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starlitmark · 1 year

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Pairing: Toyger!Mark x fem!reader Genre: fluff, very minor angst, hybrid au Rating: PG Warnings: breakups, language, brief Markhyuck, mentions of anxiety, kissing, mentions of feeling inferior/judged, vague allusions to sex Word Count: 7,740 Summary: You’ve worked alongside Mark almost your entire career. You stay by his side when you learn about his somewhat awkward breakup. The closer you get, the more you realize that you enjoy his company. Maybe you want to stay by his side longer than you thought.

Neo Hybridverse Masterlist || Toyger!Mark Masterlist

Mark was minding his business, getting ready to head into his office for the day. Nothing seemed out of place other than the fact that Donghyuck was already out of bed and making himself breakfast. His boyfriend never got up this early if he could help it. Still, he didn’t pay it any mind as he went about his usual morning routine. Donghyuck’s scent was slightly off and smokier than his familiar campfire smell, but Mark still paid it no mind. As he moved around the apartment, he didn’t bother asking his boyfriend if anything was wrong. More likely than not, it was because he got mad at the game he was playing during his stream the night before.

It isn’t until he comes back to the kitchen table, where the younger was angrily munching on his cereal, that things explode. Mark had simply leaned down to kiss the tip of the Shiba’s ear. Donghyuck jerked in the opposite direction. He glared at his boyfriend before standing up and moving a chair away. This time though, Mark doesn’t shrug it off. Instead, he moves over to the chair his boyfriend had moved to. Again, he tried to kiss the tip of his furry ear, and the younger jerked away.

“Baby pup, what’s wrong? Was your stream really that rough last night?” the kitty hybrid asks naïvely.

“Fuck you.” the Shiba grumbles, not adding much else to the conversation.

“I can’t fix anything if I don’t know what’s wrong, Hyuck. Can you communicate so I don’t leave you here all angry?”

“There’s nothing you can fucking do!” the younger screams out, “You’re always fucking working, and I can’t remember the last time we had a proper date and-” he breaks down in tears on the spot.

“Pup,” Mark sighs, taking the slightly smaller puppy hybrid in his arms, “I thought we were on the same page with everything. We’ve been dating since I started this career. I thought you understood that I’d be working weird hours. My creative flow for writing doesn’t have a set schedule. I’m sure I annoy the hell out of my illustrator for making her wake up and come into the office at 2 am at least once a week.” he says, trying to lighten the mood while running his hand up and down the Shiba hybrid’s spine (who still has yet to stop crying), “I’m sorry I hurt you Hyuckie, that wasn’t my intention at all. Maybe-” he interrupts himself with a sigh, “maybe this isn’t going to work out.”

Hyuck’s already agitated smokey smell got more intense, “What did you just fucking say? Know what fuck you, Mark Lee! Fuck you and your stupid fucking job!” he forces himself out of the kitty’s grasp and storms off to his gaming room, slamming the door behind him.

Mark can’t do anything to fix it anymore, he said something he can’t take back, and now he’s suddenly single. As much as he would love to fix things between them, he also knows that he’s already running late for work as it is. He knew you would kill him when he stepped foot in the office too. If he asked if you could be there at 8 am sharp, he should be there by at least 7:30. Collecting the last of what he needed. He left the apartment despite the notably furious Donghyuck on the other side of the shared home.

“Hey, it’s about time you showed up!” you call without looking up, hearing Mark enter the small work studio, “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb are sitting in our kitchen right now. Don’t ask me why neither of them are-” you stop rambling when a very frisky Bengal kitty stomps into the room.

“I know for a fact you did not just refer to my absolutely fabulous boyfriend and myself as those blubbering idiots from Alice in Wonderland. If anything, we’re Romeo and Juliet… wait, no, they both end up dead… maybe-”

“Down, kitty,” Johnny says, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend, “you’re going to hurt yourself thinking about a good duo for us.” he laughs.

Mark doesn’t say a thing, though. He just quietly shuffled over to his desk, which was probably not helpful since there was a picture of him and Donghyuck sitting in the corner. The youngest kitty groans and slams his head down against the desk, effectively making everyone else aware of his emotional state. Only then do Ten and Johnny notice how Mark’s scent has changed. His normally smooth green tea scent was bitter, almost chalky in a way. Of course, being human, you couldn’t smell the change in his scent. Despite your whole family being hybrids, you’re the only one who was born human. The only advantage you have in this situation is that you’re slightly more in tune with handling the situation than the average human. You watch as Ten releases himself from Johnny’s grip and slinks over to sit on the edge of Mark’s desk. Reaching over, he starts stroking the younger’s kitty ears, hoping to soothe him a little, just enough to relax his scent.

“Do you want to talk about it?” you offer gently, still sitting at your art table, keeping a distance.

Mark groans in reply.

“Come on, Mark,” Johnny adds, “Ten, and I can smell that you’re not happy right now. And we both know that she can sense it even if she can’t smell it.”

“You must’ve at least talked to Donghyuck about it, right?” Ten adds, hoping it’s a helpful addition.

When Mark’s scent gets even more bitter, Ten puts two and two together. Looking over at his boyfriend, then back to Mark, then to you, and again back to Mark, he tries to find the best words to say. You sigh and finally stand up from your workbench and gently move Johnny out of the way. Ten, of course, catches the hint and moves as well. You take the more petite kitty’s place and begin rubbing the base of Mark’s furry ears, and a soft purr of appreciation erupts from his throat. It took quite a while for Mark to be comfortable enough to show any of his kitty qualities to you. Still, he’s timid about showing them. Now though, he couldn’t care less due to his emotional state.

“When did it happen?” you ask softly, “Your breakup with Donghyuck, I mean.”

“This morning,” Mark finally sighs, “just before I left to come here. So that’s the reason I was late.”

You hum in response. With your free hand, you take a picture of the former couple and pass it to Johnny. You knew the picture on his desk would only add salt to his incredibly fresh wound. You prod further into the situation and coax Mark to talk bit by bit until you get the full story from his perspective. You have always known Donghyuck to be a somewhat impulsive person, it was his nature, but for him to explode like that, you knew it must’ve been weeks, if not months, of the build-up to get to this point. You look over at the other two kitties, who, in the past few months, you’ve grown to become friends with too. You share a silent conversation and ultimately realize that Mark is simply in no state to write or edit anything.

“Since she’s got it under control, I hate to say it, but Yuta just texted me saying there was a walk-in customer asking me to do a tattoo for them. He tried to tell them I wasn’t in until the afternoon, but…” he trails off.

“It’s okay. I should probably… write, I guess… I need to finish this chapter of the book.” Mark sighs.

“You will not be working.” you state matter-of-factly, “I’m treating you to a nice little brunch at the cafe downtown. You’re in no mindset to write, and I’m sure you don’t really want to do that right now either.”

“Go relax and decompress a little bit Mark.” the oldest kitty adds as soon as he notices Mark is about to protest.

Before the youngest could fight anything, both his older friends left the small office, leaving the two of you alone, which is not uncommon. More often than not, if you were both sitting in your shared office space, there was quiet music playing or silence as you both did the tasks you needed to complete for the day. Of course, the occasional question regarding which scene to illustrate came up, and Mark asked if the flow was okay or used you as a bounce board for ideas. It was always comfortable, though. There was never an awkward air between you. With your fingers gently scratching the base of the kitty hybrid’s ear, you don’t feel a single strand of tension in the air.

“You want me to continue scratching your ear for a little bit? Or would you rather head out to go to that cafe now?”

“This is nice,” he admits, “I was never really on the receiving end of these scratches with Hyuck. He much preferred having his ears scratched than scratching mine.”

“Do you like this?”

“Yeah, it’s really comforting. Not something I ever got a lot as a kid either.”

So you stay like that for a while, knowing you were providing some comfort to him was more than enough satisfaction to you right now. You offer absentminded questions, get short but meaningful responses out of him, and offer them back when he asks for your reply. You even managed to get a few giggles or chuckles from him when you mentioned a rather interesting or random anecdote. You take note of his tail flicking back and forth in a content manner. That’s when you decide to remove your hand from his head and offer to begin your drive downtown to the cafe. He finally lifts his head from the wooden surface and nods in agreement.

The entire drive to the cafe, you continue to have leisurely conversations. Despite you working side by side for a few years now, you rarely get to talk about things outside the sphere of work. You learn very quickly that when Mark is comfortable, he’ll talk forever. You also get more insight into how he processes the world and, ultimately, how he builds the worlds in his novels. You couldn’t smell his scent, but you knew he was still not feeling his best. Being raised around hybrids your whole life helped you immensely when it came to deciphering your co-worker’s emotional state. Even after you had parked and started to walk towards the doors of the café, his tail wasn’t swaying like it typically does, nor were his ears upright and perky. All you can do for now is keep him distracted and as happy as you can.

“Why don’t you go find a table, and I’ll order our drinks.” you smile.

“Do you know what I want?” “You always get the same thing, Mark, I know.” you giggle.

Luckily it isn’t busy, but you know Mark will want a sunny seat. He’ll never admit it out loud, but he loves when the sun shines on him in the office. As you get in line to order, you see him sit in the corner where the sun is beaming through the window, just as expected. His ear twitches seemingly content, even if you know the actual underlying cause of the twitching is anxiety. You order your typical drink and order Mark his go-to. Peach Jelly Iced Tea; he’s never been fond of coffee as long as you’ve known him. He shudders every time he witnesses Johnny drink black coffee in the office when he’s around. With the drinks in hand, you make your way over to wear Mark had chosen to sit. His tail flicks lazily back and forth under the table. It’s a habit he has when he’s lost in thought.

“Where’d you run off to?” you tease lightly, placing the drink down in front of him.

“Hmm?” he jumps slightly, “oh, just one of the upcoming chapters of the book we’re working on. I think I want to have that android escape his factory and meet the professor.”

“What if he met Kyren? She’s kind of a rouge. It’s more likely that he’d meet her rather than the professor.”

Mark chitters slightly but swallows the sound before it entirely escapes him, “He can’t! Kyren is in prison right now after stealing those bionic parts for Becca. You’re right, though. The professor wouldn’t cross paths with him.” he whines, the two characters have a lot of history. He’s putting them through hell as any good author would.

“Dzia? She escaped that facility in the previous chapter you wrote, right?”

“She did. Maybe that could work. Dzia is the one to start the uprising against the government. It couldn’t hurt to have the android assisting her.”

You giggle at the pout that grows on his lips as he thinks. You nudge his drink closer to him before taking your own sip. He doesn’t notice until you push it enough to have the cold cup touch his hand. He scratches the back of his head, slightly embarrassed that he got so lost in thought. There are a few moments of silence before either of you speaks again. Mark makes a happy sound as he sips his tea, filling your chest with warmth.

“What made you start liking that specific tea so much?”

“You’ve heard about Yuta, right?” you nod, “He got this tea for me a while ago, and he got me immediately hooked on it. Jungwoo, one of my and Jaehyun’s friends, really likes it too. It’s like our thing to get these together when we hang out.”

“Jaehyun, as in that Newfie hybrid that comes around with those pups?” you question.

“Yeah, those are his boys. He really loves them a lot.”

“Wait, they’re all his? Isn’t he close to our age?”

Mark chuckles and takes another sip of his fruity beverage, “Yeah, we’ll just say that Jaehyun has always really wanted to be a dad. His boys are well-behaved, though. He’s a good dad. I babysit for him sometimes so he and his girlfriend can do classes or have dates. Baekhyun is seven now; he’s a Newfie like Jae. He’s a terrific kid, and I can’t wait to see what he does when he gets older. Hoseok is five, a basenji like his mom. He just started kindergarten this year, but he’s such a funny kid. Jaehyun thinks he’s going to do big things one day. They just had their third, Subin. He’s a cute baby. His ears are far too big for him, but all pups grow into their ears eventually. Much calmer than his brothers ever were.”

You smile gently, listening to him talk about his friends and their kids, “Do you think they’ll have more?”

Mark nearly spits out his tea, laughing, “If Jae has anything to say about it, they won’t stop until he gets a little girl. That’s all he wants.”

“And what does his girlfriend think about that?”

“She’s had three kids in the past seven years. The poor woman wants a break from being pregnant.” “I can’t blame her.” you laugh, “I give her a lot of credit for doing that and also still going to school.”

From there, your conversation with Mark devolves into whatever comes to mind. You’re having such a good time with him that you lose track of time. The spot eventually got shady, and then the sun began setting outside. The golden light hits him at just the right angle that it seems like his irises glow a gorgeous amber color. It nearly takes your breath away. You have no idea where these emotions came bubbling from, but you think it best to suppress them. He turns his head and looks out the large window beside the two of you. A piece of his hair falls on his face as he turns. His kitty ears twitch again when a different bit of hair tickles against them in just the right way.

“We didn’t get any word done today.” he says in a slightly sad tone.

“Good. You needed the day off.” you say determinedly.

He sighs, “I guess I did. Let’s get back to the office. I have to walk back to my apartment.”

You can’t smell his scent, but you can tell how he deflates. You’ve known both him and his ex-boyfriend long enough to know that Donghyuck has already moved all of his things out. A small pit in your stomach forms thinking about how horrible your kitty friend must feel.

“I’ll drive you home. Do you have anything we could use to make a suitable dinner?”

“I couldn’t ask- you shouldn’t-” he stutters, “I don’t want to bug you any longer than I already have.”

You sigh, “Fine, then we’ll have to get dinner together on a different day.”

“Deal,” he smiles softly, “consider it a date!”

He slaps his hand over his mouth after processing what he just said. His tail flicks behind him quickly, trying to express any excess energy it can. You just smile and put your jacket on.

“If you want to call it that, we can see how it goes.”

About two weeks later, you’re turning off the overhead lights of your art desk in the office. Mark is still clacking away at his keyboard, getting his last few thoughts out onto the document. You had agreed to get dinner tonight since it worked well for both of you. The weather was uncharacteristically chilly for this time of year. The leaves have just started changing to the bright fall colors, yet the weather seems to be bordering on a winter feeling. Over the two weeks before your date, you and Mark have become closer than ever. It got to the point that Ten asked if you were dating. Mark lets out a low growl at him, but it does nothing, though. Ten is just proud of him for allowing one of his kitty sounds out while you were around.

