “You have to decorate the cupcakes with me.”

Ford grinned and happily accepted the protective clothing against stains. “Well, I suppose it’s only fair that I help you if I’m going to have one. Do we have to share with Stanley and Dipper?”

“Nope!” Mabel giggled. “We can eat them all ourselves! Six each!”

Ford laughed alongside her and she gave him a small bowl of white icing to color however he wanted. He carefully added a few drops of green, seeing how Mabel had already made blue and red and was working on yellow, and she began to dance a little again and she jumped into song.

“Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas?

I need to get myself away from this place.

I said ‘Yep what a concept,

I could use a little fuel myself,

And we could all use a little change.’”

Ford chuckled, mixing the icing, and he couldn’t help himself; he made himself jump in.

“Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming,

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running.

Didn't make sense not to live for fun.

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb.”

Mabel gasped in shock for a number of reasons. A) She had never heard Grunkle Ford sing before. 2) She didn’t think he would know this song, let alone the words. And D) His voice was actually very pretty. Mabel grinned and they happily sang together until the song changed to a commercial for Cam’s Camshafts and they began to decorate the cupcakes.

~~~~~~~~~~

Stan yawned as he stretched his tired limbs. He had been sitting out on the deck of the Stan O’ War II, watching the sun set, and he was now in a sleepy trance. Time to put on some warm, fuzzy pajamas and turn on the little TV in the kitchen.

Stan went into his shared bedroom and stopped when he accidentally walked in on Ford in a towel, his back to the entrance and unaware of the intruder as he dug through his drawer for new clothes. Stan was careful to be quiet and give his jumpy brother some space, planning on leaving him alone, but something caught his eye.

During the Stanswitch, Ford insisted on Stan turning away, uncomfortable with what his twin might see. Despite Stan’s insistence that it wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, Ford practically begged him not to look, so Stan went along with it until he had shed his suit, leaving only his dark pants and undershirt, and he turned to switch clothes, but he found Ford bent over, his back littered with dozens of ugly cars, trophies for surviving out in the Multiverse for thirty years. Stan had thought that this was the reason for Ford’s modesty and thick sweaters (and okay, sure, the guy had always been a little chilly), but maybe there was another reason.

Stan grinned. No. Way. He slipped away, deciding he would enjoy making fun of Ford when he would least expect it, and he immediately left for the kitchen silently and quickly texted Dipper and Mabel.

A few weeks past since Stan knew Ford’s secret and he had pocketed it away as his “secret weapon”; of course, Dipper and Mabel knew and Stan wished he could have seen the looks on their faces or heard them laugh, but oh well. The kids swore to keep it between the two of them, but Stan wouldn’t be surprised if all of Gravity Falls kenw at this point. Something to look forward to this summer.

Stan had half-forgotten about Ford’s secret until they were at a small shop in Liverpool, England and something jogged the old conman’s memory. A CD was sitting in a 50% off bucket and Stan could have sworn a beam of light from Heaven was shining on the little box. Stan snatched it and hid it in his jacket for later.

The next day Stan couldn’t wait any longer. They were gently coasting on the Irish Sea, the spring weather being warm and calm and pleasant. Ford was out on the deck, reading a map, and Stan sat their radio down, the disc already in place. “Hey Sixer,” It took everything in Stan to hide his snicker. “Mind if I play some music?”

Ford hardly looked up from the map. “Huh? Oh sure, Stanley. Go ahead.”

With the biggest grin Stan had probably ever made in his life, he pressed play.

SomeBODY once told me the world is gonna roll me,

I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed.

Ford’s polydactyl hands clenched the map so tightly it nearly destroyed the papered material. He lowered it as his face blushed so furiously it matched his maroon sweater perfectly. Sweat was dripping from his forehead profoundly, his eyebrows were nearly hidden in his fluffy hair, they were so high, and his eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

Stan snorted, trying to contain his laughter just a little bit longer. “You like this song, don't you? Oh man, here comes my FAVORITE part!” And to make sure he could embarrass his brother as much as he could, Stan sang along.

“Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play!

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid!

And all that glitters is gold! (I like gold.)

Only shooting stars break the mold.”

And then Stan couldn’t hold it any longer. He busted into a huge fit of laughter, holding his ribs and wheezing as Ford sheepishly lowered his head into the map and hid in shame. When the song was over and Stan was slowing down in his laughing, Ford snapped and spun around, crumpling the map down and scowling.

“How did you find out?!” He demanded, still incredibly red in the face, even his ears were pink.

“I’m your twin, Genius,” Stan huffed, whipping his eyes dry of tears. “I’m bound to notice a couple of things when stuck on a boat with you. I gotta ask, though, why in Moses’ name…”

“It wasn’t intentional, I can assure you of that.” Ford said to try to preserve his dignity. “I had fought a battle alongside a tribe of octopus-armed warrior piglets since they shared their food and water with me. They were quite friendly, unlike the gang of penguin-finned lizards we encountered. It is customary for their tribe to have a grand party after a battle is won in which they all get tattoos. I had misjudged how… erm, intoxicated their drinks would make me, and when it was my turn to get a tattoo of my choosing, I had a certain song stuck in my head and sung it out loud, so the artist delivered my drunken request."

Stan burst into another fit of laughter, one that oddly sounded friendlier than the last one. Like, Ford was supposed to laugh with him. Ford, despite still being very red and embarrassed, couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, man! That’s gotta be your best story from out in the Multiverse yet!”

Ford saw that as a challenge and sat in one of the chairs to get comfortable. “I can think of at least five better stories.”

Stan quickly sat in the other chair like an excited child for a new movie and Ford dove into telling of some of the more fun-filled adventures he had experienced.

~~~~~~~~~~

Summer of 2014 was upon them and the Pines couldn’t be happier. The kids were joyous to be where they felt at home, and even though the old sailors were living the dream, it would be nice to take a three-month break and see their favorite pair of twins.

About two weeks after an emotional reunion, the kids were gently reminded of something they had on their Summer bucket-list.

Much like Stan, they planned their little attack carefully so they may truly enjoy their uncle’s misery. The gift shop was open, but slow. Wendy was behind the counter, Soos was reading a comic book and sitting on a closed barrel, and Dipper and Mabel were grinning like crazy on the porch, the screen door wide open. Mabel popped the CD in the radio and turned up the volume.

SomeBODY once told me the world is gonna roll me,

I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed.

She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb

In the shape of an "L" on her forehead.

Mabel immediately jumped into rap-like singing, dancing around the porch. Dipper chuckled, hands in his pocket and tapping his foot, but Soos laughed, put down the comic, and took Mabel’s hands to dance. They giggled as they tried to sing along, and at the chorus they stopped dancing so they could sing the lyrics as loud as they could.

“Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play!

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid!

And all that glitters is gold!

Only shooting stars break the mold.”

Wendy was banging her head, red hair flying everywhere. Stan suddenly showed up in his boxers and slippers, grinning, and said over the music, “I was awoken by the sound of mockery through pop music! I want in!” He bumped his hips against Dipper to make him move and he danced obnoxiously, making his nephew laugh and dance a little more enthusiastically.

A little later, at the halfway point of the song, Ford stood at the screen door with a puzzled look. “What’s going on…?”

“Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play!

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid!

And all that glitters is gold! (I like gold.)

Only shooting stars…”

Ford looked like he had a sunburn on his entire face. He swallowed, making his Adam’s Apple bobble, and his jaw was tight. Stan laughed at his face and hollered, “THERE’S the man of the hour!”

“Come on, Stan Two, you love this song, right?” Wendy teased.

“Oh no…”

“C’mon, Dr. Pines, wanna dance?” Soos asked, still dancing with Mabel.

“Oh, here comes my favorite part…” Mabel chimed in.

“Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play!

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid!

And all that glitters is gold!

Only shooting stars break the mold.”

Ford slammed the door shut. The five were as still as statues, wincing a little. “Did we take it too far?” Dipper asked.

“Ah, let the big baby be mad for a minute if he wants to.” Stan said, ruffing up his hat. “I’ll go talk to him in a minute…”

But then the door was kicked open by Ford’s boot and his friends and family were startled to find him heavily armed with water guns. “ONLY SHOOTING STARS BREAK THE MOLD!” He sang, and then shot everyone with water.

Everyone broke into hefty laughter and ran for it. The old scientist was hot on their tails, but Mabel managed to slip away to the closet filled with emergency water-guns and balloons. She hurried back to the battle and tossed everyone some weapons, and soon it was a confused mess of soaked clothes, loud laughter, and exploding balloons.

At one point during the fun fight, he paused to take off his glasses and wipe the water from them. Mabel accidentally bumped into his leg and smiled sheepishly at him, expecting to be sprayed without mercy, but Ford hoisted her up in his shoulders and they worked together. Up three feet higher than she was used to being, Mabel could see things she normally couldn’t. Like a certain tattoo barely poking out of the turtleneck, only visible because Mabel’s weight was pulling the sweater down enough.

She smiled at it, finding it very pretty, and in the midst of the chaos, considered the idea of one day getting one herself.

#GF #gravity falls #ford pines #stan pines #Mabel and Ford bonding #mabel pines #dipper pines #wendy corduroy #soos ramirez #fanfiction #all star #smash mouth #tattoos #legit i laughed for 3 days straight when I found out #now i cant listen to the song without thinking about it #a huge thanks to skaleigh for inpsiring me and making me laugh #love you!#hope you're doing okay

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glorifiedpigeon · 4 years

Text

Fluffuary - My Muse and Inspiration

A Loceitmus oneshot for Choice OT3 day! Darren has to clean up yet another one of his best friend's messes. Unfortunately his kinda sorta maybe crush is Remus' brand new mess. Way to go, buddy.

AO3

"Dee, you've gotta help me!" Remus shouted, bursting into the room with a wild expression, the dramatic cape hanging off the shoulders of his frilly waistcoat fluttering with the movement.

"What is it now?" Darren asked with a heavy sigh. He glanced up to see Remus now engaged in a very odd tug of war over his cape with- "Logan Croft?"

"Oh good, you know him!" Remus exclaimed, sounding relieved.

"Ah, Mr. Salazar! I see you're familiar with my muse," Logan announced, and he straightened, fixing the glasses on his face.

"Your muse?" Darren asked, glaring at Remus.

"Loogie, why don't you go draw my face in the other room? I'm sure it's burned into your cranium, yeah?" Remus suggested.

"But the light was hitting you just perfectly ten paces over there, I was hoping-"

"Go draw me as a fish, that sounds fun, huh?" Remus suggested. Logan gasped, and he scrambled for the bag at his hip. Remus shoved him out of the room and slammed the door, quickly locking it.

Darren blinked. "Remus, what did you do?"

"I just wanted him to pay attention to me," Remus exclaimed.

"You charmed him to get his attention!? What spell did you use, because a simple glamour would not have him acting like he needs you to survive!" Darren snapped, gesturing angrily towards the door.

"He's an artist! His pictures are so pretty, I just… inspired him a little?" Remus said nervously. Darren gaped.

"Of course you used a muse spell, you goddamn romantics don't think about the consequences of anything!" Darren snapped, shoving Remus. "He's just a sketch artist, right? He won't be singing ballads to you in the dark of the night, or chiseling your face out of stone?"

Remus coughed and rocked on his heels. "Ah. He might be an everyman? Jack of all trades?"

Darren could've strangled Remus in that moment. "Remus. Fix it."

"I don't know how! How did you fix it when you accidentally spelled that theatre kid in seventh grade?" Remus demanded, flicking his cape aside and getting down on his knees. "Please, Dee, I need you to help me out!"

"My parents handled that for me, and I haven't studied a single charm spell since- I don't know how to fix this!" Darren protested. Remus whined.

"He hasn't let me eat my lunch, or bother my brother! He's just been making me pose for him!" Remus complained.

"That's your own fault!" Darren snapped, but he made his way over to the spellbooks on his shelf, disguised as law books.

"I wouldn't mind so much if he took a break. I'm pretty sure he sprained his wrist trying to paint me on a wall last night, but he won't stop- it's even freaking me out," Remus said, glancing at the door. Darren scowled.

"He's going to keep drawing, and painting and whatever else until he wastes away, Remus. That's the nature of the spell, he can't think of anything but you now," Darren explained, as he began paging through his barely touched book on charms. Remus frowned.

"I just wanted him to notice me. You talk about him all the time, and I just wanted to get his attention," Remus moaned.

"I talk about him because there's no way in hell that he'd be interested in me or in you. Logan Croft is a man of high standards," Darren scowled. Remus whined wordlessly in complaint. There was a knock at the door. Darren sighed heavily. "At least try to feed the poor man something while I work on reversing your stupid mistake."

Remus grumbled, but he opened the door anyway. Logan stood behind it with a big smile.

"I came up with a poem about your smile," Logan announced, looking more than proud of himself.

"What, you didn't set it to music and make a song?" Darren snorted to himself. He immediately regretted it as the man nearly dropped his sketchbook.

"Brilliant idea. I have to go home and get started right away-"

"Hey, Loogie, wait!" Remus exclaimed, but Logan was darting down the hallway too fast for Remus to stop him. He turned to Darren with an icy cold glare.

"Sorry, I didn't realize he could hear me," Darren said, feeling more than a little chagrined.

"I'm going to go catch up to him and try to bring him back," Remus sighed. "You worry about the reversal spell."

Darren began flipping through the book. Of all the goddamn spells, Remus had to choose the muse spell. It was a terrifying charm, a spell that twisted the mind of the affected party, causing them to lose sight of anything that didn't have to do with the caster. They would simply create tributes and fawn over the caster. Eventually, like poor damned Ameinias, their "love" would drive them to their deaths.

Or, at least, landed them in the hospitals and kept under watch so they didn't hurt themselves to try and use that… "inspiration" their muses gave them. Darren remembered being thirteen and terrified, finally begging his parents for help and confessing that he'd gotten Jeremy Olsen hospitalized. It was horrid, an absolute nightmare. Afterwards, his parents had sent him away to a boarding school, where he was not allowed to practice magic at all.

Darren never relied on magic to charm people again, especially not people he was fond of, like Logan Croft or Remus. And now his idiotic friend had gone and made the same terrible mistake. Well, he was determined to help him solve it.

Muse spell, muse spell, muse spell. Darren sighed as he scanned the page the spell was located on. Oh thank god, the reversal looked simple enough.

Suddenly, Remus kicked open the door, Logan Croft slung over his shoulder like a child throwing a tantrum.

"I wasn't finished! That child was about to lend me her chalk!" Logan cried out.

"Nope! You're gonna sit your pretty little ass down and let Darren here fix you up all nice and normal, yeah?" Remus interrupted. He shoved the door shut with a foot, and dropped Logan into a soft armchair.

"At least give me a pen and paper-"

"Nope!" Remus said, and he kicked the notepads Darren had been doing homework on off the coffee table so Logan couldn't reach them. Darren sighed heavily.

"I have the reverse incantation, Remus. Go stand in the corner and think about why a muse spell is more than a bad idea, okay?" Darren suggested. Remus pouted, but he still moved away to give Darren his space. "Hello, Croft."

"Salazar. Are you and Remus friends? You know, the light catches on him just splendidly, I'm almost jealous of what a pretty picture the two of you mak-"

"Yes, yes, he's utterly fascinating- do you have a middle name at all?" Darren asked.

Remus piped up, "It's-"

"I've heard just about enough out of you, Remus!" Darren snapped.

"My middle name is Berry," Logan informed.

"Wait, seriously?" Darren asked. He shook his head and looked back down at the tome in his arms. "Nevermind. Okay, well Logan Berry Croft… Notsgnik sumer esum wen eniht morf noitaripsni ekat dna eeht erofeb ytuaeb eht ezingocer."

In a sudden flash, Logan was blinking up at Darren in confusion. He looked around the room. "I- I feel as though I've made an awfully big fool of myself."

"No bigger a fool than Remus is every day," Darren assured. "Are you alright?"

"Ah… no? I mean- magic is real, I was charmed by a classmate, and I am currently in the apartment of another classmate, both of whom are technically strangers to me," Logan summarized rather succinctly. He glanced at the pile of notebooks on the floor, then at his left hand. "I didn't think there was anything other than drugs that could take away one's self preservation."

"Oh, are you in pain? Remus said he thought you hurt yourself earlier," Darren asked. He hovered over Logan, worried about his wrist. "He said he thought it might be sprained."

"I don't think so, but it certainly smarts. I won't be writing for a day at least," Logan said with a disapproving frown.

"I'll take notes for you in class," Darren offered. Logan managed a smile.

"That would be rather kind, thank you, Mr. Salazar," Logan stated.

"Just call me Darren." He probably sounded desperate, but Darren had never had this long a conversation with his classmate. He was relishing it.

"Wait, hang on, that reversal incantation was just the actual spell backwards! I could've done that easily!" Remus protested suddenly, and Darren rolled his eyes.

"The spellbook said it was a literal reverse incantation. Of course it was the spell backwards," Darren said drily. Logan snorted out a laugh.

"Is magic particular about language then?" Logan asked.

"Well, translations always have to be done carefully for a reason, you know," Darren pointed out.

"Or else someone could lose their head trying to cast a dancing spell!" Remus piped up, grinning wide. Logan actually burst out with a warm laugh. Darren stared at him, mystified.

"Well, I'd love to learn more about magic, then. If you're both available on Saturday, we could discuss it over dinner?" Logan suggested. Darren's heart skipped a beat.

"Sure! We'll see you at six?" Remus suggested.

"Six," Logan confirmed with a nod.

Darren squeaked, in a horribly undignified way. "Six."

@tsshipmonth2020

#logan sanders #remus sanders #deceit sanders #loceitmus #sanders sides fic #sanders sides #tsshipmonth2020 #glorified pigeon writes

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fanficsaremylifeline · 4 years

Text

I’ve got homework...

