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#cliff just came in and grandpa had a heart to heart and it was
allmoshnobrain · 4 months
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𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫
✧・゚: *✧・゚:* *:・゚✧*:・゚✧
part 21 of ? | masterpost
word count: 4066 | ao3 link | fic's playlist
I blinked, seriously caught off guard. That was too much to take in at once. First thing slamming me was anger—what did she mean by her and my dad being here to pamper me? Weren't they the ones who kicked me out? Cut off all ties? And now, they popped back into my life, not because they missed me or anything, but to wheel and deal for the family name and business—that was their concern. Concern that grandpa's "empire" wouldn't last with me at the wheel. Concern that I wouldn't know the ropes when the time came.
✦ summary: Nore's sense of normalcy unravels as her parents resurface, offering support for her dreams—with strings attached.
✦ on this chapter: dave mustaine x female!oc, oc is cliff's cousin, +18, language, slice of life, angst, complicated/kinda abusive family dynamics
✦ a/n: Hello! This part was a bit longer, and focused more on Nore's relationship with her family. I hope it helped understand her character a little bit better! I haven't included all the "lore" regarding her parents in the chapter directly but I recently made a post here explaining it a bit for anyone who's curious! I haven't been able to write a lot because I had some power/internet outage problems at home, but now that everything's back to normal I hope I can update more quickly! And we'll have some more James x Nore interactions on the next part :) Hope you liked reading, feedback is welcome!
✧ nobody's daughter, she never was, she never will / be beholden to anyone she cannot kill ✧
The next few weeks weren’t exactly easy.
Dave and I usually kept our relationship light; we rarely argued, and if we did, we patched things up quick. We got each other too well and just couldn't stand being apart for too long. We were young. We were in love. At that time, no issue seemed big enough to mess with that.
But this time, it was different . It's not like Dave was giving me the cold shoulder, but I could tell he was still feeling the sting from everything that had happened with the album and his songs. He started isolating himself more and more, hanging out at David's place for long stretches, diving into his new band. When I tried talking to him about what was going on, he'd just smile and steer the conversation elsewhere. It was like all that easy, spontaneous intimacy we had from the beginning was vanishing, slipping through my fingers like water. 
And it freaked me out.
Being away from my cousin and my friends didn't make things any easier. I knew they had my back, but it's not like I could spill my guts to them over the phone about Dave. Since I'd left home, I'd felt sad and angry a bunch of times, but by September, I was more down than I had been since I first moved in with Cliff. Still, I held onto the hope that things would get back to normal soon.
Little did I know what the end of the year had in store for me.
It kicked off with a surprise phone call one evening. It was nighttime, and Dave and I were catching a break, chilling and watching some random movie on TV while sharing a cigarette and a beer when the phone decided to ring.
"I'll grab it," I said, jumping up from the bed. Dave gave a nod, his brow furrowing as he focused on rolling another joint for us to share. I rushed to the living room, picking up the phone. "Hello."
"Ellie?" a voice I knew too well replied, making my heart race and my jaw drop in surprise. "Is it really you?"
"Dad?" I blurted out in shock. In the whirlwind of my new life, getting a call from my father after nine months of radio silence was probably the last thing I expected.
"Hey, Ellie! So, this number is really yours. How've you been?"
"I... I'm okay, but... Dad, what's going on?" The words tumbled out, confusion turning into genuine concern. If he was calling out of the blue, something serious must have been up, right? I couldn't think of any other reason.
"Can't a dad check in on his daughter?" He said it casually, like it was no big deal. I furrowed my brow, annoyance quickly replacing my concern.
"You haven't said a word to me in months," I shot back, my voice shaking a bit, my eyes threatening to fill with tears as a whirlwind of emotions churned in my chest — first of all, anger. But then hurt. Confusion. And pain.
I glanced up at the sound of footsteps, spotting Dave leaning against the bedroom door frame with a lit joint in his hand. He gave me a questioning look, his concerned brown eyes checking out my state. I sighed, motioning for him to hold on. He came over, wrapping an arm around my waist and planting a gentle kiss on my shoulder, which managed to coax a small smile from me.
"So, Ellie, your mom and I..." my father hesitated on the phone, sounding a bit unsure of himself. "We were thinking that maybe we've been too hard on you. We just got back from London..."
"You went to visit grandma?" I snapped, my anger surfacing in the way my voice cranked up. "That's what this call is about, huh? I'm guessing she wasn't thrilled to discover you kicked me out. Bet she and grandpa gave you a reality check!"
"We went to celebrate your mom's birthday. And yes, we saw your grandparents," my father went on, his tone getting a bit sterner. "We were just thinking... It would be nice if you and your boyfriend could join us for dinner sometime. You know, your mom misses you..."
"Oh, bullshit."
"She does. Eleanore, it was her idea to send you that motorcycle as a gift. She thought it might lift your spirits a bit. Maybe you'd swing by..."
"She's always pulling that stunt!" I grumbled, annoyed, cheeks warming with irritation. "I can't be expected to read her mind. And for the record, I didn't ask for whatever gift she sent my way!"
"I get it. Ellie, I get it," my father reassured, clearly trying to ease my frustration. "Look, I think she regrets laying it on you like that. Especially after talking to your grandma... She just wants to fix things."
"Then why didn't she just call me herself?"
"You know how your mom is. She thought maybe you'd be more open to hearing me out. And, hey, it's not like I don't miss you too," he said, explaining. I took a deep breath, still annoyed but conceding that my father had a point. I could have a conversation with him, but if it were my mom on the line, I might've just hung up. "Ellie, she's trying, alright? It's more effort than she usually puts in. Give her a chance..."
"She didn't give me any chances. Why should I be the one handing them out?" I questioned, my voice now getting choked up as my anger gave way to the underlying hurt I was feeling. My father sighed, seeming uncertain about what to say.
"You can come next weekend if you want," he finally replied, straight-up ignoring my question and making me groan in frustration. "I'll ask Marcy to whip up that pumpkin pie you like, what do you think? Mull it over, alright?"
Then, he hung up, leaving me with a heavy heart and an anguish that had been haunting me for months but that I just didn't want to face. I slammed the phone back on the hook, maybe a tad harder than I should have.
"Hey. What was that?" Dave asked, leaning his chin on my shoulder and pulling me closer, his arms around my waist. I sighed. "Was it your dad on the phone?"
"Yeah," I murmured, my voice trembling a bit. He nuzzled into my neck, planting a soft kiss on my smooth skin, his lips moving up to my cheek for another kiss.
"Babe, you know you can talk to me if you need to," he whispered. I sighed, pulling away a little to meet his gaze, a mix of concern and seriousness in his eyes. I managed a faint smile, the hurt in my chest blending with the happiness of having, even if just for a moment, the old intimacy between us. "What happened? What did he say to you?"
"I just... I hate this!" I finally let it out, a tear rolling down the corner of my eye and making its way to my cheek. Dave cupped my face in his hands, wiping it away with the tip of his thumb. "My family’s always doing this. They act like the stuff they do to me, the way they treat me, doesn't matter. Like it doesn't hurt me! It's messed up."
Dave sighed, pulling me closer in a comforting hug. I knew he didn't have all the words, but I could feel him trying to ease my pain. I sniffled, a few more tears streaming down my cheek as I buried my face in his chest.
"My dad invited us for dinner... Both of us, him and my mom," I laughed bitterly. "It's funny, isn't it? They kick me out of the house, and then they think they can invite me to dinner, like everything's normal. Like nothing happened."
"And do you want to go?" he asked, softly, his hand soothingly stroking my back. I shook my head with a sigh.
"I... I don't know. I think that's the worst part," I admitted, pulling away and meeting his gaze. "I'm so angry, but I still miss them. I think that's what hurts the most."
"That you can't help but love them, even though some of the things they do hurt you?" he murmured, and I felt my heart tighten at the bitterness in his voice. "Maybe you should go, Nore. Maybe it's a good chance for you to patch things up with them."
"I don't know if I want to do that," I whispered, and he gave a slight smile.
"Yeah, I get it. Come here," he pulled me close again, his lips meeting mine with an unexpected hunger that sent warmth through my body. I clung onto his arms tightly, my nails leaving small crescent marks on his fair skin, while his lips moved down to my neck, kissing a spot that Dave knew would make me sigh and shiver, forgetting, even if just for a moment, anything but his body against mine. He pulled away, his familiar crooked smile on his lips making my heart race as he lifted my chin with his hand. "You can think about it later... How about coming back to bed with me?"
The car screeched to a stop in front of the big light-yellow house. I sighed, feeling more jittery than I'd like, despite the chill evening and the sun setting, casting warm hues all over the landscape. I knew my decision to visit my parents in Long Beach with Dave's car was a bit of a rebellious move against their expectations, and I hated it. They probably anticipated me rolling up on the motorcycle they gifted me. Instead, there I was, with my boyfriend and his car — two things that could potentially give my mom a nervous breakdown.
Dave raised his eyebrows, whistling softly as he checked out my parents' garden.
"You fancy-ass kid. So, this is where you used to live?" He chuckled and playfully nudged my arm, but I could tell he was a bit surprised. He seemed to catch quickly onto my nervousness; his eyes instantly turned serious when he saw my expression. "Hey," he said, his hand gently holding mine. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to. Okay?"
I nodded. Honestly, I wasn't entirely sure why I agreed to visit my parents or let Dave come along and meet them. Maybe, despite all the drama and hurt, there was still a part of me that missed them. Perhaps deep down, I hoped they'd be proud of me — for standing on my own all this time, for finding someone who cared about me and loved me. For not turning out to be the failure they expected when they kicked me out, assuming I'd come running back at the first sign of trouble.
But deep down, I knew that wasn't happening.
"It's okay," I squeezed Dave's hand, attempting a confident smile. "We're already here, right? Let's do this."
Dave and I stepped out of the car, strolling across the well-kept garden until we reached the front door.I paused for a moment before ringing the doorbell. Then, the door swung open, and my dad appeared, beaming when he saw me, the blue eyes I got from him shining.
"Ellie!" he exclaimed, pulling me into a hug. I blinked, a bit confused, but returned the embrace. He pulled back with a smile, seeming only then to notice that Dave was by my side. "Oh. You must be David?"
"You can call me Dave, sir," Dave smiled, shaking my dad's hand, but I could see he was a bit nervous.
"Pleasure to meet you, Dave. I’m George." my dad smiled, a bit more serious than before. "You've arrived just in time! Marcy is almost done preparing dinner. Let's go inside."
Dad walked in first, and I followed suit. Dave strolled by my side, holding my hand gently. He leaned in, whispering in my ear:
"Ellie? So, is that what your parents call you?"
"Just my dad. And I hate that nickname," I murmured, and he laughed.
As we strolled into the house, Dave scoped the place with raised eyebrows. The living room was cozy and rustic, sofas, armchairs, and rugs thrown together just right. In the corner, a shelf showed off my dad's vinyl collection. From there, you could head to the dining room through the side door or hit the garden through the glass door at the back. Upstairs, you'd find my parents' bedrooms, my old room, and the library where my parents spent most of their time when they were home.
"Ellie, why don't you give Dave a tour of the library? I'll summon your mom for dinner; she was introducing the new gardener to the plants," he said, jokingly. 
"Oh... Sure," I mumbled. After being away for so long, everything felt way larger and unfamiliar than it should — especially after bouncing around from the little room I shared with Cliff to Leanne's house and then my cozy spot with Dave. I watched my dad head out the back door. Dave linked his fingers with mine, sensing my nerves, and stroked the palm of my hand in soothing circular motions with his thumb. I raised my gaze and met his brown eyes, locked onto my face. "So, wanna check out the library?"
"Actually, I had my eye on something else," he grinned slightly, and I blinked, intrigued. "Your room," he clarified, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. "I want to see how you lived, you know? Before I showed up and changed your life forever."
I chuckled, rolling my eyes before tugging him along by his hand, leading the way to the stairs. We climbed up to the first floor, strolling through the lengthy corridor, passing several doors before hitting the last one right at the end. I twisted the knob, relieved to find that the door wasn't locked.
I sighed as I swung the door open, taking in the sight of my old room. The room was spotlessly clean and organized, meaning that my parents at least kept the place tidy. Next to the window, my bed was neatly made with the same sheets I'd left in a mess before heading to San Francisco. Above the headboard, posters of bands and movies adorned the wall. The door in the corner was open, showing my private bathroom.
Below the window, my study desk, with drawing and painting materials meticulously arranged. In the corner, a shelf with my books, records, and tapes, plus a TV and stereo. It stung a bit to look at it, to reminisce about all the time spent there; everything was the same, but I didn't feel anything like the girl who once called it home.
Dave seemed to understand the contemplation in my silence; he rested his chin on my shoulder, giving me a tight hug from behind before planting a kiss on my cheek.
"Nice room you got here," he remarked, and I laughed, a bit shakily, realizing tears were welling up in my eyes. Despite that, it felt good not to be alone. To have him there with me.
We quickly stepped apart when we heard a knock on the door. I turned around and found Alice, my mom's assistant, eyeing us with her serious gaze, her curly blonde hair pulled into a ponytail so tight it made me uncomfortable just to look at it. Of course, she would be here, I thought with a twinge of annoyance. She smiled, a cold and almost robotic smile.
"Welcome back, miss. Your mother is waiting for you in the dining room," she said, then turned and left, seemingly not even acknowledging Dave's presence.
I sighed, annoyed, feeling the anxiety in my chest rise in a wave of panic that subsided as soon as I felt Dave's fingers intertwining with mine again. He smiled at me reassuringly.
"Let's go," he murmured. "I guess it's time for me to meet your mom."
I stepped into the dining room hesitantly. It was funny how being near my mom always kind of intimidated me; she was everything I'd never been able to be, everything they expected me to be. I bit my lip as I spotted her, and she turned in our direction. 
My mother was probably the most beautiful woman I'd ever known, tall and statuesque like a model, with long, wavy black hair that reached her waist, a slim and charming face, and serious dark brown eyes. I was nothing like her — much more like my dad, shorter with brown hair, blue eyes, and a much less glamorous body.
"Eleanore," she murmured, with that familiar distinct accent blending Scottish and French. She walked toward me, holding my face in her hands, a faint hint of affection gleaming in her eyes before being replaced by disapproval. "Oh, God, what happened to your hair? Did you cut it yourself?"
"Leave the girl alone, Clémence," my dad spoke, sitting in one of the armchairs in the corner of the room, casually reading the day’s newspaper. He looked up, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "She's old enough to know how to take care of herself."
My mom pursed her lips slightly, then let go of my face. She shifted her attention to Dave.
"You must be David," she spoke resolutely. I could see the disapproval in her eyes shifting from me to him, like he was a pet she didn't really like but had to put up with. If Dave caught onto that, he hid it well. For the first time since we had met, he was completely serious, which probably meant he was a bit on edge. "Well, come along. Dinner is ready. We were waiting for you."
We sat down for dinner, and my nerves were all over the place. I could hardly taste the food, and it seemed like Dave was in the same boat. I reached under the table, giving his knee a reassuring caress. He shot me a smile.
"So, Dave... You're one of Cliff's friends, huh?" my dad asked.
I noticed Dave's jaw tense a bit, but he managed a polite smile.
"Yep, we used to share a place. That's how I got to know Nore."
"And what do you do? Are you a musician too? You know, I have a pretty large vinyl collection here at home. Love music. Always wished I had the time to pick up the drums," my dad kept the conversation rolling with a grin, and I could see some of the tension in Dave fading away.
They chatted about music for the rest of the dinner, and slowly, I started to ease up. Mom stayed pretty quiet, her eyes bouncing between me and Dave like she was trying to figure us out. But Dad seemed genuinely interested in getting to know my boyfriend better. By the time dessert was served, I almost felt like we were a normal family again.
When we finished eating, we cruised back to the living room. Dad and Dave went straight to the vinyl collection, and Dad put on a Led Zeppelin album, the music filling the living room softly. That's when Mom got up, giving my arm a light touch.
"Come with me, Eleanore," she said in a low voice before heading to the garden. I hesitated, glancing at my dad and Dave, still deep in their conversation, then decided to trail after her.
We wandered through the backyard garden, the flower beds and trees soaking up the gentle glow from the property's lamps. Mom sparked a cigarette with a sigh, and we drifted in silence until we hit the pool area. She eased into one of the lounge chairs under the covered spot before looking at me.
"Take a seat," she motioned to the chair right across from hers.
"I'll pass," I muttered, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Why do you always have to complicate things?" she asked, and a surge of anger bubbled in my chest. Classic mom move: the woman who couldn't go an hour without emphasizing how I was a screw-up.
"Does Dad know you picked up smoking again?" I asked, a bit acidly. She looked up at me, a small, cold smile playing on her face. I knew my mom; she could front like she was flawless, but she had her flaws, just like I did. At least I owned up to mine.
"I smoke when I need to focus.You know how insane the end of the year gets at your grandfather's company," she shot back, sidestepping my question. "Or you would know if you cared about the family business instead of living in your love fantasy."
"My relationship is not a fantasy," I frowned, and she scoffed.
"If you say so," she flicked the cigarette butt to the ground, crushing it with the tip of her heel. "So, you know your dad and I just got back from Europe. I talked with your grandfather, and we came up with an idea... Oh, please, Eleanore, spare me that face. You haven't even heard what I have to say!" I tried to hide the displeasure that surfaced on my face. Nothing good ever followed when my mom claimed to have an idea. Never. "Well, as I was saying. Your dad and I think it's time for you to invest a little more in your future."
"Not this again," I grumbled. "Mom, I don't want to go to Law School!"
"I'm not asking you to!" she retorted, her tone sharp and irritated. Then she sighed, as if making an effort to calm down. "Look, we know you love art. You were part of the Theater Club in school, and you enjoyed your drawing classes so much! But I don't want my daughter to just finish high school and call it a day. It wouldn't be suitable ."
"And what's your deal, then?" I asked, getting a bit defensive. Until now, Mom didn't seem to be pushing me into anything specific, but I knew she never dangled anything remotely cool in front of me without expecting something in return.
"Your father and I are willing to pay for any course you want, at any university you want. What do you say?" she asked, a slight grin playing on her lips, but her eyes stayed icy. "You can study wherever you want! You can be close to your cousin, your new friends, your... boyfriend. Pursue the arts career you want. But," she raised an eyebrow. "you have to be aware of your role in the family business. So, you'll get involved in the day-to-day routine, learn the ropes, and be ready to handle everything when your father and I aren't around to pamper you. Fair deal, right?"
I blinked, seriously caught off guard. That was too much to take in at once. First thing slamming me was anger—what did she mean by her and my dad being here to pamper me? Weren't they the ones who kicked me out? Cut off all ties? And now, they popped back into my life, not because they missed me or anything, but to wheel and deal for the family name and business—that was their concern. Concern that grandpa's "empire" wouldn't last with me at the wheel. Concern that I wouldn't know the ropes when the time came.
On the flip side, it was kind of a tempting offer. I mean, having my parents backing my dreams would be awesome, even with a few strings attached. I used to dream about more than just ringing up customers in record stores; I missed the days when I had time to create , to be part of something. But, if I went for it, what would it mean for me and Dave? Would we drift even further apart?
I didn't want to dive into that mess. Too many details, too many what-ifs.
"You don't have to figure it all out now," Mom said, her tone soft, like she was reading my mind. "Whenever you want, Eleanore, you can come back home. We'll work things out then, okay? Just take your time."
With that, she got up and casually walked back inside, leaving me to grapple with my thoughts.
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wack-ashimself · 1 year
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The closest I ever came to going vegan...
Okja (the super pig. Spoilers)
<Backstory: 'Poker Face' has an episode where a known BBQ guy goes vegan after watching Okja. So I had to see what it was about. Turns out, I like the director's work (All of it) and didn't realize he had such a wide variety of movies.>
Plot is after being paid to raise a super big GMO pig (sold as magic/miracle pig) for 10 years, it's supposed to go back to the company to be made into meat. Young girl doesn't want to give it up. Goes on an adventure to save it. And for a mostly light hearted romp, there is some graphic and violent scenes. Forced breeding, cops beating the FUCK out of people, and probably the most real to life walk thru of a meat processing plant in a movie I ever saw (non documentary).
In the end, at the processing plant, the evil CEO won't give up the pig cuz it's bad business. The girl gives up her solid golden pig statue (what her grandpa basically sold the pig for) in order to save it. And this is all after you saw, step by step, how they would go from killing to chopping up the meat*. So you already sat thru a lot...
but then, something I felt like you would see at a concentration camp. It rocked me...
As the girl is being escorted out with her pig, going by all the locked up and being systematically killed THOUSANDS of other pigs, some of the other pigs are curious and follow them. You don't understand why, until one starts to attack the electric fence, hurting itself. Then you see them push something thru...
THEIR FUCKING BABY!!!! They KNEW they were going to be killed, including their baby, so they took the only chance they had, and threw it to the people escaping. Okja hides the baby in her mouth. As they're walking away, all the other pigs (who have been raised separately) cry in unison as another gunshot to the head can be heard in the background....
GEEZ. I ....wow...you don't come out feeling great if you are a meat eater watching that movie. Cuz you know ALLLLLLL of that is true:
-rich people & businesses (and governments, since the FDA approved it in this movie) only care about the bottom line and will happily shove garbage, toxic garbage, down your throat. And lie every single time they can. <Also, marketing can make you believe anything if it's said loud and happy enough>
-our meat industry is SOULLESS. And we (honestly, self included) genuinely need to eat significantly less. For our health and the planet's health. I mean, do you really think making something live a terrible unhealthy caged life and then murdering it, that its' remains will be SUPER healthy for you? We are gross.
-Every living creature has a soul, can feel, can love, and can suffer.
