#it was a fireman putting out fires with water that was made up of different flags

[defiant-firefly]

Okay so I’ve been back from Pride for a few hours now and. I’m calling it now, my voice is not gonna work tomorrow lmao I was talking to so many people for so long it was great

Like, the show was great, the acts were a bit hit and miss but honestly I feel kinda bad for some of them given how awful the wind has been but you know, they did great all things considered. It really was fuckin’ wimdy like maaaan. Loads of such nice people to talk to, and the companies that sponsored it literally did not pull punches like I know we talk about companies being performative or whatever but like. They did not half ass this holy shit?? They even made the fuckin’ lawnmowers gay whadda hell?? Oh and some of these people had the best rainbow hats like they had felt rainbow cowboy hats and fedoras, and then dresses of mixed flags, and flag capes and shit it was so fuckin’ cool.

And you know what? Everything was so fuckin’ cheap???? In a world where everything is so stupid expensive I got ten sugar donuts for £3 which is honestly ridiculous. Burgers and shit were the same and they were huge??? I only had the donuts there were too many there for me so I went around some of the cool stall holders I’d spoke to and got them to take a few from me they were so good. Speaking of stall holders, my old PE teacher from school was one???? For one of the charities there???? She was a fun teacher but I swear it was like Perry the fucking Platypus. She took her sunglasses off and suddenly I knew exactly who she was as if we hadn’t been talking for a few minutes already and then she immediately clocked onto who I was and it was just crazy that is the last place I expected to see her and the last person I expected to see at Pride of all things. She gave me free flowers because I kept losing on the tombola lmao

But yeah for reals everything was so cheap and often straight up free like I feel like I robbed some of these people what. And you know what? Two of the stalls sold phone charms despite modern phones not having a thing for those anymore. Not a problem for me though, I use an MP3 Player still and let me tell you... the audible gasp I got when I pulled it out of my pocket like ‘oh will it work on this?’. Guys people love the MP3 player apparently. Old tech for the win.

I’d say babys first Pride Event was a success that was great. Happy Pride Season and happy first day of Disability Pride month!

#there was so much shit #talking for days and the fuckin' WIMD #there was a hedgehog charity there selling knitted hedgehogs and they were so cute I now have a new little guy to love #it's insane how affordable everything was though like. I don't think I'll be over that for a LONG time #pride goers know the priders got no money I guess #anyway had a laugh had a wonder got a shit ton of freebies saw a gay lawnmower #the fire engine had the 'fire doesnt discriminate and neither do we' thing written on it with a cool as fuck image #it was spread across the entire engine it was GREAT #it was a fireman putting out fires with water that was made up of different flags #was so good #the whole thing was good #a small set up but that's all they needed really it was fun #my voice is definitely gonna be gone by tomorrow thoug #it is NOT surviving that long lmao #i do be tired now though that was six hours straight of wandering and talking #when I haven't gone further than up and down the stairs and talked for more than like ten minutes out loud a day maybe for ages #i dont get out much but hey my PE teacher invited me to come do some volunteering with her so maybe that's gonna change who knows #we shall see

[safe-t-mark]

Fire Extinguisher Safety

What is the right fire extinguisher for the fire you might have to fight?  Are you aware that there are 5 different classes of fire extinguishers?  Depending on the type of fire, will depend on the class of fire extinguisher to use.

Class A fire extinguishers are used for fighting fires like paper, wood, fabric and plastics.  Most of these types of fires can be put out with water or a dry substance known as monoammonium phosphate, which is in ABC type of fire extinguishers.  A class A fire extinguisher can be an extinguisher filled with water and pressured up with air.

Class B fire extinguishers are for fighting fires that are from flammable liquids like gas, oils or paints. Flammable gases like propane and butane can also be fought with class B type of fire extinguishers. 

Class C fire extinguishers are to fight electrical fires.  As you are aware you would never want to fight an electrical fire with water, you would want to use a substance that is nonconductive to stop this type of fire.

Class D fire extinguishers are used in fighting fires from combustible metals like aluminum, potassium, titanium, or magnesium.  Most of this type of fire can occur in laboratory type environments.  Class D fires require a type of dry chemical that will smother this fire.

Class K fire extinguishers are used in cooking related fires.  The issue with cooking type of fires, is that they are commonly made from grease and can spread easily, unless it is smothered.  Class K extinguishers are meant for these types of fires and are effective in smothering and stopping these fires.

The most common fire extinguisher that is used unless you deal with metals of cooking, is an ABC fire extinguisher.  These extinguishers can be used in A, B, and C type of fires and are a dry chemical known as monoammonium phosphate. 

If the fire is at a start, you might be able to use the extinguisher to put out the fire.  In larger fires, remember fire extinguishers are there to help you and others escape and not put the fire out.  It is better to be safe than hoping that a fireman will come save you.

There are a variety of sizes of fire extinguishers, depending on the person who might need to use the extinguisher, you will want to make sure they can lift it and be able to use it to escape.  It is important to train everyone in the use of fire extinguishers, as there could be that day when only one person is in the office and will need to use the extinguisher.

[dotthings]

Dean Winchester

Dean’s heart, all it contains, is the most powerful weapon he has and he doesn’t know it. When he loves he loves big and he loves fiercely and he cares so deeply, in different relationships and in different ways. The scope of his capacity to love isn’t something he’s aware of, he just feels, he just acts.

Dean doesn’t see all the things he himself is, or how those who love him see him.

Dean inspires strong love and devotion in others towards him and doesn’t understand the depth that this happens, or how, or why.

Dean is nurturing and yet he is so much more than a nurturer.

Dean’s a warrior. But wielding a rock salt shotgun and a machete, being his father’s blunt instrument, isn’t all he is.

Dean uses strategy and sigils, experience and lore, and appeals to the goodness within beings to fight evil as much as he uses weapons.

Dean’s into metal and classic rock and his big muscle car and cultivates a persona of the cool rebel tough guy yet he’s a massive geek who has Scooby-Doo underwear, has watched all the Trek, digs horror movies as a way to decompress and gain mental control over the real horrors he has to fight, and wears silly socks.

Dean is a fierce badass who has been to both Hell and Purgatory multiple times and radiates cool and has dark shadowy spaces in him, deep fears and anger and immense hurt and pain and he is the softest, kindest, forgiving, cuddly, adorkable, uncertain, vulnerable, sweet marshmallow nerd.

Dean’s been an adoptive dad to so many kids and wants to be a dad, doesn’t realize how he already is. He talks to them with respect, understands their fears, protects them, guides them, recognizing their competencies and resourcefulness.

Dean sees the potential in people. Their goodness. Who they could become. Their ability to be courageous. He believes in them when they don’t believe in themselves.

Dean’s a trickster, a charmer, a con artist, a hustler, he’s been a fireman, an FBI agent, a park ranger, a PA, a construction worker, and is excellent at all of it.

Dean hasn’t learned how to play guitar but holds the secret that he knows how to sing well.

Dean’s great at engineering and made his own EMF meter and is great at fixing cars, rigging traps, outsmarting his opponents.

Dean is deeply insecure and weighed down by deep self-loathing yet his sense of self is a powerful force that sometimes battles with his insecurities and fears. 

Dean inspires others as an innate leader, an anchor, a big brother, a role model, the steady rock in the storm.

Dean sometimes is the storm.

Dean will smart-mouth at enemies where he is massively out-powered, especially when he is out-powered, while his heart’s hammering in his chest and he’s frightened but his inner fire is unstoppable.

Dean’s used to living on the road, in bad motel rooms, in his car, yet savors the shelter and stability of great water pressure, his memory foam mattress, the safety and comfort of the bunker, in no small part because the bunker can shelter and protect all those he loves, his blood family and his found family, when needed.

Dean explodes feelings all over the place all the time with his heart blazing on his sleeve and he’s the actual worst at maintaining the no-chick-flick-moments facade. He avoids and tries to hide as long as he can, yet he shows love freely, he shows it often in action but he also uses his words. The feeble attempt at repression is how he copes with the torrent of his own intense big emotions.

Dean’s immensely brave yet deeply frightened, most of all of losing those he loves, and of failing to save people in general, but also he is scared he is not loved, at the same time he is scared to see how much he is loved. 

Dean’s scared of becoming something he doesn’t want to be yet also at times needs to escape into being something different, to have the weights lifted for a time.

Dean thinks he’s doomed yet has so much capacity for hope.

Dean mostly has hope for others but sometimes, sometimes, hope for himself, hope in his own goodness, for his own potentials. He finds purpose in saving people and fending off monsters but he wants more than just that, he has yearnings and wishes outside of that sense of duty. He has hope that maybe he can pursue some of the things he wants, find out what else he is, and that maybe he won’t have to die young on a hunt, where his only happy ending is someone else’s. That he can have his own.

Dean keeps breaking free of every attempt to confine him, to label him, the roles his father tried to limit him to, that Heaven and Hell wanted him to dance in, that God himself wanted him to play. 

Dean knows that joy is an act of defiance, he knows how to savor things, because life can be brutal.

Dean refuses to give up. He keeps getting up again and again after the hurt, keeps loving despite the fear of loss, keeps putting one foot in front of the other and keeps trying to do good.

(screencap by screencapped.net, my edit)

#Dean Winchester #Happy Birthday Dean #Dean meta #The15YearShow #my edit

[imaginarypeteel]

Back In The Firehouse

Mateo Chavez x reader

Fandom: 911: Lone Star

Summary: You're a former member of the old 126. You survived the explosion but weren't as lucky as Judd. You're half deaf now and can't go on the field again but still want to see what the new station looks like.

Word count: 5k

You pushed your hair back as you stood in front of the new 126. You and Judd had kept some contact but you both had been too depressed and had grown distant.

You had grown used to your new life as someone with a hearing disability. Getting a new job was hard since you didn't like deskjob much and were more hands on type of person. So you became a social worker. Helping people with hearing disabilities.