For the fantastic @fictional-worlds-are-exquisite, who prompted this story :)

It’s on AO3 too:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22450930

***

“Hi Mr Stark!” With an excited grin, Peter skipped into the workshop, and, after throwing his backpack into the corner, he turned to Tony. “How are you doing?”

“I'm good”, he smiled. “And you?”

“Me too, thanks.” Peter sat on the table, letting his feet dangle. “You remember that robot we made last week? You know, the one for physics class?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“No big deal, but I got an A for it”, the kid smiled, and blushed pinkish in pride.

“Wow”, Tony nodded, “that's something...”

“No need to be impressed or anything”, Peter grumbled as he crossed his arms and the blush was substituted with creased eyebrows.

Tony walked up to the kid, trying to bite down his grin. “I mean, it's not like you did it all by yourself...”

“Well, Mr Stark, I'm very grateful for your materials and your time and your assistance, but...”

“Assistance?”, Tony snorted. “I ain't nobody's assistant.”

Peter just looked at him and gave an exaggerated and exasperated sigh. “Yes, sir.”

They held the stare for a moment or two, before Tony burst out with laughter and put his arm around Peter's shoulders. “Good job, I'm really proud of you. All the planning and shit, that was you. And, even though it might pain me to admit it, but it's not like you really needed my help for it, did ya?”

With a meek grin Peter looked up and just shrugged.

“Yeah, thought so”, Tony chuckled and gave his shoulders another squeeze. “Change of topic, though. And please, just stay calm, don't freak or anything, alright?”

“Ok...” The curiosity was written clearly all over Peter's face, and, sitting so close to the boy, Tony could almost feel him vibrating with anticipation. Oh boy, maybe he should put some safety distance between the two of them...

“So, there is a mission...”

“OMIGOD!”, he squealed, definitely a few octaves too high for Tony's liking, and all but jumped up, until he stilled all of a sudden, when remembering Tony's earlier plea. “I'm sorry, Mr Stark”, he remarked after a moment of silence, clearly giving it his all to sound nonchalant. “Please continue.”

“Of course.” In all fondness, Tony couldn't help but shake his head at the excitement; it distinctly reminded him of a little puppy, or a child on Christmas morning. “As I was saying, there is a mission...” Tony decided to ignore the little jump Peter did and the high pitched squeal. “Low-level stuff, a right-wing terrorist group, SHIELD has been monitoring. Swoop in, secure the guys, and done.”

“That sounds very good”, Peter nodded; his forced casual diction was absolutely ridiculous, as was him grabbing so hard onto the table, he actually warped the metal.

“Figured, that's why I thought that you would like to... Oh, shit.”

“What is it?”

Now it was Tony, who had to practice all his restraint and not burst into laughter. “I totally forgot!” Shaking his head, he turned to Peter, who looked all worried about what might have happened. “Sorry, of course you can't come along!”

“What?” And cue the face drop. Wow, this was what a kicked puppy looked like.

“Don't you have homework?” At this remark, Tony couldn't help the smug grin breaking through.

“Wha... You're the worst.” With realization came the creased eyebrows again and a look that could probably kill.

“Peter, your education is important, and I understand if you need to take a step back and...”

“Shut up!”, Peter moaned and boxed Tony's arm. “Nazis are worse than geometry.”

“I know that”, Tony nodded, “but will your teachers understand?” As hard as he tried, Tony couldn't keep up the concerned facade and let the grin shine right through.

It did drop at Peter's counter-measurement, though.

“I'm gonna tell May that you haven't been nice to me.”

“I can't believe you”, Tony grumbled. Playing the woman-Tony-is-afraid-of-card? That was low.

“Thought so”, Peter grinned; that damn shit-eating grin that warmed Tony's heart and made him want to tousle those unruly curls. “So, how about some light engineering, before you brief me on tomorrow's mission?”

***

“Hi Pepper!” Before Tony had even realized her walking inside, Peter had already wrapped himself around her in greeting.

“Peter, really good to see you.”

“You too”, he beamed up at her.

“Should I leave you two be?”, Tony deadpanned, seeing that nobody seemed to realize or care that he was there, too.

Peter turned immediately bright-red, let go off Pepper and jumped a bit away.

“Drama Queen”, Pepper rolled her eyes, before smiling at Tony, that perfect, breath-taking smile, that still robbed him of his breath.

“Still said yes”, he beamed back. When that epitome of amazingness stood in front of him, Tony couldn't help it; he somehow was a lovestruck teenager again, who couldn't stop but smile at the wonder that was Pepper.

“Lucky you. Anyways, I was looking for the two of you.”

“What's up, then?”

“Crime Stats. Since you're legally an independent contractor to the Avengers and have therefore no real connection to SHIELD and we're your contact people it's on us to get that information to them.”

“Why?”, Peter asked, “are they trying to keep tabs on me?”

“In a way”, she admitted. “Though the are really mostly interested in the numbers and statistics; for transparency reasons. Those numbers will be published, and passed onto authorities, as was agreed in the Accords.”

“Huh. Alright”, he nodded, “but you can just get all the stats from KAREN.”

“Yeah, I just need a hand to sort through the masses of information, so I can turn her log into an official document, which is why I need you too.” Now she turned to Tony. “He's a minor and as his employer, you're the one to sign.”

“Why not May?”

“Because then we'll reveal a bit too much identity”, Peter explained in her place and locked eyes with Tony. He could see it clearly in Peter's face: he was not in the mood for that right now. And neither was Tony; they were about to head to the lab and work on a spider-suit update. He was just about to shrug at the kid, á la 'guess we'll have to go through this', when something in his look changed to downright mischievous. Even before the boy started to speak, Tony knew he was not gonna like what he was about to say.

“That sounds like just Tony would be enough”, he remarked and turned back to Pepper; the grin gone, instead he shot her his best puppy eyes. “It's just... You know, I have a lot of homework...”

That little shit. Tony knew for a fact that this was not true.

“Oh, of course”, Pepper nodded. “School stuff is more important.”

“You need help with that?”, Tony asked, shooting the kid a look, communicating all the 'you better get me out of this'.

“Nah, I'm good”, Peter grinned. “It's history homework, you know?”

“Oh, yeah, you don't want Tony's help with that.”

“Hey!” He turned to his still perfect fiancée, and even managed a reasonably angered glare. “I am a genius for a reason!”

“Sure you are, honey”, she smiled and patted his shoulder. “Come on, let's get to the crime stats and leave Peter to his homework.”

“Fine...” He followed Pepper out of the room but, just before the door closed, he turned one more time towards the very smug teen, who just waved after Tony.

Oh, he was so gonna get him back...

***

“Hi Mr Stark!”, Peter chirped as he skipped into the kitchen.

“Heya kiddo”, he grinned back and downed the rest of his coffee. “You ready?”

“I hope you are”, Happy answered instead of the boy. “I gotta take you to SHIELD; monthly meeting, remember?”

Shit, now he did. Ugh, Tony'd rather cuddle a cactus that sit in there, listen to Fury and Rogers go on about... Something, probably; Tony never paid attention. And, since that has never caused any issues whatsoever, he didn't really have to go there now, did he?

There was one way though, he might just get out of that.

“I honestly didn't remember, and I already promised Pete to help him with his homework.” He turned to the kid, who didn't quite get what Tony was playing at; understandably, since it had been their original plan to tinker around with Mark XVI. “Didn't you say it was for a grade?”

“Oh yeah”, Peter nodded, catching onto Tony's plan and unpacked the one sure-fire way to get Tony out of having to attend; the mightiest weapon the Avengers could offer: Peter's puppy eyes. “I really need his help to get this right.” For good measure he patted his bag.

“Fine”, Happy groaned, not really trying to fight the puppy eyes, “I'll get Rogers to excuse you.”

“Thank you so much”, Peter beamed, “you just saved my life.”

“Yeah, right”, he grumbled and, after nodding at Tony, he turned and walked out of the kitchen again.

“Thanks, Pete”, Tony smiled, “saved me a world of pain.”

“Not so sure about that...” The skew grin Peter shot him was... Tony wasn't sure.

“Out with it.”

“I do have homework, for a grade and I could do with some help. It's just in English...”

Oh fuck. The puppy eyes Peter had just shot in Happy's direction were now aimed at Tony. And English? Well, Tony knew how to speak it, but other than that... Besides, comparing poems and shit? Who the fuck had time for that?

“Fine. Let me see what you got.”

“Great”, he giggled. “So, it's basically choosing an important happenstance in my life and comparing it to a similar situation from a book. Issue is, most important things in my life are kinda arachnid-powered and I can't write about that, can I? I mean, Batman, right? Watching Uncle Ben being... you know, and then becoming a superhero... But secret identity.”

Peter didn't even give Tony the chance to interject, which he'd like to do, since the kid got more and more morbid.

“Then I thought Hamlet, because you know, my parents, but my Uncle isn't evil, so nope.”

Shit, that was depressing.

“Then I thought Frankenstein?”

“What, engineered superpowers and now everybody wants you dead?”

“Maybe?”

Tony just shook his head, and Peter jumped up with a groan.

“This sucks so much! You know, I could do Alice in Wonderland! But no, it's all top secret.”

“As I take it, you don't have to fit with an entire book.”

“Fine. Then I feel like Bilbo Baggins”, Peter continued. “Just want to be left alone, but no...”

“Come on, now, we're two certified geniuses, we can figure this out. What do you want to write about?” Maybe this way they would get somewhere.

“I mean, I don't want to write about my parents or Uncle Ben, because if I do, I'll be sent to see a shrink again.”

“Which isn't a bad thing...”

“Mr Stark, focus. If I write about getting together with MJ she'll dump me right away, and I don't want that. Then I thought about you know...” He turned away and started to blush. “About... meeting you.”

“Well, it is a world-changing happenstance”, Tony smirked.

“OMIGOD!”, he cried out, “I got it! My Fair Lady!” With an excited grin he beamed at Tony. “Because, well, you, scooping me up from the streets, teaching me the ropes, not the societal ones, but like engineering and shit. And superheroing, too, but again, nothing I can write about.”

“So, you're Eliza Doolittle?”

“Yeah!”

“And I'm Higgins?”

“I mean, sorta...”

“No”, Tony shook his head, “I'm not taking part in that.”

“Come on! It's perfect! And, like you said, I don't have to fit the entire book!”

Damnit, Peter might just have a point with that story. Him, tracking down the kid; Peter over and over showing up, literally nagging Tony into becoming an official Avenger. And he did learn and work hard to improve. “I guess it fits. So fine. As long as you make it clear that I am not such an asshole towards you as Higgins is towards Eliza.”

“I will speak of you only in the highest reverence”, he grinned and got to his bag, to get out his pen and paper, softly humming: “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain...”

Oh, what the hell did Tony get himself into right now? Well, at least it was better than sitting at SHIELD.

***

Tony was spread out on the couch, waiting for Peter to finally pick up.

“Hi, sorry”, he chirped eventually, just before Tony was about to hang up. “Was just changing, couldn't answer.”

“So I don't need to take it personally, good”, he chuckled. “You civilian or vigilante right now?”

“I'm just myself, Peter Parker.”

“Right then, Peter Parker. I had an idea for an upgrade for your other personality, wanna come over and check it out?”

“Uhm, no, sorry, I can't.” All of a sudden, the giggles turned into almost nervous stuttering. “I... I got homework, you know?”

“Oh.” Tony didn't buy that. Not at all. “You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Tony still didn't buy it. “You need help?”

“Nope.”

“Right then.”

“I can come tomorrow, though and we can work on that upgrade then, ok?”

“Sounds great.”

“Perfect. See you!”

“Call ended”, FRI announced.

Huh. Peter was keeping things from Tony now? Yes, 'having homework' was their excuse for every kind of meeting they wanted to avoid, but Peter had never used it on Tony. Should he worry?

Tony could just track Peter's phone and be at where or whatever the kid hid from him. And then Peter would never trust Tony ever again.

Probably it was just some weird nerd stuff with his nerd friends, nothing to worry about. Absolutely nothing. This weird feeling in his stomach? Absolutely nothing that deserved another look at or that needed to be divulged in.

Only question: was Tony worried that the kid was in danger, or was he pissed that the kid kept it from him? Neither of those options were fair to Peter, though; he was old enough to make his own life choices and had every right to keep some things private, after all. If only Tony wasn't so curious...

“Hi Mr Stark!”, the kid beamed as he waltzed into the lab the next day with the widest grin on his face.

“Hey Pete.” Tony looked up to see him dance around Dum-E, before hugging Butterfingers and all but jumped over the workstation, landing right in front of Tony. “Wow, you're chipper.”

“Why wouldn't I be? Isn't the world just wonderful?”

“You really had fantastic homework yesterday, didn't you?”, Tony smirked at the teen that immediately turned beet-red.

“Uhm, yeah...”

“Kid, you're allowed to say no to me, you know that, right?” He put his hands on Peter's shoulders who looked up with wide eyes. “If 'having homework' is your way of doing that, I'm cool with it. Just don't feel like you have to lie to me; I can accept a no.”

“You sure?”, he grinned, still blushing, but a lot more cheeky now.

“I am. You wanna get to work then?”

Instead of giving an answer, Peter blurted out: “I was on a date!” He was somewhat embarrassed, somewhat proud, but mostly so damn smitten...

“I assume with Michelle?”, he smiled. The kid barely shut up about the amazingly smart captain of the Academic Decathlon Team, who was so badass and really funny and oh so pretty...

“Yeah”, he cooed and, if it was possible his entire face turned into one giant heart-eye. “We went to the Natural History Museum, they have an exhibition about Murderous Animals, like the serial killers of nature. Like Meerkats for example. They kill each other ten times more than humans kill each other! And like chinchillas, they're on fifth place. That's so weird, because they seem so adorable!”

“And your paramour liked that?”

“She loved it! It was like the perfect surprise.” Now it was pure pride that Peter exuded. “And then we got takeaway and watched the sunset from a roof top and it was so romantic.”

“Sounds absolutely perfect.”

“It was. And I'm sorry I said the homework thing... I just...”

“It's alright. Like I said, you don't have to justify yourself to me. Bigger question, though: Are you too caught in thoughts about your girlfriend or are you able to concentrate on not blowing us up?”

***

Tony thought he knew what pain and torture felt like after Afghanistan. But watching Peter like this, sorrowful and almost heart-broken, managed to top it off once more.

Today's patrol went absolutely disastrous. Tony hadn't managed to get the details out of the kid yet, but what he did gather was that during a bank robbery one civilian, trying to take down a robber, got shot, and that only moments before Peter had the chance to get there.

And now the kid was wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, curled in the corner. All Tony could do was stay close, and he was ready to get or do anything Peter might need from him.

“Hey Tony.” Steve walked up and sat next to Tony on the couch. “How's he doing?”

Tony just shot him a stare á la 'what do you think', but didn't get the chance to say just that.

“He can hear you, you know?”, Peter grumbled from his blanket pile.

“Sorry, kid.”

“Yeah, whatever...”

“What's up?”, Tony turned to the super soldier, who should actually know better than to crowd Peter when he was upset; it had unfortunately happened a few too many times.

“We need his statement.”

The wince coming from the blanket pile was quiet but Tony clearly heard it.

“Seriously Rogers, now?”

“I know, I know. But if we don't get it signed now, we'll be in a lot of trouble with Ross and the Accords.”

Shit. Peter stayed silent, but he balled himself up even more if it was possible. There was no way in hell, Tony was gonna let anybody force Peter to do any official shit.

“Well, first of all, since he's a minor, his signature is useless anyways. And besides... Peter has homework.”

“Homework?” Steve creased his eyebrows, until he got it. “Oh, right”, he nodded, “homework. Yes, that's important, I agree. And yes, since he's not a legally grown-up, my signature should more than suffice. ”

“Thanks.”

Steve nodded, got up and, just before he walked out of the room, the blanket pile moved a little. “Thank you, Mr America.”

“Anytime, Pete.”

***

“Peter, good you're here”, Happy smiled at the bushel of brown curls that peaked out from a bunch of wires.

“What's up?”, he called and only then resurfaced.

“Meeting Room C. In five minutes.”

“Aw, shit”, he groaned.

Tony couldn't blame him, Meeting Room C meant that it was some politic representative from City Hall. And that equalled deathly boredom. Thank the heavens, Tony was no longer responsible for all that.

“Come on”, Happy urged him.

“Sorry, Hap, I can't”, he decided. “I've got homework.”

It was silent for a moment, then Tony burst out laughing. The kid grinned cheekily at Happy, who looked like he just wanted to quit.

“Peter. You're 25, you're no longer in school.”

“Sorry, kiddo”, Tony wheezed, “doesn't work any more.”

“Aw, man”, he moaned but still got up and begrudgingly followed Happy. “This sucks.”

***

“Seriously”, Tony groaned for the umpteenth, “time for bed!”

“No, it's not”, Peter decided, “I'm a grown-up, remember?”

“And I'm almost a grown-up!”, Morgan stated. That she was only 11 didn't seem to matter right now.

“I'm a grown-up, too”, Tony shot back. “And I'm tired, want to sleep and you crazy kids are keeping me up.”

“But Daaaad”, Morgan moaned, “I can't go to bed! I've got homework, and Petey has to help me!”

Oh fucking hell. Morgan and Peter looked up at Tony with the smuggest grins and damnit, Tony was not in the mood to start arguing with them.

“Peter Benjamin Parker. I thought that joke died with your graduation.”

“Clearly not”, he shot back.

“Right then.” The quickest and easiest way was just to play along. “Homework, and then bed.” He sat himself at the table and looked expectantly at his daughter, who started to blush. Peter on the other hand had to bite down hard to keep from laughing out loud.

“Ugh, fine.” Morgan rolled her eyes and got up. “Good night.” She leaned over and put a kiss on Peter's cheek.

“Was a nice try”, he chuckled. “Sleep well, sweetie.”

