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andawaywego · 3 years

Note

Prompt: Jamie working at the Leafling with her and Dani’s baby in one of those slings

i loved this prompt, and i got to put Jack (who appears in a different prompt of mine that can be read here) in it as well, baby-style. i hope you like it!

Every day, it’s more and more uncanny how much she looks like Jamie. It’s in the brown tuft of hair that gets curlier every day, the longer it gets—so unlike Dani’s own baby pictures, wherein what little hair she did have was blonde and thin. It’s in the way she smiles, so lopsided and adorable, and the way her eyes shine in the sunlight—like she’s up to something, but Dani doesn’t know what.

Three months in, and it’s getting to the point where Dani has no idea what she’s going to do with their daughter.

Take now, for instance: sitting in the padded rocking chair Jamie dragged into the back room of their shop the week before Dani’s due date, Jack rested over her shoulder as Dani pats her back through her green striped onesie. She’s always so restless after she eats and trying to burp her is sometimes a bit of a struggle. Just like her other mother, Jack has a bit of an issue sitting still for too long.

Dani is just getting to her feet, wiping Jack’s chin clean, when the door opens and Jamie steps in.

“Hey,” she says, unable to keep the look of wonder that’s been near-constant on her face since that stick first said pregnant last winter. “Sorry. Ran out of tape for this rush order.”

“That’s okay,” Dani tells her normally and then immediately slips into her high-pitched Mommy voice to say, “We’re all good now, aren’t we, baby?”

As she says it, she turns Jack in her arms so she can see Jamie standing there and smiles at the look of excited recognition on their daughter’s face. Little grabby hands reach out, flexing and stretching clumsily until Jamie finally comes over, grinning already.

“There’s my girl,” Jamie says, letting her fingers be grabbed in Jack’s tiny fists. Her eyes flit up to meet Dani’s, still smiling. “My other girl.” She leans in for a kiss and Dani meets her, sighing against her lips, feeling floating and solid in that way she always has whenever Jamie kisses her.

Dani hums a bit and pulls away after a moment. “Careful,” she says, “you’re going to scar our daughter.”

Jamie scoffs out a laugh. “Hardly.” She pulls one of her hands away from Jack’s grasp and brushes her fingers through her curls affectionately. “She’s calmed down a lot. You’d hardly even guess she was such a troublemaker last night.”

“Guess my boobs are good for something.”

Jamie quirks an eyebrow. “Some-things. Plural.”

Dani rolls her eyes and lets Jamie take Jack from her arms, feeling the loss of her almost at once. It’s funny how that goes—how present that feeling is whenever Jack is out of reach. The first time she’d felt it had been at the hospital, just hours after giving birth, when Owen had been holding their swaddled, pink newborn in his arms and cooing at her.

And it was Owen, of all people. One of the greatest friends she’s ever had, but it still felt like cutting off a limb to be so far away after nine months spent as close as she could get. It happened with her mother, too, when she’d eventually made it to the hospital and spent twenty minutes looking Jack over and telling Jamie stories from Dani’s birth that had Jamie laughing until she was as pink as their daughter, curled around Dani on the hospital bed.

It wasn’t until Jack was back in Jamie’s arms as they lay on the bed together, counting her fingers and toes, filled with wonder and amazement at this little human that belonged to them, that Dani felt everything slide back into place. Jamie is the only person Dani can handle giving Jack away to. Because it isn’t giving her away at all. It’s simply...her wife holding their child.

And it’s one of the most incredible things Dani’s ever seen, each and every time. Each time it happens, she can’t help but remember the first time it happened, after Jack and Dani had each been cleaned up, after they’d been placed in a quiet hospital room with a barrage of nurses only a button-push away. Jack was nestled in a pink blanket, a little pink beanie on her head, and looking up at Dani with big, blue eyes, similar to the way Jamie was looking at her from beside the bed.

Jamie, Dani had said through tears she hadn’t quite realized were falling, come say hi to your daughter.

And Jamie had, moving slowly, carefully—the weight of all those heavy childhood memories bearing down on her as she took their baby into her arms for the first time. And it ached to let go, yes, but not in the same way. In a different way. A better way. A look at the two people I love most in the world way.

It feels the same now, too.

“Do you want to rest for a little while?” Jamie asks, smiling as Jack bumps her tiny forehead to her chin. “I can take her.”

“Are you sure?” Dani asks, wanting to protest because there’s work to be done before they close, but also wanting to lie down on the couch beside her legs more than anything else.

Jamie nods. “’Course I am. You’re the one she had up all night.”

As if Jamie hadn’t been up, too. Falling asleep with her back pressed to the headboard—head lolling like Jack’s always does in the bath, as they rinse the suds off her little body—as Dani tried and tried to get Jack to follow her lead and go to sleep.

Dani’s gaze softened as she watched Jack grin and grip onto the pocket of Jamie’s overshirt. Three months doesn’t seem right. Her and Jamie had spent so many nights of her pregnancy curled up together in bed and imagining the child they were about to bring into the world. But for all that discussion—all the sonograms and preparation that went into making their second bedroom a nursery—she’d never been able to conjure a clear idea of what their baby would actually look like. Now, the sight of their daughter—the way her cheeks puff up when she smiles, the way her little eyebrows move, the sounds she makes when she’s happy—is something she doesn’t think could ever be washed from her memory.

“Okay,” Dani agrees finally. She leans forward and rubs a thumb across Jack’s cheek. “Be a good girl for Mom, okay?”

Something flickers in Jamie’s eyes at the word—the way they always have ever since Dani used it to describe her. That’s what she is: Jack’s mom. One of them, anyway.

“Tell Mommy you’ll be the best girl ever,” Jamie says and Jack coos out a noise as if in response. Jamie has that ability—that connection with their daughter that Dani can only stand before in awe. “We’ll be right outside, okay?” Jamie says next, jerking her head toward the door, and Dani nods.

Before they can go, she moves to one of the shelves against the wall and grabs another roll of floral tape before turning back around to hand it over. “Don’t forget this,” she says and Jamie takes it with a smile, moving her arm back immediately to wrap around Jack.

“Thanks, Mommy!” she says in her very own Mommy voice, and then blows Dani a little kiss on her way out the door.

It closes behind them and Dani stares at it for a long moment, warmth spreading throughout her chest and seeping into her veins. She can hear Jamie’s voice as she talks to Jack softly, hear the sound of her movement around the shop, and Dani lets it wash over her.

She’s not sure how she ever got so lucky, and she’s still contemplating it when she lies down on the couch and drifts into a light sleep.

__________

The afternoon sun is slanting in through the windows by the time Dani comes out from the back room, a little tired still, but certainly more refreshed. In the harsh lines of their light, little particles of dust float loftily, swirling with the drift of the air around them. Dani stands in the open doorway and brushes her hand through some of them, watching them part for her, as she listens to Jamie talking quietly on the other side of the shop.

Her back is facing Dani, and she hasn’t seen her yet, which means that Dani can simply stand there and watch her family. Jamie has the sling she’s always wearing when they’re working on, and Dani can’t see Jack but she doesn’t need to.

“I know, I know,” she hears Jamie say softly. “I miss Mommy, too, but somebody kept her up all night long, didn’t they?” She moves a little, picking up something from one of the vases in the corner. “What do you think of delphiniums, Jackie?” There’s a pause, but no noise. “Yeah, I like them, too. And the viburnums?” Another pause. “Yeah, you’re right. Maybe just a little.”

She turns, then, eyes down on the flowers she’s holding and goes to the preparation table they keep by the counter. One of her hands rests on Jack through the stretchy wrap, who Dani sees that her head is back a bit, staring at the wall as it passes by.

There’s a vase on the preparation table, one of their prettier ones with its widened base and the thin, glass leg of it holding it upright. There are already flowers inside it: roses and lavender and hydrangeas. It’s beautiful—all pink and purple and green–Dani’s favorite colors, actually, and Dani can’t help but wonder what order it’s for.

“Look at that,” Jamie says as she places the newest additions in the rest of the arrangement, moving them around to make them perfect. “Good choice...Think Mommy’ll like it?” Jack fusses a bit and Jamie stops working, taking the time to press a kiss to the baby’s head, bouncing a little bit to calm her down. “You’re right. She’ll love it.”

The flowers, Dani realizes, are for her. Jamie has been putting an arrangement together for her with their daughter while she let Dani sleep and it hits her straight in the chest, stinging a little.

During the pregnancy, there’d been moments when Dani worried that the baby would be too much work, so much that she and Jamie wouldn’t have time together the way they had before. That they’d be so busy with her, figuring out how to love her and take care of her, that they would forget to love one another as well. But Dani knows now how silly a thought that had been.

She and Jamie will always be them. Will always be a team and a pair no matter what life throws at them, and, if anything, having Jack has only further proven how good they are together. Now they’re the best team Dani’s ever been a part of; they are moms together. And isn’t that something?

“Of course she’ll love it,” Dani says and then Jamie is turning, is looking at her again, is smiling bright and lovely and Dani thinks oh.

There you are.

Jack fidgets a bit and Dani moves forward, reaching out to smooth a hand over the baby’s back through the wrap keeping her pressed tight to Jamie’s chest.

“Hey,” Jamie greets softly, reaching out a hand to curl her fingers around Dani’s hip. “I didn’t know you were up.”

“I know,” Dani says. “You were a bit busy, weren’t you?”

Jamie’s cheeks turn a bit pink, so sheepish after eight years together, somehow. Like she doesn’t think she’s allowed to do nice things for Dani. Nice things like surprising her with a flower arrangement in her favorite colors. “Yeah, sorry. It’s a…” She takes a step aside so that Dani can see the flowers a bit better. “Do you like it, then?”

And standing there looking nervous and beautiful, their daughter held close to her, Dani feels so full that she could burst. Thinks she nearly does. Has to clear her throat.

“I love it,” Dani tells her. “Love you.” She has to crane her neck a bit, but she manages to kiss Jamie around Jack’s head. “Both of you,” she adds in for emphasis, giving Jack a kiss, too. “It’s beautiful.”

The way Jamie smiles then has Dani’s veins pulsing with pure devotion, and then Jack’s head is a bit tilted and she’s almost mimicking the expression—somehow, miraculously, her other mother’s mini-me. They’re perfect. Even when Jack wakes her up at one in the morning, screaming her head off. Even when Jamie leaves empty drinking glasses all over the apartment, covering the counters and tables in the living room, and table by their bed until she runs out of room. Even when they’re both fixing her with their best you’re kidding me expression.

But especially now—standing in the late afternoon sunlight, looking at Dani like she’s their whole world in the same way they are hers.

“She looks so much like you, Jay,” Dani says softly, and it’s clear that Jamie isn’t expecting this given the way her expression changes into one of mild confusion. “Seriously.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Jamie tells her, but Dani just laughs and shakes her head.

“I don’t care,” she decides. “She is absolutely, one-hundred percent your daughter.”

Jack makes a little noise and Jamie looks down at her, hand reaching up to cup the back of her head instinctively. They stare at one another for a moment, mother and daughter, and Dani and they really do look too much alike. Dani is certain she couldn’t imagine the resemblance.

“Yeah,” Jamie whispers finally, pressing another kiss to Jack’s forehead. “She is.” She looks up and smiles. “Our daughter.”

“Our daughter,” Dani repeats, and she leans forward, pressing her forehead to Jamie’s and pressing her hand to Jack’s back, breathing in the moment for as long as she can.

It vibrates to life in the air between them and Dani knows that things are different between them now, but they are not worse.

No, they are better. Changed. More now that Jack is with them.

The sunlight continues to press in, warming each of them as they hold onto one another, their child cradled between them, thinking about the way that they will never again be who they were before all of this.

And, dammit, if that isn’t a miracle.

#damie #dani x jamie #dani/jamie #damie prompt #dani x jamie fanfic #thobm #the haunting of bly manor #fluff fluff fluff

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luzarya · 3 years

Text

Timeless Necklace

Summary: Leona is surprised when 'his' child pops out of nowhere. Through his child, he finds out that he'll be working with a classmate in the future.

[Leona K. & OC]

Ao3 link: here

inspired from: this

word count: 2,576

Leona didn’t quite know what to do.

At this time, he would be usually lazing around in the botanical garden, but instead, he is rather annoyed at the botanical garden, his eyes staring down at a young child.

A child claiming to be belonging to him.

The worst part?

He could smell it on them. His scent was all over the child, yet he never saw or met them beforehand. The child, Arieh, he had come to learn, looked strikingly like him as well, almost like an exact replica, if not for his long hair being much curlier.

“Pops,” the boy called, “I swear I ain’t lyin’.”

“Tsk.” Leona didn’t know what to do. At all.

“Where’s Nanna anyways?” Arieh asked, taking a seat right next, “You told me ya met her in school ‘n whatever.”

“A woman?” Leona raised a brow, “This is an all-boys school.”

“Nanna was the exception.”

“Eh?” Leona perked up, now curious. If a woman had been at Night Raven, he would have at least noticed it at some point.

“Yea,” Arieh sat up straight, his tail slightly wagging behind him, “Nanna is good at hiding herself. Right now she’s teaching me to do the same! Wanna see?”

Before Leona could reply, Arieh stood up, and clasped his hands together. In what seemed like a prayer, the child soon disappeared from sight, the only evidence of his existence was his laughter.