You felt a tug on your left hand and looked down. Your aid dog, Prince - a massive mongrel who people often mistook as a Kangal shepherd - was looking at you. "Alright, let's go," you said as you started to walk towards the firehouse.

As you stepped in you realized how different this place was now. It was shiny and posh and everything that old 126 wasn't.

You thought you heard a call and got confirmed when Prince set his forepaw onto your knee. The woman looked around before doing a 180°.

There was a black guy in a firefighter uniform, "Hi! I'm Y/n L/n. I worked here before?" you smiled and introduced yourself.

"Oh! Hi, I'm Paul Strickland and I work here currently," he laughed lightly. "Care to introduce me to the new squad?" you asked with a grin. "Yeah sure, they're in the kitchen."

You followed Paul to the very modern looking kitchen.

The moment you stepped in, you saw a familiar face and before Paul could say anything, the person had seen you too. "Why look what the dog brought in," he grinned and walked up to you. The two of you did a bro hug. The fact that you're a girl didn't matter, you had always been more of a tomboy.

"Judson you corn-fed man are still in the line?" you laughed. "Well someone's gotta look over them."

"You gonna introduce your friend to us, Judd?" a beautiful woman with a hijab asked.

"Right, 126 Y/n L/n, Y/n 126," Judd said. "Well that's accurate," a man with nice blue eyes said with sarcasm and pushed forward, he stretched a hand out to you to shake it, "Captain Owen Strand."

The others in the room had all introduced themselves, you were ready to ask some questions but then their eyes switched to your left. The side you were deaf at. After the accident, you had greatly relied on reading people, so there was probably someone else beside you. You turned to your left and were met with a handsome young guy. His hand was stretched out and he looked shy and was a bit flushed. Probably because you hadn't acknowledged him before. "Sorry sorry, I didn't hear you," you apologized and shook his hand. "Uhm, it's okay, I'm Mateo...Chavez..." You give him a smile and turned back to the others.

Prince had met Buttercup and you could tell that he wanted to play with the fire dog, so you let him go but made sure to keep him in sight. You really needed him, were a little helpless without him.

"So how do you know Judd?" Marjan asked.

"I was a firefighter here before the accident," you explained with a sad smile. "Oh..." You took a deep breath. "Yeah, unlike this guy, I got away with yes life but I also lost ability to hear from my left ear - which is why I couldn't hear you," you looked at Mateo with apologetic eyes and he smiled shyly in return, "and my sight isn't as good in my left eye aswell, I mean I can still see from it but it's a bit blurry, that's all."

"That's why you have Prince?" TK asked with interest, you nodded as a reply.

~~~***~~~

You were teaching Buttercup some tricks with the help of Prince when the crew retreated from a call. By what the dispatcher said, it was a housefire and the smell of burning and sweat that drifted off them proved it.

"How'd it go?" you asked. "Phew," Marjan plopped into a seat near you, "Pretty good, saved a mother and two girls from a housefire," she said as she tried to call Buttercup over but the bernese mountain dog just jogged over to TK. "Oh come on! Does TK ever give you as many treats I do?"

Buttercup didn't react to it but Prince strolled over and sniffed her at the mention of treats. He was a smart dog.

"So guys, I'm going to a bar with Carlos tonight, wanna come with?" TK asked as he rubbed the big dog's chest. "Hmm... Sure, by the way, who's Carlos?" you asked as you yawned slightly. "My boyfriend," TK said proudly, making you nod with a smile. You for some reason had always become so happy at the mention of gay couples. You couldn't explain it. "I'll come too!" Mateo chirped. The others agreed to come too, Judd saying he'll take Grace along.

~~~***~~~

You looked at yourself in the mirror. Black leather pants tightly around your legs, white v-neck and a black leather jacket to cover it all. Fashion hadn't ever been really your thing. You were more of a 'throw on whatever's the cleanest' type but right now, you weren't against the idea of putting in at least some effort. Your hair was loose, that you were not going to change.

You couldn't drive because of your disabilities and couldn't take Prince to the bar, so all of this was making you anxious.

You noticed your phone vibrating on the counter and picked it up. Your Uber driver had arrived. You gave a confused Prince a concerned look. The dog had become a big part of your life and you relied on him a lot. Yes, you had a cat from your early twenties who was a big emotional support but outside, Prince was your rock.

You bent down and the big dog trotted over to you. "Take care of Disney, okay?" you said and kissed his forehead. Of course he didn't understand your words but he knew that you were leaving and not taking him with you, so he too was anxious.

You grabbed your keys and phone and went out the door, locking it.

~~~***~~~

"So Y/n," Mateo said as he sat on the stool beside you, nervously tapping on the bottle of beer. "Hm?" you hummed while taking a sip of whiskey.

"What do you do? Now that... you know," he trailed off awkwardly. "Yeah, I do," you smiled, "I help people with hearing disabilities. Whether kids who are born with it or people who have lost it during life. Help them get back on track and learn to live with it, maybe even give them the list of jobs they could still apply to. Sometimes I even recommend then and get them an interview," you explained.

"Oh wow, that's nice of you," he said while bobbing his head. "Says the guy who gets in all sorts of dangerous situations to save people," you laughed. Mateo smiled but not wide, "Well, actually the others do most of the work, I just lag behind mostly." You rose your brows at that, "Really? Pretty sure I saw you on TV once." The dark-haired man smiled wider at that. "I was just passing out water bottles. Our Captain was getting the real action though."

"Mhm, okay. My best friend was squealing when she saw you to be honest," you laughed at the memory.

~~~***~~~

"Y/n you're telling me you worked with guys like him back in the day?" Evely gasped as she was watching the news. You were just looking over some papers of one of your current patients'. "Hm?" you raised your head at the big screen before looking down again. "Not all of them are like that. Pretty sure he is just a probie," you murmured as a frown stretched on your face. "Oh wow, if a probie looks like that, I imagine what a fireman looks like," Evely moaned which had you cringing. "Caaalm down you little hoe."

The brunette shot you a look before returning to the man on the screen who was handing out water bottles. "Just look at those arms," she squealed.

~~~***~~~

"Really? What did you think of it?" he asked with excitement. "I wasn't really paying attention but while I was in the taxi and driving here, I remembered seeing you there," you grinned. Mateo's smile faltered at that before returning to the wide one. "So you were thinking about me while driving here?" he grinned slyly and moved his upper body closer to yours on the wooden bar. A small blush covered your cheeks and a grin stretched onto your face. Calm down, the kid is still young. Not like you were really old. No, you were just about to hit 30 but still.

"I think about lots of things while I have nothing to do so don't think you're so special," you chuckled and flicked his forehead. He flinched and rubbed his forehead while fake pouting at you.

Mateo's gaze flicked behind you and just as you decided to turn around, you felt a tap on your shoulder. You spun on the stool and came face to face with a familiar woman. "Grace!" you chirped and hugged the dispatcher. "Haven't seen you in a while, how you doing?" the dark-skinned woman asked as she set herself down on the stool beside you. "Well, I have a nice paying job that pays well. No one sick at the moment so medical bills are fine. Have been practicing some new tricks with Prince and well, I'm currently here."

The bartender asked Grace for her order before she could reply, "Porn Star, thank you. Judd?" the man didn't even waste a second before ordering a big glass of beer. You laughed at that and kept sipping your whiskey without any ice or water in it.

"So probie," Judd said as he waited for his beer, dragging Mateo's attention away from you, "Why you trying to swoon Miss Former Probie?" Grace and you giggled at that while Mateo's face changed color. "I-I um, I," the dark haired man stuttered. "I uh..."

"Oh leave him alone, Judd," Grace told her husband playfully.

"Here ya go," the bartender said as he pushed the couple's drinks in front of them. "Thank you," Grace smiled as she dragged the glass so it sat in front of her chest. Judd didn't waste a second to gulp some of his black beer down.

"Rough day? Then that might not be the best drink for that," you laughed while watching the man. He grinned and nodded, "I'm only starting right now, okay? By the end of the night, I'll be having a Bloody Mary with extra vodka and you know it."

~~~***~~~

The others soon started to arrive too. You talked with them yes but mostly spoke with Judd and Grace, Mateo came after them. You didn't realize how much you missed spending time with a fire squad until now and how much you missed your old crew. Luckily you easily rekindled with Judd. He had mostly been the person who taught you everything on the field which was also the reason why you were with him and not near the fire when the accident happened.

A few tears trailed downwards as you thought of your old crew. But then you felt someone touching your left shoulder. Spooked, you snapped your attention to the person, hair whipping at their face in the process. It was Mateo. "Sorry that I startled you!" he immediately apologized with sad puppy eyes. You smiled but rose your left brow when he frowned. "Oh God! Did I startle you that much that you had to cry? I am so so so sorry Y/n!" he apologized over and over again. You laughed lightly as you heard him.

While wiping away the tears with your left hand, you placed your right hand on his cheek, "No no, it isn't your fault. Just remembered....them." After wiping away the tears, your tipsy self looked at him with your head slightly tilted. You rubbed gentle circles on his cheek with your thumb while smiling fondly. He was staring at you with dark eyes full of surprise but hesitantly snuggled his cheek into your hand. "Hey Mateo," you said as you leaned closer to him. He mirrored your movements and started to lean closer, probably thinking he is going to get a kiss. "Wanna go dance?" you grinned at the slight disappointment in his face. He still nodded and got up on his two feet.

The rookie firefighter was surprised by how he swayed a bit and had to grab onto his stool to keep himself from falling over. "Overthought your alcohol tolerance?" you laughed while taking a small sip of the paloma you had ordered before leaping to stand by the younger man. You too had been too confident in yourself and stumbled lightly before regaining balance. "Whoopsies," you giggled and dragged your hair back behind your head with your hand. Mateo gave you a flirty grin while extending his hand, "M'lady? May I have this dance?" he asked while playfully bowing. You squealed at his act and grabbed his hand, "Why yes, kind sir," you replied, playing along. Mateo gripped your hand a bit tighter before going over to the place where Judd and Grace were dancing with only two other couples.