“Come on, Morgoona.” Tony held his hand out and, albeit with an anger glare (as intimidating as the anger glare of a tired 11-year-old could be), she took the outstretched hand. “Don't worry, tomorrow morning you and Peter can do all the homework the world can possibly offer.”

#avengers #irondad #spiderson #ironman #tony stark #spider-man #peter parker #Pepper Potts #happy hogan #steve rogers #morgan stark

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astrodances · 5 years

Link

The Knights of Team Uncle

Based on this post I made yesterday. Shout-out to @astudyinchocolate for the actual fic idea, and @galoots I’m tagging you again as well because Team Uncle.

So...yeah. Enjoy the fluff! I’m off to make cupcakes!

Prompt: "scrooge probably took that photo while he and donald had the eggs for the day”

"Peaceful" had been the last word Scrooge expected to use to describe his and Donald's day out with the eggs, yet here he was.

With Della needing a break, Scrooge had brought the boys to the Billionaires' Club. He had some minor work tasks to take care of, and seeing as how the Money Bin was far too hectic an environment to bring the eggs to, he decided the club was the best place to handle both, along with whatever shenanigans that would inevitably arise with his hapless nephew.

So when he caught himself quirking his beak up at the stillness that had overtaken his half of the club's lounge, Scrooge was understandably surprised. The contract he'd been looking over fell to his side on the couch he'd been sitting on as he got up to stretch and take a look at the grandfather clock in the corner. Soft jazz wafted throughout the room from his radio on the mantle, punctuated by a gentle snore that caught his attention.

Scrooge turned towards the noise, and his heart melted on sight.

Donald sat atop his nephews' eggs in Scrooge's armchair, asleep and dead to the world. His limbs were sprawled out and his beak agape, and the latest addition to his collection of parenting books—Parenting for Dum-Dums, his uncle noted—laid forgotten on his chest.

It was too precious a moment to miss, and Scrooge needed to capture it.

Deft in his movements so as to not wake him, he got Donald's handheld digital camera out of his backpack across the room and turned back around. He was able to turn the camera on and, with some luck, managed to snap a clear photo of the scene.

The only thing he had forgotten about though was the flash, which caused Donald to open a bleary eye right as the picture was taken.

Scrooge immediately swore as he looked at the camera's buttons. "Blasted contraption! They're always changing these things every year!" He hadn't meant to wake Donald up. He spared a guilty glance towards him. "Sorry, Nephew. I dinnae mean to disturb yer slumber."

Donald mumbled a noncommittal sound as he shook off his groggy haze.

"I just had to get a picture of my boys all together is all," Scrooge shared, before returning his attention back to the camera. "If I can find it, that is..." He tried to recall the sequence of buttons Donald had shown him before for accessing the device's memory, and finally found the one he'd just taken. "Aha! I did it! Aww, you look as cute as you did ten years ago as you do now when you're asleep..." He let out a laugh, his accent tinging it with a certain jolly air.

Donald had managed to hop carefully off the eggs and was now looking over his uncle's shoulder at the photo. When he saw his sleepy expression, he squawked in indignation. "Hey! Delete that!"

He tried to swipe the camera from Scrooge's grasp, but Scrooge held him at bay with one hand, the other outstretched from Donald's reach.

"Never! It's-" Scrooge snarled through the struggle. "A precious family- memory!" He finally pushed Donald off of him and raised the camera in victory, before returning it to the backpack and zipping it shut decisively. As he turned back around, he stared pointedly at his nephew. "Besides, we promised Della we would take more photos on our days out with the eggs."

"Oh fine," Donald rolled his eyes as he relented.

Before they could move on to a new topic, a rumble broke through the silence.

"Hungry much, lad?" Scrooge smirked, causing Donald to blush at just how incriminating his stomach was. "Why don't ye go get some lunch, eh?"

Donald shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "Nope. I gotta watch the eggs."

Now it was Scrooge's turn to roll his eyes. "Nonsense! I can watch them!" He walked behind Donald and started pushing him towards the door. "Go on, go get something from the club's kitchen. Take a little break; you've earned it."

It was painfully true—ever since Della had laid her eggs, Donald had been working himself to the bone trying to prove himself as a good uncle. When Della had been gravid, Scrooge had overheard Donald confessing to her that he just wanted to be for the triplets what Scrooge had been for the twins in their youth. He wanted to live up to Scrooge's reputation as a parental figure.

The starkness of that confession had both humbled and gnawed at Scrooge, and while he didn't want to let on that he'd been eavesdropping, he did his best to make sure Donald got the encouragement and affirmation that he so rightfully deserved. He had no doubt that his nephew would be the best uncle, not because he had Scrooge for a role model, but because he was driven purely by love and dedication for his sister and his own nephews.

That said, Scrooge also did his best to ensure that Donald knew that this was a group effort. "It takes a village to raise a child!" he liked to point out seemingly every other week. Donald needed to learn that he could rely on and trust his family.

With this in mind, Scrooge stopped the two of them at the lounge's door and placed a soothing hand on his nephew's shoulder. "Go relax and eat something, and take your time. I'll watch the eggs."

Donald hesitated, looking between his uncle and the nest on his armchair.

"We're Team Uncle, aren't we?" Scrooge held up his hand as if offering a pact, and remembered the story the three of them had made up and told the eggs the other night. "The knights to Queen Della and her princes?"

With a final glance towards the eggs, Donald gave him a tired, but committed smile and took his hand in solidarity. "That we are. In that case, this knight is gonna go have a double-decker sandwich."

Scrooge chuckled at Donald's retreating figure, then closed the door and walked over to his unhatched family in his chair. As he picked up the nest and sat down with the eggs on his lap, he cooed, "Donnae you wee ones worry. Uncle Scroogie's got ya. Unca Donnie will be right back."

He settled into the cushions with a sigh and made sure the eggs were all balanced, then reached over his shoulder and pulled the checkered throw blanket he had on the back of his chair down and wrapped it snugly around the three of them, so they were all cocooned in his embrace. The jazz was still playing on his radio, and he felt the weight of that morning's work lifting from his shoulders.

He started thinking about the fairytale he had brought up to Donald again and smiled. "Your mother really is every bit the queen we said she is," he told the eggs, before leaning in conspiratorially to whisper to them. "But did you know your ol' Uncle Scrooge was a king way back not one, but two centuries ago? I was the King of the Klondike!" He raised a triumphant fist with the title and looked heroically on, before settling his gaze on the nest again. "I had a queen, too: the Ice Queen of Dawson—a sneaky one, she was. Always tryin' to steal her king's gold—and his heart. Oh, he tried to stop her each an' every time, but she was a powerful lass, and seemed to always know where the key was. And one day, they got roped into a battle against..."

Scrooge fell easily into his storytelling, his hands waving about for emphasis and his voice dripping with every bit of dramatic tension he could muster, though still soft so as to not to disturb the peace of the afternoon. By the time he finished the story, however, he had succumbed to the cozy presence of his family and the inviting warmth of his chair, and nodded off into a deep nap.

This is how Donald found him when he came back from his lunch (and boy, what a lunch it was).

Scrooge's head was tilted forward towards his chest, his spectacles sliding down his beak and his top hat askew. He looked all too indulgent in his sleep, yet still had a protective hold on the eggs, which made his nephew breathe a sigh of relief.

It was adorable and sweet.

And the perfect opportunity for revenge.

Donald set the bottle of juice he had brought back with him down on an end table and retrieved his camera from his backpack, then lined up for the shot. He was much more knowledgeable with the technology than Scrooge was, yet there was still a distinct flash when Donald took the picture.

The burst of light, of course, woke Scrooge up, and he jolted his ahead around in an alert daze. "Whazza- who?" His hands instinctively held the eggs closer to his body, and his eyes finally landed on his nephew just as he snapped another photo of Scrooge's confusion, making him grumble and rub his eyes.

When he opened them again, he saw Donald waving the camera around with an impish grin. Were it not for the eggs on his lap, he would've tackled him into a playful headlock just for the sheer smugness on his face.

Yet before Scrooge could insist that the photos be deleted, Donald beat him to the punch.

"Two can play that game, Uncle."

#DuckTales #DuckTales spoilers #Scrooge McDuck #Donald Duck #Team Uncle #my fanfics #fluff #Scroldie cameo

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writerlydays · 7 years

Text

candi smiles

Sophie is just trying to buy a pie for her nephew, but when she runs into an old friend at the grocery store, she’ll have to deal with feelings she thought were long gone.

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Music

Faceclaims: Sophie Marrow | Aranesa Turner Candice Lowe | Katie Leclerc

The grocery store is, predictably, packed. Every aisle is jammed with carts full of orange and black decorations and screaming toddlers. Toppled displays lay in the floor like fallen soldiers, spilled glitter and autumn garlands like guts.

Sophie can see her target in the distance, the table display with the last of the pumpkin pies. It sits there, lonesome and waiting, calling to her. She needs to get to it before someone else does, and fast. Out of the corner of her eye she can see someone else headed toward it, a lady with a soccer-mom haircut and a sullen teen at her side. No way is she getting that pie.

“Move, please!” Sophie growls, using her cart as a battering ram to get her through the crowd. She’d feel worse about pushing people if someone hadn’t actually pushed her down to get to a candy display earlier.

The Soccer Mom is closer to the table, sure to get there first, when a gaggle of women with similar haircuts call out to Soccer Mom, and she pauses.

Sophie surges forward, calling on a burst of energy she thought she’d long since used up, and reaches the table. She grabs the pie just as Soccer Mom extracts herself from the other ladies, and Sophie holds the pie up in triumph.

“I got it!” She tells the elderly woman behind her, who fixes her with a disapproving frown.

“I got it!” She says again, uncaring, “Hell yeah.”

Getting out of the crowd is easier said than done, but Sophie does it with a spring in her step, having accomplished what she came here to do. She’s a little surprised she made it out unscathed, to be honest. She’s seen people maimed at Taipon County Halloween sales before.

She’s almost to the row of registers when someone else’s cart slams into the side of hers, sending them both sliding into the giant cardboard ghost that sits in the middle of the floor.

“Shit, I’m so sorry!” Says the reckless driver, “It was too heavy, I lost control! I’m really really sorry, are you hurt? I didn’t hit you, did I?”

The voice is familiar, and as soon as Sophie looks up she recognizes the speaker. She’d recognize her anywhere. It’s been about ten years, the woman has grown her hair out, lost a little weight, and gained a few lines around her eyes.

“Oh my god, Candi?”

Candice Lowe blinks, taken aback for a moment before recognition sets in. “Sophie! Holy shit, I didn’t even recognize you! Oh my god, you look so good!”

“Thanks,” Sophie shakes her head, “This is so weird. I thought you moved to Florida or something.”

“I did, yeah. I moved to Tampa after graduation, but I’m back now. What are you doing nowadays? We should catch up!”

Sophie moves quickly to procure a place in line at the checkout and Candi follows behind her.

“I’d love to, yeah! You don’t have facebook, do you? I could never find it.”

Candi shakes her head and her curly, strawberry-blonde mane shakes with her. The movement mesmerizes Sophie, who always used to fantasize about having hair like that when she was kid, long and soft. These days she’s happy with the natural beauty of her own wiry hair, but Candi’s has always been something else.

“Not my thing.” Says Candi, bringing Sophie out of her hair-induced hypnosis, “My business is my business, you know?”

“I get that, but it does make it harder to keep in touch.”

Candi’s face scrunches in a thoughtful motion, “I know. And I pretty much just up and left with no warning, barely told anyone where I was going. I lost touch with just about everyone.” She gives a humorless laugh as Sophie reaches the conveyor and starts to put her groceries on.

“What happened?” Sophie wonders, “You were so popular in highschool.”

“Not really. I mean, people liked me, but I never really felt like I had any friends. You were pretty much it. It all felt so… shallow, you know? None of it seemed important. So, I turned eighteen and I hitched to Florida.”

“As you do.” Sophie teases.

“Right?” Candi’s things are one conveyor now, and Sophie feels the need to wait for her at the end of the register. It doesn’t feel quite right to leave, even though she’s in a bit of a hurry. This doesn’t seem like the end of the conversation, and she’s not sure she can live with this tugging in her chest if she goes without finishing it. She can feel the universe pulling her in one direction, even though she needs to be going in the other.

Candi finishes paying for her own items and Sophie finally registers the amount of apple pie in her old friend’s cart, which is fairly ridiculous.

“What’s with the pies?”

Candi looks down at the monstrous pile of pastry in her cart. She seems to have forgotten it was there. “Oh, I’m taking these to the 7th street children’s shelter. I thought it might be nice.”

Something stirs in the pit of Sophie’s stomach, a wonder so familiar that it seems like deja vu. A pride, a longing.

“I’ve gotta go.” Says Sophie.

“Oh,” Candi looks unfairly disappointed, “Well, let me give you my number and we’ll catch up, yeah? I’m sure a lot has changed since I’ve been gone.”

“Yeah, absolutely!”

Sophie drives home in a daze. It feels like she’s dreaming, but it’s a dream she’s had before. Her feelings for Candi are age-old, and she’s never quite forgotten them. Candi was always too big for this little town, and everyone knew it. They all knew she’d leave eventually, but Sophie, at least, never thought she’d go without even saying goodbye. They’d been friends, once, and Candi’s disappearance had felt like a betrayal at best. It’s a wound that never really healed, just tickled at the back of her mind from time to time when she thought it was finally gone. There’s a part of her that’s been angry, even. Now though, now she’s back, and Sophie can’t be angry when she looks at Candi. It’s just not possible.

She pulls up her sister’s driveway with a frown playing on her mouth and it doesn’t go away until she opens the front door to find her nephew crouched in the entryway.

“Hey, Caden.”

“Hi Aunti So.” The four-year-old doesn’t lift his gaze.

“What’cha doin’, bud?”

“Watchin’ the ants.” He points at where, sure enough, a trail of ants goes from the window across the floor.

“Are they doing anything interesting?”

“Just collaborating.”

Sophie laughs and steps around him toward the kitchen. “Well I have your pie.” Caden doesn’t answer, and Sophie knows he won’t until he’s done watching the ants. It could be a while, so she sets to making chicken salad while she waits, watching the street outside from the little window above the counter. The air smells of fallen leaves and changing weather, and Sophie closes her eyes for a moment to savor this feeling, whatever it might be called.

“This isn’t pumpkin.” Says an accusatory voice from behind her. She turns and finds Caden has climbed up onto a chair to look at the pie on the island counter.

“Sure it is.” Says Sophie, she distinctly remembers grabbing the last of the pumpkin pies.

“Nope.” Says Caden.

Despite being sure that she grabbed pumpkin, she knows before she even goes to the island. Sure enough, right there on the top, it says Apple.

“Oh goddamn- darn. Goddarn it. I freaking grabbed pumpkin, I swear.”

“What’s with the not-swearing?” Says a new voice from the doorway, where Sophie’s older sister Anita stands with her eyebrows raised.

“I grabbed pumpkin pie.” Sophie insists, “I swear to god I did. But now I’ve got apple.”

Anita frowns and looks down at Caden, who has his eyes narrowed at the interloping pie. “You know he won’t eat apple.” She says, voice lowered.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Is there any way you could go back?”

“That was the last pumpkin. I was about to have to fight a bitch- ah, a lady- I was about to have to fight a lady for it.”

“Oh boy.” Anita sighs, “This… won’t go well.”

“I know, I know! Look, i’ll figure this out- wait!” She remembers, all of Candi’s pies on the conveyer behind hers, close enough to get mixed, “I think I know who has my pie!”

On the front porch, Sophie agonizes over the phone call she has to make. She has to call Candi, there’s real nothing else to do about it. Caden wants his pumpkin pie, and there’s a good chance that Candi has it. On one hand, most of Sophie yearns to call Candi, the want aches in her chest. On the other, she’s terrified. Terrified of embarrassing herself; terrified of seeming desperate; terrified of what might happen if Candi guesses her feelings.

She takes a deep breath and presses call before she can lose her nerves, brushing her hair out of the way to press her phone to her ear. It’s only moments before Candi picks up.

“Hello?”

“Hey! Hi- uh, it’s Sophie. I’m just- um, I’m calling because- because, ah-”

“It’s okay,” Candi laughs, “Take your time.”

“Yeah, ha, sorry to call you so soon. It’s just- I think you might have grabbed my pie by accident, and I think I grabbed one of yours. And I was wondering if there’s any way we could exchange?”

There’s a long silence before Candi answers, “Oh my god, I am so sorry. I probably did grab your pie. But, uh, the thing is, I already dropped those pies off at the shelter. I’m really sorry, Sophie!”

“No, it’s alright.” Sophie rubs at her temple, already trying to figure out what to do next, “I got so caught up talking to you I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”

“No, I get it. It was really good, talking to you. I barely remember driving home, I was thinking about the times we had in high school.”

“Those were not good times, Candi.”

Candi laughs again, “I guess not. So, do you hate apple pie or something?”

“No, no. The pumpkin pie was for my nephew. Halloween scares him so we try to do things to distract him. He wanted pumpkin pie this year, so…”

“Oh my god, I can’t be responsible for ruining a child’s Halloween! Look, tell you what, I’ll make you one.”

“You’ll what?”

“I’ll bake you one! I have the stuff for pumpkin, I made some and dropped them at the shelter yesterday, I only had to go to the store for apple.”

“You really don’t have to do that, it’s not that big a deal.” “Won’t your nephew be upset?”

“…I mean, yeah.”

“Can’t let that happen. I’m making you a pie. Can I come over.”

“Yes! Yeah, absolutely. I’m at my sister’s house, you remember Anita?”

“Sort of, yeah.”

“We’re at 312 Oakland, over by the Simmons Car Wash.”

“Alright, I’ll bring my stuff. I’ll be right over!”

Sophie only has to wait about fifteen minutes, but it’s a horrible, nerve wracking fifteen. When Candi pulls up in her little purple Corolla, Sophie’s heart leaps into her chest. As Candi climbs out of her car, Sophie can feel her palms getting clammy.