-again, this is me reading into a foreign movie but FUCK traditions. This all happened cuz her grandpa hated her pet, and wanted her to get married? She was 14 in the movie; Let her live her fucking life.
<The thing that bugged me (little things annoy me): they lived on a mountain top/side. Their water pump was RIGHT at the edge of a cliff. Where the FUCK are you pumping water from? Is there small pockets of water in mountaintops? Do you have one LONG pipe? It just....it was so close to the edge of a MOUNTAINSIDE. Where was the water coming from?>
Either way, great movie (GREAT), but....I would genuinely say this borders on at least a HARD PG rating. If kids have never thought of or heard about this (rich corporations, the meat industry, marketing lies, etc), and find out what they see is MOSTLY true....it may fuck them up.
This is exactly why I like foreign movies too. There were so many times I went 'x happened, so now y happens' and I was pleasantly surprised. It still has some tropes, but nothing completely stolen.
Okja: Solid 8.2/10. My only complaint was tilda swtinon playing herself (AGAIN. How many times can she play 2 characters?), and the CGI kinda sucked. It wasn't horrible, but ain't winning fucking awards. And if it did...holy shit, low standards much?
ps-fav part? I have 2. The beginning, when Okja basically throws itself off a cliff to save the girl and the girl finds her just...farting around, fine, wanting attention. It was so like a pet. 2nd part? STEVEN YUEN! His WHOLE character arc. Also, him playing an asshat. Summary: he's part of a PETA like group, trying to free the super pig. But he lies to get the main girl to be forced to go along with them (and gets the SHIT beaten outta him for lying to the leader.) Then, in the end, he saves the main girl and the leader, outta no where, and shows that he got TATTOOED what his boss beat the shit out of him for doing on his arm. THAT is dedication. Get the shit beat out of you (your fault), kicked out of a group you gave your everything for, come back, AND get a tat to show your dedication? Geez...
*Meat. Why not dead animals? Name specific CUTS of meat instead of the body part... then go by animal. Beef, not dead cow. Pork, not dead pig. Poultry, not dead chicken.....we change the name so you feel less remorse for eating dead things we killed for our own ease (and we don't even do it. We pay others to do it, paying someone to take the guilt. How many if the only way we could eat meat was to kill the animal ourselves could do it ? WAY WAY less than you would think.)
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I never did get to update so I’ll say it now. A couple days ago I finally finished the main story for Pokemon Violet!!!!
🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
The end of Arven’s storyline broke my heart as much as it healed it. I was so happy to see Mabosstiff stand up and ready to play with Arven. And Arven just hugging his good boy, in tears. He deserved it! And you know what for a guy who says he’s bad at battling my boy Arven packed a hell of a punch in his battle! Especially his Mabosstiff, the good boy was a scary boy!!!
I was not surprised at all by Penny being Cassiopeia. Like, I would’ve been genuinely more shocked if it really HADN’T been her. Also gotta say...Clavell gave me a much harder time than her 😅 Though I appreciate the Eeveelution theme! And it was a really sweet ending that Team Star weren’t punished for being victims, that the truth came out and they can now move forward from their bullying openly and all together.
The Elite Four ended up being pretty easy overall, Hassel was the only one who gave me actual trouble. But I liked all of them as characters, especially my beloved crybaby grandpa Hassel, and I like how they stick around and make comments after each one’s turn. Geeta was also surprisingly easy for how she was built up as La Primera. It was both funny and kinda adorable that she had a Gogoat on her team. Honestly if she had put that Glimmora of hers in the lead I would’ve had a MUCH harder time. Nemona’s final showdown finally came along too aaaaaand....I demolished her. It’s actual hilarious how badly I wrecked her. Sorry Nemona!
As for the final storyline, Area Zero was gorgeous! And it has some of the best area music in the game! I loved interacting with the robo future Pokemon and I enjoyed the slow hints over what happened and the reveal of Turo’s true nature (even though I was already spoiled on this it didn’t make the reveal any less wow). My only problem was I kept having trouble figuring out how to get to certain areas that I would literally send my character plummeting off cliffs and the sides of roads because I couldn’t figure out how to get down 😅
The final Turo battle was soooo much fun! A fun challenge, great music, beautiful environment, it had it all! And the Miraidon vs Miraidon showdown was so great, even if it’s a scripted battle. Karui, baby, you earned that comeback against the other Miraidon! And for fuck’s sake, what does Gamefreak have against Arven???? This poor kid...this game, ESPECIALLY this finale, was not kind to him. My sweet little sunbeam chef, I knew I chose right having you as my fave. The ending group picture was super cute. And hell yeah, I finally got to officially get Karui and actually NAME him Karui at last! I’m keeping him in ride mode though since that way he can actually hang out with the rest of the gang.
So yeah my final Paldea squad is Carmine the Meowscarada, Trueno the Pawmot, Anyu the Fidough, Gwendolyn the Ceruledge, Freyja the Tinkaton,  Havilland the Kilowattrel, and Karui the Miraidon!
I actually had a great time in Paldea! The story was fun and the characters were lovely. It’s a shame, I feel a little more time in the oven and this game could’ve been something real special for everyone instead of being so known for its bugs. But either way, I enjoyed it a ton and, maybe after I finish Engage, I’ll be continuing to do post game and catch those Ruinous Legends!
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lemememeringue · 3 years
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if I had a nickel for every time someone asked me if they should "disobey God", I'd have two nickels. which isn't a lot but it's weird that it's happened twice.
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ramzawrites · 3 years
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Can I request a scenario of SMP members meeting reader who is a Warden hybrid? (I know the caves and cliffs update has yet to come but I like the Warden and I think they need more love.)
Warden!Reader meets the SMP
GN
Pairings: none
Characters included: Fundy, Ranboo, Philza, Niki, (mentioned) Tommy, (mentioned) Tubbo, (mentioned) Dream
Warnings: N/A
Series: A drabble request :)
Summary: Fundy and Ranboo wanted to do some mining together, maybe even make it a competition, in a new cave that Fundy found only to meet a new person.
Word count: 2578
Authors Note: My ADHD kinda went wild at the end so this might seem a bit more disconnected and rushed and I apologize for that. I also hope you are happy with this, you may always give me feedback or tell me if I got it wrong :] I might get back to this someday to write something more involved but college is kicking my ass :|
„I swear to you no one has been here yet. It should be full with resources!” Fundy rambled as he checked his equipment out one last time. His trusty netherite pickaxe resting on his shoulder.
Ranboo was holding onto his pickaxe with both of his hands. His body language screamed nervous but his expression was that of doubt.
“This isn’t too far out from L’Manberg. I bet they already mined it dry also if you have been here already how can I be sure you haven’t scouted out the best place yet?”
Fundy just rolled his eyes and continued to walk inside the cave that seemed to be surprisingly big and led further down into the depths “I have not. Besides you’ll be mining right next to me so you can basically check up on me. The wager still stands?”
The Endermen Hybrid sighed “Yes, sure. Let’s just get this over with. I won last time anyhow so let’s just do it.”
For some reason Fundy approached Ranboo again for another mining competition. Was it revenge for last time? Who knew. Ranboo just knew he didn’t have anything better to do and hey, he might find some diamonds or other useful minerals.
As they walked deeper into the cave Ranboo soon noticed the rather weird fauna covering the floor, walls and ceiling. When he checked for a reaction from Fundy he too seemed enamored with the plants. If anything this was probably proof that he was indeed never inside here.
Fundy opened up his backpack and got a torch out which begun burning with a fast flick of his flint and steel. While both had semi good eyes when it came to the dark due to their hybrid side they were still surprised when they saw everything in a better light.
There were especially a lot of vines snaking around the walls that carried some sort of orange fruit.
“I have never seen anything like this” Ranboo mumbled in awe “Well, I think”
Fundy nodded “Mhm, me neither. This is amazing!”
As he yelled that out both heard a rustling coming from behind them. Before they could react properly Fundy was crying out and flew through their landing a few feet further into the cave.
“Fundy!” Ranboo yelled out surprised. He ran over to his friend and got his sword out. What in the world was that?
The fox Hybrid was coughing and clambering for breath, his eyes wide in shock from whatever just hit him. Not sure what to do in this situation Ranboo put one of his hands on his back as a sign that he had his back but still positioned himself with the sword in front of Fundy. That’s when he finally saw what hit him and threw him through the air.
It was a person. A hybrid by the looks of it.
They were standing in front of him, tense and ready to jump in for another attack. Their eyes were directed towards the ground. White orbs that seemed to look unfocused. On their head were beautiful greenish antlers that wove around in on themselves. It reminded Ranboo of twigs bound together while moss was growing on it. These antlers were more or less directed towards them.
Scared that this might be the sign for another attack Ranboo yelled out a soft “I’m sorry! I have no idea what we did but we are sorry!”
For some reason this seemed to work. The person seemed to be still in their attack mode but their shoulders relaxed a little bit “Then go. This is my home. Leave.”
“Oh my god you are a Warden Hybrid.” Fundy suddenly rasped out.
“A what?”
“You know of us?”
Fundy nodded and got back up, he was still a bit taken aback from the punch against his back “I only heard and read a bit about Wardens. They are strong, blind creatures that detect vibrations via their antlers. It’s said that Wardens are so strong they could kill a human in full netherite armor with just two punches at best. Now, I can see that you are blind, have antlers and you are certainly strong. I’ll give you that.”
The Warden Hybrid looked conflicted. They put their arms back down but looked still tense “Yes, that’s pretty much it. So, if you weren’t here for finding more about Wardens or even hunt us? What are you doing in my cave?”
This surprised Ranboo. They were still very wary of the two but they also seemed to be curious. Maybe it was just nature or they didn’t get the chance to talk to other people much and now used their chance. Whatever it was, Ranboo was glad for it. He didn’t look forward to being flung through the air like Fundy if he could avoid it.
“Uh” Ranbo nervously scratched the back of his head “We wanted to go mine and make it a competition. Didn’t know someone was living here which is surprising since this cave is actually pretty close to our main city.”
The stranger perked up at that “A city? With more of you?”
The two nodded in response only to realize that the Warden couldn’t see it so Fundy spoke up “Yeah. Do you- Do you wanna see, uh, visit it? We could introduce you to more people.”
They looked unsure but slowly nodded “Only if you promise me that if everything is too much for me, since I haven’t talked to people a lot, you will lead me back here.”
Ranboo let out a deep sigh. For some reason he was scared of their reaction “As a fellow socially awkward Hybrid I promise you we will do that.”
“You are a Hybrid?” They sounded so surprised, almost shocked at that.
That reminded him “Oh, yes. I guess we should properly introduce ourselves. I’m Ranboo, an Enderman Hybrid and my friend whom you punched is Fundy, a Fox Hybrid.”
“My name is Y/N” they introduced themself. “And I’m sorry for punching you. I just thought you were here to kill me.”
While Fundy was frowning, obviously not happy with this he sighed “Yeah, it’s alright. I understand.”
Together the group walked out the cave. Both Fundy and Ranboo had to get used to the light while Y/N was curiously spinning around, probably looking out for any vibrations their antlers picked up on.
It was actually surprising how difficult it was to lead Y/N back to the city. They would always get distracted by anything that moved or made sounds around them. It didn’t help that both were lowkey absolutely terrified of them.
Every now and again Fundy would rub his back. Honestly if there wasn’t a huge bruise that would be the most surprising thing about this situation.
At some point they finally reached L’Manberg and it seemed as busy as usual. Meaning it was a calm day with a few people around. Most just spent their time on their own somewhere outside the city dealing with their own projects.
The first person they came across was Niki who was busy carrying a few packets of seeds in her arms. As soon as she saw the two Hybrids she came walking over with a big smile and a wave.
“Oh! Hey guys! Who is that?”
Y/N tensed up as soon as they could tell that someone was running over to them and refused to move.
“Hey, Niki. We wanted to go mining but met Y/N here. We are showing them the city and wanted to introduce them to the people here.” Fundy explained.
Niki nodded, taking the information in “Well, it’s nice to meet you Y/N. My name is Niki. If the two are too troublesome you can always come to me for help. Also I’m sorry if this comes off as rude but I really love your antlers. They look really pretty. Can I ask what kind of Hybrid you are?”
“They do?” Y/N blurted out. An embarrassed blush appeared on their face “Oh, uh, I’m a Warden Hybid.”
Niki didn’t know what a Warden was so Ranboo gave her a short rundown, including mentioning how Y/N just threw Fundy through the air as if it was nothing. Not that he really saw it besides the flying part.
“That sounds amazing!” Niki marveled. Fundy gasped in anger at that.
Niki readjusted the seeds she was holding on to “Okay, I have to go since Puffy is waiting for me but I hope you have a good day here Y/N. I think Phil is in the middle of the city right now working on his house if you guys want to see him. Actually got these seeds from him!”
Everyone said their goodbyes and watched as Niki continued walking. A bit worried Ranboo took a good look at how Y/N was doing. While they looked nervous they still had a smile on their face. He assumed they were having fun.
“You good? Want to meet Phil? He is my grandfather, actually. He is usually a nice dude.”
Y/N massaged their own hands “Yes, this is good. I mean yeah, uh, yes. I’m nervous but I’m enjoying it.”
Fundy gave them one more look over before they continued walking, leading them into the heart of the city and indeed Phil was walking around his house deep in thought. Probably thinking about on how to improve his little abode.
“Grandpa!” Fundy yelled out happily which made Y/N flinch for a second.
Philza swiveled around only to stare at the group in shock “Oh my god.”
“We met someone new!” Fundy explained excitedly.
“Yeah, I can see that!” he yelled out.
Y/N wasn’t sure if that was good thing or not. This Philza seemed certainly surprised but they didn’t know if that was a good surprised or a bad, though if that was Fundy’s grandpa they were inclined to believe it was a good sign. They only held onto to this belief because otherwise they would be too scared to do anything.
Philza cautiously eyed Y/N “Who is that?”
For some reason Fundy seemed so proud of himself “This is Y/N and they are a Warden Hybrid.”
“Yeah, I know that! I’m just surprised that they are following you two so willingly. Wardens are usually wary if not downright hostile to other people! What did you guys do?” honestly Philza sounded more offended that Fundy dared to think he didn’t know what a Warden was. Which was fair to be honest. If anyone here knows anything about Wardens it’s probably Philza.
He didn’t wait for an answer from the two troublemaker but instead turned to Y/N “I’m really sorry if the two roped you into this. I’m Philza, by the way.”
Surprised Y/N shook their head and used their hands as well to gesticulate that they were alright “No, no, everything is alright. They offered to introduce me to some people. I don’t get the chance to talk to people often so I agreed.”
This seemed to calm Philza down and his worried expression got exchanged by that of awe “Wow. I have never seen a Warden Hybrid. I wonder what traits you have inherited.”
“Oh! They are strong!” Ranboo suddenly interjected. Fundy seemingly was still not over being flung around since he was glaring at Ranboo once he said that. To be fair he wouldn’t stop bringing it up to everyone.
Philza laughed “I feel like there is a story to it.”
“It was my fault. He scared me and I overreacted.” Y/N begun explaining what happened and how they now ended up here in the city talking to Phil. He seemed understanding but still lectured the others for being not cautious enough.
He asked a few more questions, mostly to make sure Y/N was doing alright and felt comfortable but after they sufficiently calmed him down he decided to continue with his project and leave you guys be.
Both Fundy and Ranboo showed Y/N around a bit in hopes of meeting other people but it seemed the city was empty. Apparently Tubbo was off doing something somewhere and when Ranboo offered to venture out to find them Y/N said that they were feeling a tiny bit overwhelmed and would prefer to go back to their little cave.
Ranboo didn’t hesitate and help them find their home again, Y/N even showed him the hidden little nook they were living in as thanks. It had a bed and a ton of little things and baubles they apparently made themself with the weird plants and vines of the cave. Even offered Ranboo to eat one of the weird orange fruits that hung off of the vines. It tasted a bit weird but good nonetheless. It was certainly different and Ranboo wasn’t sure if that is something he would eat a lot. Y/N seemed to enjoy it a lot though which he made sure to write down in his little memory book.
The next day Ranboo and Fundy met up again to look for Y/N. They would hang out with them for a bit but leave them alone after a short while.
This would become their routine for a while. Always checking in on Y/N at least once a day even just for a few minutes. Bringing them things that they think could be interesting for them and now and then Y/N would ask to visit the city again.
Over time the rest of the SMP learned of them as well. Most were surprised and baffled when they met them. A lot haven’t heard of Wardens and the few people that have like Philza, Dream, Fundy and Techno showed a healthy amount of respect towards them. Especially after hearing of their strength.
For quite some time whenever Y/N came to visit, which would happen more frequently and at points on their own accord, Dream would hang around them. Keeping his eyes on them. They didn’t know what to make of that but seeing as he owned these lands they felt not comfortable with telling him off for it. He tried to sneak around but Y/N’s antlers would pick it up most of the time.
Tommy loved to hang out with Y/N. He was absolutely amazed by their ability to sense almost everything around them as well as being amazed by their strength. Just to test this he asked them once to have a bit of a competition of how far the two could throw different things. It was no real competition. Y/N won easily.
Tubbo usually watched and joked with them and while he too was amazed with their abilities he was a bit more reserved, though once the shenanigans started he was very much involved with everything.
In the end they became so involved with everyone in some way that they offered them to build a home for themself in the city. Y/N didn’t immediately jump on that idea though it took them a few days before they agreed to build a house in L’Manberg. They did point out though they will probably still spent more time in their cave. Nonetheless a lot of people came together to help me them set up their own home.
It confused Y/N a bit at first that so many would come together for them. It made them feel good though and even safe. Maybe living inside of L’Manberg wouldn’t be so bad if the others are around.
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agustdakasuga · 4 years
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You Never Walk Alone | Chapter 5
Genre: Werewolf!AU, Poly!AU?, Mate!AU, romance, fluff
Pairing: OT7 x Reader
Characters: Student!reader, Omega!Seokjin, Alpha!Yoongi, Beta!Hoseok, Alpha!Namjoon, Omega!Jimin, Beta!Taehyung, Alpha!Jungkook
Summary: You live a quiet life in your late grandfather’s cabin in the woods. You go to school just to graduate and get your diploma, not to make friends or stand out from the crowd. That was until one day, you enter your home to see a pack of wolves that need shelter.
Life seems good now. You have Taehyung as a friend and the wolves, that’s all you need. But soon, the inevitable comes and it’s time to say goodbye. 
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“(y/n).” Someone called your name and you opened your eyes. You were in the field that you usually relaxed in with the wolves. Looking up, you saw a boy standing there. He had pale skin and jet black hair. 
“W-Who are you?” You asked. He came up to you until there was only a thin space of air between the two of you. You stepped back but he circled an arm around your waist to hold you in place. Suddenly, he pulled you against him to hug you tightly. 
“Umm...” You mumbled, your cheek smushed against his chest. 
“Remember, my fur is the most beautiful.” He whispered in your ear with a dark chuckle that sent shivers down your spine. 
“Y-Yoongi?” Your eyes widened as you stepped back in shock. He pulled away and started running away, leaving you to stand there in the field alone. Was that really Yoongi?
“Wait!” You ran after him. You called out after him but he wouldn’t stop running. All you could hear was his light laughter as you continued to run. 
“Yoongi?” You saw him disappear behind some trees. But when you walked over, all you saw was a white wolf. 
“Hey...” You bent down, holding your hand out. The wolf stood up and headed over to you. He sniffed your hand and licked it gently, leaning his cheek against your palm. You smiled softly as you felt his soft fur tickle against your skin. There was more howling behind you and you turned around, standing back up. You faced the 6 wolves. 
“What?” There was a sudden blur and in the wolves place, you saw 6 boys standing there. You backed away and bumped into someone’s chest. When you turned around to apologise, it was the pale boy from before. 
“Are you really... Yoongi?” You asked in disbelief. He held your hand in his, putting it against his cheek. 
“What’s going on?” You faced the others. It was the same boy as your other dream, the human form of Jimin that teased you about chicken. 
“You’ll be fine.” He spoke, smiling softly. 
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Your eyes shot open and you sat up, reaching over to turn your alarm off. The wolves were not in your room. You headed downstairs and found them already awake, mostly just lounging around. Yawning, you went to wash up before going back down to make breakfast. 
“Morning.” You stroked their heads. 
“(y/n)...” Jimin whined. The boys had woken up earlier because today was going to be their last day with you. 
“What’s wrong, Jiminie?” You cooed, leaning to kiss the top of his head. He stepped closer and brushed his head against your thigh, burying his cheek into your skin. 
“I don’t have school today so we can spend the day together.” You bent down, sitting on the couch. The wolves sat around you, Jungkook placed his head on your lap and you ran your fingers through his fur, rubbing his ears. 
“What’s up with you guys?” You looked at them. All of them sent you sad looks and you blinked at them. 
“You hungry? Is that it?” Laughing, you stood up and went to the kitchen to get breakfast ready. It was nice to have a free weekend with no school and work. You made meat for the boys and when they smelled the bacon, they seemed to be back to normal, jumping for your attention so you would give them a taste. You gave them small pieces as a treat. 
“Here.” You placed the bowls down. 
“Guys, don’t make it too obvious. We don’t want to ruin her day. Just let her spend it with us happily.” Namjoon sighed. The rest nodded in agreement. 
“Go ahead.” You sat with them and ate. Of course, Jungkook got rice all over his snout but you were more than willing to clean it for him. 
“You’re so messy Kookie.” You laughed. 
“Is it weird that I dreamt of all of you as humans? Like all 7 of you were in my dreams as human boys.” You suddenly said and the wolves stopped. They subtly side eyed each other at your words. 