“Well what do ya know,” Leona muttered under his breath. Whoever this ‘Nanna’ was, they certainly taught Arieh well. Though… could he even believe the words of a child. Plus, how did a child even get into the college? Now that he thought about it fully, no child should have gotten in.

Leona let out a sigh, and looked around. Still, he only heard giggling. It was unnerving, to say the least. It was like the child was out of mind with how he was out of sight...

All of a sudden, he felt a pressure on his back, causing him to fall forward as a pair of hands emerged, wrapping around his neck. Laughter surrounded him, and as he balanced himself, he realized what had happened. Arieh had pounced on him.

“Kid,” he growled, though he made no movement to get Arieh off his back.

“You taught me that, pops.” He cheerfully said, “Nanna had to sit still! She was hard as a rock when I pounced on her.”

“I see,” Leona mumbled, before raising his voice, “Listen kid. You’re not from around here, so I'll take you to the headmaster to figure out what’s going on, alright?”

“Hm? Okay! But he’ll say what I said!”

“This child is from the future! My, how can this happen twice?!”

Leona stared blankly at the useless headmaster before him. So, children appearing out of nowhere was not uncommon, huh?

“What do you mean, twice?” Leona asked, barely containing the annoyance in his voice. He could feel Arieh lightly grab his hand, and somehow, it eased him, knowing that he had to compose himself.

“Well,” Crowley nervously laughed, “Another child had appeared a few days ago, claiming to be the child of two of the students here. They hadn’t been lying, since they were from the future. Arieh, this child,” Crowley glanced down at him, “Is the same.”

“That explains why pops doesn’t know me,” Arieh piped up.

Crowley nodded, “You’re a bit older than the last child.”

Arieh only stared at him, Leona picking up a similar annoyance coming from the- no, his- child.

“Okay?” Arieh replied, titling his head. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Oh, just, uh,” Crowley’s eyes widened in response, “I suppose I can tell you a bit more than the last child.”

“Oh,” Arieh replied, “Well. Then tell me.”

Leona had to bite back a laugh, seeing Crowley’s composure breaking with each word that left Arieh’s mouth.

“Well, child, I can certainly say that I can arrange for you to return to your home by dinner at the latest.”

“Is that all?”

“I do have a question.”

“Shoot, prof,” Arieh’s annoyance was growing more and more, his grip on Leona’s hand become stronger. Leona remained silent, though he gave a tight squeeze. It worked wonders, as Leona could visibly see Arieh relax his shoulders, as well as unclenching his jaw.

“Do you know who your mother is?” Crowley stared intently at Arieh, as if he was trying to uncover a deep secret.

Arieh remained silent for a moment before replying in a low voice, “My nanna... She's all I have. We don’t speak about my mother.”

“Apologies,” Crowley replied. “That is all, so if you have nothing to ask of me, you may leave.”

“So, who’s this “Nanna” you speak of?”

“Oh!” Arieh perked up, a smile on his face. It was almost unsettling to see a miniature version of Leona smiling so genuinely.

Leona currently held the child in his arms, earning stares as he did so. Leona could hear the confused whispers, and the wild speculations, but all went mum when Leona gave the gossipers a look.

“Nanna is a good friend of yours,” Arieh began to explain, “and she was on good terms with mother before she....passed…”

Leona kept on walking, towards his dorm, “What’s your nanna’s name?”

“Lamia. I don’t remember her last name... It started with ‘Cer’ though.”

“Anything else?”

Now they were in the Hall of Mirrors.

“Just that they really liked mango.”

Mango?

“Nanna said you saw ‘er getting some mango from the gardens once. They used their unique magic each time, but this time they didn’t cause you weren’t there.”

“Is that so?’

“Yep!”

Leona mumbled something, as he kept on walking. He had a feeling in his stomach that something was just about to transpire, and now, he was no expert of time travel, but he had a feeling that Arieh was supposed to be here.

Leona pushed the doors to the botanical garden, already catching an unknown scent within the perimeter. Arieh noticed as well, the boy jumping out of Leona’s arms and running towards the source.

“Nanna!”

“Eh?” A voice resounded. It was all too familiar, though Leona couldn’t quite place his hand on it.

Leona walked some more, Arieh once more in view, pestering one of the students from his dorm. Immediately, he recognized who it was.

L. Cervantes.

Leona never bothered to learn anything beyond their last name- considering the fact that Cervantes only wanted to be referred to by their last name. Their first name always remained a mystery, at least, until now.

Lamia Cervantes, huh?

Now, Leona was no stranger for being mistaken for being the opposite gender whenever a person only heard his first name, though such instances were rare and few, as many people knew that Leona was of royal lineage. There were few people holding the Kingscholar name, usually only those so branched out from the family or those who wanted to falsely claim royal lineage.

Though, in such cases, the royal family would often employ the help of a rather good business, a family business, at obtaining information.

The Cervantes family.

Leona smiled, seeing the flustered Cervantes trying to deal with Arieh. They were not flustered in the sense they didn’t know what to do, but more at the situation itself, as Cervantes got along with the child, but the entire time, they had a look of “What in the world is going on?”, of which greatly amused Leona. He noted the small basket filled with mangoes.

“Pops, come over!” Arieh called, grinning with glee.

“Eh, pops? Kid-”

Leona walked a bit more, now within Cervantes’ eyesight. Their eyes widened, their hands shooting up to take off their glasses and clean, only to put it back on and meet with the same sight.

“Ah, Kingscholar, I didn’t know-”

“Arieh is from the future,” Leona cut in, “The principal had cleared that up.”

“From the future- oh. Ohhhh… I see… I see..” Cervantes took the information in stride, as if everything had fallen into place for them just now, “Hey kid,” they turned to Arieh, “You got the thing?”

Arieh nodded, pulling out the necklace from underneath his shirt, “Yep! I did everything like you told me to!” Arieh then took off the necklace, handing it to Cervantes, whose face morphed to one of confusion. “The Crow Man said he would help me get back home, and he said that this wasn’t the first time!”

Cervantes only dumbly nodded, concern overwriting the confusion that they once had.

“You said to give it back to you anyways!” Arieh pushed back the necklace into Cervantes’ hands, who stared at the necklace, of which began to shine slowly, then brighter and brighter.

“Close your eyes!”

The last minute warning managed to make it to Arieh’s and Leona’s ears in time, as the light became brighter until it engulfed the place with white. A second later, it disappeared, and the necklace was gone.

“What happened?” Leona asked, displeased. His vision was still partially affected, the light being bright enough to see through the eyelids.

“There can’t be two of one item at a given place,” Cervantes replied, as they unbuttoned the first few buttons, pulling out a similar necklace.

“Oh, I get it now!” Arieh replied, eyes curious as he pulled on Cervantes’ necklace, pulling the person closer in.

“Ey, watch it kid,” Cervantes warned.

Arieh’s nose twitched for a moment, the boy tilting his head then taking a few steps back, removing his hold on the necklace.

“Nanna, why are you a man?”

Leona laughed loudly at his child’s comment, a hand flying to cover his mouth as to not be seen overly impolite- if Arieh was correct about Cervantes’ being a woman, then Leona may be getting an earful.

“Why I oughta- and you!” Cervantes turned to look at Leona, “This is not funny!”

“Well,” Leona looked down at them, “Answer the kid’s question.”

“Must I explain everything?” Cervantes scowled. “I take potions to change parts of my body to appear much more masculine, similar to how the mer are able to hold human forms. Though, like them, parts of the original body still shine through.”

Cervantes buttoned up their shirt, glaring at Arieh, who was still waiting for more of an explanation.

“I still don’t get it.” Arieh titled his head once more, giving off an aura of innocence, as if he didn’t quite mean to offend Cervantes in any shape or form.

“Cut that out,” Cervantes replied, “Do you not have eyes? This is an all boys school. I have to dress like a man to blend in, kid.”

“Oh yea, you did say something like that once…”

“And,” Cervantes glanced at Leona for a moment, “Kid, how do you know me?”

“You’re my nanna, silly! You protect me from all the bad people, and you help take care of me when Pops is doing important things!”

“I see… that makes much more sense, actually.”

“I knew you would understand!” Arieh smiled, “Though, when are you gonna be a woman again?”

“...”

“Or don’t tell me. That’s cool, nanna.”

The rest of the day was mostly following Arieh’s whims and desires, as the child ran about throughout the college. Leona began to have an idea as to why Cervantes was Arieh’s chosen bodyguard- Cervantes was the oldest out of three by many years, therefore they got along with children well enough. The fact that they were a cheetah beastwoman helped them keep up with the energy filled child, and the fact that Cervantes came from the Cervantes family no doubt expanded their skillset in other areas.

Though, what exactly their skillset was, Leona didn’t bother knowing. If Cervantes was to be his child’s future ‘nanny’, as they had put it, he was bound to know sooner or later.

Currently, it was only about ten minutes before dinner would usually take place, and Arieh was asleep on Leona’s lap, Leona running his fingers through his son’s hair as gently as he could.

“This kid basically ensured that I would get a job, huh?” Cervantes whispered loud enough for Leona to hear.

“Seems so.”

“I guess this means we’ll be talking more often, huh?”

“Evidently.”

Cervantes looked up at Leona, muttering the word ‘buzzkill’, which, unfortunately, was still heard by the prince.

Leona scowled at them, though didn’t say anything in return.

“We should be getting up soon,” Cervantes stood up, stretching, “You two really are related. How long do you lions sleep for?”

“As if you cheetahs don’t run for hours on end,” Leona replied.

Cervantes only smiled, then made a gesture for Leona to move the child. Leona only gave them a quizzical look, before Cervantes sighed, then moving the child themselves. Somehow, the child didn’t wake through all the shifting.

“Oh.”

“Come on, before that idiot of a headmaster gets mad at us for being late,” Cervantes stated, “By the time we get there, we should be on time.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Leona replied, standing up and catching up with Cervantes, “Let’s get this over with.”

True to Cervantes’ words, they made it to the Hall of Mirrors just in time, where Crowley was just about finished making all the preparations.

“Oh good, you’re all here!” He loudly greeted, waking up Arieh.

“Sorry, kid..” Cervantes patted Arieh on the back, the child getting used to his surroundings.

“Pops…?”

“I’m here,” Leona softly replied, eyes on his kid.

“There is no time like the present, now come! Come!”

Cervantes glared at Crowley the closer they got to the headmaster, who seemed surprised for a good moment, though he shook it off.

“Place the child down, dear student,” Crowley said, Cervantes obeying his words without a second thought. Gently, Cervantes placed Arieh down, the boy looking up at his caretaker.

“Is it time to go already…?”

“Afraid so, kid.”

“Oh.”

Leona walked over, and kneeled. He didn’t know what to say- after all, this was a child from the future, so eventually, he would see Arieh again. But the idea of Arieh leaving now left him conflicted.

Leona sighed, and opened his arms out wide, Arieh picking up the hint, throwing himself into his father’s arms, squeezing him tightly.

It lasted for a minute or so, before the two pulled away. Arieh looked at Leona for a brief moment, and then asked him,

“Hey Pops, can you do me a favor?”

Leona raised a brow but nodded.

“When you meet mother, can you take pictures of her?”

Another nodded.

“Thanks pops,” Arieh then turned to Cervantes, “Can you do the same, Nanna?”

“Sure, kiddo.”

“Thanks!” Arieh then turned around again, and waved to Crowley, “Nice meeting you, Mister Bird-Man.” With that, without instruction, he leapt through the mirror.

“...”

“I swear if this kid-”

“Kingscholar, the kid will be fine. I’m taking care of them, remember? “

“...Excuse me?”

Cervantes shot a look to the headmaster, and said, “I’m the nanny, sir. That’s all.”

Crowley didn’t seem to believe their words, but he brushed it off. “Hurry on along now, the job is done.”

“Later!”

Cervantes turned and ran out at great speeds, and within a blink of an eye, they left Leona all alone with the headmaster.

“I don’t quite know what you have going on with the third-year, but you best be on your best behavior, Kingscholar.”

“...Right.”

Leona made a mental note to talk more with Cervantes.

#twst x oc #twisted wonderland fic #twst #leona kingscholar & oc #luzarya writes things yuh

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toomanystoriessolittletime · 4 years

Text

Getting away with it (7/?)

Summary: August Walker was dead. At least that’s what people believed for almost 2 years. When the CIA found reason to believe that he was alive they made it their top priority to find him. Including sending one of their best female agents to recruit his twin brother. Walter Marshall.

Pairing: August Walker x Reader (Walker) + Walter Marshall x Reader (Walker)

Warnings: none

Wordcount: 2.321

A/N: We learn a little about what August is exactly planing and it ain’t good

Masterlist

Part 1 >> Part 2 >> Part 3 >> Part 4 >> Part 5 >> Part 6

Taglist *:

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Evie had slept like a stone. Giggling she brushed her teeth, watched by her mother who was suppressing a grin at the amount of white foam in front of her daughters mouth.

“You remember what I told you about Walter yesterday?” Walker asked. Evie nodded.

“I won’t tell.” She slurred, the toothpaste going everywhere, making Walker roll her eyes as she chuckled. Evie spit out the toothpaste, turning around to Walker.

“Do you think he likes Frozen?” Evie asked with big eyes. Walker frowned, surprised once more to how children seemed to go from one thought to one completely different.