It’s like she’s back in high school, thrust into a teenage head space against her will. All those stupid hormones and feelings rearing their heads once again. High school… hadn’t been easy for Sophie.

“Hey, Soph!” Candi waves, a cardboard box under her arm. She’s grinning wide, her smile is like a crescent moon.

“Hey, Candi.”

“I hope this isn’t too weird, me coming over. I just thought maybe we could catch up while I was cooking?”

“No, yeah! That sounds great. I actually- you know, really wanted to talk to you.”

Candi beams, “Great!”

They set Candi’s things in the kitchen, and she sweeps her long red hair up into a messy bun. This way, she looks serious, with strands escaping to frame her face. She’s rolling out the dough when Caden pokes his curly head into the kitchen. He takes one look at Candi and disappears again.

“Caden!” Sophie calls to him, “It’s okay, it’s just Aunti So’s friend Candi. You want to come and say hi?”

His head appears slowly, and he eyes their visiter with obvious suspicion. Sophie doesn’t think he’s going to come in when, finally, he spots the pie crust.

“What’s that?”

“I’m making a pumpkin pie,” Candi tells him, “you want to help?”

Caden does nothing for several long seconds, and then, a nod. Sophie is surprised, but maybe Caden is having a good day. He climbs up onto a nearby chair and watches Candi with his unwavering gaze. He’s watching her hands intensely, like he’ll remember how to do it himself next time. Of course, knowing Caden, that could well be.

“So, you’re not a fan of Halloween?” Candi asks Caden.

Caden frowns and shakes his head.

“Why not?”

“Too scary.”

“What, you don’t like ghosts?” Candi asks, spreading the pumpkin mixture inside the crust.

“Um, no.” Caden says firmly. His views on ghosts are clear.

“But you like pumpkin pie?”

“I love pumpkin pie.”

“Well we’re gonna get some pumpkin pie into you, little dude.”

Caden grins and moves one chair closer.

Candi’s baking prowess impresses both Caden and Sophie, as well as Anita who shows up briefly to pour herself a glass of wine and disappear again. Sophie is also impressed by how good Candi is with Caden. She’s patient, she’s kind, and she answers his myriad questions happily. When they’re done, the three of them retire to the living room with their respective pieces of pie to watch My Neighbor Totoro, which is Caden’s current obsession.

“I love that you let your hair go natural.” Candi says, reaching out to tug gently on a lock of Sophie’s curly hair. She usually hates it when people touch her hair, but in this case she can’t really bring herself to mind. She leans her head back against the couch and lets Candi wind the curl around her finger.

“Yeah, I kinda fuck- uh, messed it up in high school, didn’t I?”

“I mean, it was cute, but you used a lot of product.”

“Yeah, I actually used so much relaxer that I just ended up shaving it all off a few years ago, it was so brittle.”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe I missed seeing you bald!” Candi gasps, “I bet you looked so cute!”

“I actually did look very cool.”

“I knew it.”

“Oh, stop it. Yours looks great, by the way.”

“Took me forever to grow it out, it’s a pain in the ass but at least it looks pretty.”

Sophie laughs, “I think that’s what they said about you in high school.”

Candi gasps in mock offence and smacks Sophie lightly on the arm. “Don’t point out my flaws, lady! It’s impolite.”

“Mhm.”

“You’ve gotten cheeky in your old age, haven’t you?”

“Old what? I’m not even thirty!”

“Okay old-timer.”

“Wow.”

The night feels… good. It feels like old times, but they never had old times like this before. It’s easy to talk to Candi, she’s just as funny and even more down to earth than she used to be. Growing up has made her even softer, even kinder than she was. To her dismay, Sophie finds herself growing more and more enamored as the night goes on. She should have never agreed to have Candi come here, not when a crush was so inevitable.

She can’t help it, she’s never been able to stop herself from falling.

She walks Candi to her car much later, because she’s a sap and she can already feel her heart aching with this new want. She doesn’t want Candi to go home, she wants her to stay. She wants to hear Candi laugh more, wants to cook with her more and see what she looks like in soft pajamas.

“Thanks for letting me stay so long.”Candi says, grinning and leaning back against the side of her car. Her hair is loose now, falling down around her shoulders in soft red waves. The smells of warm sugar and pumpkin still cling to her skin, and she could be a siren, as drawn to her as Sophie is.

“It was good.” Sophie says, immediately cursing herself. Why can’t she be more elegant, better with words? She should think of something insightful or flirty, or both, but she comes up blank.

“It was so good. I can’t believe I went so long without talking to you.” Candi reaches out and wraps her fingers around Sophie’s wrist, giving her a little tug, “I really missed you, you know?”

“Yeah,” Sophie sighs, “I missed you too. You just… left.”

“I know. That was so shitty, and I’m sorry. But i’m never going to be able to make up for that.”

“Just promise, if you leave again, you’ll let me know.”

“Yeah, of course.” Candi gives Sophie’s wrist a little squeeze, “I’m not eighteen anymore, I like to think I’m not that selfish anymore either.”

“I don’t think you are. I’m just glad you’re back.”

“Me too. I want to hang out with you more.”

Sophie’s stomach flips, and she has to fight to keep from fidgeting. “You want to, um, get lunch with me sometime this week or something?”

“Sophie, I would love to get some lunch with you.”

Sophie’s heart feels warm, her stomach full of butterflies. She’s suddenly thankful for the darkness, and that Candi can’t see her cheeks flush in the dim light.

“I’ll text you.” She says.

“You’d better!” Says Candi, and then, very suddenly, leans forward to press a kiss to Sophie’s cheek. It might be completely platonic, but it still sends Sophie’s head spinning. Just one chaste kiss and she’s a mess. An adult, and getting flustered over a kiss on the cheek.

So flustered, in fact, that she keeps thinking about it long after Candi is gone. Long after her thoughts should have turned elsewhere, she’s still dreaming of Candi’s smile.

6 notes · View notes

tmntreasures · 7 years

Text

Honor Among Thieves Ch.11

Note: It’s a long one, so I’m putting the rest under “Keep Reading” so it doesn’t clutter up your dash! XD Enjoy!

Up on the surface, Aida was busy getting breakfast cooked for her siblings and Bonnie as well as packing their lunches. She would scoff sometimes before picking up trash and throwing it away, cursing in Spanish under breath as she did. As she rummaged through the fridge, trying to find something edible to cook, she spoke up. "So Bonnie. Do you have any siblings?"

"Nope! And thank gawd!" She said dramatically. "I don't think I could handle this." She leaned gestured at the table; which had an assortment of food and storage containers strewn about it.

Aida smirked and took out a handful of eggs and milk, setting them down as gently as she could. "Oh please, you wouldn't have to deal with it," She wiggled a finger at her and teased, "You nanny would~."

At that moment, the older brother Orlan, slumped lazily down the stairs. He only had a baggy t-shirt and boxers on and tousled, curly black hair on his head. He had not noticed Bonnie yet as he yawned and found his way into the kitchen. As if like clockwork, he sat down in a chair in front of the kitchen table and rested his head in his hand.

"Buenos diaaaas!" Aida cooed at him before slamming her hand on the counter.

The noise jolted the boy awake enough for him to grumble, "Por qué estás tan molesto por la mañana?" He did a double take when his eyes finally caught sight of Bonnie and all he could do was stare at her. Eventually he blinked and looked at his sister. "Oye. Por qué hay una prostituta en nuestra casa?"

"Oye!" Aida hissed at him, waving the milk carton in his direction. "No insulte a nuestros huéspedes!" She straightened her back and huffed at him. "Además, ella es mi amiga."

"Alright, if ya'll are gonna be speaking Spanish the whole time, I'm outtie." Bonnie held up her hands, and then pointed to the boy. "Also, I'm not a prostitute. If anything, I'd be an escort... They get paid more." She put a hand to her chest.

Orlan rolled his eyes, but just as he was about to open his mouth, the front door opened. The smell of greasy food wafted through the house and a man dressed in a restaurant uniform hopped into the kitchen. "Who wants some PANCAAAAKES~?" He held up four large plastic bags, presumably full of pancakes, and smiled; but it couldn't compare to the smile on Aida's.

"Papa!" She cried and hugged his neck. The grown man was the same height as her with peppered hair on his head. A few tattoos peered out from under his sleeves, but it was nothing discernible. She pulled away eventually and stared in shock. "You're home early!" She said, moving so he could set the bags down.

"Yeah," He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "There was supposed to be this big birthday party, right? But when we got half-way done, someone had a heart attack. So everyone left before eating their food. So not only did Boss-Man let me go early~," He grinned as he took a bunch of to-go boxes out of the bags. "He let me bring home some of the unserved food!"

Bonnie's eyes widened when the man burst through the front door, but she stayed silent and even took a couple steps backwards.

Orlan stood up and grumbled, "I'll go get the others up." He stomped up the stairs, clearly upset about his father being so happy.

Aida's father ignored it and jumped when he finally saw Bonnie. "Oh shit! I didn't see you there!" He chuckled and held a hand out to her. "I'm Bruno. You must be..." He laughed and shook his head, "I hope you're Aida's friend." He turned to his daughter and shook his head, "If Orlan or Montae brought a girl like this home...phew! They're doing better than I was when I was their age!"

She smacked his arm and cringed, "Papa! That's gross! Of course she's my friend!"

Bonnie hesitantly shook his hand. "Bonnita Jefferson." She murmured.

Bruno shook her hand and nodded, "Good to meet you Bonnita!" He moved out of the way and gestured to the left overs. "Please! Help yourself!"

"Papa!" The twins hollered as they came running down the stairs, smiling.

He embraced the two little ones and began asking them questions about school and their friends. When Montae came down, he gave the boy and strong hug, asking him all the same questions. He even hugged Orlan once he was in reach, but the older boy did not return the gesture.

Once all of the siblings had gotten food, Aida began to pick at a pancake before finally popping a piece in her mouth. Bruno looked at her and asked, "So, what's new with you? I see the place hasn't burned down yet."

"She's a side-kick!" Riqui answered for her around a mouthful of pancakes.

"A side-kick?" Bruno echoed, looking at his youngest child in disbelief.

"To super-heroes. Duh!" Rosa explained before shoving a mouthful of pastry in her mouth.

The look her father gave her made Aida's blood run cold. She laughed and tried to come up with a cover. "Not really," She whispered so the twins wouldn't hear. "I'm just...working a lot. It's how I met Bonnie," She gestured to the girl, hoping she could help her out in her lie.

Bonnie perked up and was at a loss for words for a few seconds. "Uh… Yeah. She's my apprentice at a..uh.. Piercing parlor." She spat out and fiddled with her earrings nervously.

"Piercings?" Her father gave her an incredulous look.

"Don't give me that!" Aida pointed to his arm. "You have tattoos! Those are a lifetime, I can at least take out a piercing." She argued.

He made a noise and waved her off. "Yeah well...just don't pierce any dicks. Okay?"

"Papaaa!" Aida whined again. "I'm not gonna do that!"

Bonnie laughed a little. "Don't worry. We haven't got any takers for that yet."

He sighed in relief and smiled. "Oh good!" He paused for a second and pointed at the two boys at the table. "Don't let them get anything either."

Aida smiled, "We won't. I promise."

Bruno patted her back and caught a glimpse of the time on the microwave. He clicked his tongue and frowned. "I gotta get rested for my next shift. Make sure they all go to school, okay?" He pointed to the group at the table before kissing her head. He walked over to his other children and kissed them good-night as well before heading upstairs.

Aida frowned a bit and began to hand out their lunches, slowly ushering them out the door so they could make it to school on time. When they were all gone, Aida sighed and leaned against the counter. "Dios mio. I wasn't expecting my dad to show up..." She sniffed at herself and frowned. "At least he didn't say anything about the smell."

"He seems..." Bonnie paused in thought. "Cool?" She shrugged. "No. Really cool." She nodded. "My dad would've never let me get a job at a piercing parlor.”

"I think he's just happy I 'have' a job," She made air-quotes. "Thanks for covering for me by the way. I kinda panicked when the twins began nagging at me." She paused for a second and looked at Bonnie. "I mean, it's kinda true, right?"

Bonnie huffed. "Cept you might be out of a job here soon." She shifted her weight from one leg to another. "We me being chipped…” She paused and furrowed her brows angrily. “It’s gonna be hard pulling anything with them watching.”

She cursed in Spanish and looked around. She grabbed a plastic bag and dipped underneath the cabinets, shoving different types of cleaning supplies inside the bag, including multiple scrubbers. She tied the handles together and sighed. "Alright, let's go back before they get too pissy."

Before the girls returned to the lair, they did as they said they would and stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few essentials, along with other ingredients to make a meal that wasn't pizza. When they returned, they found the lair was unusually quiet.

Bonnie raised a curious brow and held up the grocery bags in the air. "Yo! We got strawberries!" She hollered out.

When there was no answer, Aida cringed. "Oh fuck...do you think they're trying to find us?" She set her bags down on a flat surface. "God damn it. There's no way they'd really think you'd run off, right?"

Bonnie hummed in thought and tapped a finger on her chin before hollering out again, "We got pizza!"

Like a moth to a flame, out came Michelangelo. "Yooo! Finally, you guys are back!" He strolled into the main room, but stopped and stared at them cautiously when he saw no pizza boxes. "Pi-zza?" His head cocked to the side.

"Nah." Bonnie shook her head.

"Aw what?" He groaned.

Aida huffed, keeping that trick in mind for if she ever needed to call them out of hiding. "Yeah, you guys are going to eat something decent for once." She pulled out a box of strawberries and tossed them onto the table. "Starting with some fruit."

He looked to the table, "Eugh, fruit? No."

"What are you, five years old?" Bonnie replied.

"The only good fruit is pineapple! And that's if it's on pizza!" He pointed.

Bonnie sighed and put the rest of the grocery bags on the table. "I knew this might happen sooo..." She reached into one of the bags and pulled out a small jar of nutella and a bottle of whipped cream.

"Oooh!" Mikey licked his lips. "Now you're talking my language!"

"Only a little bit." She gestured a small amount with her fingers.

Aida shook her head and pointed at him. "Bonnie and I will dish out the amount of nutella and whipped cream. So that means no squirting any in your mouth!"

"What are you, my moms?" He mocked and crossed his arms.

"Someone's gotta be. Ya boys are nasty, and unhealthy." Bonnie sat down on top of the table and grabbed a strawberry from its basket and squeezed a small amount of whip cream on it.

"Okay, just because I live in a sewer, doesn't mean I'm nasty." He held up a finger.

"We've never seen you bathe!" She stated.

"I sun bathe!" Mikey threw up his hands.

"When?! You never go out in the day time!" She argued back.

"The sewer gates! I lay under those sometimes and the sun peaks through…" He mumbled.

Aida began to walk behind him to check out his shell. "That's cool, but how can you get any sun if there's stuff blocking the light?" She began to scratch at some gunk and immediately regretted it. She stuck her tongue out in disgust and wiped away the crap on her shirt. "Yeah, that's it. You're gettin' scrubbed."

Mikey jerked around defensively when Aida scraped at his shell. "What? N-No! No I’m not!"

"Why not?" Bonnie asked.

"C-Cause!! I don't bathe with girls?" He turned back to Bonnie but kept looking back at Aida skeptically.

"Well that's fine cause we're not bathing with you. We're just bathing you." She popped the strawberry in her mouth.

Michelangelo stared at her wide eyed and blushed a bit at her words. The thought of two pretty girls rubbing him down actually sounded quite nice, but also incredibly frightening. He was a boy, a mutant turtle one at that; and a ninja who lived in the sewers. All of those components combined together made him reek, but he never noticed until he left the sewers, and even then it didn't matter much because the only ones smelling him smelled the same too! He was embarrassed at the idea of two pretty girls getting in between the crook and crevices of his shell.

"Nn-No.." He tried to say sternly but it came out weak. Bonnie returned his response with a glare.

Aida, however, gave him a sympathetic smile. "It'll be fiiiine, Mikey," She patted his arm. There had been times when her siblings would be scared of doing something and one of two ways always seemed to work: To be very supportive, kind, and understanding. Or be the embodiment of everything they feared.

Since this seemed like the first time the mutant had even heard of 'soap', she decided the nice route would be the best one to go for first. "Besides, you'll probably feel a lot better."

"Yeah, and April will like you a lot more once you're all clean." Bonnie said nonchalantly and topped off another strawberry with whip cream.

Aida paused at the comment and thought about it for a second. She had wanted to do this to help the boys out but now that she was reminded of the reporter, she wasn't so sure. She wasn't sure why the idea of April admiring their work miffed her so much; maybe it had been her attitude. Whatever it was, it had really pissed the Latina girl off.

She nodded her head curtly and walked off the get the supplies. "Mmhmm. Sure will," She muttered.

"Mmm..." Mikey hummed, still uncertain.

"Ugh!" Bonnie groaned and threw up her hands. "I'll buy you a damn pizza if you take a bath!"

"Mmm-Okay!" He perked up and smiled.

Bonnie sighed and held out her hand with the strawberry in it. "Now eat this." She demanded.

Michelangelo reluctantly took the strawberry, but was pleasantly surprised once he popped it in his mouth. "Yooo!" He grinned.

"Fucking see!! Good food exists that's not pizza!" She smiled, a little proud.

Aida watched him eat it and was happy he liked it, but she clicked her tongue. "Eh. Not nearly as cute as I thought it would be," She said as she walked over to them. "Betcha we'll have better luck with Raphael."

“Yo, Raph aint getting none of these." Mikey said as he picked up the basket and continued shoving strawberries in his mouth.

What should've took the girls maybe twenty-five minutes, ended up turning into a good fourty-five minutes of wrestling with Mikey. When they first touched his shell with a scrub brush, he immediately became defensive again and it took them several minutes to persuade him again. Lots of gunk and muk came off the back of him, and no one enjoyed it. The girls gagged and dry heaved multiple times but the finally came to a finishing point where Michelangelo could get the rest off himself. He left the main lair to their shower to take a quick rinse.

