#i gave her a striped apron since I took away her striped socks

[pinkbellythundershark]

finished the healer for my etrian odyssey party! Took some design liberties again, but that’s the fun of it

#my art #Etrian Odyssey #character art #digital art #character portrait #medic #EO1 #i gave her a striped apron since I took away her striped socks #maybe once i finish the whole party I'll put them together

[jameui]

GUILTY MISTAKE

PAIRING: Kang Yeosang x M!Reader

GENRE: Angst, Fluff

WARNINGS: M!reader bullying sweet baby Yeosang, bad friends

SUMMARY: You've made a huge mistake once when you were a child and it's been in your head for the rest of your life, haunting you unless you've done something about it.

Just last month, you had turned six years old and you couldn't be more happier. For some unknown reasons, you liked how you grew older after every year, mostly because you receive gifts from your mom and dad and, of course, your friends who were about a year older than you.

Every year, on your birthday, you'd get expensive items and presents that you have been wanting for so long and foods that you get to eat with your family and friends. Loud music booming through the speakers, giggling while you made jokes with your friends laughing at almost everything due to the excitement and adrenaline that rushed through your bodies.

But, once everything was over and you know that everyone had to leave, you just keep on wishing that it was your birthday everyday. That way, everyone could still have fun and be happy with you, but then again, where's the thrill in that? They'd probably grow tired of it.

Right now, you were playing with your toys that you received creating specific sounds that corresponds to the action you controlled them to do, when you heard the doorbell ring making you gasp with joy at the thought of having a guest paying a visit.

You stood up from your position, your short legs running towards the door as you reached for the knob and turned it to open the door for the person behind it. The door moves wide open and reveals a woman who didn't look quite older than your mother, while you smiled and looked up at her. "Good morning!" You greeted her.

The woman's eyes fell down to you, beaming with glee at your politeness. "A very good morning to you, too, deary." She replied. "Is your mom or dad around? We're actually new to the neighborhood. We just moved from Busan."

You nod your head to answer her as you walked up to your mother who was in the kitchen cooking lunch. "Mom, someone's at the door for you."

"Really? Who is it?" Your mother asked you, wiping her newly washed hands on her apron.

You shrugged your shoulder, holding onto your mom's hand. "Neighbor said she was new." You and your mom was now in front of the door and the two women greeted each other as the other woman handed out a basket to your mom while you waited patiently for your mom to give it to you.

As soon as she did, you waggled your small feet towards the table before you caught a glimpse of a kid, not much taller than you, peeking from behind his mother's pants. He looked scared and shy, but it seemed to you that he wanted to approach you, but he was just too timid to do so.

You gave him your million dollar smile that made the small boy giggle at your friendliness, you jumping down from where you sat with a small groan when you hit the floor. You ran back towards the door, now seeing the chubby boy whose tummy was curving like a small hill on his stomach.

He wore a blue tiny jumper that fit perfectly onto his body, with a striped long sleeves under his jumper, white socks and shoes that almost looked worn out. You approached the boy a comfortable distance away and looked behind the woman that looked to be like his mother, a wide smile still present on your face as you waved a hand at him hello.

The boy bashfully hid, only leaving his arm to be left seen while waving back at you hesitantly. You could see how much the boy struggled to make friends with you so you decided to close in on the distance leading your feet towards the boy and poked your head out that made the boy flinch. "Heya there!" You said, now standing in front of him as the little boy hid his eyes away from you. "Don't be scared. People tell me I'm kind." You giggled softly, the other boy glancing up at you before quickly looking away once again. "I'm M/n, by the way. How about you? What's your name?"

He looked up at you shyly and stammered. "I-I'm Yeothang."

"Yeothang? What a unique name." You beamed, but he shook his head to correct you.

"No, no. Yeothang."

"Oh, you got a lisp." You said at the sudden realization and he nodded his head. "So, Yeosang?" He nodded again. "Yeosang. You have a pretty name." You said, finally noticing the birth mark that decorated the side of his left eye. You gasped and pointed at it. "Wowza! You have a cool looking tattoo!"

"It'th... It'th not a tattoo, M/n." Small Yeosang said, hesitating to call you by your name. "Mommy told me it'th a birth mark."

"Ooh, a birth mark. I wish I had one just like yours." You pouted. "I've got nothing."

Yeosang giggles at you making you smile. "That'th okay, M/n." He said and looks at you with his small brown orbs. "You look great even without them." He said, before he sniffed due to his runny nose that caused a snot to fall from his nose.

You were able to see this and pulled the hem of your shirt to wipe it from his nose and smiled brightly at him, which in turn, earned you a face of shock from Yeosang. "There."

"But, I dirtied your shirt." He furrowed his brows.

You waved it off and gave him assurance. "Don't you worry. My clothes get cleaned pretty well, so it's alright." You told him. "Oh, hey, wanna eat the snack your mom gave us? I saw cookies there. I bet you love cookies."

He nods his head once and immediately, you took his wrist into your small hands that barely closed around it as you pulled him inside and to your kitchen table. You let Yeosang take a seat first, since he needed a little help from his small size. You were next to take seat, settling on the seat beside him. You opened the basket that was wrapped with a cling wrap to secure it properly.

You let yourself drool at the sight of all the delicious delicacies that was inside the basket. "That is a lot." You chuckled cutely, unable to decide which baked goods to eat first. Throughout your process of thinking, your mother and Yeosang's mother had finished their conversation and the latter was called over. Yeosang gave his mother a small 'coming', before climbing down the seat as you pouted. "You're leaving already."

"I'm afraid tho, M/n." Yeosang replied sadly as you thought.

You pondered for a moment before you hastily took a bunch of the delicacies from the basket and went down to give it to Yeosang. "Here. I want you to take this with you. Eat them, or else."

Yeosang nodded and gave you a look of delight at your kind and cute gesture. "I will, M/n." He said before he jogged off to his mother showing her what you gave to him.

"Bye, Sangie!"

"Bye, M/n."

The following day, you were with your friends by the children's playground playing a round of tag, you being the tagger. "Tag, you're it!" You yelled on top of your lungs once you were able to catch up with the smallest of your group of friends, who whined in protest and stomped his foot.

"I'm always 'it'! Why can't it be—"

"Can I play, too?" That all too familiar sweet, honey like voice came from behind him, taking all of your attentions as your head all turned to him and revealed the very shy Yeosang. "I know how to play the game. We uthed to play that back at home."

"Yeosang, of cour—" You were about to reply, but your friends' rejection to his action of joining cut you off.

"Ew, no way. We don't want your boogers and sticky green nose liquid on us. Get away!"

"Yeah, go away! We don't want you playing with us."

"Booger boy!"

"Go play in another playground!"

Those were the words that your friends threw at him that got you shocked from hearing what your friends were saying to Yeosang. Your eyes had widened in shock while you could clearly see the hurt in his eyes that was now glossy with his forming tears from the mean comments he received from your friends. You clearly didn't know there was something going on with your friends and Yeosang.

Yeosang's pleading eyes was placed onto you as he waited for your answer, fiddling with his fingers. Your friends were the best people you could ever have and losing them never crossed your thought, so to avoid this situation from happening, you did what you thought was going to keep them as your friends. "Sure. You can play with us." You said, which made Yeosang hopefully smile, but he immediately took it back from what he heard next from you. "If you weren't so disgusting."

At that, you smirked and all your friends bursted out laughing giving you a clap at the back, the dejected Yeosang hanging his head low, feeling embarrassed. Although he was shamed upon, he still knew you had that kindness inside you and guessed you might have done that for a reason, so he gleamed and looked back at you. "Alright. Maybe next time? When I'm not snot booger rocket anymore." He snorted while laughing that made you all look at him like he's a weirdo.

"Go away! We never want to play with you, again."

And what you thought was just a one time thing, became a permanent bullying towards the poor little boy who only wanted to make friends and play with you. Before they left Busan, he had promised his mom that he wouldn't be the shy boy his parents knew him as, and become friends with the children at their new home, but it looked it was 'friends' that didn't want him.

Their first day, the day he met you, he was so excited and happy that he was able to make a friend, even if it were you who was the first one to approach him. He admired how you were so brave to befriend him and your politeness was one of the things he praised you for. He also thought you were a really kind and friendly kid, but looking at it now, it looked like he was wrong as he was once again rejected to play with you, seating on one of the swings that were a far distance away from where you and your friends played tag.

He sighed, but he didn't want to give up that easily so he ran to you while giggling repeating the words, 'I wanna play' over and over again which got to your friends' nerves, to the point where one of them pushed Yeosang to the ground which got your mouth gaping at the shock, while Yeosang stared up the person who pushed him, eyes starting to swell with tears. As though the fact that he was pushed to the ground wasn't enough, the same person kicked him by the leg which got Yeosang shouting in pain, before standing back up crying and ran home.

You made your way to your friends and glared at them. "Hey, that was too much."

"Why do you care so much?" He sassed at you. "He deserved it."

Your glare didn't falter, but softened when your eyes caught sight of a crying Yeosang. While your friends started to pile up in the middle of the place, you were still caught up in your thoughts, wishing you had just been nice to Yeosang and left your friends for treating Yeosang like that.

Yeosang didn't deserve it. He was a sweet, innocent and kind-hearted boy. He was too pure for this world. He didn't even give up once on trying to be friends with you, but all you ever did was tease him and mock him, call him names like 'booger boy' as you all called him as, 'weirdo', and all sorts of things. Finally realizing your fault, you sighed and regretted the treatment you gave Yeosang. "Sangie..."

A month or so after, you heard about the Kang family moving to another neighborhood which made you feel so bad and hate yourself totally. You didn't even get to say your sorry to Yeosang properly. The little boy never again showed up at the playground and only did when he was asked to throw the trash, all bundled up under so much clothings, since it was winter. That was the only moment you could ever see him.

You rushed out of your house and saw that they were now entering their car, you zoomed across the street and called Yeosang. "Yeosag, Yeosang! Wait!"

This got his attention, snapping his head towards you with a big smile. "M/n! You came to thee me off?" He giggled, making you feel guilty.

You shook your head and knitted your brows. "Why are you leaving? Where are you going?" You asked all in one go.

"We're moving back to Buthan, thince mom wath able to find a plathe there where it'th rent free and could all fit uth in." Then, he leaned in close to your ear to whisper. "Don't worry. I never told mom that your friendth hated me." He giggled secretly.

"Sangie... I also did bad things to you.." You told him sadly.

"I know." Yeosang smiled. "But, I know you didn't do it on purpothe."

"Yeosang, the car's about to leave."

"Oh, I gotta go now. Bye, M/n." He said and waved you goodbye while entering the cab and rolled the windows down while he smiled up at you. "Hope to thee you thoon again, M/n." He said one last time before the car drove off to their destination.

And there it goes. Your last chance to say sorry. Lost. Now, you're left with a lingering feeling of pure guilt and regret.

-------

Years after and you have disbanded with your friends, you are still living with the regret that you made from when you were young. You had just turned 18 years old last month and you were even sadder than the last. Instead of wishing gifts and presents from your new found friends and families, you were only wishing for Yeosang to come back so you could just tell him how much you were sorry and hug him so tightly that he wouldn't be able to breathe.

Your sullen look was noticed by your mother, who by the way, already knew your sin towards Yeosang since you had told her about it already. The first time you told her, she was aggravated with you for not being the child she had raised you to be. You told her the purpose of your action, thus the reason why you left your friend group and boy was your mom right to have let you leave them. What once was playful, turned harsh and violent and you didn't want to be a part of that. "What's wrong, honey? Don't you like your gifts?" Your mother asked you in concern.

You shook your head and sighed. "It's not that. I'm just... feeling like a total jerk."

Your mother sighed at you sadly and sat down beside you, patting you lightly on the back. "Honey, what you've done was wrong, but trust me when I say that Yeosang has a kind heart and if you ever tell him you're sorry, he'd forgive you right away."

"Thanks, mom." You said. "But, people change as they grow."

"Not Yeosang."

You rolled your eyes at your mom with a smirk. "Sure mom. Not Yeosang." You shook your head in disbelief. "I just wish you're right, mom."

You stood up from your seat, as your mother did and walked your way out the door taking in the fresh air of the morning during spring season, when all the trees stood straight and tall, the flowers blooming with all their beauty. You smiled at the sight and took the camera that was hanging by your neck, over a sling and took a picture of the ethereal scenery.

You walked past your porch and started heading to the park to get some takes on your camera to post on your Instagram to entertain your million followers. As you did, you were able to pass by an ice cream stall, so you took a quick stop and bought three scoops of (favorite ice cream flavor) with chocolate syrup and sprinkles to top it off.

You were wearing a smile, happily licking your ice cream away. You let your eyes explore the world around you, finding everything interesting. All these years, the place had been making a lot of changes. From buildings to parks and work towers, everything just felt new, as if you never got to spend time, at least once visiting these places throughout you're whole eighteen years of existence.

You finally arrived at the park, everything from your childhood flashing back through your head. The once only a children's playground is now a family park, but rather than being reminded by the joyous memories, you were able to remember the memory that's been haunting you for life.

You couldn't believe yourself that you had the ability to bully such an innocent kid, while you kept blaming yourself for their sudden moving away. If you had the power to turn back time, you'd make things right with Yeosang and be a better friend to him, which you couldn't do because you wanted to be with the 'cool kids' when all they ever did was make a person's life miserable.

You found a bench to seat on and checked through the pictures you took on your camera, laughing at a video of Mingi getting drunk with Yunho, carrying him like he was a puppy. You just missed those two so bad. You never got another chance to meet them, not even once, since they're both now busy with their job and you're still here trying to find a way to pass the college entrance examination.

Whenever they're around, you three would always be loud as fuck and wouldn't care a thing about the world, just as long as you three are happy. Of course, you didn't go too far just to be happy, unlike the friends you once had.

You still had the smile on as you sighed satisfied and rested your camera back down to let it hang on your neck. You looked around you and saw children playing by the fountain, their parents watching with glee at the sight of their children playing happily. You grabbed your camera and took a picture of the wonderful scene.

You took a few more shots, satisfied, you were finally about to leave with not much else to do, when in a distance you heard a gruff voice call out to you. "M/n? Didn't expect to see you here."

You looked behind you to see Mingi who was in his suit holding a case, his golden wrist watch shining brightly under the sun's light. You smirked and scoffed. "I could tell you the same thing." You said all the while crossing your arms over your chest. "Mingi, are you slacking off?"

Mingi rolled his eyes at your teasing. "I take my job seriously, M/n. I'm not the same person who cuts classes."

"Sure. Sure." You mocked him, while he glared at you. "Anyways, how are you and Yunho doing?"

The brown haired male smiled at the thought of the taller male and sighed. "Oh, you know. The usual. Us missing you and wanting to baby you."

This time, it was you who rolled your eyes, the smirk on your face growing wider, if possible. "You both still on that?"

"Well, you're pretty much the reason how we got together. So, it's just a way of us showing our gratitude for having you in our life." Mingi patted your head making you giggle at the simple contact.

"I just hated how you two were so dense with all the signs you both tried so hard to make the other notice. I had to do something, at least." You said.

"But, weren't you the one who told me you had feelings for Yunho?" He teasingly wiggled his brows at you, making you blush profusely.

"Shut up. There are pasts that should be forgotten and it includes that." You huffed, puffing up your cheeks making you look like a little squirrel. "And you promised we would never speak of this ever again." You pulled your brows in disappointment, looking up at him. "All you do is lie."

"Hey, hey. I don't go that far." Mingi defended himself, before pulling you into his arms to hug you. "But, if you're so embarrassed about it, it'll be just our little secret."

"Don't even promise me if you're just going to break them in the end." You deadpanned making Mingi let out a deep voiced chuckle.

"Alright."

Soon, the two of you parted ways, waving your hands to each other to say goodbye. You were making your way back home, when you noticed a moving truck from the house next door. A new neighbor? You walked up to the truck driver to greet her and do some important interview. "Good morning, ma'am. Did someone just move in?"

"Oh, nice to see friendly faces up in here." She chuckled. "It's not everyday you get the luck to meet one." She sighs from her aching back, before exhaling deeply. "Yeah. Rich families, to be exact. Paid me a good tip." She said making you giggle.

"I see." You laughed lightly. "Well, have a great day, ma'am. Hope to see you, again." You waved her goodbye, the woman doing the same to you.

You hummed to a song as you finished your walk, now in front of your porch, your mom tending with her flowers. "Had a good day, honey?"

"Better than great." You replied. "I met Mingi on his way to his job. Thought he was slacking off like he usually does." You chortled, earning a playful slap on the back from your mom.

"Oh, you." She told you before she led you inside and went straight to the kitchen. "Oh, by the way, have you met the new neighbors next door?"

"Nope." You answered, popping the 'p' with a purse of your lips at the end, then sat down on a seat excited to eat the apple pie your mother made while you were away. Once, it got placed down on the table, you hurriedly dug in with your barehands, but before you could, your mother slapped your hand making you pout as she folded her gardening apron.

"That's for the neighbors." She informed you, your mouth opening in understanding while nodding your head. "And I'm letting you do the honors to give this to them, since I believe, the new neighbors' son was a friend of yours."

"A friend? Who?" You asked with a raised brow, but your mother only gave you a wink and carefully hands you the apple pie. With no other choice, you stood up and wore your bunny slippers, too lazy to put your shoes back on, as you headed to the house next door.

You walked up the small stairs that led up to the house's front door and knocked three times. You waited for a reply, but you received nothing, so you waited before knocking on the door, once again just in case they didn't hear you.

Alas, a male's voice was heard, shouting a loud 'coming' to inform you that someone was finally coming for the door. You stood there patiently with a smile, practicing in your head what you will have to say to the male. The door soon flew open and appeared a tall man, who looked freakishly handsome, his features flawless that it's making it hard for you to look away. He was so surreal. Like a character pulled straight out from a comic.

You tried to utter a word, but the lines you prepared in your head was long forgotten. "Uh..." Was the only word you could ever stable.