“You almost done?” you chuckle, pressing your fingers into the scrunched-up skin between his eyebrows.

“Yeah, one more paragraph.”

You know that one more paragraph actually means two more chapters of writing, at least. Eventually, you talk him down to only finishing the paragraph he’s currently writing. You take a peek at what he’s working on. The imagery of his words alone gives you plenty of material to work with for the illustrations. You’ve always been very thankful that he describes everything so clearly, and if he doesn’t, then he’s always very helpful when it comes time for you to draw a scene. Just as he shuts down his computer, his phone starts ringing. You glance down and see that it’s Jaehyun. You know that the puppy hybrid doesn’t call unless it’s an emergency.

“Is everything okay?” Mark asks as soon as he accepts the call, “What? Are you sure he’s not just fucking with you?” his eyes go wide, “Sicheng never- okay, um, one second.” he mutes himself and looks up at you. “Sicheng backed out of babysitting last minute. Jae wants to know if I can babysit tonight.”

“I don’t mind watching the boys with you. If Jae and his girlfriend are really in a bind, I don’t mind tagging along.”

He nods at you and unmutes himself, “You cool if my um- the girl I’m talking to comes too?... my illustrator… Okay, cool, cool, we’ll be there in like,” he pauses to look at the time, “fifteen minutes.”

The drive is relatively peaceful despite the sudden change in plans. As always, Mark walked to work today, so you drove. The house you pull up to is small, but you can still feel the love radiating from it. You opt to park along the curb on the off chance that both parents would be driving separately. Mark smiles at you, eyes curving into pretty crescents as he does so. Mark gets out of your car, his tail swishing happily behind him as he approaches the front door, and you follow behind him. As you approach the door, you can hear the liveliness of the home bursting through. Mark turns around, flashing you a smile before knocking on the door. When it opens, a pretty basenji hybrid opens the door, one arm full, holding a little pup.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice.” she sighs, “Jae and I both have lectures we need to attend tonight and-”

“Baekhyun, come back in here and clean up after yourself.”

“Sorry about him. Baek has been forgetful lately. I think it’s partly on purpose at times. Please come on in.” she smiles softly, moving out of the way.

The home is just as welcoming on the inside. There are a few areas covered in toys, but you can’t be too surprised when three kids are in the house. First, you spot a tall kid running past with big brown floppy ears. You assume it’s Baekhyun since a more petite boy with blonde ears comes bounding up and throws himself in Mark’s direction.

“Hi, Hoseok,” Mark giggles, “how has school been?”

“Good!” the little boy chuckles, showing a toothy grin that’s missing a tooth right in front.

Jaehyun walks up a few moments later and sighs before speaking, “Thanks so much for doing this, and I hate to ruin your date- it was a date, right?”

“Yeah,” you smile, “it’s okay. You and your girlfriend have classes to take care of. I’m sure your boys won’t be too hard to wrangle.”

The puppy hybrid lets out an airy laugh and shakes his head. His girlfriend joined him not much later, still holding Subin in her arms. She passes the small pup to him before informing the three of you that she’ll be getting her school supplies ready to go. Jaehyun called after her to grab his stuff as well. Mark’s older friend chats with you for a few more moments before Subin gets fussy.

“He should get a bottle soon. The instructions are on the fridge. Baekhyun has one more assignment for homework he needs to do. After that, Hoseok should be all set. Both of them go to bed in about an hour and a half. Subin should be ready to sleep right after he has his bottle.” he pauses for a moment, “That should be about it.”

“We’ll be back around 9:30 from our classes!” his counterpart calls down the hallway.

“That too.” he chuckles, “You comfortable with holding the baby?”

You nod, “Do you trust Mark to make the bottle, though?”

“Hey!” he argues, ear twitching as he speaks, “I can do it!”

“You can’t even make eggs, Mark.” you tease.

Jaehyun passes Subin over to you and takes his bookbag from his girlfriend. She calls both of her older boys into the room. Giving them each a kiss on the tops of their heads and then scratching Subin’s ears, she grabs her own things. With that, both parents were out the door. Mark’s tail starts swishing back and forth again, displaying his content state. However, Hoseok sees his tail as something he can pounce on. The kitty hybrid nearly jumps out of his skin when he feels his tail being tugged. Turning around, he scoops the puppy up and spins him around in his arms. The little boy giggles up a storm as his uncle shakes him and tosses him around.

You bounce Subin in your arms as you make your way to the kitchen. Mark is right. He’s an adorable baby. The Jung boys are very adorable pups. Perks of having two gorgeous parents. As Jaehyun had mentioned, the instructions for Subin’s bottle are on the fridge. Shifting the newborn to be resting against your shoulder, you start preparing the bottle. It doesn’t take incredibly long, nor is it complicated, but to anyone who hasn’t had any interactions with babies, you could understand why it would be slightly confusing. So you just stand in the kitchen, rocking the tiny baby back and forth in your arms until his bottle is ready.

“You look pretty.”

Hearing Mark’s voice makes you jump, “How long were you standing there?”

“Not long, seriously though, you look pretty.”

You don’t know how to react; he’s never been so direct with you before. Right now, of all times, is another reason you don’t know how to respond; you’re standing in his friend’s kitchen holding said friend’s newborn. You just stand there and look at him for a few moments. There are stars in his eyes as he looks back at you. His hair seems to frame his face and ears so perfectly. Then, mark walks closer to you, and it looks like he’s about to kiss you in the small kitchen. Your heart pounds out of your chest at the idea that he might do it. Then, just as he starts to search your eyes for any remnants of an answer to his silent question, you hear a quiet growl.

“I think that’s Baekhyun,” he says quietly, “I’ll go check on him.”

You nod and redirect your attention to the bottle that is finally ready to give to the baby. With the bottle in hand, you move to the couch. It would be easiest to hold and feed him there so you could also be comfortable. Subin almost instantly takes the bottle in his mouth and drinks to his heart’s content. However, you feel a pair of eyes on you. It’s not Mark; you can hear him talking down the hall. When you look up, you see Hoseok looking at you with a confused expression. One of his blonde ears flops over as he tilts his head at you. He doesn’t say a word to you and just looks at you. You can practically see the cogs turning in his mind. You smile before looking down at Subin again, ensuring he’s alright. Two pairs of footsteps come down the hall, and you see Baekhyun, followed by Mark, entering the living area. Only then does Hoseok speak.

“Where are your ears? Do you not have ears? Do you only have a tail? My classmate only has a tail… he keeps it hidden, though, cause it’s a little bunny tail. Not a big long tail like Baek and me have.”

“Hoseok! You can’t ask people that!” Baekhyun chastises.

“Why not?” the younger pup asks, utterly oblivious to why his question was bad.

“It’s okay, Baekhyun,” you assure, “I don’t have ears or a tail, Hoseok. I’m a human, not a hybrid.”

“Ohhhhh,” the five-year-old draws out, “are your mommy and daddy humans too?”

You shift slightly and move Subin into a position so you can burp him. Hoseok doesn’t mean to make you uncomfortable by any means; he’s only five, after all. The question does hit a bit of a sensitive topic for you, though. Baekhyun seems to sense your discomfort despite your attempts to brush it off. You answer just as he’s about to drag his brother away to play with him.

“No, my parents are hybrids like you guys. They’re a type of kitty hybrid.” you smile sweetly, “I just wasn’t born like them.”

“Oh, I think it’s cool that you’re a human!” he giggles, showing the empty space where his tooth should be, “I think Uncle Mark likes you too.”

Mark seems to choke on air when the pup says that. He’s coughing up a storm off to the side, and you do nothing but giggle. You finish burping the baby moments later, and both of the boys settle in front of you, playing with their toys together. Jaehyun had told you that Subin would likely fall asleep quickly after his bottle, but you still lay him against your chest and rubbed his small back to be sure. Mark comes and sits beside you but doesn’t speak. You can tell something’s on his mind, though. He offers to take the infant from you, but you reject it. You rather like the comfort the small hybrid brings. He’s only a month old, but the slight weight against your chest, combine with his warmth and little puffs of breath against your neck, makes you feel more at ease.

You both hear a disgruntled noise escape Baekhyun again. When you look over at where he was previously sitting with his brother, he wasn’t there. A few moments later, you hear his footsteps pad back into the main area of the home. He’s holding a singular sheet of paper and a pack of colored pencils. You can immediately tell what’s wrong and, this time, take Mark’s offer and hand him the baby. The oldest of the three boys sits at the dining table, clearly brooding over the blank paper in front of him. You approach slowly, gauging where he is emotionally as you do so.

“You okay there, Baekhyun?” you ask quietly, sitting beside him at the table.

“‘M fine.” he grumbles, “It’s just a stupid project.”

“What’s stupid about it?”

You glance down at the paper and read the instructions. He needs to read a short story and then draw what he visualizes. It’s not very difficult, but as an artist, you can understand how frustrating it can be just to draw sometimes. The seven-year-old groans and flops his head down face first on the table, his chocolate brown ears laying flat out on either side of his head. You scratch his hair gently, and a giggle escapes your lips as you notice his tail wagging slightly.

“I just don’t know where to start.” he admits, “There’s too many parts I could draw…”

“Do you want my help?”

The boy looks up at you with glittery eyes, “You can help me?”

You nod and smile at him, “I do all the drawings in your Uncle Mark’s books. I won’t do it for you, but I can absolutely help you.”

The next fifteen or so minutes were spent helping Baekhyun choose which scene he wanted to draw and how to get it started. His eyes seemed to light up when you offered a little bit of direction to his creative energy. You know precisely what that spark is, he loves what he’s doing, and you remember when you first felt that spark for art as well. It’s one of the most rewarding feelings you’ve ever had in your life. Now, you get to show that spark to someone else. Yet, something about the entire situation feels extremely domestic. You’re sitting and helping Baekhyun with homework; Hoseok peacefully plays with his toys while Mark watches him and holds Subin. Yet, a flutter of something invades your belly that, at this moment, you’re choosing not to address.

Once Baekhyun is finished with his art assignment, you walk back over to Mark. Baekhyun rejoins his younger brother on the floor playing. Mark smiles at you when you return. His ears are angled out slightly, and he blinks slowly. It’s extremely obvious that he’s happy. When you look down at the infant, you see that he’s happily asleep in his arms. The tiny pup nuzzles closer against Mark’s chest. Even in his sleep, Subin displays his comfort with his kitty uncle. You sit beside him for a few minutes; the silence is comfortable, and not a single word feels the need to be said.

“I’ll get the older two ready for bed. You seem like you’re enjoying your time with Subinnie.” you giggle quietly.

“You’ll come back and sit with us, right?” this time, his slow blinks are directed at you.

“I will,” you promise.

Just as you go to stand up again, Mark calls your name. You turn towards him, and before he can talk himself out of it, he leans forward and places a quick peck against your lips. You don’t get a moment to react because a pup, namely Hoseok, is crying out in disgust.

“Don’t you know Uncle Mark has cooties!” he half yells.

“Shh, your brother is sleeping.” you chastise gently, “Don’t worry, I can’t catch his cooties.”

“Are you sure?” the five-year-old asks, narrowing his eyes.

“I’m sure, pup. You and Baekhyun need to clean up now. It’s bedtime.”

Both older boys whine but do as their told and clean up their toys. Baekhyun is the first to make it to their shared bedroom, nearly slamming the door in his younger brother’s face. You hear the younger whine before opening the door again and closing it behind him. After Baekhyun pops his head out of the bedroom door again, you take it as a sign to go check on them. Baekhyun looks up at you with big eyes when you get to the door. He doesn’t say anything but opens the door more to show you that Hoseok is currently fighting with the buttons of his pajama shirt. The older puppy tells you that his brother won’t let him help. You just chuckle lightly and make your way over to the growling five-year-old. His frustration subsides almost immediately after you make your presence known to him. Hoseok’s ears fall down slightly, making it clear that he’s now more relaxed. Baekhyun makes a noise that you can only call a rumble when he sees his brother calm down. The two boys dash into the bathroom moments later to brush their teeth and wash their faces. You, of course, assist Hoseok with both tasks when he asks with the most adorable pout ever.

Baekhyun and Hoseok say good night to Mark and their baby brother before you tuck them into bed for the night. When you return to the couch, you see Mark happily cuddling with the sleeping baby. He’s purring quietly; the sound makes your chest burst with warmth. Unfortunately, though, the moment he registers that you’re back, he forces the noise back. You plop down beside him, laying your head back against the couch. Lolling your head to the side, you find Mark already looking at you.

“I can go put him in his crib.” you offer.

“I like cuddling him.” the kitty responds.

You nod, “Ten more minutes. Jae and his girlfriend would have our heads if we readjusted Subin to only sleep while being held.”

Mark nods, looking down at the small pup, “Ya know, I never really thought about being a parent until I heard Jaehyun talking about his boys. That kind of unconditional love is so crazy to me. Something you have to experience. It can’t really be described in words.”

“Yeah?” you respond, “Is that something you and Hyuck ever talked about?”

“No,” he replies shortly.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be bringing that stuff up. Especially when this was supposed to be a date.”

He hums, “Can I ask you something?” you nod, “Are you the only human in your family? Like including extended family and such.” “Yeah, it was hard for me growing up. That’s part of why I applied to art schools here; I needed to get away from it.”

“I get that,” he responds, “being the only kitty in my family was really rough for me too. They didn’t really understand how to handle my behavior sometimes. That’s why when I reached the end of grade eight, I talked my parents into letting me come here for the end of grade school. Same as you, kinda.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Hmm? Do you mean Canada? Of course, I love working here, though. I don’t feel as suffocated by my family when I’m here.”

“Suffocated?”

“They love me, my parents and brother, they mean well… they just… stigmatize me a little bit.” he sighs, “I wish they could just see me like you see me. I’m just Mark. I’m not ‘the cat son’ or ‘little kitty’... I’m just… Mark.”

“Well, just Mark, you never have to feel out of place with me. I know exactly what it’s like to feel out of place when you should be very much in place.”