“I don’t know. You have to ask him.” She smiled as she got down on her knees and began to braid her hair.

Evie was drawing in the living room when Walker joined Marshall in her kitchen. He had a file in front of him, wearing his pyjamas. His hair seemed to be even curlier, if that was possible, a wild mess on top of his head.

August Walker seemed to be the perfect husband and father from the outside. From what Walker had told Walter it wasn’t love at first sight. At least for her. They had spend 7 months on their first mission, posing as newlyweds.

“It almost took 5 months for me to realize that not everything he did was the mission. Like when he made breakfast in the morning. I used to be the clear opposite of a morning person.” Walker mused as she was cutting some fruit for Evie to take to kindergarten.

“Really?” Marshall chuckled, taking a sip from the coffee she had made for him.

“I was the worst. Honestly. August was up every day before 6 am. Working out first, then breakfast. Then working out with me again….” She smiled a little as she seemed to think back.

“I was incredibly intimidated by him after I read his file. I know how to defend myself, yes. But August was not only a huge man, he had that glimmer in his eyes where you never knew what he was thinking. That never went away though. But it shifted. It was after I came home later than usual that I found him sitting in the kitchen.

6 years ago

“Where have you been?” August asked as she walked in. He ignored the urge to compliment her on her new hairdo.

“Out.” She frowned, walking past him. August reached for her upper arm, making her turn around and shove him with her arm up against his chest.

“What the fuck August?” She huffed.

“I was… We are here on a mission. May I remind you that you are to pose as my wife. And as that I should know about your whereabouts.” He said sternly. She rolled her eyes.

“You seem to forget that we’re not actually married, Mr. Walker. And sometimes I need to see something different than your face.” She looked up at him, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“If this mission fails, it will be all your fault.” He growled quietly, trying not to look at her perfectly shaped boobs, that her arms pushed up.

“My fault. Right. Whatever August…” She shook her head, turning around to leave again.

“Stop.” He simply said. He heard her breathe in deep, but she stopped.

“The next time you stay out longer at least drop me a message. Otherwise I will come and find you.” He said.

“Right…” She turned around to face him again.

“It must be so hard for you to not have control about every little thing, huh?” She mocked.

“The serious and angry August Walker who people at HQ whisper about… But not me. You don’t intimidate me anymore. You won’t scare me. If I want to stay out, I do. Wife's do that all the time. It’s you that has a problem with it.” She raised her left eyebrow at him.

August breathed in deep, trying to control the anger boiling inside of him.

“I don’t intimidate you?” He smiled at her.

“So you don’t lock the door behind your bedroom door each night? You don’t carry your gun with you around me? You don’t watch each and every step I take? What changed after our first meeting?” He asked, curious. Because to him it felt like they were off to a good start when he had invited her for lunch in New York.

“I read your file.” She simply said.

“And what does my file say about me?” He asked, slowly walking towards her.

“That you can’t be trusted.” She said quietly.

“And what do you think about me?” He asked, stopping in front of her as her back hit the wall. August suppressed the urge to close his eyes as he inhaled her scent. It was intoxicating. He towered over her, looking down in her eyes that glared up at him.

“I think that you’re a control freak. And in the second you lose the control over a thing, it drives you insane.” She said quietly.

“And you think I lost control about you?” He asked, his hands coming down on the wall next to her head.

“You never had control over me.” She whispered. August chuckled and slowly leaned down so his mouth was close to her ear.

“Do you think I can’t hear you moaning my name in the middle of the night when you touch yourself?” He asked, breathing her in as he saw her closed her eyes.

“Why do you keep fighting this? Just… give in.” He continued, his lips ghosting over her neck.

He heard her breathing got faster, as her hands slowly came down on his waist.

“I’m not just a fucktoy. Against all odds I care about you August. And if you hurt me, I am going to serve you your balls for dinner.” She finally said.

“And how would you do that?” He grinned against her skin, his lips tracing up her neck.

“Like I am going to tell you.” She whispered, voice shaking.

Finally his face was in front of hers, his eyes looking into hers.

“I have no doubt that you might be the only one on earth who can take me down.” He said.

“And why is that?” She asked, his lips inches away from hers.

“Because I think I love you.” He whispered, before his lips crashed down on hers.

unknown location, now

August knew enough about Anthrax to know that it’s consequences would be just enough for what he was looking for. With his Laptop in front of him, he sat at his kitchen table, waiting for his contact to get back to him. Looking out of the window, where everything seemed to be gray for some reason, he sighed.

He was convinced he had formed the best plan possible. Meeting up with his contact, paying him, getting the Anthrax, spreading it in China. What he needed was someone who could synthesize it, so it would have the most severe effect once he finally he hold on it. He had been thinking about a scientist him and Walker had taken down years ago who had planned something similar to what he was planning now. Back then August thought it was insane what he planned. Oh how much had changed over the years…

He couldn’t watch the news without the anger boiling inside of him. People all over the world were committing crimes on a daily basis and the law enforcement was sheer helpless against the amount of it happening. Closing his eyes he breathed in deep, trying to imagine a world in which he had brought peace. In which he could see his daughter grow up in peace, without the worry of her being taken too soon. A world where maybe he and Walker could be happy again. He was sure that she would understand his reasons, if he were to explain it to her. At least he hoped so. Because against all odds, August still loved her.

He knew she hasn’t been with another man ever since he left

A message on his screen made him look up.

A.Nonymus: Meeting confirmed. Pick up arranged in 9 days. Meeting to take place right under their nose.

August grinned as he read the message. There was only one place in the world where he knew how to find the information about where the scientist was being held that was accessible to him. August Walker was going home.

Langley, Virginia, same day

“Okay so it seemed like we now have a time frame to when you will be having your first meeting as August.” Walker said as she read the Email Miller has send her.

“And?”

“6 weeks. You’ll stay here until the beginning of next week and then you’re off to boot camp.” She bit her lip to hide her grin.

“Boot camp?” He asked, Eyebrow raised.

“Well… You gonna have to learn everything August did. That includes his fighting skills.” She looked up at him, looking him up and down.

“What?” He asked, following her eyes up and down his body.

“I don’t mean this in a mean way, so I’m just saying it.” She sighed. Marshall nodded slowly.

“You need to work on your physique. It’s not like you’re not muscular enough, I’m sure you are. But he was just…”

“More.” Walter said with a blank expression. Slowly Walker nodded. Walter began to laugh as he saw her sorry expression on her face.

“I let myself go a little the last months, I know. I’m on it.” He chuckled.

“Better start sooner than later. Otherwise you will be a mess at the end of the boot camp.”

“What exactly will I learn in this bootcamp?” He asked.

“Basic CIA stuff. Weapons, Intorigation, close combat… the usual.” She shrugged.

“That doesn’t sound so bad…” He said.

“I learned what you will learn in 3 weeks in 2 years.” Walker explained.

“Oh…” Marshall nodded. He should really get back to his workout routine.

“But hey. If you survive these three weeks I’m gonna show you how to kill someone with a spoon.” She grinned.

“The mustache really was his thing, huh?” Walter asked, looking at one of the rare pictures Walker had of August.

Walker looked up from where she was sitting, seeing the picture he was holding. It was August at one of their first days after they moved here.

“For some reason he was really fond of it.” She shrugged, a grin plastering to her face as she looked at Marshall.

“You know that you also have to look like him, right?”

“I’m not getting a mustache. That’s where i draw the line.”

“Oh come on.” She pouted.

“I won’t go through a whole undercover mission, looking like a 70s pornstar.” He shook his head.

“Moving on. How many missions did you have with August in total?” He asked. Walker had to think about that.

“We were on 15 missions until I had to go in maternal leave. After that we didn’t work together.”

“All undercover missions?”

“Mostly. We worked very well together as a team. He was more of the… brutal matter while i was very delicate. Sloane used to joke we were unstoppable.”

“He hates Sloane. Why?” Marshall asked. Walker sighed.

“In his eyes she represents everything he hates.” Walker said.

“I just can’t understand how a person can change so radically in a short amount of time…” Marshall said.

“Thinking back he always was a bit off. But it really got worse after Evie was born. I should have seen it sooner.” Walker sighed. Marshall looked at her for a long time.

“Do you think you could have stopped him?”

“I don’t know. I like to believe I could have. But… Once he set his mind to something is hard changing it. Even if it means genocide.”

“Do you want to see him again?” Marshall asked softly. With a sad smile he looked at him.

“I do. I just don’t know what happens if I see him.” She whispered.

“You do still love him.” Marshall said.

“Against everything a part of me still does. No matter how hard I try not to.” A tear ran down her cheek.

“You have to let him go. He will never change and you will never join him in his world view. He will keep breaking your heart.” And Walter won’t let him. He cared for her. Probably in a way he wasn’t supposed to. But that didn’t mean he would stop worrying about her.

He could be a friend for her. Maybe even an uncle for Evie.

When Walker left to pick Evie up from Kindergarten Marshall sat in his room, all the files he had about August on the floor, arranged after year and case.

It would be hard to become August. Who seemed to have no weakness. For the millionth time since he started studying him only days ago he asked himself, how someone would want to kill so many people. When Marshall joined the police he wanted to keep people safe. It would be his duty until he had to retire. August had sworn the same oath when he joined the CIA. But something along the way went wrong.

His guess was the last mission he went on with Walker. She had already been pregnant then and been captured by a group of terrorist or a day. Most of the file he had received from that mission was blacked out, but the pictures of dead bloodied man attached to them spoke more than words.

August Walker seemed to do everything to protect the little that he loved. And Marshall could only hope that his hadn’t changed in the last couple years. Because if he would have to choose if he had to protect the world, or Faye, Evie and Walker, he didn’t know which choice he would make.

#fanfic #fanfiction #august walker #walter marshall #august walker x reader #walter marshall x reader #henry cavill #getting away with it

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cross-poison · 4 years

Text

CLARITAS. (PART 9)

CLARITAS. Din Djarin/OC. (PART 9)

WORDS: 4.3k || WARNINGS: None, just soft.

A/N: Thank you all for supporting this fic so far! The feedback has made me smile and tear up many times this week and I can't thank you all enough for your kind words.

Once Elliotte’s eyes were covered by a wrap of thick fabric, the Mandalorian held two fingers in front of her face. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Uh… three…? I don’t know,” came her response as her fingers sifted through the carefully aligned piles of flowers, all sorted by color, “You’re going to have to let me know what color I’m holding… and yes, it does matter.”

Elliotte felt the faint shift in the air as the man settled in the grass across from her. “I will, I will,” he replied, “And you can’t see anything, right…?”

“Even if I could, I have my eyes shut… but please, if you’re uncomfortable with this, you don’t have to--”

“You’ve been nothing but trustworthy since I met you. I can offer you this much as thanks.”

Ell became silent at that, sitting back on her knees and fiddling with the hem of her dress. After a moment came a soft pop and hiss as his helmet disengaged, and a faint thump as he set it aside in the grass. She could hear him draw in a faint breath, and in that moment it was difficult to determine who felt more nervous.

In an attempt to break the uncomfortable pause, Ell lowered her head in the direction of the flower piles and began feeling around for them. “What color is your hair…? Do you have hair? Are you allowed to answer that…?”

When the Mandalorian spoke next, it was without obstruction--the first time she’d heard it so. “...It’s brown.”

“Then let’s start with… red.” Beneath her blindfold, Ell’s brows furrowed with concentration as she tried to remember the layout of her flower piles. “These are…?”

“Yellow.”

“And these…?”

“Blue. To the left -- there.”

Elliotte’s hand finally settled over the proper color. She took a few in her palms and shifted forward on her knees, reaching out to him carefully. Her knuckles lightly brushed his cheek and the Mandalorian recoiled abruptly. “Sorry--! I’m sorry--” she began, but he settled himself and drew closer again.

“No, it’s… it’s fine,” he answered slowly, willing himself to concentrate, “Here,” he bumped her wrist with his gloved hand, guiding her touch upward until her fingers brushed the softness of his hair. Mando was stiff beneath her touch as Elliotte carefully measured out strands of his hair, trying to gauge how long it was and how best to arrange a pattern within it. She’d cut longer stems on her flowers in case his hair was too short to wrap the way she did her own, but she’d quickly come to find his hair was curlier and a bit longer than she’d originally anticipated.

Before placing each flower in his hair, she wrapped the bottom of the stem around her index finger and snapped it off, shortening it enough for her to disguise behind a curl of his hair. All the while, his eyes were on her blindfold, the anxiety that she could see through it never fully dissipating. Try as he might, though, his resolve began to crumble. Mando was able to watch the way she set her jaw in concentration as she looped a stem around her finger, and the way she chewed the inside of her lip as she fastened the flower securely in his hair.

Hearing her speak about artresmour before, he could not comprehend how the use of flowers could hold such a significant impact. How could putting flowers in one’s hair deepen a bond between people?

As he watched his companion work through the process with him, he could understand now.

The giver offered a piece of themselves within each flower; They hand-picked every flower, every stem, and each stem was finely woven between itself and other stems, invisible behind a curtain of hair. The giver was the artist, and the recipient, the canvas. The finished product was a work of art, but only the canvas knew the detail of every brushstroke and the genius behind it on a most personal level. It was a secret shared between the two of them. A silent dance of two souls in an empty meadow of flowers, and no one but the harpist and the Mandalorian around to know the significance.