Judd shot a look at the rookie that went unnoticed by you. He on the other hand decided that dancing with you was much more important so he just grabbed a gentle hold of your hips and the two of you simply swayed to the jazz.

You leaned more into him and felt yourself wanting to fall asleep like  this.

~~~***~~~

By the end of it, Mateo had escorted you home. Judd had indeed gotten that Bloody Mary he was talking about and had somehow made you get one too. 1. Your bank account didn't agree with this much. 2. Your mouth was on fucking fire. 3. You wanted milk and you wanted it now. 4. You felt sorta horny but sorta sleepy.

All that had resulted in you moaning at Mateo that you wanted to drink his milk while the two of you drove the taxi. Poor boy was very turned on but resisted it and decided to play innocent.

"I don't have any milk, Y/n. Yes, drop us here... I think. Is this your home?" the man asked you. You lazily turned your gaze outside of the window. Your left eye's sight was currently a complete foggy mess but the other one's was a semi blur. You just hummed even though you didn't really think it through and didn't even try to see the building.

Mateo helped you out of the uber and the two of you stood in front of a white building. You snuggled into the younger man who's arm was wrapped around your shoulder.

When you reached the front door, you resistantly left his cozy side and stepped closer to the door, pulling your keys out of the pocket.

"Okay, so, which apartment is yours?" the rookie asked as you let the front door of the apartment building close, fumbling with the keys, trying to understand which is which. When you didn't answer, he looked at you and was confused. Why weren't you answering?

He then realized that you were leaning on a wall, good ear facing it. He quickly walked over to you, "Y/n, you okay?" he asked with concern. "Yeah, yeah, the wall is just nicely cold." You let out a yawn, finally pushing yourself off the pure white wall. "Second floor," you said, starting to walk up the stairs. Mateo rushed after you and secured his left arm around your waist. He had slowed down on drinks and had even ordered a glass of water, so he was in much better condition than you.

When the two of you reached the second floor, you quickly dragged him to your apartment door. The moment you started jingling with the keys, Mateo heard a clatter of nails against stone floor.

When you opened it, a familiar golden colored giant barged into you and gave you floppy kisses while you laughed. "Ok boy, down," you ordered and the dog immediately followed. His innocent gaze trailed over to Mateo and he stalked to the man, sniffing him like a police K-9 searching for drugs.

"Come in, Matty," you giggled while watching him stand like he had just met gazes with Medusa. The man hesitantly stepped into your apartment and was about to proceed into the living room when you noticed that he was still wearing shoes. "Aaaah! No way! No way are you going anywhere past where I'm standing with your shoes on!" you yelled, startling the younger adult who flinched.

He froze before coming back to stand beside you while you glared at him with your e/c eyes, making him a bit nervous. Prince felt the change in the air and tensed. The big golden dog stepped in front of his owner and he too glowered at the rookie firefighter.

You cracked a small smile as you watched how the dark eyed man took his boots off.

The moment they were placed beside your other shoes, you loosened up, making your dog calmer too. In a matter of three seconds, you were in the kitchen with your pale grey socks letting you slide across the wooden floors.

Mateo placed himself on the couch where a calico cat came to inspect him. "Her name is Disney, while I was working as a firefighter, we found her in housefire. None of the people in the house claimed her as theirs. Probably because she was full of burns and in critical condition. Animal care ain't that cheap ya know. But my heart was hurting for her, so I decided to get her. I was like twenty or twenty-one I think. Don't regret it, she has always been a big emotional support for me," you told him while landing beside him with two glasses of water.

"Sounds lovely," Mateo nodded and took one of the glasses. "Indeed."

Disney climbed over to you and curled up on your chest. As she got comfortable, she started to purr loudly.

You smiled and kissed her forehead. She might be deaf and a little blind because of her injuries from the fire but she knew you loved her with your whole body. She was just like you.

~~~***~~~

When Mateo came to work next time, he was attacked with questions.

"So Probie,  you left with Y/n, what happened after?" Marjan grinned. "Yeah, I wanna know too," Judd said suspiciously.

"N-Nothing happened, she told me about her cat, gave me water and I was going home," the young man stuttered nervously. The crew looked at him, suspicious if he was really telling the truth. "Fine, we'll believe you for now," Marjan said upsetly.

~~~***~~~

Mateo looked up with wonder as he was walking home. The northern lights were really beautiful. Since he had departed with Paul and Marjan, he felt lonely. He wanted to be with someone right now and-

"Mateo!" he looked in front of himself again and saw your familiar form. A smile stretched onto his face, "Y/n!" You had Prince on the leash who was wagging his tail happily at the sight of the man. Over the matter of few months, he had come to completely love the guy.

You surpringly also had Disney on a leash.

The man walked over to you and gave you a tight hug out of nowhere. Yes, you were surprised but still hugged him back.

"It's okay Matty. Anyway, I brought them out to calm them down a bit. Things in my apartment went crazy because of the solar storm. TV put on some crazy metal channel which freaked out Prince and lights started flicking and all sorts of other things that made them both stressed. The floor is probably full of their pee," you sighed and rubbed the part between your eyes tiredly. "Yeah, today was crazy but at least it has had a beautiful ending," the man said as he pointed towards the sky with his nose, still petting your animals.

"Why hello to you too," you said as you pulled back. Mateo smiled shyly, "Yeah yeah, hi." He bent down to greet the animals, Prince giving him kisses and Disney rubbing herself against him. Mateo felt his nose get a little sniffy and let out a sneeze.

"Sorry, I'm actually a bit allergic to cats," he apologized.

When you had made sure the boy got to his parents safely, you tried to call 911 but no luck, your phone decided that despite being 86% few seconds ago, it was at 0% now. So tightly gripping Prince's leash, you had approached the door to your apartment slowly. The door wasn't unlocked, nor had any signs that anyone had touched it in general.

You looked up and nodded slowly, still not smiling. You had been at work with your newest patient - a lovely 9 year old boy named Samuel who lost some of his hearing because he flew with an airplane - when the lights in your office started flicking crazily, scaring both you and your patient. The water machine in the corridor started going off too. Your patient had started crying and you had to calm him down while also trying to make sense of the situation. Then you had gotten a call from one of your neighbors, telling you that there were several crashes in your apartment and that maybe someone had broken in. Prince was with you as your aid dog, he had also calmed down Samuel a bit while being anxious himself but worry for Disney and your valuables peaked in you.

When you finally opened the door, you first saw many shards of glass and other pieces of your dishes on the floor. The lights were flicking here too. Prince started whining. You jumped when you heard a loud crash in the living room. Quickly, you ran in and saw your TV on the floor and a scared Disney running away, pee trailing after her. She was absolutely freaking out. You tried to switch off the lights but they kept on flicking. Prince yelped which made you turn your attention to him, he was holding one of his paws up. Probably had stepped on one of the shards. You bit your lip and tried to pick him up to put him on the couch. You noticed that it too had wet spots. The microwave started dinging, your golden mongrel tried to hide his head under a pillow.

With a rush, you followed the path you had seen Disney go - the bedroom.

The room was torn apart. Completely. Disney almost crashed into you but when she did see you, she immediately jumped on your legs and started climbing up while letting out pathetic kitten cries. You felt tears brimming at your eyes at the feeling of her claws. The little calico tried to hide into your shoulder while her fur was bristling with fear. You held your cat and started heading towards the living room and sat on the couch slowly. Prince placed his head in your lap while whining.

Then that fucking TV, despite being on the floor, basically destroyed, had turned on and started playing metal music max sound on. So with a heavy heart, you had beat it with your foot until it became silent again.

When it had finally calmed down, you decided to head out. The traffic was calm and normal again, maybe a bit scarce but traffic lights were working normally. Your apartment was pretty much destroyed and you were going to be in debt trying to make it all up. You weren't mad at Disney, no. She was scared and you understood that.

You were so tired of this day and even those northern lights weren't going to make your mood much better.

Mateo saw your sour look and came back to a standing position. "You okay?" he asked with worry. He liked you a lot and seeing you like this wasn't nice.

"No, not at all. I don't want to go back to my apartment. It's completely destroyed. Completely," you sighed. The man tongued his cheek as he tried to come up with an idea that would lighten your mood. "You can stay at my place if you want?" he suggested. You glanced at him and shook your head, "You're sweet Mateo but I can't. There's no food for them in your place and I don't want to risk ruining your living quarters." The rookie firefighter draped one of his arms around your shoulders. "Then we will go and buy food for them right now and will stay up with them for the night until we are sure that this is all over, okay?" You looked at him and gave a flat smile. "Okay fine."

~~~***~~~

"It's not the biggest but it'll do...I hope," Mateo said as he walked in, carrying the bags of dog-and cat food. You looked around with a small smile, "It's perfect."

You hesitantly bent down and unlatched the leash from Disney's straps. The queen immediately went to inspect the place, Prince following right after once he was let loose.

Mateo walked past you and you got triggered inside as you saw him wearing shoes in the process. No way were you going to make your feet into squashed lemons or anything. So you leaned against the wall and took your shoes off. Mateo looked back at you, "Oh you don't have to take your shoes-" he rushed but halted when you faced your palm with him. "I want to, I am not going to let my feet be squeezed lemons, thank you very much."

He nodded quietly.

"Soooo..." the man awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, "Want anything to eat?" He frowned when you didn't reply.

"Sorry, did you say something?" you asked as you put your jacket away. "Wanna eat anything?" he repeated. "Eat? Oh yes! But nothing too much- Wait hold up. You just came from work. Oh man, I remember when I was a firefighter, I was starving when work finally ended. Would it be okay with you if I made you something?" Mateo smiled at you and nodded, "Y-yeah, sure. But I don't have much to make something of..." You grinned, the memories of being a rookie and having to make meals for the crew clouding your mind. "Shh... Let Chef (l/n) handle it!"

Mateo followed you after sometime and placed the pet foods on the counter. Immediately a clatter of nails dashing towards the kitchen was heard. You giggled as you saw Prince storm in by the sound of the food bags. "What the..." the younger adult mumbled. You just shook your head with a smile and returned to your search for food in his kitchen. Like he said, there wasn't much of it. Some takeout boxes were in the bin, so he probably lived off of that most of the time.