“But that’s just me being crazy.” You ruffled Hoseok’s fur with a smile. After eating, you cleaned the area and washed the dishes. You shuffled to the couch, placing your mug of water down and turning on the television. Today was going to be a total relaxed day. 
“Yah! Taehyung!” You saw him stick his entire nose into your mug to drink your water. 
“Ah... It’s yours now. Go ahead.” You scoffed, rolling your eyes. Taehyung gave you a big grin, flashing his canines as he stuck his entire nose into your mug again to drink your water. 
“You guys have your own water, you know?” You nodded over to the metal bowls of water you have set out for them. 
“The water tastes better when I share it with you.” Taehyung grinned, making the others scoff. 
“The weather is still really good. Shall we go for a walk?” You stood up and stretched. The wolves all barked and you laughed, switching the television off and going to change. You tied your hair up into a messy bun and wore your shoes. The wolves led the way while you tried your best to keep up. You knew they were slowing down for you. 
“You guys don’t need to wait for me. I’ll feel bad.” You told them.
“No way are we leaving you alone.” Jin shook his head as he continued to trot beside you.
You all continued hiking and actually made it to the cliff edge. The forest was beneath you and you stared out into the horizon. The wolves sat beside you, the wind blowing their fur back. 
“This feels nice. Like we’re complete.” Jungkook closed his eyes.  
“The view is amazing.” You took a deep breath. You sat down with the wolves around you. Jimin licked your cheek gently and you giggled.
“My grandfather and I used to go for walks all the time. He loved nature as well and I remember how even as a kid, he would always bring me for long walks to experience nature. I just know that he would have loved to meet all of you.” You sighed happily, thinking of your late grandfather. 
“It was always just the two of us. But now, I have all of you.” You smiled, laying your head on Namjoon’s middle. He sniffed you gently and you kissed his muzzle as you relaxed. 
“And we have you.” Taehyung scooted next to you. 
“I thought that I was just destined to be alone forever. I was always bullied for being alone to the point I felt like I just didn’t need friends.” You continued. 
“You’ll always have us. We’ll never leave you.” Jimin placed his paw on top of your hand, making you chuckle. 
“Then grandpa died so suddenly. All I want to do is graduate high school and support myself properly. You know, live life as much as I can. Ever since you 7 came, I don’t think I’ve ever felt happier.” You kissed Hoseok’s head.
After staying there for a couple of hours relaxing, you all went back to the house. As you entered, the wolves stood outside, looking uneasy. You realised that you were going in alone and turned around to see all of them just standing in the front yard. 
“What...” You stopped when you realised what was going on. The day has come, the one your dreaded. 
“You’re leaving.” You stated. Jimin whined, his head lowering. 
“It’s okay. I guess we knew that you couldn’t stay here forever right? You guys can’t possibly stay here forever- Sorry.” You looked away as your voice cracked. Taking deep breaths, you tried not to cry. 
“Do you guys mind just having dinner with me? We didn’t have lunch and you guys must be hungry.” You requested. The wolves looked at each other. 
“I hate seeing that look on her face.” Yoongi cursed. 
“Let’s just have one more meal with her as wolves.” Jungkook sighed. They all looked at Namjoon, their pack leader. Namjoon gave a nod and the wolves looked back at you before going into the house. 
“Thank you.” You whispered and went to the kitchen. You took beef out, which you actually saved to surprise them with and turned on the flame. The wolves immediately smelled the meat, along with your salty tears. They watched as you quickly took a towel and turned away from them to wipe the tears from your eyes. You met eyes with them. 
“It’s just the smoke.” You quickly excused, fanning your eyes to emphasise your point. 
“She’s crying...” Their hearts all broke at your tears. 
“Please don’t be sad, (y/n).” Taehyung came up to you and pawed at your feet, whimpering. You forced a smile and petted his head before going back to flipping the meat in the pan. 
While you waited for the beef to cook, you made some ramen for yourself. You didn’t want to waste any time cooking. 
“Here. Enjoy. I bought these as a surprise for you guys.” You placed the pieces of beef down in front of them. The wolves leaned in and began to eat up the meat. You had some beef with your ramen too but you just weren’t hungry. 
“Have it.” You gave them your beef. 
“(y/n), you have to eat too.” They whined. 
“It’s okay, I’m not hungry.” You shook your head as you stirred your ramen around but didn’t eat. Instead of gobbling down everything, the wolves ate slowly. They were all sad to see you sad, after all, they did share your emotions. You picked some bites here and there. 
After the silent dinner, you were standing by the door with the wolves. They all stood in a semi circle, looking at you. 
“I know you guys can’t stay here forever. It isn’t right of me to force you to stay either.” You smiled at them. Namjoon stepped up to you and you bent down. 
“Be safe and don’t get hurt anymore. Promise me, you’ll visit.” You gave them all kisses and hugs, which they reciprocated by licking your cheek and giving you boops with their noses. 
“We will see you again very soon. We will never be too far away from you.” Namjoon comforted. 
“Thank you for accompanying this lonely girl.” You laughed. 
“Don’t say that about yourself.” Yoongi sighed. The wolves waited for you to re enter the house. Once they knew you were safe, they retreated. 
“I’ll see you soon.” You smiled as you cried. 
That night, you cried yourself to sleep, looking at the only picture of you and the wolves you had on your phone. Jin’s light grey fur, Yoongi’s pristine white fur, Namjoon’s charcoal black fur, Hoseok’s white fur with a light brown coat, Jimin’s light brown fur, Taehyung’s dark brown fur and Kookie’s dark grey fur. 
They were all so unique and beautiful in their own way. The way you ran your fingers through their soft coats. You’ll never forget that feeling. 
It was thanks to Jimin. You believed that fate brought him to your house that very night he got injured. Wolf or human, he was your first friend. He was so gentle and friendly. 
The next day, you woke up to a quiet house. There was no sounds of footsteps, growls or whines in the living room. You headed downstairs to find the living room dark and empty. Life was back to the way it was. 
“I need to go grocery shopping.” You changed and locked the door. As you were heading down to the bus stop, you saw some trucks drive past you. 
“New neighbours?” You were the only cabin in your area but you were excited at the thought of new neighbours. 
Maybe this was your wolves sending you the luck of making new friends.
As you waited for the bus, you turned to see the edge of the forest. Of course, there was no wolf standing there. You sighed, mentally scolding yourself for even thinking that you would see the wolves standing there, waiting with you for the bus. You had grown so used to them following you to the bus stop that it was just a habit of yours to look there. 
“At least they’re free.” You told yourself as you smiled softly and stepped into the bus. 
-
“I’m back!” Taehyung walked through the door with his hands full. He had gone to pick up some things for the other boys while the others were unpacking their clothes in their rooms. 
“Did you see her?” Yoongi asked from his spot on the couch. 
“Narrowly missed her when I took the bus back. She was going out to town.” Taehyung replied. 
“How was she?” Jin came out of the kitchen. 
“Not so good.” Taehyung shook his lowered head. The others all came out to the living room. Jimin wrapped his arms around his best friend to hug him. 
“Let’s hope, she’ll be better tomorrow.” He comforted and Taehyung nodded. Jungkook grabbed a glass of milk from the fridge. He remembered one time he purposely spilt your glass of milk during breakfast just so he could drink some of it. Even if you were angry, you never showed it. 
Taehyung wished he had a phone at the time he met you so he could exchange numbers with you. It would have been easier for him (and less awkward) to text you and check up on you.
“I’m going for a run.” Jungkook put his empty glass down. 
“Have fun.” Yoongi yawned, wanting to go up to his room to take a nap. Jungkook removed his clothes, throwing it aside before transforming. 
“Jungkook, Yoongi hyung. We got our crystals.” Namjoon stopped them. Jin took a box out with their coloured crystal necklaces. Each crystal reflected their own crystal colour. 
Jin had pink, Yoongi had black, Hoseok had red, Namjoon had blue, Jimin had yellow, Taehyung had green and Jungkook had purple. 
“This is for her.” Namjoon closed the box when there was one crystal necklace left. He kept it in his room while the rest returned to their activities. Jungkook’s large form took off into the forest. Jimin, Taehyung and Jin played their video games, Hoseok was building his new figurines that came in the mail, Namjoon read while Yoongi slept. 
“Hyung, do we know how the hunters found us so easily?” Jimin asked Jin as they played. 
“We’re not sure but we do have word from the North packs that the hunters have also been more diligent lately. We just have to be careful of where we are. Hopefully, we can stay here for a while.” Jin shrugged. 
“Then the other night, (y/n) said she dreamt of us as humans, was that because of the bond?” Taehyung spoke. 
“We didn’t plan to enter her dreams. We just appeared there so I would say it’s the bond that tied us to her and connected us.” The older said. 
“I’ve entered her dream a few days after we met.” Jimin raised his hand. 
“The same as the other night. I just appeared there and she was there. I was able to talk to her and she was able to talk to me, as if we were facing each other in real life.” Jimin relayed. The other two nodded their heads. Jin soon retreated to the kitchen to make snacks. 
“Let’s try our best tomorrow.” Jimin turned to Taehyung. 
“Honestly, it was so hard to control my wolf when I first saw her. I mean, I had to act like a complete stranger.” Taehyung laughed. Namjoon and Hoseok came downstairs. 
“We’re trying to find out more about the wolf that tried to attack (y/n) that night we went to have our meeting.” Namjoon said. 
“He wasn’t just a regular rogue?”
“He could be but why would he target (y/n)? Rogues don’t usually go out and attack humans out of no where. And (y/n) lives in such a secluded area of the forest. Why would a rogue come here?” Hoseok wondered. 
“They are rogues for a reason. They roam around onto anyone’s land. They don’t obey boundary rules.” Taehyung shrugged. 
“Let’s just hope he was just a rogue.” Namjoon sighed. 
Jungkook came back from his run, his dark grey form covered in visible mud. Hoseok grabbed a hose to wash him down, not wanting the maknae to step into the new house like that and dirtying it. Jungkook growled at the older beta as he was drenched from head to toe. He shook the water out of his fur, making Hoseok wet as well. 
“Yah.” Hoseok threw Jungkook a towel and he transformed back, wrapping the towel around his bare torso. 
“That was too cold, hyung!” Jungkook complained. 
“I’m not gonna risk you dirtying the house with dirt when we just moved in. We took so long just to clean it.” Hoseok scoffed, rolling his eyes. Jungkook grumbled and went in to have an actual shower.
“Hyung! I wanna eat after my shower!” Jungkook shouted as he entered his room, slamming the door behind him. 
“AIsh, Jeon Jungkook.” Jin rolled his eyes as he took things out to start on their late lunch. It had been a while since Jin cooked since you have been taking good care of them. But of course, you never really understood what a big appetite wolves had so it was never really enough. 
“Hoseok, help me cook the rice!” Jin called and the younger jogged over, saluting. He took the rice pot out and scooped multiple cups in. 
“Can I help?” Taehyung came in. 
“Help me stir this.” Jin let Taehyung take over while he busied himself with preparing the other meat side dishes. 
“I have an idea! Let’s invite (y/n) over for dinner tomorrow. As new neighbours?” Taehyung suggested. 
“She has work remember? Maybe the day after. If she’s up for it.” Hoseok reminded and the other two nodded their heads. They were excited to see you again and just wanted to get closer to you as humans, not as wolves. Jungkook came down and entered the kitchen. He saw the food that was ready and wanted to sneak some bites when Jin smacked him. 
“You may have been able to do that with (y/n) but not with me.” Jin scolded and Jungkook whined like a puppy. 
“You’re an alpha but still act like a puppy.” Jin ruffled his hair and Jungkook growled, rolling his eyes. He grabbed a piece an apple and walked to the living room to wait for the meal. 
“Hyung is cooking?” A sleepy Yoongi came down. Jungkook nodded his head. The older alpha yawned and went into the kitchen. 
“I miss (y/n).” Jungkook mumbled to himself. 
Namjoon was taking a walk, scouting the area as the leader of his pack. He was just checking if there have been any intruders on their land besides the wolf that tried to attack you the other time. 
“Ugh, did I overbuy?” He heard your voice and quickly hid himself behind some bushes. Peeking over the hedge, he watched as you trudged up the forest path with bags of groceries in your hands. Namjoon had to fight the urge that he had to just step forward and help you. 
“Soon.” He sighed. But as you walked, he quietly threaded behind you, wanting to at least make sure that you make it to your house safely. He heard you humming to yourself. 
“At least she’s not too sad.” Namjoon consoled himself. He knew you were strong and weren’t going to let emotions wear your down. 
You were definitely the one. 
~~ 
Tag list
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futurewriter2000 · 3 years
Text
Back Home
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A/N: The fact that I spent 15 minutes looking for a gif and still didn't find the one that would be perfect, I gave up and just put a photo on. I love this fic however, one of my favorites and I hope you will too.
REQUEST:hiiiii! i hope you’re having a wonderful day, filled with sunshine & rainbows !! 💫✨ may i please request sirius x daughter! reader imagine where the reader is staying with sirius for the first time since he went to azkaban and when she goes to bed he tries to tuck her in but struggles because the last time he’d have done it, he probably would’ve read her a story but she’s presumably grown out of that by now and so he’s not really sure what to do ? 🥺🍄
XX
All those easy days finally led to now- today. He had prepared thousands of different speeches, conversations, scenes inside his head but when it came to those last moments of seeing you for the first time since he had been taken away from you, nothing could make his heart beat faster than the simple thought of that. His hands were clamming up, his fingers were snapping due to all the anxiety, his knuckles cracking, his golden family ring twisting on his middle finger...
Nothing could have prepared him for today. Not thousands of different speeches or comforting words of his best friend, who had been taking care of you for the last few years. Maybe that was a bit comforting; for Remus to keep his promise to him, even though he thought he was a murderer, he still took you in. Remus with his good wolf-like heart, despite all the things he believed.
He told Sirius you wouldn't care how he was dressed but Sirius had changed about seven times already. Tie or no tie? Bow or no bow? A jacket or a blazer? Jeans or pants? Hair combed or natural? Shaved or not shaved?
It all led him to here; him pacing up and down the living room, twisting his family ring on his finger as another mistake has caught his eye. "This probably should be put away?" he continued to look at the black family vase. "KREACHER!" he shouted and the small elf appeared from thin air.
"Yes, Master-"
"Put this vase away. Hide it, throw it- I don't care. Just get it out of my sight." he spoke nervously and the elf obeyed, cursing under his breath.
He heard the door open and a loud laughter echo through the hall. Your laughter- it wasn't as small and high as he remembered it to be but it was still yours- that he definitely knew.
"Oh this place hasn't changed at all, Moony." you said as you had looked around the hall, a nostalgic rush of memories running through your head. "Grandpa told me he always hated this portrait of him. Said his nose was too large."
Sirius chuckled. That was true. He always did hate the portrait of him in the hall but never said anything because of his wife.
"Never said anything because of my wretched grandmother." you repeated his thoughts.
"Your grandmother was more than just wretched, Paddy." Remus smiled and grabbed your luggage. "I'll take these upstairs. I think you remember where your room was."
"Up, left, three doors down." you finger gunned him and made your way through the hall.
When you entered the living room, you were alone. Nothing but the same old black leather sofa, the magnificent fireplace you used to warm up with your grandfather when you visited- though where is grandpa. You swore his jar was right on the fireplace. A dark ugly vase.
Your eyebrows furrowed as you looked around if somebody has placed it somewhere else. When you did, your eyes met his.
Your breath got caught in your throat and you felt yourself standing completely still. Something cut you in half, maybe the way he had watched you but when you came out of your shock, you realised it was still the same warm, fuzzy, homely feeling that washed over you.
"Wow." he smiled, looking at you from head to toe. Your hair was long and he was quite surprised because when you were a child, you always hated long hair. Too much brushing- you used to say. Your eyes were welcoming, bright and similar. He used to tell you that they reminded him a bit of his younger brother, Regulus. He used to have that same welcoming and bright look in his eyes when he was a little boy. It wasn't much in the shape or the colour but in they way they saw the world, which scared him and inspired him at the same way.
You were not a little girl anymore. You had grown. You had gotten curves and a womanly-like shape. Of course, jeans and a leather jacket. Reminds him of himself when he was your age. Your face was full of youth and you looked taken care for.
"You're definitely not a little girl anymore." he said as he tried to catch his breath.
"Yeah." you smiled, sitting down and looking a bit around. "Twenty. Even I'm starting hard to believe it." you smiled and patted the seat next to you.
"Twenty." he sighed under his breath. He felt his heart sink and his shoulders slump. He had missed everything. From your childhood, to your first day at Hogwarts, your first date, graduation,...
"You haven't changed much." you said and he looked at you, laughing a bit.
"You think so?"
"Yeah." you shook your head. "Your hair is still long, your eyes a bit tired."
He kept quiet. Yes, he was tired. He was exhausted from hiding all the time, from living in that prison, filled with revenge for that rat. "He calls you Paddy still." Sirius smiled, referring to the nickname Remus had given you. "He used to do that from the moment you were born. Little Padfoot, he called you."
"Oh, he had told me all about the day I was born. You fainting in the middle."
"I just had to lay down for a while, okay. He's over-exaggerating." he started to defend himself.
"Bet." you laughed and he joined you.
"He told me you're training to become an Auror."
"Yeah. Guess, I take after my old man." you smiled brightly at him, melting his heart into a puddle of love and pride. When you saw him melt in front of your eyes, you put your hand on his knee and gave him a comforting look. "I always believed you were innocent. I just could never prove it."
"Oh, darling." he couldn't help himself, pulling you into a hug and letting tears fall down his cheeks at the words you had said. "I don't think you know how much I needed to hear that."
---
The whole experience of being here felt nostalgic. You knew you had been here before, stepped on those same stairs, dug your toes in that same rug, put your watch on that same night stand,... even the sheets felt as light and silky as it did when you were only a child. You didn't mind spending your time here. Your grandmother was strict, more than you heard but your grandfather was soft, nothing like you had heard from Remus or your dad or Regulus... not that you remember your uncle much. You had some faint memories of him but he simply disappeared one day and neither of your grandparents wanted to mention his name ever again. A forbidden name but it was his room, you occupied and whenever you laid here, more connected you felt to him and your roots when your father was away.
You spent weekends here or week days here. Remus was always in search of jobs and some months he couldn't provide for the both of you so you had spent some years here. Your grandfather melted at your sight, he simply adored you and he reminded you so much of your own father. Your grandmother always told you that you had made him go soft but grandchildren tend to do that. You knew she was softer to you as well, more than she was with your father and your uncle. Your grandfather said that she wanted to do right by you, not drive you away like she did with her sons. He knew because he did just the same.
There was a knock on the door that took you far away from the old memories. "Come in." you said gently and a curly-head lad popped his head in.
He gave you the usual smile- just the one that had been filled till your 6th year of life.
"I came in here to wish you good night." he said as he entered the room, keeping something behind his back. "Oh wow." he looked around the room, feeling a little chill run down his spine as the memories of his brother ran through his mind. "It's just as I remember it. You didn't change it much."
"No. I didn't feel the need."
"I wonder where is he." Sirius said in a low whisper, barely audible to you. You decided to let go of this topic.
"I wanted to ask you something."
He turned back to you and sat down at the edge of your bed. "Shoot."
"What happened to grandpa?" you asked, causing Sirius' eyes to furrow. "His ashes? Did you spread them anywhere?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The urn. It used to sit up on the fireplace. It was a large black one. I know this place he used to take me just before he passed away. Only me and him knew about it. He never told grandmother about this place and he made me promise that it will be out little secret. It's a cave somewhere in Ireland. Cliffs of Moher, I believe."
"Wait..." he stopped you a bit. "That big ugly black vase was filled with his ashes?"
"Yes?" you raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh..." he felt his cheeks flush and you could see his eyes bulk out.
"Have you done something to the urn?"
"No, no. Of course not. I just put it in a much safer place." he lied and you could see right through it. He definitely did something to the urn but you let it pass, since the object in his hand pulled more of your attention.
"Alright. What's that in your hand?" you pointed and he quickly looked down.
"Oh, this." he pulled it out and it was a big thick book- a book you had a clear memory of. "It's silly, you probably don't remember it anymore."
You let out a laugh. "You're joking, right?" you sat up gently took the book away from him. "The Tales of Beedle the Bard!" you let out another excited laugh. "How could I not remember this? You used to read it to me every night. I could not fall asleep without it."
Sirius felt his poor heart explode in his chest. God, you still had that little girl inside of you. The one he tucked in every night but always resister with your tiny little legs because it was always too hot.
"I thought you'd have outgrown it.." he said quietly.
"If my friends ask me, yes but between you and me-" you leaned forward and whispered. "This is a little secret."
He let out another laugh. "Would you like me to read it to you again?"
You smiled widely. "I'd love for you to read it but dad-" you said and is eyes snapped to you, wide in surprise as it was the first time you had called him that in so many year. "- wouldn't you rather... get the Urn back first before Kreacher throws it away?"
"Probably a good idea but I'll be back." he stood up and ran out of the room, causing you to laugh at the sight but when he did come back with his father in his arms, he already saw you asleep in your bed.
He gently put his father on the desk and made his way to you. The book was open in the middle, one of yours and his favorite tales. He scooped the book up and placed it beside the vase. Then he remembered just how much his father hated these fairytale based books, so he pushed it far away from him.
"Even when your dust, I can't trust you." he said, narrowing his eyes at the vase before going back to you and observing you for a moment.
If he really thought about it, he didn't really lose you. Maybe time did take a way some of the precious memories he wanted to share with you but you turned out beautiful. You turned out to be this amazing, forgiving and understanding angel that still loved to read fairytales and take care of people when they were already ash.