"Er.. Is that for us?" The male asked you, snapping you from your thoughts and nodding your head, taking notice of the small lisp he had with the letter 's'.

"Uh, yeah, yeah. It's for you and your family." You said. "It's actually a tradition, so we make the new neighbors feel welcome." You added and slowly gave it to the male infront of you, a smile gracing upon his features. Goodness, his smile is so stunning.

He accepted the gift and took it into his hands. You bowed curtly and had decided to make your way back, when the male had caught your attention. "Wait, don't go just yet. Why don't you come inside and have a bite?"

And who were you to turn down an offer from a cute guy? "Uhm, er, sure. Yeah, I'd love to." He lets you walk inside first as he closes the door, a small creak and click coming from it.

"Hol'up, you're not a pedophile, are you?" You suddenly asked out of fear. "There's been a lot of news going on around the world and I've prepared my whole life, so I can fight you."

"No, no. For sure, I'm not." He said as he walked by past you, leading the way to the kitchen to guide you. Once you two made it to the kitchen, the things on the table were cleared, the car keys hiding it in his pockets. "Take a seat. I'll go grab some plates."

"Your mom and dad?" You asked out of the blue, making him chuckle.

"You're so full of questions." He told you. "They're buying groceries."

"Oh." You let out silently, sitting down while fiddling with your fingers since you got nothing else to do.

The male came back with what he intended to get and placed one on your side, then one on his, moving to the kitchen isle to get a knife to cut the pie. "So, how's your life going?"

You thought for while taking a long deep breathe. "Well, I guess you could pretty much say, complicated." You answered and when he didn't speak back to let you keep on talking, you continued. "There's days where I feel so happy, then there are days where I feel miserable." You looked up at him while he cuts the pie. "I just wish... I..." You trailed off once you were able to catch a glimpse of the discoloration of a certain area on the side of his head. Wait a minute. That birthmark...

The moment you were able to figure it out, you jumped up from your seat and widened your eyes in shock. "Yeo.. Yeosang..?"

He let out a small chuckle, before stopping his actions and looking up at you. "So, you saw my tattoo, huh?"

You couldn't believe it. He was back, but different. He's no longer the chubby little boy with snot running down his nose, he's now a total hottie and he's even taller than you already. "O-oh my gosh.. Yeosang.. You look so.. different."

"Well, I wanted to be your friend badly, I decided to change for you, but it was also a self-decision, so don't feel so bad, M/n." Yeosang said. He did change, but his personality is still the same old Yeosang.

"Yeosang, I was your friend. I was just a coward." You sadly said, your guilt even growing bigger. "I'm so sorry."

Yeosang moved to your side and pulled you into his arms, the strong scent of something sweet and musky all at the same time, tickling your nose. His embrace was so warm and caring that you never wanted him to pull away. "M/n, I have forgiven you a long time ago, already. You don't have to say sorry, anymore."

"Just let me do it, Sang. The thought of not being able to see you again keeps plaguing me for days." You admitted. "I kept on blaming myself that I was the reason why you moved away."

"No, M/n, you're not. Please, don't be hard on yourself." He said, caressing your hair. "It was a family business, so we had to move to a place near dad's work place."

You gave him a light punch and stifled a laugh. "You should have told me sooner."

You both got into a comfortable silence, before Yeosang decided to break it. "Well, how about we eat and catch up on each others' lives, yeah?"

"That sounds lovely."

#x male reader #bottom male reader #bxb #idol x male reader #male reader #ateez x male reader #kpop #ateez #fanfiction #yeosang #yeosang x male reader #kang yeosang #kang yeosang x male reader

[meganshinsou-tm]

Sugarcoated. (m)

↳ chapter eighteen: festival

❧ genre: pro-hero hitoshi, adoptive siblings, happy ending

❧ chapter warnings: none

[multi-chap masterlist] [previous chapter - next chapter]

"You volunteered me to do what?"

"To love me for the rest of your life," Hitoshi cooed as he pulled you close to him, arms holding you tight and nuzzling your face with his.

You groaned and tried to push him away before his whimpers and 'kissing-ass' tactics ended up making you cave. The tips of his relaxed purple locks tickled your skin and made giggles want to escape but you stood your ground, at least until the back of your knees hit the bed and the hero tackled you down onto it.

"Toshi-ah! It's not going to work, you can't just volunteer me to make enough candy apples to feed that entire school! It's impossible!"

You tried to sit up but Shinsou wrapped his arms around your waist and laid his head on your chest, making himself heavier on top of you so you wouldn't be able to move. Huffing and puffing, your hand tried to push his face away when he would try to kiss you or pout his lips and make puppy dog eyes.

"You don't have to make them all at once, we can set up a little booth and you can make them there," his teeth lightly nipped at your fingers that were squishing and distorting his face, "Don't you think they'll go great with our costumes, didn't Alice eat a poison apple or something?"

Your head fell back as you laughed and pushed his face back one last time and gave up, "You uncultured swine, that was Snow White. Alice ate cake!"

Smirking, Hitoshi released you and sat up on his hands and knees as you rested on your elbows and looked back at him. 

"Same difference," he replied nonchalantly.

"No, no it is not!"

Rolling his eyes Hitoshi continued to beg and plead, peppering your face with goofy kisses and ensuing a tickle attack until you were giving in and agreeing through your laughter. It wasn't like you weren't going to agree in the first place, you just loved to see him at your mercy sometimes, it was cute. 

It had been a few weeks since Hitoshi started his teaching job and the big UA Halloween festival was just around the corner. Being a part of the staff, your boyfriend was somewhat required to attend and also help out so he used your baking skills to his advantage.

Hitoshi gave you an appreciative smile and sweet kiss before fleeing the bed to turn off the bedroom light and made his way back to plop down onto it as you crawled underneath the warm covers and giggled as the weight of him made the mattress bounce you a few inches in the air. He laughed and joined you under the covers, quickly wrapping his arms around and pulling you close to cradle into his body as you both got comfortable.

You pressed your cold feet to his, making him flinch. You turned and craned your head to look at him behind you with a smile. He returned the expression and kissed your forehead.

"Thank you sweetness, seriously. You're the best!"

You giggled and bumped your butt against his crouch, "Shut up baby I know it!"

Chuckling, you kissed each other one last time before you turned back around and wiggled in his hold as you clutched the thick blankets up and over your face, burrowing into them. Smiling, Hitoshi started to play with your hair and wrapped his arm tighter around your waist as he nuzzled his own face into your hair and the pillow. You both softly whispered your 'good nights' and started to slowly slip off into a deep slumber. 

Your leg kicked slightly making Hitoshi sleepily chuckle, it was a tell-tale sign that you were only seconds from knocking out. A relaxed and content sigh left your lovers chest and he too followed behind you. 

Suddenly you gasped and made him jump and hold your body tighter.

"Where are we gonna get all those apples from?"

Eri giggled as she twirled around in front of the mirror of her bedroom. Blue and white fabric spun with her small frame and her snow-white locks swirled as well.

"I take it you like it?"

Smiling, the toddler nodded and bounced before jumping and hugging your neck tight. "I love it Unnie, did you make it?"

You laughed and brushed back her hair and helped her put on a pair of brown gloves. "I did not, I'm not that talented. I had it specially made for you though, just like I had all our costumes specially made."

Eri breathed out an 'oh' and smiled as you fixed her matching hair ribbon and necktie. Her dress looked like a classic Alice dress, light blue and with white tulle and a matching white apron. She wore white stockings and brown shoes to match her gloves. The little girl was honestly the cutest thing you'd ever saw and you felt like you were going to die on the spot from her radiating light. You stood to your feet and placed your hands on your hips, letting out an accomplished sigh.

"Where is your costume," she asked looking up at you.

"It's in the other bedroom, I'm about to go get dressed. How about you go see how Toshi is doing with his outfit?"

Eri nodded and hugged your legs before jetting off out of her bedroom door and down the hall to her brothers room. You giggled and walked through her bathroom to the bedroom that was originally meant for you but never used for anything other than storage of your items. The White Rabbit outfit you ordered was laid out on the bed, ready to be placed on your body. You smiled walking towards it and began to undress.

In Hitoshi's room, the man was looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, arms crossed with an un-pleased expression.

"I'm not going," he huffed out and walked back into the bedroom.

A series of excited knocks came from the door, making him look at it as he went to un-do the collar around his neck. The familiar sound of his little sisters voice was heard, making his hands fall and find refuge in his pockets as he walked towards the door to open it.

"What do you want?"

Eri's ruby eyes glistened when her brother answered the door in his full getup, her small hands flew to her cheeks as she squealed and giggled. Rolling his eyes, Hitoshi shut the door, smirking when she whined on the other side of it. Opening the door once again, Hitoshi smiled when he took in the costume Eri wore. She twirled around in it, asking if he liked it or not.

"You look like a perfect little Alice, its very pretty," he replied crouching down to be eye level with the child.

"Unnie did a good job finding our outfits!"

Scoffing and rolling his eyes, Hitoshi mumbled, "A little too good". 

Just by the items of clothing you had gotten for him to wear, your boyfriend could tell you were out to get him. He finally realized that the somewhat embarrassed feeling he was feeling now as he wore a set of purple cat ears, a collar and a stripped purple tail, is what you had to deal with every day you dawned that cursed uniform for that café. 

He used to love how it looked on you, now just the thought of it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Although he knew he could never fully understand the objectification you went through, being that outfit you wore was way more revealing and geared towards the male sexual fantasy. If Hitoshi could make it through the night, he planned on apologizing to you in every way possible about the dumb jokes and flirting he did all over your outfit.

"I knew you'd make the perfect Cheshire Cat Sou-Sou, because your hair matches!"

"Oh is that so?"

Hitoshi grinned and tickled Eri's sides, making her squeal and laugh. 

He stood back up straight and rubbed the side of his neck as his other hand gestured outwards as he displayed himself and did a full circle to give his sister a full look of his costume. He had to admit it was pretty spiffy looking, aside from the accessories he had to wear. 

A stripped purple button up shirt was worn underneath a dark maroon vest. Hitoshi wore brown pants that were rolled up just below his knees and purple striped socks. Brown gloves dressed his hands, the same as his sisters and he wore brown loafers. The ears, collar, and neck-tie, tied the whole look together.

It made Hitoshi smile how much effort you put into ordering outfits for the three of you that corresponded with each other. It had him even more excited to see exactly what you looked like. 

Ruffling Eri's hair, Hitoshi asked her where you were as he pulled his phone from his pocket to look at the time.

"She's getting dressed. We should go wait for her in the living room!"

Eri grabbed Hitoshi's gloved hand and yanked him along as she ran from the bedroom and into the living room. For the girl to be so small she still managed to drag him with all the excitement and energy she had built up. As the two passed the room you were in, Eri yelled out letting you know where to find them, making Hitoshi chuckle. 

He finally removed his hand from Eri and picked her up, making her giggle as he airplaned her the rest of the way. The little girl crash landed on the couch where another tickled attack ensued, making ear piercing squeals erupt throughout the home until Hitoshi finally stopped. The siblings spent the next ten minutes playing hand games on the couch until the sound of a door being opened was finally heard. Both Hitoshi and Eri looked in the direction you were coming from, the clicking of shoes could be heard on the hard-word floors.

Soon enough a pair of furry white rabbit ears came into view and suddenly Hitoshi had a new favorite animal. 

His lazy smile grew wide seeing you in a white collared button-up with a red bow-tie and a yellow vest over it. A red blazer added another pop of color and you wore brown bloomer type shorts that ruffled at the bottoms with a white lace trim stopping mid-thigh. You also wore knee-high sheer stockings and black oxford shoes with white tops. White finger-less gloves dressed your hands and a stopwatch hung from the pocket of your blazer. The moment you twirled and Hitoshi saw the fluffy white bunny tail that was sewed onto the back of your shorts he wanted to die of happiness. The hero didn't think you could possibly get any cuter but damn was he wrong!

You nervously chuckled and rubbed the back of your neck, "Uh – I think we're gonna be late."

Hitoshi quickly covered Eri's ears tightly so she couldn't hear a sound and he looked at you. "You're so goddamn fucking cute!"

You giggled and Hitoshi released Eri so they could both stand and walk to you. The little girl couldn't stop complimenting you as she made circles around your body, examining every detail of the outfit. She laughed when she poked the fluffy bobtail and mentioned how soft it actually was. Smiling, you looked over Hitoshi and his outfit, he noticed and did his own 360 turn, holding out his arms and showcasing himself.

"Aww, aren't you the cutest little kitty cat!"

"Watch it you rodent," he smirked and flicked one of your rabbit ears as he leaned in closer to press a kiss to your cheek.

Hitoshi went to grab his camera out of his bag and thus started a small photo-shoot. He took pictures of you and Eri being sweet and silly. After, you took pictures of them. In one Eri was pulling on Hitoshi's tail and he was giving a looked that showed how done he already was with the situation. In another he held the toddler on his hip and they both made paws and bared their teeth. Hitoshi finally pulled you in and took a few selfies with his phone.

You gasped when you peeked at the time on the device and mentioned that the three of you would really be late. Quickly Hitoshi grabbed his bag and you helped Eri to put her coat on, Hitoshi helped you and himself before bolting out the door. You and Eri jogged off together as Hitoshi locked the door and turned around and smirked as the bunny tail on your shorts bounced along with your bum.

"Be strong Hitoshi, keep your mouth shut until you get back home," he instructed himself while taking off after the two of you.

"Oh my god, you're (Y/N)!"

You turned around from dipping apples when a young feminine voice spoke to you. The girl was dressed as a witch and looking at you with an awestruck expression. Eri ran to the ordering table of the booth and smiled at the girl, who in turn smiled back.

"And you must be Eri! Wow, I feel like I'm meeting celebrities. You two are very famous in Mr. Shinsou's class. I'm Mia, a 2nd year student."

You smiled at Mia and apologized for not being able to properly shake her hand since you were busy making candy apples. This wasn't the first student of Hitoshi's to stop by and introduce themselves, while also mentioning how you and Eri were the talk of his classroom. It was flattering and also somewhat embarrassing how much they knew about you.

"Every morning we start class by asking Mr. Shinsou if anything cute or funny happened the day or weekend before with the three of you, it's like a ritual. I see you're all matching with your outfits too, you really are the perfect couple," she replied with a swooning sigh.

You laughed and shrugged your shoulders, "Sometimes we are, other times we want to strangle each other because of how alike we are. He can be a real pain in the ass but I love him."

"Aww, you three have to sign up for the costume contest!"

Eri gasped and jumped up and down, "Costume contest, what do we win?"

You giggled and finished making your apples as Mia explained the prizes, basically first place just got a trophy and a gift certificate to one of the best bakeries/ice cream parlors in the city. This news had Eri extremely pumped and excited as she tugged on the hem of your blazer and begged for the three of you to be part of the contest.

"I don't see why not, it sounds fun. Sure, sign us all up!"

Mia clapped and ordered a candy apple while she was there. You gave a fresh one to Eri and she handed it to the girl with a smile.

"I'll go right away to let the students running it know to sign you up. All the art classes will be cheering for you! I can't wait to see what you three got!"

As Mia skipped away you quirked a brow and shrugged and went back to making apples. 

Ever since the festival started you were slammed, order after order for them and for once you finally had a small break and used the time to make quite a few of the treats for the next wave of hungry customers. As you stirred your mixture over the burner you felt a playful tug on your faux tail. A quick kiss was planted on your cheek and you smiled when Hitoshi immediately jumped in to help you.

"I'm back, sorry it took so long, one of the classes needed help setting up for a play," he explained and started to insert sticks into the red apples.

"No problem Toshi, it's been slow thankfully."

Eri ran up and tugged on Hitoshi's cat tail, making him turn to look at her, "What is it kid, shouldn't you be out there luring customers in with your cuteness?"

You and the little girl giggled and she blushed shaking her head, "Sou-Sou, guess what! We're going to be in the costume contest!"

"What!" 

Hitoshi loudly questioned as he inserted a stick with too much force that it broke.

He made a 'uh-oh' expression and tossed the stick. You looked at him questionably and smiled.

"What's wrong Toshi-cat, afraid of a little competition? It's just a costume contest, how bad can it be?"

Hitoshi shook his head and sighed, "It's not just a costume contest, smart one! It's a talent show too, you have to do some kind of performance as well, not just strut around shaking your tail!"

Your eyes widened and looked at Hitoshi with fear, Eri on the other hand was ecstatic! The lavenderette gave you a cocky smile, as if to say you brought this on yourself.

"That little brat, she didn't mention that detail! She was one of your students actually!"

"Let me guess, Mia?" He asked with a smirk and chuckle.

You glared at Hitoshi and nodded, from him knowing right away who the student was you couldn't help but think the girl was known to be mischievous. Damn kids these days, you didn't know how he did it.

"Yeah, she's been going on all week about how she's going to get us into the contest. I told her as long as I'm not around that wasn't going to happen, to which she took literally I see."

You whined and snatched an apple from Hitoshi's hand, "What are we gonna do!"

Hitoshi smiled and slipped an arm around your back, giving your hip a squeeze. "Well, you could sing."

"Uh – no, hard pass! I don't sing publicly, plus its three of us, not just me!"

Eri cheered and squeezed her way in-between the two of you. She looked as if she had the best idea in the world.

"We can do a dance!"

You hummed and shrugged your shoulders, it wasn't a bad idea after all. Hitoshi thought differently, even though he was smiling it was one of those, 'I think the fuck not' smiles as he shook his head. 

Eri seemed to pout and your heart broke, your fist came into contact with your boyfriends arm making him glare. Quickly you coaxed Eri to go bring your finished apples to the front table just so she'd be out of hearing distance when you decided to chew a new hole into her brother.

"Look, I'm just gonna go find the kids running this and tell them it was a mistake," Hitoshi calmly said and went to walk past you. That was until you roughly tugged on his tail that was attached to his belt and yanked him back before you.