"Alright, one day, we're going grocery shopping, Teo," you told him. Finally you found a package of spaghetti in a drawer. You remembered seeing cheese in the fridge.

It was decided. You were gonna make mac and cheese.

~~~***~~~

You called for Mateo who was in the living room cuddling with Disney, an EpiPen in one hand and the other on the cat's back. "Sorry, can't come. I'm the chosen one- ACHOO!" he rejected your call. You - not knowing what's going on - frowned and went to see what the heck he was talking about. As you saw the cat curled up on the male, you grinned. "Okay, guess you have to starve then. By the way, any bowls or something I could place their food on?" Mateo was slowly letting his palm run over the calico's soft fur while sniffling, he didn't even look at you. "Mhmgh, if you're okay with paper plates then those are...uh... I think in the drawer under forks and knives. Oh and for water err.... Just take a random bowl that doesn't look too fancy."

"Okiedokie"

Mateo was carefully touching your kitty when all of a sudden, she woke up and stormed into the kitchen. "Huh?" Confused, he got up and followed the deaf cat.

When he entered the kitchen, both animals were chewing on the food. It wasn't nearly as high quality as what you usually bought them but they were hungry. You were putting cheese on your spaghetti. "Well look who came," you said amused as you pulled out a fork from the drawer.

He smiled and grabbed the other plate you had set aside for him. "Thanks for this, I normally don't have the energy to cook after work." His demeanor was a bit shy and you loved that. Some guys had approached you after the incident but had ran for the hills after finding out about your disabilty.

"Ya know Mateo, you are very cute," you complimented him out of nowhere. Startled, said man almost dropped his plate at your words, "W-What? I mean, thanks, uh, you're very too. I mean you're very cute too," he stuttered, tongue tied and blushing a little. He was avoiding your gaze, knowing he will say something stupid if he'll look at you.

You giggled at that and kept watching him, making him nervous.

~~~***~~~

It took months of cutting out your own desires, working overhours, missing out on nights of fun and doing DIY to get your apartment back to what looked like a normal home from a place that looked like a hurricane hit it. Mateo helped you out a lot through that. Helping you choose things from IKEA, assemble the things you brought from IKEA, helping you clean out the place and treating Prince's injured paw while you couldn't. Getting a new TV was a big pain in the arse. Since it was so freaking expensive when you wanted a good one.

It would've taken you months until you could get one. But one day, you came home one day to find a brand new flatscreen attached to a wall in your living room. Bigger than your previous one for sure. Mateo had been at your place, having a day off and wanting to help you with the new coffee table since the previous one had been destroyed with claw marks and pet urine.

Immediately you bombed him with questions when you saw the thing on the wall, also feeling very mad that he got you something so expensive.

Mateo denied buying the TV and said it was.... Judd. You calmed down after a while

You put your information in and logged into your Netflix account. Mateo was about to leave when you offered that he could stay. He agreed immediately and happily plopped down on the sofa. You told him to find a good horror movie while you made something to eat.

You cut some fruits and also managed to find some chips. Not as traditional as popcorn but it'll do the job.

"What did you choose?" you asked happily while making yourself comfortable beside him and placing the snacks on the coffee table he had put together throughout the day. He had talent in it, for real.

"I mean, I don't really watch horror movies, so are you okay with Escape Room?" he asked hesitantly. You tongued your cheek and smiled, "Yeah sure."

Unlike most people, you liked the scary stuff. Enjoying the adrenaline that came when something terrifying happened. Doesn't mean you didn't hold onto Mateo sometimes but he was the more scared one. "Oh my God Teo, you're like a baby when watching this stuff," you giggled. "I'm sorry I made you watch this," you apologized while leaning your head against his shoulder. "What? No, I err... Really liked it. Yeah, it was... Awesome," he lied pathetically. You snorted and rubbed circles on Prince's stomach while the big dog lay on his back beside you.

After some silence, the firefighter opened his mouth. "So Y/n," he started. You shifted your head to look at him curiously. "What would be the perfect... date in your opinion?" he asked nervously. You rose your brow with surprise, the question unexpected. "Perfect date huh?" you thought for a bit and came up with an answer. "Well I'm not a huge fan of romantic dinners and stuff like that. Maybe camping? I really enjoy hiking and hiking with someone I care about would be lit. Those two love hikes too," you gestured at your furry friends, "Plus it isn't an expensive fun thing to do. Well unless you going all out. Which I don't normally."

"In that case, wanna go camping on the weekend?" he asked happily yet nervousness was as clear as a crystal in his voice. You smiled at him, "Of course," and laid your head on his chest.

#x reader #disabled reader #Mateo chavez #mateo chavez x reader #x older reader #911 lone star #911 #911 x reader #911 lone star x reader #dog #fluff #cat #firefighter #firefighters #social worker #social workers

[janicho88]

Fire, Fur & Mistletoe Chapter 3

Pairing- Eventual Dean x Female Reader.

Word Count-2,383

Warning- Mentions of: loss of parents, death, and fires.  Possible swearing. Slight angst. Fluff

Summary- A rewrite of the Nine Lives of Christmas, Hallmark movie. AU, Dean is a firefighter who doesn’t do commitment, the Holiday’s don’t mean much to him.  Coming home after a shift he finds a dog in trouble.  The reader is a veterinary student who works in a coffee shop trying to make it to graduation, until someone causes problems there for her.  She isn’t interested in finding anyone other than her own dog until after she finishes school.  Do their four legged friends have other plans?

A/N- This series is written for @spnchristmasbingo.  The square filled for this chapter is Christmas Tree  The first two chapters will stay closer to the movie than the rest will.  

This chapter also fills my entry for @supernatural-love14​,100 Followers writing challenge.  Prompt - I don’t remember the last time I truly enjoyed Christmas.

This has its own tag list and it is open.  That way I am not tagging anyone who doesn’t want to be tagged in Christmas stories.   This story is unbeta’d.

Header by the amazing @winchest09

Divider from freepngimg.com

Series Masterlist

To say you were surprised to end up at an elementary school would be an understatement.    Dean’s group of fascinating people were the kindergarten classes. He even had plastic fireman hats for them, and of course an extra one for you. 

The kids were so caught up in his speech about fire safety and the important things to remember if there ever is a fire.  He was so good with them and kept them all interested.  He finished his presentation talking about Christmas trees and how they should all make sure their parents keep them watered, so the lights don’t catch them on fire. 

Dean took questions at the end.  Some of the boys wanted to know what it was like to drive the fire truck, someone asked if it was fun to slide down the pole.  They were disappointed when Dean told them there wasn’t one where he worked.  One little girl at the end ran up and gave him a great big hug before you guys left.  He was so adorable with her. 

When you left there Dean asked if you were interested in helping him pick out tiles for the kitchen backsplash.  You didn’t have anything else to do and had been enjoying helping him with the house so you agreed. 

Getting to the store he had three different ones selected and had you help him decide.  After the paint he trusted your opinion on the color selection.   

They had enough in stock of your choice to let you two get started on it when you got home.  The rest would be in soon.  You had a system worked out, you put the mastic on the back and Dean applied the tile to the wall. 

That afternoon Dean headed into work for another 24 hour shift. The second call of the afternoon was for a house fire.  Thankfully for the residents it was mostly contained to one room, just the living room.  But that room had a bit of damage done.

Hoping out of the truck back at the station he asks, “Okay who seriously is going to BBQ a turkey in the fireplace.  And plan on doing it twice because this was just going to be a test run before Christmas?”

“It’s the Holidays,”  Bobby stated.  “People are going to be doing crazy things.  You’ve been here a few years don’t you know this by now.”

“That is true.  Y/N and I were talking about that earlier after we left the school presentation.”

“Wait, WE, left the presentation?  Did you take her with you?”  Benny wanted to know.

“Well,”

“She’s living with him now, didn’t you know that?” Sam asks him.

“What, really?”  Benny couldn’t believe it.

“She moved in a couple days ago.”

“Wow, you two move fast.”

“It’s not like that you idiots.  She got kicked out of her condo and had nowhere else to go, and she already got fired because of me.  I’m just giving her a place to stay till she figures things out.  The house has the room.  Our dogs get along great.”

“Is that why Miracle isn’t here?”  Cas wants to know.

“Yeah, Y/N’s taking care of him and Dean. He’s falling in love.”

“Who Dean or Miracle?” Cas questions Sam.

“Dean, probably both.  She is very easy to like.”

“You’ve met her, besides that day she was in here?”  Benny wanted to know.

“Yeah, Dean called me to help move her.”

“I would have helped the nice pretty girl move, why didn’t you ask me to help?”

“I’m not sure packing would have been the only thing you tried with her, Benny.  I just found her again, I’m not letting you scare her off.”

“He didn’t deny the love.”  Sam says with a smile. 

“I’m not falling in love with anyone, bitch.”  Dean shakes his head at the whole thing as he removes his gear. 

“I’m sorry, my jerk of a brother, is falling in love, but he doesn’t know it yet.”

“That can’t be true Dean, come on man.  I look up to you, playing the field avoiding commitment, a constant string of beautiful women.”

“It’s not true, we aren’t falling in love, not dating.  I still don’t do commitment, and never getting married.”

“So what are you doing with Miracle if you don’t do commitment?”  Bobby asks as he takes off his coat.”

“Temporary long termish house guest.”

“Uh huh.”

“I told him when the house is sold he’s on his own.”

“Let us know how that works out in a couple of months, you idjit.”

“I’m calling your bluff with the girl.  Can you say no to these three things.”

“Really Cas?”

Cas ignores Dean and continues on, “ You live with her?  That’s a yes.  Two, you spend all your free time with her? Yes.”

“Well.”

“Three, you think about her when you aren’t with her? Yes,”

“No, no, you have it all wrong.  Like I said she is only staying till she gets back on her feet.  We are getting to know each other so we hang out, but only  because she’s already there.”