The kitty hybrid smiles at you, leans his head forward, and nuzzles against you. It’s the first time he’s genuinely let his kitty behaviors display around you. You chuckle and let him nuzzle as long as he wishes. But, of course, Subin isn’t a fan of being leaned over slightly. He whimpers quietly, and Mark takes that as a sign to put the baby in his crib finally. He sighs and gets up to lay the infant down to sleep. His tail swishes happily behind him as he walks away. You find it rather endearing. He doesn’t take long to return. When he does, his tail is still happily swishing, his ears are slightly tilted out, and a soft smile rests on his lips.

“Hey,” he sighs happily, “I checked on Baek and Hoseok; they’re both fast asleep already.”

He plops down next to you and leans his head on your shoulder. You smile at him and reach to take his hand in yours. At first, Mark tenses up at the feeling of your hand on his. After a few moments, he relaxes and laces his fingers with yours. The silence between you two is comfortable; you don’t feel any need to speak up and fill the quiet moment with sound. His furry ears tickle against your skin lightly, but you don’t mind it one bit.

“Sorry,” Mark whispers softly, “about earlier…”

“There’s nothing to apologize about, Mark. If anything, I should say thank you.” you chuckle.

“Thank me? I kissed you without even asking first… and also disgusted the boys in the process…”

You giggle again, “Mark,” you start, squeezing his hand for good measure, “I may not have said anything, but I’m so happy you did kiss me.”

He picks his head up from your shoulder to properly look at you now, “Is it if I kiss you again? Like properly, not whatever I did before.”

“Of course,” you smile, though your heart is beating out of your chest, “I like you, Mark.”

“I like you too.” he whispers.

He leans in and presses his lips softly against yours. His grip on your hand tightens as if you would disappear from his hold at any moment. Your other arm wraps around his shoulders, bringing him closer to you. You can feel the slight rumble of a purr growing in his chest. Smiling against his lips, you think you could burst right there due to how happy you feel. His fingers unthread from yours to wrap both his arms around your waist. The positioning you’re sat in isn’t exactly ideal, but at the current moment, you couldn’t be bothered to care about that. You’re so caught up in the moment that you don’t hear the front door unlock or open.

“Woah, woah, woah.”

Jaehyun makes his presence known immediately. Mark jumps away from you as if you burned him. Meanwhile, Jaehyun’s girlfriend laughs quietly.

“Happy things are great between you two, but I don’t need any more children being made in this house… right now.”

“We weren’t- it’s not-” Mark stutters trying to find the right words.

“Noted.” you smile, “All three are out cold, and Subin had his last bottle around 45 minutes ago.”

You get up off the couch and grab your bag from the kitchen table. Mark is still stunned, not sure how to react to his older puppy friend’s comment. You have to physically walk over to him and guide him to the front door where his shoes and jacket are. You say goodbye to the couple, and Mark gives some semblance of one. He’s still shocked by Jaehyun’s forwardness, but at least now he’s speaking and just a little jittery. Even during the walk back to your car, Mark seems to be deep in thought. His right ear keeps twitching, and he holds the end of his tail, wringing it gently as he walks.

“You okay there?” you tease once you’re settled in the car.

“I won’t be able to look Jaehyun in the eyes ever again.” he deadpans.

“Why?” you ask, trying not to laugh.

“He implied… and he also… nope, nope, nope! Let’s just go home.”

“Home meaning dropping you off, or am I staying over, or are you staying at mine?”

He blushes, “Just drop me off tonight.” he explains.

“Where is she?” Ten asks the moment he steps into Mark’s office.

“Hmm?” Mark hums, not looking away from his computer.

Ten narrows his eyes at the younger kitty and hisses slightly. Johnny chuckles and takes the liberty of sitting down at your empty station. Mark pushes his glasses back up his nose and finally looks at his older friend. Ten’s tail flicks annoyedly, and his arms are crossed over his chest. Mark just blinks at him a few times slowly.

“Oh?” Ten questions, amused now, “How long have you been feeling that way towards her?”

“Huh?” his boyfriend questioned, “What did he do?”

“He was slow blinking! Johnny! He-” Ten cuts himself off with a happy noise, “Tell me, tell me!”

Mark takes a breath, about to speak, when you walk through the door with a cup carrier full of drinks. Ten notes the slight change in Mark’s scent; it gets slightly smoother and calmer. Johnny picks up on it too. The oldest of the three suddenly is very invested in what’s happening despite being highly interested in his phone moments ago.

“Good morning, boys.” you beam, “I got you guys drinks.”

You set the carrier down at your desk, shooing Johnny out of your seat in the process. Next, you place your bag on the floor against your station and take off your jacket and scarf. Once you’re reasonably situated, you look at each of them.

“A large Iced Americano for you,” you state, handing Johnny his coffee, “a caffe americano for you,” you walk over and hand Ten his drink,

“Thank you,” the kitty smiles at you.

“It’s not a big deal,” you reply, “this is mine,” you say to yourself as you place your drink on a coaster, “and this a Peach Jelly Iced Tea for you.”

You walk the short distance over to Mark. You notice his slow blinks again and smile at the sight. Handing him his drink, your fingers just hardly touch. You still haven’t gotten past the butterflies that erupt in your belly each time you come in contact with him in any physical way. You’re about to step away, but Mark grabs your wrist. You turn back around and hold eye contact with him for a few moments. You know exactly what he wants when he tugs on your arm slightly; you know exactly what he wants. You lean down and press a peck against his lips.

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

“Hold the fuck on!” Ten interrupts your moment, “I think we skipped a few chapters. Can I get a refresher?” “Ten, you ruined their moment!” Johnny teases.

“Fuck that! When the hell did you two start dating?”

“Um,” you start.

“About two weeks ago… when we babysat for Jae…”

Both older kitties seem to accept it as the truth. You, however, are trying to hold back a laugh.

“Mark, you never asked me out yet.” your voice laced with a slight bit of laughter.

“I-” he goes to defend himself, “I didn’t…”

Ten isn’t as subtle as you. He bursts out in loud laughter, “Good job, Mark.”

“How did you mess that one up?” Johnny adds to the teasing.

“Shut up.” Mark whines, “We’re dating. I’m not making things up! We’re just writing our story our way, right? ” he directs the question to you.

“Of course, we are,” you smile, “now, you two out! We have work to get done, and you’re distractions.”

You start ushering Johnny and Ten toward the exit of your small office.

“Don’t have too much fun, you two.” Ten winks.

“Goodbye, Ten.” you groan, “Bye, Johnny.” you sigh.

Once they’re out of the office and the door is shut, you lean your body against the doorframe. You let out a sigh before pushing off and walking towards your boyfriend. He has since reburied himself in his writing. You come up behind him and gently rub the base of his stripped ears. A slight purr escapes his lips before he looks up at you.

“You finally figure out where the plot’s going again?” you ask softly.

“Mhm, do you think you could illustrate this scene?” he asks, highlighting a section he had just written.

You read over it briefly, “Of course, I can. Can you just jot down that description so I can get sketching?” you ask, kissing the crown of his head.

He nods and takes a napkin quickly, writing down what he had just described in the story. You think for a few moments about what has just transpired in the past few weeks. Life threw a huge curveball at you in the best way. Did you ever think you’d fall for Mark? No, not at all. You would never change a thing that happened in the past month.

“Maybe we should move your art table right in front of mine, so you don’t have to get up mid-sketch to show me what you’re doing…” he thinks out loud, then processes that you’re zoned out, “Where’d you run off to?” Mark asks, just like you had asked him the day you took him to the cafe.

“Just somewhere.” you chuckle, “thinking about how crazy the past month has been.”

“It was a good crazy, though.” Mark adds, handing you the napkin note.

“That it has.” you smile, taking the note from him, “Shall we get back to work?”

“Let’s.” he smiles, “I’m serious about rearranging the office, by the way.”

“I know you are. I like how you think.” you nod, “Plus, the added benefit of seeing your face every time I look up from my sketchbook.”

“Shut up!” he whines out of embarrassment.

You just giggle and place a kiss on his cheek. Now off to sketch out the art. As you sketch, you find yourself wandering in your mind again, thinking about the present and the future. Yeah, this is good. Writing your future with Mark is more than you could ever wish for.

Networks: @neowritingsnet @nct-writers @k-vanity @kwritersworld @kdiarynet

Tag List: @raibebe @its-taeil-time @jaehunnyy @brattybunfornct @notbeforelong @n0hyuck @spiderrenjunfics @umbralhelwolf @tarutarumilk

#nct fluff #neowritingsnet #nct-writers #kvanity #kwritersworldnet #kdiarynet #nct fanfic #nct x reader #nct hybrid au #mark lee fanfic #mark lee x reader #mark lee fluff

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loststarphounix · 5 months

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im sorry for suddenly popping up in your inbox but i need to share this soudam idea AGHHHH

okay so

a glitch happens in the neo world program and gundham gets split into 3 versions of himself? one is his current avatar, one is him during hope's peak/despair arc, and one is his remnant of despair self-

and they all have a common interest : Kazuichi Souda

suggestive but:

( kazuichi secretly praying for his legs to still be working after this LMAO )

oh dang but like - I low key love this idea lol

kinda wanna make a one shot of this, but here’s what I got for it

break below cause def nsfw

Since they’re all Gundham, they all think that they’re the only one for Kazuichi, so I expect they’d fight a lot. Like, a lot a lot. To the point Sonia, Fuyuhiko and Hajime can’t take it anymore and they just corner Kaz to just pick one! But he doesn’t wanna cause he’s still fighting the “I’m not gay or bi its just guys are hot and maybe I wanna kiss them once” struggle ™️ so he’s dragging his feet but also scared of commitment because commitment is what made his mom vanish from his life.

But I can see Remnant Gundham just straight abducting him in the middle of the night and making him see all the benefits of choosing him, which makes the other two get in on and it devolves into a sorta orgy sort of train situation. They’d approach it about the same with slight variations:

I can completely see Kazuichi being so at their mercy - especially Remnant Gundham who in my headcanon is more hedonistic as his entropy and misanthropy is ramped to an 11, so he takes great liberties with Kazuichi’s body. His favorite position would definitely be one that keeps Kazuichi at his utter mercy - wet and gaping and incapable of doing anything on his own.

Hope’s Peak/Despair Arc Gundham is almost like our current avatar, but I’d say way mor socially inept if that’s possible? Way more a self proclaimed antagonist. Def thinks he’s the Kaiba to Kaz’s Joey or his Sasuake to his Naruto. He would be the softest at first, but gets demanding as they keep going. Kaz never disagrees anyway he’s too Simp to do so lol

Avatar Gundham I’m gonna say, is going to be a mix of these; after all, his NWP avatar was created with his previous personality from his school days. My headcanon for the whole NWP gang, is that the avatars are a mix of past and present, which would result in some minor (or major) shifts in personalities, habits and overall reactions to different situations. An organic consequence to removing the Enoshima brainwashing.

So Avatar Gundham would be a combination of both: sweet but wickedly cruel with his paramours comfort in mind! All three would def be into some form of BDSM and giving Kazuichi explicit instructions to follow. It also benefits Kazuichi, since canonically he has a thing for humiliation and orders; the real struggle would be to get him to stop begging, but they’d probably love that lol

In the end, he still can’t choose but hey, his dumbassery is endearing to them for some reason and the other two get sent back so it works out somehow!

of course that’s until the same glitch results in three Kazuichi’s but that’s a later problem.

#ask answered #answered asks #I love this idea #If I make this fic I’m definitely tagging you here and AO3 #Like for real this is good #kazuichiswrench #soudam #soudham #kazuichi souda #soda kazuichi #gundham tanaka #tanaka gundham

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bluepeachstudios · 11 months

Note

Can you give us a description of Ell, Mike and Spirit look? I kinda want to try drawing them!

Ell has a lot of scars. He spent a long time in the Battle Nexus, he spent a long time fighting bad guys, he's spent a long time fighting. He doesn't know how else to deal with things, so he just. Fights to blow off steam. His sais are both still good to use; they're hard to break and he takes good care of them. He definitely jumped in the river after one once, though. He keeps his mask with him at all times as well. He lost his left eye during the Battle Nexus fights. His most significant scar is one right across his chest, deep in his plastron.

Mike doesn't have a whole lot of scars! He does wear clothes now, though. I imagine it's like a hawaiin shirt and some cargo pants. All the pockets are full of things. He has literally everything in his pockets, the man can't not have things in his pockets. He's got snacks, he's got tools, he's got shuriken, he's got hair bands. I imagine he also fell through with his headphones and walkman, which didn't work (it was broken and that's why he was going to visit Donny the night he fell through) until Donnie steals it and fixes it for him and he cries over it a lot. He's also got a single copy of Justice Force and it is the only Justice Force content in the entire Rise Universe. He draws comics a LOT actually, mostly of what he and his brothers did. He tones them down for the kids to read. His most significant scar is on his left forearm, and winds up to nearly his shoulder. He doesn't talk about it.

Spirit is probably the most like Ghost. He has scarring, but not a lot of it. He has a horrible shoulder scar on his left shoulder. (think 03 Leo post-exodus shell scar). I'm contemplating having him be blind, because although it isn't canon for Same As It Never Was, it's been a huge theory that people had because of the glasses (in reality it was just to make him look cool like Neo lmao) but I like the idea of him being at least partially blind, methinks. At the very least his eyesight is very bad. He's got some scarring around them. His most significant scar (other than the shoulder one) is a stab wound at the center of his chest.

#asks #gits ask

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letslipthehounds · 1 year

Text

Growing Up Wrecker 4/?

A bit of a time jump here- Orion is now in what's best described as pre-school. Mostly time to run around and play, but some structured lessons.

And there's a problem. One he wants to bite.

AO3 Link

Orion looked up at his caretaker as Magnus sat down at his desk. Orion didn't know what to do about a problem. Ultra Magnus could help him, he thought, but he wanted to figure it out himself! He was smart enough for that. He was smart enough that he'd learned how to unbuckle his harness, but he hadn't shown that to anyone. He didn't need to- not yet.

He was smart enough that he'd learned basic Neo-cybex and had taught Wildbreak it too. Though Wheeljack had taught them both a lot of fun words the last time he'd watched them, and the fun thing he'd been working on had started sparking and then blew up.

That had been so much fun, but Ultra hadn't let Wheeljack watch him again. Wildbreak had said Knock Out had done the same. Orion wanted to go see Wheeljack again, but he wasn't sure how to get to his work spot right now.