How long had it been since someone touched his hair…?

Elliotte wove blossoms of red and yellow, alternating every so often and using nothing but her hands and muscle memory to guide her through the pattern. About halfway through her process, she felt the Mandalorian begin to relax. She felt the way his bunched shoulders loosened and how his breathing had mellowed out, and she knew if she could see him now without helmet or other obstruction, his eyes would be closed. He was no longer anxious.

She thought fondly back upon the countless nights her mother had tucked her into bed in a similar way, after Ell had been crying her eyes out over whatever trivial matter troubled her young mind. Her mother, always a patient woman, would sit at her bedside and sing nursery rhymes while speckles of white and blue flowers took shape around Elliotte’s head like a crown of petals.

It seemed so long ago, and life hardly ever offered moments of security and sanctuary like she had known when she was little. Even still, the act of artresmour was one of the best ways to ease a mind into a sense of belonging. Everyone yearned for it in some way -- even metal-clad men from a distant planet.

All good things must come to an end.

Elliotte fastened the last flower into his hair and felt briefly around his head to make sure everything was staying neatly in place. Once she was satisfied, she reluctantly retracted her hands from his hair.

The loss of comfort was immediate for both of them. Just as quickly as it had started, the honey-sweet solace brought about by the simplest of human contact was severed, and the weight of real life came crashing back to the forefront of their minds.

“...Hungry?” Ell asked to break the tension, once again managing to draw the Mandalorian’s attention. She patted around in the grass until her hand brushed the roughness of the basket from the marketplace. She pulled the wooden basket onto her lap and opened it, fishing around until her hand closed around one of the palm-sized useme nuts. As she held it to him, he accepted it and the opportunity to eat a meal in the presence of another person without worry.

Elliotte retrieved one of her own and again set the basket aside, shifting in the grass until she was facing the lake ahead. She crushed the thin shell in her hand and peeled off the shards, exposing the large seed within and pulling it out of the rest of the casing. Mando copied her actions and bit into the seed. It was rather plain in flavor, as most freshly harvested nuts were, but there was a hint of enjoyable sweetness to it.

A comfortable silence filled the air between them as they enjoyed the cool breeze wafting across the hilltop, sending ripples across the surface of the lake. Elliotte was still blindfolded, but she didn’t seem too bothered by it. Truth be told, as much as the Mandalorian wanted to remove the slip of fabric and be met with her blue eyes once more, he didn’t want to mess up the artresmour by putting his helmet back on over it.

“I’m sure it probably looks ridiculous,” Ell said, snapping him from his thoughts, “We’re taught to do it pretty much from the day we’re born, and yet… I’ve never had to do it with my eyes closed. It’s kind of a fun challenge.”

“It looks wonderful,” he replied, and he meant it. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from his reflection in the lake, and he especially couldn’t look away from the spots of red and yellow tucked into his dark hair. He looked like autumn. He looked like fallen leaves and a fireplace--like telling ghost stories and silhouettes bundled in warm furs, tucked away from the chilling bite of an evening frost.

It’s like a picture.

Mando hadn’t realized he’d said the words out loud until he heard Elliotte shifting beside him. He turned his head to watch her discard the empty useme shell and reach up to her own hairline. For the briefest moment, he thought she was reaching for the blindfold and nearly sprang for his helmet, but her fingers instead wrapped around a curl of her hair that had become untucked and began playing with it between her fingertips idly. “In a way, it is,” she murmured, one shoulder lifting in a sort of half-shrug, “Me, I’ve always seen it as a sort of living poetry--just instead of weaving words, you’re weaving flowers. I’ve never been too good at putting words to paper, so artresmour makes for a satisfactory outlet.”

“And playing your instrument doesn’t?”

Elliotte gave a laugh that sounded more like a scoff. “The nobles make for a rotten audience. They don’t really listen to it anyway.”

“Then why do you play for them?” he inquired.

“It’s less of an outlet and more of a necessity. The nobility are… difficult to work with, to say the least. They lack respect and common decency, but they pay better than anyone else. You said you used to be a bounty hunter, right? Surely you’ve had to deal with a number of unsavory people in order to get paid.”

“I have,” he admitted, unable to count on both hands the number of names that immediately came to his mind, “But… in a way, I’m able to remove myself from it. They have no idea who I am beyond a suit of armor and an empty nickname.”

“Is that why you can’t take your helmet off? To maintain some sort of anonymity?”

“Partially. The main reason is due to my religion. No living person has seen my face since… well--in a long time,” he explained, trailing a gloved finger over the t-shaped visor of his helmet beside him. “I blindfolded you not because I don’t find you trustworthy, but because if you did see… I would have to kill you. Or else never put the helmet on again.”

“You don’t owe me any kind of apology or explanation, if that’s what you’re getting at. I would never ask anyone to make that kind of sacrifice just because I was feeling selfish! There’s no amount of curiosity worth overstepping a boundary like that,” Elliotte answered simply, crunching away at another useme nut.

“You’d be surprised at the number of people who believe they’re entitled otherwise.”

Ell angled her head toward him, brow furrowing in bewilderment. “You don’t say? Here I thought I’d seen the worst of people. A sprained wrist isn’t looking so bad right now,” she mumbled, lifting her wrapped arm to emphasize.

Mando’s gaze watched the movement of her forearm. “How does it feel…?”

“It’s not quite as sore today. Hopefully is isn’t as bad as I originally thought. Then again, I’m really in no hurry to go back to the palace…”

“Ideally, you won’t have to,” he said, finally reaching for his helmet and slipping it back on over his artresmour’d head. It clicked into place, and the next time he spoke his voice was once again muffled by the vocoder. “I’m going to pay you the same rate for your guidance that you were being paid for your instrument.”

As soon as the blindfold was removed from her eyes, Elliotte shot him an incredulous look. “Yeah, right, I wouldn’t ask that of you. That’s ridiculous.”

Before she could further protest, Mando was already passing her a handful of credits. “Please. It’s the least I can do. You need it more than I do.”

Ell hesitated for a moment, looking as though she made to reach for them, but instead her hands gently folded his gloved fingers back over the currency. She shook her head slowly, worrying her lip between her teeth. “Your offer is generous--truly, it is, and I’m exceptionally grateful, but… the truth is, the money isn’t specifically for me. I’ve got some… people I’m trying to look after. People who are in much more of a dire situation that myself. I have enough in my savings to keep me fed and a roof over my head for a while…”

“Then give it to them--I don’t mind.”

“Mando, you are one of them,” she said, and for the first time he noticed the wetness forming at the corners of her eyes. Elliotte paused for a moment to compose herself, closing her eyes to concentrate on how best to continue. “People have been stranded on this planet for months. Acquiring Listronian fuel these days is no easy or cheap task, as I’m sure you’re growing aware. If you burn through your savings, you’re sure to be put in a situation just like them, and with your kid--”

“Ellie,” he said, and judging by the way she jolted, perhaps it came out a bit sterner than he intended. “It’s going to be alright. You’ve already got enough to deal with; The last thing you need is to start worrying about me.”

Elliotte gave a weak laugh, lightly wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “I can’t help it--you’re very easy to worry about.”

Now it was his turn to chuckle. “Am I? Well… you’d be the first to think so,” he stood and offered her his hand to help her to her feet. “You seem to have rotten luck of your own. First the wrist, then an attempted robbery… can’t seem to catch a break this week.”

“Well, it’s not been all bad. I got some nice company out of it, didn’t I?” said Elliotte, retrieving the basket from beside her and turning to begin the walk back down the hillside.

Another soft laugh escaped through the modulator. “I’m not usually what people would consider ‘good company’.”

“I suppose the armor would be a bit off putting to some.”

“That and my typical encounters with people aren’t exactly the ‘friendly’ kind. When you have a lot of enemies, it’s best to hold your tongue in their presence. It’s safer for you if they don’t know much about you.”

Ell didn’t respond, and they were overtaken by silence as they descended the hillside, enjoying the coolness of the air as Cietovus 8 sank behind the hillside and left them in growing darkness. Before long, they’d reached the bottom of the hill.

Back on flat ground, Elliotte turned to give him a smile. “Thanks for humoring me all day. I know the market isn’t super fun, but it is essential to life on Listronus. Hopefully Listrona Hill was a bit more enjoyable.”

“It was… and thank you for showing me. You make one hell of a tour guide.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes as the countryside faded into darkness behind them and the lights of the city drew nearer. “Do you mind if we make a quick stop before we call it a night…?”

“I don’t mind.”

On Elliotte’s route, they crossed through the center of the city, passed the palace and her house further down the street, and continued along a quiet path to the western outskirts. Mando recognized the area quickly as the place he’d rescued Elliotte from the would-be mugger the night before… what was she doing in this part of town so frequently?

His question was answered soon after when Elliotte turned up the pathway to a worn-down house surrounded by overgrown shrubbery and hidden from the view of the street. Mando followed her to the door as she knocked rhythmically on the chipping wooden. Before too long, a woman with hair like fire opened the door. Her brown eyes were soft and full of kindness, and her presumably long hair was tied in place by dozens of tiny yellow flowers. She couldn’t have been much older than Elliotte, herself, but her expression immediately lit up when she saw her. The woman pulled her into a bruising hug and made some comment about how she’d told Ell not to be out at this time of night. The Mandalorian shifted his weight from foot to foot, and only then did she seem to take notice of him.

The redheaded woman recoiled in surprise, “Ell, I truly thought you’d brought me a statue, but… this must be the Mandalorian you’ve told me so much about.”

Ell only had time to give an embarrassed “Rhy--” before the other woman stepped aside and held the door open.

“Come in, come in. My goodness, you are tall.”

Mando gave a sheepish ‘thanks’ and stepped into the small building behind Elliotte. The interior wasn’t much more impressive than the outside; It was small and cramped, and the smell of wood rot was rather prevalent in the air. To his left, he was surprised to find a crowd of people huddled around the small fireplace. When they took notice of Elliotte, many smiled or waved in greeting. Hardly any of them were Listronian; Mando recognized a number of species from planets far off. All at once, things began to click into place.

The fuel crisis.

Elliotte mentioned that she knew a number of other people stranded like he and the child were, and said that a large portion of her income went to providing for those in a worse situation than herself. All this time, she’d been aiding them.

“This is Rhythimi,” Ell said, once the door was shut firmly behind them, “My best friend. Rhy, this is Mando.”

“Mando. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Rhythimi answered kindly, extending her hand.

“Wish I could say the same,” he replied, shaking her hand whilst stealing a glance in Ell’s direction.

Rhythimi chuckled. “No, don’t be silly. If I’ve remained anonymous, that means Elliotte’s done her job. That being said, if you’re here that must mean you’ve found yourself in a similar situation to all these folks… low on fuel?”

“That’s right.”

“In that case, I’ll be sure to add you to the wait list,” said Rhythimi.

“Wait list?” Mando inquired.

“Of course. For fuel.”

“You’re able to get it?”

“Sure, but it’ll be a few weeks… or even a few months. We aren’t exactly following legal protocols here. But… We’ll do what we can to get you home.”

The Mandalorian inclined his head.

“Sorry to drop in on you with a guest unexpectedly, Rhy,” Ell chimed in, “…we’ll be out of your hair shortly, but we did bring you these. Hopefully they’ll come in handy,” Ell said, setting the basket of useme nuts on the table.

Rhythimi smiled gratefully. “Of course they will. Every little bit helps. And don’t you dare apologize… seeing you is one of the few things I look forward to every day.”

Ell smiled, and the two exchanged a quick hug before she bid her friend and the refugees goodnight and made for the door. The cool air returned as she and the Mandalorian crossed the porch and descended the few stairs to the grass. “I apologize for not telling you about her sooner,” she said in a hushed whisper, trying to keep her voice down in case anyone was attempting to listen in, “I know you need fuel--I’ve known that since we met, but I hope you understand… I had to make sure you were trustworthy first.”

“I do understand,” he replied, turning his helmet in her direction. “And thank you.”

“For what?”

“Helping us.”

Elliotte turned to look at him, beaming with a smile that reached her eyes. “No worries… I’m glad to be doing something for a good cause.” The two reached the main street before she spoke again. “Thank you for your time today. I know it was… a lot of seemingly pointless information, but it feels nice to have someone to tell it all to.”

“Of course. I look forward to the lessons to come. In the meantime, I’ll walk you home,” he replied, and Ell looked like she wanted to protest, but he held up a gloved hand to quiet her. “No, you won’t be ‘troubling me’, stop it. You got mugged on this exact street corner last night. I’m not taking any chances.”

As much as she wanted to, Elliotte couldn’t argue with that. “Fine. But you have to take a cup of tea back to your ship with you.”

“Deal.”

By the time they began their trip down the street in the direction they’d come, the streetlights had begun to illuminate the ground around them. The Mandalorian felt much more at ease with the increased lighting the closer they got to the city, and much more relieved knowing she had agreed to let him walk her home at this time of night. Although his faith in her continued to grow, his faith in the city deteriorated. There were much more underlying issues here than he’d originally anticipated.

Between a haughty nobility, a fuel crisis, a growing homeless population, poverty-stricken individuals, and a greedy king atop it all, Mando couldn’t help but wonder how gentle souls such as Elliotte and Rhythimi had managed to survive on this planet. They both were a light in a tunnel of darkness… a clarity. A brightness.