“Getting to know each other like you would if you were dating someone?”

“Shut it Sam.”

“Are you saying he is falling in love?  The legend, is human after all?”  Benny questioned.

“No, I’m not falling in love.  Y/N is a temporary roommate.  That’s it.”

“Man, you are like five minutes away from marrying this girl.”  Sam tells him.

“I hate you all.”  Gear off Dean leaves them behind to take a shower.

“Keep telling yourself that!”  Bobby yells after him.

Wandering around Dean’s house alone while he was at work, you got to thinking.  There was one thing you were really missing this close to Christmas, and it was something you didn’t think you would be able to have this year.  A Christmas tree.

When Dean gets home the next afternoon you bring it up.

“I was wondering if you were going to get a Christmas tree this year?”

“Usually don’t.  I don’t think I’ve had one in a few years.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I haven’t seen a reason too.  I buy a house, fix it up and sell it.  Usually I don’t stay in one long enough.  I don’t do much for the Holidays.  Why do you ask?”

“I was thinking maybe we could get a tree?  I have a little artificial tabletop tree, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a real one?  To have that Christmas smell when you walk in the door?”

“If you like real ones so much why didn’t you already have one in your place?”

“It was against the bylaws. Apparently too much of a fire liability.”

“That didn’t stop you with Dakota.”

“The tree can’t be hidden quickly like she was.  She was worth risking it for.”

“You really want to get a tree?”

“Please, it helps it feel more like Christmas.  If you don’t want one I understand.”

Dean threw his head back and sighed.  “Fine we can go get a tree.  I think there is a tree lot near the station that hasn’t sold out yet.”

“Let’s go to a tree farm, get the whole experience.”

“You’ll be the death of me Sweetheart.”

Dean didn’t have to work at all the following day, so after breakfast the two of you headed out to the Christmas tree farm.  Dressed in warm clothes and boots you were ready to walk all around the 8 acre tree farm if you needed to, just to find the right tree.   There was a wagon ride that took you around to the different types of trees.  Dean and you got off in the back lot figuring you could walk your way toward the entrance. 

“There’s a tree,”  Dean points out as you start walking down the first row.

“Yes, and it’s also like four foot tall.  It’s still growing, let the baby be.”

“Okay, miss Christmas tree expert.  How do you pick the perfect Christmas tree?”

“It’s really pretty scientific you know.”

“Oh really? Please do explain it to me.”

You laughed at his expression. He had turned to you with wide eyes and a cheeky little grin.  Like he was going to absorb whatever you said.  “You dork.”  Heading over to a tree you reach for a branch pulling your hand back toward you slowly.  “First you need to check the freshness.  If the needles stay on when you do that it’s good.”

You drop your hand to the side, “Then you need to inhale deeply and see how it smells.”

Dean did just that, “It smells like a tree.”

“Okay, but does it smell Christmassy.”

“Christmassy?  Pretty sure you just made that word up.”  

“Nope it’s totally in the dictionary.”

“Okay, Webster.  Then what does it mean?”

“To be filled with Christmas spirit.”

Dean just stared at you for a moment.  “You think a tree is going to smell like it’s filled with Christmas spirit?  Just wondering if you were drinking before I got up this morning?”

“Oh come on, it’s that fresh cut pine smell that fills the whole place and makes it feel like Christmas.”

“Whatever you say, I’ll leave the nose work to you.  What is step three?”  He wants to know as you two walk down the lane looking at the trees around you.

“The lean test.  You need to look at a tree straight on, then lean to the right and to the left, then stand back up straight.  You don’t want a tree that is leaning too hard one way and is crooked.”  You stop to inspect a tree, but continue on down your way.

The fourth step is checking the trunk and making sure nothing is wrong with it.  Sometimes the tree might be straight but that isn’t.  Or it could have a double one that won’t fit in a tree stand.”

“Height is important too.  Your ceilings are fairly high so we could get a foot tree no problem.”

Dean is just smiling listening to you go on about trees while you walk through the lot. “Yep that is extremely scientific.”

You two stopped and looked at different ones but kept going.  There was one you stuck a stick up in top of to mark if you didn’t find anything else you liked. Around an hour into your search you stopped in your tracks.  Dean was lost in his thoughts and took him a moment to notice.  

“That’s the one.”

“The one?”

“Yep, that’s the tree we should get.”

“There is only one?  How do you know it’s the one? What if you are wrong, but you’ve already committed to it?  What happens then, fighting and hurting the kids?”

“You lost me, Dean.”

“I um,”  He just realized what all came out of his mouth. “I  mean it’s a great tree.  Let’s get that one.”

“You sure you are alright?”

“Yep great.  Hold that steady, till I need you to push a little, will you?”

While you were helping to hold the tree from moving too much Dean got on the ground and started sawing back and forth till he had it lying on the ground.  You couldn’t help but notice the muscles in his arms as he worked. 

The two of you carried the tree toward the path in the hopes the wagon would be around soon and you wouldn’t have to carry it all the way to the front.  Thankfully only about five minutes later you could hear it coming around.  Up at the front they shook and bagged the tree for you.  

They also had Santa, and some petting animals around.

“Did you want to go tell Santa your Christmas wish?”  You asked Dean.

“You know, I already saw him this year.  He and I are pretty tight.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

After seeing the animals you hopped in his truck and headed to the store.  Neither of you had a stand that would fit the newly bought tree.  With that accomplished you were on your way back to the house.  Getting the tree inside it was set up in the living room not to far from the fire place, but not near enough to catch any sparks that may pop out. 

Dean didn’t have any decorations in the house, but you had some you had been saving.  After the lights were on you went to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate for the two of you and pulled out some of the peanut butter blossom cookies you made the day before.  Coming back Dean still hadn’t turned on the tv so you asked if you could.  Finding the different music channels you finally came across a Christmas one.

The two of you were enjoying the music and each other’s company as you decorated the tree. 

It was late afternoon by the time everything was done and cleaned up.  You offered to start dinner and Dean came in to help you.  The two of you working easily in the newly finished kitchen. 

After dinner you two retired back to the living room turning off the lights in the room and just letting the tree shine.  There was a roaring fire going, The Santa Clause 2 playing on tv.  Chet had to be one of your favorite reindeer in training. It was very relaxing.  

After the movie Dean mutes the television and turns to you.  “Thank you for suggesting the tree.  It’s actually really nice to have it.  I don’t remember the last time I truly enjoyed Christmas.  My parents fought a lot when we were little after the fire, before and after separating.  After we lost them it was just Sam and I.  Both of us just worked double shifts on Christmas at the station so others could have the time off.  Now Sam has Jess so he works part of the day, but doesn’t do a double anymore so he can spend time with her and her family.

He looks around at the decorations on the mantle, “I wouldn’t be opposed if you had some other small decorations you wanted to get out too.”

“Okay, I’ll see what I have that won’t be in the way.”

He turns the volume back up and the two of you settle back to watch another movie.

Thank you for reading!

Chapter 4 

Tags- @winchest09  @waywardbeanie @whatareyousearchingfordean  @flamencodiva @deanwanddamons @jensengirl83 @abuavnee @lunarmoon8 @amyzombie1013 @akshi8278 @that-one-gay-girl @mandalou29  @igotmadskills

#fire fur & mistletoe #dean winchester #dean x female!reader #dean x reader #christmas #supernatural-love14 writing challenge #supernatural #spnchristmasbingo

[everybodyscupoftea]

anyone can cook

rafe cameron x reader

words: 3729

warnings: usual cursing, mentions of drugs 

synopsis: college au, four times you cook for rafe and one time he cooks for you

Growing up, your mom taught you the importance of food. For most of your childhood, you loved cooking with her. Learning family recipes, and spending time in the kitchen with her instead of doing homework was thrilling to you. As you aged, you started to resent it, feeling like your mother was perpetuating the harmful stereotype that women are meant to be in the kitchen.

And then you left school early and came home to see the shit your dad was putting your mom through and was forced to immediately take that hard pill to swallow. Perspective was a bitch. Your mom didn’t cook to please your dad, she cooked to keep him happy enough for you to be fooled. It was heartbreaking.

You decided then that you’d not take any time cooking with your mom for granted. She loved you and she wanted you to be happier than her. For her, you could certainly fucking try. It was all going great until the storm that knocked out power, rendered the kitchen useless, and drove your dad’s patience level to its breaking point.

He’d never been that angry before, at least not in front of you. You weren’t sure what to do as he lashed out at your mom and then you, without warning and in the end, without apology. Normally if you were upset, your mom would make cookies with you, letting you use cookie cutters and dirty unnecessary dishes. That time though, you had to figure it out alone.

When you got to college, your parents helped pay rent for your first apartment. It had a good kitchen with lots of room, and your mom bought you a ton of kitchen tools, pots and pans, and other cooking necessities as a graduation gift. Her and your dad helped you move in, and that night, with shaky hands, she held your face in her hands. Tears in her eyes she whispered, “Promise me you won’t stop cooking.”

You couldn’t stop your own tears as you gulped and nodded a little frantically, “Of course not, Mama.”

Rafe lived a very different life. His real mother wasn’t in the picture and his step mother didn’t really want kids, so his experience with cooking was very limited compared to yours. Coincidentally that’s how the two of you met, outside your apartment building at 11:48 p.m. while the fire department sorted out the disaster that was his dinner attempt.

You knew it was his fault because he was very carefully trying to make himself look small. The only reason you knew what had gone wrong was you overheard the fireman talking to the landlord saying it was just a small kitchen fire in 227 and wouldn’t be too much to fix.

It was really out of character, but you walked over to where he was sitting on the curb and sat down next to him, “227?”

His head turned toward you sharply, “Figured me out, huh?”

“You were trying a little too hard to look inconspicuous.”

He shrugged, “Didn’t want a bunch of angry neighbors.”

Which you understood, so you nudged his shoulder with yours, “Well, I’m not angry and I know, but I’m not so sure I’d risk it with her,” you pointed at a lady who seemed to be ranting into the phone.