"No you're not! We're doing this little contest whether we like it or not, you know why?" 

You grabbed his chin and made him look to Eri as she waved at people passing by. 

"Because she wants to! We're both going to dance our asses off in order to win this thing, all for her! So suck it up and get ready to close this booth down for a few minutes, because we're going to teach you a dance that is sure to make us win. Got it?"

Your fingers released his chin and Hitoshi rubbed it, his eyes looked at you with a mixture of astonishment and excitement. You've never chewed him out like this before and you never were so ... demanding. It was hot to him, he wasn't going to lie. But it also warmed his heart how invested you were in his sisters happiness and he couldn't help but fall even more in love with you. 

Sighing, Hitoshi nodded and pressed a kiss to your cheek. He walked over to his sister and ruffled her hair, crouching down to be eye-level with her.

"If we're gonna win this thing, you better teach me how to dance just as good as you!"

Smiling and squealing, Eri flung her arms around Hitoshi's neck and almost knocked him off balance. He chuckled and kissed her cheek while apologizing for hurting her feelings before.

"It's okay Sou-Sou, I still love you," her ruby eyes looked at you, "I know the perfect dance!”

#sugarcoated #hitoshi shinsou x reader #hitoshi shinsou #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha x reader #mha x reader #fanfiction #fluff #halloween #eri

[marvelheaux]

T’challa’s Outside Daughter (Chapter 6)

T’challa x BlackDaughter!Reader/OC

A/N : Hey guys, I’m terribly sorry of this was rushed and thrown together, but life has been kicking my ass as of lately and I was extremely scatterbrained. But anyways, here’s chapter 6, I hope you enjoy! - Lanna

Description : Zyra is the first born of King T’challa. She moved to the states and grew up with her Single mother with hardly any contact with her father. Queen Mother Ramonda decided that with all the drama and secrets going on, that it's time to bring the family together .

Story Links:

Main Character + Faceclaim

Character List

She met one of her father's  Exes (oneshot)

TOD Prologue , Chp1 , Chp2 , Chp3 , Chp4 , Chp5 

Warnings: Possible Grammar Errors, Angst, Strong Language

Words: 3K

     The lab was busy today, as educational material was being deployed from Wakanda, to both the Wakandan Outreach  Centre in California and the Wakandan Embassy in New York City, back and forth. Shuri was working with her fellow scientists, approving and testing materials, while Zyra decided to lend a hand in assisting in the Air Traffic Control, while some of the staff was on a lunch break.

Pilot one: "Apron it's Q47-452 ready for pushback"

Zyra: "Q47-452 push at your discretion, call ready for taxi"

Pilot one: "452 roger"

Zyra cracked her knuckles and adjusted her earpiece after giving the pilot traffic orders, whilst making notes of who already taxied and who is about to arrive. As she was going through her checklist, she noticed a different jet configuration from the others that just came in.

“SHIT”. She thought to herself. “When am I ever going to get away from him?”

T’challa, controlling his one-manned  jet, coming from a solo mission with the avengers in Switzerland.

T’challa: "Wakanda Molo ngokuhlwa , Q1-1 is out of thirteen six for 1-1 thousand, requesting runway 10."

Zyra: "Q1-1, runway 11, maintain 6 thousand, altimeter 30.05, maintain present heading"

He was slightly taken aback at the rejection of the runway he is accustomed to landing on, which was also reserved for him and the royal family. As he took the coordinates into account, he noticed a strange female voice on the controller, which was unfamiliar because he don't recall a female air traffic controller being on  staff.

T’challa: Eh, may I ask who is controlling the air traffic?

Zyra froze. If she can run away from the air defence command booth, she would. But she had a job to do. She and her father were avoiding each other for the past couple of days since their awkward first time meeting each other in about 12 years. Anxiety crept up on her at a bad time. She potentially have people’s lives in her hands.

“Be professional Be Professional Be Professional.” she thought to herself again and decided to reply in the aviation language.”

“Zulu, Yankee, Romeo, Alpha....Uniform, Delta, Alpha, Kilo, Uniform…….Sir.”

“Oh.”

“Roger that”

T’challa nodded his head in approval and turned off autopilot to follow further landing instructions. He suddenly realised that he has a lot to learn when it comes to his eldest, especially her capabilities. He knew popping back  into her life at such a risky stage of adolescence was not going to be a walk in the park, especially for a girl, but this will be one hell of a ride. And the rejected handshake was an astounding start, unfortunately.

Back in the controls room, it was 2pm, Zyra handed other the controls to the staff who was on a lunch break .

“You look so cute doing the controls” Shuri said. “you look like that girl from the Austin  Powers movie” She was referring to Zyra’s outfit- a turtle neck, long sleeved cropped shirt, tucked into a high waisted flowing skirt with white knee-high boots.

“Thanks mamas! Y’all give me a stylist, to wear these boujie ass clothes in the house, when Wakanda is fucking 80 degrees. Aiight.”

Shuri just laughed along to Zyra’s rant, while they made their way to their quarters, so Zyra can get ready for cheer practice.

“Girl, guess who popped up on the comms when I was in the controls”

“Who?” Shuri cheekily plopped on Zyra’ bed, waiting for her to spill the tea she already tasted.

“His majesty of course.”

Shuri gasped.

“Did he find out it was you? Cause our last female air traffic controller retired a year ago.”

“He asked and I told him! Shyiieet. AND IN AVIATION LANGUAGE TOO! He talking bout summ ‘who’s controllin the air traffic’ ME BITCH! FUCK YOU MEAN!’ “ They both screamed with laughter and high-fiving each other like the partners in crime that they are.

“Oooo mamas! We have to talk about the outfits for the ceremony before you leave for the competition this week”

“Well I-”

As soon as they turned the corner, they ran into the King himself, still dressed in his panther suit. Zyra groaned internally.

“Hey brother! Nice to see you! How was the mission?”

“It was a bit of a challenge but a success” he said handing Shuri some devices, as she makes a run for it.

T’challa looked to his daughter.

“Hi intombazana yakho”

“Molo wam kumkani” Zyra replied awkwardly avoiding eye contact, looking all over the room.

“You don’t have to call me that, eh? I wanted to- “

“HIIII DADDYYYY!” the sound of Sariyah’s voice cut their conversation short. Both Matthew and Sariyah had just came home from school.

She ran into her father’s arms, totally disregarding Zyra’s presence on purpose. This gave Zyra saw the queue to leave the big happy family alone and go about her way. Sariyah smirked at her charms winning over her father once again. Matthew noticed his big sis hurrying out the door.

“Yo Where you going?”

“Practice.” she said dryly to her brother, before bolting out the door.

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

T’challa sat up in his bed, relaxing- wearing a fleece coated robe, bedroom slippers and sipping on some peppermint tea, recovering from his winter mission.He used this little downtime to get some R&R before the annual battle for the crown ceremony the next day. As he watched Lord Attuma from Atlantis giving his global warming statement on BBC World News, the door opened swiftly and caught the King’s attention.

“There you are!” Queen Nicolette smiled sweetly when she saw her husband. She crawled into bed, kissing T’challa deeply, before she sat in his lap.

They spoke briefly about the mission in switzerland and other personal ‘married couple’ stuff.

“Are you ready for tomorrow honey?” She said, while playing with the King’s moisturized curls.

“Eh, I think the third time around wouldn’t be such a challenge, plus baba and I need to have some brief words.”

“About Zyra right?”

T’challa eyes wandered off and bit his lip.

“Speaking of Zyra, ah she’s a doll, gorgeous. So sweet and so talented! I always say that she looks

Just.

Like

you.”

T’challa looks at his baby girl cradled in his arms, as she yawns adorably, whilst making cute baby noises.

T’challa shook himself out of his flashback.

Did you know she agreed to be main dancer for the royal family?”

“Really?” T’challa gave an inquisitive look. “We haven’t had main dancer in about 50 years. Not since Princess Gcobisa.”

Princess Gcobisa was the youngest daughter of King Azzuri, and the baby sister of King T’chaka and Prince N’jobu. She was one of the most exciting, ray of sunshine royals in the family. She passed away from a concussion injury during training at the tender age of 18. T’chaka often told T’challa stories about his baby sister, because they were very close and would often say that Zyra reminds him of her, especially for both their love for dance. Hence Zyra’s middle name, Cebisa is close with hers, Gcobisa.

“By the way, how’s communication been working out for you?” Nicolette continued.

“She seems a little tip toey around me, which I understand, at least she’s respectful. What about you?”

“Well….she ran off before I could speak to her when Sariyah and Matthew came home from school...so I guess that’s a start.” T’challa chuckled.

“And she keep addressing me as ‘my king’ , I don’t have formalities with my children.”

“Then TELL HER.”

“I know but you can’t give up on her. Keep trying. That’s your first born, don’t you ever forget that.”

T’challa agreed in silence.

Later that evening…

“ Practice is over! I’m only half way dead..but I did pretty good so” Zyra laughed whilst recording her vlog at practice.

“Look! We got a second package for this weekend’s competition.!”

With short appearances and lots of laughs from her fellow teammates, she started to head home.

“So you’re actually dancing foreal?” Kailee asked her.

“Meh, I’m gonna try summ. I aint no professional doe.”

“My sister gonna dance too, don’t worry about it tho.

They both said their goodbyes and went about their separate ways.

Zyra skipped into the palace with her bare socks on her feet, aided by her personal guard N’ceba.

“Real ass bitch, give a fuck 'bout a nigga”

“Big Birkin bag, hold five, six figures” Zyra rapped the to the song “Act Up” By City Girls, making her way through the palace, with her rose gold solo beats blasting in her ears.

“Stripes on my ass so he call this pussy Tigger”

“Fuckin' on a scammin' ass, rich ass nigga”

“Sa-”

Zyra jumped and cut the rapping short  when she walked into the dining room to find her father, Nicolette and her siblings having dinner.

“Oh hey..Molweni” She gave them an awkward wave.

“Hey hun! How was practice! Come have dinner with us.”

T’challa looked at Zyra nervously, whilst Nicolette gave him the ‘right T’challa?’ look and pinched him on his leg which caused him to slightly jump.

“Ah, Yes, you must be hungry and tired” he cleared his throat.

Zyra thought about it for a moment before making a decision.

“That’s sweet but I’m not really hungry right now, I’ll just eat in my room and watch Netflix, bye!”

She rushed off before T’challa can say anything else.

“She declined food? That’s a first!” Matthew chuckled.

“She’s probably scared of me ...hmmm” Sariyah laughed to herself and continued to eat her food.

“Why would she be scared of you?” T’challa chimed in, looking concerned.

“Why wouldn’t she?”

He side-eyed his youngest, like a white politician asking for the price of vibranium.

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

I’m still annoyed about earlier.

I don’t fit into his life.

Not even if I tried.

He moved on with his new family.

Nicolette..she tries to be nice, it seem fake as fuck, but I can’t blame her to be honest. Imagine your husband hiding a child tho...

So does Matthew. He’s cool. As least he wanted to meet me.

Princess.

But Sariyah is such a stuck up bitch...she needs to pipe down before I knock her upside her motherfucking head.

Princess…

What am I even doing here?

Here we go again with the princess shit.

“Wake up my princess!”

“Huh?” Zyra jumped up with her bonnet almost off her head and eyes squinting from the light.

“Good Morning! Your breakfast is ready and the designer’s are ready for your fitting.

She brain did a windows XP start-up and she realised what her attendant was trying to tell her.

“Yeah yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.”

As soon as Bongani left, she plopped right back into bed. She was still sore from cheer practice.

After she freshened up and ate her breakfast, Bongani was giving her a run down about the events that were going to take place at the ceremony and the protocol afterwards, regarding the winner of the battle.

The palace’s glam team worked on her makeup; and  paint designs on her body, did an african style updo and fitted her for her Wakandan ceremonial dance outfit.

She was excited but nervous, she practiced some moves before bed last night and only hope she doesn’t mess up in front of everybody.

As the boats moved along the water, she moved her body to the beat of the drums which orchestrated her natural stage presence. All the other boats with the tribe leaders and dancers joined in. Her astounding talent in dance made the her fellow family members cheer her on and dancing along. She even cheekily dance on N’ceba while she was doing her dora milaje dance. (yemi’s pieces is zyra’s outfit)

“She such an attention whore! Ugh” Sariyah said in Matthew’s ear, and he laughed at her jealousy.

While she was dancing, she spotted someone that would be awkward as hell to cross paths with. Nakia. It’s very weird because it’s literally the same girl that her father used to sleep around with, when her mother was pregnant with her. Also, she happens to be her friend Kailee’s, older sister.

With that, Zyra’s confidence shot up into the air cause she really wanted to show Nakia that  Nakia didn’t want no smoke.

The waterfall celebration was beautiful. So many beautiful black people in a kaleidoscope of colors.T’challa came out and the crowd started chanting his name as he awaited his challenger. He had fought two warriors from Border Tribe and Merchant Tribe and finally one from Mining Tribe. This time he was bigger than M’baku. Built like a Goliath ass nigga.

“Im just letting y’all know that, if we lose, my black ass is taking the first flight back to NY. I’m out this bitch. Period“ Zyra whispered in Shuri’s ear and she giggled.

“You ain’t going nowhere”

“Aite, bet.”

T’challa eventually won the fight but still got his ass beat. He was still the Black Panther & the  King Wakanda.

Amongst the celebration of his win, came Nakia taking over the dance session. Nicolette carefully eyed her out of curiosity.  Zyra was dancing in her own world but saw that Nakia was looking in her direction and the crowd was egging her on. Kailee warned Zyra that she battle the main dancers from every tribe, every year. But she wasn’t bothered by anybody because she’s an athlete, so she’s very competitive. And she wasn't about to let her father’s ex  push her in a corner. So she stepped up.

Nakia kept doing her own thing while her tribe and the audience were cheering her on. Zyra cracked her neck effortlessly as she secured her stance. She looked to the River Tribe crowd of where she saw Kailee and Brandon giving her the thumbs up. Zyra pulled out the dance moves that she have been practicing in the training room for days. With her moves hitting to every solid beat of the drums, even throwing a backflip to an award winning split whilst looking Nakia straight in the eyes, which made the Wakandans clutch their pearls. Showing her flexibility skills with a flawless heel stretch and ended it off with the majorette style death drop. The crowd went wild. The  crowd clearly chose their winner. Zyra knew Nakia can’t top that one. She learned that from her Majorette dance group at Spelman College. She knows that SHE don't know nothing about that.

T’challa looked on clapping for his daughter. He was impressed. But not surprised to say the least. Raechella used to be a professional dancer and a volleyballer in her younger years. Athleticism  definitely runs in the family.

Despite Zyra giving Nakia a shady stare-down and  cocky  hair flip, she decided to extend an olive branch.

Walking up to Nakia , she held out her hand to her.

“Congrats Princess” Nakia says with a bow.

The bow confused Zyra a bit.

Is she mocking me or being respectful?

“thank you.”

Nicolette soon came rushing over with excitement and snatched Zyra  from the conversation ,  which made Nakia  fall back awkwardly .

“oh my gosh!!! I didn't know you had it in you! Did you know your father was watching?”

Who?

“oh ok.”

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

“Y’all see this right?”

“Zyra did what she had to do! #PERIOD”

“The fact that Zyra beat her father’s ex in a dance battle is iconic.”

“It’s today’s old that I found out Zyra is african. I heard she got Caribbean fam too!”

“Fuck the dance battle! I was robbed of Zyra challenging her father for the throne. #QueenZyra”

“UGH”

“Zyra this, Zyra that. These idiots don’t get tired?” Sariyah strolled down through black twitter and rolling her eyes at the tweets from the video of Zyra dancing that went viral overnight.

“You don’t get tired hating?” Matthew chimed in as he walked past her open door.

“BOY SHUT UP ! NO ONE IS TALKING TO YOU”

“AND WHY YOU SO DEFENSIVE ABOUT HER ANYWAYS? YOU DON’T KNOW HER! SHE’S A NOBODY MATTHEW!”

Matthew couldn’t believe how his sister was acting. Yeah she is a little boujie and rude at times but she was way too bothered about Zyra being in the house.

“Maybe if you aren’t so jealous, you would get to know her too.”

Sariyah laughed sarcastically.

“Jealous of that thing? She and her mama are clout chasers Matt!”

Matthew didn’t respond to her insults, he just slammed his bedroom door on the way in.

………...

*refer to this fic* At Adam’s house, the gang were hanging out for the impromptu friday game night. Adam and Kailee just finished killing each other about who won monopoly, whilst diving into an interesting story time about Zyra and her encounter with one of her father’s bevy of women he dated over the years. (zyra below)

“Speaking of EXES Zyra…” Chioma laughs while biting into her lemon pepper wing that Zyra wanted to steal.

“Let’s talk about the balls you had dance battling Nakia.”

“I’m not gonna gas you cause you’re my friend, but you killed that shit foreal.” Adam chimed in and kailee started clapping.

“I didn’t know THAT was gonna come out of her!”

“ME NEITHER!”

“YASSS!!”

Zyra cringed uncomfortably and adorably at the slightest compliment. While she is flattered usually, she’s not the biggest fan of praise nor extra attention.

“I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous as fuck, but my momma didn’t raise no pussy.”

“.....”

“I’m not in support of this, but my sister wants to talk to you”

“Ooop” Brandon sipped his drink.

Zyra was shocked.

“Really?”

“I personally think my sister is a hoe, and what she did to your mom was foul but-”

“Did you just call your sister a hoe?”

“Um..she is?? One time, she tried to tell my father about me sneaking out the house to see my boyfriend, and when I told her that he was my man and I don’t fuck other people’s husbands or baby daddy’s, she punched me and we started fighting.”

Everybody in room burst into the laugher.

“Sis was triggered I guess.” Zyra said, trying to recover from laughing so hard.

“In all seriousness...yeah. It’s up to you though.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“...”

“Chioma I know you can’t finish those wings, gimme!”