He grabbed the edge of the covers and pulled it up to your chin, tucking you neatly just as he would when you were a child. Then he could hear something happening at the foot of the bed and see your bare feet poking out. He let out a small laugh.
"Some habits stay the same." he said, pushing away the strands on your forehead and giving you a gentle kiss. He then quietly took the book and his father, smiling that he gets to spend the rest of his life, creating new memories with you.
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kyonkyonswife · 3 years
Text
one - see you after school
'see you after school'
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. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .
That day was the day when I believed in nothing anymore. The moment I found out that my mother had gotten into a car accident, my heart collapsed. My chest felt heavy like I couldn't breathe. I felt like I lost a piece of me.
I knew that I wasn't the only one suffering through this. Tohru, my sister had completely broken down. I couldn't even do anything to help her, she immediately locked herself in her room without saying anything.
That night I tried getting some sleep but I couldn't, this house reminded me of her. I knew I had to leave, so I did. I packed my bags and left my room, I walked past Tohru's room debating if I should visit her room one more time.
I decided that it was probably better to write a letter since she was such a light sleeper. Once I finished writing the letter, I quietly opened her door and placed it on her nightstand.
She had tear stains on her face but I knew she would get through this. I kissed her forehead and silently walked out of her room. I reached the front door and put on my shoes. I looked back for a bit then opened the door.
"To a new world of possibilities. Tohru I hope you'll be okay on your own, I really can't stay. Some day we'll meet again sister." I mumbled as I walked through the night.
╔═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗
I've been living in a tent for the past few months. It wasn't the comfiest place to live in but it was better than being at home. I knew that the moment mom had left Tohru and I, we would have to move to our grandpa's house and I honestly rather not deal with that side of the family.
I honestly just hope that Tohru is doing fine without me and that she's okay. My alarm went off as it interrupted my thoughts. I got ready for school but then saw that I had an hour before school so why not have a small walk before going to school.
Before I got out of my tent, I looked at the framed picture of mom, Tohru, and me. I told mom to keep my stuff safe while I was at school. Shutting my tent I walked until I reached a cliff where I could see all the houses down below.
The sun and slight breeze kissed my face. I closed my eyes for a bit before reopening them again. I heard a noise coming to my right and saw that there was a house. Me being curious, I decided to check it out.
Pulling out my phone and going to my notes, I quickly wrote down the house I discovered. Ever since I "moved" out of my old home I started writing about the stuff I discovered while taking walks.
I walk down towards the house and see that there were zodiac knickknacks. As I was admiring the zodiacs, a man who looks around his 20s spoke up which scared the shit out of me.
"Well, now! It's not too often I see a girl around here." He said as he folded his newspaper that he was reading.
'He low-key kinda fine, I mean wait what.' "H-hello! I'm sorry! I was looking around without permission." I say as I kept on bowing.
"Go right ahead. But wouldn't a young person like you find this place boring?" He asked as he crouched down near me.
"No, not at all! These zodiac knickknacks are adorable." I panicked as I waved my hands in front of me.
"Ah, yes. They're a favorite of mine, too." He told me.
"It's another set without a cat, though..." I said as we both looked at the zodiacs.
"Cat? Oh! Are you thinking of the cat from the old zodiac folktale?" He questioned.
"Yes! My mother used to tell my sister and me that story all the time."
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
Flashback
"Once upon a time, God told the animals: 'I invite you to the banquet I shall hold tomorrow.' But the rat, who loved to pull pranks, lied to his neighbor the cat and told him the banquet was the day after tomorrow. On the day of the banquet, the rat rode on the ox's back, then leaped easily down to arrive there first. After him came the ox, the tiger, and the rest, and they all feasted merrily until dawn. All of them except the deceived cat." Mom told us as Tohru started crying.
"Tohru! Why the heck are you crying?" Mother asked as I hugged Tohru to calm her down.
"That poor cat! Okay, I've decided!" She said as she got out of my arms and went to the window and looked up to the moon, "I'm going to quit being a dog and be a cat instead!"
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
End of flashback
"My, my. I wonder what face he'd make if he heard that." He said as I look at him with a smile but in reality, I was confused inside but whatever.
"Pardon?" I said with a smile.
"Anyway, so you and your sister were born in the year of the dog? That makes me feel close to you. After all, I'm a dog-" he said as he got hit in the head with a bag. "-too."
"Lay off the inappropriate flirting. Are you all right, L/n-san? Did my cousin pull any funny business?" Yuki said as he still kept the bag on his cousin's head while facing me.
You're probably wondering why Sohma-kun called me L/n. The day after I left home, I had decided to change up my look so that Tohru wouldn't recognize me. After I was finished changing up my entire look, I went to the school and told them to change my last name and to introduce me as a new student due to reasons. Surprisingly they agreed which leads us to here now.
"S-Sohma-kun! Good morning!", "That hurts!", "Did you pack a dictionary or something?" His cousin and I overlapping our words.
"Two, in fact. Good morning." Sohma said as he put his bag on his back.
"Oh, do you two know each other?" Sohma's cousin said as he held his head.
"This is L/n-san. She's in my class." Sohma said.
I bowed down to introduce myself, "I'm Y/n Hon- uh I mean L/n. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Oh. Well, I'm Shigure Sohma. Yuki-kun's cousin." He introduced himself with a smile.
"Say, what brings you here?" Questioned Sohma.
'SHIT UM MAKE UP SOMETHING Y/N THEY CANNOT KNOW THAT I LIVE IN A TENT.' "I, er, live nearby..." I said while panicking.
"You live... near here?"
"Huh."
"Well, I'll be going," I said as I try to run off but not before Yuki called out for me.
"L/n-san?"
"Yes?" As I turn around to look at the silver-haired boy.
"Since you're here, why don't we walk to school together?"
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
The minute I got to school I was bombarded by Sohma's fan club. They were telling me the rules of their fan club until Hanajima, Uotani, and Tohru showed up.
Hana-chan scared them with her waves and Uo-chan just scared them. While they were scaring the girls off, Tohru had comforted me. Since I had changed my look and came here as a new student a few months ago Tohru didn't recognize that it was me.
She was the first person to approach me and we became friends quickly, that's when she introduced me to Hana-chan and Uo-chan.
"Uo-chan, Hana-chan, and Honda-san thank you for saving me."
"You poor thing, That was some bad luck!" Uotani said as she hugged me. "Hanajima, don't do the wave thing."
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
At home economics room
"I gotta say, though, you sure don't come to school with prince every day," Uo-chan said.
"It made me very nervous. Sohma-kun is too beautiful..." I said while stirring the food.
"You know... I find his waves quite strange." Hana-chan says while holding up the knife near her face.
"Here comes Hanajima's wave report," Uo-chan says.
"Strange in what way?" Tohru questions.
"That's the thing- I'm not sure," Hanajima says as we all look at him.
"True, he is a little mysterious. When a second-year confessed her love to him a while back and tried to hug him. He sent her flying. Scared the heck out of her." Uotani told us.
"I didn't know that" as we continued to look at Yuki. "I wonder why-"
"You four! Move your hands, not your mouths!"
"Ah...What?" The home economics teacher said as she looked down to see that the food was done.
"We're done already, moron."
"Don't you talk big! I know Honda-san and L/n-san did all of that!" The teacher said as she pointed at Uo-chan.
"The rice is done," Hanajima said as she sat down to serve us rice.
"Sheesh." The teacher said as she walked away.
"Hey Y/n, Tohru. I'm going shopping with Hanajima after school. Wanna come?"
"Sorry, I have work today," I said as I sit down. "Me too," Tohru says.
"Right, you promised to pay your tuition, didn't you? That's rough."
"But you work almost daily. That shouldn't be necessary just for tuition, surely?" Hanajima questioned as she handed out the rice.
We talked about my job more until Uotani asked Tohru if she still lived with her grandparents. Tohru looked scared but told us that she was okay. There was something off and I had to find out what was going on with my sister. The way that she freaked out and panicked the moment Uo-chan asked her that question had me confused and worried.
"Anyways Tohru, any news about your sister? Has anyone found them yet?" Uo-chan asked.
"No it's been months now and the only thing she left was a note," Tohru explained.
As they were talking I zoned out and thought that it was about time to tell Tohru.
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
It was already the end of the day. School had finished a few minutes ago. I ran down the stairs and saw Yuki.
"Sohma-kun! Thank you for this morning!"
"Nonsense. I apologize for Shigure." Sohma said as he closed his shoe locker.
We walked out of the school, "Oh, no, he's a very nice person! He even showed me his zodiac knickknacks."
"That's right, you were saying something about your sister being a cat?
"She was an odd sister but I loved her for it. I can't blame her though secretly inside I rather be a cat than a dog."
"Mhm. The cat is an idiot. And ornery, too." I looked up at Yuki surprised as we kept walking.
"L/n-san, did you know that the zodiac animals began as part of the sexagenary cycle? They were used as numerals and clocks divisions, then later yin-yang and elemental relationships were folded in with them. That's when they became fortune-telling tools. The math never left room for the cat to begin with. I think that's for the best anyway, though. What's so good about being allowed to join the zodiac? The cat is such an idiot."
"So... are you saying you hate cats, Sohma-kun?" I asked but then stopped because Yuki stopped walking to look at me.
We just stared at each other, wind blowing as leaves began to flow around us. A leaf landed on my forehead but I didn't even realize it. Suddenly my alarm started ringing which meant I had work very soon.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I have to go work!"
"L/n-san."
"Yes?!" I saw before turning around to face Yuki. As I faced him he took the left off my forehead. He was very close to me. Man, he looked hot from this angle, I mean wait what.
"You look under the weather." He said while still holding the leaf. "It's still so hot, too. You should be careful of your health." As he let go of the leaf and walked away while I was still holding my forehead.
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
Timeskip
Yuki and Shigure's pov
"Eating out or getting delivery every night gets old." Sighed Shigure as the duo walked through the bamboo forest.
"You make dinner then," Yuki said.
"You only complain when I do."
"Anyone would complain about picked radishes in their curry."
"And you may be smart, but household stuff is the one thing you suck at. Two slovenly men living alone really need a woman's help." As Shigure was talking Yuki turned his head to the right to see that Y/n was walking down a path.
"Say, isn't that Y/n-kun?" Shigure asked. "What's she doing out here so late?"
"I heard her mother died... Maybe she moved out here?"
"No, the Sohma's haven't rented any of this land outside the family," Shigure explained.
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
Y/n's pov
After a long day of work, I walked straight back to the tent. Once I saw the tent in the distance I ran towards it and opened it. Someone screamed so loud that I think I went deaf and I closed my eyes and covered my ears.
"L/n-san?" The person said as I opened my eyes.
"Tohru? What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I... uh... What are you doing here?" Tohru said to try and avoid the conversation.
"Well, I asked you first," I said as Tohru started to explain. Once she was finally done explaining it was my turn.
"Tohru there's something I need to tell you..."
"What is it L/n-san?"
"I'm your sister Tohru." The minute I said that tears started pouring out of her eyes. She quickly hugged me and I wrapped my arms around her sobbing.
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
Yuki and Shigure's pov
We followed Y/n which led us to a small tent. From outside of the tent we could hear two voices talking, then suddenly the tent opens and L/n-san and Honda-sun came out of the tent with tear-stained faces. The four of us stared at each other for a bit until Shigure started laughing at Tohru and Y/n.
"It's not that funny, Shigure."
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
Y/n's pov
The four of us sat in Shigure's house. Shigure was still laughing his ass off.
"I thought something was strange- the Sohma's own all the land in this area," Yuki explained.
"Tent... they live in a tent..." Shigure laughed.
"Um, would you please let us stay there for a little while?" Tohru asked as we both look at our hands.
"We'll leave as soon as renovations are over," Tohru added.
"I... don't have much money, but I'll pay what I can."
"I'll help pay as well," I said as I looked up to face Yuki.
"Please." Tohru and I said at the same time.
"That's a dangerous spot.", "You finally done laughing?", "The soil is soft near the cliff, and there are pervs around," Shigure said while Yuki mumbled something. "And two girls can't just live in a tent for months, anyways."
"It's alright! We're used to slugs now!" I said I stand up. "I promise, I've got more than enough strength and willpower for Tohru and me. So please...!" I said until I slowly fell back down to the floor.
"L/n-san?!" Yuki says before coming over to me.
Tohru placed a hand on my forehead and felt how hot it was, Yuki did the same.
"She's got a fever," Yuki says.
"Sohma-kun please don't call me L/n anymore, it's Honda," I say as I started losing more energy.
"EHHH?!?" Yuki says in confusion.
"I'll explain later Sohma-kun," Tohru says as she holds my hand.
"Well, I'll go get some ice to cool down your fever," Shigure says while getting up to open the kitchen. "Uh-oh, where would it be...?"
"It's the sea of decay," Tohru says while staring at the kitchen in shock.
"Nice analogy!" Exclaimed Shigure. "See what did I tell you? Part of the cliff just crumbled."
"Huh? U-um, how can you tell?" Tohru asked.
"Hmm? Let's call it animal instinct."
"Right..." Like I was believing this bullshit.
"Enough joking," Yuki says as he pulls out a first aid kit. "Don't you have the exact location?"
"Could it have been... near my tent?!" Worriedly said Tohru.
"Surely not!" As Shigure and Tohru laughed it off.
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
"Oh, no! Y/N!! Our mother's picture is inside the tent!" Tohru exclaimed.
"WHAT!?!" I screamed as I tried digging the dirt. "SHE CAN'T BREATHE UNDER THERE!"
"It's best if we come back tomorrow when the sun rises," Shigure says as he puts his hand on mine. "Your mother would suffer more if you or Tohru got hurt."
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
Back at Shigure's house
While I was lying down in a futon, Tohru sat beside me while I drifted off to sleep. The last thing I could hear is Tohru talking about what happened to our mother.
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
The next morning
I had woken up and saw to my right that Tohru was asleep. She looked peaceful, as I was going to move a piece of hair out of her I remembered that I need to dig out mother.
"Tohru wake up! We can't afford to be snoozing! We have to dig up mom!" I said as I pulled up Tohru and ran out the door only to find Yuki walking up to us with a bag of our stuff.
"Good morning. How do you feel Honda-san?" Yuki asked as he handed Tohru our mom's picture. " I also went to your tent to get your stuff."
"Sohma-kun, please just call us by our first names so that we don't get confused," I said. "Also I would question how you got to move all the dirt but I think I rather not."
"Wise choice Y/n."
"I'll bring your stuff upstairs, I hope you don't mind sharing a room," Yuki says while smiling. "I know it's a mess, but we do have an empty room on the second floor. You can both stay here until those renovations are done."
"We couldn't possibly!" I and Tohru said while waving our hands in the air.
"The doors are lockable."
"That's not what we meant!"
Shigure out of nowhere slid to where Tohru, Yuki, and I are and asked, "do you girls like chores? Like cleaning and cooking for example?" As he got close to me and Tohru's face.
"Er, yes, we do..." We said as we slowly slid back away from Shigure.
"Welcome to the Sohma household! Your room isn't aired out, so open the windows, yeah? Oh, and I'd better get you and Tohru a copy of the house key."
"NO, WAIT! We can't do this to you! It would cause you too much trouble!"
"We don't consider it as trouble, so just accept the offer." They both walked up the stairs as we followed them. "You don't have anywhere else to go anyways, right?"
"But if we're going to impose on you, please tell us the Sohma rules and customs!"
"Nevermind that. Just be you, Y/n-san and Tohru-san, and live at your own pace. Here at this house, just be yourselves."
We followed Yuki into the room that Tohru and I would be staying in for a while. Tohru was currently behind me while Yuki went to go open a window. Out of nowhere something comes crashing down the ceiling. As the air started clearing up, a boy with orange hair stood about a foot away from me.
"You ready for your beating, rat-boy?" Asked the orange-haired boy.
"How about you just give it up already?" Yuki said as he leaned against the windows. "Since you're weak."
"Why, you. You're going to get hurt if you think I'm the same fighter I was last time!" As the orange raised his fist and was about to hit Yuki. "Here I come!" I reached out to stop him but ended up tripping on a piece of wood which sent me into the boy's back. Out of nowhere a poof of smoke appear but then disappeared, I wasn't paying attention to the smoke because I had sent a boy into the floor.
"Yuki-kun! Was that Kyo I heard?" Shigure said as he popped his head inside the room.
"I...I'm so sorry! Are you alright? Um..." As I picked up an orange cat.
"H-he turned into a cat!" Tohru said.
"That idiot."
"I-i-is this my fault?!?! I hit him wrong somehow and turned him into a c-cat?!? Anyways, he needs to go to the hospital!!" I said I stand up ready to bring him to the hospital which caused a wooden plank to fall onto my head which made me fall into Tohru, which also made Tohru fall onto Shigure and Yuki. The poof of smoke appears once again and Tohru and I were met with a rat and dog.
╚═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝
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xfangheartx · 2 years
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A Fairy Tail Christmas Miracle- Chapter 3
And here's the finale!
Tagging: @petri808 @thenaluarchive @rougescribe @ljf613
Lucy wasted no time in summoning Loke to her side, telling him to use his Regulus Light to send up a signal flare to the rest of the guild. During that time, Haru and Blue Fang made their way down a much safer slope, pulling the sled behind them while Lucy and Happy pulled Natsu out of the snow. It was only then that they saw the extent of the Salamander's exposure to the sub-zero temperatures.
Natsu's skin was a pale blue and his eyes almost looked sunken in. He also looked a bit skinnier, too, obviously due to not being able to eat for a few days. When Lucy touched his cheek in an attempt to get him to wake up, she felt next to no warmth from him, at all, and that only made her heart clench. Not just that, but she and Haru got a good look at his ankle: part of it was swollen and limp, an obvious sign that he broke it after he fell down the cliff. Hell, Natsu was practically motionless, himself.
Lucy bit her lip as she hugged him, trying her hardest to fight off her tears.
'Please... please, don't die, Natsu... not when I still need you!'
"We have to get him home and get him warmed up!" Haru urged.
"But how?" Happy asked, but at that moment, several encroaching footsteps were heard, causing them to turn... and sure enough, the rest of the guild had arrived.
"Oh, Mavis above!!" cried Elektra as she ran over to the practically frozen Fire Dragon Slayer. "Natsu, are you okay, honey?!"
"Oh, man," Gray said as he looked his rival over. "He's not lookin' so good!"
"Don't anyone just stand there!" Gajeel shouted. "Hurry and get him into the sled!"
"Be very careful!" Erza added as she took the limp Natsu by the arm. "Who knows how long he's been out here like this?"
Soon, with Macao and Gray's help, Erza got Natsu in the sled, and as soon as he was inside, Haru wrapped her brother up in blankets while Lucy gently held his head in her lap and stroked his hair. Wendy climbed in as well, using her magic to heal his ankle as best she could. Happy was soon curled up beside him, clinging to his best friend's shoulder as he watched him tearfully.
"Natsu... wake up...!" Happy urged. "Please!"
"Come on, bro...!" Haru urged, her eyes also beginning to well up with tears.
"Please, Natsu...!" Lucy whispered, wiping her eyes, once again. "Please... please, wake up... for me...?!"
At that moment... a tear fell, dripping onto Natsu's face... and that's when his eyelids seemed to twitch.
"Hey!" Gray exclaimed. "Did you see that?!"
"Natsu?!" Makarov asked as he came closer... and sure enough, Natsu groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and he could barely make out the shapes of his fellow guildmates... but one that he instantly recognized was the one who had his head in her lap.
"...Luce...?" he said in a weak, barely audible voice, causing Lucy to smile as her tears came back, once again.
"Hey," she whispered.
"W... what's goin' on?" Natsu asked.
"Just hold on, Natsu, okay?" Haru asked. "You'll be home, soon, and then you'll get warmed up!"
"Let's go, everyone!" Makarov called, and with that, the entire guild began to make their way back to Magnolia... and the whole time, Natsu laid in the sled, paying attention to nothing else but the soothing ministrations of Lucy's fingers combing through his hair. With a quiet sigh, Natsu felt himself drifting away into slumber, once again.
As they made their way home, Laxus glanced over at Lucy, who continued to tend to Natsu.
"Hey," he said, causing her to look at him. "How did you even know that Natsu was down here?"
Lucy blinked owlishly before she looked back down at Natsu. "I... I don't really know... I just heard this voice, telling me to turn around... that he was down here."
"I see," Makarov realized. "Lucy, my dear... you realize what they call those kinds of things, don't you?"
"Grandpa's right," said Elektra as she looked back at the Celestial Spirit Wizard with a warm, knowing smile. "What happened, Lucy... was nothing short of a miracle."
Lucy smiled back at her as she continued to hold Natsu during the whole ride back home.
~The Next Morning~
The first thing Natsu noticed when he woke up the next morning was that surrounded he was surrounded by the smell of medicine... so he knew that he must be in the guild's infirmary. As he opened his eyes, he found himself staring up at the ceiling, and though he tried to move, he found that he was covered up by thick blankets.
"Natsu?"
Natsu glanced to his right... and there was Lucy, smiling with relief as she stared at him, a blanket draped over her shoulders.
"Lucy...?" he muttered, his voice a little stronger this time.
"Hey, sleepyhead," Lucy greeted as she gently held his hand... his warm, no longer pale hand.
"What happened?" Natsu asked. "How'd I end up back here?"
"We found you, remember?" Lucy reminded him. "Natsu, you were buried in snow when we found you... you were so cold, you were barely alive... your ankle was broken, too."
Natsu glanced down at his right ankle and noticed that it was in a cast. It seemed to have some various doodles and writing on it, too.
"I do remember falling off a cliff," he said. "I guess I broke my ankle when I hit the ground... and it was so cold, I couldn't even keep my eyes open, anymore."