The boy followed your point and winced, “Yeah maybe not. Cooking clearly isn’t for me.”

“What were you making?”

“Kraft mac and cheese.”

You let out a loud laugh, assuming it was a joke. But then he didn’t meet your eyes or laugh along and you quickly stopped laughing, “Wait actually?”

With a shrug, he answered, “No one really taught me how to cook.”

And here you had a choice. Years and years of stored up cooking knowledge, endless recipes memorized, and a fantastic kitchen begging to be used by more than one person made the choice obvious.

“Well then take this as my standing dinner invitation whenever you want. I’ll give you my number and you can let me know when you’re hungry.”

“So, you’re gonna what, teach me how to cook.”

“Well, we can start small. I’ll cook for you first.”

One:

The first time Rafe texted you was on a night you actually had a fridge full of leftovers, but the boy who lived alone with sad eyes deserved better than leftovers. Rafe knocked on the door a few minutes later and he was dressed similarly to the first time you’d seen him, in sweats and a hoodie, and his hands were folded nervously in front of him.

You let him in, and he followed you to the kitchen, “So what’s on the menu for tonight?” he asked.

“Chicken pot pie,” you told him over your shoulder. You’d turned the oven on to preheat and had the potatoes and carrots chopped already. He stood behind you, peering over your shoulder.

Before you could continue, he cut in, “Is there something I can do?”

You thought for a minute, “You can control the music. My phone is synced up to the bluetooth speaker and I have Spotify pulled up, so have at it.”

Rafe nodded and sat down as you put the veggies into a pot and added water to start boiling them. You quickly went into your cooking zone as Rafe sat quietly queuing up songs. They were from your chill playlist and you appreciated that he was sticking to your playlists, humming along every so often.

By the time you pulled the chicken and veggie mixture from the heat, Rafe was leaning forward in his seat, and he looked excited to see what you’d do next. Reaching down, you pulled out a glass pie tin and looked over at him, “After I press the crust down, will you help me pour the mixture in?”

Rafe nodded eagerly and you made quick work of the pie crust, motioning him to come around the counter. He looked hesitant for the first time since you’d started cooking, and you tried to smile reassuringly. Returning the smile, he moved closer, “What do you want me to do.”

You held out the potholders, “If you pour, I’ll scoop.”

He picked the pot up and slowly poured the mixture into the tin and you quickly scooped the stuff that didn’t pour. Rafe set the pot down and you held the second crust out to him to press on top. He mimicked your actions from earlier carefully, and you couldn’t help but smile. You showed him how to press the edges down with a fork and he did so, slowly. Covering the edges, you let Rafe put it in the oven and then led him to the living room to start a movie while the two of you waited for it to finish.

The pot pie was a family recipe, and when Rafe tried it, the look on his face made it worth him seeing the secret ingredients your mom added to jazz it up. It felt good seeing someone enjoying your cooking again.

Two:

You weren’t entirely sure the relationship Rafe had with his family, but on fried catfish night, Rafe showed up at your doorstep unexpectedly. Fortunately, you had a few extra, so you invited him in for dinner. It wasn’t exactly what he was gunning for when he showed up, but he’d never say no to your cooking.

While you battered and seasoned the fish, he vented about his dad.

“I just don’t understand how a 4.0 isn’t fucking good enough. He’ll never give me any credit as long as Sarah does well in school and plays volleyball, I just want to be good enough.”

His words pulled at your heartstrings, and you found yourself tearing up on his behalf. You paused the music that had been softly playing in the background, “Fuck your dad, you deserve better.”

Rafe laughed drily, “I’ve done some dumb shit, this is my karma. I just don’t like it.”

“I fail to see any mistakes bad enough to warrant a parent totally disregarding their child like that. Did you kill someone or something?”

He shook his head, chuckling, “No, I didn’t kill anyone. But I had a drug problem in high school. I’m clean now, but it was me attempting to get my dad’s attention and it all spiraled out of control. Clearly it didn’t work out the way I wanted it to because my dad just kicked me out.”

You were horrified, “He kicked you out?!”

“Yeah, I went from couch to couch for a while until checking myself into rehab so I could get clean. I was tired of being dependent on something and really I wanted to prove my dad wrong.”

“God, Rafe, I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged and you started heating the oil up to start frying. There was an extended pause before he softly continued, “He didn’t let me move back in, even when I showed up clean. News of everything had gotten around town and he didn’t want me to further disgrace the family name.”

Brushing a tear off your cheek, you caught his eye, “Karma will come for your dad someday. You deserve only good things, Rafe.”

With a faint smile, he tapped his fingers on the cabinet, almost nervously, “Maybe one day I’ll be able to see it that way, but for now, I just don’t.”

“I’ll keep telling you until you believe it,” you promised fiercely. And you really meant it.

You finished frying the fish, silence between the two of you. It was no longer heavy and it wasn’t as awkward as the first time, you were proud of the progress. Rafe grabbed plates from the cabinet and at your instruction, the coleslaw you had already made and stored in the fridge.

Courtesy kicked in, and you let Rafe make his plate first. You figured he deserved to feel first choice for once. He almost looked like he wanted to argue, but you weren’t about to back down, so he filled his plate and sat back at the bar, patiently waiting for you to sit down before eating.

You fixed your plate and sat down next to him before squeezing his shoulder, “Thanks for keeping me company tonight.”

Rafe laughed, “Thanks for letting me rant.”

“Anytime.”

Three:

“Fuck,” you muttered under your breath and your laptop confirmed what you feared, your last bio exam had gone very poorly. It was just one test, but you weren’t used to seeing such a low grade, and you had to try really hard not to cry. Everything in you wanted to go lay down for days and forget about the rest of your classes, but the logical part of your brain texted Rafe to invite him for dinner.

He showed up not even five minutes later, and you decided breakfast sounded like the most comforting thing. You didn’t want to come across as too needy, so you didn’t mention the bad grade and tried to cover how you were actually feeling.

Unfortunately, the music you had playing gave it away. Rafe took one look at your face and the slight slump in your shoulders, and immediately wrapped you into a hug. You squeezed your eyes shut, fighting the tears, and he held you tighter.

“What happened, bud?”

“It’s nothing,” you tried to deflect, “fucked up on a bio test. We still have a few more, but it’s not a great start.”

“Which bio?”

“Molecular.”

Rafe thought for a few seconds, “I know a guy who has taken that, want me to see if I can get his notes?”

“That would be great actually.”

He smiled, “Good, now why don’t we get some happier music and get to cooking.”

And you could do that. Rafe changed to a playlist he’d made and sent to you a few weeks ago called Good Vibes for Cooking Nights and you couldn’t argue, they were good songs. A Wallows song started playing and you fell into a rhythm of pouring batter and flipping pancakes, feeling immensely better than when Rafe had first showed up.

You were thankful for him, this boy who had totally changed your life in the four months he’d known you. Four months of baring your hearts to each other in your own little ways. Rafe showing up to your apartment looking casual, not at all how he looked normally during the day. You letting him control the music and watch you cook, something so personal and special to you. It was new for the both of you.

Rafe heated up syrup while you quickly buttered the pancakes and washed some fruit for toppings. For the first time, you made your plate and sat down first. Rafe sat down next to you a few minutes later, plate heaped high with pancakes and raspberries.

After a few minutes of eating, the music being the only noise in the kitchen, Rafe turned to you, “You’re so intelligent and I don’t want you to let this one test discourage you. I know you’ll bounce back.”

“I studied so hard,” you told him, almost whispering, “I knew this was going to be hard, but I have no prior experience to fall back on, and it’s killing me.”

“But you’ll learn. Now you know how exams are structured, and you can adjust your studying habits. Next test will go great, I promise.”

You couldn’t stop it, it had been building between the two of you for months, and in your extra emotional state, you acted more rashly than normal. Setting your fork down, you turned to him and grabbed the front of his shirt. Rafe was startled, but turned to face you, not prepared for you to kiss him.

He froze and you almost regretted it, loosening your grip on his shirt, about to pull away embarrassed when he started kissing you back. Rafe tasted like syrup and raspberries, an addicting combination. Unfortunately, you eventually had to pull away to breathe, and Rafe pressed a soft kiss to your forehead while you caught your breath.

He picked his fork back up and smiled widely at you, “So that was nice.”

You blushed, “Yeah, um, sorry.”

“I’m not,” he stole a strawberry off your plate, “I didn’t want to make a move and make you uncomfortable if I was reading this whole thing wrong.”

“You, um, you weren’t reading it wrong.”

“I see that.”

Your blush deepened as he smiled wider at you. You shrugged, “So, what now?”

“Well, hopefully, now you’ll let me take you out and see where we go from there.”

“I’d like that.”

Four:

You weren’t sure if it was an out of sight, out of mind situation, but your parents planned a couple’s trip for Christmas, and you weren’t invited. Which would make this the first time in your entire life you wouldn’t spend Christmas with your family. You had mixed feelings. On one hand, you were hurt at the blatant disregard of you and your feelings, but on the other hand it gave you the chance to spend your first holiday alone with Rafe.

The two of you were eating hummus and doing homework when you decided to bring it up. He was on the floor, and you were on the couch, so you nudged his shoulder with your foot to get his attention, “How do you feel about spending Christmas together?”

He looked back at you with a wide smile, “I feel like it would be the best Christmas I’ve ever had.”

You grabbed a blank sheet of paper and handed it down to him, “Write down specific foods you want.”

“What do you normally eat on Christmas?” he asked, not taking the paper.

With a shrug, you pulled the paper back, “I don’t know, we normally do gumbo and cornbread and German chocolate cake.”

Rafe grabbed your ankle, shaking your leg a few times, “Let’s do that.”

“You don’t want to add anything?” you asked, hesitant.

He bit the inside of his cheek, clearly thinking, “Maybe we could do a baked mac and cheese. We had those a lot growing up before Mom left.”

“Find me the recipe and I’ll make it for you, bub.”