*SONG FOR THE CHAPTER (YEMI ALADE - YAJI FT SLIMCASE & BRAINEE)

Molo ngokuhlwa- Good Afternoon.

intom

bazana yakho - my daughter

Molo - hi

Wam kumkani - my king

Molweni - good evening

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS CHAPTER? WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING HAPPEN NEXT? COMMENT !! YOUR FEEDBACK MEANS ALOT! AND REBLOG TO SHARE WITH OTHERS IF YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER. - Lanna xx

Taglist: @mxrvelous-bxrnes @kida114 @royallyprincesslilly @randomassfandomwho @jadesid @deansbbysblog @pananegra @jonsnowisthesexiestbastard @janell-r @zacarakillmonger @omgsuperstarg @skysynclair19 @amethyst09 @sisterwifeudaku @bezzywazhere @letrecek @champagnesugamama @maddiestundentwritergaines @bribrisback @oceanscorazon @mufasathatniggatho @raysunshine78 @queennanayaa @fonville-designs @chaneajoyyy 

#T'Challa #black panther #Chadwick Boseman #t'challa x reader #t'challa imagine #black panther x reader #black panther imagine #shuri #zyra udaku #t'challa udaku #nakia #wakanda #Dora Milaje #black panther fanfiction

[samwinchesterfanfic]

Summer Love Chapter 3

Chapter 2 here

Dean x reader

Warnings: Fluff, angst-ish, language, language, language, fluff

POV: Reader

Mood board done by me.

I walked through the main hallway, trying to get to my car before Dean found me. He saw me after Spanish and said he wanted to talk to me after school. I decided avoiding him would be best, for me and my attempts to avoid suspension for assault. Someone tugged my earbud out, and I whirled on them. Instead of meeting the eyes of some loser jackass trying to screw with me, I saw Dean. He made my heart stop, maybe that’s why I wanted to avoid him. The last person I felt this way about broke my heart and a couple bones.

“Hey, did you hear me calling your name?” he asked, breathless from running. I cross my arms and roll my eyes.

“Do I really need to answer that.” He smirked those beautiful lips, and I exhaled forcefully.

“You’re cute when you’re mad.”

“I’m not mad.” I started walking again.

“You so are.” He started walking with me to the parking lot, and I gulped as I tried to ignore the warmth between my legs.

“Maybe it’s because your bitch of an ex is a bully and it seems I’m her newest victim.” He stopped me, putting his hand on my shoulder, and I saw his expression filled with confusion and anger.

“What are you talking about Y/N? What did she say to you?”

“Only that you’d never like me because I’m an ugly, fat, weak, poor little bitch.”

“She’s wrong. You’re beautiful, and I haven’t known you that long yet I can tell that you’re so fucking strong. She had no right to say that. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I retaliated with a swift slap to her cheek and a muttered threat.” I ignored the compliments he gave me. 

“Okay, if you’re sure...” We started walking again. At this rate I’d get to my car around midnight.

“I’m sure, now can we just drop it?”

“Sure. Wanna go to dinner?” I took a deep breath, and shook my head.

“Sorry, I have to work a closing shift.” 

“Where?”

“Kade’s Tavern. I’m the bartender.”

“They let you be a bartender?”

“I’m 18, but as far as customers and other workers are concerned I’m 22. I got the job as a favor from a family friend.”

“Impressive.” I blushed.

“Not really. Mixing drinks isn’t rocket science.” He laughed.

“Just take the compliment Y/N.” I smiled.

“Fine.”

“Look at that, I got you to smile. I guess I am a miracle worker.” I shoved him softly and laughed. 

“Shut up.” After a moment of walking in silence, he turned to me.

“Will you go out with me?” My eyes widened, and I scanned his face, trying to figure out if he was being serious.

“Can I ask why?”

“Well these fairies kidnapped me and told me they’d cut off my balls unless I asked you out.” my eyebrows raised, “Come on Y/N, stupid question stupid answer.” I blushed once again.

“You like me.”

“And I make you nervous, which I think means you like me too. Plus the fact that whenever you look at me you make this slight movement with your legs, almost as if you’re trying to contain yourself.” Shit, I’ve been caught. Odd thing though about the legs, I didn’t even realize I was doing it.

“Dean, we can’t date.”

“Why not?”

“We’re too different.”

“I don’t care. Please give me a chance to prove that our differences don’t matter.” I knew that I wanted to say yes, even though the logical part of my brain told me to say no.

“Okay...”

“Is that a yes?”

“It’s a yes. A skeptical yes, but a yes.” His face lit up with a smile, and I have to admit that it made me happy. 

“Okay! Great! So dinner?”

“I have to work tonight, but if you want we can eat after most of the people have left, and you can help me close up. If you wanna go out tonight at least.” My heart was pounding as I mentioned my idea, which annoyed me. I liked the fact that I was never unsure of myself, but somehow Dean destroyed that trait, and I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing yet.

“Sounds great. So I’ll just follow you to the restaurant?” I smirked.

“Nope, I have to go home and change into my work clothes first. But I’ll meet you there.” His hands landed on my hips and his eyes glinted.

“I can help.” He whispered. I laughed off all the thoughts that flooded my mind, and he looked down at my legs, making me realize I did it again. 

“Not gonna happen pretty boy.” 

“Okay. I’ll see you soon?”

“Definitely.” With that we went our separate ways. No goodbye hug or kiss, just the mutual hope for what was going to happen tonight. 

I turned into my driveway, and barley had time to throw my car into park before I jumped out. Fumbling with my key, I prayed that my mom wasn’t home. I finally unlocked the door, and I ran through the house towards my room. 

“Hi honey!” My moms voice rang through the large house and I stopped dead in my tracks. Shit. So she was home.

“Hi mom.” I shouted, before running into my room and slamming the door behind me. I threw my messenger bag onto my bed before striping off, until I was left in my camisole and boy short underwear. I grabbed a pair of dark jeans and a black V-neck t shirt. I threw my hair into a messy bun, took off my necklace but added my favorite opal knuckle ring to my middle finger. I reaplied my deodorant, lifting my shirt to do so. I finished it off with some perfume. Grabbing my sling bag, that came with me everywhere except school, and grabbing a pair of socks and my grey converse, I ran out of my room towards the front door. My mom was waiting for me though, blocking my escape rout. 

“Where are you going?” She asked.

“I gotta get to work mom, you know this.” I started putting on my shoes, might as well since she wouldn’t move.

“Now?”

“I’m closing.”

“Oh. I was hoping to have dinner with you.”

“Why?”

“There’s something we need to discuss.” I finished putting on my shoes.

“Fine mom, whatever. I have to go though so can you move?” She complied, and as I was getting into my car she yelled:

“I’m serious, Y/N.”

“Okay I get it!” I shout before pulling out of the driveway and speeding towards work.

 I arrived 5 minutes before my shift started, a stroke of luck on my part. Rushing through the back entrance, I quickly dropped my stuff in the break room and tied an apron around my waist. I checked my reflection in the mirror before clocking in, and quickly going into the restaurant. Jake, one of the other bartenders, looked at me as I went behind the bar, looked at his watch, and raised his eyebrows.

“You’re on time Y/N.” He said with a laugh. I rolled my eyes and chuckled as I pushed him away.

“Yes, I’m on time. Now leave! This is my turf now.” Jake is one of my best friends, he’s the son of the owner who gave me the job. I’ve known him since I was born. He’s 22, and basically one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. I found Dean sitting at the end of the bar, drinking a water and smiling at me like an idiot. I look around the rest of the room, and see two other people who already have drinks in front of them. Grateful for the lull, I walk over to Dean.

“I’m surprised you didn’t pull out a fake ID and get something stronger.” I said with a chuckle. He smirked at me.

“I just figured that I should try to make a good impression on you. From what I gather you’re a little unsure about us dating. Got to make myself look good.” A wave of confidence washed over me and I leaned forward until we were four inches apart, give or take. 

“Oh Dean, you always look good.” 

Summer Love Tag list:

@soullessbabee @death-unbecomes-you

#summer love #chapter 3 #dean winchester #dean x reader #reader #spn #supernatural #fanfic

[nyacat39]

Things Forgotten Chapter 1

Link to Next chapter

Six years that come as a blur sometimes to Rachel Gardner. Most of her memories from when she was thirteen are hazy and the main things she remembers were waking up in a hospital... and that her parents are dead. For six years she tried to live a normal life, but with a problem of having memory “black outs” at seemingly random. Is there a way for her to remember what happened and stop these from happening? Or will things remain forgotten?

Rain fell from the sky as a bakery was closing down for the night. One of it’s employees stepped out after finishing her work and pulled a red umbrella up over her head of blond hair. In her arm was a bag of bread and pastries that were going to be thrown out anyways.

“See you tomorrow Derek,” she called back, just before the door fully closed and before she set off on her way home. Her black boots splashing in the water with each step, getting some onto her black capris and her striped socks, making her much more determined to get home as quick as possible.

Not thinking twice about it she turned down a back alleyway and calmly navigated her way through to get to her apartment. She did however stop for a few seconds to pull out her phone and double check the Note’s area that told her the navigation through her chosen route.

I’m glad I didn’t forget that today. The blond thought proudly to herself before her phone beeped at her with a reminder to take her medicine in the next half hour. Rolling her blue eyes at that she powered down her phone and continued on her way.

Slowly she began to notice two things. One was the fact that her simple shortcut home seemed to be getting longer than she expected, with a few new turns that she had to take to get back onto the right track… and two was the fact she was beginning to hear an extra set of footsteps that followed her own. She did stop for a little bit to make sure it wasn’t just her imagination, but found that those extra footsteps seemed to continue… and get progressively closer.

Just keep going Rachel… Don’t stop. If whoever this is speeds up, run. She thought to herself as she started walking once again, holding back on her urge to glance back to see who was following her. After what felt like a few minutes Rachel heard the footsteps increase in pace, prompting her to begin running.

Come on why isn’t this alley ending? It shouldn’t take this long! Was the thought that crossed Rachel’s mind as she picked up the pace. She started running at the sound of whoever was behind her picking up their own pace. Barely thinking about it she took a sudden turn in hopes there would be another quick one so she could lose whoever was following her…. Only to find herself at a dead end.

Only able to take one step back, Rachel soon felt something large and sharp at her neck and heard an insane sounding laugh. Despite the situation, the blond only had widened eyes at how quickly this all happened.

“Turn around Ray,” a distorted male’s voice laughed. Slowly doing as she was told, Rachel couldn’t help but ponder for a moment how this person knew her old nickname…

Only for her eyes to open up at the sound of an alarm going off on a side table next to her. Turning her head to the alarm she saw the glow of her phone and the reminder it had that it was time for her medication.

Sitting up and stretching slowly to help pop her muscles and wake them up, Rachel took to looking around her from the comfort of the queen sized bed she had been asleep in not to long ago. It was her room alright, from the cluttered sewing table of projects and finished stuffed toys in the far left corner of her room, to the large bookshelf near the dresser on the right. The shelves high above the work table were full of completed little dolls she made, some with faces, others without and the side table near her bed was still cluttered with her medication bottles, her phone, a digital clock and a few post it note reminders.

Her door sat a good distance away from her bed but closer to where her bookshelf was located, and was closed. There was only the open door of the closet in her room with some sewing material poking out.

Was that a dream? Or… did that happen? Rachel thought to herself after looking around her room with her lifeless blue eyes. She raised one of her hands to her neck and felt along the area where she had felt the blade.

It felt familiar…

“Hey Rachel you up yet?” A female’s voice questioned from the outside of her door. Rachel had remained quiet for a moment, processing the voice in her head before answering.

“Yeah… I am.”

“Hey great cuz I’m making pancakes for breakfast! Grab your meds and meet me at the table in five alright.”

“...Alright Katie.”

Rachel soon pulled herself out of her bed, glancing down at her legs she stared at the red pajama bottoms, unsure when she got them or if they were really hers. Shaking her head free of her confused thoughts she reached over to her side table and shook each of the three bottles before finding the one that had her pills. Twisting the top open she stared down the bottle and found only four pills within the orange bottle.

I’ll need to get more tomorrow… right? The blond thought before checking some of the post it notes and then nodding to herself that she was right as one said she had to take one in the morning and one before bed.

Pulling herself up to her feet and making sure one pill was within her hand, Rachel soon made way out of her room. Once out she found herself in the short hallway between her room, Katie’s room as well as the living/dining room of their apartment.

“Took you’re time huh Ray?” a brunette haired girl grinned, her White shirt with black cat silhouette designs, as well as a portion of her faded blue jeans were covered by a white apron that had splashes of flour on it. In both her hands were two plates with at least three chocolate chip pancakes on each of them.

“You said five minutes… it’s been four.”

“Smart ass,” Katie laughed as she set both plates down onto the living room’s table. Sitting down onto the small two person sofa the brunette motioned over to the blond to come take a seat by her. Rachel did so and saw the glasses of milk near the plates. She turned a questioning gaze over to her roommate who sighed.

“We’re out of the usual OJ, so I just poured us milk.”

“... No chocolate syrup to add in?”

“No, but we do have Strawberry. I just didn’t want to assume because you know what happens when you assume,” Katie shrugged, while Rachel blinked in confusion.

“... Strawberry?” The brunette paused mid-bite before sighing at the question.

“Questions later, eat first alright?” Rachel was quiet for a little while before she finally nodded in an “okay” fashion. She then took her medication with the milk before eating her own pancake breakfast.

…

After breakfast and cleaning up their dishes, Rachel couldn’t help but remember her… maybe dream and was about to bring it up to her friend, only to get interrupted by the grinning brunette.

“So Rachel, remember what today is?” At this question Rachel gave her friend a confused look before something seemed to come to her.

“Movie Marathon day?”

“No that’s Friday night. It’s Saturday,” Katie said, and seeing the confused look on her friend’s face she got a slightly guilty look on her face. “Well… We finished our first finals earlier this week, and the others did as well. Soo, we’re all meeting up for old times sake!”

“Oh…” Rachel trailed off, before something came to mind. “You think Barry actually got accepted into a college yet?”

“With his need to fight everything and anything added with his record? The school itself would have to be out of it’s mind,” Katie sighed, while Rachel had a little smile make its way onto her lips.

“Yeah, they would have kicked him out on the first week.”

“Nick’s more likely bored out of his mind at his college. There’s no Barry to make it interesting after all.”

“What was he going for again?”

“Lawyer, he did always say he might as well be if Berserker Barry’s gonna be a little shit.”

“Oh yeah…” the blond trailed off, causing the brunette to notice and turn her attention to her friend.

“You alright?” Katie questioned, a concerned look on her face at how silent her friend became.

“... Did… It rain last night when I was at work?”

“... Rachel you don’t work Fridays… And it hasn’t rained since last month. Why?”

“.... I had a dream… it felt so real I thought… it had to have happened last night,” Rachel responded, trying to figure out exactly how to word her dream to Katie. The mentioned brunette leaned in slightly, showing her interest in what her friend had to say.

….

After telling Katie what she could of the dream, Katie had a contemplative look on her face before finally telling her friend what she thought.

“Well… maybe it came from the fact last night’s movie marathon was Horror. That would explain the long alleyway and the blade at your neck. Hell I’m actually surprised you could actually sleep after that… I know I couldn’t especially after that Doll one,” the brunette shuddered, always having a fear for both porcelain and ventriloquist dolls. Rachel blinked and tried to remember last night… only for it all to come up as a blank.

That does sound plausible though… My mind must have just mixed it all together is all. Nodding finally to herself, Rachel offered up a small smile to her friend though like always it never seemed to reach her eyes.

“... You really suck at smiling after all.” These words came to her almost every time she did smile. It felt like a distant memory and the voice wasn’t very clear in her head, but every time it did come to her mind she felt her eyes almost water. Katie knew this well enough and had tried many times to comfort her… but no matter what it always seemed like her friend would be stuck having a constant mix of joy and sadness at random times.

“... Hey so you questioned about the strawberry syrup earlier right?” Katie quickly brought up, knowing by now that she had to distract her friend with a different conversation whenever she seemed to get upset.

“... Yeah I did…”

And with that the two had a more… one sided conversation for the next ten minutes. After words Rachel had went back into her room and got dressed. Today she choose to wear a simple white top with a grey sweater vest that had little black diamond designs, black dress pants with a boot cut and a simple pair of white socks. Checking through her closet, and moving a few of her sewing supplies out of the way she found her little black hand bag she had had since she was 13… or at least for what she could remember from that time.

It definitely had that old worn out look to it, with a few stitches here and there from the few times it did break. Katie and a college friend she made named Emily would both tell her constantly that she should think about getting a new one instead of just fixing it and modifying the strap so it would continue to rest at her side… but Rachel never listened.

This was one of the two items that she had left from her past… she didn’t want to get rid of either of them, even though the memories behind both of them seemed lost. Just having them with her gave her a sense of calm. Though it was much harder to do with the second item.

Acquired Handbag.

…….

After both girls had prepared, Katie now supporting a blue hoodie with a light blue wave like symbol on it over her kitty cat shirt. Rachel would always look on in confusion at it but never really questioned it, thinking of it more as something that wasn’t really important. Though the parts she would question were when Katie would stop sometimes on a windy day in the middle of their park walks and playfully wave her arms around in the direction the wind would be blowing.

The only answer she ever got was that she was “Doing the Windy thing” and would then just walk off without her brunette friend to reevaluate why she was her best friend.

“Let’s hurry!” Katie grinned as they stepped outside their apartment door, both supporting their own pair of shoes of course. Rachel gave a small smiled “okay” in response to her enthusiastic friend as they hurried down the halls and down the stairs as neither one wanted to deal with elevator traffic.

Rachel’s pace was more controlled as she hurried down the steps at least one at a time… Katie on the other hand seemed to be going a little too fast to the point she was skipping a few steps here and there as well as running into a wall at least once.

“... Maybe you should slow down.”

“Hell no!”

“But you might-” Katie’s foot landed on one of the steps wrong just as Rachel was trying to warn her friend, causing the brunette to fall forward. Thankfully she had caught herself just before her face could hit the landing.