Lucy sighed as she leaned over... pressing her forehead against his, causing him to smile as he gently nuzzled back, a soft purr rumbling in his chest.
"I thought I lost you, you know," she said. "You had me so worried."
"I'm sorry, Luce," Natsu replied. "I didn't mean to worry ya."
"It's okay," Lucy replied, "but now... I have to know... Natsu, why did you go on a job by yourself? You didn't take Happy along, or Haru, or any of us. What happened?"
Natsu pulled his lower lip in between his teeth, glancing away from Lucy, who stared at him in concern. Realizing that she wasn't going to leave him alone any time soon, he sighed as he looked back at her.
"I needed the money," he began, "to buy you your Christmas present."
Lucy's eyes widened while the Fire Dragon Slayer gave her an apologetic look. That's when it all came back to her: for the past 2 weeks, whenever she and Natsu went out for their walks in town, Lucy would always stop in front of her favorite book store and stare at the book in the display window. It was a novel written by one of her favorite authors and she had read many great reviews about it... but the only problem was it was so very expensive. It was 300,000 Jewel, exactly, and it was a limited edition, too.
She didn't even think that Natsu was paying any attention because she knew that he wasn't really a bookworm like her... but then she had to stop and remember that he was more in tune with her than even she realized.
"...So... the reason why you went on that job...?" Lucy asked.
"The reward was more than enough," replied Natsu. "I could have bought you that book that you wanted so much... I wanted to surprise you." He then sighed as he swallowed thickly. "I... I'm sorry I didn't get you your present, Luce."
Lucy smiled, tears welling up in her ears before she gently cupped his cheek and kissed his forehead, causing his cheeks to flush pink.
"You dummy," she said. "You already gave me what I wanted."
"...I did?" Natsu asked in confusion.
"Yes," Lucy replied. "You're here... you're alive and that's all that matters."
Natsu blinked at her before he gave that big toothy grin that she loved so much... but that smile soon faded as his stomach started grumbling.
"Ugh... I'm not just alive, I'm starving," he groaned.
"I know what'll fix that," Lucy replied as she handed him a crutch. "Come on. Everyone's waiting."
Natsu smiled as he tucked the crutch under his right arm, then allowed Lucy to help him to his feet as they both exited the infirmary. The moment they did, almost everyone surrounded the two, but Asuka, in particular, ran up and practically threw her arms around the Fire Dragon Slayer's waist, causing him to stumble back for a moment because he wasn't expecting her to do so, but he smiled nonetheless as he gently ruffled her hair while Alzack and Bisca both smiled warmly. Wendy was next, although she was gentler than Asuka was, prompting Natsu to wrap his arm around her, happily as he reassured her that he was okay. Gray then slung his arm over Natsu's shoulders, jokingly saying that if he ever scared everyone like that, again, he was going to have to kill him. As for Erza, she just placed her hand on Natsu's shoulder before she pulled him into a hug (thankfully, she wasn't wearing her armor), happy that he was okay. Speaking of Happy, the little blue Exceed was clinging to Natsu's shoulder, nuzzling his face and crying tears of joy that his best friend was alive. After that came Haru, who also gave her adoptive older brother a hug, though she was trying her hardest to hold back her relieved tears while Blue Fang gave the Salamander a big lick on his face, leaving behind a trail of wolf drool.
Makarov gave Natsu a light scolding for worrying everyone, but Elektra was just happy to have him home for she promptly hugged him and smothered his face with motherly kisses. Laxus gave the boy a light punch to the arm while Gajeel just quipped that Natsu was lucky to even be alive. Lisanna also came and gave Natsu a hug while Mirajane and Elfman stood back, smiling at them. Cana was laughing as she took a nip of her bottle while the other guild members went to go and greet Natsu. Soon after, they led the hungry Salamander to the table where he found a lavish meal of turkey, ham, baked potatoes, and other delicacies waiting for him, and without any further prompting, he dug right in while the others went to join him.
Up in the rafters, as the guild ate, drank, and made merry, the spirit of Mavis Vermillion smiled softly at everyone gathering together before she looked up and declared...
"Merry Christmas, everyone!"
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i-love-you-all · 2 years
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Brimstone has thoughts that he doesn’t control...
~1.4k words, mild violence, memories, hurt, implied death. (anything else? pm me and i’ll add them here.) Rough draft here, will edit then make a series on Ao3
What makes a friend a best friend?
Brimstone then didn’t know the answer, that much was for certain.
When he was young, it was all about who had the guts to go against him in a game of soccer, football, or hockey. The ones who competed, who played to win, who smiled as easily as he did in a world that did its best to push you down were his friends. But still, one by one, they lost their connection to him. Some moved away, others turned arrogant, and others still just turned on him. Were they even friends?
As he got older, he realized just how little he understood about relationships past the professional ones made between peers. Even when he joined the military at eighteen, he had trouble identifying friend from rival, and rival from enemy. Friendships were shallow and they didn’t give Brimstone any feeling of connection or deep trust.
That all changed the day he got assigned to clean the gun closet with Kay.
Up to this point, he had never met someone with a more innately friendly disposition than that man. And despite his aloof façade, Brimstone was readily accepted by Kay as a friend.
“Why are you so… friendly,” Brimstone asked him one day, feet hanging off the roof of the barracks. They snuck up here on nights where Brimstone couldn’t sleep.
“I used to have these long conversations with my grandpa.” Kay was staring off into the night sky, not really watching Brimstone who was studying him like he would get them out of drills the next day. “His philosophy in life was just… If you’re not sure, start off nice. Things were way more likely to go your way. And that no matter what judgements they made about me before speaking a word, a well said compliment could wash it all away.”
Brimstone nodded his head. “I think I was actually told the opposite. Don’t trust anyone unless they profit off your success.”
“Kind of a sadder way to live.”
Brimstone shrugged. “Helped me out in the end.”
Eventually, Brimstone found himself trusting and relying on Kay as he would on his sister or his father. He would gladly admit that it was easier that way, and through Kay’s eyes and actions, he could agree with him on the fact that having friends was much easier than toughing it out on your own. A day eventually came when he realized that Kay was basically his family at that point.
People said that he smiled more often those days. And that it was a start reminder of what went wrong when it stopped.
The war was something that no one saw coming. How could anyone have predicted that one day, a substance would arrive on earth that gave people actual superpowers? Just like that, he found himself on a precarious battlefield. They knew that they were just men. He and Kay were pinned down on the top floor of an office building, and their escape options were… deadly to put it lightly. One, they could try to take the stairs to the bottom floor, but with the building already on damaged foundations and leaned over, ready to topple any moment, Brimstone wasn’t sure if that was even an option. Still, it was better than option two: rappelling down the side of the building amidst a firefight. If even one person looked up at them, they’d be dead.
“End of the line for us.”
He didn’t even get a response. Well, not one in words. The room shook as something exploded behind them.
When he regained his vision and finally looked at his surroundings, he had another choice in front of him. On one side, a masked figure in a hoodie and sweats was literally glowing green as trails of smoke drifted from his fingers. The smell of dust and rubble filled his nostrils and Brim just knew that this was the one who caused all this damage. Had he been alone, had he never met Kay, this would’ve been simple… but…
Kay looked half conscious; his fingers dug into the cement floor blood dripping from the various scrapes he had suffered from the explosion. And Brimstone felt his heart skip a beat.
Deal with the radiant first.
That was the first thought. It wouldn’t matter if Brim could even get to Kay in time if the radiant was still there. He took a few shots at his target, only one hitting, before rolling behind cover. He almost felt the need to slap his hands over his ears when he heard the scream of fury come from the mystery person. Inhuman. That’s what the noise was.
He couldn’t stay on his feet though as another shockwave shook the unstable floor, and he heard cracking coming as well as the pained grunts of his best friend hanging on for his life. It only took a split second for Brimstone to locate then lunge at the radiant, knocking them off their feet. As he aimed to take a shot with his pistol though, the radiant quickly regained their bearings and hit the gun out of his hands. With superhuman strength, he was shoved to the side as another shockwave rolled out from the radiant… then another. The dark red liquid dripping down their side showed their weakness, but Brim was too unsteady to make it any worse.
And Kay…
The radiant fled, parkouring down the ruined buildings with no fear. With the threat gone, he rushed over to Kay, who was barely hanging onto one of the metal supports that was now exposed.
“Hold onto me,” Brimstone called out, trying to reach out to his friend. The hazel eyes looked back at him with so much fear that… that for a moment, Brim truly thought that this attempt was hopeless.
Not that it mattered when he reached down to grab ahold of that same beam and started trying to pull Kay up – at least so that he could pull himself up the rest of the way.
“Not enough,” Kay managed to say, after a failed attempt at grabbing something sturdier to hold onto. “You gotta go. This building isn’t gonna–”
They were cut off as the top of the building – their floor – creaked and groaned as it tilted further.
“No… No not like this.” Brimstone, once again, reached out for him. “Grab onto me.”
Had he been thinking clearer, which he had ample time to do in the decade since the incident, he would’ve come to the same conclusion to as Kay. It didn’t matter. If Kay grabbed onto Brimstone, he wasn’t strong enough at that moment to pull him up. It’d be more likely that they both tumbled over. If he didn’t tumble over due to the weight, one more shift in the building would’ve done it too. And should the impossible happen and he lift Kay up… well, they would both need to get to the ground floor, and Kay, who was already injured, had new gashes on his leg and side from his slide to the edge.
“You have to let go.” It didn’t make sense at the time. Because it wasn’t him holding the metal bar, but in hindsight, Kay was telling him in advance to move on.
“Brimstone!” A large pair of hands was wrapped around him and pulling him away from the cliff’s edge. He looked back into the one brown, one blue eye of Sova, who had his arms wrapped around him and was straining to keep him topside. He was holding onto – not Kay – but Kay/O.
“You have to let go,” the robot was saying in that vaguely familiar voice.  “I’m just a machine. I can be rebuilt.”
“Let… go, Brimstone,” Sova said again, heels digging into the dirt. Kay/O wasn’t even holding onto Brimstone – it was the other way around.
“Remember to rebuild me,” Kay/O said, more directed at Sova than Brimstone. “You leave me for scrap, I’ll kill you.”
Sova chuckled and gave one last heave backwards. Brimstone let go of the machine and watched him fall.
“Are you ok, Brimstone? You lost focus,” Sova immediately started checking in with him.
Any other day and he would maybe tell this younger man about the dangers of making friends in the midst of a battle.
Today, he said, “I’m fine.”
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dccomicsimagines · 3 years
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Christmas Surprises - Barbara Gordon x Reader - Part Two
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Part One
Requested by Anon -  Hey, I was wondering if you could do a sequel to the Barbara Gordon x Male Reader Christmas fic you did? Have it be a Christmas setting again and have it be where it takes place a couple years later and babs and reader having another Christmas party where they invited everyone and their kids are toddlers now and reader has been really busy fighting crime and babs worries that he won’t be there for Christmas and a miracle happens and reader happens to get there on time and it’s super fluff :)
***
“Higher, Daddy.” Mary screamed in delight as you held her above your head and spun her around. 
“Always the daredevil.” You laughed, blowing a raspberry into her cheek. 
Barbara walked into the living room with your suitcase in her hand. “Are you sure you have to go? It’s so close to Christmas.” You set Mary down. Mary ran over to the Christmas tree to look at the carefully wrapped presents. It was a habit of hers. 
“Sorry, sweetheart.” You pulled Barbara into your arms, kissing her passionately. She sighed, returning your kiss. Your voice dropped to a whisper. “Dick needs me on this one. He got into a big mess when he went undercover for Spiral.” 
Barbara snorted. “He’s always getting into messes. It’s the Grayson way.” She looked into your eyes. “You’ll call if you need help and you’ll be back in time for Christmas, right?” 
“Yes, boss.” You smirked, winking at her. “How can’t I come back to the most beautiful ladies in the world?” Mary ran back to you and hugged your leg, giggling. “And my beautiful little man too? Speaking of James, where is he?” 
Barbara shook her head. “He’s hiding. You know he hates it when you leave.” 
You kissed Barbara’s cheek. “I’ll talk to him quick.” Mary took your suitcase from Barbara and started to open it. “Stop her from ripping everything apart, Babs. I can’t miss the flight.” 
Barbara turned away, stopping Mary. You sighed and left to find your son. “James, where are you, bud?” You went upstairs. He had three hiding places upstairs. You checked under your and Barbara’s bed first. Nothing there except rolls of wrapping paper. Your heart ached at the sight. You were going to miss a lot this year.
Eventually, you found James in his closet, tucked into the top shelf. “Jameo, come out now. I want to say goodbye.” You pulled him out. He stayed stiff and curled up in your arms. 
“No.” James pushed at your chest. “I don’t want to say goodbye.” 
You sighed. James was the more emotional of the two. You knew that scared Barbara, afraid James would become more like her brother than her father. Honestly, it didn’t worry you. Dick was the same way when he was younger. You could see a lot of Dick in your son. “Honey, I know you don’t like me leaving, but I have to go work.” 
“You always work.” James hit your shoulder. You sat down on his bed, shaking your head.
“No hitting.” You kissed James’ cheek despite him wiggling away from you. “I know I work a lot, but adults have to work. Besides, I’ll be back for Christmas and we’ll have a big party with the family. You’ll get to see Grandpa Jim and Papa Bruce.” 
“But you’re not going to come back someday.” James burst into tears. He hid his face into your chest. You blinked, surprised by this sudden turn. Kids’ thoughts always amazed you. 
You held him tighter, kissing the top of his head. “I promise that I will always do my best to come home.” Tears burned in your eyes, but you held them back. You had to be strong, even if you wanted to burst into tears too. “Where did you get this idea?” 
“Bobby told me how his Daddy didn’t come home.” James looked up at you. Your breath was taken away. His eyes were so much like Barbara’s. “His daddy went to work and never came back.” 
You pursed your lips. Bobby’s father was a cop. “I know, sweetheart.” You touch your nose to James’, looking in the eye. “But his daddy helped people, just like I help people. I will always try to come home to you.” You weren’t sure what else to say.
“Daddy.” James wrapped his arms around your neck, hugging you with a death grip. You held him tighter. Burying your face into his hair, you breathed in the smell of his baby shampoo. You had given him and Mary a bath last night.
You looked up to find Barbara watching from the doorway with tears in her eyes. “I love you so much.” You kissed James’ head again. It took all you had to get to your feet. “Take care of your sister and your mama for me, okay?” 
“Yes, Daddy.” James let you go and allowed you to set him back down on his feet. He ran over to Barbara, hugging her leg. 
“It’s time. You better get going.” Barbara took your hand. You pressed a kiss to the back of it. 
“Thanks, Babs.” You moved past her and hurried downstairs. 
Mary ran to you. “Daddy, you have to take a cookie with you.” She handed you a Santa shaped sugar cookie that you had made yesterday. 
“Thanks, sweetheart.” You kissed her head, taking the cookie while picking up your suitcase. “Be good for your mother. I love you.” You flashed Barbara a charming smile. She frowned at you. 
“Just come home soon.” Barbara went to your side, kissing you sweetly. “And if you are not back for the Christmas party, I will kill you.” 
You laughed. “And there’s the Barbara I know.” Barbara pushed you out the door. You waved to the kids as you walked down the driveway to the waiting cab. The Gotham suburbs were quiet for this time of night. It made you miss the city.
Once you were in the cab, you took one last look at the house to see Barbara, Mary, and James waving from the front window. You smiled, heart shattering. One day, you wouldn’t have to leave them behind again.
***
“So (Y/N) is off to Bhutan to save his brother again?” Dinah asked, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. Barbara nodded with a sigh, stirring her hot chocolate absentmindedly. The two of them were in the kitchen at Barbara’s house. Mary and James were taking their naps. The house was too quiet.
“I know why he has to go. I mean it’s Dick.” Barbara bit his lip. “And I can’t say no, because I left to help you last month, but it is so close to Christmas.” She took a sip of her hot chocolate. “We haven’t even taken the kids to see Santa yet. Not to mention shopping.”
Dinah raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said you wrapped presents yesterday.” 
“Only the ones we’re giving to other people. (Y/N) and I were waiting to go buy for the kids.” Barbara rubbed her temples. “It’s just hard not to have him here.” 
“I think you forgot about the Christmas party.” Dinah hid her smile behind her cup. 
“Oh and the Christmas party.” Barbara put her hands on her hips. “(Y/N)’s idea, of course, and now he’s not here to do any of the work for it. Typical Grayson behavior.” 
Dinah laughed out loud. Barbara glared at her. “Sorry Babs, but you said the same thing when you were going into labor too.” She changed her voice to sound like Barbara’s. “I’m going to have to push two humans out of me and all (Y/N) had to do was orgasm. Typical Grayson behavior.” 
“I did not say that.” Barbara blushed, even as she remembered shouting those words. The mixed expression of bewilderment and shock on your face when she said that was priceless. Dick had been in earshot and laughed until he collapsed onto the floor. 
“Sure, sure.” Dinah shook her head. “I’ll help you out if you want. Ollie is doing his brooding thing. I want to stay clear until he finally gets over himself.” 
Barbara raised an eyebrow. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when she heard little footsteps running down the stairs. “Oh no.” She closed her eyes when those footsteps were followed by a scream and a thump. “I swear Mary never learns to slow down.” Barbara left the room with Dinah in tow to check on her daughter. 
***
You pulled a photo out of your pocket. It was a recent one of Barbara and the twins. You took it on a beach trip you went on last summer. Your heart ached.
“We’re to the drop point you paid for, sir,” the pilot shouted over his shoulder. You were in a small biplane far above the ground. It wasn’t the best transportation, but you had to take what you could get. 
“Okay.” You tucked the photo back into your pocket securely and tightened the straps on your parachute. “Thanks.” 
“Just don’t die.” The pilot glanced back at you worriedly. “I don’t want blood splatter on my plane.” 
You laughed, smirking at him as you stood up. “Don’t worry. I’m pretty good at this sort of thing. It’s in the blood.” You jumped, somersaulting in the air.
The fall was great. You had a huge grin on the whole way down. Getting too into the fall, you waited a tad too long to pull the parachute. “If Barbara were here, she’d kill me,” you mumbled to yourself as the ground caught up to you quickly.  You released the parachute early and rolled into the landing.
Slamming into several rocks, you flipped to your feet just in time to stop yourself from rolling off a cliff. “Swell.” 
“Judging by that performance, you must be related to Agent 37.” You looked up to see a tall, muscular man with a keffiyeh on his head. He crossed his arms, looking annoyed. 
You smirked, recognizing that annoyed look from Dick’s descriptions of the guy. “Tony the Tiger, right?” 
He sneered at you. “I should kill you for that.” 
“Like you would.” Dick’s voice made you smirk even wider. “I know you love that nickname.”  
“Dickie boy, my brother, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” You ran to hug him once he stepped out from behind Tiger. “Look at you. Super spy.” You spun him around. Dick laughed, hugging you back and letting you manhandle him. “Getting into trouble like always.” 
You set him down. “Not too much trouble.” Dick smiled, drinking in the sight of you. He had been with Spiral for a year. You haven’t seen him in so long. “Thanks for coming, (Y/N). I know it’s a bad time of year for you to be gone.” 
“As long as you come home with me, we won’t have a problem.” You ruffled his long hair. “You need a haircut.” 
“Enough.” Tiger pushed himself between the two of you. “We have work to do.”
You raised an eyebrow. Dick shrugged. “I’ll explain it to you later,” Dick whispered, gesturing for you to follow him and Tiger. You sighed, wondering what you got yourself into.
***
“James, don’t run off.” Barbara jogged to catch up with her son. 
“But Mommy, Daddy would love this.” James bounced on his toes, pointing at the store display. Barbara sighed. Her heart was going to take a while to slow back down to a normal pace. 
Barbara tightened her hand around Mary’s. Mary was the runner. The one she always had to watch. You said she got that from Dick, who was ran off a lot as a little kid, but Barbara knew you were the real runner of the Grayson clan. “Jameo, why do you think Daddy would want a...” Barbara stared at the display. “A can opener?”
“Because Daddy is always opening cans.” James smiled proudly. Barbara bit her lip, giggling. She caved. Why did both kids have your smile? Her heart ached, wishing you were here for the hundredth time this hour. 
“Okay.” She picked one up with her free hand. “But now you hold Mary’s hand and no running off.” James obeyed and they headed to the front of the store. 
“Mommy, can I get Daddy that?” Mary said. Barbara stopped, turning to follow Mary’s gaze to see she was pointing at a piece of black lingerie.
It took everything Barbara had not to burst out laughing. Mary wouldn’t understand. “W..why would Daddy want that?” 
“Because it’s pretty.” Mary smiled sweetly. 
Barbara took a deep breath. She told herself not to imagine the look on your face when Mary gave you that. “Okay then.” She took one in her size, figuring she might as well. 
“Daddy is going to love our gifts.” Mary clapped her hands excitedly. Barbara made sure to grab her hand again. 
“I’m sure he will.” Barbara shook her head before leading the kids to find more gifts. 
***
You shook your head. “This is insane.” 
“Shut up.” Tiger smacked the back of your head. “Get in there and distract Talia al Ghul.” 
You shivered from the roof of the monastery. Talia was below, meditating. It was strange. You never knew her to meditate, but then again Damian did, so Talia must have taught him. “She knows me, you know. This won’t work.” 
“Use the hypos we gave you,” Dick said, pulling on a monk’s robe. “Tony and I need to end this once and for all.” 
“Barbara is going to kill me,” you muttered under your breath. You jumped, landing far away from Talia. Walking calmly, you acted like you were just strolling the monastery grounds. 
You stopped near Talia, studying a statue a few feet from her. She tensed, but relaxed after a moment. Her eyes stayed closed. “(Y/N) Grayson, so we meet again.” 