When he returned, he was rubbing a towel over his head. He let out a relaxed sigh. "You knnow what?" He paused. "That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was gonna be." He looked up with a grin, and revealed that he wasn't wearing his orange mask.

Bonnie eyes grew wide when she noticed he wasn't wearing his mask and her body even tensed a little.

Seeing him without the bright orange mask made Aida's eyes go wide with surprise. "Woah!" She exclaimed. "You took your mask off?"

"Well yeah." Mikey replied. "If I'm gonna be all fresh and clean, that needs to get cleaned too. So I threw it in the wash." He shrugged.

“Yo, you need to put that back on, right now." Bonnie ordered.

Mikey furrowed his brows and snorted. "Why?"

"Cause!--It's like-" She fumbled for words. "It's like you're naked!"

Mikey clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. "You just bathed me!"

"But you still had most of your stuff on!" Aida argued, taking Bonnie's side. It was so weird just how much of an impact one tiny piece of cloth had. She never would have guessed seeing him without the mask would be so jarring. Then again, it was also unexpected. "Also, please tell me this isn't your first time using that shower you never told us about!"

Mikey let out an aggravated sigh. "Of course not! But I'm not human like you guys! Taking a shower every day is not essential for us like it is for you."

"So when do you use it then?" Bonnie asked.

"When we get covered in gunk... or blood." He mumbled and shrugged lightly. He pulled down the towel and it hung on his shoulders.

Bonnie shuddered when she took a good look at him again. "It's just-- weird! You look like a different person-thing-turtle..."She trailed off.

Mikey huffed and made his way over to the fridge. "We'll you guys are gonna have deal! It has to dry, and this is kind of your fault anyways!" He pulled out a jug of milk and drank straight from the bottle.

There was a smile creeping over Aida's face until she finally began to giggle. It did not hit her until now just how human-like the turtles were. Bathing, washing clothes, drinking straight from the jug like her own brothers do. They weren't just giant mutants that lurked in the sewers to her anymore. These guys were real and did real things that regular people did.

The fact made her heart race a little and that was what made her panic. She shook the feeling away quickly and retorted. "Well pardon us for lookin' out for you," she said halfheartedly, not meaning anything aggressive by it. She looked at Bonnie and asked, "Who do you think we should do next? Raph or Donnie?"

Mikey wiped his mouth and let out a loud laugh. "Hah! Good luck trying to convince either of them! They both hate being touched! Donnie is all OCD, and Raph is--- Well, Raph!" He shrugged again.

Bonnie tapped on her lower bottom lip in thought. She hummed. "Maybe if we can convince Leo, the others will just fall in line. Though I'm sure he's going to be reluctant too. Especially with me being in the situation." She mumbled.

Aida smirked and nudged her arm. "That's okay. I'll just use some of those moves his taught me on him." She squatted down and looked ready to tackle an imaginary opponent. "Or get him on his back. He still struggles a little," She grinned and made a shrinking motion with her fingers.

“Where are the others?" Bonnie snapped to Michelangelo.

Mikeys brows perked and his expression turned sour. His shoulders slumped and he looked to the floor. "We all..." He stopped, having to think about what to say and how to say it. "Went our separate ways for today."

Aida frowned and crossed her arms. It sounded like they got into a fight and she was afraid of the reason. "Was because Bonnie came with me?" She asked, feeling a pang of guilt. She didn't think she would have to ask permission to take the girl with her. After all, Bonnie had been down in the sewers for days, it was only natural she wanted to go to the surface for a couple of hours.

"No..." He mustered out, but clenched his lips shut afterwards.

Bonnie leaned her head to the side and raised a brow. She wanted to know what was up, especially since she'd be staying down in the lair for the next few days. She leaned over and rest her elbows on her knees. "It must suck..." She started.

Michelangelo looked up at her confused.

"I don't have siblings, but even if I did, I could get away from them and interact with other people." She continued. "You guys only have each other and you're stuck down here. It probably make you guys go crazy from time to time?" She smiled sympathetically.

Michelangelo frowned and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Way to hit the nail right on its head." He sighed.

The idea never struck Aida until now. The air would no doubt be tense when the others arrived, especially since it sounded like none of them had made up for whatever had happened. However, she never got to experience that for herself with her own siblings. She was the one constantly being responsible for them and always had to be the bigger person in any situation. It wouldn't matter who was in the wrong, she had to be strong and clear-minded for her siblings so they would, hopefully, go by her example.

She chewed the inside of her cheek in thought and tapped her arm with her finger. "I'm kind of jealous though," She finally spoke up, sitting down next to Bonnie. "I mean, I have to act like a mom to my siblings. I kinda wish I could act a little immature around them, or joke around, or even get into silly fights with them." She giggled a bit. "But you guys got a good thing going. I know it sucks but...you guys have each other."

Yeah..." He continued to look down, and kicked lightly at some trash on the floor.

It was at that moment that Leonardo returned to the lair. He sauntered in, first noticing the girls, then his unmasked brother. He stopped in his tracks and stared at him confused. His nostrils flared when he noticed a different scent coming off him, and found that he looked unusually pristine. He glanced back and forth between the turtle and the girls with a concerned look on his face. "Whaaat happened here?" He asked.

Aida looked over her shoulder, "We cleaned him!" She held up a bottle of cleaner and a scrubby before shaking them lightly. "And you guys are next!"

Raphael heard what the Latina said as he walked in. "No thanks," He laughed. "It took forever just to get this kanji on my shell," He showed them the big red mark on his back. "I'm not about to let you two ruin it."

Donatello walked in and stopped dead in his tracks once the smell hit him. "Woah! That is citrus!" He sniffled and shook his head in an attempt to stop his eyes from watering. When he saw the unmasked Michelangelo and the girls, he put two-and-two together and asked, "How did you manage to keep him still for that?"

Bonnie looked over her shoulder and at Donatello. "I promised him pizza."

"Whiiiich, I have yet to have any!" Mikey jumped in and held up a finger.

She turned her head back forward and shrugged. "I lied." She grinned mischievously.

“Besdies," Aida added and pointed. "You had that whole box of strawberries."

Donatello's glasses raised when his eyes widened. "Wait, you guys brought down fruit?"

She turned to him and nodded, "Yeah. We figured you guys should try something healthy for once." She walked over to a grocery bag and pulled out another box of the little red fruits. "You want some?" She offered.

The lean turtle seemed to hesitate for a second before opening the box and taking one. He took a bite out of the little fruit and moaned. "They're better than I thought!" He grinned.

Bonnie dug into one of the boxes and pulled out another strawberry; this time she coated it with nutella. She held it up and out to Raphael. "How about you big boy? You look like a turtle who like's chocolate? But then again, who doesn't like chocolate?" She winked at him

He could feel his brothers' eyes on him as they waited to see what he would do. His cheeks became the color of his bandanna as he stared at the girl and the piece of food in her fingers. There's no way she was doing this on purpose right? Especially not after what happened last time she teased him. It was then that Leonardo's lecture rang in his head and he felt silly. Of course she wasn't being provocative; he was a giant, green, mutant turtle. The type of guys she like were human. So he decided to mess with her. With a frown he said in as serious of a tone he could muster, "Yeah if I wanna kill myself. Chocolate's the worst thing we could have!"

Bonnie's brows perked and she sat up a little. She knew that dogs were allergic to chocolate but turtles too? She wasn't a Zoologist or anything like that, and he was the animal, so if he said so then it must've been true. "O-Oh.. Well, we have wipped cream instead?" She reached behind her and picked up the canister.

He snorted and snatched the chocolate covered fruit from her hand while she was turned away. "Nah, I was just messin' with ya." He popped it in his mouth and nodded. "Pizzas still better."

Bonnie furrowed her brows at him and puckered her lips. "Yeah well, I'm sick of pizza." She crossed her arms and mumbled.

Michelangelo slapped the sides of his face and gasped loudly. "Get out of this house-er.. Lair!" He pointed.

"It's so greasy! It makes my stomach hurt after having it three days in a row!" She argued.

"The grease is the best part!" Mikey threw down his hands.

Aida nodded in agreement with Bonnie. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you guys feeding me but...Bonnie has a point."

While the others were talking, Leonardo was quietly examining the situation. He stared at his youngest brother and thought about the chore the two girls performed on him. He could now see the intricate details and patterns in his shell, whereas before it was just covered in muk. He had to think hard on the last time he had cleaned off his shell. It had been a while because of all the stuff they were currently dealing with; patrolling, vigilante work, and just recently saving New York from the Technodrone. He didn't have much time to worry about it, and honestly no one else seemed to notice or care. Plus, it was a time consuming and difficult to deal with when he had to do it on his own.

He looked at the two girls, and then to the cleaning supplies. He hummed in thought for a few seconds before speaking up. "So, have you decided on who's going next?" He asked.

Bonnie looked to him confused. "Uh... No not really. We figured you guys were going to put up a fight and we'd just have to… wrestle one of you down."

"I'll go if they don't want to." Leo nodded at his two other brothers. Both Bonnie's and Michelangelo's mouth fell open in complete utter shock.

Aida was in shock as well but was happy to hear someone was willing to go for it. "Is this a trick so you can get back at me for tackling you down?" She asked him cautiously. She had figured the leader would at least argue against it, or at least insist he do it himself.

Leo let out a small laugh. "No. I just figured..." He looked to the side. "If we're going to be protecting you, and housing you… Might as well get something out of it." He looked back to them with a wide grin.

Raphael rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue at him. "You've been reading from that dirty book again haven't you?"

Aida grinned and gave Leonardo a look. "A dirty book huh? I didn't think you'd be the type."

"Oooh yeah. He's the type," Donatello teased and chuckled.

Leo's eyes widened and his cheeks blushed a bright red. "Th-They're not dirty!" He snapped. "They're eloquently told stories that sometimes involve romance!" He looked away again.

"Does it involve the shocker?" Bonnie asked.

Leo cocked his head, "The shocker?"

This time Bonnie blushed, but also smiled. "You'll learn when you're older." She mumbled and waved him off.

The Latina girl giggled and looked at Bonnie, "Even I know that one..." She returned her attention to Leonardo and gestured for him to follow. "Well, if you really want to go, then let's go!" She looked at the remaining two brothers and pointed between them. "And while we're busy, you two figure out who's going next."

Raphael snorted and crossed his arms. "I already said I ain't goin' unless you're gonna paint the kanji back on."

"Yeaaaah...I like the way my shell is. It helps me think," Donatello cringed.

"I told you they weren't gonna let you touch them!" Mikey added.

"Fine, be dirty then." Bonnie replied, and hopped down from the table. "Though this time, I'm changing." She said and then pulled her hoodie off along with her pants, leaving her only in her tanktop and boy shorts underwear.

Mikey's eyes widened. "Whooa, what?! I didn't get this kind of treatment!"

Bonnie looked over to him with an annoyed glared. "Pipe down shorty... You were the test run, and with all the crud that came off you, I'm betting this guy is going to be worse." She pointed to Leo with a thumb. "I'm might as well try to save my clothes unless you guys wanna take me back up to the top again to get some more?" She raised a brow.

Donatello stared at her in silence for a moment and shrugged. "Well, it's a little late right now. But uh, I think I'll go next after Leo." He raised his hand and grinned.

Raphael snapped his attention to him and scowled. "You fuckin'...what happened to 'it helps me think better'?"

"Well, the smell might actually clear my mind. And the relief of extra weight might actually make me move faster!" He grinned and did some twisting stretches.

"Either way," Aida interjected and pointed at the biggest turtle. "Looks like you're going last."

He glared down at the girl before catching a quick look at Bonnie. It would be pretty nice to have someone else clean him instead of him struggling to do it himself. Besides, his muscles were feeling rather tense. Eventually he groaned loudly and whined. "Fiiiiine!"

Mikey couldn't help but steal a few looks from Bonnie, but his eyes ended up wandering over to Aida. He wondered what kind of underwear she had on. Even though he had already got his bath, it would be nice to see her down in practically nothing too. He crossed his arms behind his head and looked elsewhere. "Sooo, what about you Aida? You're probably gonna want to take off your clothes too. Leo trains relentlessly, so there's definitely gonna be a lot of gunk coming off him."

Leonardo huffed as he began removing all the accessories off his shell. "I clean my shell, way more than you do."

She blushed at his comment, and instead of coming up with something snarky, she shook her head, "Nah. I-I'm good." Granted, it would be a good idea to go down to her underwear...if she had any on. This morning she had been in a bit of a rush, so she hadn't bothered to grab her underwear from the drying rack she had set up in her room. Not to mention she had dealt with the twins as infants so she was used to getting crap, both literal and metaphorical, on her clothes.

However, Raphael chuckled and teased. "Sounds like someone's hidin' somethin'~."

"Yeah, my boobs!" She retorted and grabbed her chest briefly before snapping at Leonardo. "Mover la tortuga más rápido."

Mikey laughed awkwardly, and sat down at the table. He hid his disappointment by stuffing his mouth with food.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm going!" Leonardo replied, understanding exactly what the Latina had said. Once everything was removed from his shell, the two girls got to work. Again, lots of grime and filth came off the turtles shell, but this time they went in prepared with gloves, and surgical masks. The girls scrubbed away hard at the blue turtles shell, but he wasn't as disturbed by it as the orange one was. In fact, about twenty minutes in, the turtle stretched out on the floor, laying on his stomach and rested his head on his arms with a smile on his face. The other three turtles, stared at their leader in bewilderment. They had never seen him so relaxed before. Once Bonnie and Aida were finished, Leo retreated to the shower.

Bonnie sat up from the floor on her knees and let out a tired sigh. She could scale buildings, leap from roof top, to roof top, and run a mile under a minute easily, but her body wasn't used to this kind of physical work. This must've been how her nanny at home felt after a long day of work. She thought. She looked over to Aida, "You think you got the rest? My back is starting to ache and I kind of want to shower too..."

Aida stretched her stiff arms, but there was a smile on her face. It was oddly satisfying seeing the intricate patterns reveal themselves after scrubbing away the caked layers of dirt and gunk. "Yeah! I just need to stretch a little bit first, but go ahead and send Donatello."

Donatello was chatting with his brothers in a hushed tone, still amazed at what he saw. "I've never seen Leo relax before. Mikey were they really that good?"

Mikey frowned and shrugged. "I don't know... I didn't really enjoy how the bristles felt again my shell, but it was just nice having someone else clean it out."

Bonnie walked up behind Donatello and grabbed ahold of his bandanna tails. She gave them two tugs and said, "You're up."

Donatello made a surprised yelp before reaching back to readjust the two tails. "Alright. Wish me luck!" He added as he waved to his brothers before following Bonnie. He began to take his gadgets off first, placing them gently on a ledge out of harm's reach. "Sooo...how'd it go with Leo?" He tried to make small talk, already feeling awkward and naked in front of the girls.

"He was good," Aida answered as she rinsed off her gloves. "He stayed still, thankfully."

“Alright, have fun!" Bonnie patted Donatello’s shoulder before walking off in another direction.

He watched her leave and stammered a bit. "Ah! W-wait! Aren't you both doing it?"

"Just me for now," Aida snapped the gloves on. "Her back's not used to getting down and dirty," she grinned and made a circular gesture with her finger. "Turn around!"

Raphael saw Bonnie leave and hollered after her. "Hey! You slackin' or somethin'?"

"I only signed up for part-time! My shift is up!" She hollered back and jumped on the couch. She laid back on the cushions, crossing her arms behind her head, and crossing her legs. She let out a relaxed sigh, and bobbed a foot waiting for her turn to get in the shower.

"In that case..." Raphael plopped down next to her and crossed his arms. "I'm cancelling my appointment."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. She glared up at the turtle and huffed. "Why are you like this?"

"What?" He sounded offended and looked over at her. "I didn't even want it in the first place anyway."

"Well maybe it's not always about what you want. Maybe it's about what you need!" She said through clenched teeth and kicked at his side repeatedly, trying to nudge him off the couch.

Her kicks did nothing except make him chortle. "What I need is some rest and relaxation," he groaned and stretched before getting an idea. "So, if you don't mind..." He began to lay down, making sure to put all of his weight against her. "I think I'll lay down riiiight here."

Her eyes widened when the turtle began to descend on her. Instinctively, she propped her feet up against his side and tried to push him back off of her. "What? No! You go somewhere else!" She hissed.

He grinned and just kept going, careful not to put too much pressure on her. "Mmmm...nah. If you're not gonna be a cleaning, then you're gonna be a pillow!"

"I'm not-" Bonnie grunted in between words, desperately trying to push him off of her. "Soft!" She gave up and rolled out from underneath him. She had fallen off the couch a little faster than she could react, and smacked face first into the cement flooring.

Raphael quickly sat up and looked down at her. "Oh shit! Bonnie, you okay?" He knelt by her side and tried to lighten the mood. "Geez, if you keep getting hurt whenever I'm around, they might start calling me Chris Brown!"

She let out and aggravated groan as she lifted her head. "No! I am not okay! " She suddenly jumped up onto her feet. He nose was scuffed, but not bleeding like the last time he hit her, however she was fuming. She breathed hard and glared at him. "Just, leave me alone okay?!" She yelled, and stomped off in the direction of the shower.

A girlish shriek came from the shower room, and seconds later Leonardo was chased out of the room by the girl. He had nothing on, but a towel wrapped around his waist. He stared out into nothing with narrowed eyes out of annoyance. "So much for relaxation.." He mumbled before heading off to his room to get some clothes.

Raphael growled and got up. He was sick and tired of her attitude, especially since he had been trying his best to be nice. And she had stolen from them twice! In his mind, she had no right to get upset with him. He went up to the bathroom and yanked the door open. "Well, sorry for trying! I'll be sure to give you as much space as possible!" He didn't see anything when he popped his head into the room, but he made sure to slam the door close when he was done yelling. The giant turtle turned and left in a huff, unknowingly walking by Donatello and Aida.