Orion knew that the others- the humans- were going to be visiting soon, and maybe he could get them to help him. They were more his size, anyway. Jack was cautious, but Orion or Wildbreak could generally get him to help them with whatever they were doing. Miko was always up for fun, especially when she was wearing the Apex Armor. Raf would cover for them most of the time. June, and Bill never participated, but they would often look the other way. Orion liked them, and he couldn't wait to see them again.

But they couldn't help him right now. Orion needed to figure this out himself. He could ask if something was ok, though.

"Magnus?" he asked. "Would it be bad if I bit my teacher?"

Ultra Magnus jolted. "Why do you want to bite Grade Level?" he asked.

"She's mean to Wildbreak," Orion said. "She gets upset when we play together at break, and Wildbreak gets put in the naughty seat if I tell her that I like playing with Wildbreak."

Magnus frowned. "That doesn't make any sense," he said.

Orion shrugged. "So would it be bad if I bit her next time she tries to make us stop playing together?"

"Yes, Orion, you would. But I believe I need to have a talk with her," he added.

Orion pouted up at him. "But I want to figure this out! I don't understand why she doesn't like Wildbreak."

"Is it only Wildbreak?"

Orion frowned in thought. "I… think she doesn't like Howlback or Fireline either, but I don't play with them a lot."

"And she told me that Wildbreak will only." Orion paused and thought for a moment. "She said 'that troublemaker will only lead me away from who I'm supposed to be.'" He quoted. "She also said that all the adults who were important would agree with her, and told us not to say anything. I'm not going to be in trouble for saying anything, am I?" he asked quietly.

Magnus frowned and Orion could tell he was mad about something. He glanced down at Orion almost immediately. "I am not mad at you, Orion," he said almost immediately. "I am glad you told me this. You will not get in trouble, and if anyone tries to punish you, I want you to tell me."

He reached over and pressed a couple buttons on his computer. "Orion, I'm going to call Knock Out and Wildbreak, would you like to sit with me?"

Orion stood up and nodded, reaching up to be picked up. "I still want to bite her," he said. He chomped down on thin air. "I can make it hurt."

Magnus shook his head as he stood up and picked Orion up. "No, Orion, you won't need to bite her. It's not nice to bite people, anyway."

"Even mean people?"

Magnus hesitated. "Only when they are trying to hurt you," he finally said. "And only when they are physically trying to hurt you. Words don't count."

Orion nodded. "Can I use the words Wheeljack taught me?" he asked. He knew that Magnus would just… Yep. There the scowl was.

"Not until you're an adult," Magnus repeated, as he’d done every time Orion asked. He sat down and put Orion on his lap. He pushed a couple more buttons, and a second later Knock Out appeared on the screen.

"Hello Magnus, what can I do for you? And hello, Orion," Knock Out added.

"Hi!" Orion said happily. He liked Knock Out, he was always funny when any of them got scratches. And Wildbreak loved him, Orion knew.

"Hello Knock Out," Magnus said. "Could you get Wildbreak? She's not in trouble, I just need to ask her a couple of questions."

Knock Out nodded and disappeared from the screen for a moment. He returned holding Wildbreak. "Hi Orion! Hi Magnus!" Wildbreak said happily.

Orion waved. "I asked if I could bite Grade Level," he told her.

"Oh," Wildbreak said. "Because she's mean?"

Orion nodded. "Yep."

"I think that answers one of my questions," Magnus rumbled. "Can you tell me how she's mean?"

Wildbreak frowned. "I don't…”

“You will not get in trouble if you do," Magnus said. "She probably said you would, but I will not let you be punished. Orion too," he added.

Wildbreak nodded and started fiddling with her fingers. "She's always scowling when I or Howlback or a couple others know the answers. And she gets really upset if Orion plays with me, or the others. And she doesn’t like it if Dion or Hauler plays with us either. I get in trouble a lot because I want to play with Orion." Wildbreak looked up at Knock Out, then over at Orion. "Grade Level says that we're bad and that's why we get into trouble and shouldn't play with Orion and the others," she said.

Magnus' scowl deepened. "Thank you, Wildbreak," he said. He looked at Knock Out. "Orion also mentioned Fireline getting into trouble."

Knock Out scowled as well. "Howlback was adopted by Kickback. Fireline was adopted by Ramjet," he said. "We have a problem."

"We have a problem," Magnus agreed. "I'm going to call both of them. Would you be willing to come with me tomorrow to the school?"

"Of course," Knock Out said.

Magnus nodded. "I'll see you both tomorrow," he said. "Good bye, Wildbreak, thank you for telling me the truth."

"You're welcome," Wildbreak said. "I really won't get in trouble?"

"If someone at school tries to get you in trouble, then you need to tell me or Knock Out, and we will stop it. Telling the truth should never be punished."

She nodded, and Knock Out smiled. "Thank you, Magnus, for telling me as soon as you found out," he said.

"Of course," Magnus said. They signed off, and Magnus looked down at Orion. "You did good, Orion," he said.

Orion smiled. "So Grade Level is going to be in trouble?"

Magnus nodded. "Very much so. She's trying to bring back something that the war was started to stop," he added.

Orion considered that. He didn't know a lot about the war yet, but he knew it was bad, and also that it had happened because life before it had lots of bad things. "Are you sure I can't bite her?" Orion asked after a moment.

Magnus started to laugh. Orion smiled, though he didn't understand why the question was funny.

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

Things aren't all rosy in post-war Cybertron, unfortunately, but most people are committed to not repeating the mistakes of the past. This will be solved, and with a minimum of problems for the kids.

And yes, Orion has not stopped thinking that biting solves all problems. He will… eventually. Maybe.

All of the kids and caretakers mentioned here all from various Transformers universes, mostly G1. I made Grade Level up, I didn't want to use any Autobot or Decepticons for her role in this.

#my fic #growing up wrecker #orion pax #ultra magnus #wildbreak #knock out #transformers prime

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littlesliceofimmortality · 11 months

Note

Looks at you with my autistic eyes. Oliver headcanons please (if you haven't done that already)

(My eyeballs pop out of my head and stretch and touch yours.) Hi. THANKS for asking!!!hes such an weird animale to me

oliver d. swift

• d stands for dickens, but if you ask him, its just dick

• it/he/& neopronouns! usually defaults to ey/em asked what neos, but esp likes if theyre emojis or onomatopoeia

• transmasc homo homo gay, obv. been on T ever since he got a job, but doesnt care to get top or bottom surgery

• also either cupioromantic or cupiosexual. it doesnt yhink about it too hard nor is it strict about labelling itself

• also also objectum. half joke

• my fleshhead version of him has a scruff moustache but Also hes just a Hairy guy

• i keep forgetting they have canon heights but ima say it again because its so real. 5'3 compactly built and has a muffin top. gained No height while on T, but he did get acne! and General grime

• afro-columbian but didnt rlly learn about his heritage until late teens (since yakno no parents to teach him) ... has been embracing his culture more and more as he ages

• autism adhd & bpd, baby - TRIPLE combo! used to take meds for his adhd but it made his mood worse and took away his, and i quote, "quirkiness".

• still on mood stabilizers though he needs that

• dabbles in a bit of every art form, fond of things that involve beads, but filmmaking has always been its one true love <3

�� makes kandi bracelets and uses them as fidget toys, often accidentally breaking them

• the ones he DOESNT break he gives to his pals as gifts!

• has beads on his fez string too. changes it up - sometimes its 🏳️‍⚧️ or 🇨🇴 or 🏁. sometimes its a lizard 🦎

• rediscovered a film ey did back in high school. it was a 43 minute recording of hands crushing peanuts in black and white while someone sang french opera in the back.

• oliver have no memory of making this nor can ey confirm it was em

• he did the catcus tattoo on his ankle himself! stick & poke :-)also has a ferret on his bicep and a cassette player on his inner thigh

• mild carpal tunnel and wears wrist sleeve compressors to help but he works it like its a fashion choice

• similarly has a landyard that marks him as an employee, decked out with various pins and jangly keys

• has like five red flannels that are basically the same but have ever-so-subtle differences in the stripes

• it works at a red horror attraction and wears a red fez and red clothes . red isnt even its favorite colors its bright green or something

• mr dickens let oliver do all the sound effects for the horror attraction (he doesnt know ey ripped them all from fnaf)

• knows literally everyone in dialtown idk how. dude shares blunts with God

• took photography classes with lola, raved with craig, had the same therapist as jerry, makes lunch plans with karen, passed bigfoot on the street and did a bro nod at him, boybestfriends with randy, gives gabby gifts on mothers day, just showed up at a mob gathering one day with drinks, etc etc. Need i go on

• never has a shortage of aquantinces but finds it hard to keep close friends

• 1 million contacts without pfps in his phone 1 million email notifications 1 million tabs open

• its The oliver! what else to say!!! uhmmCan he step on a landmine.please

#henrys rambles #dialtown #oliver swift #like to deploy the landmines reblog to send him to the trenches

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starpoof · 1 year

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EPITHET ERASED ROLLER COASTER HEADCANONS!

I was kinda bored so I decided to make some roller coaster headcanons!

The Neo Trio: They all ride the roller coaster together due to Trixie convincing them to do it. Feenie is terrified and keeps crying, so Molly has to hold her hand. At the end, they’re all shaking, but they all laugh it off and Feenie admits that it was a little fun. They buy the photo from the ride and enjoy the rest of the day together.

Giovanni: Rides it with some of his minions and has a lot of fun doing it. Afterwards, he buys the photo (even if it’s hella expensive) just to show off how cool he is.

Sylvie: Just sits on the ride. He’s startled by all the sudden movements, but he never really screams. “I’m a highly trained epithet user and master of psychology, it takes more than that to horrify me.” Little do people know, he’s still shaking a little after the ride.

Indus and Mera: Indus is enjoying himself, and loves soaring through the air with his Lady Mera. Meanwhile Mera is screaming and is afraid that the movement of the ride will shatter all of her bones.

Percy and Ramsey: Percy is sitting there with a sort of blank smile, asking Ramsey if he’s enjoying himself. Ramsey is sort of screaming with delight. Percy is slightly startled by the movement, but is still enjoying riding with her pal Ramsey. (This is not a ship btw)

Zora: Is normally a little frightened by the speed, but still enjoys it. She also may or may not use her epithet to slow down time and mess around and do things you normally shouldn’t do on a roller coaster. Like sticking all your limbs outside of the cart. How dangerous.

Rick: He doesn’t even know what a roller coaster is until Pheonica explains it to him. They end up riding together and hug, scream, and cry together. Rick says that it was a delightful experience.

Naven: Does not enjoy himself at all. Not only is he terrified, he gets motion sickness and tries not to throw up. He does after the ride though. Molly, being the sweet child that she is, is there to help luckily.

Yoomtah: Overrides the roller coaster, making it going so fast that is breaks. The only time she slows down is to take selfies. Thankfully, she’s the only one on the ride.

#epithet erased #molly blyndeff #pheonica fleecity #trixie roughouse #giovanni potage #indus tarbella #mera salamin #percy king #ramsey murdoch #zora salazar #rick shades #naven nuknuk #yoomtah zing #roller coaster

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novankenn · 4 months

Text

Corpse Queen (v1-6)

/== Table of Contents ==/

Neo was unsure of what to do. Right after bringing, Blondie back to the safe house, he proceeded to sit down with his back against a wall, and close his eyes. A Purple circle surrounded him shortly thereafter. So that left Neo with nothing really to do. She was promised answers after Blondie has a rest, so until he woke up, she was on her own.

She considered having something to eat, but didn’t really feel hungry, so she sat on the couch and stared at the TV. Neo hadn’t even turned it on, and just sat there, at least, for two minutes before hopping up and rushing to her private room. Closing and locking the door, she then moved over to her bed. Lifting the corner of her mattress, she pulled out her secret prized possession.

An autographed copy of Weiss Schnee’s last album. Putting the CD into her player, she turned up the volume and forwarded through the various songs until she found her favorite. “Mirror, Mirror” flowed out of the speakers, and Neo closed her yes letting the music flow over her… and then she did something she had only dreamed of. She began to sing along.

/==/

“I still don't believe it.” Jaune moaned as he dropped his face into his hands. “I was trying, really trying, and then…”

“Death comes to everyone, many when they least expect it.” Morrigan, “What is the puzzle in all this is WHY you were killed, and also WHY when I took control of your body your soul was drawn back into it.”

“Why does it matter? My life had gone to shit, and now it’s over.” Jaune sniffled, the weight of everything crushing down on him, breaking any inner strength he had held on to. “The fog was lifting, and I was thinking of returning to Beacon… and then this.”

“Fog? Explain?”

“While I was walking around, trying to decide what to do… things began to become clear again… like less fuzzy and more in focus. I was seeing things and feeling strange about what I was trying to remember.”

“And what were you trying to make sense of?”

“Why I walked away from Beacon. I knew I was weak, but I wanted more than anything to be a huntsman. To help people, and be a hero… and I just throw my team and my chance away?” Jaune replied, as he looked up from his hands, with red rimmed eyes. “It makes no sense… just as puzzling was how my friends were acting.”

“How was that puzzling?”

“They were acting, I don’t know… apathetic to me… when they never had before.”

“I see.” Morrigan reached up and tapped her left index finger against her plump lips. “Tell me. Are there individuals with magic, or supernatural powers in this world?”

“Well, magic… no, but Huntsmen and Huntresses have Aura which is used to power semblances. I guess you could call that… supernatural.”

“I see.” Morrigan rose from her seat and descended the steps from the raised area she had been seated upon. She approached Jaune and using a single finger raised his head to look into her black eyes. “There seems to be many questions surrounding you, Jaune… and I would like answers to them… however…”

“However?” Jaune asked.

“We need to decided what to do about our current situation. While we can share this body, in time my soul would subsume yours, and you would cease to be.” Morrigan removed her finger from under his chin. “Though that would take years… I would much rather have you move on, but there are other options.”

“Like?”

“I locate another fresh body near death, and either transplant your soul or mine into it.” Morrigan tapped her lips while she considered options. “I could also find a suitable host and rip their soul free, and take over.”

“No! You can’t!”