Cursing Dick and Tiger under your breath, you turned toward her. “Hello Talia, how are things?” The stupid hypos must not be working.
Talia opened her eyes and looked at you. “I didn’t know you worked for Spyral.”
“Oh so hypos is working?” You laughed, shaking your head. “Well, at least I didn’t mess that up.”
She clicked her tongue. “Are you here to stop my father?” 
You rubbed your chin, smiling when you realized she clicked her tongue like Damian did. “No, I’m just here to make sure my brother can come home.” 
“Brother? Richard is here?” Talia hopped to her feet.
“Maybe?” You pursed your lips, wondering if you should answer that. A sigh escaped you. You weren’t meant for this spy stuff. 
Talia grabbed your arm and dragged you inside the monastery. “He’s walking into a trap.” 
“Wait, what?” You allowed her to pull you along, heart skipping a beat. 
“My father wanted your brother here.” Talia led you deeper into the dark monastery. “We must move quickly to save him.”
“Dick, what have you gotten yourself into?” you whispered to yourself, shaking your head. 
***
“Grandpa Jim, can you help us make a snowman?” James asked, pulling at Jim’s arm as he tracked in snow from outside. 
“James, remember boots off before you come into the house,” Barbara sighed. She filled up Jim’s cup of coffee. Jim had stopped by the house for a visit. He and Barbara were sitting in the kitchen while the twins played outside. 
Jim ruffled James’ hair. “I’ll come out in a moment. Let me finish this coffee first.” James smiled.
“James, boots now.” Barbara pointed back toward the entryway. Jim laughed as James shuffled back to the entryway. “I swear neither of them ever remembers, but then again, neither does (Y/N).” Barbara shook her head with a sad smile.
“When is (Y/N) supposed to be home?” Jim studied his daughter over his cup of coffee. 
“Christmas Eve, hopefully in time for the party.” Barbara sighed. “I haven’t heard from him. I shouldn’t have let him chase after Dick.” 
Jim nodded. “Dick is running around with the circus again, huh?”
Barbara pursed her lips. Jim still didn’t know about her and your other lives. She hoped to keep it that way, especially since she and you weren’t going out as much. “Yeah, he’s always getting into trouble and (Y/N) has to bail him out.” She glanced out the window at Mary who was struggled to make a snowman. You would normally be out there helping her. Barbara’s heart ached. She missed you so bad. “(Y/N) is going to bring him home this time though.” 
Jim smiled sadly. “He’ll be here in time, Barbara. (Y/N) has never let you down.” 
She laughed. “No, he hasn’t.” She remembered how many times you showed up late, but always able to make up for anything you missed. That was a Grayson thing too. As just to prove her thought, James came in with a mop and tried to clean up the mess his boots made on the floor. 
Jim downed the rest of his coffee. “Look at him, just like his mother.” He got to his feet. “Come on, bud. Let’s go build a snowman.” 
“Really?” James cheered, grabbing Jim’s hand to pull him to the entry. Barbara caught the mop that James promptly dropped. She shook her head and finished cleaning up the mess. 
Once she was done, she went to the window to watch her father and her children build snowmen. She sighed. Slowly, she took a few pictures on her phone and sent them to you. You probably won’t get them until you were back in civilization. 
Barbara shook her head to stop herself from slipping down a slope of self pity. She should make the most of this moment. With a skip in her step, she put on her coat, boots, and gloves and went out to join her family.
***
“(Y/N)!” Dick screamed after you as you ran straight into the line of fire. Talia gasped when you slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. The bullets rained into the wall behind you. You wrapped your arms around her. 
“I’m not trying anything with you, I swear,” you laughed, amazingly calm despite the danger around you. You rolled Talia and yourself out of danger and behind cover. 
“I never thought much of you, (Y/N). Now I could see I was wrong.” Talia smiled at you, squeezing your bicep. 
You raised an eyebrow. “First of all, not the time as we are probably about to die. Second, yuck because you slept with Bruce, and third, I’m married to the smartest, most beautiful woman in the world.” Talia smirked. You shifted away from her, almost forgetting about the bullets showering around you. “Fourth, you’re Damian’s mom.” 
“What is your point?” Talia shifted closer to you.
“I mean no.” You rolled back out into the line of fire and somersaulted into the air. Within moments, the shooters were disarmed and unconscious. 
Dick ran to your side. “(Y/N), what the hell was that?!”
“Calm down, I’m fine. Talia is fine and coming onto me.” You turned back to where you left her. Your eyes widened. She was gone. “Well, not anymore, thank goodness.” 
Dick wrinkled his nose. “Well, Tony thinks you’re crazier than I am, and I didn’t think that was possible.” 
“Duh.” You wrapped an arm around Dick’s neck and gave him a noogie. Dick grunted, trying to escape. “I was the original, you know.” 
“Uh huh.” Dick escaped, glaring at you. “So I’ve officially resigned from Spyral. That was my deal with Tiger. I’ll help him with Ra’s and I’m free.” 
You sighed in relief. “Good, because it’s time to go home.” You wrapped your arm around Dick’s shoulders and pulled him toward the doors. “We got a party to crash.” 
“Can you crash a party when it’s at your house?” Dick teased, his arm settled around your waist. 
“You can if you’re late.” Dick and you came to a stop when you saw the mountains you needed to climb. 
A groan escaped you. “Did you forget to ask Tiger to give us a lift before he left?”
“Oops.” Dick blushed. You flicked him in the forehead, shaking your head.
“If Babs kills me, I hope you know it’s your fault.” You rolled your shoulders. Dick just laughed as you both started your journey back home.
***
Barbara vacuumed the living room. She glanced behind her to check on the twins. They were sitting at the dining room table, making paper chains to decorate for the party. Honestly, Barbara was quite proud of herself for thinking of something to keep them busy while she cleaned. 
She sighed. You had sent her a quick text, saying you would probably be late for the party, but you’d make it. She shook her head, feeling sick. 
“Mommy, look,” Mary shouted over the vacuum. Barbara turned it off to see Mary wrapping her paper chain around herself like a scarf. “Aren’t I fancy? Like Selina?” 
Barbara paled slightly. “Yes, like Selina.” She cursed Bruce for bringing Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, to the twins’ last birthday party. Mary had fallen in love with her, thinking Selina was the fanciest woman in the world. It burned Barbara. You reassured Barbara that doesn’t mean Mary didn’t think she wasn’t the best, but it hurt to see her daughter look up to a hopefully former thief. 
Mary giggled, pleased with herself. Barbara sighed again, turning the vacuum back on. “He’s probably going to bring her tomorrow too,” she mumbled under her breath. Everything in her hoped you would be here in time anyway. Please let the Grayson magic work for you once again.
***
“Layovers suck,” you retorted as you walked through a market in Hong Kong. 
“At least now you have time to buy Babs and the kids presents.” Dick smiled guiltily at you. You felt a little bad for the guilt trip, but then you remembered how this was all Dick’s fault and suddenly you didn’t feel bad. 
“At least.” You stopped to look over a display of snack foods. It was a wide selection, but you picked up two boxes of Koala’s March cookies and two bags of Fujiya Milky candy. You bought the snacks and kept going. Dick trailed behind. “I’m not mad at you, Dick. I’m just scared I won’t make it back home in time.” 
Dick sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Well, I feel bad. I’m the reason you’re here instead of at home with your family.” 
You bumped his arm. “Hey now. I’m happy I get to finally bring you home after you spent a year with Spyral.” You stopped by a jewelry stall, gazing at the probably fake jade rings. “Think Barbara would like this?”
“She’ll know it fake,” Dick said, wincing when the stall owner glared at him. He gave them a sheepish wave. 
“True.” You moved on before Dick was murdered by the stall owner. “I can’t wait for you to see the kids. Mary runs around without looking like you did and James hides like you did.”
“Like I did? You are the one who runs,” Dick shook his head. 
You rolled your eyes. “I remember when you were two and you ran ahead and slid right into the elephant dung.” 
Dick blushed, groaning. “Why do you have to bring that up?” He smirked. “I remember when you ran so fast that you startled the elephants into a stampede and they took down the big tent. Mr. Haly was so mad, but somehow you talked him out of telling Mom and Dad.” 
Your eyes burned slightly. “Yeah, that was a good day, but not as good as you falling in the elephant crap.” A look at Dick told you he was getting emotional too. “Hey, let’s see if I can find something more than snacks for my family, huh?” You clapped a hand on his shoulder and led him on. Dick smiled and the two of you let the moment pass. 
***
“He’s not going to make it.” Barbara slammed down the plates. Alfred looked at her worriedly. 
“Master (Y/N) and Master Dick still have a few hours. They were on their last layover, weren’t they?” Alfred asked, taking the plates from Barbara. They were getting ready for the party. Alfred had offered to come early along with Cass to help set up. Cass was entertaining Mary and James to keep them out of the way. 
Barbara sighed. “I’m sorry. He’ll be here.” She smiled weakly, close to tears. Alfred rubbed her back. “It’s just been hard. This is his favorite time of year, especially with the kids.” She sank down to sit at the dining room table. Alfred moved to keep setting it up for the buffet dinner they were going to have. “I keep thinking, (Y/N) would love to be here for this or that.”
“You and Master (Y/N) have been gone before?” Alfred asked, knowing the answer, but trying to be kind. 
“Yes, but not over Christmas. This is as bad as being gone for the kids’ birthday.” Barbara shook her head again. “Sorry, I’ll get it together. He’ll get here, he always does.” 
Alfred smiled. “Yes, Master (Y/N) does have that Grayson knack of always making it work. Master Dick does the same thing.” 
Barbara laughed, changing the subject. “I can’t wait until he sees what the kids bought him.” She paused when she heard little feet running into the room. James appeared around the corner, jumping into Barbara’s arms. “What is it, sweetheart?” she soothed. 
“Daddy is not coming home.” James sobbed like his heart was broken. “They said the snow is too bad.” Barbara’s eyes widened. She jumped to her feet with James still in her arms. Hurrying to the living room, she felt like a bucket of ice water dropped over her. 
“All flights to and from Denver are canceled due to extreme winter weather conditions. This is a once in a lifetime storm.” The reporter said it calmly, like it didn’t ruin the Christmases of two kids and their mother. Cass was holding Mary, who didn’t seem to catch on it meant Daddy wasn’t coming home. “Moving on, here are some Christmas cocktails to add to your spirits this holiday season.” 
Barbara shook her head, holding James tighter. “(Y/N), please find a way.” She closed her eyes to hope.
***
You collapsed to your knees when the announcement had been made. “She’s gonna kill me.” You covered your face with your hands. Dick kicked your side.
“Stop being so overdramatic, we’ll be home by Christmas Day then.” Dick grabbed the scuff of your shirt and pulled you back into your seat at the airport lounge. 
“No, we’ll miss the party. The party I wanted to throw. The party that was my idea.” You shook your head. “Babs is going to be so pissed.” 
Dick snorted. “Yeah, she’ll be pissed about that.” 
“But like I said this is all your fault, having to go get yourself in trouble again, Dickie boy.” You got to your feet to pace. The lounge wasn’t too crowded since most people had already left to wait everything out. “There has to be something we can do. Batplane?”
“One, Bruce won’t let us. Two, it wouldn’t fly in this weather either.” Dick shivered, looking out the window at the swirling snow. “This is nuts.”
“Says the Dick.” You flicked his forehead. Dick smacked your hand away. Suddenly, you froze. A lightbulb flashed in your head. “That’s it. We’ll call Wally.” 
Dick shook his head. “I don’t think even he could run in a storm like this.”
You swore under your breath. “What about...Clark?” A smile pulled at your lips. “Oh he could do it.” 
“Yeah, but it wouldn’t be comfortable for us.” Dick rolled his eyes. “Just give up already.” 
You pouted, elbowing Dick’s side. “I’ll find a way.” You got to your feet to grab your phone and make some calls.
***
Barbara was in a depressed mood throughout the party. The kids seemed to inherit her mood, becoming cranky and sullen. Everyone was enjoying themselves, but were aware of the dispositions of their hosts.
“Don’t let this get you down, Babs. I mean he’s (Y/N) Grayson. He’ll find a way,” Tim said, sitting down next to her on the couch. Mary had fallen asleep in his arms. 
“You need to stop hero worshiping the Grayson brothers.” Barbara let James crawl into her lap. “(Y/N) is not perfect.” 
“I didn’t say that, but he always makes it work.” Tim bit his lip. “He’ll get here.” Almost as if on cue, a shout and a thump came from the roof. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up. 
“Babs, were you expecting someone?” Jason teased, going outside to see. Mary woke up with a start.
“Santa!” She ran out after Jason with only her socks on.
“Mary!” Barbara followed quickly with James still in her arms. “Come back here until we know what that was!” 
Mary ignored her mother, running into the snow with her socks. Jason picked her up. “Is he here? Did he bring Daddy? I asked him real nicely.”
“I don’t know about that,” Jason said, eyeing the roof. Bruce came out with Tim  and Damian behind him. 
“What happened?” Bruce asked, going right to business. 
“Not sure.” Jason shrugged. 
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a deep voice sounded. “Ho, ho, ho.” 
“SANTA!!!!” Mary screamed. Jason winced. “SANTA, DID YOU BRING HOME DADDY?!?!”
“Mary, stop.” Barbara sent her a stern look. James shivered from the cold in her arms.
“TT, probably a lunatic of some sort.” Damian crossed his arms. He went to the side of the house to start climbing when he heard laughing followed by a shout and suddenly Dick Grayson fell from the roof. He twirled in the air and landed on his feet. Damian jumped back in surprise.
Barbara’s jaw dropped. Everyone else was speechless. Jason just laughed. “Where Daddy, Uncle Dickie?” Mary asked, reaching her arms out for him. Dick smiled charmingly. He took her and spun her around. 
“He’s coming. He just had to thank Santa for us.” Dick kissed her cheek. James whined, wanting attention too. Dick took him from Barbara, showering both kids with love. 
“Santa?” Barbara looked back up at the roof, confused. Suddenly, from behind the chimney, you stepped out with your suitcase and slid down the roof. With a grace that mirrored Dick’s, you landed on the ground easily. 
“Merry Christmas!” You bowed, holding your arms out. “I told you I would be back in time.” You only had to time to look up when Barbara ran to you with enough force to knock you over into the snow. She fell on you hard, but you found you didn’t care. 
Barbara kissed you, holding the sides of your face. You wrapped your arms around her, not caring about how numb the snow made your back. 
“Get a room,” Jason said teasingly. Barbara turned to glare at him. Suddenly, two balls of energy joined the dog pile.
“DADDY!” Mary screamed in delight. “Santa brought you like I asked.” 
“Daddy, we missed you,” James added quietly. You hugged all three of them, happy to be home.
***
Hours later, you were sipping some eggnog as the party died down. Bruce, Alfred, Tim, and Damian went home. Dick crashed on the couch. Jim had retired to the guest bedroom and the kids were asleep in their beds. Cass was getting ready to sleep on an air mattress in the laundry room. Jason passed out in an armchair.
“Well, I guess Jay will stay the night too,” Barbara whispered, covering Jason with a blanket. 
“Might as well.” You took a bigger sip of your eggnog, watching Barbara with love. Your heart warm and full.
Barbara hummed. She came over to take your hand and led you back to the kitchen. “So now you tell me how you got home? I heard the Denver airport had been shut down.” 
“Right, well I called Santa.” You smirked when she glared at you. “What? It’s true.” 
“No, you did not.” Barbara crossed her arms. “Come on, did you call Superman? Wally?”
You downed your eggnog and took her into your arms. “I told you. It was Santa. He stopped to pick us up and just dropped us off as he went by. He said Mary wished me home for Christmas.” 
“(Y/N).” She frowned. You kissed her lips, feeling the frown melt under your touch.
“Babs.” A thrill went through you as she melted, kissing you passionately. “Let’s go to bed.”
She sighed. “Fine, but only because you won’t tell me what you did.” You scooped her up in your arms. She giggled. “Why do you have to be so charming all the time?”
“It’s funny. I was wondering why you have to be so goddamn beautiful all the time?” You kissed her again. Maybe someday you would tell her you were telling the truth. Maybe you would explain how you called Zatanna who knew a guy who knew a guy who knew Santa Claus and you convinced him to stop by to pick you and Dick up. Maybe you would let her know that the ‘ho, ho, ho’ she heard was the real Santa Claus. You shook your head. She wouldn’t believe you anyway.
“I love you, (Y/N) Grayson, even though you drive me up the wall.” Barbara played with your hair. 
“I love you too, Mrs. Grayson, and I would love to drive you into a wall.” You smirked at her giggle and hurried to your bedroom with the love of your life in your arms.
***
Barbara bit the inside of her cheek as Mary handed you her present. “Daddy, you’re going to love it.” She bounced around excitedly. 
“I sure am.” You smiled, not knowing what was coming. It seemed like forever to Barbara, heart stopping as she waited for you to rip off the wrapping paper and open the box. Your jaw dropped, brow furrowed in bewilderment. She tasted blood in her mouth from how hard she was biting.
“See, isn’t it pretty, Daddy?” Mary asked innocently. You pulled out the black lingerie. Jason and Dick burst out laughing while Cass pressed her hand over her mouth in surprise. Jim shook his head, kicking both Jason and Dick in the shin. Mary looked confused.
“I love it, sweetheart.” You smiled smoothly, pulling Mary into your lap. “Why did you get me this?”
“Because you like pretty things.” Mary kissed your cheek. You met Barbara’s eye from across the room. She couldn’t help, but smirk back at you. You shook your head. She watched as you checked the tag, growing your own smirk when you saw it was in her size. 
You hugged Mary and attacked her with kisses. “You’re right, I love pretty things.” 
“Mine next, Daddy.” James ran up. You took his present like it was irreplaceable, showering James with attention too. 
Cass appeared at Barbara’s side. “Did you do that on purpose?” she whispered.
“No, that was all Mary, but the look on (Y/N)’s face was rich.” Barbara smiled. “I knew he would think it’s funny.”
Cass nodded. “(Y/N) loves you and your children very much.” 
Barbara wrapped an arm around Cass’ shoulders. “Yes, he does.” She kissed Cass’ cheek. Thank goodness to the Grayson magic, Barbara thought to herself as you acted like a can opener was the best thing in the world. 
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seasonsofeverlark · 3 years
Text
Spreading Christmas Cheer
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Author: @mega-aulover​
Prompt: Everlark the movie Elf [submitted by @alliswell21​]
Rating: G
Author’s Note: This is a story based off of the movie Elf as requested by @alliswell21​ It’s from “Jovie” i.e. Katniss POV, what she would have seen and fell in love with one Peeta ‘Buddy’ Mellark. 
Special thanks to @norbertsmom​ for her betaing skill and for the name of the story. Parts 3 and 4 will post separately.
_____________
Pt 1
I watch Peeta gently kiss the top of our first born’s head. Holly’s dark hair is braided into two plaits; her blue eyes closing softly. 
“And Papa Elf said, grandpa was on the naughty list…” his voice is soft.
Suddenly Holly’s eyes widen as she remembers something. Her blue eyes are laser focused on Peeta. “Papá, es verdad que mamá estaba en la  lista de los niños malos?”   
“Y quien te dijo esto?” I ask from the door. We never discuss my role in Peeta’s adventure, or the fact that I was on the naughty list. Ever. 
“Santa,” Holly says.
Ese gordo, Santa has loose lips. I think about teaching him about keeping secrets until it’s time to explain to our child about the past. But before I can say anything, Peeta gives me a look. He always knows when I’m having evil thoughts. I sigh, and redirect my thoughts, because Peeta made me believe in love, joy, and Christmas.    
“Your papa saved more than grandpa that Christmas. He saved me too.”
Holly’s eyes lit up like her father’s before the sleepiness creeps back into their depths.
“Now go to sleep so Santa can come down the chimney.”
“Night, mama, night papa,” Holly whispers right before she drifts off to sleep. 
Together we walk out of our daughters bedroom. Peeta slides an arm around my shoulders. He dips down and nuzzles my cheek. He steers me to the living room. I drag my feet. Peeta is up to something.
“Okay, spill it, Mellark.”
He gives me a wide eyed smile.
The hair at the back of my neck stands up straight. 
He’s got that look, that please tell me a bedtime story stare, and not just any story. 
“No.”
Peeta pauses and gives me a puppy dog look with a full lip pout.
“No.”
“Come on, Sweetums, my li’l sugar plum,” Peeta says in an excited whisper.
“No…no don’t waggle your eyebrows at me, Peeta. Buddy. Mellark.” I pronounce each one of his names.
Peeta’s grins so brightly; his eyes shine brighter than Christmas lights. His hat is slightly crooked as he hops and does that stupid little dance of his that makes me want to tear off his green tights. Yep, I said tights. My husband was raised as an elf, a six foot two, blond, wavy haired, giant with broad shoulders, washboard abs, and is genuinely sweet. Sweeter than eggnog.
He grabs me by the waist. “You know you wanna,” he says in that sexy time voice of his that’s reserved only for me. 
Canasto! 
I should clarify for everyone listening to my tale; you should know canasto isn’t a vulgar or bad word. It means basket. But I like the way it sounds in Spanish. So I say it with real vehemence. It’s like peaches in Spanish sounds like a curse word. Melocotón! Tu eres un Melocotón! Which translates into you’re a peach. 
I digress.
I let out a big sigh. There’s no way I can say no to him and he knows it! Canasto!
“I love it when you tell the story of how we met from your point of view.“ 
"You’re an evil gremlin,” I say with no heat in my voice. It’s my personal nickname for him. As in the gremlins when they ate after midnight. However to be fair, if you see Peeta, he’s not scary at all, he’s more like a big teddy bear.  