The next thing he knew, he was completely drenched and his muscles tensed from the feeling of cold water covering his whole body. His lungs constricted and he gasped for air before finally turning around. The Latina girl had an empty bucket in her hands and a glare fixed on him. Donatello, of course, had a look of pure shock and made sure to point at the girl as to make sure his brother didn't direct any of his anger at him.

"You...! You...!" Raphael growled through clenched teeth.

"Oh I'm sorry, I meant to aim for your head. But I guess it's not as fat as you make it seem." She responded.

"Ooooh...I shoulda turned you both in to the cops when I had the chance!" He snarled at her, taking a step closer.

The adrenaline rushing through her veins gave Aida more fire in her words than she expected. "You need to chill the fuck out! She is trying to be good, okay?"

Raphael huffed and shrugged, "Oh, and I'm not? Every time I try to be nice to her, it backfires. So I'm done tryin'!"

"No, you just need to try harder," Aida snapped again. "She isn't a seasoned reporter who can just brush all of this off, okay? You have to be gentle." Before he could utter another word she gestured to him. "Now take your stuff off. I'm cleaning your shell once I'm done with Donnie."

"No way," He crossed his arms. "I'm definitely not letting you touch me."

"Oh just do it Raph," Donatello finally spoke up. "You're already soaked, just let her do it."

He gawked at his brother, "She dumped the bucket on me! I didn't ask for it!"

"Well you needed to cool off anyway," Aida muttered and continued to scrub at Donatello's shell.

Bonnie was a bit surprised when Raphael had followed after her, but rage bubbled up again once he had yelled and slammed the door shut. She snarled and balled her fist. She wanted to punch something so badly, but didn't want to risk hurting herself or breaking anything, so instead she grasped onto the bathroom sink tightly and pushed down on it as if her force could bend it; it did not.

After a couple of deep breaths, she finally simmered down. She sighed and sat down on the lid of the toilet. She thought back on the situation, and realized that he was trying to be playful, but this was the second?-no third time he had hurt her. She then thought about how he probably didn't know his own strength and how he probably wasn't used to being around girls. There was April, but for some reason she had the sense that she wasn't the coziest with them. She rubbed at her nose and quickly jerked back when it responded with a burning pain.

Bitterness got the best of her, and she let out a loud huff.

She was not going to apologize. If anything, he owed her an apology. After all, she was just trying to sit back and relax after doing some tasking chores. She began to ponder on ways she could get her revenge on the big turtle and then an idea popped into her head. The best weapon for revenge, was tears, and boys were too stupid to tell the difference between fake and real ones. She smirked a little and walked up to the door, locking it so no one else could enter before she faked wailing. Her cries echoing loud enough to be heard in the main room of the lair.

Mikey immediately popped up when her heard her cry and he looked to Aida concerned.

Aida had been in the middle scrubbing Raphael's shell when she heard the crying. Donatello raised his head away from the comic he was reading and frowned. "Wow. Good job Raph. You made a girl cry."

The guilt clenched his gut and he rubbed his face. "Oh for fuck's sake...." He grumbled. After letting Aida scrub him down, it gave him time to relax and think about what had occurred. Bonnie really had been trying, and even though it could have been avoided, there was a man hunting her down. He couldn't imagine how terrifying that must be.

Aida looked down at him asked in a motherly sounding tone. "What are you gonna do?"

He sighed, "Apologize..."

"For what?" Donatello asked, his eyes locked on the comic.

This time he growled. "For bein' a jerk." He gasped as the girl splashed cold water on his back without warning. He clenched and snapped, "Ya know, I'm pretty sure you used warm water on everybody else."

"You're the only one who needs to cool down," She answered and patted his ribbed shell. "Go. I'll finish you when you're done."

He frowned and got up, waddling slightly as his pants dripped with water. He stopped in front of the door and lifted a hand, tapping on the wood with his knuckles.

Bonnie's ear was pressed to the door before hand, and she jumped back when he knocked on it. She hesitated a second before clearing her throat. "What?" She snapped, purposely trying to sound extra annoyed.

"You decent?" He asked. "I need to tell ya somethin'. So either come out or let me in."

She unlocked the door and slightly nudged open. She held her body against it, not wanting to let him in, but he could definitely push through if he wanted to. "What do you want?" She sighed.

He chewed his lip for a bit and glanced down at her. He hesitated, hoping he wouldn't regret what he was about to say. "Look..." He paused and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," He leaned down and whispered.

"What’d you say?!" Donatello hollered at him from across the room.

Raphael snarled at him and waved him off. "Shut the fuck uP!" He hissed at his brother.

Bonnie was caught off guard by the apology; she was surprised that he gave in so quickly. The motion surprised her so much that she stumbled backwards and the door flew open. She gasped a little, but caught the door handle and quickly regained her composure. She cleared her throat again and looked up to the turtle. "Th-Thanks." She sputtered out before looking away and slowly closing the door in front of her.

He cringed when he saw her stumble. "God damn it!" He scolded himself and took a couple steps back. "Alright. I'm sorry for that too." He added.

"Be gentle!" Aida hollered her advice to him.

"Yeah! She’s fragile!" Donatello interjected.

Raphael shook his head at the two and huffed. "I swear I'm gonna get them back..." He growled and turned back to Bonnie. "Seriously though. I am sorry." He lowered his hands until they were at his sides, his body finally relaxing.

Bonnie smiled, feeling a little warmth in her heart for the turtle. He was actually being genuine about this. For the first time he was showing compassion towards her, instead of rage. Her gut twisted in guilt for tricking him, and she swallowed nervously. If there was a time for them to start over and try to get along, it was now. "It's okay," she leaned against the door again and fiddle with the knob. "Like I said before; I'm not that soft." She laughed a little and looked away again. "You're just the opposite... a little rough."

He thought about what Aida had told him about being gentle when she had been scrubbing his back. He had never really thought about it, since he hardly interacted with anyone who needed to be handled with care. After all, April didn't really hug them so they never thought about trying it out. He nodded, feeling a little confident on how to fix it. "Okay. I'll work on it." He paused and chuckled, "So that means no more kissing me, okay? Trust me, I won't turn into Prince Charming."

"It was one time, and you're the one who asked for it!" She laughed again.

Michelangelo looked up again from the game he was playing at the kitchen table when he heard Bonnie's genuine laughter. He looked to Donatello with a raised brow "Pigs must be flyin' cause Raph actually made a girl laugh! Quick, everyone place your bets on the lottery! This might be a sign!"

Donatello chuckled at his little brother and grinned at him. "I'll wait to see if it happens again. This might just be a fluke."

Aida smiled but whistled to get the big turtles attention. "You did good. Now get back here so I can finish you up. Your shell looks awkward as hell." She gestured for him to come back with a sponge in her hand.

He looked to the girl and then smiled at Bonnie. "Alright, now I know never to ask anything like that from you," He turned and walked away, feeling better that he was able to patch things up with the girl. Of course he didn't quite trust her with his life or anything of value just yet, but this was a start. He sat down and let Aida do her work, and as he was thinking, he turned to Donnie and asked. "Hey. We got any eggs?"

The purple clad turtle furrowed his brow, confused by the sudden question. "No. Why?"

"Just askin'." Raphael shrugged, now having a plan in his head.