“HOLY SHIT THAT WAS CLOSE!”

I tried to warn you… Rachel thought to herself with a sigh as she stopped next to her friend to help her up.

“You alright?”

“Aside from my racing heart, the hurt ankle and hands? Peachy.” Katie sighed while brushing off her pant legs, wincing a little from the pressure put onto her ankle as she stood up.

“Tried to warn you…” Rachel sighed. Katie seemed to grow a large grin on her face after thinking things through for a moment before speaking again.

“Yeah, you really did,” the brunette snickered while Rachel just blinked in confusion as to what was so funny.

….

Inside a cozy restaurant two friends sat waiting. One was a young man with bored looking brown eyes, slightly messy black hair, giving it a fluffy look, he had on a rather average looking sweater with the words “I’m surrounded by idiots” printed on the front. He also had a pair of dark blue jeans and brown boots.

The other was another young man, with bright mischievous blue eyes, bright pink hair, freckles running across his face, an expensive looking jacket over a T-shirt that had a band’s logo on it, a pair of sweatpants and finally a pair of white converse.

“I still can’t believe you actually dyed your hair pink Barry…” the black haired boy commented with a deadpanned look on his face.

“Hey when you lose a bet, you lose a bet.”

“The bet was made three years ago!”

“And only now did it become official that I lost Nick.”

“Katie probably forgot about it anyways…”

“H-Holy shit! You actually did it!” the voice of Katie laughed as she and Rachel entered the cafe where the two boys were. At her reaction Barry just gave Nick a look while gesturing over to the brunette in a whole “see?” motion.

“... I liked your normal hair better,” Rachel commented, remembering Barry’s normal red hair. Comparing it to the bright pink it was now seemed to not sit well with the blond.

“Well it’ll be back eventually,” Barry winked causing Rachel to shake her head with a small smile.

The quartet all sat around at a table and placed their orders before starting to catch up with one another. Nick told them about how tricky his last final was and how he had passed it with a B. Barry had joked about how that was most likely his first time EVER having a B on anything. Nick however retorted.

“Funny if it was your test it would be YOUR first time having a B on anything as well.”

Katie couldn’t help but cover her mouth while loudly going “OH” behind her hand. Rachel did something similar but pretended to cough into her own hand as a way to cover up the small smile the crossed her face… though the hint of the usual small hint sadness that accompanied her smiles, giving away what she was actually doing.

Desperate to change the subject Barry asked the girls what their finals were like.

“Eh, long, dull and GOD was it stressful for the week,” Katie groaned, leaning back in her chair with her head back.

“.... I don’t remember really…. But I think it was hard,” Rachel responded with a slight narrowing of her eyes as she tried to remember what happened nearly two days ago. Her three friends shrugged it off though, being used to this by now. Something seemed to come to Rachel's mind though as she decided to speak up again.

“Barry… have you figured out what you’re going to do yet?”

Silence was her only response as both Nick and Katie leaned in to their pink haired friend.

“Come on Barry, it’s been a whole year now. Do you even have something in mind yet?” Katie asked, a playful smirk on her face as Barry fidgeted in his seat.

“The girls are both going into fashion and I’m going into Law… surely you’ve at least got a small idea where you’re going.”

“Uh… Professional Videogame Streaming?” Barry’s friends all stared at him with deadpanned looks.

“... Seriously?” Nick asked quirking a brow.

“... Not unless you get a good following…” Rachel commented with a sigh.

“Trust me, as someone who Streams every Tuesday and does it for fun… it’s actually pretty damn hard to get a good following unless you do it for years,” Katie informed as she brushed a strand of her hair from her eyes.

The conversation went on like that for about four minutes before Rachel had to excuse herself to the restroom, leaving her three friends alone. As soon as she was gone all three got grim expressions on their faces.

“Hey Barry… how many people have died back home?” Katie asked her arms crossed as if trying to keep herself warm… or rather keep them from shaking from the morbid question she had just asked.

“Since last month… According to my cousin, nine people,” the pink haired young man responded, pretty much staring into his cup of water as he answered.

“They still haven’t caught this monster…” Nick picked up, seeing Katie pretty much look like she was going to break down crying soon. The black haired boy placed a comforting hand on the brunette’s arm and Barry soon scooted his chair over to her side. The pink haired male wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gently began patting as a few tears began at the corners of her eyes.

“God when will this end?” She questioned quietly.

“... Apparently it was supposed to end when you two were thirteen.” Both friends glanced over to their Law Student friend, looking for an explanation. “Originally the guy who followed almost the same pattern of indiscriminate killings had been caught six years ago and was executed for his crimes. He was an entire state away from ours and had the same MO of leaving the bodies out near the back alleys, and using a sharp object to slash unconnected people to death…. What’s plaguing our state now is more likely than not a copycat killer.”

“... Nick… How do you know that?” Barry asked with a confused yet slightly concerned look on his face.

“... There was a report we had to do on previous cases and we got to pick our topic. I chose to look up the Back Alley Murderer.” Nick shrugged like it was no big deal, his friend’s expressions seemed to say otherwise. Though it was a little after that when their food finally made it to their table, serving as a nice little distraction from the grim topic.

“Sorry I took awhile…” Rachel said as she was just arriving, and noticing the grim looks on her friends faces along with the food  at the table. “... What’s wrong?”

“Oh… just… discussing the funeral for my Aunt coming up,” Katie responded, pulling up a pained smile and the two boys to agree to the lie. Rachel blinked at this and slowly sat down in her seat looking between her best friend and her food.

“Did… we ever talk about it?”

“Two days ago actually… You were there when I got the call after class…” Rachel looked down, almost ashamed that she had forgotten.

“Let’s get off this grim topic for now and dig in!” Barry exclaimed, with a big grin on his face as he tried to get everyone’s spirits back up… surprisingly it worked.

……

After Lunch the quartet were about to leave when someone called out to them outside of the restaurant. It was a young man with shaggy brown hair, a pair of glasses over his brown eyes, a black zipped up hoodie with a fluffy looking inside, grey sweatpants and a brown messenger bag at his side.

“Yo Eric!” Barry grinned while waving wildly at the oncoming brunette… Katie however seemed to lose whatever joy she had before and send a glare to her fellow brown haired companion when he finally stopped near them.

“Just got out of work…” Eric wheezed, clearly having run the whole way here.

“... could have stayed longer for all I care…” Katie mumbled causing Rachel to glance over to her with a confused look before her attention was snapped by Eric saying her name.

“Ah, sorry,” Eric quickly said at noticing her surprised look. “I just… remembered to grab your birthday gift. Sorry I missed it last month.”

He held out a nicely wrapped small box. It fit right in the palm of his hand and Nick looked at it suspiciously.

“... Wasn’t her birthday two months ago?” Nick pointed out, causing Eric to fidget a bit… but didn’t stop Rachel from gently taking the wrapped gift into her own hands.

“Nah Nick, we were all busy then so we had the party last month remember?” Barry laughed, seeming to be much more understanding on the situation then Nick… Katie seemed to also pick it up but frowned as opposed to the grin on the pink haired boy’s face.

Rachel seemed to tune out her friends as the three boys all began catching up with each other and Katie seemed to gravitate towards her side as the blonde opened up the gift. Under the wrapping was a small black box, the kind that usually held jewelry in it which Rachel felt a little uncomfortable with as she lifted the lid. Inside was a rather simple looking chain necklace with a not so simple pendant on display with a shiny blue gem centered in the metal work.

Acquired Necklace.

Feeling uncomfortable with the gift, but not wanting to sound rude, Rachel closed the box and placed it into her handbag before addressing Eric.

“... Thanks.”

At hearing this Eric seemed to just brighten up considerably but almost deflated a little when he noticed she wasn’t wearing the gift. Katie was quick to pick that up and almost instantly got in her fellow brunette’s face.

“She just got it. Don’t think that every girl is going to wear something they just got, the minute that they get it,” Katie growled, causing Rachel to quickly get in front of her to separate the two brunettes, Barry to place a hand on Katie’s shoulder and another on her arm and finally Nick to do the same on Katie’s other arm. The one who the words had been directed at had backed up with widened eyes at the hostility.

“Katie calm down!” Nick shouted, keeping his grip on his friend but making sure to not hurt her too much.

“Yeah, and he’s normally telling me that!” Barry exclaimed, doing the same as Nick… though he was probably holding on a little tighter then Nick was.

Despite this Katie still seemed rather angry… but she at least took a deep breath and calmed herself down after glancing at her three friends. She relaxed enough that the two boys let go and she backed up a little to give them confirmation that she wouldn’t do anything.

“... Maybe I shouldn’t hang out with you guys today…” Eric sighed. With his head lowered and shoulders slumped he began to walk away until Rachel stopped him by gently grabbing his wrist.

“... We… hardly ever have everyone together. Please stay for the movie at least,” Rachel pleaded, she hardly ever got time to hang out with all her friends from her Middle School days. Sure Eric didn’t come around till her Junior year in High School, but he was from her old Middle School before her transfer, and sure they weren’t friends in Middle School but he was still one of her friends she had for a very long time.

Eric looked Rachel in the eyes for a while before looking to the others, Barry was giving a huge grin, having known the pink haired boy for a while he knew this one was more of a “Sorry about that” grin then anything else. Nick was rubbing the back of his neck, a nervous habit he had, and Katie was avoiding looking at him.

“... Alright, yeah. Let’s go,” Eric smiled, the small group then began walking with both brunettes as far away from each other as possible. Katie kept shooting glares over to Eric, who seemed to be doing his best to ignore them and the other three friends couldn’t help but think just what happened between the two to make Katie this bitter.

What happened after graduation that made them so distant? Rachel thought to herself while taking a single glance to her best friend.

…

The rattling of chains echoed around him. He had gotten used to it over the years, though it still annoyed him… reminding him about how he remained trapped. It was because of that feeling, it pissed him off. It pissed him off so much… but he had tried everything to break them by this point.

With his back leaned up against a wall, he simply stood there… waiting. For what really? Anything, there wasn’t much else he could do at this point. He was tense but relaxed, tense enough that he would spring up whenever needed… but relaxed enough to nearly fall asleep.

“... So which movie are we planning on seeing?”

At hearing a voice his head snapped up and an almost feral grin started to form at the corners of his lips. He heard three other voices, the first one and two others being male and the last one being an annoyed female. His grin nearly faded at the amount of people and he nearly started to ignore them… until a second female voice rang out right.

“... Honestly I don’t care…”

His head snapped into the direction, seeing the group of five passing by without a care… but his eyes remained on one single person in the group. The girl with blond hair… and the dead blue eyes.

“Come on Rachel, you’ve gotta have some opinion on a movie.”

Everything seemed to slow down for him in just that moment. He didn’t register if the one who had spoken was one of the guys or was the only other girl. Everything else seemed to be muted as he stared at the blond… and the dead eyed small smile that crossed her face.

An honest to god smile crossed his own face at seeing it… though naturally for him it came off a little more… dark than a normal person’s smile should have been.

“Found you Ray.”

….

Rachel stopped and glanced down the alleyway they were passing. The feeling of being watched was strong and a sense that someone had just said her name were both ever present as she stared into the slightly shadowed alley.

But no one was to be seen.

“You alright?” Nick asked, noticing that she stopped sooner than the others did.

“... Yeah.” Was her only reply as she took one final glance down the alley before following her friends. The feeling of someone watching her remained strong the entire time she walked away.

….

The small group was now just leaving the theater, each with a disappointed expression on their faces.

“That was not worth the seven bucks…” Eric sighed.

“I’m surprised Barry didn’t try finding the manager and punching them to give us a refund like last time,” Nick stated, causing the mentioned pink haired boy to just sigh.

“The movie killed any fighting mood I might have had… plus I don’t really want to be banned from another theater…”

“That would actually explain the zombie look you had half way through,” Katie muttered, feeling slightly ashamed that she had even thought about seeing that stupid movie. The effects weren’t even that good.

“... I’m still trying to figure out if the lead was cheating all the way to the end or in an open polygamy…” Rachel brought up. She was never really one to watch romance genre movies but this one honestly just left her more puzzled than anything.

They continued to complain about the movie, this being one of the first times in a long, long while that all of them got along so well… until Eric screamed.

“Er-” Rachel had started until Eric cut her off, freaking out some more.

“Oh God tell me that’s not a-”

“Dude chill! What’s-” Barry exclaimed while grabbing onto Eric’s shoulder to try and calm him down… only to follow the brunettes line of sight and freeze on the spot.

Nick picking up on this rather quickly turned his head to peer down the alleyway. The sun was still out giving him a good enough view of what they were seeing. Nick froze but quickly brought his phone out and dialed a number, leaving both girls out of the loop… till they saw it

A body laid on its back in a large pool of its own blood. The person’s mouth was open as if they had been screaming in agony, one arm positioned closer to their body and the other dropped off to the side as if that arm and been trying to reach for something. Katie had covered her mouth at the sight of it while Rachel’s eyes widened.

Not just because of the dead body… but because she thought she saw a shadowed figure standing over the body… and then vanish after giving an almost demented looking smile in her direction.

#angels of death #angel of slaughter #satsuriku no tenshi #fanfic #Things Forgotten au #chapter one #rachel gardner #angel of slaughter ray

[vcg73]

Witch!Kurt #20: Witchcraft 101

I really should have worked in Kurt’s witchcraft studies a long time ago, but just keep in mind that in spite of the length of this series, it only actually covers a couple of months in character time. (Author’s excuse. Heh.) To make up for it, this chapter is quite lengthy.  : -)

 ~*~*~*~*~

 “How did it go?” Kurt blurted the moment he walked in the front door on Friday evening.

 “How did what go?” Adam asked, with a display of overt innocence.

 “The job interview, as if you didn’t know!” Kurt said, wrestling his way out of his dove gray wool pea coat, black gloves, gray and purple scarf, and a deep purple Homburg hat crafted from warm finely-woven wool that Elliott had given him for Christmas. He took a moment to brush a dusting of white off the hat brim before placing it lovingly on the little stand he had installed next to the front door. “I’ve had my fingers and toes crossed for you all day.”

 “That must have made dance class fun. Is it snowing?”

 “Just started again.” Kurt came in and plunked down on the sofa, sitting sideways so that he could face his still annoyingly unperturbed fiancé. He paused for a moment, distracted by Adam’s ensemble of a crisp white shirt, a dark red tie with subtle stripes, Kurt’s old Cheerios warm-up pants, and black slipper-socks. “Nice outfit.”

 Adam glanced down at himself and laughed. “Oh, right. The interview was a video chat so I only spiffed up the upper half. I was wearing a Henley and your Hello Kitty apron to cook dinner, but that didn’t seem quite appropriate to the occasion.”

 “Probably not the impression you wanted to make on a bigwig like Stewart Henderson,” Kurt agreed, tugging Adam’s tie forward to kiss him on the lips. “How did it go, though? Did he love you? Does he want you to start right away? Is the remote connection thing going to be an issue?”

 Adam’s shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Thank you for the vote of confidence, but all I can say so far is that I’m in the running and that Stewart seemed to like me. I finished my interview just a bit ago, and though I had the feeling he was somewhat skeptical of Gran’s glowing sales pitch, after speaking with me he said that I showed good instincts, had an excellent educational background, and that he thought I might do, but he’d have to look into a few things. I assume regarding my issue with leaving the house, though he didn’t specifically say so.  I didn’t go into the real reasons, either, but I also didn’t try to hide my condition from him and he seemed to appreciate that. At the end of the interview, he said he would have someone contact me once he’d made his final decision. He still has a couple more candidates to speak with.”

 Kurt deflated. “Damn.  I hope that wasn’t polite code for ‘better luck next time’. I really thought he would recognize quality and snap you right up.  But hey, you put yourself out there and no matter how this goes, that’s still progress. Plus you’re on a first name basis with Stewart Henderson. That’s pretty impressive!”

 “Well, I don’t think I’ll be inviting him to pop round for tea any time soon, but he was very kind and surprisingly easy to chat with. Quite a funny man,” Adam said, seeming far less disappointed by the idea that he might have received a brush-off than Kurt was. “He insisted that I use his given name the moment we began. Said if he was going to consider taking on an assistant who is only 24 years old, he was damned well going to pretend we were contemporaries and not be reminded every two minutes that he’s old enough to be my grandfather. And as I said before, if this doesn’t pan out, I still have a few more avenues to explore. This, for example.”

 He offered Kurt a sip of tea from the steaming cup he’d had before him on the coffee table. Kurt’s nose twitched at the scent, recognizing the particular blend of jasmine tea from a local shop they both liked. “Bui’s Tea? What does that have to do with anything?”

 “The interview got bumped forward an hour so as I had some extra time, I walked over for a cup and a biscuit before starting on dinner,” he replied casually, as if the shop was not five blocks away and farther than he had ever managed to venture on his own before. Seeing Kurt’s probing look, he dropped the nonchalance and admitted, “It was terrifying. You probably felt a sense of panic right around 3pm. I was honestly attempting to go to the grocery and buy a bottle of wine to serve with the lasagna, but it started to snow rather hard before I got halfway. Suddenly finding myself surrounded by a field of swirling white nothingness . . . well, let’s just say that I had to duck into the first available shop before I ended up having a melt-down in the middle of 12th Street.”

 “I did feel something, but I thought you were getting worked up about the interview. I was in the middle of dance class so I couldn’t call to check on you. I almost did, but then the feeling stopped. Should I have called anyway?” Kurt asked, guilt washing over him as he said, “Oh gosh, I should have. I knew it!  I tried to absorb some of the fear and project a sense of confidence back down the length of our connection, but Miss July called on me right then to demonstrate a series of wing changes.”

 Adam reached over and squeezed his hand, telling him without words that he was not upset that Kurt had not dropped everything to run to his side. “How did that go? If you were projecting to me at the same time, I’m guessing not very smoothly.”