Peeta laughs and my heart flip flops. Because he is anything but; he is so congenial.
Peeta puts his hands on my belly, my very big belly. It’s baby number 2; actually it’s baby number two and three. They are counted as one until they’re born. I know what he’s doing, the evil gremlin! He’s trying to distract me because I’m due to give birth. I have mild pangs because I’m carrying twins and I’m nearing my due date.
He carries me and sits me on his lap. “Now start from the beginning.”
“From the candy cane forest?” I ask.
“No from your point of view,” his eyes dance gently as he rests me against his chest, rubbing my bulging belly.
“Okay,” I say quietly.
“Don’t forget to start with once upon a time,” Peeta insists, trying to contain his excitement.
“Once upon a time.”
“This is going to be good,” Peeta whispers.
“Are you going to let me tell the story?”
“Oh yea,” Peeta placed a kiss on my nose. “Go ahead.”
Closing my eyes I picture the year things changed. Because everything in my life was about others and never myself. I was always trying to be someone else, what everyone expected of me. 
It’s hard being a foster kid, and getting out of the system is kind of like getting out of jail. Suddenly you have all this freedom, but you’ve been conditioned to follow all of these rules, so when you are free, you do one of two things. You get in trouble, and try to get sent into an institution; some of us call it the iron college. Or you try to keep your nose clean and learn in the school of hard knocks. In my case, I kept my head above the water for my sister’s sake.  
“I love my family,” I muttered underneath my breath. 
I muttered it again as my sister destroyed, no scratch that, mutilated Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas."  
Did I forget to mention that I love my family?   
I do. I love my family and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them, but at that moment I wanted to scratch my ears out with dull spoons.  
My perfect baby sister is a smoking hot blonde runway model and the muse for Karl Lagerfeld, but she has the worst singing voice known to man. You want to torture someone, hire my sister, and have her sing to the person you want to torture. Within 3 seconds flat, she can have even the most hardened of spies spilling their guts like a canary.
The one thing I could not stand beside my sister’s singing was Christmas. 
I loathed Christmas.
I was not ashamed to say it.  Every fiber of my body I hated Christmas!   If I had ever met the real Santa back then, he had better hoped that I was not holding my bow and arrow, because I would have shot him through the eye. Not that I believed in Santa then, but if I had known there was a real life Santa Claus, I’d have hunted him down, and burned the fat man’s jolly red outfit. I would then gleefully take a joy ride in his sleigh into his workshop like Bill Murray did in Groundhog Day when he allowed the groundhog to drive him off the cliff into a fiery death.
At this point you are wondering why I hated Christmas so much.
There were many reasons why the holiday was so contemptible to me. One, my father died on Christmas day. Two, my mother checked out on us that same Christmas day. The next Christmas Eve was when my sister and I were separated into different foster homes.  It took me a few months to find my six-year-old baby sister. I had been sent to a foster family who used foster kids for slave labor, to have them wipe and clean their floors while the Mrs. of the family spent the whole day in luxurious spas and getting Botox treatments, as if that was going to improve her mug. 
My baby sister was luckier. Primrose was placed in a foster home in the middle of suburbia with a 2 story house with a picket fence. A woman named Cecilia and her husband Ronald had never been able to have kids, and they doted on my sister. They brought her up to be the princess she always said she was. Honestly, they were rather shocked when my twelve-year-old cynical self rolled up into their home screaming for my baby sister, Primrose. Prim came running out of nowhere and latched herself on to my leg like an octopus. Best Spring ever, so I do love the Spring. 
But before you think we were reunited, we weren’t. The family that had Primrose never wanted me. And even if they did, we technically didn’t have the same last name. Primrose carried my mom’s last name while I carried my dad’s. My sister was Primrose Emmerson and I was Katniss Everdeen. Our parents had a silly agreement. They were also foster kids, so they decided that I would take dad’s name and the next one born would take our mothers name. 
They didn’t have family, and her parents lived a common law marriage. Their childish decision caused havoc. There was a mix up and we weren’t processed as sisters. Plus, I never stayed in the same foster home for long so even if they wanted me, they never knew where I was, but no matter where I was, I found a way to talk to Primrose, because as long as Prim was loved and cared for, my situation didn’t matter.
After our brief reunion, I had to go back to the family that I was placed in, and my sister stayed with her family. I didn’t stay with mine for very long; I became a statistic. A rolling number on someone’s computer screen. I was bounced around from one family to another in all sorts of seedy homes. 
So you can see why I’m so jaded. Every bad thing that ever happened to me, has happened on that freakin’ holiday. And there was one more reason I disliked that holly jolly holiday so immensely. For some reason, the universe hated me. 
No matter where I went, what city, what town within the state, I could guarantee you that it was a racket, a billion dollar racket to make parents crazy and buy things for their kids they didn’t need. For some reason, it pleased people to take my olive skin, dark hair, scowling self and put me into a sparkly Christmas cheer, “gag” pointy eared elf costume.
So with a week until Christmas, I was listening to my sister butcher another holiday favorite song. Then Prim screeched. And I sighed in relief.
"Katniss,” Prim said, coming out of the bathroom. “The water is cold!”
I looked heavenward. “The pipes. I forgot they’re working on the water main outside. They said there would be interruption to service.”
“Oh, you know I can get us a hotel room,” Prim said toweling dry her pale blonde locks. 
My studio apartment wasn’t what my sister was used to. She was a freaking couture runway model, six foot one, so slim nothing off the rack fit her. “I’m sorry Prim, I was so excited to see you.”
Prim smiled. “Look, I only have a few hours left. How about I treat you to lunch before I go back up to Connecticut to spend Christmas with Cecillia and Ron.” Prim smiled at me. “You know you’re more than welcome to come. They always ask about you.”
I loved my baby sister. She was amazing. And I was damned glad that the Henderson's were an amazing couple, but I knew the score. They didn’t know what to do with me. “As long as you don’t mind me wearing my elf costume.”
Primrose chuckled. “You make the cutest elf though.” She patted me on the head using a baby tone with me. Prim was taller than me by a foot. I was tiny, or as Prim said, compact size.
“I could still put you over my knee, little duck,” I growled. “Así que mira ver.”
My sister laughed and she delighted in taunting me. Prim no longer spoke Spanish, but she understood the language. “You’re adorable when you’re angry, an angry little elf, aren’t you?”
“Primrose,” I said in Spanish. I rounded my ‘r’s’ when I said her name. 
“Awe, I don’t don’t get why you hate Christmas so much.” Primrose winked going to the screen divider to get dressed. My sister was used to dressing and undressing in front of dozens of people. I, on the other hand, was not so free with nudity. Primrose said I was a prude. If I hadn’t I told her to use the screen, she would have changed right in front of me. 
“Did you know there are only three jobs an elf can have,” Prim said from over the screen. 
I sighed. Unlike me, Primrose loved Christmas. Hell, she even suggested that there might be a real Santa Claus. I told her the only people who look for ways to sneak into people’s houses were criminals. 
Prim continued her story about elves. “The type of elves that live in trees and make cookies, the types that make shoes, and the best type.”
“Let me guess, Christmas elves,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Prim grinned. She came around the screen wearing thigh high red boots, jeans and a camel tunic sweater that looked like cashmere. “Come on sis, let me treat you to breakfast so that you can go terrorize the children of Macy’s toy department.”
  Pt 2 
Peeta grins excitedly, breaking the narration. “You know she’s right. Papa says the cookie elves have high insurance premiums because their tree catches fire all of the time.” 
“Peeta,” I huff. “Do you want me to finish the story?” 
“Absolutely,” he hugs me closer. “I’m so sad you and Prim never got to grow up at the North Pole with me.”
I can’t help but smile at his sincere wish. “Oh Peeta,” I kiss his cheek.
“The only thing I would never let you do was toy testing,” Peeta whispers.
I chuckled. Peeta hated Jack-In-The-Box’s. They scare the dickens out of him. I lay my head on his shoulders. “Are you going to let me finish the story?”
“You know,” he says, blue eyes twinkling. “I’d spotted you in the city that first day.” 
“You were jumping across the lines of the cross walk, “ I grin at the memory. 
“I followed you until I saw the Empire State Building. Then I went to see my father.”
“I know,” I caress his face.
“Start from that point.”
“Okay, you ready now.” My babies were moving in my belly.
“Right, you were in your father’s office delivering the most awkward Christmas gram.” 
Peeta chuckles. “I don’t have your pretty voice.”
I sigh. “Peeta.”
“Right, I’ll be quiet.”
I give him a look. 
“But just so you know, when those guards told me to go back to Macy’s, I was curious as to why you were dressed as an elf.“
I roll my eyes. Did I forget to mention my husband is a talker. He is a chatterbox. I swear Peeta is the type who’d make friends with a paper bag.
"I thought your elf name was so pretty,” he sighs happily.
“Peeta, if you want me to tell the story. You have to hush!” I admonish, if I didn’t we would be here until tomorrow.
“Oh,” he gushes. “Yes, tell the story.” 
“So, there I was in the middle of New York, like a morsel in shark infested waters. I.E….”
“That passion fruit spray is horrible,” Peeta grumbles. “I do not know how women drink that stuff.” 
I want to laugh. There are still things that Peeta doesn’t understand about human society; perfume was one of them, and that fact endeared him to me.
“Can you start at the moment our eyes met?” Peeta gives me a wobbly smile. 
Ah, now I know why he’s interrupting so much. “Okay.”
Sighing I recall that day. Prim and I were out to breakfast. She was harping on me to find someone. Did I fall to mention Primrose was only twenty years old at the time, and at that age I was ancient at the tender age of twenty six. Seriously twenty-six. So what if I had never dated, never had a boyfriend, and never kissed anyone. My sister was right. I was a prude, but I’d seen how love could screw you over. My mom never recovered and she died alone in some home of a broken heart. All I had in the world was my sister. My Prim, and she was the only person I would love. Until that afternoon. 
“Seriously Katniss, you’re twenty-six,” Prim said. 
Eye rolling was a national pastime when speaking to a glamazon who thought I needed to date.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me,” Prim said, removing my sunglasses. “And also, sunglasses in the middle of December, so not tre chique.” 
Eye roll, eye roll, eye roll. Fake smile. CANASTO!
“You are the worst,” Prim hissed.
I knew my sister wasn’t mad at me. Annoyed, yes. Mad, no. “Prim, it’s just I’m not interested in dating anyone.” 
“Katniss, I just don’t want you to impersonate elves for the rest of your life, and when you’re like forty-six, you’ll realize you’re alone with a cat, who pisses in your shoes, and scratches your furniture.” 
I moved to pay our bill.
“No way,” Prim said, slamming her hand on the bill. “I make what you make in a month in two hours of work. This is on me.”
“Fine,” I grumbled. 
“Also, stop closing yourself to Christmas. Santa isn’t going to leave you anything under the tree.”
“Like Santa exists,” I snorted.
Prim gasped. “You take that back. Santa Claus is real Katniss, just like the rainbows, and pigs and frogs having a long term, caring relationship, and love exists.” 
My sister’s wide eyed passionate confession shook me, but the only words that came out of my mouth were, “a frog and a pig?” 
“Miss Piggy and Kermit are together, and if they can make it, no matter what the media says, anything is possible.”
“Huh,” I said, leaving the luncheonette near Penn Station. We walked to the corner, where she’d take the stairs to the lower level. 
I took a look at the stairs, knowing this was the moment I would say goodbye to my sister once again. My eyes filled with unwanted tears. I could still recall the little girl with the untucked shirt that looked like a duck tail. It’s where the nickname li’l duck came from.
“Don’t cry,” Prim whispered. “Quack, quack.”
“I hate it when we have to say goodbye,” I said quietly.
“It’s not goodbye, Katniss; it’s until the next time.” Prim grinned then she took my elf hat and put it on my head. “Go on, terrify the poor children of the city with your menacing scowl. But you better watch out, better not cry.”
I groaned. “Prim, I would rather hear seagulls squawking then you singing.” 
“I know, that’s why I do it,” Prim said.
“You’re a brat.”
“Brat, I’m on Santa’s nice list. You’re the one on the naughty list.”
“There’s no such thing as Santa…” the words died on my lips as I saw a huge man dressed in an elaborate elf outfit jumping on the lines of the crosswalk gleefully. I was struck by the joy on his face.
He looked like an angel with wavy blond hair and innocent blue eyes. It was one thing to see a six-year-old child with that wide eyed innocence, but a tall, broad shouldered man with large hands made me think perhaps he’d escaped his caretakers. His elf outfit wasn’t like the cheap one I had to wear. It was made from a rich fabric with elaborately embroidered gold thread. 
If there was something I knew about, it was fabric. I never had soft fabrics growing up and I was obsessed over soft materials. I dreamed of cashmere, Egyptian cotton, mulberry silks, and linens. His green tunic was made from merino wool, like the ones they made in England in those bespoke shops.  Even his hat, although a ridiculous cone shape, was not some cheap fabric covered cardboard that you’d find in a costume shop. It was made from genuine thick green wool felt with a yellow satin ribbon wrapped around it. A red feather bobbed up and down as he jumped.
He was so happy. He looked up, as if sensing my presence. Our eyes met and he smiled jovially and waved at me. My mouth went dry, because, gaw, Canasto!
This man-child was gorgeous. 
“Earth to Katniss.” Prim snapped her fingers in my face.
“Sorry.” I looked back to my sister.
Prim looked over her shoulder. “Are you okay.”
I dipped out of my sister’s way. “I think I saw an elf.”
Prim laughed. “It’s Christmas, Katniss. Santa’s elves are everywhere.” Prim gave me a hug before descending the stairs to the lower level of the station. 
Seeing my sister go was difficult, but I couldn’t shake the tall man dressed as an elf. He even had on yellow tights with black elf shoes. 
I made my way to Macy’s. I could see the Empire State building in the background as I took a left to head to the employee’s entrance. 
When I arrived, the floor manager Brutus headed straight to me. He was a ridiculous man with muscles in his neck and a bald head. His meaty fingers held a tiny clipboard. 
Brutus did not believe in technology. He refused to use a tablet. He said the muckety-mucks, as he called them, were out to get him. He wore dark brown pants that were too small for his large frame and even when he stood you could see his white socks. He wore a sweater vest with various pens in his front pocket and a cheap plastic necklace that was supposed to look like tree lights.  
“Jovie,” Brutus said looking over his shoulder.
“Yes, Brutus,” I smiled. Jovie was my elf name.
“Our last Santa quit, and we have no one, so until then I need you to help out in gift wrapping. Don’t forget to make sure the ribbon curl is six inches.”
“But you need more than six inches, to make a good curl.”
“Six inches.”
Sighing I walked to the station and nodded to the girls who were at the gift-wrapping station. I sat there trying to make six inch curls. People were insane at Christmas; they were stressed out to buy things, and things never made anyone happy. Things were just things.  
The line of people got shorter and I noticed the tree in the center of the sales floor was looking a little sad. So getting the ladder, I rearranged the ornaments and noticed one of the lights was out. From this vantage point I saw Brutus drag him in, the elf I saw on the street.
Heat rushed to my cheeks and I focused on the tree, eavesdropping the entire time. 
“Buddy, you need to remember you get a half-hour break when you work under six hours and a one hour break when you work over six hours. If I catch you on the floor again I’ll have to write you up.” 
His name was Buddy. My lips formed a goofy smile at his name. Up close he was prettier, his wavy hair curled up at the ends. A shiver ran up my spine at all of those curls. I could picture little boys with blond ringlets and a little girl with dark tresses in green colored elf clothing. I held on to the ladder as I swayed. 
“Wow, what’s this?” HIs eyes quickly darted to the crowded sales floor. 
“This is the north pole,” Brutus said looking at his precious clipboard.
“No it’s not,” Buddy waved at a pair of babies inside of a stroller. 
“Yes it is,” Brutus said.
“No it’s not,” Buddy eye’s traveled to the tree and I hid behind it so that he didn’t see me.
“Yes it is,” Brutus put his hands on his wide hips.
“No it’s not,” Buddy said smiling. “Where’s the snow?”
“He’s right, there’s no snow,” a six-year old girl said. She’d been listening to the conversation.  
I nearly snorted. 
“Why are you smiling like that?” Brutus brows knit together.
“I just like to smile, smiling’s my favorite thing,” he said. Bouncing to the Christmas music that was being pumped through the speakers. 
“Well stop smiling, and make work your favorite thing to do. And who gave you that outfit?”
“It’s mine,” Buddy said, splaying those large hands on his chest looking down at his elf outfit. 
Brutus looked at the intricate gold embroidery. “Fine, if that’s your story. You should make work your priority instead of shopping.” Brutus sighed, looking at his clipboard again. “I have to make the announcement.”
Buddy nodded, but once more was looking around. 
I was working on the tree lights by now and really didn’t want to get down because I wanted to keep staring at him. At his great legs. Normally tall guys had spindly legs. Not his, yum. 
“Okay I’ve got an announcement. Santa will be here tomorrow at 10AM. Keep your receipts so you can see Santa.” 
“SANTA!” Buddy yelled. He jumped, clasped his hands and a little girl next to him joined him. Soon there was a flock of kids doing the same thing, all speaking at once and he was nodding and speaking to them as if he knew Santa. 
I chuckled cause I’ve never seen Brutus look so stunned and speechless. He was carried away by Chaff, his second in command. 
Buddy turned and focused on me. I pretended that he wasn’t just a few feet away from me. I could feel his gaze as I fixed the bulb that was not letting the string of lights to turn on. The tree lit up and I swear his eyes seemed to glow brighter than the lights on the tree.
My stomach did a little flip-flop. “What!” I said defensively. I turned and saw how big his eyes were and the genuine smile. “Are you enjoying the view?”
“I love Christmas trees,” he said hesitantly. “It’s nice to see someone else who enjoys elf culture as much as I do.” 
Of course the guy that would make butterflies dance in my stomach was a wackadoo. I scowled. This wasn’t happening. Getting down from the tree, I quickly walk away, grabbing a few stuffed animals that were discarded and putting them back on the display.
“Looks like someone needs Christmas cheer and the best way to do it is to sing.”
“I don’t sing,” I muttered.
“Of course you can.” He chased after me.
“No,” I said trying to get him to stop, but liking that he’s walking after me like a wide eyed puppy-dog.
“Anyone can. All you have to do is put a group of words together in a tune,” he said sweetly.
I hopped on up on the stage where the guy in the red suit would be seated tomorrow. I turned to look at him. As I spoke to him, I couldn’t keep the hurt from my voice. Because the last time I sang a Christmas song it was with my dad, hours before he died.  “I know that, I can sing, but I choose not to sing.”
“Look, I’ll do it for you maybe it will make you smile,” Buddy said. He takes a deep breath, “I”M SINGING. I’M IN A STORE AND I AM…”
It was horrible, but I couldn’t help but smile. 
“THERE’S NO SINGING IN THE NORTH POLE!” Brutus comes running out from behind the registrar.
“Yes there is,” Buddy says grinning at me. “I’m Peeta.”
“Wait I thought your name was Buddy?”
“That’s my middle name,” Peeta said. “Is Jovie your name?”
“No,” my voice sounds breathy. “Jovie is my elf name.”
“So what’s your real name?” His voice sounded deeper and I swear I could see nothing else but his big blue eyes tenderly gazing at me.
“Katniss,” I said, wondering why my knees were so wobbly. I couldn’t fall for a guy who thought he was an elf. A very good looking, broad shouldered guy with the face of an angel, but nonetheless, a complete wakadoo.    
The ten minute warning came on letting people know they needed to go home.
“Oh I’ve got to get ready for Santa,” Peeta muttered under his breath. But before he could move Brutus appears. 
“Buddy,” Brutus grabbed him by the arm and hauled him away. I was left standing on that stage with a big old goofy grin on my face.
76 notes · View notes
malfoyfarms · 4 years
Text
St. Christopher
Pairing: JJ Maybank x Fem!Reader
Word Count: 2.2
Triggers: drowning, domestic abuse/violence, regular violence, alcoholism, manipulation
A/N: hi lovelies, this was written for you because my page hit 350+ followers and “Sleepy Girl” received over 2,100 notes <3 u all
Christopher was a man who carried a child for many many miles even as the child grew heavy, never giving up. This man became a saint, and his image was plastered across items worn by travelers in all forms. Rings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, pins, sashes and even clothing.
The tales of St. Christopher necklaces were told in your family for ages. All surfers and adventurers who wore those necklaces were protected, always returning home. You wore one, both your parents wore one, and your grandfather wore one as well. It had become a right of passage, one that you intended to carry on with your children as well. 
You were on your way to meet JJ at one of the abandoned lookouts on the island, nervous as all can be. The blonde boy had been in your life for a while now, and had been your boyfriend for almost ten months. Your grandfather had brought up the idea of giving JJ a St. Christopher necklace, as he had become part of the family. 
‘Pumpkin, I see the way he looks at you. That’s the same way I looked at your grandmother.’ Those words echoed over and over in your head. The wise man had always been your favorite, and when he suggested it, there was no way you could disagree. You had saved up enough money over the course of the next several weeks and went with the old gentleman to the mainland to pick out a pendant for your boyfriend. At that moment in time you thought the hardest task would be picking out the jewelry, but now you realized explaining the family history and actually passing over the necklace was the hardest part. 
The pendant itself was silver with a gray-blue border, with a long leather chain, knowing JJ wouldn’t like the metal look. Something silly about it looking too kook-ish. The colored rim complemented your own peach hued one. 
You saw the love of your life standing at the edge of the cliff, looking out into the ocean. You took a minute to regain composure and breathe. The leather chain was weaved into your now clammy hand, the pendant leaving an impression on your palm. 