#TMNT #TMNT 2016 #TMNT OC #TMNT FANFIC #Honor Among Thieves #Bonnie #Aida

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lillaxtrigger · 6 years

Text

Young hope: Chapter 6

Down in the basement of the Spicer manor was an expansive laboratory, filled with wondrous amazement of science. Gadgets and gizmos fill the shelves, test tubes and beakers litter the tables. Big incomplete machines are standing in the background and hanging above the ceiling. On a desk nearby, Kingsley could be seen working on something. Looking through his goggles, he carefully sorted two wires together with tweezers within a metal glove. After which, he put the tweezers down and took of his goggles. After taking a deep breath, he said out loud: “Halfway there.”. Just then, out from the basement door, hollered down a sweet and loving motherly voice. “Oh Kingsley. Can you come up for me. Someone’s here to see you.”. “Coming mommy.” Kingsley cheerfully said. The boy merrily skipped out of the basement and up the stairs. Out from the basement door and into the living room, Kingsley saw Cayenne along with three younger kids sitting on the couch. The eldest of them was a girl with long black hair sporting a mint dress with pink shorts. The middle boy had black hair with a poofy style on one half and shaved on the other, wearing a dark green, short sleeved hoodie with white highlights. The youngest boy had a black bowl cut with a huge cowlick in the middle, sporting a lime, long sleeved hoodie. The middle child looked all around the fancy decorated living room: “Damn. White people get all the cool shit. Think they might be compensating for something?”. The eldest sister looked over to her youngest brother chewing on a candy bar with his mouth open and said in a spanish accent: “Hermano Lequan. Don’t open you’re mouth while chewing. You could accidentally spit out food.”. “Sorry Bianca...Do they got food here?” the boy questioned with a dead pan delivery. “Ty, pull up your pants. They might fall down.” she nagged to the middle brother. “Aw, but sis. This here’s my look. How my home boys gonna recognize me.”. “Necesitas un cinturón.”. “Hey, Cayenne. You babysitting your cousins?” Kingsley asks. “Actually, I came here to see if I could dump them on you?”. “Huh? Why can’t you do it?”. “I’m going to be taking care of some...stuff and I can’t have them be in my hair. You don’t mind, do you?”. “Well actually, I-”. “Bitchin! I’ll be back later to pick them up. Don’t let them burn the house down while I’m gone.”. Cayenne flies straight out of the living room and right through the front door. Kingsley sighs and turns to his mom and says: “Well, at least you can help me out mom.”. “Oh. I’m so sorry sweetie, but I promised that I’d help Boomer with his new neighbor to move in. I hear they’re dating. I’m already late as is.”. The mother starts to walk out of the living room, leaving Kingsley with the kids. Kingsley turns back to the couch and looks over to the sibling. He takes a deep breath as he approaches and says: “Okay, how about all of you stay in the living room while I get something you guys can play with, like a video game or a board game and maybe a puzzle and where did Lequan go?”. Both Ty and Bianca look over to find Lequan missing. Suddenly, they hear the sound of glass breaking nearby. Kingsley runs to the kitchen and his shocked to find it a complete mess. “No! We just cleaned the kitchen!”. Kingsley looks over and sees Lequan floating, reaching the top shelf of the fridge. He pulls the little boy out of the fridge and sees him lifting up a big turkey with ease. “Lequan, look at the mess you made! What are doing?”. “Grabbing a bite”. “Just-just hang on a minute. I’ll get you...something to eat.” Kingsley says as he struggles to put the heavy turkey back in the fridge. “Kay.” Lequan simply states as he floats in the air. In an incredibly quick fashion, Kingsley made Lequan a PB and J sandwich. “Here you go.” Kingsley says as he hands the boy the sandwich. Kingsley looks around the kitchen and says: “Okay. Now I need you to help me clean this mess you made. Grab a mop and I’ll grab our power washer in the garage.”. When Kingsley turned to Lequan, he saw Bianca flying by in the hall. Kingsley peeks out of the kitchen and says: “Hold on a sec.”. Bianca suddenly stops and said: “Uh...Hola Kingsley.”. As he approaches the girl, he sees something peeking out from behind her back. “What’s that behind you’re back?”. “Uh...Nothing. Nada.”. “Bianca.” Kingsley sternly said. The girl gave up and pulled out a wrench from her back. Kingsley takes the wrench and says: “Why do you have one of my wrenches?”. “Well uh..I-I was just fascinated by all the tech and machinery you build and wanted to get into mechanics myself.”. “Really? That’s great. I can get to teaching you the basics if you want. Just gotta help me find your brothers first.” Kingsley insisted with an earnest smile. “Si. Perhaps they’re on the other side of the house. Let me go look for them.”. They then hear the sound of metal falling off around the corner. Kingsley smile vanishes, then says: “What was that sound? “Um. It probably was just a mouse in the wall. Or maybe a grate fell. Quién sabe.”. Kingsley and Bianca look into the laundry room and sees one of the pipes above loose, bursting out water. Kingsley puts his hands up to shield himself from the flow as he approaches. He puts the puts the two pipes back together and uses the wrench to reconnect them. After he finishes the pipes, he turns to Bianca, who was slowly floating away. The girl stops in her tracks when Kingsley asks in a suspicious manner: “Bianca, do you know what happened in here?”. The girl turned around and said: “Nope. I saw absolutely nothing. I swear.”. Kingsley looks at the wrench in his hand and says: “Why didn’t you ask for my help?”. “For what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”. “Bianca, I know it was you. Why else would you take my wrench?”. The girl sighed and confessed: “Lo siento, Kingsley. I was trying to fix it before you found out.”. Kingsley keeled to Bianca’s level and put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Bianca. Just don’t lie to me next time.”. The boy got up and said: “Now, can you help me find Ty.”. Kingsley, Bianca, and Lequan tread through the halls of the manor looking around for the last sibling. “Ty, where are you at?” Kingsley shouted. “Come on out, hermano!” Bianca exclaimed. Kingsley notice an open door and says: “That’s weird. Mom and dad’s room is usually locked.”. They look inside the bedroom and Find Ty wearing a fancy suit. “Yo, look at me. I’m Bill O, Reilley. I tell people to have thicker skins when my skin is basically tissue paper. Christmas is under attack. Launch the mistletoe missiles.”. Bianca starts to giggle while Kingsley approaches. He quickly takes the suit off of the boy and folds it back. “The hell man! I was just having fun.”. “Ty, you can’t just come in here and where my dads fancy suit. He’d flip.”. “What he gonna do, huh? Take away ya video games or something? Tch, white boys got it easy.”. He puts the suit back in the closet and looks back at all three of the siblings. Looking back at them, he says: “Okay. How we all go back to the living room and play a nice game of-”. Bianca suddenly screams out of the blue, Kingsley asking in a panicked tone: “What!? What is it!?”. Kingsley sees a spider dangling on a web nearby. “Una araña, una araña! ¡Mátalo! ¡Mátalo!” Bianca squeals. “Oh, it’s just a spider. Ca-calm down. Let me just get a glass and a piece of paper and we can release it-”. “Yo, don’t worry. I gots it.” Ty blurts out. He fires red hot lasers from his eyes at the spider. The beams miss the arachnid and instead striking the drapes, setting them on fire. Kingsley screams and rushes out of the room. The boy bolts it through the hall and bursts into the kitchen. Kingsley looks around and find a fire extinguisher from the wall He grabs the can and zooms straight out. Kingsley runs back into the bedroom and sprays the fire extinguisher everywhere. Once the fire was put out, the entire room was covered in white foam, including Kingsley and the siblings. Lequan scooped up some of the foam and shoved in his mouth. “Not bad.” he said. “Shit man. Look all this white stuff. It’s like I’m in Vermont.” Ty remarks. Bianca shakes off the foam and says: “Oh Dios mío. It’s so messy in here. At least the spider is gone.”. Kingsley whipped off the foam on his face and took a deep breath. “Stay calm Kingsley. You’ve babysat kids before. Just none that have had super powers before. But other then that, what’s the difference...right?”. Just then, his phone went off. Looking at it, he said: “Aw sweet! The part that I requested came in.”. He looks over at the siblings and announced: “Okay. I need to go across town and pick up a part that I ordered. Since I obviously can’t leave you all here, I’m taking you guys with me.”. “What! Hell no. I wanna hang out in this playboy mansion some more.” Ty says. “Can we stop by McDonald's?” Lequan asks. “Now, hermanos. We must listen to Kingsley. He is our babysitter and must respect is wishes.”. “Thank you Bianca. Now all of you go in the bathroom to clean yourselves off, while I...”. Kingsley looks at the foam all over his body. “Get changed.”. Going out the manor front door, Kingsley says to the trio: “Alright. Let me give the family limo driver a call and we can get going.”. Kingsley was about to call on his phone, when Bianca told him: “Uno momento por favor. I was just thinking that it’s such a good day outside and we should really waste it sitting in a stuffy limousine.”. Ty turned to Bianca and protested: “Sis, the fuck you goin on about? How often we get to sit in a-”. Just then, he realized what his sister was trying to do. “Uh...Mean, yeah. The sun is out and shining. I wanna be outside and shit.”. “Perfect for ice cream.” Lequan commented. “Really. The shop’s on the other side of town. That’s a really long walk.”. “Pfft. Walking’s for crackers. I got a better idea.” Ty replies. Bianca, Ty, and Lequan, were all flying above the streets, carrying Kingsley as he screams like a girl. “Ahhhh! Put me down!Put me down!Put me down!Put me down!Put me down!Put me down!”. After landing safely back on solid land on the side walk, Kingsley was catching his breath. “Holy shit. Cousin Cayenne was right. You’s do scream like a little bitch.” Ty jested. “Lo siento mucho Kingsley. We didn’t know you were so deathly afraid of heights.”. “It’s...It’s okay…I’m-I’m working on getting over that...that phobia.”. The boy pulls out his phone and says: “Wow, you guys are fast. We already shaved off a half of the way there.”. “We can shave off the rest if you want.” Ty suggests. “No no no! I’d like to be on the ground for now. Let’s just walk.”. A little ways down the street, Lequan stated: “I’m hungry.”. “Lequan. You just had a sandwich half an hour ago. I need you to wait.”. “Can’t wait. Hungry now.”. “Fine, I guess we can stop somewhere.”. Kingsley looks around and sees a gas station. Walking in, he picks out a small bag of chips from the shelf. “Okay, how bout some chips? Will that work?”. “Yeah, for like ten minutes.” Ty replies. “We need a lot more then that, señor. Lequan goes through food incredibly fast.” Bianca remarks. The girl snaps her finger and said: “Just like that.”. “Okay. How much food does he eat a day?”. “I don’t know bruh, like...30 pounds.”. “30 pounds!? How is he...I mean...(Sigh) Okay, gimme a second.”. Kingsley swipes a bunch of miscellaneous snacks from off the shelves and puts all of them on the checkout counter. The clerk is surprised at how many snacks he plans to buy. “Do...Do you want a bag?” the clerk asks. Kingsley walks out with a bag full of snacks the size of his head. He hands the bag back to Ty and says: “Ty, if you can, feed Lequan whenever he’s hungry.”. “Aw...Why me, man?”. “Cause I need to figure out where we’re going.”. Ty looks over to his younger brother and says: “You betta not bite my arm like last time.”. “I don’t make any promises.”. Kingsley looks at his phone and says: “Now let’s see, the way to the shop is...”. He points to the right and says: “That way. Come on.”. A while passes before they pass by a dark alleyway. Ty stops and looks down the dark ally, stopping the others by saying: “Yo, how bout we go through this alleyway? We’d shave off like twenty minutes.”. Kingsley and the others look down the dark decaying path, with Bianca saying: “I don’t know, Ty. It looks increíblemente spooky?”. Nah, it’s aight. I go through this ally all the time.”. “Bianca’s right. It might be kinda dangerous.” Kingsley adds. “Man, quit being a damn pussy. Come on!” Ty says before bolting down the ally. “Ty, wait!” Kingsley exclaimed. All three of them go after the boy. They travel a ways in the ally, hoping through cracks and knocked over trash cans. All of them find Ty looking around a fork in the road. “Ty, come on. Don’t just run off like that.” Kingsley scolds. “Nah man, it’s cool. Listen. I heard that this kind of alley is home to a spirit. “Spirits?” Bianca says as she cowardly hides behind her sitter. Not just any spirit. A spirit that come out in the night and stalks the streets. Pretty damn cool, huh?”. “Oh santo señor, dame fuerza. Señor en el cielo Concede misericordia a nosotros.” Bianca repeats while shaking. “Ty, stop. This alleyway is not haunted.” “How you know that. That Damian guy you hang out with is a ghost.”. “Damian is half ghost. Other then him and his dad, Townsville is not haunted.”. Just then, they heard the sound of trash can rustling in the darkness. While Ty stares out in excitement, Lequan eats complacently as Bianca hides behind Kingsley as she pulls out a cross from behind. From out of the darkness, walked out a couple of thugs. “Aw man, it just some white trash.”. Bianca lets out a sigh of relief as she puts away her cross. “What do you guys want?” Kingsley asks the thugs. One of the thugs pulls out gun and says: “Gimme your money.”. “I… I don’t have any money.”. “Don’t play dumb. You one of those Spicer kids that came from one of those giant ass mansions. You gotta be loaded. Empty your pockets.” the other thug threatened. “I swear I don’t have anything.” “Let’s just take him hostage. Bet his folks’ll pay a shit ton to have him back. Cap him in the knees.”. The thug aimed his gun and fired. Kingsley braced himself for the bullet, but before it could it, Lequan caught it in midair, all while still eating. Both of the lowlifes were shocked that the little boy could effortlessly catch the bullet. Lequan flicked the bullet back at the robber, knocking the gun out of his hand. While the one thug was reeling back from the pain, the other thug looks back at they’re so called victims and seeing the siblings giving them angry stares. Bianca comes from behind Kingsley and swore: “Oh, bastardos. We’re gonna make sure you don’t sit right for a week.”. “Ah naw. You done messed with the wrong homies, bitch.” Ty boasted, giving a sinister smile as he cracks his knuckles. “You fucked up.” Lequan simply states while chewing. All three of them rush at the thugs. Lequan knocks one of them to the far wall. The other robber tries to punch Bianca, but she ducks and kicks the guy into the air. Ty flies up toward the descending thug and grabs him by the underpants. The other thug regains his senses to see Lequan floating right in front of him. Before he could try and get away, the little guy grabs him and tosses the poor robber out in the air. Bianca jumps up and kicks him into a dumpster. The robber being dangled in the air screams for mercy as the Ty swings him around. “Ha ha ha! You’s talking like you was all that. Now look at ya. Dangling by yo boxers.”. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. We won’t mess with you guys again. We swear.”. “You damn right you won’t. If we see ya again, we gonna kick yo ass so hard, you’ll be coughing up the dirt off my shoes.”. Ty throws the other robber down in the garbage can. Lequan quickly shuts the lid, then Bianca shoots red lasers around the edge of the lid, sealing the crooks inside. Ty lands aside the dumpster and says: “Honky ass bitches.” before kicking it down the ally. Lequan jumps off the dumpster before it hit a wall. All three of the kids approach their babysitter, with Lequan asking: “You okay?”. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for saving me.”. “De nada, Kingsley.” Bianca says. “Man, don’t think nothing of it. Just looking out for ya is all.” Ty mentions. “Let’s just be more careful, in the alleys next time.”. Kingsley and the kids walk out of the alleyway. After a long trek through the city, they make it to a small store. Outside the window, they see a ton of electronic parts. “Wait here, don’t go anywhere.” Kingsley tells the kids. The clerk sees Kingsley approach and greets: “Kingsley. My best customer. What can I do ya for?”. “Hey, bill. I’m just here to see if the new macro flux recoils I called in is here.”. Lequan pointed to the bag of snack Ty had on hand wanting another piece of candy. Bianca talked to Ty for a moment before he dug into the bag. “The shipment just arrived. Your one of the first people to ask of them.”. “Great. They’re perfect for this project that I’m working on.”. “Yeah, it wasn't cheap either. Nearly blew the store funding just ordering it.”. Ty got out a candy bar and slowly approached Lequans head. The youngest brother quickly ate the bar, while biting down on Ty’s arm. Ty started panicking while flailing his arm around, with Lequan latching on. “I can’t thank you enough for this Bill. It’s really important that I finish this project. It could be revolutionary.”. “You’re pay is all I need as thanks.”. “He he, okay. How much is it.”. “300.”. “Dollars!?...Well, it is a rare part. Do you take debit?”. “Certainly. Let me get it for ya.”. The clerk went through the door behind the desk. Kingsley whistled to himself while he waited. Bianca held on to Lequan while Ty was pulling his arm out of Lequan’s mouth. Ty managed to get his arm free, but was sent crashing into the store window and hit the roof, making part of the ceiling fall down. Kingsley quickly turns around and sees Ty laying next to shards of broken glass and roof pieces. “Ah...the fuck Lequan?”. Lequan shrugs as he chews on his candy bar. “Oh Dios mío” Bianca sighed. The clerk come out with a small box stating: “Alright, Kingsley. Here’s the part you were asking fo-”. The clerk’s face quickly turns to a blank stare. All of them walk down the street with, Kingsley’s part in hand and the siblings walking behind him. The sibling gathered together as they walked, Ty asked: “Yo, he alright?”. “No estoy seguro. He has not said a word since we left the store.”. Lequan reached into the bag of snacks only to feel nothing inside. He shook the bag only for nothing to come out. “Can we stop somewhere to eat?” he asked. Kingsley took a deep breath and calmly said: “No.”. “Why not?”. “Because, you haven’t been very good. None of you have.” the babysitter says as he turns to the trio. “The fuck you talking about Kingsley?” Ty asked. “I’m talking about what you did at the store. Ruining that store and making me pay for it.”. “That was Lequan’s fault though. He’s the one who bite my arm.”. “But did you have to smash through the window and break the ceiling. You’re lucky nobody got hurt.”. “But-” Biance tried to say. “I don’t want to hear it.”. Kingsley turns back around and says: “When we get home, all of you are in big trouble.”. He starts walk away, expecting the three to follow. Bianca looks to the side and sees an alley. She taps at her brothers and points over to it. All of them quickly and quietly fly towards, the alley, then straight up out of it. Kingsley turns back around to check on the trio and is shocked to find them nowhere in site. He frantically looks around for them on the ground. The boy then looks down the alleyway, only to find nothing but a dead end. “No.” Kingsley ran out of the alley and looked up towards the sky, but saw no sign of the siblings. “No.” he worried. Running out to the street, he looked around a plaza. He still saw nothing. “No!” he shouted out the sky. “I’ve lost the kids. They could be anywhere in Townsville. What am I gonna do?” Kingsley said as he backed up to a wall, crouching down to the ground. “The police! If I go to them, they’ll help me find them…” he says as he pulls out his phone. Before he could touch the phone, he stops and says to himself. Then again, I don’t know how much help they’d be in catching super powered kids. I can’t tell Cayenne either, she might kill me.”. Getting up, he asked himself: “Okay, think. Where would kids like them usually go to?...Um, Maybe try the arcade or something.”. Up on the roof above Kingsley, the three siblings watched as their babysitter ran off in a vain effort to look for them. “Aight, we ditched ‘em. We now free. What you guys wanna do first?” Ty asked. “Go to Mexican buffet.” Lequan suggested. “Aren’t we banned from going there?” Bianca reminded. “Mmm...” “Ahora que lo pienso. We do need some new clothes. Perhaps we could go to KDnickel.” “Ah hell no. You ain’t catching me in that cracker ass clothing store. I say fuck new clothes, let’s just go to the movie’s. I hear they’re playing, Night of the Hellbeast.” Ty replied. “Aie, no way. I hate movies like that.” Bianca squealed. “I just realized. We’re broke.” Lequan said. Bianca dug into their pockets and found nothing. Ty laughed for a moment before pulling out a wallet from his pocket. Both Lequan and Ty looked at the wallet as Bianca said: “You stole someones wallet?”. “Not just someones wallet.”. Bianca opened up the wallet to show a credit card with Kingsley’s name on it. After Kingsley walked out of the Arcade, he pondered where else they might be. “Not in there. Where else might they be?”. Just then, his phone went off. Looking at it, he saw something had been purchased with his credit card. “Kamjewel brand shoe’s? Bag of cookie bars? Lime nail polish? I didn’t buy this stuff.”. He reached into his pocket to find his wallet missing. “My wallet!?”. Frantically looking in his other pockets, he said: “Someone stole my wallet!”. Looking back at his phone, he scrolled down to the stuff that was bought using his credit card. “I don’t get it. Who could’ve-Wait...New shoes? An entire bag of cookie bars? Lime nail pol- Oh...It’s them.” Scrolling down, Kingsley saw an option which read: “Shut off credit card.” with “Yes” and “No” options. He was about to tap “Yes”, but an idea popped into his head. “Hold on. I bet I can track them through my credit card history. If I just look at the times...”. Scrolling back up to the items, he looked at the side and saw the price and the time the item was bought. “Kamjewel brand shoes- $40, 8-17 6:12 P.M. Vira brand Pink dress skirt- $35, 8-17 6: 20 P.M. Bulk sized box of Pizza Pockets- $15, 8-17 6: 29 P.M. Sheesh. Let me think. Judging by the times, they’re either rapidly speeding to one store to the next, or more likely they’re at...”. At Townsville Mall, Ty, Bianca, and Lequan were sitting on the second floor food court. Lequan pulled out a Pizza Pocket from a box and used his heat vision to cook it. While Bianca was admiring her new dress, Ty put his feet up to show off his new shoes, almost knocking down Bianca’s nail polish. “Man, these shoes are so damn comfy. Bout time I got a new pair. Yo Lequan, toss one of them Pizza pockets up high.” The youngest of the siblings tosses one into the air. Ty then shoots it with his eye lasers, making it crispy as it fall. Expecting it to land in his hand, Ty closes his eyes as puts his hand out. Instead it lands on his face. “Ah, fuck! My money maker!”. The pizza pocket slides off the boys face and lands on the ground. “Should’ve used a plate, mi torpe hermano.” Bianca remarked. After reeling from the slight burns on his face, Ty looks over to the grounded Pizza pocket. When he picks it up, he bounces the hot pocket from one of his palms to the other. “Sss! Hot hot hot hot!”. Ty says as he puts it down on the table. After a second, Ty pokes the pizza pocket to check if it was still hot. “What are you doing?” Bianca asks. Ty picks up the pizza pocket and takes a bite. “Mmm...Still good.”. “Ech! ¡Qué asco!”. “Want one, Bianca?” Lequan asked. “No gracias. I’d rather have my new dress stain free for a while.”. Lequan looked down near the ledge behind him from his chair and looked down to the first floor. “Guys...Kingsley’s here.”. “What?” Ty says in shock. Both him and Bianca look down the ledge and saw Kingsley walking through the mall, looking around. “How did he find us?” Bianca asked. “Don’t matter. We gotta bail.” Ty warned. All of them gathered their stuff and started to run out of the food court. In their haste, they knock over the table, knocking the nail polish off the ledge. Kingsley looked around the lower floor, saying to himself: “Where could they be?”. Just then, something hit his head, making the boy put his hand up on the bump. He looked up, then behind him to see a bottle with green liquid spilling out the cracks. Kingsley scooped up a bit of the liquid with his finger and sniffed it. “Nail polish.”. He looked up to the 2nd floor ledge and traced over to the nearby escalator. Coming to the food court, he looked over where the nail polish might have fallen off and saw a knocked over table with a box of Pizza pockets on the side. As he was checking the seen out, he didn’t see the two thugs from before on the other side of the court. Looking closer to them, one of them was wearing a cast, while the other had an eye patch. “I-I mean I don’t know what I’m gonna do for his birthday. I can’t play the clown anymore since my arms busted up.”