A brightness the Mandalorian had scarcely witnessed in his many years as a bounty hunter. Without Elliotte, he hardly believed he would have given this planet more than a passing thought. He would know nothing about their culture or the people, and not too long ago he wouldn’t have cared. However, more than anything he now wanted to learn more.

Mando reached this conclusion the same moment they reached her doorstep. “Thank you again for everything,” she said, smiling over her shoulder at him. She reached for the handle and tried to turn it, but the door didn’t budge. She cursed and patted the sides of her dress, and even her sleeves.

There was a long pause before her forehead thumped against the wood of the door. “The key. I locked the key inside.”

The Mandalorian went to respond, but he watched her gaze shift from the door to the overhanging balcony a few feet up.

“Hold on,” she mumbled, crossing the small porch and taking a large jump. Her hands found purchase on the bottom of the balcony and she hoisted herself up with skillful ease.

“This hasn’t been your first time locking yourself out, has it,” Mando observed, watching with his arms folded until he was sure she was up safely. Then, he copied her motions and swung himself over the rail.

“First time while I had company,” she answered, pulling the balcony doors open. She stepped inside the revealed room without a second thought, but the Mandalorian hesitated. The room was surprisingly spacious, with a closed closet at one side, Elliotte’s harp propped against the wood of the door, and a large bathroom at the other. In the middle of the room was a small couch and coffee table, and to his left was a small bed encircled by a thin white curtain. It became clear rather quickly that he was looking into her bedroom, and he immediately felt as though he was intruding.

Elliotte seemed to notice his hesitation and lifted her hands to ask him to wait. “You don’t have to come in! You can stay there--I’m just gonna run downstairs to get your tea.”

Mando gave a single curt nod and graciously turned to busy his attention elsewhere… “elsewhere” happened to be looking out over the railing of the balcony. Without his helmet, he wouldn’t be able to distinguish the features of the buildings barely visible in the darkness, but he was able to recognize the shape of the palace down the street, and the neighboring homes on this stretch of road. The marketplace was empty, and the stalls were covered individually by large sheets to attempt to protect the wood from rain.

Before long, Elliotte made her way back upstairs, cupping her hands around a mug of steaming tea. “Here you are,” she said, carefully passing the mug to him, “Freshest Listronian tea you’ll get this time of night.”

He thanked her and took the mug from her. “Same time tomorrow?”

“We’ll start whatever time you want. I kept you out longer than I intended today, so… sleep in and spend some time with your kid.”

The Mandalorian smiled behind his helmet and realized a bit too late that she was unable to see it. “I’ll meet you here.”

The conversation should have ended there, and yet neither one of them made a move to leave. Instead, Elliotte averted her gaze, looking out over the city.

“Earlier today, you called me ‘Ellie’... I don’t know that you meant to, but you did. No one’s called me that since I was a kid.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean--”

“No, don’t apologize,” she said quickly. She scratched her arm sheepishly, vision still focused on the flickering lights in the buildings across the street. “That was my mother’s nickname for me. It was my favorite.”

Mando didn’t miss the hurt in her eyes when she mentioned her mother, but even more so, he didn’t miss the fond smile that crept over her lips. He turned his helmet slightly to the side, still watching her through the visor. “...Thank you for today, Ellie... I learned a lot.”

The corner of her lip turned upward. “I did too.”

“You learned a lot about your planet today? Here I thought you knew everything,” he said, hoping his humor wasn’t lost through the vocoder.

“Not about Listronus,” Ell replied earnestly, “About you.” For a moment, her blue eyes were drawn away from the visor and moved to his shoulder, where a red flower petal had fallen out from beneath his helmet. She lifted her hand to brush it off and watched it flutter to the balcony’s floor.

“Oh…” he responded lamely.

And then Ell did something that surprised them both.

She kissed him.

A soft brush of her lips against the smooth beskar of his helmet’s cheek. She pulled back just as quickly as she’d initiated it, face flushed the color of a rose, before she cleared her throat, offered a soft “goodnight” and padded briskly into her room, shutting the balcony doors behind her. Whether she or the Mandalorian was left more flustered was debatable, as she’d immediately fled the area and he remained standing on her balcony for several long moments after she’d closed the door, a gloved hand pressed lightly against the spot on his helmet she’d touched.

After a few moments, he collected himself enough to turn his gaze from the doors she’d disappeared behind and back toward the view overlooking the city. Reluctantly, he eased himself back over the balcony’s railing and dropped to the street once again, ready to begin his walk home.

“Goodnight,” he murmured to her front door.

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theprodigypenguin · 5 years

Text

Scamander Headcanons Cuz I'm Pissed At Life Right Now

I'm in a very shitty mood so I'm gonna try and get rid of it by indulging in my version of the Scamander twins and their parents and life. Please note none of these are canon, they're my personal headcanons and opinions, you're allowed to have different ones. These are the ones I'm sticking too though, so have fun with yours like I have fun with mine:

Lysander is the oldest by a full five minutes.

They're the same age as Lily Luna, but Lily was born first.

While they aren't official Wotters, Luna and Rolf spend many holidays and just general get-togethers with them, so the twins grew up around the Weasley cousins and the Potter kids.

Lorcan is a Hufflepuff like his father but takes after his mother in personality.

Lysander is actually strikingly similar to his great grandmother (Tina) and his great grand uncle (Theseus).

Lysander is a Ravenclaw like Luna.

Lorcan is a very quiet and airy person, seeming to be constantly stuck in a daydream and often seen swaying on his feet as if to music.

He's a generally very happy person and loves hugs.

He gets along with most people, though he is occasionally bullied for being "weird".

Never seems to mind the bullying, usually just smiles through it and often will try to hug his bullies because "they need a hug".

Lysander, on the other hand, is very different, argumentative and cynical, hard to talk to because he tends to ramble when he's anxious (which is a lot).

Unlike Lorcan, Lysander has trouble working around his emotions, and usually just ends up getting frustrated and angry.

Finds it difficult to make friends because of internal self doubt and the fear that they'll ditch him eventually when they realize he's so difficult.

Because of this fear, he tends to ghost potential friends before they can really get to know him.

Says it's for the best.

Lorcan is a Legilimens like his great grand aunt (Queenie).

Lysander, an absolute dumb ass, is unaware of his brother's talent until they're around seventeen or eighteen, because he's a fucking idiot.

Like most born Legilimens, Lorcan has trouble controlling it sometimes, which often lead to migraines and physical trembling, fatigue and fainting spells.

If the thoughts get too overwhelming then Lorcan will seek out the most relaxing presences, the people whose thoughts aren't as loud, or are more predictable.

Lysander is often thinking of simple things like school or music, occasionally he'll be reciting something ridiculous in his head, and Lorcan finds it oddly therapeutic, so nine times out of ten he'll look to Lysander for comfort.

Other comforting presences are Filius Flitwick (he's always thinking of music compositions for some reason), Hagrid (always thinking about his creatures and his cooking), Scorpius Malfoy (his internal rambling is quite similar to Lysander's), McGonagall (she knows about his talent and always tries to be aware of her thoughts when she's around him, so she doesn't overwhelm him), Madam Pomfrey (also aware of his condition), and of course his parents.

Being in the great hall for meals always strains him the most.

Lorcan seems to take after their family the most, and has a born talent for dealing with and caring for magical creatures.

He was capable of calming even the testiest of creatures when he was still very small (and he's Newt's favorite but don't tell Lysander).

Lysander, on the other hand, is absolutely horrible around animals.

He doesn't even own an owl/cat/toad because when Rolf took him to get a pet for school, everything he held tried to bite or scratch him.

Because of this stark deviation from his family, Lysander spends much of his youth and teenage years hating himself, doubting himself, and fighting against incredible shame, thinking he's somehow less than the rest of his family, assuming they're ashamed of him and hate him as much as he hates himself.

He finds a bit of comfort in his studies, and prefers reading and hiding in the library or down by Black Lake over making friends (because he's honestly terrified of making friends).

He has amazing grades in everything accept for his Care of Magical Creatures class.

Though Hagrid never says so, Lysander can tell his teacher is always disappointed when he messes something up.

He's excellent at the written aspect of the class, he just can't physically handle the creatures.

Lorcan can read him like a book, and always feels sad when he hears Lysander thinking so badly of himself.

He tries to cheer Lysander up the best he can by reassuring him that just because their name is Scamander, doesn't mean they all have to be Magizoologists.

That Lysander can be anything he wants.

In the end he takes a lot of strength from Tina and Theseus, who become his role models, and he becomes an Auror straight out of Hogwarts.

Lorcan, unlike Lysander, loves animals. Creatures don't have any discernible thought process that humans can interpret, so Lorcan finds being around them very soothing.

He owns a big ginger half Kneazle cat, a gift from Rolf when he was just a kid, given to him when it was just a kitten.

The cat fucking hates Lysander and Lysander hates it right the fuck back.

Lorcan takes him everywhere though and it annoys Lysander SO much, cats don't belong in the FUCKING classroom!!!!

Despite how different the twins are, they're very close. Maybe not attached at the hip, but still close.

Lorcan isn't ashamed of hugging his brother whenever they cross paths at school, saying he loves him every chance he gets.

Lysander, while not as physical as Lorcan, still loves his brother dearly, and though he complains about the constant hugging, he has never and will never push Lorcan away.

Also not one to throw around the phrase "I love you", Lysander will mumble it incoherently when Lorcan insists he say it back.

He acts annoyed with his brother sometimes, because Lorcan's airy go with the flow attitude clashes terribly with Lysander's schedule oriented life.

Lorcan is a messy kid, his robes are never on right and his tie is always crooked or knotted wrong, so whenever Lysander sees him he stops just to fix the tie and straighten his robes.

Of course the minute he's gone Lorcan absentmindedly messes everything up again and gives Lysander a brain aneurysm from it.

To people who don't know them, it might look as if Lysander hates his brother, is so terribly annoyed with him, but Lysander loves his brother, and he hates nothing more than when people bully him.

While Lorcan doesn't mind it, Lysander has gotten into more than one physical fight (who needs fucking wands when you have fucking FISTS) trying to get the bullies to back off.

Lysander has a strong sense of justice and wanting to look after the little guys who can't defend themselves, which is one of the reasons being an Auror fits so perfectly for him.

Lysander is also an excellent flier and loves Quidditch, but never tried out for his house team because of his anxiety and fear of failure.

After Hogwarts, Lorcan studies Magizoology with his parents, specializing as a Healer for Magical Beasts (wizard vet!!!).

Lysander moves to his own flat in London to be closer to the Ministry and his work, partly because being an Auror is dangerous and has the potential of making him enemies, so he doesn’t want to end up bringing danger to his family.

Lorcan stays living at home because that was where their creatures were, where he studied after school and took care of the magical beasts that his family would bring home.

Though he would also travel in the situation where a creature was sick and couldn’t come to him instead.

Lysander is bisexual, but he’s had a crush on Lily since they were thirteen.

It took him several years to realize he liked her as more than a friend, though, and Lily was the one to ask him out first.

At first their “dates” were restricted to studying as friends (Lysander helping Lily prepare for exams), flying together during free periods (Lily insists Lysander help her practice for Quidditch), and walking to Hogsmeade and spending the day there together.

They don’t become an “official” couple or tell their families until after graduating and getting jobs.

Lorcan is omnisexual, but it’s very difficult for him to open up to people since their intentions are so clear to him, and normally not as pure as he would like.

He isn’t one to take relationships lightly, and is actually very sensitive when it comes to people’s crushes on him, or if he’s the one with the crush.

In the future he ends up falling in love with one of Lysander’s Auror partners, Liam McLaggen (OC), which Lysander isn’t exactly HAPPY about.

Both Lysander and Lorcan are around the same height.

Lysander has his mother’s silvery-blue eyes and keeps his hair neatly cut and styled.

Lorcan has blue-green eyes (see Newt!!!!) and his hair is a bit longer and curlier than Lysander’s (it’s also a lighter shade of blond).

After years of reading by dim wand light in the middle of the night, Lysander had to get himself glasses before starting at the Ministry(who hasn’t read books in the middle of the night under the covers with nothing but a flashlight?).

He’s supposed to wear them all the time, but rarely does, claiming he only needs them for “reading”.

It takes a while, but Lysander eventually becomes good friends with both James and Teddy.

James played difficult at first, pretended he didn’t like Lysander because he was dating Lily (and as the big brother it’s his job to be suspicious of his baby sister’s boyfriend, right?) but they genuinely got along and enjoyed each other’s company.

James basically adopted both Lysander and Lorcan as two more little brothers. Lorcan is very pleased with having another brother, Lysander not so much.

Lysander didn’t make any permanent friends during his seven years at Hogwarts, but as soon as he joined the Aurors and was placed into a field team he quickly made friends with each of his partners.

He would die for them, and they would die for him (but he’s not allowed to die cuz Lorcan would cry and Rolf would ground him).

Okay heck that’s all I got for right now, but writing all this down was super therapeutic. Heck I love the Scamander brothers. And I know everyone in fandom probably have a million different headcanons for these good boys, considering they’re not mentioned much in canon aside from the fact they exist, so their personalities are entirely fluid and up for interpretation, buuuuuut I’ve thought so damn much about about them and I’ve grown super attached to my version of the boys. I wanna reiterate what I said before though, if you have headcanons that differ from mine you are hecking valid and should be proud of your headcanons because they can be insanely hard to think up!