“Why? It would solve…”

“No! It’s bad enough you took my body, I’m not allowing you to just take someone else’s!”

“It is of no…”

“I said no! I may not have a choice in the matter, but this is my body, and I’m not letting you do that!”

#rwby #dead mount death play #jaune arc #morrigan letum balor (OC)#neopolitian (rwby)#joplin hedera (OC)#manipulation #possession #reincarnation

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aqours · 1 year

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hi i'm gonna rant about rwby for like the first time in 6 years

ok i'm gonna rant about how this season didn't matter + Ruby's suicide attempt (because yes that's what it was) hi i haven't been involved in this fandom since like fucking season 3 ended

so at the end of the day Jaune is back to not being old and Ruby didn't become Ruby 2. this is slightly better than my predictions because i FULLY anticipated Ruby post-ascension would essentially become a new character that would also just fully be one of Jaune's cheerleaders down to her core so that Jaune could fully replace Ruby as the mc once and for all

i can't tell if it's better or worse that the 2+ year wait for RWBY fans and the end result is an entire season where NOTHING happened. there are no lasting consequences. it was a waste of fucking time and it's clear they genuinely thought the Justice League movie, which was based on a crossover comic that literally nobody liked would be what would save RWBY, a show produced by a company that is in incredibly hot water that prooooooobably wants to wash their hands of it by now. instead, just as the comic was dogshit, the movie was also dogshit. there's not even a scene to hype up a potential season 10 lmao

i genuinely think they were betting all their money on the Justice League movie and oops it's gonna sell like dogshit

and what gets to me is like. the fact NOTHING mattered. i thought for SURE that they'd keep Punished "Venom" Jaune because it makes him look more like Miles or that they would kill off Ruby as we have known her to make Ruby 2 again to make Jaune the new mc as Miles has clearly wanted for ages so there would be lasting consequences but there isn't? the entire thing was actually the equivalent of those like, old filler arcs Naruto and Bleach used to have back before the industry started preferring anime seasons over the show never stopping and its BAFFLING

and all for what? suicide analogies? i actually saw someone be like "WHY IS IT THE MOST MEDIA ILLITERATE PEOPLE BECOME RWBY CRITICS anyways it's clearly not a metaphor for ascension because the ever after people-" yes for THEM its not fucking suicide. for the people native to this world returning to the tree and being reborn is not suicide. that's how their world works. they're born for purposes. they fulfill those purposes. they can keep doing what they do as long as they want but? there's no stigma for THEM to chose to end their current existences so they can be reborn as something else. a scene i actually REALLY liked was when Weiss was like it IS really weird, to them, because they are NOT native to this world and thus it's such a bizarre alien aspect. and that Jaune was kind of forcing their worldview on the Paper Pleasers who were clearly OK with it. in the context of the native inhabitants of the people of the Ever After the context of ending your life so you can be reborn is not harmful to them- it's a NATURAL part of their world and that's OK! it's weird to them, to us, but that's OK! it's a fantasy fairy tale world that works differently than the real world and Remnant with a COMPLETELY different philosophy surrounding death. when you know for sure you'll be reborn as something else in a fictional setting, the philosophies and morals of death can change. that's fine.

in the context of RUBY it was suicide. in the context of RUBY ROSE who is NOT native to this world it was a suicide attempt. she was MISERABLE. she was depressed. Yang fucking stepped in front of Blake and glared at her like an enemy. Ruby was at her most horrific mental state yet and was completely ignored by everyone until it was too late. Neo actively manifested physical trauma in front of her until Ruby reached such a breaking point after seeing her mouse friend be killed she actively decided she wanted to end her existence as Ruby Rose. she did not want to keep being herself. Ruby decided that for her existence as Ruby Rose was completely destroyed and she became somebody new with no memories of her past that it was preferable to being alive as she was now. the sheer brutal reality is that if Neo had handed her a rope instead? probably the same result.

Ruby committed suicide in front of her best friends and five minutes later they were smiling and hugging and basically saying well maybe she'll come back BETTER maybe it was a good thing she did that what the fuck

nothing in this season mattered. it was a fucking filler season. nothing of long-term consequence happened. clearly the writing team fucking loved 13 reasons why and you know what i don't judge for shit like that but why was it in RWBY. why did this show of all things do this weird suicide thing with Ruby and present it as a good thing. "she was taking her medicine" no Yang was fucking HORRIFIED to see it. they just justified it like ten minutes later. she committed suicide and everyone was like "well maybe that's not so bad actually" and then it went from "she committed suicide" to "it was a suicide attempt" instead.

nothing mattered except that we know clearly 13 reasons why is the writer's favorite show. it's obvious that this was a filler season and instead all of the actual manpower and effort went into that movie in the hopes that it'd attract DC fans to the fandom in the vain hopes that the DC fans + bumblebee canon now would be enough to save it. please for the love of god let it die

#rwde #volume 9 spoilers #discourse cw #death cw #long post

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peanutpinet · 2 years

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My First - Jeno Lee x Fem Reader | college bad boy AU

A/N: Herrow everyone, it has been a while! I am finally back from my graduation and holiday and can I say, while I do love going out and seeing friends whom I haven't seen in 2 years, I missed NCT DREAM's performance in my home country and the fact that they also went to this mall that I would go to every week and I'm sad T^T

But anyways, a close friend that's also a nctzen of mine had this dream of Jeno and damn, it's been a while since I had any sort of dream of the neos except for this one hot dream of Johnny (not 18+ do not worry :D). And because I saw this scenario on Instagram reel, I decided to just write another Jeno fic.

For the one that requested another mafia Taeyong with that medical student reader, I will get to that one day because I too would like to make another fic about it T^T if anyone has any specific requests, do send them in, I would love to try and write different scenarios :]

Summary: you just moved to a new dorm for the new semester in college and turns out, you were on the same floor as the infamous gang of the campus called NCT DREAM. But when you accidentally got associated with the Lee Jeno, let's just say, your life was taking a different turn

Warnings: Jeno being a wholeass Tsundere, someone being shirtless, ehem, Jeno being aggressive :D

Sentence ideas:

33)“The next time you put your hand on something that doesn’t belong to you I’ll put a bullet between those pretty eyes.”

[15:05 pm] - you had just gotten back from your winter break, moving into a new dorm (more like apartment) because your previous dorm consisted of too many students and very irresponsible ones. It took quite a lot of convincing and finding another friend to move in together but luckily you found a friend that is willing to share a room with you and now the two of you were just slowly moving in.

Because you arrived a day earlier than your friend, you got the keys from the lady at the counter and went up to your room. But before you got into the elevator, the lady at the counter reminded you that the infamous gang called NCT DREAM were on the same floor as you were but before you could ask anything more, the door to the elevator closed.

It wasn't that you were afraid of these boys but more so you didn't know what to expect because you only heard rumours about them. How they were a group of boys that didn't really do anything bad but because of a rumour that they were involved in a gang outside of campus grounds and the way they dressed and acted made everyone think that they always do bad things.

Sighing, you went to your floor, dragging your two suitcases when one of them got stuck whilst you were turning around the corridor. Annoyed, you tried to pull it out but accidentally fell backwards and even bumped into someone who also fell backwards along with you.

You braced yourself for a hard impact but instead landed softly as if you landed on a cushion. You still had your eyes closed until a soft voice asked you if you were alright. Only then did you open your eyes and got up, turning around to find a boy that looked like your age, on the ground with you.

"Are you alright? Did you hit your head?" the boy asked, also sitting up with you

"I...I'm alright. How about you? I'm so sorry for knocking you over. I didn't mean it, I swear. Did you get hurt anywhere?!" you asked, glancing over the boy who just stood up, offering you his hand

"I'm alright. Even if I get a bruise, it's nothing that I never had before. Do you need help with all of these? I live right down the hall. Oh right, I'm Jeno by the way" the boy called Jeno introduced himself, helping you back on your feet

"W-wait. You mean you're Lee Jeno of NCT DREAM?" you questioned, finally getting a good luck at Jeno

"Yeah, that would be me" Jeno gave you a slight smile

"Sorry, I hope that I didn't sound judging. I didn't mean it in a bad way. It's just...I've heard things" you shyly admitted but Jeno just shrugged it off

"Do you think of me like the rumours you heard?" Jeno questioned, his face inches away from you as he was towering over you, making you feel even smaller (unless you're taller than Jeno than damn)

"N-no. I believe what I see. Not hear" you managed to squeak out

"I'm glad then. Let me just help you with your bags" Jeno offered, more like insisted

Jeno helped bring your bags to your apartment and made sure that you didn't have to do any more heavy lifting before bidding you farewell, of course with asking your name beforehand.

"So, what's your name again?" Jeno asked

"Huh? What? Oh right, I'm (Y/N)" you replied

"Well, I'll see you around then (Y/N). If you need help, my apartment number is 08-25" Jeno bid you goodbye, giving you his sweetest eye smile and left you alone in your new apartment

After that day, you tried your best to avoid meeting Jeno on campus just because you were shy and didn't know how to act when you meet him; not because you were scared of him or anything. But unfortunately, you both were bound to meet like the universe was planning it all along.

You found out that you were actually in the same film tutorial with Jeno and that in the past 2 weeks he was gone because he had some "family issue" but a lot of people didn't believe him because the whole of NCT DREAM were gone for 2 weeks. And when Jeno did show up, his knuckles were bruised and there seemed to be a scar underneath one of his eyes. To top it off, you and Jeno were a groupmate for a video assignment so you had to interact with him.

"Hi" you squeaked out, lightly tapping his shoulder, honestly confused where you got the confidence to even go up to him

"Hmm? Oh? (Y/N)? Hi! I'm glad that it's you that I got paired up with. Were you going to ask for my number? Here, give me your phone" Jeno replied, taking your phone from his and putting his number in it, messaging himself so e could save your number

"I'm sorry I have to go now. But text me all the details and when we should meet! I promise I'll be there!" Jeno exclaimed, bidding farewell to you and went to his group of friends

True to his words, Jeno showed up whenever you text him to do the assignment together. Whether it was at the library, a nearby cafe, or even at your apartment, Jeno would never be late and he even was very initiative when doing the assignments.

It took some time but you grew accustomed to Jeno and his friends. None of them was how everybody described them to be. Every single one of them was sweet and eventually, you just got used to them popping by whenever you were in the library or at your apartment. You and Jeno especially grew closer and even developed feelings for each other.

One night however, Jeno suddenly showed up late to your meeting for the video project. Instead of showing up at the regular cafe you both always go, he showed up in the middle of the night in front of your apartment with a bloody nose, cut lip and apparently a scar on his chest.

Despite being shocked, you helped Jeno nonetheless. Not questioning him at all and instead, made him sit down on the couch as you went to grab some equipment to help patch him up. You ran your fingers gently over every single scar and bruise, worried that even the slight pressure might hurt him even more.

Once you were done, you threw all the bloodied tissue, cotton buds, etc into the trash but when you saw Jeno trying to stand up, you rushed and made him sit back down, not realising the close distance that the two of you were in.

"Sorry. For being late. And um, getting your floor bloody" Jeno whispered, holding your hands in his

"I'm not going to question you anything. I'm just worried about you Jeno. A text would be nice" you replied

"I know. My phone sort of got destroyed in the process but I promise next time I'll let you know" Jeno chuckled

"Jeno..." you called out

"Hmm?"

"I, umm...whatever it is you and your friends do, please be careful. And I hope that you guys didn't get hurt because of bad stuff. I'm, I'm just worried" you admitted, gripping Jeno's hands tighter

"I promise you that whatever we do isn't something bad. I mean, we do associate with some bad people but we would never hurt the innocent. Also, did you just indirectly tell me that you care?" Jeno asked

Immediately, you regretted saying much because you tried to pull away from Jeno because of embarrassment but despite being injured, he was still stronger than you and managed to pull you back into his embrace, even making you sit on his lap while he held you in place. Pushing some hairs off of your face while you just held onto his shoulders, worried that you might accidentally fall off.

"I hope you know that the feeling is mutual. I like you too you know" Jeno admitted, giving you his sweet eye smile

Ever since that night, you and Jeno have been seeing each other more. Not just in classes that you both shared but even outside of classes. Both your friend group were more than happy to see you both have each other and would look out for each other. But of course, some people were not too happy with this fact. However, those people also haven't seen Jeno when he's angry.

You told Jeno that you had a student council meeting and Jeno just nodded, telling you that he would wait for you. He wasn't too worried because Renjun, Jeno's friend and another NCT DREAM member was also part of the student council.

However, what you didn't expect was being scolded by your senior, because you accidentally set the wrong date for an event that was supposed to be held next week but you mistakenly set it for this week. But what got you hurt even more was when they brought Jeno's name into this.

"Just because you're with Jeno now, doesn't mean you can get away with it that easily. Some of us had to risk some sleep because of your "little" mistake here" the senior scolded you

But you have no idea how, you suddenly got the courage to talk back at the senior, telling them that sure it was your fault for the mistake but you told them off about bringing Jeno's name in this. Telling them that Jeno has nothing to do with this and they should mind their own business. But of course, those seniors didn't like your attitude and as they were about to fight back, Jeno came and put you behind him.

"I heard that you were talking shit about my girl and was going to be physical on her?!" Jeno barked, pulling you behind him

"So, which one of you was it? Yes, she made a mistake, yes, you are allowed to remind her and tell her what she did wrong. But never. Touch. My. Girl. The next time you put your hand on something that doesn’t belong to you I’ll put a bullet between those pretty eyes.” Jeno threatened, you can see veins starting to pop on his arms and neck before leaving the room with you

Safe to say that after that day, people didn't dare to even cross that line that Jeno practically made between you and the others. Because let's just say that even after threatening those seniors, Jeno gave a "little" reminder to them.

A/N: I know, this was a sad attempt of a Jeno fic. I might to either another fic soon, thanks Tomboy and To My First. My literal two moods right now. "I'm a Tomboy" or, "My love is always", there is no in between :D Kay, Imma leave now before I get angsty cause "To My First" is literally on right now T^T Stay safe and healthy everyone!! <3

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whitleyschn33 · 1 year

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RWBY V9 E08 Liveblog

I’m early again and already spoiled by the thumbnail, thanks a lot Crunchyroll (using the free trial until my usual sites fix themselves.)