“Hey J, I’m glad you made it,” he turned around to greet you.
“You said it was important, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” A smile spread across your face, appreciating how considerate he could be. 
He could tell you were nervous. The shifting of weight from leg to leg, avoiding eye contact, and most importantly, the hiding of hands behind your back. You plopped down next to him, feet dangling off the edge just as he did. 
“Alright, spill, you look like you’re going to explode,” he chuckled. You looked up with nervous eyes, hoping that he wouldn’t run away when he realized what the token meant. 
“So, you know how in my family we have the tradition of the St. Christopher necklace? Well, it’s like a right of passage, or an induction I guess to our family itself.” As you rambled JJ went into thought. He had heard many stories from your grandpa about how he believed the spirit had saved him. “And I was talking with Papa about mine, when he said that it’s time that I gave you one.”
With that last statement, you jutted your right hand forward, opening your palm to present him with the necklace. A blank expression washed over his face as he looked at the object. 
“I figured since adventurers and surfers tend to wear them, you being both, it would keep you safe. Especially now that we’re on some treasure hunt,” you spoke as you looked away. 
JJ gently took the charm out of your palm and placed it on his neck, lying just below the shark tooth. He smiled, looking into your eyes. The gray-blue that lined the man’s imprint matched is eyes.
“Is this your formal way of accepting me into your family?” He asked. You simply nodded, pulling him to kiss your lips. 
Over the next few months the tale around the necklace seemed to have proved its purpose.
                                                          ~~~
When John B proposed the idea of surfing the surge there was no way JJ could decline. With the rare amount of storms, the thought of multiple good waves was too appealing. Of course you would have loved to join the duo, but you were out cold on JJ’s bed at the chateau. He just couldn’t bring himself to wake you up. 
They made their way to the beach, dropping all their stuff on the sand and taking off towards the water. The waves were angry, almost as if they were trying to knock the boys off their boards. JJ being the daring bastard he is, he kept going out farther from the shore each time. 
“Dude, be careful, it's getting really rough out here!” John B yelled out to his friend. JJ simply ignored him and kept swimming. 
Once he was satisfied with his location, he turned around ready to ride the wave back to shore. The surf didn’t go as planned as he was quickly knocked off the board by a huge gust of wind and spray. 
He felt his body scrape the ocean floor, while the current kept him tumbling like dirty clothes. No matter how hard he tried to swim up, he was sloshed around underneath. JJ could feel his lungs burning, dying for air. 
During JJ’s fight to resurface, John B sat at the edge of the beach looking for his blonde friend. He began to panic when his board washed back to shore without its owner. Trying to explain to you how he lost your boyfriend in a surge was going to be a nightmare. How would he tell you? ‘Oh hey Y/n, I uh, couldn’t find JJ after he went down in the surge.’ That was definitely not going to cut it.  
Next thing he knew JJ was washed up, coughing with a slight gash above his eyebrow, two yards away from his board. Relief and color flooded JB’s face. 
“Dude, thank god you’re alive. We’re done for the day.” JJ simply nodded as they made their way back to the Chateau. 
You hadn’t woken up yet, still in a deep sleep, when the two entered the house once again. They quickly agreed not to tell you about the little incident that had just occurred, and go take a nap.
As JJ peeled off his wet bottoms and replaced them with sweatpants, he noticed the pendant on his neck. St. Christopher. He owed the legend big time. He turned to you, chuckling at how you slept. He tried to squeeze in around your body, but since you currently resembled a crumpled piece of paper, he lifted you up a tad to allow him to slip next to you. You barely woke up, but you stirred enough to realize who was underneath you. Your fingers brushed his necklace and you instantly nuzzled to the boy next to you.
                                                       ~~~
The second time the necklace seemed to be looking out for JJ was when he had a run in with his father. JJ had loudly stumbled into the house, causing Luke to wake up. The man’s footsteps came barreling through the house to meet the intruder. When he saw it was his son, he was livid. 
The alcohol induced rage made Luke only see red. He littered blow after blow to his son, not hearing the screams coming out of JJ’s mouth.
“You stupid motherfucker, coming into my house, loud as all can be, especially when I have to work tomorrow,” JJ knew working was a lie, his father gambled on Tuesdays. “I do nothing but provide for your lazy ass and this is how you repay me?” 
JJ prepared himself for another kick or punch or slap, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see his father lying on the ground. 
He quickly picked himself up, grabbed a few things from his room and exited the house, making his way back to the chateau. The entire walk back he played with the necklace he had removed from his neck. The cold metal in his hand was the only thing keeping him semi-relaxed as he made his way to your house. 
   He bound through the front door, marching directly to your room, catching you off guard as you were reading a book. The marks that tracked his body were fresh, and so was the emotional turmoil. JJ threw himself on to your bed, dying to find comfort in something that smelled like you. 
You tended to his physical and emotional wounds as best as you could, desperately trying to provide as much security as you could. The boy looked so young and vulnerable as his wet hair clung to his face and he was wrapped in a quilt. You held him close to your chest, swaying gently.
“He brought me home,” his voice crackled. You let out a noise of confusion. “St. Christopher, he brought me home. Maybe not scratch-free, but he made sure I made it.”
The size of your heart had grown four times in size. The small necklace was wrapped around his hand, sitting in between his pointer and middle finger. 
“St. Christopher knows right where you belong.”
                                                         ~~~
The third, and hopefully not last, time St. Christopher had brought JJ back to you was the most defining. 
Each pogue member had their own intricate tasks on how to get John B and Sarah off the island, your’s being a distraction for the police force. The only specific detail you had to follow was the timing. You needed to capture an audience after dark when the lovers would try to exit island waters. The larger the distraction the better, but you may have overdid it this time. 
While JJ, Kie and Pope had been prepping the boat all day for the escape, you had been wandering the island looking for trouble. Within the time period of you being MIA, you managed to stumble upon Rafe Cameron looking as cracked out as ever. Bingo, you thought, time to light the fuse. 
Walking up to Rafe, you began to pester him. Talking about Sarah, cocaine, and how his dad wasn’t happy that he killed the Sheriff. Telling him he never would live up to the kook expectations. You tried to pull out every card you could to infuriate him. 
Now, hours later, and many many provoking conversations with Rafe later, it was dark and your time to shine, or die.
The police officers were trying to negotiate with Sarah and John B, but were at a complete halt when they saw you were being held with a knife to your throat. You were bloodied and cut as his knife hadn’t been an empty threat
“If-if you don’t stop all of this nonsense about finding my sister, I-I will slit her throat,” Rafe screamed. 
The attention attracted the cameras, Ward, all the deputies and even your friends who were waiting in the tent next to the police. Your panicked face had everyone forgetting about the two escapees. 
“Rafe, son, please put the knife down,” Ward tried to coax him. You instantly felt the blade tighten against your throat. Tears ran down your face, small cries floated from your lips. Rafe’s dirty fingernails dug into your hips causing you to drop to one side in pain. 
“NO! She knows the truth Dad! We need to silence her! I managed to capture her, aren’t you proud Dad?” You pressed your head back into him, trying to get away from the knife, but that action had backfired. He pressed his face against yours, getting spit and tears on your cheek. 
Something must have clicked in Ward’s head because his next statement saved your life. “Of course Rafe, I’m so proud of you.” 
As you dropped to the ground, you were surrounded by an officer, carrying you over to the group of kids who you loved most of all. You could only pick out one voice though, JJ. 
“Y/n, don’t you ever do that again!” he scolded while pulling you against his body. “I can’t lose JB and you on the same night.”
You gently giggled against his chest, trying to stop the tears and from flowing. You were too happy to be pressed up against his chest, smelling the faint scent of weed, deodorant and salt. 
“Don’t be mad, I had to go that far, it was the only way,” you wailed. The grip on you tightened as you felt Kiara and Pope hug you as well. 
It was hours after your parents and grandpa had come to retrieve you and JJ from the beach, and the two of you laid in your bed, refusing to be further than three feet away. Your stomach was pressed against JJ’s as you ran your fingers around his collar bone. His lips sat on the crown of your forehead. 
You broke the silence with words that echoed JJ’s from a few months before. “I did it because I knew he would bring me home to you. No matter how big the adventure, he’d bring me home. One day he’ll bring us home to our biggest adventure, but today was not the day. He knew we were still needed.”
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whitelionspirit · 3 years
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Ace x Reader
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Domestic Headcanons
A/N - I want to write a modern au with the reader and Ace. Though it may take a bit so here are some HCs for now.
You and Ace met at university and moved into a house with his two brothers and your friend Perona.
Ace and you are very close but that means that he spends every spare second with you.
Your nights mostly consist of him barging in your room while you are doing school work and him falling asleep while you work away.
It is rather peaceful and you enjoy running your hands through his messy hair out of habit.
On weekends it’s crazy as most of your friends come to your house to hang out and have movie marthans and goofing off.
You both are terrible at admitting feelings but Ace being a few years older than you never bothered you.
You were a freshman when he was a senior going into his fifth year as TA in pyrotechnics.
You didn’t admit to feelings until the fall of your junior year.
Afterwards it was such a relief that your friends threw a party just to celebrate the occasion it was a party to remember.
You both weren’t very traditional but had a very large wedding on a cliff by the ocean.
Ace doesn’t have the best relationship with his birth father but he still respects the man.
Whitebeard took him under his wing at 17 and gave him the love he needed and some well deserved therapy to help with his self loathing tendencies.
He was not sure if he ever wanted children but with you by his side he was more prepared than he thought.
Twins. Now that was not something he was expecting but he was ready and so was the entire extended family.
A girl and a boy.
One time he gave them a bath he fell asleep while in the tub with them.
You have pictures for proof and he gets embarrassed every time you show them to others.
His narcolepsy means his insomnia is awful so it’s usually him on late night duty to take care of the kiddos.
You have two dogs and a cat.
When the twins are seven you get the surprise of having another child. A boy. Who is a carbon copy of his father.
When Perona finally got married the wedding was such a riot that it ended in an all out brawl. Mihawk was livid.
When one of the twins came out to you both weren’t all that suprised but took it with the most care ever and supported them fully.
Ace isn’t the best at remembering dates but you are.
He’s not the most romantic but when does try it’s always with his whole heart and help from Izou.
Whitebeard is the best grandpa even if Garp will disagree.
Luffy, Sabo, Koala, Perona, Marco and Thatch fight over who is the best aunt/uncle
The kids adore Zoro a lot actually which makes him flustered.
The go to baby sitters are definitely Robin and Marco though
Ace tends to strip naked in his sleep so you stopped trying to get him to dress again back in university.
You fight sometimes and say things you regret but you both always come together in the end.
Ace also tends to hog all the blankets and sleeps like a starfish so you keep spare blankets in the closet just in case.
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eveenstar · 3 years
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𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒲𝒶𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒
𝙰 𝚁𝚎𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚁𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝟸 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙸𝙸
Summary:  In 2031, a journal is found. It tells the story of a woman named Y/N L/N, who claims to be a time traveler from 2021. This is the story of her life.
Tags/Warnings: Nothing to add yet.
Note: Also, this is a Javier Escuella x reader. The reader is also female, sorry! 
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“What the hell?”  
“Is she alright?”
“Don't just stand there, help the poor girl!”
I remember waking up on a bed, not soft at all, reminded me of a rock.
The rays of the sun made the girl groan and sit on the bed. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around and noticed the strange ambient she was in. A few people walking around, yet none of them noticed she was awake. The woman got up slowly, swaying on her feet, and took slow steps towards her bag left on the ground, until a small voice startled her.
“Mama, the weird lady is up!”
“Already?”
(Y/N) sighed, her head up, and watching as all the eyes were on her. Her mind was still processing the information from the past hours, time-traveling. Right, right, she knew what to do. At least, what she was supposed to do. Her body felt different, probably still adjusting to going through a portal, her mouth was dry and she could still taste a bit of dirt on her lips from the fall.
“Hey, lady, you good?” A silvery voice ringed, waking (Y/N) from her thoughts. Looking at the group of people surrounding her. The man wearing a sombrero got closer to her with a cautious look on his face. The girl didn’t answer, the shock beginning to take over her body. Only know did the poor girl realized what she had done.
“Javier, be careful. She could be…dangerous.” Another voice coming from behind him said.
Dangerous? Well, she kinda is, right? Being a skilled hacker and knowing her way on a gun, but that probably wouldn’t serve much in this era. The hacker part, at least. (Y/N) focused on the loud voices coming near them, they were arguing, and probably about her too.
“Why are we keeping her alive, Dutch? The woman came through that shiny golden circle on the sky and you decide to keep her here?” A blond man waved his arm towards her angrily. (Y/N) recognized him from the old picture the other woman had shown to her; Micah Bell.
“We can’t just kill her, Micah. We need to hear her first.” The other man, Dutch van der Linde, or the dude with fancy clothes, replied. Seemingly annoyed by Micah.
“We have far too many mouths to feed already. We can’t have another one.” A feminine harsh voice announced. “Who comes through something like that in the middle of nowhere? In our camp? She’s dangerous.”
The woman let out a heavy and annoyed sigh. Crossing her arms and looking to the gang, with her brows furrowed. She wouldn’t let them talk like that about her like she wasn’t there. Everyone quickly looked at her.
“If you let me explain myself first before any of you open your mouths.” (Y/N) could see the surprised look on a few faces, but an angry one on the others. Maybe having an attitude wouldn’t do her any good here, probably should get rid of that before causing any problems amongst the gang. After all, she needed to gain their trust.
“I’m sorry, Miss…?”
“(L/N).”
“I’m sorry, Miss (L/N), they can be quite suspicious about strange folks. Of course, we’ll let you explain yourself after…that.” Dutch spoke softly with an educated tune, being the calmest and reasonable of them all. The girl took a few steps back, stumbling on her words a few times, even mumbling in Italian. Everyone’s eyes were on her like hawks, most of them curious but suspicious. It wasn’t hard to understand them, a random woman popping out of a hole on the sky dressed weirdly would any person be suspicious and probably very shocked.
(Y/N) was taking too long. Hearing a click of the tongue made her straighten up and fixing her eyes on the wanted gang.
“Well, err, I am…from the future-“
“The future?! I can’t listen to that bullshit!” Micah replied almost immediately.
“Shut the fuck up I’m talking!” The sudden shout made their eyes widen a bit, but she could still hear a few mumbled laughs on the background. “As I was saying, I came from the future. I’m from 2021. Someone sent me here to…help you all before a big tragedy takes place.”
After seconds of shocked nonbelieving silence, a few loud voices were heard around. Mostly because they didn’t believe one single word she’d just said, others were questioning why Dutch decided to let her live and how they should just throw her on the river. But, one of the girls slowly approached her, more calmly.
“Why you?” The young brown-hair freckled woman asked, one of her brows up in a questioning way. She sounded so gentle when she spoke.
I adored Mary-Beth. I think she was the kindest and most gentle member of the Van der Linde gang.
“Oh. Well, you see….” (Y/N) gazed hesitantly to Dutch for the first time. He was watching her with his arms crossed, with a heavy brooding expression and eyes narrowed. The leader was wearing a black and red vest with a blue and white pinstripe shirt, with gold chains on his vest, with a smart black jacket and a black hat. He was taller than her and stronger; with a thick, black mustache and soul patch under his lips, he also has dark black, slick backed hair that curls at the end. Taking a mental note on his appearance, he seemed far more intimidating in real life.
I recall thinking “Damn, is that my great-grandpa? He’s hot.”. But in a serious note, he seemed to be so cold-hearted but at the same time, kind and trustworthy. He did look like a gentleman. He was an outlaw, and well, I guess it does run on the family.
What was she doing? Why did she take the stupid decision on going back to the past just because someone didn’t like how this gang’s fate ended? Many, many lives didn’t have a happy ending too. So why change only theirs? (Y/N) was already regretting the foolish decision she took, but hey, she still had that block thing to go back. Nothing was lost yet, she just had to justify herself and get the hell out of there before they decide to kill her or worse.
Hearing a forced cough woke the girl from her thoughts. Feeling embarrassed when she noticed she had been staring at him this whole time. Good, just wonderful.
“I’m Dutch’s…great-granddaughter.” The words merely escape her lips and heavens, how she felt like throwing herself out of a cliff after it. A burst of loud laughter was heard, coming from some of the men. A great joke, yes, that’s what this was. They didn’t believe her, not without proof, and she couldn’t honestly blame them.
“You can’t possibly believe this crazy woman’s words, Dutch. C’mon.”
“Miss, please elaborate on that.”
“Dutch? C’mon boss, she hit her head when she fell!” Micah shouted, not very happy with the leader deciding to hear her story before making any judgment. (Y/N) was glad for it, who knows what would happen if he decided to listen to that idiot.
She grabbed her bag and started to look for her phone, it probably wouldn’t work much there but if time traveling is a thing, maybe ghost WiFi was too. Who knows. Probably asking for too much there. (Y/N) took a few steps closer and turned it on, showing them the colorful wallpaper and the date, “2021”, proceeding to shows some pictures of streets and buildings she had on her gallery. It seemed to have worked, has everyone had a terrified look on their faces. Most of them were still a bit hesitant, and probably scared of the unknown.
The girl turned to the leader, she didn’t have any proof about being his great-granddaughter. Wait, she didn’t ask for it too. Damn it, did she just get fooled by that woman?
“I don’t have any proof, sir, but that woman told me I was…your granddaughter and needed me to save you all.” Before he replied, she added. “She did mention a one night woman you were with.”
“If what you’re telling us is the truth,” He began, slowly. Still watching her closely. “I guess you’ll have to stay with us.”
Giving the man a slight smile, the girl nodded. She heard a few angrily mumbles coming from behind them, some of the gang’s members weren’t very happy with that sudden decision. With a gentle pat on her shoulder, Dutch made his way to the middle of the camp and looked at everyone, rubbing his hands together with a serious, yet sympathetic expression.
“Family, Miss (L/N) will stay with us for the time being. I don’t want any complaints about this, she showed us proof of her story and if she’s here to help us, we should give her a home.” Nobody spoke, just silence. Maybe they didn’t want to oppose their leader. “Miss Grimshaw, please help Miss (Y/N) prepare a tent and show her around.”
The older woman nodded, looking at Dutch and then glaring suspiciously at (Y/N).
“Miss (Y/N), I would like to speak with you…privately.” Feeling a sudden jump of beat on her chest, the girl nodded. The serious tune on his voice addressing to her caught her by surprise, she didn’t like that tune coming from adults. Perhaps because every time that happened, they would blame her for something afterward and treat her like a child.
“Don’t worry, he just wants to talk to you about that great-granddaughter thing, ya know,” Mary-Beth said, giving (Y/N) a warm smile. “I’ll catch you later, ‘kay? Someone has to show you around and meet the other folks.”  
“Thanks…?” The girl tilted her head a bit. That’s right, they didn’t present themselves yet.
“Mary-Beth. You?” The young woman replied. Her name fit her perfectly, she looked like the main character of a romance novel.
“(Y/N).”
“Oh, well, nice to meet you, (Y/N). It’s better if you go now, don’t wanna keep Dutch waitin’.” Mary said, already making her way to another tent. (Y/N) nodded in agreement, putting her brave face and walking confidently to Dutch’s tent. Alright, probably not that confident, but she couldn’t let the others think she’s weak or scared now. She had a role to keep! The thought about going back to 2021 was already in the back of her mind and probably would stay there for a very long time.
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reversecreek · 2 years
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Clem cracked the door a slither, peeking in at the Josh-shaped mound on her grandpa’s bed. Typically, she slept in her room as wide as a postage stamp further down the boat, but whenever Cliff stayed at his best friend’s he insisted Clem take the master, something about how the window panes were reinforced and less likely to be shattered by wayward narwhals looking to claim her as a snack for their young -- if she protested on the matter, insisting this was definitely not likely, he went off on a tangent about how wisdom came with age and his beat hers. Gritting her teeth when pushing it wider summoned a creak, she froze a second before tiptoeing closer to climb as silently as possible into the double. Besides him she settled, eyes shut under the guise of sleep, and slowed her breathing until it matched his, rhythmic and constant. She did this, sometimes. Crept out, tussled at her hair in the bathroom mirror, applied lip balm and a thin coat of mascara. She had this whole scenario in her head that played out like a movie, where Josh woke up, saw her lying there, thought to himself something like: fuck, I can’t believe it, her eyelashes are so naturally long, I’ve always been looking for someone with long eyelashes like those, I think I’m in love with her. Just like that. He’d wake her up, maybe, kiss her eyelids to jog her from a dream just to tell her because he couldn’t help himself, and it wouldn’t feel like waking up, just like falling deeper. Instead, when Josh didn’t stir, Clem shifted to face him, chewing gently on the corner of a thumbnail. After a prolonged moment, she reached out to brush the hair from his temple as gently as possible. She even held her breath. Attention momentarily strayed, fixed on the hair she’d arranged and wondering why his always seemed like gold compared to everyone else’s straw, Clem only noticed a slight flicker beneath his eyelids by some miraculous grace of god, instantly reeling back to hug at her pillow and play dead. She waited a whole minute to mock a sleepy blink awake, nuzzling her cheek before a soft smile dawned once she finally met his gaze. “Oh, hey... I, um -- I jus’ woke up,” she explained despite the performance, rolling onto her back to really play it up with a full body stretch, socks peeking beneath the haphazardly strewn duvet. Foot phobia. She didn’t usually go without. Moving to rub at her eye, she accidentally smudged her mascara a little before realising and softening her approach, avoiding too much contact. Her heart had started racing. Maybe she’d just have to make an excuse to evacuate and fix it in the bathroom. For the time being, she kept her hand on her face, feigning laziness. “What’s the... What time is it?” @cvastals​
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