Anyway yeah, I’m in love with the Scamander brothers, bye!

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chemicalmagecraft · 5 years

Text

I Would Totally Kick Jiraiya’s Butt Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry about the delay! My other fic was at a really good point, so it was all I could think about for a bit! Hopefully I'm going to be able to get a little more of both out, though!

kukukuku~

I gave her a small smile and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hinata-chan."

"Hello," she said. "Father said that you protected me from the man who wanted to hurt me."

I licked my lips. "I did do something like that. I probably would've just ended up captured along with you if it wasn't for Hiashi-san, though."

"Father also said that you're going to be my new brother."

I smiled slightly. "I might have agreed to something like that as well."

She smiled. "Now I have two big brothers."

I quizzically tilted my head to the side. "How so?"

"Neji-niisan was already like a big brother to me, even if he's a little mean sometimes. Now I have you too!" She smiled.

I shrugged. "Sure, I guess. So where is Neji-niisan?"

"Right behind you," a young male voice said from take a wild guess direction. "You're Kouki, huh?"

I turned around. "And you're Neji?"

He looked at me with an appraising eye. "Yes. I heard that you have some interesting jutsu."

"Oh, totally!" I told him, then waved a cat-clawed hand. "I mean, I only have three at the moment, but I'm so going to get more!"

"Show me."

I blinked. "Oh, sure. We just need something that nobody's going to mind if I break. Or cut in half. You got anything like that?"

"Ooh, can I see?" Hinata asked me.

I sighed. "I mean, I still need something I can break, but sure."

We managed to get a decent-sized log that I could cut up so long as I did it with adult supervision.

"Alright," Hizashi (Neji's dad, remember?) said to us. "Kouki, be careful. You two stay behind me."

I did some stretches as they got behind him. I then channeled the chakra into my nails. "Cat Claws Jutsu," I said, then charged at the log. I sliced it with both hands and admired the eight deep gouges that I had slashed into it. I then jumped back a bit and formed the seal. "Next, Wind Release: Mini Air Slash!" I slashed at it again. Similar scratches were put in the log, but this time from range.

"Wow!" Hinata said.

"Impressive," Hizashi agreed.

"But wait, there's more!" I said with some enthusiasm. "Wind Release: Dragon Claws Jutsu!" This time, I only used one hand to conserve chakra, but it was still impressive. The downward slash that I used ensured that not only was the log sliced completely through, but I also carved a bit into the ground. "And that's why I'm awesome," I panted as I turned around. It wasn't as bad as before because I hadn't been hemorrhaging chakra thanks to my expensive magical eyes, but I was still drained. Hizashi was nodding, Hinata was beaming with obvious admiration, and Neji gave a look that made me think that he begrudgingly admitted to himself that maybe I'm a little awesome. "Now if you'll excuse me, I really need a nap." I fell backward, making sure to fall properly to not hurt myself, and groaned.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked.

"M'fine, jus' need a moment," I slurred out.

"I thought your reserves were high enough that you wouldn't be that exhausted," Hizashi commented.

"Why would you think that, father?" Neji asked.

"I'm not that tired, I'm just resting because I used some chakra," I said. "Those jutsu are still pretty draining, just not enough that I won't be able to fight someone my size right now. I could still beat up Neji if I wanted to. Him and Hinata at once might be pushing it, though."

"I could beat you easily," Neji scowled.

"You wanna go, Ice Cream?" I taunted.

"If Father will allow it, then I will soundly beat you."

Hizashi sighed. "Fine, just try not to dismember each other." I got up and entered a fighting stance.

"Your form isn't very good," Neji told me.

"And you're going to activate your-" Neji activated his Byakugan. "Oh, there it goes. You do realize that you're wasting chakra, right?" Neji said nothing and got into his Jūken stance. "Doesn't that hurt?" I asked. "Your veins are bulging like crazy!"

"No, shut up."

"Hajime!" Hizashi said. I rushed at Neji as he charged at me. I caught his forearm before he could hit me with his palm, then used it to push myself down and out of the way of his other strike. I repositioned myself so that I could sweep at his leg, then jumped up and punched at him while he was off-balance. He caught my arm, used it to steady himself, then began hitting my tenketsu. I didn't even bother trying to pull my arm away and instead punched him in the gut. He got the wind knocked out of him and went a few steps back.

I decided to take the opportunity to use Mini Air Slash on him. Unfortunately, my hand had gone numb, so I just did my best to make a one-handed sign and tried to use that. The slashes were a little wobbly, but it ended up not mattering too much when he just ducked under them and smacked me in the stomach. That quickly turned into a combo where I took a bunch of thankfully-not-tenketsu-closing strikes all over me. The next thing I knew, I was groaning on the ground again. "You were both good, but ultimately you left yourself open too much, Kouki," Hizashi said. "You also might want to refrain from letting yourself get hit, even if it's to exploit an opening."

I sat up and shook out my numb hand. Some feeling returned to it and I was able to slowly open and close it. I guess being young and inexperienced with Jūken means that you can only partially disable someone with tenketsu strikes... "Got it."

"You might also want to not taunt your opponent as much. All you did was make Neji angry."

"Blasphemy! I just need to taunt harder!"

"I... sure, fine. If you want, I could help you with your fighting a bit," he offered. He then looked at Neji and Hinata and said, "You two too."

"Thanks," I said, "That's probably a good idea."

kukukuku~

I looked in the mirror inside my room. I decided that I should probably give you guys a better description of my appearance, especially now that I was part of a ninja family and apparently encouraged to have my own unique style... despite the fact that ninja are supposed to blend in. My hair was getting long, almost touching my shoulders. I like my hair long, so I was just going to let it grow until I was either told to get a haircut or it got too annoying. My hair was a dark brown color, but if the light hit it just right it looked brighter and almost reddish sometimes. It curled at the ends, though I've been told that if I didn't comb it as much it'd probably be curlier. Of course, I get really bad bedhead, so that's not really an option. My bangs were combed to the left side of my face, usually just barely out of my left eye, though they sometimes did fall over my eye. As for my clothes, I wore a baggy long-sleeved shirt and pants that were basically sweatpants, both dark blue.

It was actually really similar to my favorite outfit from real life. When not indoors, I wore a pair of comfortable boots instead of the usual sandals. I gave Hiashi an excuse about being leery about wearing open-toed shoes after banging my feet on a lot of things, including more than a few rocks. It wasn't a lie. At all... The look was completed by a pair of cool sunglasses resting on top of my head. The idea was that I'd make a habit of actually putting them over my eyes whenever I'd have to "get serious," which didn't have to include activating my Shōraigan but I'd have to use them to hide my Shōraigan in battle. Plus, my eyes were sensitive enough to light without whatever enhancements are involved in the Shōraigan, so they'd be good when the sunlight's being overly harsh. Thankfully, I was somehow not blinded by reflected light when I tested them out and they didn't show any of the light coming from my eyes somehow. I think that there might have actually been seals placed on it or something... Also! I still had that little bumpy thingy on the top of my left ear! I liked that little bumpy nub thing!

"Kouki-kun!" Hiashi said from outside my room. "We're leaving soon!"

"Coming!" I called out. We were going out to eat at a sushi restaurant to celebrate my adoption and the fact that I saved Hinata's and/or Hizashi's life. Of course, before we went there, we had to make a quick stop at my insistence. I stepped in the clearing right as a tree fell down. I looked at the multiple cuts in the bark. "I see you're starting to figure it out, Naru-chan. Now never use that jutsu unless someone's trying to kill you."

Naruto ran up to me and hugged me (thankfully after deactivating the jutsu). "Kouki! I missed you, 'ttebayo!" Aaaand there was his verbal tic.

I licked my lips. "It was only a day, Naru-chan. I was literally only gone for a day." I thought about what that could mean for a second. "Please tell me nobody was bullying you again."

He released me and put his hands behind his head. "Nah, it was just boring. Why are you back so soon?"

"Well it turns out that getting adopted by a rich guy has its perks." I smirked. "Wanna get rich people food for free and probably have a respected jōnin and clan head yell at anyone who's rude to you?"

"I hope that that isn't all you think of me," Hiashi said from behind me, Hinata hiding behind him.

"Nyahahaha~!" I laughed. "Of course not! You're also free housing and jutsu lessons." He narrowed his eyes at me. "Fine. Also a wonderful father," I faux-reluctantly added. I then brought Naruto over to Hinata. "Naru-chan, this is Hina-chan. Hina-chan, Naru-chan," I introduced the two to each other. "I hope you make friends, you'll be seeing a lot of each other. Tsehehehe~!" Yes I have a second, weirder weird laugh. Shut up.

"Whaddya mean?" he asked, looking a little suspicious.

"She's my new sister and you're literally my only friend," I said. "Now why don't we go get rich people food? I'm starting to get a little hungry."

"Rich people food, 'ttebayo!" Naruto yelled with glee. I smiled.

"R-rich people food..." Hinata muttered, which made me chuckle softly.

Hiashi just sighed. "Yes, rich people food. Please behave yourselves when we get there, though." With that, we left for the restaurant.

kukukuku~

I snickered as I looked at the boy sitting on my right. Naruto had a really confused look on his face and I really couldn't blame him. Didn't mean I wasn't internally howling with laughter, though. He looked at my new father and his wife, now sitting across the table from him at the restaurant. He then looked at my new uncle and his wife, sitting next to Hiashi and... apparently her name was Hikari. By the way, for those of you who don't know what Hikari looks like due to her appearing in the Naruto literally once and only in a photo, she looks like an older Hinata but without the Byakugan. She gave Naruto a warm, kind smile, which was the only expression I'd ever seen on her face ever. Hizashi's wife, Hikaru, did the same. Hiashi and Hizashi were just barely containing their laughter, and even Neji, who I could see on my left even with Hinata between us, had a small grin. Naruto leaned over to me and whispered, "Kouki, I think your parents are ninja. They're using clones." With that, everyone but Naruto burst out into either laughter or small giggling (Neji was giggling and it was hilarious).

"We're not clones, Naruto-kun," Hikaru said. "I'm Kouki-kun's aunt." She gestured at Hikari. "My twin sister married Kouki's father. I, myself, married his twin brother."

Naruto furrowed his brow. "So you," he pointed at Hikaru," and you," he pointed at Hikari, "are twins, which is why you look so similar. And you married two people who are also twins and also identical."

"Yes, that's right, Naruto-kun," Hikaru warmly smiled at him.

"Neji-chan and Hina-chan might as well be brother and sister," I commented with a little laugh.

A waiter cleared his throat. "May I get you anything to drink?" he asked.

"A green tea for me and my wife," Hiashi and Hizashi immediately responded. They looked at each other for a second, then grinned.

"Tea for me as well," Neji told him.

"U-uh, can I have some apple juice, please," Hinata asked.

"Juice too," I said. The waiter nodded and started to leave.

"Hey, you didn't take my order, 'ttebayo!" Naruto yelled. The waiter scoffed and continued to walk away.

"Excuse me," Hiashi said as he stood up. "You forgot to get Naruto-kun's order.

"Why that riffraff is with you, I could never tell," he haughtily said. Hiashi glared at him. "Fine, fine. What do you want, boy?"

Naruto flinched a little, then said, "A-apple juice, please." I growled at the waiter, which sounded a bit deeper than I thought it would. For some reason, that made him flinch. He hurried off, apologizing.

Hizashi blinked. "Apparently your irises turn red when you get angry, Kouki-kun. That's... odd."

"Really?" I asked, then licked my lips creepily. "That is weird. Not bad, just... weird." As we were waiting for our drinks, we looked through the menu. "What am I allowed to get," I asked.

"You can get anything you want," Hiashi told me. "Though I would advise ordering less than Hinata. Same for you, Naruto-kun."

"Why less than Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked. Just then, a waitress came up to our table with our drinks.

"We're so sorry about the previous waiter," she told us. "He was... uh..." She looked at Naruto. "He was... greatly affected by the death of his wife three years ago. Still, he should never have acted that way to any guest of yours. "

"If you wish to apologize, do it to Naruto-kun," Hiashi said.

"So sorry," she told Naruto, then gave him his drink. "After your meal, we will be giving you a free dessert, on the house." She gave the rest of us our drinks. "What would you like to eat?" she asked us. It was at that point that Naruto's question was answered. Hinata ordered three dishes of sushi for herself. which was a lot. Even the adults only had one.

After we had all finished ordering our sushi, I said, "See, Naru-chan? Father stood up for you and you got free food. Did I keep my promise or what?" Naruto chuckled a little. After a little while and some small talk and chopstick-using lessons for me and Naruto (I already knew, but it'd have looked suspicious if I said that seeing as Naruto didn't), our food arrived. I will say this: Konohagakure sushi is way better than Walgreen's sushi. When in my sushi-induced rapture, I was vaguely aware of Hiashi asking me if I liked it, and then my head lazily bobbing up and down. Also, while I might have just been hallucinating in my sushi haze, I thought I saw sparkles. Unfortunately, though, all good things must come to an end. In this case, that end was that when I started chewing on one of my pieces of sushi, I felt a burning feeling and awful taste on my tongue. I gagged as I felt myself start to feel a little like puking, then swallowed the sushi. I looked down at my plate and saw that the sushi that I'd eaten was right next to the wasabi. I glared at the wasabi.