With a wide smile, Rafe grabbed your hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it, “You’re the best.”

When Christmas finally rolled around, you woke up early to start cooking. Your mom suggested a Dutch oven, something you didn’t already own, and to buy file powder instead of trying the cornstarch method. She also told you to make the cake a day earlier so you wouldn’t have to worry about it with the rest of the food.

You worked with Christmas music playing softly in the background, focusing on making sure the flour and oil combination didn’t burn before adding the veggies. The recipe wasn’t hard, but it did require a lot of stirring and paying attention and exact timing.

By the time it was ready to start simmering for about 30 minutes, you had started boiling the pasta for the mac and cheese. That recipe was simple, and you’d been playing with the cheese topping in your own time to make the flavor blend better with the gumbo, and you were pretty sure you’d figured it out.

With practiced ease, you finished it and poured it over the pasta before setting it to bake. By then, it was time to finish the gumbo, make the cornbread, and get dressed.

Rafe showed up just as you finished getting dressed and the cornbread timer was going off. He had a key and let himself in, and you knew he could handle taking the cornbread out.

“Babe, I’m here,” he called out as he shut the timer off.

“Coming,” you yelled back, smoothing your sweater down.

By the time you finally made it to the kitchen Rafe had set all of the food on the counter and he was leaned next to it in his own sweater and jeans. He held his arms out for a hug, and you walked into them happily.

“Merry Christmas, babe,” he told you, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. You hummed and reached up to kiss him.

“Merry Christmas,” you told him, pulling away.

“Food looks good,” he complimented, reaching for the bowls and plates he’d gotten out.

You looked over the spread and smiled proudly, “It does, doesn’t it?”

“You want to eat on the couch and watch the Jim Carrey Grinch?”

Nodding enthusiastically, you grabbed a plate, “Fuck yes.”

The two of you settled on the couch, a gingerbread scented candle burning in the background. Rafe started the movie and wrapped an arm around your shoulders, plate in his lap. You leaned into him and let out a long breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding in. This Christmas, while out of the ordinary, was your favorite one yet.

+ One:

You got home after work, exhausted. Your apartment was dark and cold and it made you want to curl up into a ball and cry. Work had been so time consuming over the past month you’d barely seen Rafe and you missed him. But if you got the promotion your boss had been hinting at, you’d get more manageable hours and higher pay, so you were grinding it out until then.

Dropping your bag by the door, you kicked off your shoes before slowly walking to the couch. Before you could sit down, there was a knock at the door. You considered ignoring it, but it persisted, so you walked slowly back to answer.

Rafe was standing there, giant grin on his face, with a steaming pot of something which explained why he didn’t use his key. It was very surreal and you blinked a few times in confusion before letting him in. He walked past you to the kitchen and set the dish down before digging through your drawer for the matches to light your favorite candle on the counter.

“Go get changed,” he urged, “I’ll get plates set up.”

Your phone rang as you were changing into shorts and you grabbed it out of the discarded pants pocket. When you saw your boss’s name, your heart rate doubled and you answered shakily. The phone call was brief, and the gist was that you’d gotten the promotion and the next day off.

Energy immediately filled your body and you ran to the kitchen where Rafe was scooping out what looked like mac and cheese onto plates.

“Rafe!”

He looked up, startled, “What’s up?”

“I got it!”

“The promotion?” he asked, eagerly.

You nodded, beaming, and jumped into his arms when he opened them. Rafe spun you around a few times and kissed you hard. Slowly setting you back down to your feet, he deepened the kiss, your hands winding into his hair.

Rafe pulled away first, pressing soft kisses to both of your cheeks and your forehead before standing up fully. You let go of his hair and took the hand he offered to you. Leading you to the couch, he sat down and motioned for you to do the same.

“Is this mac and cheese?” you asked, poking at the food with the fork he’d brought you.

“It is. I went on snapchat earlier and realized that it’s an anniversary of sorts. I wanted to make you dinner for once since I know you’ve had a long week.”

“Anniversary?”

A faint blush rose on his cheeks and he cleared his throat, “Um, yeah, a year since we met.”

You laughed loudly, “When you set your fucking kitchen on fire making mac and cheese?”

“A year ago, today. And with your cooking help, I can now make mac and cheese without setting the kitchen on fire.”

Poking at it again, you looked up at him, almost fearing the answer, “This isn’t Kraft right?”

“Of course not,” he scoffed, “I called your mom to get her recipe.”

Biting your lip to hold back the onslaught of emotions, you took in a shaky breath, “Right. Okay. Um, I love you, Bub. And this is genuinely the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

Rafe kissed your temple before lifting your chin to make you look him in the eye, “I love you too, and as crazy as it sounds, I’m glad I set my kitchen on fire.”

#rafe cameron #rafe outer banks #rafe cameron fic #rafe cameron x reader #outer banks fic #obx #outer banks #college rafe

[tomtenadia]

Island Dreams - Chapter 8

Hello people :)

here's chapter 8 for you. This chapter is a turning point in Aelin and Rowan's relationship. Nothing major... but definitely a major development for them.

I hope you love it.

Gaelic: "Thig a-steach. - come in

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

The next morning the weather was giving its worst. A terrible storm had abated on the town. According to the news from Aelin’s phone the wind had reached peak speeds over 120kph during the night. And she had heard that. Her windows had rattled all night long. She has spent the night hidden under the duvet trying to ignore the storm outside. She had been scared. Heavy rain had fallen non stop. On top of that the town had suffered a major power cut and they had been without power since the middle of the night. When morning finally came she opened the curtains and noted the sky laden with dark clouds. The rain was still heavy and the sea was angry. The pier was empty and she assumed the ferry did not manage to travel that morning. It would have been one heck of a hellish crossing. In the distance she heard sirens from the emergency services and guessed that the damage was quite bad. Very quickly she got dressed and then tried to phone Rowan and suddenly realised that, apart from the number of the shop, she had no other way of contact him. An error that had to be rectified immediately. She wore a few layers of clothing and a waterproof jacket and then left the house. Once out of the house she discovered that the wind still had not abated and it was howling.