- Another vague content warning, content warning are only useful if they warn about the actual content, RT. (It’s suicide/sucidial actions AGAIN just say suicide for fuck’s sake)

- Little, when have you ever actually guided the girls anywhere?

- I like that Ruby is breaking, but I wish the tone wasn’t quite so... grumbly? Like, the tone of voice sounds more petulant than upset, if that makes sense.

- Well... I do hope Little does actually knows the way back to the village, otherwise Ruby just left them there to die acres away from their home.

- ...What is this transition? It’s so abrupt, Ruby just arrives at the house. No shots of her reaction to her surroundings, no real look at what this acre looks like, no reaction to the house “appearing” (I say that as if it wasn’t just there, like the camera didn’t just cut to it without any establishing shot). This moment just feels so rushed, why?

- Is that the Roman Holiday cover art? And I’m assuming the little girl is Neo, so is her hair and eyes not natural, or did she unlock her semblance incredibly young?

- Hi Roman, by the way

- And all that hesitation Ruby was showing about using her weapon before? Gone. Could just be instinct overriding the trauma, it’s different being spooked into a fight vs rushing into one, but whatever.

- Can Neo just make her illusions speak now? Why?

- Even dead, Roman steals the show. Man, I’ve missed him.

- Very generic “hey, maybe Ruby’s cracking under stress” talk

- She... apparently didn’t walk that far.

- Is this entire house made by Neo? The chandelier shattering seems to suggest that, but the house stays later in the episode implying that it’s not.

- And like... has Neo been around enough to know about all of this? About Pyrrha, Ozpin, Clover, Ironwood? This is an incredibly cathartic scene (and once again I wish we could have gotten to all of this earlier), I’m very much enjoy Penny’s and Ironwood’s lines, but I’m confused on just how Neo is doing it.

- ....Dead Oscar illusion is kinda sick, nice job animators, but this poor boy can’t catch a break even when not actually here.

- Hey, they remembered Qrow existed!

- Good kitty with laser beams.

- ...Not good kitty. Darn it, Robbie Daymond. And “my maker”, is this how we’re going to tie this back to the main Remnant plot, because his maker can’t be Alyx or Lewis (I’m settling on this spelling because I finally got it through my dense skull that it’s a reference to Lewis Carroll, which makes me wonder if it was actually Lewis that made it out and Alyx that never came back, as the twist), so maybe it’s Ozma or the God of Light?

- Nice effort, Little - I do enjoy when they actually try to help in whatever ways they can, like with the doll at the auction.

-...So, will Little ascend, or because Neo killed them, are they dead dead?

-These reactions are so incredibly flat. If you’re going to do this, go all out with the team’s reactions, don’t just have them gasp and stare. They’d be doing so well with the facial expressions on Ruby, why cheap out here?

-Ew. Also, he’s alway gone in through the heart, why the mouth now?

-Oh yeah, wasn’t one of the theories of Neo’s fairy tale illusion the Cheshire Cat? Well, that’s confirmed now in horrific fashion.

Once again, I am asking why couldn’t we have cut out the fluff and gotten to this point sooner? It makes no sense that Neo is suddenly strong enough to do this, but at least it’s interesting and furthering Ruby’s character and arc along, and with only two episodes left and so much to deal with, this finale is going to feel rushed as all get out, I’m afraid.

#rwby9 #rwby9 spoilers #rwde #crtq #rwby volume 9 #rwby volume 9 spoilers

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werewolf-cl4ws · 1 year

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Hello again! Another long gap between posts but for the last few months creative stuff has been kinda hard/not quite hitting the right notes.

But I stumbled onto some folks doing "Wholesome Sonic and Tails Wednesdays" and it set me off on my current obsession on just wanting to dive a little more into my version of these two's relationship and such.

But this is also me and I had to connect it to some angst . Or more specifically my AU of an AU involving my TimeSkip stuff where Sally is the one that goes missing and I accidentally made it more traumatising for Sonic lol

This got long, too. Like 7916 words long. I don't know how long that takes to read but I did want to warn people that it got long just in case.

I've also never done content warnings before so bear with me here. There's mentions of trauma, disordered eating, and old people being yelled at. I'm trying to be more mindful of content I write for warnings just in case.

I also made a universal tag for this version of my TimeSkip AU so they're easier to find. Hopefully. This is Tumblr.

It was a little after midday when Tails ventured towards the edge of Neo Knothole, his breath puffing white in the chilled air as he stomped through the fresh layer of snow that had fallen the night before.

To him it wasn’t too cold, his thicker winter coat along with his padded jacket making short work of the cold, but the village was quiet at this time of the day as almost everyone had retreated indoors to escape the ever lowering temperatures. Even on this journey Tails swore he encountered maybe two other mobians the most, and they too were also heading indoors, not wanting to deal with the cold any more than they had to.

Which meant that maybe, just maybe, he could convince a certain recluse of a hedgehog outside.

For the last couple of days Bunnie had been ill, unfortunately thanks to the winter chill she had caught a particularly nasty cold that all but completely knocked the cyborg rabbit off her feet. She had tried valiantly to continue her duties of watching over the village, but after barely making it through the first day of her illness the remaining Freedom Fighters had forced her to go to bed and rest, and took turns to make sure she stayed put while attending to other duties in her absence.

Before she reluctantly gave in, Bunnie had also asked Tails to check in on Sonic to make sure that in Bunnie’s absence he didn’t fall into his own trap of bitter solitude. Which he was doing now that he had finally gotten a small break from his imposed duties.

Tails couldn’t help the wince of sympathy at the thought. It had been about seven months since Sonic’s return, maybe more, and the hedgehog was... Tails wasn’t really sure what he could say about Sonic’s current condition. Sonic had gone through many changes – both figuratively and literally – and they had all compounded into making Sonic withdraw from the world. Doubly so since he had his own hut built, where he had chosen to have located so far out from the rest of the village that Tails felt like he was trekking into an unknown world through the snow to reach him.

Up until this point Bunnie had been mainly looking after Sonic, with Bookshire’s help and on occasion the other Freedom Fighters in the rare moments that Sonic allowed them to. Tails had stepped in a few times himself, and whenever he did Sonic always seemed okay, but Tails could sense the underlining misery Sonic was trying to hide from him, which made Sonic gently push the fox away for both their sakes.

It probably didn’t help Sonic either that Sally was still missing, and with his main voice of reason and means of grounding himself gone, the hedgehog seemed to be utterly lost and endlessly spiralling in this new chapter.

Tails’ chest tightened at the reminder of his adoptive aunt’s disappearance, and he forced a gulp of freezing air into his lungs to get it to loosen. Everyone was feeling Sally’s absence, but Sonic had been gone when Sally went missing, so Tails could imagine how shocking that would have been to him. So much so that everyone feared that it actually broke him.

Well, despite all that, Tails still wanted to make an attempt. He just prayed that he could catch Sonic in one of his seemingly rare good graces today.

Eventually he reached Sonic’s hut, and took a moment to stand on his porch and catch his breath before knocking on the door. He waited, his long ears perked for any signs of life inside, then frowned when he heard nothing. The fox tried again, only to get the same result, and for a brief moment Tails wondered if maybe Sonic had actually left his hut for once on his own accord.

Glancing around himself Tails quickly dismissed the thought. Sonic hated the cold, and under normal circumstances he would usually do anything in his power to stay inside where it was warm. The cold would just be another reason for Sonic to back up his antisocial behaviour.

When no signs of life made themselves obvious however Tails sighed, and took a chance with the doorhandle. To his surprise the door was unlocked, and he pushed the door open to allow himself inside.

The hut was dark, with only some spots of light coming through the few shutters that weren’t completely shut or blocked by the forest surrounding Sonic’s hut outside. Tails’ night vision was able to kick in thanks to those bits of light, which allowed him to take in the disarray the hut had gotten into.

Sonic had always been a messy mobian, but Tails always remembered Sonic’s hut being more organised chaos than a straight up mess. Tails had to wonder if it always looked like this, or if everything began piling up after Bunnie got sick and stopped checking in on Sonic. Tails also wondered how Sonic managed to accumulate so much stuff in such a short amount of time – even with the few belongings Tails had managed to salvage from Knothole for Sonic on the chance of his return, he doubted he had managed to save this much.

As Tails looked around his eyes focused onto Sonic’s bed, spotting what looked like the hedgehog’s entire collection of blankets piled on top of it, and somewhere in that mass a pillow. The only thing that gave Sonic’s true position away was his long tail sticking out from under the blankets, as he could see and hear the tip of it slapping irritably against the floorboards. Which told Tails that Sonic was awake, and aware of his presence.

“No,” Sonic muttered, his voice muffled yet stern.

“I haven’t even said anythin’ yet,” Tails sighed as he stepped closer to Sonic’s side, making sure to glance down at the floor with each step so that he wouldn’t trip over anything.

To his surprise however the tip of Sonic’s tail stopped twitching, and Sonic lifted his pillow just enough so that he could peek out from under it so he could look at Tails. In the darkness Sonic’s amber eyes reflected strangely, for a brief moment making the hedgehog look wild to Tails, and his slit pupils widened as they tried to catch more light to see better.

“Oh. Hey, Big Guy,” Sonic greeted one he spotted Tails, all traces of any annoyance gone from his voice. “Wha’ are you doin’ here?”

As he said this Sonic pushed himself into a sitting position, dragging his mountain of blankets with him. In that instance Tails wished he could point out the irony of being referred to his old term of endearment, but knew better as he didn’t want to upset Sonic.

Tails by now was thirteen, and puberty had hit him with a growth spurt that shot him up to almost five foot in height, maybe more. While to an average Mobian that would be considered tall, Sonic’s own growth spurt thanks to his mutation made him tower over everyone at over six foot, beating Tails easily.

His height, combined with the other changes his mutation had granted him, gave Sonic a pretty imposing silhouette that made him stand out, which Sonic was very, very aware of. Hence his new habit of becoming a recluse whenever he wasn’t being badgered by Bunnie into forced social interactions.

Which hadn’t been happening since Bunnie was sick, and Tails realised that Sonic was most likely enjoying the peace. If one could call this enjoying. Which Tails couldn’t considering what he was seeing at the moment.

“Bunnie wanted me to check up on you,” Tails explained, his ear twitching at the frustrated huff that shoved itself out of Sonic’s chest. “She’s uh, she’s actually sick at the moment.”

The brief grimace of annoyance that had crossed Sonic’s face dropped, instantly replaced by genuine concern at the mention of his friend being sick. Which brought some relief to Tails, as he had to admit there were some days where Sonic’s compassion for others got swallowed completely by his own mental baggage. Tails understood why it happened, but the stark contrast of genuine indifference verses Sonic’s bluntness was staggering to Tails.

“She’s sick? What’s wrong wit’ her?” Sonic asked as he turned to face Tails completely, though his hunched his shoulders greatly to make himself appear somewhat smaller. Even then he still almost towered Tails, but now they were at least at each other’s eye level.

“It’s nothin’ serious, just a bad cold,” Tails assured. “She’s been in bed for the last three days now.”

“Three days? Shit, it must be hittin’ her hard,” Sonic winced. “So why are you here? Ain’t someone lookin’ after her?”

“We’re keepin’ an eye on her, ‘nd she’s restin’ up most o’ the time,” Tails explained. “But I’m here ‘cause she told me to make sure you’re not holin’ yourself up in here while she’s out o’ action.”

Sonic huffed a short laugh and waved Tails off, before wrapping his blankets closer around himself so he could lie back down.

“You don’t need to do that, just worry about Bunnie,” Sonic assured. “I ain’t goin’ nowhere or doin’ nothin’ so you don’t need to be here.”

“But you do need to be goin’ somewhere ‘nd doin’ somethin’, you can’t just stay in here all the time,” Tails pointed out. “So get up ‘nd get dressed.”

Sonic tilted his head at Tails, giving him a deadpan look for being ordered around. Most of the time Sonic rebelled hard whenever Bunnie tried to coax him to do anything, still very much in the mindset of everything feeling pointless and not wanting to be part of the world.

But he did this because he knew Bunnie was just as stubborn as he was, more so whenever it came to someone’s wellbeing, and could handle him being a jerk on his rough days. With Tails it was a little harder to want to push back, even when every fibre of his being wanted to.

Which is probably why Bunnie sent Tails over to him in her absence.

Sonic sighed, the sound rolling into a soft growl at the back of his throat. He pulled one half of his blanket cocoon away from himself to reveal that he was wearing something, though Tails noticed that they were obviously Sonic’s night clothes.

“I mean get dressed in somethin’ for the day. It’s pretty cold outside,” Tails clarified, raising an eyebrow at his brother.

“I thought you were tryin’ to convince me to get outta here,” Sonic gritted. “’nd either way no. I feel like shit ‘nd don’t wanna do nothin’.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’ve been in here for three days straight doin’ nothin’,” Tails pointed out, making Sonic roll his eyes. “C’mon. Just come outside for a bit, please?”

“Why? I’m just gonna end up back here anyway,” Sonic retorted.

“Do you have food?” Tails asked. “’nd on top o’ that have you eaten at all?”

“’course I have,” Sonic gritted, though as he said this Sonic’s eyes flicked away from Tails, making the fox frown. “’nd I’ve got food, so I don’t have to go anywhere.”

“Show me.”

With a flurry of frustration Sonic threw his blanket cocoon off him, then stalked over to his kitchen cupboard. Before Bunnie got sick she had been helping Sonic keep his food supplies topped up, giving him supplies that he could store without the risk of them spoiling too fast and make a decent enough meal with very little effort. Between that she would make him some meals and treats – which were limited given their own food surpluses – as she was at a point that she had to convince Sonic to eat as his low points even made eating seem like a hassle.

“There, look,” Sonic stated as he threw open his cupboard.

Only to realise that there wasn’t anything in said cupboard, not even a scrap of what used to be in there to show any proof that he did have food in there at one stage. Somehow Sonic had managed to go through his supplies without realising it, and considering how easily he lost track of time, Sonic wouldn’t be able to tell anyone when he had last ate either.

Sonic slapped the cupboard shut, and pointedly looked away from Tails.

“Don’t look,” Sonic muttered.