Hikari chuckled. "That's wasabi, Kouki-kun. It's fine if you don't like it." She gave Hiashi an amused look, and he rolled his eyes.

"I gag on sushi with wasabi on it one time and I never live it down," he muttered, though he sounded more amused than annoyed.

"I don't like wasabi," I confirmed. Wasabi is horrible. Truly the worst thing. "It tastes weird." I noticed that my last piece of sushi was also touching wasabi. "Does anyone here who likes wasabi wanna trade with me?" I asked. Hinata immediately placed one of her sushi on my plate and took the tainted sushi with her chopsticks. I looked over to her plates and noticed that she was somehow already done with all of her sushi. "Uhh-" I started to say.

"No, we don't know how Hinata-chan eats that much," Hiashi preempted, which made Hinata blush slightly. "All we know is that she somehow can without it being unhealthy."

I nodded. I remembered jokes in the anime about Hinata eating a LOT, so that made sense. "Okay..."

We continued to make small talk until the waitress came back. "Would any of you like dessert?" she asked. "Keep in mind that Uzumaki-san's dessert will be on the house."

Naruto looked at the dessert menu and immediately said, "Dorayaki," which was the first thing on the menu. I looked at Hiashi with my special Puppy Dog Eyes(TM).

"This is a celebration for your adoption and Hinata-chan's birthday," Hiashi told me. "Don't worry about it, you can get a dessert."

"Chocolate-strawberry crepe, please," I said.

"C-could I have the cinnamon bun?" Hinata asked. Cinnamon bun for the cinnamon bun. Got it. Hiashi nodded.

"If it is fine for me to get a dessert as well, then I would like to try the coffee jelly," Neji added stiffly. The waitress left with our orders.

Hiashi cleared his throat. "I'd like to say something. Hizashi and Neji-kun, I want to apologize to you two for the fact that the two of you have been given the Caged Bird Seal."

"But it was tradition," Hizashi said, "and we were children when I was given my seal."

"I was still the cause of you getting your seal. And as for Neji-kun, I allowed it. It has come to my attention recently that the Caged Bird Seal is an imperfect means of protecting our bloodline and causes more grief than it does peace. Because of that, I, as the head of the Hyūga clan, would like to apologize to the two of you." He bowed his head. "I shall do my best to... make things better for the branch house in the future."

"Thank you, for that," Hizashi said. "I apologize for the attitude that I used to have towards you."

Hiashi shook his head. "It was perfectly understandable, there is no reason to apologize."

Naruto leaned over to me again. "So do you know what's going on here? Because I'm totally lost, 'ttebayo."

"Don't worry about it," I told him. "It's a Hyūga thing."

"Your desserts are here," the waitress said as she arrived with... well... I really shouldn't have to say. She handed us our desserts. I inspected mine. A crepe with whipped cream, chocolate, and strawberries in it. It certainly looked and smelled delicious. I took a bite.

(⊙_⊙) (❀‿❀) (◐ o ◑ ) (ღ˘◡˘ღ)ヽ(^◇^*)/ (ʃƪ˘ڡ˘)

"That... was beautiful," I said, on the verge of tears. I blinked, and my eyes felt really irritated. "Was I... crying?"

"How were you sparkling like that?" Neji asked, bewildered.

I thought about that for a second, then shrugged and made that "I don't know" noise. I took another bite of my crepe. It was freaking amazing. "This is probably the most delicious thing I've ever had." I really like sweet food.

"Mine's pretty good too," Hinata muttered.

"I'm glad you like it," Hikari said. "It's certainly nice to see you happy, considering where you were. How is yours, Naruto-chan?"

"It's great, 'ttebayo!" he exclaimed. "I haven't had dessert before, and this stuff is so good!"

I smiled slightly. "It's good to see you having fun, Naru-chan," I said.

kukukuku~

I stared at the grey-haired boy before me. "Hatake Kakashi," I said.

"That's me, kid," he confirmed. "I owe your father one, so he told me to teach you some ninjutsu. He told me what you can do already, so don't worry about that."

I nodded. "What first?"

"Seeing as you can already do the tree-climbing and water-walking jutsu, I feel like I should teach you the academy three, then see where we go from there. The academy three are three jutsu taught in the academy, as you might be able to guess. First, the clone jutsu. It lets you create a construct made of your chakra that looks and acts exactly like you. While it can't use jutsu and is destroyed the moment it touches something, it's a lot more useful than people give it credit, given the fact that it can be used as a distraction. These are the hand seals needed to use it." He demonstrated. "And then you push out some chakra to create the clone." There was a small pop and a second Kakashi appeared next to him. "It should just come out naturally when you use the seals, but you need to get the amount down right or the clone will look off. Now you try."

I licked my lips and shakily made the seals, sticking my tongue out slightly in concentration. I actually found it a little awkward to switch between the complex hand positions, but I was able to do it. I used what felt like an appropriate amount of chakra, but my clone ended up looking a little sick once the smoke cleared. Kakashi did that weird thing where you can tell he's smiling even though his mouth is covered. "That's actually really good for a first-timer. Your hand seals need some work, but that's nothing to be too worried about. Now, let's move on to the next jutsu."

kukukuku~

It was the evening, after Kakashi finished teaching me the academy three and making sure I could use them decently. "The thing that he needs to work on the most is his hand seals," Kakashi told Hiashi. "His chakra reserves are very good for someone of his age and he has decent control. He might be ready to begin proper elemental training sometime within the next year if he gets his reserves up a bit more."

"Good. Thank you for this, Kakashi-san," Hiashi said.

"Don't mention it. Now, is there anything else I should teach him?"

"If you could see about get him started on genjutsu, too, that would be good."

I focused on something else, and my vision shifted. I saw the Council of the Five Kage, Danzō's death, Naruto's talk with Kushina, Naruto taking the Kyuubi's chakra, and parts of the Fourth Shinobi War, fading out around when Naruto fought Nagato with Itachi. "So that's everything that writer!Me has seen since I got here," I muttered. I deactivated my eyes and then opened them, taking in the sight of my empty room once more. There wasn't much there yet, just the mirror that I'd used earlier, a bookshelf, a dresser, and my bed. There were enough windows that it was well-ventilated, which was very good for my (admittedly very minor) indoor allergy. The bed, which I was sitting on at the moment, was really comfortable, which was nice. The sheets and pillows were also really soft, which is why I was currently rubbing my face in them. There was an equally soft plush cat sitting right next to me, which I had only had to accidentally look at Hikari with Puppy Dog Eyes(TM) for about a second after seeing it in the shop before she caved and bought it for me. I chuckled, then sat up.

"It's kind of funny how I've already gotten rid of one of Kabuto's minions without even meaning to or knowing about, isn't it Fluffy-san?" Yes, I named the cat Fluffy-san. He was fluffy. Though he actually reminded me of Kyubey (from Madoka Magica, not Naru-chan's stomach). "Heck, I might have gotten rid of two, if that one guy was also one of the Edo Tensei zombies. Maybe I should start doing something about the rest... What do you think, Fluffy-san?" I grabbed Fluffy-san's head and made it bob up and down while saying, "EAT THEIR SOULS!" so that it sounded like Fluffy-san said it. For some reason, my voice sounded really demonic when I did that, even to me. "That's what you always say," I told him.

"Edo Tensei needs their souls, nya," Fluffy-san "said."

"True, but how am I going to eat their souls? I'm pretty sure those things give me indigestion."

"That sounds like a 'you' problem, nya."

I frowned at him. "You're kind of a jerk, Fluffy-san."

"That also sounds like a 'you' problem, nya."

I was actually really having fun with this. I fake-pouted. "Fiiiiine, I guess I'll just write down all the stuff I know and show it to Sarutobi..." I was about to get up to get the journal on my dresser that Hiashi had gotten me for my secret advisor duties, then stopped. "I've been meaning to do this... Hopefully I'm right about it." I placed my two index fingers together, then flowed a small amount of chakra through them. I bonded the two streams together, then pulled my fingers apart, making the chakra thin out until it was a barely-visible thread of chakra. I examined how it felt, then let it go. If tiny Sasori could do it, then I was confident tiny me could. I made a few attempts at it that didn't work quite right before finally recreating it without the weird pull-apart thing. I licked my lips. "Sweet." I tested out my new puppetry powers on Fluffy-san. It took me a few tries to stick it in him, but I got it eventually and it felt great.

"Didn't someone else do that first, nya?" I had him ask me.

"Yeah, but it's a power with so many uses and Suna just uses it for puppets. Puppets and literally nothing else. It's such a waste of a cool power and there are only two times that I know of that someone did something else with it that wasn't puppetry, and one of them used it to enhance her puppet-fighting! Now stop guilting me."

"You do realize that I'm literally just a puppet, right, nya?"

I gasped. "Oh no! I'm succumbing to Sunagakure Puppet Syndrome! I must use my new jutsu for something other than playing with killer dolls!" I shot chakra threads at the book, then reeled it in. "Yoink!" I said as I grabbed it.

"Why are you like this?" Neji asked me.

"NYAH!" I jumped so hard I almost fell off my bed. "Neji! How long have you been here?"

He rolled his eyes. "When you started trying to pick up your toy."

"My name is Fluffy-san, nya."

"What?"

"His name is Fluffy-san," I said as if he was the weird one. "Nya."

He gave me a bewildered look, before sighing and giving up. "You know what, nevermind. Hiashi-sama wanted me to check up on you."

I gave him a thumbs-up. "I'm fine, how about you?"

"I'm doing well. Thank you for asking. I'm going to go to bed now. Good night."

"Good night!"

kukukuku~

A/N: Shout out to Vapors by electrasev5n. I liked it. Someone finally used chakra threads for something aside from puppets. Seriously, why didn't any ninja do anything like some sort of Wind Release cutting wire jutsu? That would be so cool! Also Vapors was funny and made me laugh at several moments (Kakashi is a pretty pretty princess).

Right, so hopefully I'm doing a good job with this. I don't know if it's the best job, but it's at least good, right? Remember that, as always, I am very open to constructive criticism, so please criticize me constructively. Please.

#I Would Totally Kick Jiraiya's Butt #fanfiction #IWTKJB CH3 #Naruto #Naruto Shippuden spoilers

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celtrist · 6 years

Text

Campbell Asylum

The boy looked out the window, looking rather bored to say the least. When were they going to stop? How long has it been? Has it been an hour or five hours? He kicked his dangling feet against the empty seat in front of him. He wasn't going to bother asking the driver how much longer when he hasn't even answered his question the other seven times. To his luck though, the bus seemed to come to a halt. If they were at a gas station of some kind, he could always try and make his escape. The doors swished open, the driver muttering "Crazy kid is here." 'shit' Max cursed internally. Maybe he should've jumped out the window? Forcing himself out of the chair and grabbing his bag, although he doubts that he'll be able to keep it. He walked towards and out the door with an irritated frown, welcomed by an obnoxious looking man. He looked to be a red head with green eyes, smiling down brightly at Max. "Hello there!" He greeted warmly, his tone aggravating the ten year old. "Welcome to Campbell Hospital! You must be Max, right? I'm David, and I'm here to help you with whatever you need!" Yeah, he should've jumped out. Is it too late to get back in the bus? Then again, windows are probably closed tight. It didn't matter though as the doors behind him closed quickly after he stepped out, he probably wasn't the first to attempt an escape. Max rolled his eyes at the man, he could always run now, sure, but he doubted he would get very far. "I think 'asylum' would be a better term for this shit hole." Max retorted, glaring up at the man who made a sad frown. "Language Max! I didn't think you'd have such a potty mouth on you!" David told him, ignoring Max's comment.

Taking a better look at what he was wearing, he didn't exactly look like what Max had expected. The movies would normally have people in all white, where as David didn't seem to hold to that style. He instead sported boots, khaki pants, and a green shirt similar to a polo, with the sleeves going up to his elbows. He also had a yellow bandanna around his neck, odd. "With introductions out of the way, why don't I give you a tour?" David said in a chipper tune. "I would rather you not but you're going to do it anyway, aren't you?" with that, Max was led to the inside of the facility.

If David didn't look like the movies, the asylum itself sure did. It wasn't as disgustingly dirty as far as Max saw, but the place was old. There was no doubt about that. Max looked around the opening room, not big, but not exactly small. There was a counter, which was probably the check in. There were some chairs, they looked old but maybe fairly comfy. David was rambling on about something, which Max could only presume it being about the history of the place or something stupid like that. "Max?" A voice piped in taking the boy out of his thought. Looking up, he glared back up to that eye soring smile once more. "We're going to the cafeteria next, are you hungry?" Max shook his head to indicate 'no'. He'd stored enough junk food in his bag to last a few days, at least he hoped. He already ate quite a bit on the way here, but still hoped there was enough before he leaves.