 He sighed and brushed his free hand through his hair. “Yeah, it could have been better. I know I was doing the moves correctly, but between your anxiety and my distraction, Miss July told me that I looked like an over-caffeinated cricket. The class found that hilarious until she made us do speed rounds against each other.”

 Adam laughed. “Nice. You’re a regular speed demon on the changes. I’ll bet they were eating their laughter as sauce for the humble pie before you were done with them.  Your projection does explain why I suddenly felt so much better, however. I just assumed it was because I’d found a haven.”

 Kurt shrugged sheepishly. “It was probably Bui’s that calmed you down. That place always smells delicious, and it’s dimly lit and sort of cozy in there. I can see why it would be a perfect place to get your bearings.”

 “Well, in any case, thank you for your help. My detour might have been a blessing in disguise, however. Mrs. Bui saw that I had a case of the collywobbles and you know how she is. Bustled me right over to sit and was pressing a hot cup into my hand, and a cool towel to my neck before I could suss out what was even happening.”

 “She’s a sweetheart,” Kurt agreed. The biggest reason he loved that tea shop was for its plump, ever smiling owner, who always gave him a cookie and a pinch on the cheek when he stopped in, as if Kurt was only five years old. The fact that he had to bend forward so that she could reach his face just made the gesture even more charming. To call Mrs. B five feet tall would be a generous fib.

 Adam nodded, taking another satisfied sip before setting the cup back down. “She is. We got to talking, and I found myself telling her all about us, and about my recent struggles, and how I was looking for employment but somewhat limited in what I could apply for. Next thing I knew I was being offered the chance to replace Steve.”

 “Her son?” Kurt said in surprise. Steven Bui was his widowed mother’s eldest and had been helping her create the special blend teas and coffees that made the shop stand out in a vast sea of similar businesses. “What happened to him?”

 “University,” Adam said. “It seems that Steve is a bit like yourself. Too stubborn to take no for an answer when his first application was denied. He brushed up his CV and tried again for the winter term at UCLA and he’s made it. Flew out to begin classes last week.”

 Kurt smiled and shook his head, somehow not at all surprised. “Good for him. Do you know anything about making tea, though?  I mean, you definitely drink enough of it to be a good taste-tester, but isn’t the blending process more complicated? Or do you just infuse a little potion-making and voila, instant deliciousness?”

 Adam laughed. “Mrs. B is a Standard, so that would be a bit of a cheat. I would go in as more of an apprentice, at least at first. I do know a little about the process, but I would be mostly ringing up customers and stocking inventory. Assuming I accept the job, of course. I still may get the position with Henderson Productions, which would certainly be more of a financial boon than working in a tea shop. There is also the problem that while I made it that far today, it doesn’t guarantee that I’ll be able to do it every day. I’m finding, unfortunately, that making progress against mental barriers isn’t quite as cut and dried as knocking through physical ones. The little bastards seem to rebuild themselves while I sleep. I went for a walk today in part because I found I couldn’t make myself go out onto that bloody balcony again. Previous success be damned.”

 “Progress is still progress,” Kurt told him. “You did it once, so now you know it’s achievable. And you will get there, Adam. It’s enough that you keep on trying, and learning to figure out what things will trigger the fear. Those roadblocks won’t stand a chance in the long run. As for Mrs. Bui, you said she offered you a job after you’d told her about your problem, so I don’t think she’s going to take it back if you find that you can’t bring yourself to come in every day.”

 Adam nodded. “At any rate, I told her I would have to wait and see how today’s interview works out before I could give a firm answer, since I have no idea what sort of schedule I’ll be keeping if it does. And there’s the matter of needing to devote adequate time to helping you train with the coven, and face down your ex. Then of course, there’s the very important matter of a wedding and honeymoon to consider!”

 Kurt beamed at the reminder. They had Skyped with Burt and Carole last night, and with Henry and June early this morning. Both families had been surprised but gratifyingly enthusiastic about the engagement. Henry had expressed some doubt that they could put a wedding together so quickly, but naturally Burt and Carole held no such reservations. “That reminds me. I told Isabelle our news when I dropped off that paperwork yesterday. I know we were going to wait until we’d told the families, but I was basically bursting to talk to someone who would be as excited as I was.”

 “I understand,” Adam said with a grin. “I may have spilled the news to Tanya yesterday when the Apples were over. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you’d be disappointed in my big mouth, but as yours was equally indiscreet, I no longer feel guilty.”

 He laughed. “Good, then neither do I. The important part here is that Isabelle called me back about an hour ago . . .”

 Recognizing a cue in the pregnant pause, Adam turned and offered his undivided attention. “Aaand?”

 Kurt bounced in place, clasping his hands underneath his chin in an adorable effort to contain his excitement. His shining eyes gave it away regardless. “And she’s offered us the use of The Ballroom for our reception!  Can you believe that? The  Ballroom!”

 Adam’s mouth fell open in honest amazement. He had only been to the company owned reception hall once before. The first time he and Kurt had dated, his boyfriend had been helping put together some sort of grand couture event that his boss was managing. The place was very popular for upper crust society bashes; presumably because it was beyond posh, with a price tag to match. “On Valentine’s Day? How on earth . . . ?”

 “I know!” he gushed, practically dancing in his chair. “It seems that being a managing editor at Vogue has its perks. There was some sort of event rescheduling today that left a 3 hour window open on the 14th. Isabelle heard the receptionist confirming the change and she snapped the slot up. She called once the change was confirmed and offered it to us as her wedding gift!  I’ve been on pins and needles ever since I got off the phone, trying not to leak my feelings to you and give the secret away. I didn’t want to distract you from your interview.”

 “Hang the interview, this is amazing!” Adam said. “Imagine telling people we had our wedding reception where celebrities and ambassadors have danced and dined! And with that much space, we can invite as many friends as we like with no worries.”

 Kurt’s enthusiasm dimmed, taking on an edge of concern as he said, “Maybe one worry. Are you sure you’ll be okay with a big space filled with dozens of people?  It won’t be like the Christmas party where we could slip away whenever we liked.  As the grooms, everyone’s attention is bound to be focused on us. Maybe I should call Isabelle.”

 Touched by his concern, and willingness to give up something he had doubtless dreamed about for years if it meant sparing Adam pain, he said, “No need for that. I’ll be so delirious with joy at having made you my husband that I doubt it would bother me if the entire cast of the Macy’s Parade were to show up demanding a slice of wedding cake.” They both laughed, imagining what that might look like. “And if I should have any difficulties, I’m certain that my dad will be happy to transport me, or both of us, out for a quick breather whenever it’s required.”

  “Good idea.” He kissed Adam’s lips, intending it as a quick reward for his forward thinking, but Adam responded with avid enjoyment and they were soon wrapped in each others arms for several wonderful minutes of making out.  Kurt’s elegant designer top and Adam’s shirt and tie quickly became lost over the back of the couch.

 Pausing to catch his breath and straighten what remained of his outfit after Adam had treated him to a very enthusiastic welcome home, Kurt said, “God, you should have a job interview every day if it makes you react like that!” Adam just laughed, making a show of slowly licking his lips. “Oh, Adam. The stars really seem to be aligning for us, don’t they?  It’s almost scary.  After so many years of everything going wrong, I’m a little freaked out to have everything suddenly going so right.”

 “Don’t be,” Adam suggested, getting up and dropping a kiss on Kurt’s forehead as he went to fetch each of them a warm jumper to wear, picking up their discarded garments from the floor as he went. It wouldn’t do to let their friends see the evidence. Not if they wanted to get through the evening without being teased to death. Tossing Kurt a fleecy blue garment, he tugged on a camel colored version of his own and continued, “Trouble comes when it will, barring the interference of those who force it upon us, but good times are precious and need to be celebrated. So for now, let’s just enjoy being in a happy spot and cherish our good fortune.”

 Kurt nodded, forcing himself to shake off the habit of anticipating the worst.  Pulling on his sweater, he said, “You’re right. After all, even the grayest clouds can turn out to have a silver lining. A bully can become a brother. An enemy can become a friend. And one of the worst years of your life can turn you down a path to meeting the love of your life.”

  “Exactly. And a crowd of faithless friends can lead one to a band of true and lasting comrades. Speaking of which.”

  “The coven is due around six,” Kurt agreed, catching his hint immediately. “And the snow isn’t going to slow them down, so we need to get going on dinner.”

 “As I’m sure your nose has already informed you, I’ve prepared two pans of lasagna; one with meat and one without. The bread is ready as well, but for garlic spread and a touch of baking.”

 “I’m a little disappointed. You haven’t left me anything to do.”

 Adam smiled. “You can toss the salad.  And as you’ve recently expressed an interest in building up your witchcraft skills, I thought you might enjoy a quick lesson in potion-stirring the garlic butter.”

 Kurt perked up at once. He had just spent a busy day at work and school, but this sounded like fun. Hopping up from the couch, he joined Adam in the kitchen and grabbed an apron. Not that he needed one just to make garlic bread, but it was habit to protect his clothing from any risk of kitchen spills. “I like it when you play teacher. What do we do?”

 “First of all, would you like to stir any particular variety of charm into it, or just have it be especially delicious?  I might suggest a simple tonic. It’s easy to create and garlic makes an excellent cold remedy even without magic. Add a bit of enhancement and one only needs a small dose of it become immune to cold and flu season.”

 “What happens if we just add enough charm to make it taste really good?”

 Adam laughed. “Then you have people eating you out of house and home.”

 “So, an average night with the gang then,” Kurt quipped with a smile. He picked up one of the garlic bulbs from a hanging basket of vegetables near the stove, looking at it uncertainly. “Are you sure about this?  Your cooking is always wonderful, but what if I try to create a good health charm and it makes the bread come out tasting like cough syrup?”

 Adam admitted, “That’s a valid concern. The first time I tried enchanting molasses, I infused too much raw magic into the blend and everything I made with it tasted like tar. Needless to say, I was forced to toss that batch.  However, I promise I won’t let any of our friends suffer if your initial potion doesn’t come out.”

 Kurt nodded, willing to accept that. “I’ll trust you. I already put my dad through the burned rubber phase when I was learning how to make quiche and I’d rather not repeat the experience with our friends.”

 “Self-taught, were we?” Adam inquired, a tender smile playing about his lips as he imagined a pint-sized Kurt with the same deadly serious face that his fiancé took on whenever he was concentrating on doing something difficult.

 “Yeah. I used my mom’s old cookbooks, plus I was kind of obsessed with the Cooking Channel when I was in middle-school.”  

 Adam cocked his head. “I still enjoy those programs. I’ve had a great opportunity to catch up with all the latest editions during my recovery. So let’s begin by softening and whipping a brick of butter to make it good and spreadable, then mince the garlic. We’ll add a bit of Italian seasoning and pepper when we mix it together. Just a hint of both to seal the flavor and enhance the charm.”

 “I think a cold remedy will be a good choice. It sounded like Johnny and Dani were a little under the weather when I called them. This might be a nice way to apologize for pushing everyone away recently.”

 Resisting the urge to remind Kurt that the coven was equally at fault, Adam just said, “I’m sure they’ll appreciate it. Remember the method we used at the holiday party to improve your boss’s crab cakes?” Kurt nodded. “We’re going to use a similar trick here, but first let’s get the salad out of the way. When that’s done, I need you to chop up a clove of garlic, very fine.”

 Kurt just nodded and went to work, chopping and mixing a variety of cold veggies with the efficiency of lifetime practice. Once it was done and waiting in his favorite salad bowl, he pulled out a cutting board and a sharp knife, quickly mincing a clove of garlic into tiny shards. “Is that small enough?”

 “Perfect. Now I want you to do the same thing with this dish of butter that you did when warming the crab cakes. Not too much. Just a hint of heat to make it spreadable.”

 Fine control of this power was one of the things that Kurt constantly struggled with, and his shoulders slumped when he tentatively willed a surge of heat into his palms, only to watch the rectangle of butter immediately dissolve into a pool of bubbling liquid.

 Adam was unperturbed by the mistake. “Not to worry, we’ve plenty more,” he said, taking away the first dish and placing a cold brick of butter into a new bowl. Setting it aside, he placed his right hand under Kurt’s left. “Take a deep breath. Find your center and concentrate on the shape and feel of the magic without activating it.”

 Seeing that Kurt was hesitant, Adam placed the pads of his left and middle index fingers against Kurt’s temple, guiding him to the place he needed him to go. It felt almost like a click when Kurt found what he was looking for.

 “Oh, this is kind of like when Brittany first taught me how to See potential!” Kurt said, closing his eyes and turning his Sight inward. “The first day I became linked with the coven.”

 “Exactly like that,” Adam told him, and though his voice remained calm and encouraging, Kurt felt a pulse of dismay echo down their link. He actively sent back a feeling of questioning. “You picked up the grounding of your power very quickly, but it’s clear to me now that no one told you that when you actively engage in spell casting, you need to find your center and work out from it. Otherwise the magic can become unstable and difficult to control. It also drains you more quickly. I feel like a fool for not recognizing the problem sooner.”

  “It’s okay, Adam. You’ve had a lot on your mind,” Kurt said quietly. “We all did. I think maybe everyone thought that I knew more than I did because they’ve been witches for so much longer, and most of us grew up together so they kind of assumed I had the same experiences they’d had. Then of course there’s what happened when I went into the Void.”

 He cocked his head. “Meaning?”

 “I used magic all the right ways that day, but it was mostly instinct and emotion. I followed Dani’s directions to reach you, but I’m just starting to realize how much I was using the link I had forged with the coven to guide me once I was in the Void. I’ve been thinking about this a lot since we talked. Once you started to get better, I tried to get back to magic lessons, but I couldn’t seem to do anything right. None of it made sense, and whenever I asked a question the answer didn’t make much sense either, and everyone . . . okay not everyone; mostly just Santana . . . acted like it was so self-explanatory that I felt really stupid. You said the other night that all my practice is paying off, but I’m not sure that’s true. I have gotten better at directing the power where I want it, but the levels are still hard to control, and I still can’t seem to help activating my thermal magic when I get upset. At least not consciously. I’m just lucky that I haven’t set it off in class, or at work!  And when I work with the coven, I can tell that they’re getting exasperated with my lack of progress. Or maybe it just feels that way because I get so frustrated with myself.  Lately, I’ve been thinking that I was having so much trouble because I wasn’t . . .”

 “What?” Adam said gently, reading embarrassment in Kurt’s sudden hesitation.

 He nearly mumbled the words, “That I wasn’t good enough. That I’m not really as Talented as everyone keeps telling me, and they just don’t know how to break it to me after all that build up about what a great witch I was supposed to be.”

 “And that was another part of the reason you’d started avoiding the coven,” Adam concluded.

 Kurt nodded tiredly. “Part of me is still afraid that they only stick around because we need to stop Blaine, and that once that’s over, I. . .” He paused, licking his lips to give himself a moment. This was difficult to admit. “I’ve never had a group of friends quite like this one, but the Glee Club came really close. New Directions was like a family, at least at first. I thought we had something special and lasting, but then they all dropped me as casually as a worn out pair of shoes. And it wasn’t only due to Blaine. Whenever I didn’t act the way they wanted me to act, or when someone more interesting came along, I was suddenly at the bottom of everyone’s best friend list. It happened over and over, and the more I tried to hang on to my friends, the more they took advantage of my willingness to do anything to keep them. In the end, it still didn’t matter. People leave me, Adam. They just do. Always have.”

 “And always will?” he finished, an expression of ineffable sadness filling his lean features. “Is that what you’ve been struggling with? You believe that because your high school friends were so unfortunately fickle, that the coven will be too?”

 He nodded meekly, hating to admit it but forcing himself to be honest. He cared too much about Adam, and knew that Adam cared too much about him, to hide his true fears anymore just to keep up a happy appearance.

 “Oh, darling. I’m sorry. Again, I see that I’ve been paying too much attention to my own issues at the expense of yours. Between losing your mum, nearly losing your dad twice in body and then again in spirit, the sudden death of your brother, your cheating fiancé, your best friends haring off to chase the lure of stardom . . .” He sighed. “And then there was me. Vanishing into thin air, then coming back only to be reluctant to start up an intimate relationship again. Yes, I can see exactly how you might feel that way.”

Kurt gulped, ducking his head. “It makes having faith in people hard for me sometimes.”

Adam took Kurt’s hands, dipping his chin to catch his beloved’s downcast eyes and encourage him to look up again. “I know it is. But I need you to make a leap of faith that things are different this time. I know it’s hard, because experience has taught you that you can’t depend on anyone to stand by you, but I believe I can speak on behalf of the coven when I say that we will not let you down in that way again. Including the members who were part of your high school group. I can’t promise no one will ever die. Time marches on, and that’s simply beyond mortal power to control, but as long as we do live I can promise that we’ll always be a part of your life and heart. I promise you, Kurt, that none of us are fair-weather friends.  I, for one, never have and never will never leave you by choice.”

 Kurt nodded and wrapped him in a fierce hug. “I know. I do know that,” he mumbled into Adam’s shoulder. “In my heart I do, but sometimes my head gets in the way. A nasty little voice starts whispering in my ear, and sometimes I can’t help listening to it. I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help it. That’s one of the things I’ve been using my sessions with Janice to talk about.”

 “I’m glad of that,” Adam said, holding him in comforting arms, in no hurry to break the embrace. “She’s done me a lot of good, and I know she’ll do the same for you if you give her time and trust.”

 “I’ll try.” He pulled back to look into Adam’s face. Seeing the love and understanding shining in his eyes allowed him to find his smile again. “Leaps of faith aren’t exactly my specialty. They have a way of biting me in the ass, but I’ll take one for you, and for this coven because both of you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And if things do get rough, well, I’ve never been afraid to work for the things I wanted.”

 Adam kissed him. “True, and that’s one of the things I love most about you. As for the coven, we’ll have a talk tonight and get everyone on the same page. I’ve a notion your magical studies will get a great deal easier after that. At least in the sense of not merely being an exercise in frustration.”