“Get dressed, we’re gettin’ food,” Tails retorted.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“I don’t but I dislike you a lot.”

This was said as Sonic stalked back towards his dresser, barely giving Tails another glance as he could feel the smugness radiating from the fox. Which made him a little resentful at how powerless he was at the moment. Sonic knew he could easily shove Tails out of his hut and slam the door in his face, but Sonic still had enough sense in his mind to not be that much of a jerk.

At least for now.

He still rebelled by taking his time in getting dressed, on the off chance that if he dragged this ordeal out long enough Tails would give in. However when he emerged from his bathroom Sonic couldn’t help but wilt a little at the seemingly infinite amount of patience Tails was still showing. The fox even had the nerve to nod approvingly at seeing Sonic dressed and groomed to look somewhat presentable, despite the fact that Sonic had done the very bare minimum there also.

“The second someone stares at me I’m out,” Sonic warned as he shoved his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie, still needing to show some defiance at his current situation.

“There’s hardly anyone around, ‘nd even then I can’t stop them from lookin’,” Tails reasoned. “You need to give this a chance.”

“I don’t like it when they stare,” Sonic huffed.

Tails’ ears twitched at the way Sonic’s voice wavered with those words, and some of his resilience withered. Bunnie had warned him about how hard it was to get Sonic to do, well, anything, which was a stark contrast to what Tails was used to with the hedgehog. It was part of why Bunnie had taken it upon herself to work with Sonic, and the last few months after Sonic’s return Tails hadn’t had much contact with Sonic as he would have liked despite the circumstances.

He still only knew a few details of what exactly Sonic had been through during his disappearance, just enough to understand why Sonic’s wasn’t himself. The growth spurt from his mutation after his return didn’t help matters either. But it still hurt to see everything compounding onto Sonic and dragging him down into this misery when once upon a time hardly anything could bring Sonic down.

It only made Tails want to fight harder, as he was sure if the roles were reversed Sonic would be dragging Tails out of his hut kicking and screaming just to help him out of whatever funk he was in.

“If they stare for more than ten seconds we can come back,” Tails offered. “Normal seconds.”

Sonic’s ears perked at the offer, then his frown deepened.

“Five seconds,” Sonic countered.

“Ten,” Tails rebutted.

“Four.”

“Nine.”

“Six.”

“Eight or I’m droppin’ the offer.”

“Ugh, fine!”

Tails led Sonic to the village, making sure to keep his pace even with the hedgehog so that he could keep him in his sights at all times. Both so that he could make sure that Sonic wasn't getting genuinely overwhelmed, and to keep an eye out for any signs that he was going to do a runner despite their agreement. Not that Tails had any way of stopping Sonic really, but after enduring more debating and rebelling from him Tails wanted to make this last for at least a good while before either of them threw in the towel.

After a few minutes of trekking through the snow the two reached the centre of the village, and Tails glanced back at Sonic to see how he was fairing. The hedgehog held his head low, his hands deep in the front pocket of his hoodie, and while he didn't shows signs that he was preparing to do a runner, the combination of being outside in the cold and doing something against his will had left him looking quite sour. Tails felt his heart drop a little at Sonic's expression, and wondered if he could keep this up. He was determined to keep Sonic occupied in Bunnie's absence, but the thought of genuinely upsetting Sonic didn't sit well with him.

It wasn't helping either that as they walked through the village Tails realised that there were more mobians out and about than he had previously seen. They were most likely doing some last minute chores or errands before they hunkered down for the night that seemed to come earlier and earlier every day, but Tails had still hoped that they would have been inside way earlier than now.

When some of the villagers saw Tails they greeted him warmly, but true to Sonic's prediction their friendly demeanours faltered the second they spotted Sonic, some even stilling in their tracks with clear fear on their faces that Tails was barely able to break them out of by greeting them back.

Tails kept moving, not wanting to look at Sonic or his own reaction, but at the corner of his eye he could see Sonic's pace starting to slow as he fell back, each stare making him flinch like he had been struck. Tails mentally cursed at the villagers, and fell back so he could be by Sonic's side again.

"C'mon, we'll just grab some food from the Mess Hall," Tails reminded Sonic, hoping that his voice sounded more confident than he felt.

Right at that moment another villager came by them, and just like the others they stopped and stared at Sonic. Tails almost barked at them to keep moving, but stopped himself when Sonic yanked the hood of his hoodie hard over his head and pulled the drawstrings to hide his face from the villagers.

"I'm pretty sure that was more than eight seconds, Tails," Sonic growled, pointedly looking ahead of himself as he waited for the villager to leave.

Tails felt his heart drop at the clear anger in Sonic's voice, and when he tried to answer he felt himself get tongue-tied, what little confidence he had on handling the situation gone in an instant. Even with Sonic's face obscured Tails could see he was glaring at him too, and Tails had to remind himself not to stare in fear at the hedgehog himself in that moment.

"Fox boy! Stop right there, fox boy!"

Now fear snapped through the fox, and in an instant he grabbed Sonic by his arm and yanked him forward to force him to keep walking.

"No Tails, I'm done! Wha' the hell are you doin'?" Sonic snapped. He tried to pull his arm away from Tails, only to be surprised by the death-like grip he had on him.

"Please just keep walkin'," Tails hissed, before he yelped as he was suddenly pulled back by his shoulder.

Sonic was nearly taken back with him, and he turned to try to figure out what had just happened. Only to discover the grouchiest old possum he had ever seen in his entire life standing in front of Tails and giving him a glare that Sonic swore could turn a field of flowers brown in an instant.

Tails meanwhile wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole, but when that didn't happen he addressed the possum, his smile crooked and forced.

"Oh hey, Mr. Rootgravel. I didn't see--"

"Don't you "Hey Mr. Rootgravel" me, fox boy!" the possum interrupted, banging the end of his walking stick into the snowy ground with every word. "You said you were going to fix my fence. And it still hasn't been done!"

Tails barely hid a wince, his ears folding back briefly as he took a soft breath to try to centre himself. He hadn’t expected this particular villager to be out at this time of the day, only because the older possum seemed to haunt Tails’ shadow in the earlier hours of the day. He glanced in Sonic’s direction, noticing the hint of confusion in his eyes, but there was still a good amount of frustration there, too, which made Tails realise he needed to sort this out quickly before he had two angry mobians in his hands.

“Mr. Rootgravel I told you, it doesn’t need fixin’,” Tails explained. “I even checked it yesterday.”

“No, you said you would fix it! And I saw you looking at it yesterday, you barely gave it a glance!” Mr. Rootgravel snapped.

“I did look at it, ‘nd it’s fine. There’s nothin’ for me to do to it,” Tails explained, his voice just barely levelled.

“Now you’re just being lazy! I was told that you and those two other boys were in charge of the village and you’ve been doing squat for no one. Why the village has been left in charge of a little brat like you I’ll never know, you young ones wouldn’t know a hard day’s work if it bit you in the face,” Mr Rootgravel ranted, his voice rising in volume as he rambled.

Tails gaped at the possum, looking like he had just been punched in the gut. He tried to say something back, but like before he became tongue-tied, his words just forming so thickly in his mouth that he couldn’t speak.

As he struggled Sonic frowned at the display, then stepped over so that he was slightly in between Tails and Mr. Rootgravel, trying to coax Tails into standing behind him so that he could shield off any more attacks from the old man.

“Hey, pal. That doesn’t sound like Tails at all. Lay off him, wouldja?” Sonic stated, holding his hands up in a non-threatening manner.

Unlike the other villagers, Mr Rootgravel didn’t seem to recognise Sonic, instead only seeing him as a tall loudmouth that was covering his face. So he jabbed Sonic in the chest with his walking stick, pulling out a sharp yelp from Sonic.

“Stay out of this, stringbean!” Mr. Rootgravel snapped, giving Sonic another few jabs in the chest in an attempt to make him back off.

Before anyone could react, Sonic grabbed the walking stick and yanked it clean out of Mr. Rootgravel’s hand. Without breaking eye contact with the possum Sonic tossed the stick aside, and Tails watched as it sailed over a good few metres away from them, landing on a hut’s roof.

Stunned, Tails turned back to Mr. Rootgravel and watched as he gaped at Sonic, then his face twisted into a new wave of anger that turns his salt and pepper fur red in the face.

“That’s my walking stick! I need that!” Mr. Rootgravel hollered.

“Then you shouldn’t o’ poked me wit’ it, you old fart!” Sonic snarled, and Tails swore a part of his soul died right there and then. “Now wha’ the hell is your deal anyway?”

“You can’t hear me up there?!” Mr. Rootgravel yelled, then cupped his hands over his mouth in an exaggerated imitation of a megaphone. “I said this lazy fox boy needs to fix my fence. Now!”

“’nd he said it doesn’t need fixin’!” Sonic boomed back.

“It does! And I want it done now!”

“Show me this stupid fence,” Sonic snarled.

“Not without my walking stick, stringbean.”

Sonic rolled his eyes, then cocked his head towards where he had tossed the stick.

“Get the stupid thin’ down so we can get this sorted out, Tails,” Sonic muttered.

Tails winced at the request, then slinked up to Sonic’s side, his tails curling around his legs.

“It’s okay, I can look at it later. You don’t have to do this,” Tails mumbled.

Sonic shook his head, tossing another frown at Mr. Rootgravel before he looked at Tails.

“He’s not gonna fuck off until he thinks this is sorted. ‘nd I ain’t leavin’ you alone wit’ him,” Sonic assured. “Just go get the stupid stick.”

Tails hesitated, but when he glanced at Mr. Rootgravel once more the old man was glaring daggers at the two of them, his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for someone to do something. Tails sighed and twirled his namesakes to fetch down the walking stick, but he couldn’t help but feel frustrated at this turn of events.

Once Tails retrieved the walking stick Mr. Rootgravel led the two back to where his hut was situated, which wasn’t too far from the village centre. As the three approached the hut Sonic looked around the area, and couldn’t help but notice that compared to all the other huts in the area, and beyond, only Mr. Rootgravel’s hut was surrounded by a wooden picket fence. The fence even cut in between the gap between his hut and the one next to him, with the gap being just barely a metre wide considering the limited space of the village entirely.

Sonic’s mouth twisted with disgust at what he saw. New Knothole was small, hosting maybe thirty to forty mobians the most on the surface, and another thirty in Lower Mobius last he checked. While for some that might not be the most ideal living arrangement, the village was quiet, homely, and everyone was willing to share their space as there were only so many luxuries that could be spared given their circumstances. The thought of one villager being this demanding over something so unnecessary made Sonic’s quills prickle.

“Why are you the only one wit’ a fence anyway?” Sonic asked, needing to resolve this for himself.

“Because I wanted one. This is my home after all, I demand privacy!” Mr. Rootgravel growled.

“It’s a village. If you wanted privacy go live in a tree. Or Lower Mobius. Or in the forest away from all o’ us,” Sonic pointed out, before adding under his breath, “Preferably inna ditch.”

“I wanted a hut, and I wanted a fence. So I got both,” Mr. Rootgravel gritted. “End of story.”

“Wha’ever,” Sonic sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his muzzle as he swore he could feel a headache starting. “Just show me where it’s busted.”

Mr Rootgravel led him to a section where the fence opened as a hinged gate. When they were close enough Mr. Rootgravel used his walking stick to tap at the gate, pulling Sonic’s attention to the damage that had gotten him so worked up.

“Here, this needs to be fixed,” Mr. Rootgravel stated.

Sonic crouched down and looked at where the possum was pointing to, then frowned, not quite seeing what the problem was. Sonic didn’t really consider himself anywhere near a handyman, as those sorts of jobs were usually left to Rotor to handle – and apparently to Tails now, too – but even he knew how to spot something that would need repairs.

He turned to Tails, hoping for a clue of some kind as he felt like this was something that should have been very obvious to anyone involved. Only to have the fox shrug helplessly at him. Sonic pressed his lips together into a thin line, then sighed, hating everything.

“... I ain’t seein’ it,” Sonic admitted at a length.

He barely flinched when Mr. Rootgravel tapped at the gate rapidly with his stick, as if that was going to clear up the issue as now the possum was opting to not waste any more words on Sonic. Sonic tried to focus on where he was tapping, and eventually he realised that the picket panel had somehow been snapped near the top, leaving a splintered mess.

At least, that’s all he could see. Which made Sonic slow blink at the fence as a quiet sort of rage began bubble through him.

“You’re kiddin’, right?” Sonic asked, then pointed at the broken picket. “Is that all?”

“Is that all?!” Mr. Rootgravel snarled. “It’s broken! Look at it, it’s making the gate uneven, I can’t have it looking like that!”

Sonic had to stare at the fence for a moment longer to consider his life choices and how he ended up here, then took in a slow, deep breath. When he released it, Sonic grabbed the broken panel, and with one sharp motion he yanked it off, pulling it free from the gate with a squeal of loosening nails.

“There,” Sonic said simply, tossing the picket aside as he stood up, dusting his hands off. “Now leave Tails alone, you old coot.”

Tails stared at Sonic in horror, feeling his blood run cold. He didn’t even dare look at Mr. Rootgravel, as he could practically feel the rage that was rising in the old possum, but he could hear him sputtering as he tried to comprehend just what had happened. And when he did, Mr. Rootgravel shrieked.

“How dare you do that to my property?!” Mr. Rootgravel hollered.

“How dare you harass Tails over somethin’ so stupid?!” Sonic snapped back, his voice so loud that it startled both Tails and Mr. Rootgravel. “You shouldn’t even have this fuckin’ thin’ in the first place, ‘nd you think you can order Tails around when he’s busy lookin’ after more important things?”

Before Mr. Rootgravel could protest further Sonic loomed over him, making sure to get as close as he was able to against the old possum before he yanked the hood of his hoodie down, revealing his face. The moment Mr. Rootgravel caught sight of Sonic’s full appearance he froze, the words forming in his mouth faltering as he gaped at Sonic, he outrage and entitlement completely evaporating.

Usually such a sight would have Sonic backing down, as he honestly hated the idea of scaring anyone. But after spending the last few minutes with the old possum Sonic needed this encounter to end as quickly as possible, even if it meant having someone genuinely be afraid of him.