. “Why don’t I play the clown? I’m pretty damn good at juggling. I once juggled a set of knives in the air for five minutes.”. “Nah, a clown with an eye patch just don’t look right. Maybe this place has a costume store.”. One of the goons looks over across the court and says: “Yo, look over there.”. Both of them see Kingsley putting the table back up. “Wasn’t that the guy that was with those kids?”. “You mean the one we tried to mug?”. “Yeah. Looks like he’s alone. You thinking what I’m thinking?”. “Yeah...I wonder if we should buy a pirate costume.”. The guy with the broken arm stared at his partner in a disapproving manner. Kingsley looked around from the table and towards one of the food stands. “Hi, welcome to Burger time. What would you like to order?” the cashier greeted. “Um. I’m not really here to order, uh...Did you happen to see a couple of kids around here on their own? Dressed in green?”. “Well, I did see three kids run out of the food court. I think I saw them head towards the fountain plaza.”. “Thank you.” Kingsley said as he started to head out the food court. The three siblings flew into a costume shop and hid in a clothing rack. “Ya think he saw us?” Ty asked. “Don’t know.” Lequan responded. Bianca gasped and remembered: “Oh no. I forgot my nail polish back at the food court.”. “Fuck it. We’ll come back for it later.”. Lequan pulls out one of the costumes and says: “I got an idea.” Walking out to the fountain plaza, Kingsley looks around, but doesn’t see any sign of the trio. “Where are they?”. Looking up to the big clock hanging above the fountain, Kingsley worries: “It’s almost Seven. Cayenne’s probably gonna be home soon.”. His phone then went off again. Pulling it out, he reads his credit card history, saying: “Noir costume- $20, 8-17 6:51 P.M. Got them now.”. Kingsley gives the area another scan to see somebody in a noir outfit. He sees a particularly tall person in a trench coat and starts running after them. The person in the outfit sees Kingsley running after them and starts to bolt in the opposite corner. The figure runs up an escalator, pushing whoever was in his way. Kingsley chased them up, stepping around knocked over bystanders. The figure runs around a set of benches, while Kingsley jumps straight over them. Running around the corner, the figure hides behind to try and lose Kingsley. As soon as their pursuer ran past, the figure turned the other way and started to run. Kingsley turned around and went after them. He sees the figure run into a candy store and runs inside. Looking around, Kingsley couldn’t find them, like they seemingly vanished. He walks inside to look for them, unaware that the figure was in a large bucket of over sized jawbreakers. The figure sneak out of the bucket and starts to quietly walk out of the store. Kingsley turns around just in time to see the figure walk out. The figure turns around to see Kingsley still in pursuit and runs. The figure runs into an elevator and frantically starts to push the buttons on the side. Kingsley runs just as the doors begin to close, the figure blowing raspberries at him. Just when he’s near, the elevator doors close on him. He watches as the elevators rides down to the bottom floor through a glass tube. Kingsley looks over and sees an escalator leading down to the first floor. He runs up the ascending staircase, passing through people in his way. “Excuse me! Sorry! Pardon me!”. Running down, he chases the figure down a dead end with bathrooms on the side. Kingsley dashed through the hall and sees the figure trying to open a locked door. Cornering the figure, he says “Alright. End of the line.”. Approaching the figure he starts to pull off the figures trench coat. “It’s time...to go...back home!”. He pulls the coat off and is surprised to find that it wasn’t the three siblings, but rather a man in his underpants. “Gah! What’s the matter with you!? What do you want from me!?” the man says as he takes his coat back. “Oh-Oh my goodness. I am terribly sorry. I-I thought you were three kids in an overcoat.”. “What the hell gave you that idea?” the man snarled as he was putting his coat back on. The man walks away, saying under his breath: “Jesus Christ.”. Kingsley sits against the door and says to himself: “Now what? I didn’t see any other people in trench coats.”. After thinking for a moment, he admits: “I’m gonna have to tell Cayenne. She’ll be really mad, but I don’t know what else to do.”. Just then, the door behind Kingsley swings open, making him fall over. “Maybe we can help.” one of the thugs said. Kingsley shrieks as he’s being dragged into the door, dropping his part over to the side. The door slams shut, muffling the screams. The triplets were walking around the mall, walking in a stack with a trench coat over them. While Ty was at the top, Bianca was in the middle, while Lequan was carrying them all at the bottom. Barely being able to balance one another, they stumble through the mall. “Ha ha! Like to see him find us now. Wonder if we can sneak into an R rated movie like this?” Ty wonders. “Just as long as it’s not a horror movie.” Bianca reminded. “I gotta pee.” Lequan said. “Now? Bruh, can’t you hold it or something?” Ty responds. “No! Bathroom now!”. Both Ty and Bianca stood outside as Lequan was using the bathroom. “Why do these floors have to be so bright. It hurting my eyes.” Bianca remarks. “Don’t know. White people always use to much polish on the floors.”. Bianca looks over and sees a familiar looking bag beside a door. Just as Lequan comes out for the bathroom, she walks over to the bag. “Yo, what’chu doin!? We gonna get spotted!” Ty warns. Bianca looks inside and says: “Mi hermano. Come look at this.”. Both her brothers approach, with Lequan saying: “What’d you find?”. The eldest sibling digs into the bag and pulls out a complex mechanical part. “Isn’t this Kingsley special part? What’s it doing abandoned like this?” she ask. “Man, probably forgot it while he was taking a piss. Cracker’s always loosing shit like that.”. “I don’t know. He wouldn’t leave something this important out where anybody could take it. What if something happened to him?”. Lequan sees the door next to them is cracked open. “You worrying to much. Sure he just lost it is all.”. “How? He was carrying it the whole time we saw him.”. “I don’t know. Maybe he forgot it when he was trying his shoe or something.”. “Guys.” Lequan said. Both Bianca and Ty look over and see their youngest brother looking through the door. “I found something.”. They look inside to find a sort of loading area with open garage door. In the floor near them, was small red stains. Bianca gasped and asked: “What happened in here?”. “Looks like a fight.” Lequan responded. “¡Dios mío! What if Kingsley got dragged off somewhere. We gotta find him before its to late.”. “Why?” Ty asked. Both Bianca and Lequan turned to their brother, with Bianca asking: “¿Qué?”. “Why should we help is sorry white ass?”. “Ty’quell. He could be in serious trouble. If we don’t find him, we might never see him again. “Yeah, remember the last time was stopped him from getting mugged. He just bitched at us. I’m not gonna be saving some ungrateful cracker. I say fuck’em.”. “You don’t mean that. I know you’re mad that he scolded us. I am too. But we can’t just leave him to die. I mean he what would Cayenne say.”. “...Shit, fine.” But how we even gonna find him.”. “Hmm...Buena pregunta. No ones really in here, is there.” “What about that camera?” Lequan suggests. “Yo, what camera?” Ty asked. The youngest of the siblings pointed to a camera atop the corner of the roof, giving a view of the whole load dock. “Good eye, mi hermano.” “Kay, but how are we gonna see what’s on it.”. Bianca thought to herself for a moment before getting an idea. In the security room, All three of the siblings where looking around a bunch of monitors with a security guard standing beside them. “See it yet?” Ty asks. “Nope.” Lequan responds. “Um…I don’t mean to pry, but why is it so important to review the security footage?” the guard asks. “School project. We have to study the everyday habits of mall goers and their behavior. We figure this would be the best place to watch.”. “Oh, um, alright. Guess I can’t argue with that.”. “Yo, what are the controls here”. “Oh, uh, you click one of these numbered buttons on the console and then you can either rewind or stop the security footage using the interface below it.”. “Gracias.”. Conveniently, the walkie talkie on the guards belt started to go off. “Attention officer, come in do you copy?”. Picking up his walkie talkie, he responded with: “Read you loud and clear, what’s the situation?”. “There’s a shoplifter out in the left wing near the bargain brand.”. “Shoplifter. Finally, my chance to shine. Stay here, I’ll be right back.”. The guard hurried out of the office, leaving the siblings alone on the monitors. “Which one is it?” Ty asked. “I don’t know, I can’t tell with all of them being gray.” Bianca responded. “Kay, keep going.”. “Why don’t we call the cop?”Lequan asked. “Man, I ain’t trusting those pigs to get our homie back. Fuck them!” Ty responds. “Beside, we want to keep this whole “Kingsley getting kidnapped thing” low profile so we don’t get in trouble.”. Ty looks at the monitor on the top right corner and says: “There it is.”. The monitor showed the room the siblings were just at. You could even make out the small bit of blood on the floor if you look close enough. “Aight. Which number is it.” Bianca asks “Uh, don’t know. They don’t label the monitors”. Bianca starts to count over from the left until she points to the monitor in question. “Uno dos tres cuatro cinco...”. She presses the six key on the monitor, the rewind button soon after. The monitor then start to rewind. When something showed up on the monitor, Ty yelled: “Yo, there, stop!”. Playing the footage, at normal speed, they saw the two goons putting an unconscious Kingsley into a cardboard box. “The hell, it’s those two assholes whose assholes we kicked.”. “Si, but where are they taking him?”. “I know where they might be going.” they heard a grizzled voice ring out. All of them turned around to see a withered old security guard with a scare on his eye sitting in the back of the room, making Bianca shrieked out. “How long you’ve been back there?” Ty asks. “I’ve been here for 20 years.” he says. All three of the siblings look at one another with confused faces. “Seem you’re friend got kidnapped by members and the Raw Shuck gang. They’ve been a scourge on this distract for years. Mugging, stealing, dealing in drugs. All a blight on this part of the city. I’ve seen them abduct people like you’re friend before. I ain’t see one come back alive.”. “Do you know where they might be taking him?” Bianca asks. “Indeed I do. Once I chased them all the way to their hideout down in Monolith road. I nearly lost my eye just trying to get out of the decayed hotel. I haven’t been the same since. Best prey they take mercy on your friend, cause I guarantee that he ain’t coming out of their without a fight where’d you go?”. Looking back, he sees the children have left the security room. “...What was I talking about?”. The moon shines down on a decaying hotel in a bad neighbor hood, where the goons were tying up poor Kingsley to a chair in an upper backroom, his mouth taped shut. “We’ll deal with you later.” one of them threatened. “C’mon man. It’s almost time.”. Leaving the boy in the room, the goons ran out to the lobby, where above in a room stood the boss. The boss was typing away on his computer, saying to himself: “Okay. Add up the drug money, paying the employees, the weapons, the drug supply, food and refreshments...”. One of the goons peeked into the office, he said: “Uh, boss.”. “Yeah?”. “Can’t you come out here for a minute. Some of the peeps out here are wondering if this cocaine tastes right.”. “Alright, give me a second.”. The boss came out of his office, only to be greeted with all of his henchman in the middle of the lobby with a big cake and a banner atop that read happy birthday. “Surprise! Happy birthday boss.” they all shouted. “You guys.” the boss said in gleeful surprise. One of the minions came up and put a little birthday hat on his head. “I completely forgot it was my birthday. How’d you guys remember?”. “You’d really think we’d forget our bosses birthday?”. “Yeah, you really have been turning this business around for the better, even giving all of us health insurance benefits.”. “I mean we were gonna get a clown, but shit came up.”. “You’re one of the greatest bosses I’ve ever worked with?”. The boss was swelling up in tears and bawled under his crying: “Thank you so much. You’re some of the best in employees I’ve ever had.”. “Alright, alright. Before we cut the cake, it time we sing the song. Everybody ready?”. As they started to sing “Happy Birthday”, Kingsley was struggling to get out of the seat he was tied to. He starts to wiggle his wrists around, loosening the grip of his ties. Thanks to his thin wrists, he was able to set himself free. Ripping the tape over his mouth, he looks out the small window on the door, seeing several goons walking around with cake in their hands. A lot of them were gathered near the entrance where the cake was. “Front door is out. Gonna have to try my luck with the back. I wonder if-…Ow!”. He put his hands over his mouth, the ripped tape leaving it red. “Ah! That stings!”. After the pain cooled down, Kingsley went out of the room and snuck passed a guard busy stuffing his face. Kingsley tiptoed down the catwalk and saw to henchman coming. He quickly hide behind a potted plant for cover. As soon as they passed by, he zipped into a set of doors. Finding himself in an old. dirty kitchen, Kingsley starts to head through. “Where you going?” he heard from behind. “I thought I saw someone run in here?”. Kingsley frantically looks around the kitchen to try and find a place to hide. The door opens, one goon comes in and looks around. Another henchman approaches and asks: “You find anything?”. The first thug sighs and says: “No. Gah, I’m so stressed. I’ve been trying to find ways to curb my anxiety, but it seems to be getting worse.”. “Hey, it’s a special day, relax. Have some cake and put your feet up.”. “I guess.”. “Now come on, we’re about to give the boss his presents.”. As soon as both goons leave the room, Kingsley crawls out from the cabinet. One of the goons gives the boss a present. Opening it, he finds a pirate custom. “A pirate custom, I can where this for the Halloween party. Thanks guys.”. “Oh, it’s nothing.”. “It’s just your size.”. “I bet you’d look great in an eye patch” they guy in the eye patch remarked. Just then, something burst out from the front door. Three small figures dash around, knocking over a bunch of goons. The three figures then stand on the center of the room, the dust settles to show Ty, Bianca and Lequan. “Aight you assholes. Gig’s up. Give back our homie before we whoop your asses!” Ty threatens. “¡En efecto! Return our sitter at once. Or else we’ll shove your owns shoes down your throat!”. “Is that cake?” Lequan asks. “Ah, yes. I was warned that you three might com and take your friend back. So I decided to have a little surprise set up for you.”. the boss said as he pulled out a remote. Pushing a button on said remote, a cage drops down on the trio. “What’s this?” Bianca asks. She tries to break the metal bars, but finds them electrified. “Ya know, I here that super energy’s pretty valuable in the black market, boss. Maybe we should buy one of those machines that saps superpowers.”. “I don’t know. I’m not really too comfortable about hurting a couple kids.” the boss relucted. “Yo, man! When I get outta here, I’m gonna kick yo guys asses so hard, you’ll be shitting gravel for weeks!”. “I’m over it.”. Kingsley saw all this play out through the kitchen doors and backed away. “I need to do something, and fast before I’m caught.”. He rushes through the kitchen and down into a hallway. “Let me think. If I were the fuse box, where would I be.” he says as he looks to both sides of the hall. Kingsley then runs down to the left. Back in the room where Kingsley was held up, the goon with the broken arm came in with a piece of cake saying: “Hey, I thought you might like a piece of cake before we gank ya to dea-”. Seeing their hostage nowhere in the room, the goon drops the piece of cake and says: “Ah shit.”. The goon with the eye patch carefully slides in a plate of cake into the bottom of the cage. “Man, what are we gonna do? We can’t break outta this stupid cage without getting a shit ton of electricity up the ass.” Ty asked. “I don’t know. Maybe we shouldn’t have ran off after all. Oh, ¿por qué sigo metiéndonos en estos líos?” Bianca regrets. “Cake’s good at least.” Lequan mentions. “I wish we could at least apologize to Kingsley before we bite the dust.”. Ty was beginning to feel heavy as his sister remorsed and sighs “Aight, maybe I shouldn’t have stole his wallet...Maybe it’d be cool if he makes it outta here. But I ain’t apologizing for what happened at the store, that shits on Lequan.”. After finishing the piece of cake, Lequan utters: “I’m sorry.”. “I just hope we all get back home in one piece.” Bainca says. The goon with the eye patch backs up slowly until he runs into the henchman with the broken arm. “Ah! Oh, you scared me. Hey, nice save with the pirate costume, the boss really likes it.”. “We gotta problem.” “Why, did we run out of paper plates?”. “No, the hostage escaped.”. “What!? How!? I thought you said you were good with knots?”. “You try to tie knots with a broken arm.”. The goon groaned, putting his hand over his uncovered eye. “Should we tell the boss?” the thug with the broken arm asked. “No. I don’t want his birthday to be spoiled. Let’s just bag em and bring him back.”. “How do we know he’s still in the building?”. “He probably won’t leave without the kids. I recon I know where he’s going. Come on.”. Both goons quickly leave the party and head into the halls. Kingsley opens up one of the doors in the hall and finds himself in an old janitors closet, spider webs covering the outdated cleaning products in an open closet. On the far end of the room was the fuse box. Opening it up, he saw it riddled with loose wiring, the poured out of the box. “What the- Why is it just wires, where’s the switches?”. Kingsley took a deep breathe and said: “No worries.”. He pulls out a set of pliers from his pocket. “Just gotta find the right one.”. The boy began to dig through the wires, seeing all kinds of colored wires. “Let’s see...No...No...No...Ah, here it is!” he said as he grabbed a red wire. Just before he could cut the wire, he heard footsteps coming from the hall. The two thugs come in the closet and sees the set of wires out of the box. “Hey, you were right. The fuse box is open.” the goon with the broken arm remarked. The henchman with the eye patch looked around and saw the closed closet. Opening it, he was puzzled to find nothing but the cleaning products inside. He saw the heavy closet was tumbling down towards him and tried to move out of the way. But with little room to evade, the closet crashed down on him. The thug with the broken arm saw Kingsley from behind where the closet once stood and lunged at him. The boy dodges out of the way and goes for the fuse box. He quickly cuts the red wire, cutting the power and the light. “What the, what happened?”. Kingsley swiftly runs out of the closet. Back in the lobby, the lights went out, leaving only the goons phones to light the room. “What was that?”. “The lights went out.” “Aw man, is the party over.”. The sound of loud metal scrunching echoes through the dark lobby. “What was that sound!?”. “Quick, someone turn on the emergency power.” the boss commanded. A dim set of lights came on, illuminating the room with an eerie glow. Most of them see the cage broken out of. “Oh no.”. Up above, the sibling were staring down all of them with their glowing eyes. A goon sees their shadows on the floor and fires his gun upwards. The trio splits up as the bullets break one of the lights. A group of henchman started to back up towards the wall as the lights flicker, aiming their firearms everywhere they can. Ty got behind them and grabbed one of the goons, starting to swing the poor sap at the others. After beating the group with one of their own, Ty threw the henchman in his grip against the wall. Some of them started climbing up to the catwalk, when they saw Lequan atop the stairs. After cracking his neck, he grabbed onto the stairs and began to pull them off from its hinges. He lifts the staircase as the goons are still on it, holding on for their lives. One of the thugs shoots out at the boy, only for the bullet to do next to nothing. Lequan then slammed the stair case against the wall, beating it into the wall over and over again, making the goons fly about like ragdolls. The boss started to back up towards the kitchen, running inside. He backed out into the lobby when he saw Bianca floating towards him with an innocent looking smile. The little girl then kicks the boss into the cage he placed them in. She then grabs the bars of the cage and bends them back into place. “Now, you listen to me hombre. We don’t really care what you do around here. But we want you to remember one tiny thing.” she says. “Yeah, don’t fuck with us or our homeboys, got it.” Ty exclaimed. “Or we’ll fuck you up.” Lequan adds. With panting breath, the boss nodes and says: “Okay! Okay! I swear we’ll leave you alone! Promise!”. “You’d better. Cabrón!”. Kingsley walks out of the kitchen, using his phone’s flashlight. Seeing the trio, he gives a big smile and says: “Guys! Thank goodness, you’re okay.”. All of them turn to their sitter, and fly at him. “I was really worried about-”. The siblings tackle him to the ground, hugging him as they were on the floor. “Oh, señor Kingsley. We’re sorry that we ran away from you.”. “It’s okay. It’s my fault anyway. I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you, back at the store. I should have just brought you in with me.” Kingsley retorts. “Hey, don’t sweat it, we didn’t mean to break that guys window. Should have just handed Lequan the candy bar instead of teasing him with it.” Ty goes. “I’m sorry for biting him.” Lequan adds. “Look, all that matters is that we made it through this mess. Let’s just forget what happened today and get back home. “Yo, you mean it? You’re not gonna tell anyone about this?” Ty says as they get back up. Kingsley goes a zipping gesture over his mouth. “Gracias, Kingsley.” Bianca said. “We cool man.” Ty followed. “Thank you.” Lequan ended with. Kingsley then realized something important. “I just realizes something...The part. I forgot all about it! It’s still at the mall! Aw, it’s probably closed by now.”. “Yo man, chill. We got yo back.” Ty says as he pull out the bag with the special part inside. “My special part! You guys got it for me?”. “Claro está Kingsley. It’s the least we can do after spending all that stuff with you’re card.” Bianca remarks. “I don’t know what I’d do without this.”. The baby sitter hugs the trio, saying: “Thank you.” The trio hug back. Walking out the building, Lequan rubs his rumbling stomach. “I’m hungry. Anything to eat.”. Bianca gasps and say: “Oh no. I think we left the box of Pizza pockets back at the mall too.”. “Oh...you mean this box of pizza pockets?” Kingsley asks as he pulls out an opened box of Pizza pocket. “Gimme!” Lequan says. “Not so fast. I’ll trade you guys for my wallet back.”. “Ha ha! Deal.” Ty said as he pulled out Kingsley’s wallet and traded it. Ty threw a pizza pocket in the air and Lequan shot it with his eye beams. The hot pocket then landed in the boys mouth, where it sank to his stomach. “How come you can do that smooth shit when I can’t?” Ty asks him. “Practice.” Lequan simply responds From the roof of the hotel, a purple hooded woman in a robe stood and watched as the they walked away. Back at Kingsley’s abode, Cayenne walked through the front door. “Hey, Kingsley. I’m back. Sorry I took so long. They didn’t wreck the place, did they.”. Walking into the kitchen, she saw it in an utter wreck. “Guess they did.”. In the hallway nearby, she looked into the laundry room and saw water all over the floor. “Here too?”. Passing by the master bedroom, she saw fire extinguisher foam all over the place. “Damn, it’s like winter shat everywhere in here.”. Finally she, looked in the living room and is presently surprised at what she finds. Kingsley, Ty, Bianca, and Lequan are all sleeping on the couch, snuggled up to one another as the glow of the TV shines upon them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bianca, Ty'quell, and Lequan belong to: PrincessCallyie This was made before the Bianca, Ty and Lequan were scheduled to be rebooted, and as of this posting has not been updated, so there characters may not reflect the final change. Despite that, this might be one of my favorite episodes to make this season. The BTL have a lot of personality that I can really work with and hope to feature them again somewhere down the line where they might fit.

#Young Hope #lillaxtrigger #princesscallyie

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