 “That’s good enough for me,” Kurt agreed. And it really was. Just hearing someone acknowledge his problem and take it seriously, proposing a workable solution rather than treating it like an imaginary issue that he should just get over so that they could take center stage again, made him feel a thousand times better already.

  “Good. As for anyone thinking you hadn’t the strength or talent for being a coven leader, you could not be more wrong. If anything, I believe the others have been assuming too much the other direction. Thinking they didn’t need to spend time on the dull but necessary basics because you showed such incredible instinct. I think they’ve been hesitant to push you in case you proved a bit too powerful. Hearing that you intend to take combat magic from trained professionals may just prove something of a relief.”

 A smile tugged at the corner of Kurt’s mouth. “Someone told you about the exploding canary, didn’t they?”

 “They might have done,” Adam admitted with a chuckle. “Is it true that LT and Elliott both hid underneath the couch?”

 “Yes, and everyone else ducked behind it,” Kurt remembered, the remains of his bad mood dissipating at the memory of his friends diving for cover. “It was pretty funny.”

 “I wish I’d seen it.” Adam considered for a moment. “As for your magic, I think we should ask Elliott if he’d mind staying with us for a time. He really ought to be taking point on your training and that will allow the two of you to spend more time together.”

 “Why Elliott?”

 “Because he’s your Familiar,” Adam said, as if it were self-explanatory. Seeing Kurt’s blank look, he ventured, “Didn’t anyone explain what that means?”

 Fighting the desire to roll his eyes, Kurt said, “Apparently not.”

 Adam considered that, and then shrugged. “No matter. This is as good a place as any to restart your elementary witchcraft lessons. A Familiar is a very rare creature, and the bond between Familiar and Witch is a deep and special one. Coven leaders, witches who need special training, witches who have no human to appropriately guide them in the use of their power; these are the ones who typically attract a Familiar. It was almost inevitable that you would partner with one.”

 “Wait, are you telling me that Elliott auditioned for my band because he was planning to become my Familiar one day?” Kurt said, astonished. He took a seat on one of the tall kitchen bar stools and pulled a pad of paper and a pen from one of the drawers built into the cabinet. He jotted down ‘Lesson 1 – Familiars’ and then made a quick note of what Adam was telling him. If he was going to become a dedicated student of magic, he was going to do it right, and Kurt Hummel had always been a dedicated note-taker in class. “I remember him telling me that he came to New York to be part of my band, but I thought he just meant that he wanted to be part of one that was just starting out. That’s more or less what he told me.”

 Adam smiled. “I’m sure that the band was an attractive component in itself, given his musical proclivities, but it’s not as if he was going to introduce himself with, ‘Hi, I’m Elliott. I spend half my life as a cat and I’d like to be yours!’ You’d have assumed he was either barmy or that he fancied you.”

 “Those two things are not always mutually exclusive,” Kurt agreed with a wry smile.

 “True, especially as I recall my own embarrassingly enthusiastic sales pitch on the day we first met,” Adam laughed. “Your talent as a singer is more than enough to attract admirers, but the band audition probably presented Elliott with an ideal opportunity to get a close-up impression of you without attracting attention.”

 With a snort of amusement, Kurt said, “Right. Steam-punk glasses, a top hat, leather outfit that he made a point of telling me he designed himself, sky-high platform boots, about three pounds of glitter, and swinging from a chandelier. That was the kind of ‘not attracting attention’ that Starchild felt would make a decent first impression. And I suppose it worked since that outfit is still burned into my retinas, but I was so freaked out and convinced that he wanted to take over what I was trying to build that I basically told him to get lost. Luckily he didn’t listen to me.”

 “He never told me that,” Adam chuckled. “Still, once you did meet face to face, he would have known for certain whether he was meant to be a part of your life. A pure-bred cat Familiar like Tubbington chooses their own charge. A human Animagus like Elliott has the instinctive need to bond, and becomes attracted by the magical signature of their particular witch. A feline homing instinct, if you will.”

 “So in a way, Elliott and I were sort of born to be good friends,” Kurt said, finding that idea both pleasing and a little scary. He quickly jotted down this new information. “I’m guessing that a witch who attracts a Familiar is typically trained in magic by them. Do they get something in return from us? I hope the answer is yes, because otherwise this feels pretty selfish.”

 Adam smiled, a bit wistfully. “Indeed they do. It benefits your Familiar greatly to spend time with you. You provide them with affection, emotional stability, and a sense of connection. Being a part of a coven is important, but the connection the two of you share together is deeper and more personal. Or at least it’s meant to be. It should ideally be something like the emotional bond you share with me. I don’t fully understand the particulars myself. You’d have to ask one of the cats, but it seems to satisfy some inner craving in a Familiar to have frequent physical contact and plenty of opportunities to help his charge.”

  Kurt’s voice was quiet as he said, “So . . . when he offered to Transport me to and from work, Elliott was really asking to spend more time with me. And I refused because I thought I was putting him out, when in reality I was denying him the closeness he needed. Oh, Adam, why didn’t he tell me? He must have seen that I didn’t understand.”

“It may have been a mutual misunderstanding. You thought you were putting him out, and he may have feared that he was crowding you. Don’t forget, Elliott is still new to this relationship as well. I wouldn’t worry. I’m sure he hasn’t held it against you,” Adam said kindly. “Familiars aren’t quite like ordinary witches. They live a long time, barring accident or injury. That old saw about cats having nine lives was undoubtedly based upon them. Tubbington is considerably older than any of us, I suspect. I do know that he was bonded to Brittany’s grandmother before her, and that he’s now chosen to expand his protection to Santana.”

 “And to the rest of us.”

  “Correct.” Adam agreed, eyes twinkling. “I believe he sees the lot of us as unruly kittens in need of a firm paw. Plus he’s more or less mentoring Elliott, who is quite as young as he seems.”

 “Why didn’t I know any of this?” Kurt complained, annoyed. “It seems like these are things somebody should have clued me into if I’m really supposed to be the coven leader.”

 “I suppose the right time just never presented itself.”

 Scrubbing a hand over his face in an effort not to start yelling, Kurt blew out a tense breath. “That’s definitely something that’s going on the list to talk to the others about. If the right time doesn’t ‘present itself’ then they should frigging well put up with the awkward! For crying out loud, Tubbington stayed with me an entire week when Brittany was out of town, right before we went searching for you. It seems like he could have found a minute in there somewhere between raiding my cupboards and binge watching my Netflix to tell me some of this.”

 “Agreed, though perhaps that’s another thing you were meant to be learning from Elliott. You’re a new witch, but I don’t believe any of you lot have ever had much experience with covens before now. I have, because my family is massive and we have connections to at least half a dozen covens. Oh, you smile darling, but my parents’ little brood of four practically made them the childless couple of the clan. One can hardly toss a rock back home without hitting a Crawford or one of our many offshoots.” 

“You should know, you’re making me very curious to see your home town,” Kurt said with a grin. “I bet they’ll throw a parade if you dare to show your face back there after being gone so long.”

Adam looked a trifle disturbed by that idea. “Hmm. They might at that. At any rate, what I was trying to say is that you should give yourself, and the others, some slack and try to enjoy this new experience. Meanwhile, I’ll speak to Tubbington about being a little less circumspect with his knowledge. As for Elliott, I want you to spend time with him. It’s important that you two bond as much as possible, though I am here and now drawing a line against his accompanying us on our honeymoon.”

 Kurt laughed. “Agreed. You’re sure it won’t bother you, though? That Elliott won’t have the same Witch/Familiar bond with you that he has with me?”

 Knowing enough about Kurt’s relationship history to know what he was really saying, Adam said, “No, darling. I’ve known many cats in my life and though we’ve always got along well, to this point none have ever chosen me for a bonding, and I’m all right with that. As I told you, it’s a rare thing. The fact that you have been chosen just makes you even more special in my eyes.”

 Kurt heaved a contented and audibly relieved sigh. He had had too much experience with people who only seemed able to be happy for him, or supportive of him, if there was something in it for them. He was getting used to it, but it still caught him off guard sometimes when Adam would freely offer no-strings support. “Thank you. And if you want one, I’ll be happy to find a nice non-magical kitten that can be yours alone. It can be one of my bonding projects with Elliott. He loves kittens.”

 Adam laughed. “Thank you. I may take you up on that one day.” Letting him go, he picked up the butter dish again and placed in Kurt’s hands. “So, back to work. Hold this in your hand, center on just the individual thread that is connected to heat. I’ve realized that the last time we did this, I simply guided you to the correct place without showing you how to find it. So this time I want you to see and feel it for yourself. Separate your Talents like picking out one particular voice section in a choir.”

 Eyes closed, Kurt did as he was told. His magical energies were usually something he viewed as a whole. He found that thinking of them in terms of a choir helped a great deal. He was able to relate this lesson back to the one Dani had given about separating singing from spell-casting, and he remembered something else he had been told early on; that nearly all witches seemed to be musical in some way. Music was something he had always been able to understand. “That’s it,” said Adam, as he felt Kurt relax. “Now, what do you feel?”

  Kurt considered how best to describe it. “The kinetic magic that I use to move things and levitate is the ‘loudest’ part,” he said. “The melody, I suppose you might call it. I can touch that with hardly any effort at all. I’ve noticed before that moving things has gotten a lot easier the more I’ve grown used to having the ability.”

 “Undoubtedly your primary power,” Adam observed. “What else?”

 “The thermal is probably the next strongest. Now that I’m looking at it next to the kinetic, it kind of reminds me of when Rachel and I used to compete for solos. Both wanting to be noticed, but only one getting all the attention.”

 Adam laughed. “So moving things about is your Rachel power, and setting things alight is your Kurt power, eh? That may be a good way for you to think of them. It also may explain why you tend to ignite things when the frustration builds. One can only take so much rubbing the wrong way before they explode.”

 Opening his eyes again, Kurt rolled them at his grinning fiancé. “Oh, ha ha. What does that make my transference magic that I use to change clothes?”

 “Well, the power is understated, unique, and quite spectacular when you choose to show it off. What was the name of that friend of yours? The one you said always got overlooked until it was time for the big power note?”

 Kurt laughed. “The Mercedes power?  I like it! And I think she’d like knowing that she’s finally been put in charge of my wardrobe.”

 “Add in a few minor dribs and drabs, like potion making and your power of Sight, and you have a very fine choir of internal magics,” Adams told him, liking this analogy more and more as he noticed how comfortable Kurt was with it. “But unlike your daft choir master, this time you get to be in charge of who gets which solo, and when.”

 Following Adam’s instruction carefully as he showed him how to draw forth just a hint of well controlled power, Kurt activated his thermal magic, watching with delight as the butter in the dish obligingly softened around the edges, becoming creamy rather than melting into liquid.

 Adam made a satisfied sound in his throat, and picked up Kurt’s free hand to hold it over the fragrant garlic bits. “Excellent. Now keep the butter just at that state, then reach into the garlic and feel its essence,” he said quietly. “Imagine the plant as nourishing and full of good health, then draw that quality forward. Sort of coax it into being its best self.”

 It was hard to imbue personality into a few bits of garlic, but Kurt tried his best. It was difficult but when he turned on his Sight at Adam’s command, he was surprised to see the garlic take on a soft golden glow. What’s more, it suddenly looked mouth-watering.

 “Very good. Now just add the garlic to the butter and we’ll seal our charm with a sprinkle of spice,” Adam said, singing a few soft wordless notes over their concoction as Kurt stirred it together. The butter suddenly ‘flashed’ in Kurt’s Sight, startling him so much he nearly dropped the dish. Having expected the reaction, Adam steadied him before their experiment could end in disaster. “And there we go. All done but for spreading it over our bread and baking it in.”

 “That’s it? So it’s . . .?” Kurt said, blinking his vision back to normal and gesturing curiously toward the innocent looking spread.

 Adam took a tiny swipe of butter onto the tip of his index finger and held it out with a smile. “Yes, indeed. Taste for yourself.” Kurt obeyed, wrapping his lips around the end of Adam’s finger and sipping off the butter, just slowly enough to make his pupils dilate. Adam cleared his throat. “What do you think?”

 “Delicious,” Kurt said, teasing a bit. Then his brow furrowed as he licked his lips and realized, “Actually it really is. It tastes fantastic.”

 Blue eyes twinkling, Adam said, “How’s the blocked nose?”

 “How did you know I had . . . ? Whoa. Adam, it’s gone!”

 Adam grinned brightly at his astonishment. “You sounded a bit snuffly when you first got home. And now I’ll bet you’re right as rain.”

 Kurt pulled a deep breath in through his nose. Winter colds were such an average occurrence that he had barely noticed how little air he was getting before. “That’s amazing. You could totally corner the pharmaceutical market with this stuff.”

 He laughed. “If it wouldn’t be a complete violation of secrecy and ethics, I might. But you certainly did your share. I guided the power and spoke the necessary incantation, but the rest was all you. You did very well at your first potion, and I’m proud of you.”

 “Thanks,” he said with a grin. Kurt personally felt a bit doubtful that he had really done anything, given that Adam had sung the spell that bound it all together, but it was nice to know that he might be able to do something similar one day. He glanced at the clock. “Oh, gosh!  The others will be here any minute!”

 As if conjured by the thought, a knock sounded on the front door. Kurt recognized the signatures of his friends as they touched the wards. He unlocked the entrance with a thought and yelled, “Door’s open. Come on in!”

 The others piled in, the entire coven having arrived en mass; Dani, Elliott, Santana, Monica, Johnny, and finally Brittany.

 “Hey guys. Something smells great!” Johnny greeted as he and Dani both passed over bottles of wine they had brought to complement dinner. “You said we were having pasta. I hope this is okay.”

 “It’s perfect, thanks. Welcome everyone!” Kurt said, accepting the offering with a hug of greeting for each of them. Noticing how cold the embraces were, and how much snow was covering coats and hats, it was obvious that the group had not used any teleportation magic to get here tonight, “Is the storm getting any worse?”

 Brittany, who had been looking oddly as if she were pregnant, opened her long overcoat and presented Lord Tubbington, who she set on the sofa before moving to give the hosting couple a warm hug. LT seemed disinclined to change to his human form right away, just stretching and yawning as he hopped up on the couch-back to observe the fun. “It’s pretty windy and we only have a couple of inches so far,” she said, taking off the coat, “but we’re in for a big blizzard, so we’ll stay the night with you. I brought pajamas for everyone so we can have a sleep-over. I got you purple ones so you can wear your new hat with them if you want! I bet you’ll look super cute. And also sexy, so Adam will want to keep you warm tonight.”

 “He already has been if my Spidey-senses don’t deceive me,” Santana noted, taking off her scarf and looping it around Kurt’s neck to tug him closer. She looked into his surprised eyes and said, “Oh, yeah, our baby is finally getting some back!”

 Kurt shoved his cackling ex-roommate away with a blush. “I never should have told you about Adam singing me that song.”

 “Notice he’s not denying your observation, though!” Dani teased. She gave Adam’s rear a little squeeze in passing that had him yelping in surprise. “Good job, gorgeous.”

 Needing to change the subject, Kurt looked to Monica for a distraction. “Are we really expecting a blizzard tonight?”

 She nodded. “At least a couple of days. I’d say closer to three.”

 “In that case, I’d better email the script revision Maggie asked for tonight, and get any homework assignments the professors might have put up on the NYADA website, just in case we lose power,” Kurt said, not questioning her prediction. Along with metallurgy and scrying, Monica was more reliable than a meteorologist at forecasting the weather. “Um, by the way. Not that you guys aren’t welcome, but why exactly do you need to stay here tonight? Between Elliott and Santana, you can all get home safely no matter what the weather conditions are.”

 “Where would be the fun in that?” Santana demanded. She grabbed a grocery bag out of Elliott’s hand and shoved it at Kurt. “This is Hummel coven bonding night, right? So why not make it last! And since you’re doing all of the cooking tonight, we brought dessert. Hope you guys still like B and J.”

 Kurt opened the bag to show Adam at least a dozen different small containers of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. “We’re about to have a blizzard and you got ice cream?”

 She hopped up on one of the kitchen stools. “Sure, why not?  We didn’t know what flavor you guys would want, so we bought a couple of everything they had in the freezer case.”

 “Well I think both sleep-over and ice cream are excellent ideas,” Adam said, looking at a tub of Phish Food with a covetous glint in his eye. “And the wine will go perfectly with lasagna. Thank you all for the additions. Kurt and I were just making up some garlic bread, so dinner will be ready in a trice.”

 “Hope that means soon,” LT said, projecting his mental voice to the room.

 Kurt grinned. “It does. Should be ready in just a few minutes. Adam and I made a good-health charm for it, so it anyone is feeling under the weather this should help.”

 Dani immediately looked interested and came around to examine the bowl of garlic spread. “May I?”

 “Please,” Adam invited, smiling proudly at Kurt when the girl used a spoon to take a tiny dab of butter and taste it, promptly following with a deep uncongested breath of relief.

 “Wow, this is good stuff,” she approved. “Like, hundred proof cold medicine!”

 Kurt was a little concerned, “Too strong?”

 “No way!  Johnny, you need to try some of this.”

 As Johnny came over to get a taste, Adam said, “Go ahead, but don’t eat too much of it. We still need enough to cover the garlic toast. It’s strong because it’s in pure form. Once it’s baked into the bread the potency will lessen a bit, but it will still be good for curing any wintertime sniffles.”

 As Adam quickly moved to rescue the enhanced butter and get it added to the bread before his greedy friends could sample it all away, Kurt pulled Elliott aside for a private word.

 “I’m sorry I’ve been so distant with you,” he blurted. “I’ve had a lot on my mind and I didn’t know that I was pushing you away when I refused your help with getting to and from places. You’re my friend and my Familiar, and I want you to know that I appreciate both of those things. And if you want to hang out more, or do things together more often, I would like that.  Magical or non-magical, because Adam thinks that we really need more of both, and I agree with him, and he also thinks you should stay with us until the wedding so that you and I can develop a proper Witch-Familiar bond.”