“Now, I’m only gonna say this once. ‘cause if I see you buggin’ him, or anyone else about anythin’ this stupid again, I’m gonna come back here ‘nd take another picket until this whole damn thin’ is gone. Leave. Tails. Alone,” Sonic snarled, before gritting his teeth, pulling his lips back enough so that the possum got a full view of them. “Got it?”

Mr. Rootgravel continued staring at Sonic, his words seemingly going right over his head. It was only when Sonic clicked his teeth together that he snapped out of his stupor, but only long enough to give Sonic a half nod in confirmation. Sonic figured that was good enough, and he took in another calming breath before he cocked his head towards Mr. Rootgravel’s hut.

“Go home. ‘nd don’t let me catch you bein’ a jerk anymore.”

Tails watched in awe as the once feisty old man half hobbled, half ran through his gate and back into his hut, barely giving him or Sonic a backwards glance. Once he disappeared into his hut Tails felt some relief, but he couldn’t help the pang of guilt that flashed through him at the same time. The last thing he wanted to do was drag Sonic into some silly drama, especially after he had reassured Sonic that his first trip out of his hut in who knew how long was going to be a good thing.

Even as he looked up at Sonic he could see the below surface rage that was now rushing through the hedgehog, and Tails was sure that after this Sonic would not want to set foot outside ever again.

“Sonic, I--" Tails began.

“Has he really been messin’ wit’ you this whole time?” Sonic cut in.

Tails hesitated, his gaze falling down to his feet as he desperately wanted the subject to be dropped. He felt bad enough as it was having Sonic get involved, but what Mr. Rootgravel had said earlier about him being in charge and supposedly doing a poor job of it had really gotten to Tails. That, alongside utterly failing to help Sonic in the short period he was looking out for him, made Tails realise that he wasn’t very good at being responsible as he thought he was.

As he looked down at the snowy ground Sonic forced himself into Tails’ view, and to his surprise the hedgehog’s expression was a look of genuine concern.

“Tails, tell me the truth. Has he been messin’ wit’ you?” Sonic asked again, his voice gentle now.

Tails blinked at Sonic, then sighed before he nodded, feeling defeated. He heard Sonic click his tongue in frustration, and the hedgehog straightened, going quiet as he thought for a moment.

“Has anyone else been buggin’ you?” Sonic asked.

“Everyone else has been fine but... I guess there are a couple o’ villagers that are gettin’ a bit impatient?” Tails offered. “I thought I was doin’ okay but if he got that mad...”

“Show me who,” Sonic demanded. “Let’s sort ‘em out too before they pull anythin’ like this on you.”

Tails gaped at Sonic, then shook his head, his eyes pleading now.

“Don’t worry about it! I’m supposed to be lookin’ after the village, not you. This is too much!” Tails protested.

“Oh no. You think you’re the only one that can go draggin’ folks outta their problems?” Sonic countered as he stood, setting a fist on his hip as he regarded Tails. “Spill it, bro. Who else has been tryin’ to push you around?”

Tails still tried to protest against Sonic’s request, but when Sonic threatened to go around the village to figure it out himself Tails yielded, not wanting the hedgehog be let loose on the village in such a way that it would risk Bunnie needing to intervene while still sick.

So he led Sonic to any villagers her remembered approaching him over the last few days that he hadn’t been able to assist, or had tried settling their issues only to have them repeatedly come back to him in an attempt to get Tails to do what they asked.

To Tails’ surprise despite Sonic’s clear discomfort at being seen and gawked at by the villagers, he seemed to push that discomfort aside so that he could play bodyguard for Tails. He even stepped in when arguments started to get heated with the few villagers that refused to see reason, taking full advantage of his towering height and wild look to intimidate said villagers into either agreeing with Tails’ recommendations, or to outright abandon their frivolous demands.

They were also able to resolve quite a few legitimate issues that had been lingering in the village when other villagers caught wind of what the duo were doing. While Sonic’s attitude towards any villagers that were less that hospitable was to push back tenfold, Tails witnessed Sonic being quite compassionate and understanding to those that were just flustered with their situation, even as they hesitated at Sonic’s appearance at first. It was in these moments that Tails could see Sonic’s old self shining through, and as they day moved on one by one the villagers seemed to become more comfortable around the hedgehog, and vice versa.

Eventually though the two began to tire out, and a few hours after the sun had set they decided to stop for the day, reasoning that everyone was now retiring for the night as it was, and that it would be too dark and cold to do much else anyway.

Upon that agreement Sonic had begun wandering back to his hut with barely another word to Tails. Tails had taken this as a cue for him to depart to his own hut, until Sonic called back to him.

“Hey! You promised me food,” Sonic pointed out. “Go grab some ‘nd have dinner at my place, yeah?”

Tails was ecstatic for the offer, and rushed over to the Mess Hall to gather up some food for both of them, making it just in time before the majority of the food on offer was packed away. About ten minutes later Tails was back at Sonic’s hut, and balancing his two plates on one arm he entered the hut.

The contrast of what he had walked into earlier that afternoon to now was like night and day, even in the short amount of time the two were separated. The pile of blankets that Sonic had been using as his messy cocoon were now folded somewhat neatly on the end of his bed, the hut was well lit thanks to the overhead lighting, and it looked like Sonic had tidied up the few stray belongings he had that were scattered all over the floor, as Tails didn’t need to watch where he was stepping.

The only thing that almost matched what he had walked into that afternoon was Sonic lying on his bed with his head buried under his pillow. Which would explain why Sonic had asked Tails to get some food instead of picking it out himself with him, as it seemed like Sonic was more overwhelmed than Tails had realised.

For a moment Tails wondered if the two of them had pushed Sonic’s limits too far, and considered taking a raincheck on Sonic’s offer of having dinner together. But as Tails approached Sonic’s side the hedgehog lifted his pillow slightly, then sat up fully once he realised it was Tails.

“Sorry, I needed a sec o’ not bein’ vertical,” Sonic explained as he brushed down his quills with his hands, getting them somewhat back in line along his neck and back. “Man, that was a long day.”

“Yeah, but you survived. So that’s gotta count for somethin’, right?” Tails smirked as he passed Sonic his plate.

Sonic laughed, then cocked his head to motion for Tails to sit on the bed with him.

“Can’t argue that. But I ain’t gonna lie, my social card is totally punched out.”

As Tails made himself comfortable on Sonic’s bed he watched the hedgehog start on his food, glad to see that there wasn’t any hesitation. While Tails was getting their food he had realised that Sonic hadn’t eaten all day, and without knowing just how long it had been since his last decent meal Tails was worried that Sonic wouldn’t be up for eating, despite asking him to get food. Tails had tried picking out things he hoped were enticing enough to the hedgehog, but was relieved to see that at this point Sonic just wanted any food.

“I think mine is, too. But on the bright side that just means tomorrow there will be less to do,” Tails pointed out. “’nd thanks for helpin’ me out. I’m sorry that I let it all get so outta hand.”

Sonic paused mid-bite, before he sighed and set his fork down.

“No, I’m the one that let it all get outta hand. Not you, bro,” Sonic said. “You shouldn’t have to be pickin’ up the slack like that.”

Tails tilted his head at Sonic, his eyebrows furrowing with confusion.

“Wha’ do you mean? It’s not your fault so many villagers needed help,” Tails said.

“That’s not wha’ I’m talkin’ about,” Sonic clarified. “Wit’ Bunnie outta commission you should have someone else you can turn to for help, but instead I was makin’ everythin’ more difficult for you. ’nd on top o’ that I didn’t even know she was sick, or that folks were strugglin’, all ‘cause I was stuck in my own head. That ain’t right.”

Tails frowned, then shook his head firmly.

“You went through a lot o’ stuff though, Sonic. ‘nd we know it’s gonna take you some time to recover,” Tails explained. “We just want you to be okay.”

“I know, but I ain’t gettin’ okay. I have to get pushed just to do the bare minimum, ‘nd even then I don’t do that wit’out makin’ it a whole drama,” Sonic sighed. “I’m sorry, Tails.”

The apology startled Tails. Not that it was rare or anything like that for Sonic to admit his mistakes, even in his own ways. But because it never occurred to Tails that he would have anything to apologise for. Like Tails had said since Sonic’s return everyone that was able to worked alongside the hedgehog to help him recover, just wanting him to get better for his own sake.

The journey though had been rough, especially after Sonic’s third mutation that seemed to have cause Sonic to completely fall apart. It had been scary to witness at first, as Tails was so used to Sonic being so brave and confident not just in himself but in everyone around him. Watching Sonic withdraw completely from the world was surreal at best.

Everyone had tried so hard to help him, but Tails knew what was missing. It was missing for everyone else as well, and even though everyone had been able to move on in their own ways, that missing detail still hung at everyone’s neck like an albatross.

“I’m sure it would have been easier if Sally was here,” Tails voiced, knowing he had guessed right when Sonic stiffened.

Sally’s disappearance was still a hard topic to bring up with anyone. Coupled with Sonic’s disappearance there were times that everyone had felt hopeless, and they had all switched from wanting to fight back against the rising threat that had come out of nowhere, to wanting to just survive.

It didn’t help either that earlier attempts at tracking down Sally and Sonic had led them into wild goose chases that involved freakishly accurate illusions of their leaders. Over time said illusions would bait whoever were chasing them down into dangers they would just barely escape, or worse, distractions that left others in danger until it was almost too late. It had been a collective, yet hard decision amongst the Freedom Fighters to let their leaders go in exchange for their own safety, and just pray that somehow they would find their true selves alive and well someday.

“… yeah, it would have,” Sonic murmured, and Tails could hear the slight tremor in Sonic’s voice as Sonic looked away from him.

“You guys are helpin’, I don’t want to diss that,” Sonic added. “It’s just that… I dunno. Sal just knew how to not make me feel like a freak. Unc did, too, but he ain’t here either. ‘nd wit’ everythin’ else that’s happened to me I just keep wonderin’ wha’ they’d think o’ me now. But then I go back to ‘em not bein’ here ‘nd—-“

Sonic cut himself off, clicking his teeth together loudly like he needed to physically bite his words. Tails could see his eyes shining over with unshed tears and felt his own throat constrict at his brother’s turmoil.

“I don’t wanna dump that on you, bro. This is already too much,” Sonic sighed as he rubbed the heel of his hand into his eyes to chase off the tears. “But I wanna try to get back into the swin’ o’ things. There’s no way I can let you guys do everythin’ on your own no more.”

“Today was a good start I think. I mean it did take a while for you to get started, but once you got into it you seemed okay,” Tails stated. “So, we could just take it a day atta time, y’know?”

“That works for me. ‘cause really I don’t have a clue wha’ I can do no more,” Sonic admitted.

“Well I already know you can shut down grumpy old men,” Tails laughed, drawing a snort from Sonic. “Seriously, even Bunnie’s been havin’ trouble wit’ that guy.”

“That’s ‘cause she’s tryin’ to be a good guy. I don’t care if people get prissy wit’ me,” Sonic shrugged. “‘nd if he does harass you again tell me, I don’t care wha’ I’m doin’ or how I’m feelin’, he ain’t gettin’ away wit’ that.”

“I think after today he’s probably never gonna leave his hut again,” Tails teased.

“Good. That means I can knock his stupid fence over. Seriously, why does he even have that thin’?” Sonic muttered as he jabbed at some food on his plate with his fork with a little more force than needed.

“Also didja hear wha’ he called me? Stringbean?” Sonic added, outrage clear in his voice. “That’s like the last damn thin’ I would have thought anyone would call me. Such an asshole.”

“That’s how he is. But lookin’ back on it now, it was pretty funny when you tossed his walkin’ stick onto the roof,” Tails snickered. “I thought for sure he was gonna blow an artery when you did that.”

“Well he shouldn’t o’ poked me wit’ it,” Sonic smirked. “Though don’t tell Bunnie I did that. ‘nd then yelled at him. Or that I yelled at that other guy that was just bein’ lazy about gettin’ his own firewood. Who was also a jerk. So many jerks in the village...”

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe wit’ me.”

The two ate in silence after that, giving each other some time to wind down from the day. Once they were finished Sonic took their plates and rinsed them off so that Tails could return them to the Mess Hall on his way back to his own hut. By then it was getting late, and they were both looking forward to getting a decent night’s sleep.

“So I’ll catch ya tomorrow?” Tails asked.

“Yeah, we’ll finish off the stuff we didn’t get to so you won’t have so many villagers on your back,” Sonic stated. “Though I’ll need a favour from ya.”

“Oh? Sure, anythin’,” Tails confirmed. “Whaddya need?”

“Can ya swin’ by here ‘nd drag my tail outta bed again?” Sonic asked. “‘cause I know I’m gonna forget. I promise I won’t fight ya.”

Tails laughed, the tips of his tails swaying gleefully at the confession.

“I can swin’ by at six, how does that sound?”

“Yeah if you do that I’ll fight ya ‘nd toss ya onto the roof,” Sonic miffed, his muzzle scrunching up with disgust even as Tails laughed harder. “Just make it a reasonable time, wouldja? At least ‘til I get used to bein’ a functionin’ guy again.”

“Okay, okay. Let’s try eight then. ‘nd I’ll brin’ some breakfast, too,” Tails yielded.

“Now that I can deal wit’,” Sonic smirked. “I’ll catch ya tomorrow, bro.”

“Catch ya tomorrow, Sonic.”

When Tails stepped outside and closed the door behind him he stopped and leaned against the door, taking a moment to reflect on everything that had just happened. After a few minutes the fox couldn’t help but grin to himself, before he quietly danced around in a tight circle to channel his giddiness.

He hadn’t expected his attempt to get Sonic out and about to be this successful, especially with the false start he had. But now he was thrilled that not only did Sonic leave his hut, he also seemed to have cheered up quite a bit. Tails knew that this didn’t mean Sonic was completely free of his depression, but he hoped this would lead to Sonic coming out of his reclusiveness a little more.

Tails headed home, mentally keeping his fingers crossed that tomorrow would go just as well for the hedgehog.

With hopefully the absence of any more grouchy villagers.

#wstw #wholesome sonic and tails wednesday #SatAM-TimeSkipAU #SatAM #SatAM Sonic #Sonic the hedgehog #tails the fox #Sonic AU #fanfiction #sonic fanfiction #long post #queue

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