David takes Max down a hall and to a door, where some noise could be heard. It sounded questionably tamed. upon opening the door, there was a tad bit of chaos. Some kids seemed to be peacefully sitting down trying to eat whatever they were served, others seemed to be causing chaos. "DAVID." A woman shouted in annoyance, causing the shock David to wince a bit. "This is why you don't leave me with 9 kids!" she most likely didn't want to say anything inconsiderate, so just calling them 'kids' does seem the easiest. Max looked up towards David with an unamused face, "So, does this shit happen all the time?" Before he could answered, he was called over once more by the woman who looked like she was handling a teal haired girl, holding her away at arm length, and pushing another girl with round glasses away with her foot. He hurried over to assist her, Max noted the name "Gwen", sounding like he was referring to the woman. Looking over the area, it was not what he expected at all, at least for what they look like. None of them were wearing any straight jackets like seen in the movies, nor plain white clothing. Was it because they were old movies? Max's knowledge on asylums only really came from what he watched, which were horror movies unsurprisingly. He thought patients were treated inhumanly, but he didn't think about how that wouldn't be the case in modern day.

He looked towards the two adults, who seemed to have been dealing with some of the other children. They were distracted. Who knew escape was happening so soon? He turned around and opened the doors to leave, only to be met with a pair of legs. David could NOT have been so quick. Looking up, it was in fact not David, but the creepy old bus driver. He was picked up by the hooked hand man by the hood of his hoodie. Max crossed his arms in annoyance, staying where the old man had placed him. He didn't notice until he was put down, the bus driver had syringes in his non hook hand. He proceeded towards David and Gwen and nonchalantly took one of the syringes to stab it against the dark skinned girl with glasses that David was previously holding back. It looked like she had calmed down, momentarily falling asleep. He soon did the same to the teal girl, though it took two more to really put her to sleep. Gwen heaved a sigh of relief, taking the girl she was holding away into a more comfortable way. "Thanks QM, we didn't have any in here because someone forgot to refill." She said, shooting a glare towards the man who picked up the kid he was holding back moments ago. He nervously laughed, clearly embarrassed.

The ten year old turned away from them, seeing as they were talking about something he was not at all interested in. Next to him, there was a brown haired boy, his hair seeming rather curly. It was, dare Max say, possibly curlier than his. He looked to have a yellow sweater to match with his red pants. The boy seemed distant, something Max could get behind. Max put his head in his hand and leaned on the table, "So, what the fuck are you in for?" he asked. Waiting a few moments, he didn't get an answer. Max frowned at being ignored. "Helloooo, are you fucking deaf or what?" Now that Max thought about it, that could totally be a possibility. Before he could say something else, the boy surprisingly spoke. "Why are you bothering me?" He asked, seeming annoyed. His voice was nasily, but he still kept his eye on his food. He wasn't eating, just playing. Max stared for a moment wondering what to say until he cut out the silence once more. "I was just wondering what the fuck got you in here. You seem like one of the sanist people here as far as I've seen." the boy turned his head towards Max, seeming unimpressed with his appearance. "I don't think it's any of your business why I'm here." he told him, to which Max held up his hands in defense. "Hey, I was just asking. If I'm going to be stuck here before I can escape, I might as well get to know people who can form coherent sentences." He quirked a brow at Max curiously. "Escape?"

"Yeah, you think I'm staying at this shit hole against my will? Hell no. I plan on getting out."

The brunette stared for a moment, but soon smirked putting his hand out. "Neil." He said bluntly. Max quickly realized they were doing introductions. "Max." They shook hands, only to stop when oh so happy David popped up. "Oh look at you Max! Already making friends! And with Neil no less!" The boy named Neil looked away in disgust. "We can't be friends if we barely no each other dumb ass." Well, looked like Max won't be the only one swearing at this place. Max reluctantly looked up at the smiling David. "So... are you going to do some shock therapy shit at some point or what?" The man seemed taken aback by the question for a moment before putting a hand over his heart, "Oh heavens no Max! That kind of treatment is far too cruel to even be legal now!" David moved a hand towards Max to ruffle his hair, but was quickly swatted away by tiny hands.

Max didn't even realize that he had come to the hospital at a rather late time, he was probably too concerned with other things to notice the time of day. After dinner, there seemed to be a bit of free time. Neil told Max that he could probably be of use in his escape, as long as he were to also escape. Nikki, the teal haired girl from earlier, would be useful as well he said, though he clearly was thinking about her usefulness rather her also being able to leave. Everything started to get quiet when it was starting to get to the time people fell asleep. The place was old, but it looked like there have been some additions since it first being built to meet the modern day conditions, one example being the rooms. No one seemed to share a room, as far as Max saw at least. "Is it just you and that other guy?" Max asked Gwen. She wore a zip up pink hoodie with no strings with shorts and leggings, all paired with some boots. She looked cozy for what she was wearing, but her face looked tired to no end. "If you're not including QuarterMaster, then yes. It's just me and David." Normally, Gwen would be holding the kid's hand, but Max seemed extremely against that. Reaching to a door, Gwen opened it, unlocking it first, to a barren room. The bed looked like shit, but there was a desk and a chair. And there was a window, locked and secured, but a window. "Now this looks more like the movies." Max stated, walking past Gwen and to the bed, setting his bag down on it. Gwen didn't leave yet, which made Max curious. "What?" Max asked looking at her. "David didn't check your things, did he?" Max raised a brow, to which she entered the room herself coming closer to Max. "I need to see your bag." Max quickly held the bag to his chest. 'Fuck that,she's not having this.' he thought internally. "Max, I need to see it."

"Why? Can't I at least have SOME things?" He stepped back when she came closer. She sighed and crouched. "Listen, I'm not taking any of your stuff-"

"Then why the fuck do you want it?" he retorted. "It's a rule we have, we just take things that you could hurt yourself with." Max stayed quiet for a moment. As far as he remembered, he didn't bring anything really harmful, at least not anything harmful in the bag. He had to admit he was tired and didn't want to do this longer than he had too, Max handed her the bag which she gave a quiet "Thank you." to. Gwen didn't really find anything aside from some clothes and a stuffed bear, but that was just the first pocket. Upon opening the second, she was shocked to see how much candy he had smuggled in. "Holy fuck, were you going to just eat sweets for the whole time you're here!?" She asked, holding up a few candy bars. She could already tell that swearing in front of Max wouldn't be a problem considering how much he swears himself. She began taking out all the candy into a pile, which Max did not take to kindly. "Hey! I thought you said you weren't going to take anything that wasn't going to hurt me!"

"Kid, these might not hurt you directly, but you can't live off this stuff. It's bad for your health and will just rot your teeth no matter if you brush every night." He tried lunging at her, but she was clearly stronger than him.

Once collecting all the candy, she stood up, with Max batting at her legs. "Oh shit your shoes." She said, Max stopped and looked at them and then back at her. "Yeah, what about them?" he asked. "You can't have shoelaces." Max frowned at the explanation, Gwen realized that he may have wanted elaboration. "You can wear whatever you want, there's just some restrictions to it, one is that you can't have shoelaces."

"Well if I take them out, my shoes will keep falling off." It wasn't exactly true, but they wouldn't feel like they're on. Gwen thought for a moment, thinking of what to do. "What about you give them to me for tonight and I'll ask David to put velcro on them. You don't want to sleep in shoes anyway." Max was surprised a bit. What, is David a cobbler or shoe maker now? "Can't I just keep them, I'm not going to do anything." Max asked, to which Gwen shook her head. "Said any psycho ever, I promise I'll bring them to you in the morning." He realized she wasn't going to leave without the shoes and reluctantly pulled them off to them to her. First the candy and now this. He sat on the bed glaring at her. "Tomorrow we're going to have out first session kid, so get some sleep." 'session?' The fuck she means about that? Before he could ask, Gwen had already left the room.

Max got up to go to the way out, only for it to be locked. Made sense. The boy went to his bag and pulled out his prized bear, Mr. Honeynuts. He got on the bed, making it creek at his weight. He placed the bear by his side and pulled his hoodie over his head, revealing a tattered black shirt. There were some holes like his other shirts, that were also black. His parents never really bothered and just got him the same thing. Reaching into his hand into his pocket, he pulled out a pocket knife that he stole from his dad before he left. He was lucky that they didn't decide to check his person, or he would've lost it. He flicked it, trying to get the blade to come out, succeeding on his third try. Once it popped up, he admired it, poking the tip with his finger. This wasn't his first time with it, nor his first time thinking about doing something. Max had always wanted a switchblade of his own, but he always enjoyed pissing his Dad off when he stole it from him. It was odd to think such a brutish man held possession to such a beautiful item. There were engravements on the hilt. "Nevermore" was engraved in the hilt. Max could only guess what it meant. It sounded like something was missing and the space between "Never" and "More" needed expansion. Never more of what? Never more of love? Tears? Max didn't know, but he didn't care all to much. Max slowly moved the blade to his wrist, but moved down his arm with the blade hovering. 'I could bleed out way more than I want if I do the wrist.' He thought. He was smart enough to know where he shouldn't cut. Stopping at the fat part of his arm, he put pressure with the blade causing it to bleed. His breath hitched, it stung like it normally did. He carefully slid the blade to form a line, it was 1 and a half inches. He debated on continuing, as most sessions would end with more than just one, but he decided he'd try counting how many days he was here with his cuts. Luckily, his old ones had faded out into barely visible scars. He's never gone to deep with his cuts. Taking a risk, Max decided to deepen this one, to make it more clear for when it becomes a scar. It hurt like hell. He paused, taking the knife out of the wound and grabbing his sweater. The bow grabbed a sleeve and stuffed it into his mouth. Once that was done, he continued with his task. He dipped the blade back in, deeper than the first time he cut to really get into the flesh. He whined at how painful it was, but he didn't cry. Tears were all dried up by his parents, that's what he liked to believe. He didn't quite know why he did this, he just did because he felt like it. Because he felt he deserved it maybe? Was this to cope with how neglectful his parents were? He wasn't quite sure, but he still did it. It didn't change the fact that it hurt. He could feel himself drooling with the amount of saliva pooling up in his mouth from his sleeve. He was whimpering from the pain, but kept quiet to not alert anyone. Once he finished, Max took the blade out, blood dripping. The wound was bleeding quite a bit, Max didn't think of what to do for this. He would usually go back to his house and grab a napkin or something and clean it, but he had no such luxury here. He decided to sacrifice a shirt from his bag and dabbed the wound until it stopped gushing. This too longer than usual, which he could only guess was because it was deeper than usual.

Once that was all done, Max had to hide the blade. He could always put it in his bag, but David or Gwen might decide to check it again. He didn't want to sleep with it in his pocket or take it with him everywhere. Sure he likes to keep the knife with him at all times, he's not stupid. David or Gwen could always do checks for something on a person. He would only want to bring it if he KNOWS he's going to use it, for now at least. He could hide it in the bed, but a giant hole in the mattress would seem suspicious, if only there was a bed spread. Max was unsure if this place was being super cheap or not with somethings. 'What about the pillow?' Max asked himself. There were two pillows, so one could cover the other, and who looks at pillows? He first searched to see if there was another way to hide the knife aside from cutting a pillow open. It looked like he had no choice. Before cutting, Max cleaned off the blade with his shirt, making it look shiny once more. He sliced one open, but not to big. It was just a small hole for the knife. He pushed the knife in, but pushed his hand in a bit as well to make the knife go deeper. Max's hand stretched the hole, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Once the knife found a home, Max had to deal with the stuffing coming out. He didn't take that into account. A quick idea he hoped would work popped in his head. He took the bloody shirt he threw to the side and stuffed it into the pillow, making sure it's blocking the hole and trying to make it the clean side that poked out, so the mattress under it wouldn't end up with small blood stains. 'The smallest evidence can be your worst enemy' A mantra that Max thought a lot of criminals should take to heart. Which brought to his attention that cameras could be in the room. He looked around, not finding any as far as he saw. 'Looks like they're too cheap to get cameras.' He put both his pillows down under his head, the blade one being at the bottom, and looked at the wall of his room. He curled up into a ball, as usual, and pulled the covers up higher to his chin. When his parents said he'd end up at an insane asylum, he didn't realize they were serious.

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Thank you for reading! This is my first fanfic ever, which I’m upset it wasn’t Sonic but I’m just not in the mood and have no idea what I would do for him (maybe some adorable brother fluff between Sonic and Tails, they’re so cute when they act like siblings). I am really nervous about the response on this! Because 1. I’m not actually sure how many people will really pay attention to this, and 2. How well this was written is debatable. I’ve actually been writing a few chapters for this for awhile. I’m currently on chapter 8. Even if this doesn’t get a good response, I might just keep going since it’s a nice little outlet for me aside from drawing. I usually think up a lot of stories already, both original and fandom stories, so I figured why not actually write-er, type-one out. If enough people are interested, I might get an Ao3 account and upload more chapters. If not, I might either keep the chapters to myself or post them anyway. I also want to say that this isn’t based on either of the already existing aus (mental hospital and asylum au) but I did nab a few ideas out of them (like the problems some of the kids have). I think they were just ridiculously dark or something, I remember one of them having Max in a freaking strait jacket and Nurf was dead. I-it’s crazy. I also did my RESEARCH with modern day asylums, and they’re pretty cool. As said in the story, people don’t wear any kind of uniform or straight jackets. They can wear anything as long as they can’t hurt themselves (such as strings on a hoodie or shoes). Same goes for nurses, though it depends on the hospital. Some allow you to wear anything with some restrictions (Like you can’t have a picture of Satan on your shirt or anything dark like that), while others does have a uniform like a polo and khaki pants.

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