 Elliott looked startled by this quick burst of contrition. Then his usual bright grin appeared and he wrapped his long arms around Kurt to give him a back-thumping hug. “I’ve missed you too, buddy,” he said, not a trace of hurt or anger in his voice. “Of course we can do more together. You’re my witch, Kurt, so I’m always here for you. And did you just say wedding?”

 “Oh. Oops, I hadn’t meant to spill the beans that soon,” Kurt said with a surprised laugh. He’d been in a hurry to get everything out and hadn’t even realized. “But yes. I asked him a couple of days ago and he said yes. We’ve decided to get married on Valentine’s Day and I’d really like it if you’d agree to be my best man. Or best cat! We can make you a tiny top hat and a sparkly tie if you prefer it that way.”

 The taller man burst out laughing. “That could be super fun, just to see the looks on your other guests’ faces! But naw, man. I’m honored and I would love to. And for you, I’ll do the traditional human in a tux routine, or whatever you want me to do.  I’ll even whisk you away to whatever honeymoon destination you choose, airplane free, as my wedding gift. That’s what being a Familiar is all about. Well, that and being your magical guide.”

 “I’m just now learning what that really means,” Kurt admitted. “I have a few things to talk to all of you guys about tonight. Some important changes that need to happen if we’re all going to be happy and successful as a coven, but first I really need to make sure that you know how much I love and appreciate you and all that you do for me. Before any of this witch stuff happened, you were my best friend, Elliott. I don’t want that to change just because I have different commitments now.”

 “I love you too, man, and nothing is going to change that.” He looked at Adam, who was now engaged in a game of self - defense with his butter spatula as he laughed and struggled to get the pan of garlic bread into the oven unmolested. “He’s a good guy, and I’m really happy that you two found each other again. Speaking of which, you both seem unusually relaxed tonight. Santana was right about you two, wasn’t she?”

 Kurt could not help the silly grin that spread across his face. He nodded. “A couple of days now, and it’s every bit as wonderful as I knew it would be.”

 “Aww, congratulations! On everything, not just the sex, but definitely congrats on that too.”

 He folded his laughing friend into another enthusiastic hug, and when he let go, Kurt was startled to see LT in his newly changed human form standing right next to them. “Mazel tov, kid,” the large man said, clapping one pudgy hand on Kurt’s back and rubbing his fingers over the surface in a way that reminded Kurt of a kneading paw. “You’re a big commitment kind of guy, as taking on all of us kooky hairballs goes to show. You and Adam feel right together, and I believe that you’re doing the right thing by making it official.”

 “Thank you, Lord Tubbington,” he said, not quite sure why he felt an instinctive need to be so formal. Perhaps it was because the man/cat was being completely serious for once. “That means a lot.”

 Suddenly, a squeal from Dani rent the air and probably nearly burst poor Adam’s eardrum since she was now hugging him with all her might. Monica and Johnny were grinning like proud parents and clapping him on the back.

 “I think Adam may have just spread the news,” Kurt laughed, not minding at all, especially when Brittany and Santana instantly ran to embrace him, Santana nearly choking him to death with the ferocity of her hug.

 “Good job, lady-face,” she said, sounding a little choked up, though she attempted to pretend like she was not tearing up by quickly dashing away the moisture as she moved over to give Brittany a turn. “And good riddance to that last sham of an engagement. Consider it the disastrous rehearsal dinner that you’re supposed to have before the perfect wedding day. Please tell me you’re going to use a High Magic Day for the ceremonies?”

 Kurt grinned. “Valentine’s Day!”

 She made a face. “Seriously? Ballads, and flowers, and cupid vomiting pink and white hearts all over everything? Although now that I say it out loud, that does sound like your kind of day. Still, hasn’t that holiday been kind of cursed for you, between Gorilla Boy, and the Schuester-Pillsbury cold-feet-o-rama, in which you were injected with loser venom by the walking grease-gun?”

 Kurt rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the reminders. But that’s kind of the point. Adam knows I’ve never had a decent Valentine’s Day and he suggested we sort of redeem the holiday by making it our own. And you can’t deny that the level of positive feeling in the air created by all those expressions of love will make this the ideal High Magic Day.”

 “He’s right,” Brittany told her girlfriend. “You know that’s why it’s one of the most popular days for the commitment ceremony, as well as weddings. I think it’s a great choice, Kurt.”

 “Commitment ceremony?” Kurt repeated, realizing that Santana had also mentioned ‘ceremonies’ in plural. “What’s that?”

 Brittany clapped her hands like a little girl. “That’s right! You’ve never been to one before! It’s a magical ceremony performed around the two of you by your family and best friends. It reinforces the connection you and Adam share, and the love we all feel for the two of you. It’s a spiritual wedding, different from a legal one.”

 “Think Pagans,” Elliott told him. “The rite stems from centuries ago. It involves some ancient incantations and a couple of rituals to invoke luck and love, and to celebrate your strength as a committed couple. And don’t worry, it’s not a religious ceremony in the modern sense. We invoke the elements and the spirits, not God.”

 “That sounds really nice,” Kurt decided, appreciating that Elliott knew him well enough to respect of his atheist beliefs. “And I’m actually glad that we have a way to celebrate as witches, since the actual wedding reception will have both magical and Standard guests. I haven’t sent out any invitations yet, but my boss has given us The Ballroom for our reception and I want to invite pretty much everyone I know to celebrate with us!”

 He laughed, feeling giddy at the thought. The others made impressed noises at the news that Kurt and Adam’s party would be held in such a venue, immediately offering their services as decoration committee.

 The rest of the coven danced over to offer their own hugs and congratulations to Kurt, as Elliott, Brittany, Santana, and LT did the same for Adam.

 “You’ve got the reception booked, but what about the wedding?” Johnny asked. “Are you just going to sign some papers for a judge, or have an actual ceremony with an officiant?”

 Kurt and Adam looked at each other, question in their eyes. Given the short planning time, they had thought to just ask Adam’s father to whisk them to the courthouse for a quick service in front of the grooms’ two families. They shared this plan, bracing themselves for reactions of disappointment, but to their surprise and relief, the coven was completely on board.

 “Great idea,” Tubbington approved. “That way you can get married without a lot of people telling you how you should do it. If you want, we’ll come to the courthouse to watch. Or we can just greet you at the reception hall with a big fanfare of ‘Here Comes the Groom’. Then it’s party time!”

 “That’s the part everyone shows up for anyway,” Santana agreed practically. “Cake, dancing, free food, booze, embarrassing toasts from your friends . . .”

 The wicked gleam in her eyes left little doubt as to which part she was volunteering to provide.

 “I can take care of the food,” Dani offered.

 Johnny chimed in, “I have an uncle who owns a bakery in Midtown. He’s from the Standard side of the family but he knows all about us. He totally owes me a favor for some space savings and oven efficiency spells I did on his store when he first opened the place. You’ll have the best wedding cake ever. He does some beautiful three tier cakes, unless you need more. What flavors do you want?”

 They grinned at each other and Adam said, “Three will be wonderful, and thank you mate. As for the flavors, what do you say to a vanilla base, a champagne middle, and a chocolate cheesecake top layer?”

 Kurt’s eyes gleamed with approval. “Yum!”

 “Sure,” Johnny said, pulling out his phone and sending a text to his uncle without delay.  For Valentine’s Day, ordering early would be vital, favor or not.  He received a chime back almost at once, showing it to his friends with a grin. It said, ‘Glad to!  For all the $$$ you’ve saved me, your friends can even have an extra layer of white cake.’ “What do you think?”

 “Sold,” Kurt said happily.

 Brittany offered to conjure up as many flowers as they liked, and Monica and Elliott both had some connections on champagne and other liquor from past jobs they had worked. It wouldn’t be free, but given how many other expenses had just vanished from his planned budget, Kurt had no problem with that.

 “You guys are amazing,” he told them. “And I’m really sorry I’ve been so stand-offish lately. I’ve been avoiding you instead of talking to you, and now I’m realizing how stupid that really was.”

 The oven timer dinged just at that moment and Adam suggested, “Why don’t we all get our supper dished up and eaten. Kurt and I have some things to discuss with you lot, and I think that conversation would best be had over full stomachs.”

 “Agreed,” Tubbington said at once, already heading for the kitchen. In his view, everything was best done over a full stomach.

 The others curiously followed, but held their questions. Soon all nine of them had full plates in front of them and were gathered around the dining room table. Conveniently large enough to accommodate them all, complete with chairs, courtesy of Johnny and Brittany who used an expansion spell and a conjuring spell, respectively.

 Food, wine, bread, and salad were enthusiastically consumed with many compliments, and it was not until the dishes were washed and everyone was gathered again in the living room with pajamas on (except for LT, who had chosen to resume his natural form instead), that Adam broached the topic that most concerned him.

 “It has recently come to my attention that we, and I decidedly do include myself in that, have bollixed up Kurt’s magical training to a shameful degree,” he began. He held up a hand to stop the immediate babble of protest that rose up. “Did you know that Kurt was unaware that he needed to find his magical center and separate the individual Talents before performing complex spells? Or that one needs to weave power and spells together when creating a potion?”

 They all fell silent, looking at one another in surprise.

 “He also was unaware until this evening exactly what having a Familiar entailed, including the fact that they’re meant to be spending extra time together to cement their bond,” Adam continued. He met each pair of shame filled eyes squarely, reaching to his side to take hold of his fiancé’s hand. “Each of us has assumed that someone else was showing him the ropes, that he knew the basics of witchcraft simply because he was using it somewhat effectively. As we’ve all noted more than once, Kurt has enormous power at his disposal, but we’ve essentially left a powder keg sitting next to a lit furnace. There’ve been some complaints that we aren’t moving fast enough to confront Blaine, but what happens if Kurt goes to face him having little more idea than his enemy does of how to control his power?”

 Elliott winced. “Kablooey.”

 Adam nodded. “Precisely. Someone will get hurt, and if we’re lucky, that someone won’t be our own coven leader. He’s had dribs and drabs of training. How to See, how to separate normal singing from casting a spell, how to recognize and differentiate one power from another, but it’s like having a lot of individual cooking ingredients with no earthly idea how to blend them into an edible recipe.”

 “We’ve been expecting gourmet meals from somebody who’d never even seen a spice-rack before we met,” Dani concluded with a self-directed grimace. “Shit.”

 “And I thought you needed space to take care of Adam, so I’ve given you so much space that you’re on a different planet,” Elliott concluded, wrapping his arm around Kurt’s shoulders and giving him an apologetic squeeze. “Man, I’m sorry.”

 Monica, who was sitting on the coffee table, reached out and squeezed Kurt’s free hand. “Sweetie, why didn’t you tell us you were struggling so much?  I agree, this is totally our bad, but if you were completely lost why didn’t you tell us? You’re our coven leader, as well as our friend. It’s our job and our duty to help you when you need it.”

 Kurt was blushing furiously by now. This was necessary, and would hopefully be very helpful in the future, but for now he just felt embarrassed. “I . . . I guess I didn’t really know that either. You all have had magic for years. Most of you grew up with it, and have been surrounded by it all your lives even before you could use it yourself. I didn’t even know witches were a real thing until a few months ago. I guess I should have said something, but I just felt more and more lost and stupid.”

 “It’s hard to know what you need to know, when you don’t already know what you don’t know,” Johnny said wisely, holding his serious expression for a moment as everyone turned confused eyes on him. Then he grinned and said, “Y’know?”

 The entire group laughed, easing the tension considerably.

 “So basically, what you’re telling us is that we’re all a bunch of dumb-asses and Kurt isn’t the only one who needs to go back to the beginning,” Santana concluded with a wry smile. She and Brittany were sharing the love-seat, Santana stretched across her girlfriend’s lap, with Tubbington comfortably lounging on her. Unable to get up, she formed a fist and aimed a little force-field at Kurt to give him a long distance punch to the arm. “Noted and painfully accepted. Jesus, can you imagine what Coach Sylvester would have said if one of us had showed up for Nationals after having skipped nearly every practice that season?”

 “You think this is hard?” Brittany barked. “Try building a squad of assassins from a kindergarten class! That’s hard! And also? Get off my squad before the stench of mediocrity kills us all.”

 All of the former McKinley students cracked up, while the others just looked at each other in confusion, then shrugged, realizing you probably had to have been there.

 Adam continued. “The good news is that we’ve discovered the difficulty before too much harm was done, so we can still take steps to remedy it. Our first step is to invite Elliott to stay with us and give Kurt some one on one instruction whenever he’s free of other commitments.”

 “He’s already invited me,” Elliott said with a nod, “and I’m totally up for it.  I promise I won’t get in the way, and I won’t sleep on your bed unless I know you’re not, uh . . .  otherwise occupied.”

 His teasing grin earned him a smile and a quick elbow to the ribs from his blushing best friend.

 Adam cleared his throat loudly. “Ahem, at any rate, that’s taken care of. Secondly, I have recently begun looking for employment and I have a couple of promising prospects. If that goes well, it will free up more of Kurt’s time, as well as giving him relief from being our sole financial provider.”

 There were several interested questions at that, and Adam quickly explained what had been happening since they last met.

 “I gave my notice at the diner,” Kurt added, drawing a look of approval from Adam and surprise from the others. “I can’t keep up with all my commitments, including devoting more time to my magic, if I’m going to be a good friend or a good leader. Plus, I’m taking on a TA position with Cassandra July next semester at school, and hopefully devoting a few hours a week to combat magic with Troy and other jocks. I talked to him briefly today and he said he’ll check his schedule and help me work something out.”

 “Kurt feels that he needs to learn combative spells, including self-defense against magical attacks, before we proceed against his ex,” Adam said.

 LT nodded his head. “Smart thinkin’, Junior. Wild witches are hard to predict, even at their most innocent, and this one is anything but. With all that local power to steal from his brainwashed friends and little birdie buddies, he’s both dangerous and potentially clueless. I’m pretty sure sending Adam to the void was a complete fuck-up rather than a calculated move, and who even knows if that was an isolated incident or not. Building up your defenses is smart, and so is getting that training from an outside source that won’t be afraid to smack you around a little.”

 “That’s what Adam thought too,” Kurt said ruefully.

 He shrugged one furry shoulder. “Best way to learn, kid. Blaine ain’t gonna be giving you pats on the head if things get serious.”

 Kurt agreed, “I know. He came at my head with a bo staff in Stage Combat class just three weeks after I’d gotten out of the hospital with a skull fracture, and that was when we were supposed to be in love. I’m not taking any chances.”

 Unhappy expressions crossed every face at this news. Dani lifted her hand, catching Kurt’s attention, then formed a tiny ice sculpture of Blaine Anderson in her palm, which she then pointedly crushed into powder. This wordless show of support warmed his heart.  

 Feeling like everything was finally traveling down the right road again, Kurt told them, “In addition to the magical training, it would be good for me and for all of us as a group, to spend more time doing things together that are unrelated to being witches. I’ve . . . well, I’ve kind of been feeling lately that nobody else cared about that side of our friendship. We never have band practice anymore, or go to a movie, or just have an evening like this one that’s about having fun just being together.  I’ve really missed you guys.”

 Monica launched herself across the space between sofa and table and hugged him. Elliott joined in, then Dani, and soon all of them had formed a laughing, tearful dog-pile of witches, with Kurt in the center.

 “You and me, hot dogs in the park next week,” Tubbington offered, transforming to his human self long enough to ruffle Kurt’s hair before switching back and flouncing out of the room on a mission towards Kurt and Adam’s comfortable bed. “Have a good night, kiddos. Save me some sausage and waffles in the morning.”

 They all laughed, yelling goodnight to their retreating mentor. Taking his cue, the visitors took a few minutes to make up places to sleep, pushing back the furniture and making a cozy circle after Brittany helpfully whisked in the sleeping bags and air beds she had bought but left at her and Santana’s apartment. Kurt and Adam mutually decided to stay out here and join the others, leaving their room to the no doubt already slumbering cat.

 “I really am sorry we let things get so far out of hand,” Dani said quietly to Kurt as the two of them spread blankets atop one of the air beds. “We’ll make up a rotation so that everyone can share magical knowledge as our schedules match up. And you and I are totally on for mani-pedi day once this storm clears up. Okay?”

 “Count me in for that!” Monica offered with a grin, “And we should totally schedule in band practice once or twice a week. We can do it for fun, but One Three Hill needs to book some paying gigs, man!”

 Elliott held up a hand and dipped his head, shaking his hand like he was attending a revival meeting, “Amen, sister.”

 Kurt laughed. “Let’s start with the band practice, then figure out the other once things cool down, okay? My show at the Lexington is coming up in only two weeks, so I need to devote my spare time to that for now. Plus, I still haven’t come up with a song for my mid-winter critique.”

 “We can totally help with that,” Brittany offered. “We’ve got three days until the blizzard clears.  We can come up with choreo for you!  Oh, unless that cranky turban lady is judging you again. She didn’t seem to like our first performance, even though you wore the hot gold pants.”

 “The dick framers?” Santana asked, looking interested. “You never told me you wore those for your NYADA audition. And Tight-ass Tibideaux still rejected you? I thought she was straight.”

 Kurt shrugged. “She has three ex husbands, but maybe that’s the problem.”

 “Those gold pants definitely would have won my vote,” Adam murmured, wrapping his arms around Kurt’s middle as he came up behind him and kissed his neck. “I’ve seen the photos.”

 Hugging those arms, Kurt looked around the room at his busy, laughing, chattering coven. The future suddenly felt a great deal brighter.  He did not know why he had been so worried about talking to these people for so long. This coven was not like his fickle friends of the past. Not even the members who had been a part of that past. They, like Kurt himself, had grown up and changed for the better.

 He smiled.  He would take that leap of faith and believe that they would continue to move forward together.

 “Who wants ice cream?”

 THE END

#Witch!Kurt #Kadam #One Three Hill Coven #Lots of talking - they had a lot to say and would not be stopped #Seriously this sucker is over 12K words long