A massive wave crashed against the pier and the spray reached all the way to her “Bloody hell.” She braced herself and ran. Ran all the way to Rowan’s and by the she time arrived she was soaked through and freezing. She reached the shop and of course it was closed. So next stop was Maeve’s. Once there she found Rowan helping Maeve cleaning up the coffee shop which looked like it had suffered some flooding “Morning.” She said sleepily. Maeve noticed her “Aelin darling, come in please it’s horrible outside.” Looking around she noticed that most of the water had been cleared and she and Rowan had created a safe corner with two camping gas stoves. It looked like Maeve had coffee on the go and some sort of warm breakfast. In that moment she was greater for the woman’s resourcefulness. “How are you?” Asked Rowan moving closer to her. When he noticed she was shivering her pulled her to him “You are cold.” He brushed his hands on her back to try and heat her up a bit “Take off the jacket, it’s wet and cold. Not good.” He left for a moment and came back with a hoodie in his hands “Put this on. Maeve has gas heating in here which is still working and it was on the radiator.” Aelin grabbed the hoodie and wore it and it was warm and soft on her skin. She snuggled in it and breathed in the scent. Pine and snow. That was Rowan’s scent. “Can I help with anything?” She offered. “My aunt is trying to prepare breakfast enough to offer it to first responders and people who need it as well. Some of the houses closer to the waterfront have suffered heavy flooding.” Then he stopped and realised he had no idea where she lived and if her house was safe. “Is your house okay?” Aelin nodded, “I live towards the end of Newton st. and I am further away from the pier. But the road was flooded and my garden was swimming as well. But the house is fine a part from not having power.” “The whole town is down.” “I kinda guessed.” Maeve reappeared at the front “Rowan darling, go and tell the first responders that I have food, coffee and tea ready. Food is very basic given the situation but at least I have something. Aelin and I will hand out provisions.” Inside Maeve’s shop it was quite nice and cozy and slowly people started to flock in, in search of some relief, warmth and a dry place. "Thig a-steach.” She said to the people and Aelin helped handing out the food. Some people stopped to talk to her, fascinated by the Londoner who had moved to Stornoway and was learning Gaelic. A few grandmas had even played matchmaking with their handsome and single grandsons. Rowan came back half an hour later with a couple of firemen. She hoped Maeve’s place was okay. She really loved it there. Aelin walked up to Rowan and the firemen “Hi,” she said interrupting them “My name is Aelin. I am doctor. Is there anything I can do to help?” One of the firemen looked at her “We have set up a temporary tent operating as triage. A couple of paramedics are looking after the minor cases. The ones that do not have to go to the hospital. We are trying not to overwhelm the A&E.” Aelin had done enough shifts in overwhelmed A&E especially on a Saturday night and knew how bad it was. “Take me there, please. I can help. I want to help.” One of the firemen nodded. Aelin noticed that he looked familiar and wondered if that was Elias’ brother. Rowan looked at Aelin and gave her a smile. Then she removed the hoodie “Keep it warm and dry for me for when I come back.” He nodded and took the hoodie back. “Oh, and by the way… you know that that hoodie is now mine, don’t you?” “I’ll make sure it smells a lot like me when you come back.” And gave her a huge grin in response. “You better.” She added with a smile and followed the fireman out of the shop. Once arrived at the tent the fireman explained the situation to the two paramedic women and they were very grateful for the extra help. Aelin got all geared up and began working through the queue. Their patients were mostly minor injuries but still, it gave her back the vibes and the adrenaline of an A&E. By the time lunch and afternoon came, Aelin was exhausted and famished. But it was a good exhausted. She had helped. Made a difference and it helped her renew the love for the job she had chosen. Not long after she finished, Rowan showed up at the tent. “Hey,” he said staying on the threshold. Aelin removed her gloves and went to him. “How’s aunt Maeve’s shop doing?” “Fine. The fire dept gave us more camping gas stoves. She called a couple of the other staff members and now they have a full kitchen up for the people and everyone working.” Then he lifted a bag “And I am bringing lunch. Aunt’s orders.” “Thank you. I am starving.” He smiled, deposited the bag on the floor and zipped up her paramedic jacket “It’s cold outside.” He picked up the bag of food again and took her hand in his “Come.” “Uh?” “We are going to have lunch in a quiet and dry place.” “Okay.” He put an arm around her shoulder and tucked her close to him while they were walking along the road. She loved the feeling of being so close to him. His scent relaxed her. “Where are we going?” “My place.” Aelin turned to him in disbelief. When they finally arrived at his place she noticed he stayed in a small semi-detached house and he had a well tended garden. The house seemed very cozy. She followed him inside removed her jacket and her shoes and stood there. “Go to the living room.” And he passed her the bag full of food. “I’ll go and get some stuff.” Tentatively she took a few steps inside the room. The curtains were still drawn so the place was bathed in darkness. She took her phone from he jeans and switched on the torch. Once having reached the windows safely, she opened the curtain to let the light in. She then turned and noticed the incredible amount of books. That room was paradise. He had books everywhere, in all the possible nooks and crannies. “I run out of space a long time ago. I have my least favourite in the attic. I just love books.” And he shrugged. “This living room is just wonderful. I am so jealous right now.” “I have some candles. The light coming from the outside is not much and this should help.” He placed a few candles around the house and she laughed when she noticed they were battery powered. “Really? You just killed the mood.” He looked up at her grinning “There is no way I light up real fire near so many books. Such a massive hazard.” Aelin laughed and started unpacking the food containers and placing the stuff on the plates he had brought through. “I put the heating on as well, so it should get cozy soon.” “Come sit down and eat. You must be hungry too.” And she patted the spot beside her. He nodded and sat beside her. They ate quietly. Aelin a few times did try to start a conversation but always stopped not sure if he wanted to talk or not. “Did you go to uni?” She asked. That was a safe question, hopefully. “I did. I studied business management in Glasgow. It came quite useful once I opened my bookshop.” “How the idea came about? To open the shop?” She noticed Rowan stiffen. Shit. Wrong question already. Rowan breathed deeply and decided it was time to listen to his aunt. It was time to open up. He placed his plate on the coffee table “There was this girl, Lyria.” He started, and the usual tug of pain was still there. “We met at uni down in Glasgow. She was from the islands as well. We started dating after we both came back here after graduating.” He closed his eyes and leaned a bit deeper on the back couch “I always loved books. But I hated the idea of using my degree for a boring corporate job. It was not for me. So I started working on an idea: open a bookshop.” He breathed deeply again, trying to chase away the pain “My parents had passed in an accident when I was little but they left me a fund. It allowed me to buy this house and also have enough money left to start my shop. So I used every penny to buy an empty shop in town, I did it up and a year later I had my shop.” Aelin stretched a hand and placed on his, now in a fist on his knee. “I knew Lyria was looking for a job so I offered her one and we started working together. We picked the name of the shop and began thinking about what books to have. She was not a proper bookworm like me, but she liked books enough.” Aelin looked at him and noticed the pain in his eyes. What had this woman done to him to cause him such anguish? “We started dating. Quite seriously. She moved in with me after a while. We started talking about the future, dreams and whatnot. I was never one for flings. I was committed to her to the fullest. I wanted a family, a nice house and kids. The whole package. At the time she told me she wanted it too. And I believed her.” He stood irritated and walked to the window “Just over a year ago I proposed to her. I was ready and she gave me the impression that she was ready too.” “Shit.” “About nine months ago she started getting weird with me. Some nights she would not come home and I later found out she was staying at a friend’s house. She barely talked to me anymore and we stopped…being intimate. She started making up excuses why she was not in the mood. Then all of a sudden she stopped coming to the bookstore and she never bothered to tell me why.” Hi voice now a mere whisper. “Finally I decided to confront her and find out what was happening. She told she was getting cold feet, that she didn’t want to get married anymore, that she made a mistake and she thought she loved me but it was more an infatuation. She told me that my obsession with having a family was freaking her out. But I never pushed the whole kids issue. I was happy to wait for her to be ready. She told me we wanted different things and that I had to go and find myself a woman who wanted all that because she was not the one. The next day she came to the bookshop and gave me back the ring.” Aelin reached him at the window and put a hand on his shoulder “I am sorry, but what a bitch.” She heard a very soft chuckle “I called her worse. Apparently my aunt spotted her a few times with a guy while we were still engaged. I never knew if she was fully cheating on me as well. Anyway, she got a job at An Lanntair.” Aelin face lit up in surprise “Is she a brunette? Brownish eyes?” Rowan nodded “Shit. The first day I was here I went inside and then asked for a bookshop and she told me to look for Rowan’s. Not the name of the shop but yours.” “I can’t go in there anymore, And I love that place but the idea of seeing her…” She took his hands and squeezed it. Then she leaned against his back and hugged him from behind. He did not shy away from the contact. On the contrary he grabbed her hands on his stomach and squeezed them tightly. “Sounds we both have horrible exes.” Aelin knew that was the time. She had to open up to him. She did it with Elias but it had not felt satisfying. She had a feeling that opening up to Rowan was her chance to finally move on and begin to heal. “What do you mean?” He asked not moving from the position they were in and Aelin thanked him for that. It felt perfect. “I was married, Rowan. Until a year ago I was married.” She felt him stiffen “What did he do?” His tone was cold. “He was a police office. We met at the hospital after his partner got injured badly. We had coffee… we hit it off, the usual thing. We started dating and I was happy.” She felt his hands squeezing hard “We were together for four year before he proposed to me. We were married for five.” It actually felt good to talk to him. Just as good as it always felt with Lysandra “But toward the end he became weird too. Life of a police officer is quite hectic too, and we could go on for a whole week without seeing each other, that had happened. But all of a sudden I noticed his shift pattern had started to change to a point that he was never home when I was.” She inhaled Rowan’s scent to try and calm down “One day I was on my break after surgery and I decided to go and see him at his work. Once I got there he was outside Police HQ, with another woman. And they were making out. I walked to him and punched him hard in the face and told the bitch to keep her tongue out of my husband’s mouth.” “Remind me not to piss you off again. Ever.” Aelin chuckled “Three days later I went to his job. Reached his office area and dumped divorce paper on his desk and told him Try and solve this case, officer Westfall. That night he came back home from work and we had a brutal fight. During the afternoon I had asked my friends Lysandra and Aedion to help me move out the following day. Lysandra had a spare room and she took me in. The divorce was brutal.” She hold him as tight as she could “He kept blaming me. According to him it was my fault. I was the one who was too obsessed with her work to care about her husband. He had the guts to tell the lawyers that I induce him to cheating because I was not committed anymore to the marriage. He brought up that I had told him I did not want a family. Which was a lie by the way.” Rowan finally turned around and pulled Aelin to his chest “I did want kids. But we were not thirty yet at the time of this conversation and I told him I wanted to wait a bit. He agreed. But during the divorce he lied.” Aelin pulled away from Rowan and went back to the sofa and sat down, her head in her hands “And I am so damn glad we did not have kids. Imagine the mess.” He heard her sob “He made me pass for a monster. For the one that had given up on our marriage. He was the one fucking another woman for months. And when I told the lawyers that he was never at home and probably sleeping with another woman, he told them that he had been moved to the night shift.” She brushed away the tears with the back of her hand “I checked with is CO. Chaol was not on the night shift.” Rowan kneeled in front of her, with a finger lifted her face staring at her in her eyes, now puffy “I am glad you punched him. I hope you broke something.” Aelin chuckled “It has been almost a year, but I still have so much rage.” “That I can relate to. A least you could punch him. I could never do that to Lyria.” “I can do that for you.” Aelin offered with a grin. Rowan sat beside her and they stayed in silence for a moment. “I am so tired…” she leaned on the side and ended up against him. Rowan got up and came back after a few minutes with a blanket and a fluffy pillow. He got the sofa ready for her “Lie down and rest. The sofa is very comfortable.” She followed his suggestion and lay down. “I am going back to my aunt and see if she need more help.” “I should come to.” She sat back up but Rowan was on his knees near where her head was, he removed hair from her face “No. Stay here and sleep, please.” “Leave me you mobile number.” Rowan looked at her “I… I actually don’t have a mobile phone.” Aelin sat up abruptly “No way.” “I just don’t need it.” “How can I call you?” “Just phone my aunt, if you need me.” He kissed her head and stood “Come on. Stop being a spoiled brat and sleep.” Aelin plunged back on the sofa and buried herself under the cozy blanket transforming herself in a human burrito. “Be careful out there.” Rowan smiled at her tenderly and left.

#rowan x aelin #rowaelin #rowan whitethorn #aelin galythinius #lysandra #aedion x lysandra #fanfic #throne of glass series #fluff #angst

[mmos-s]

HIRAETH  (zuko x reader)  CH.1

Summary: fireman captured and is confused

CH.1 CH.2  CH.3 CH.4 CH.5

Zuko couldn’t remember a thing. All he knows is that it’s dark and cold, extremely cold. Every time he’d draw in a breath he felt like his lungs were being pierced by icicles. The place reminded him of the ‘Cooler’ from the Boiling Rock prison.

He’d wondered how long he’d been here for. Zuko remembered falling in and out of consciousness ever since he’d gotten here so he didn’t really trust the timeline he was trying to construct in his head. This is what he had so far: 

Being with Sokka in an odd water tribe village, it was the middle of the day and the sun was out but Zuko remembered still feeling no warmth. That’s the thing he hated about most water tribes.

Sokka had turned around to look at what some merchant was selling.

Sokka started to bargain with the merchant.

Then things started to get foggy and Sokka had brought him to another booth.

Two more booths and everything seemed to get fuzzy.

That’s 5 things. 

Great. 

Zuko was growing tired of being chained up, his wrists were growing numb. The pole he was tied to was digging into his back. He tried melting them with bending since he thought they might’ve been ice but that didn’t work. Wow the prince of the Fire Nation can’t melt ice, shocking.

Zuko groaned for what felt like the fiftieth time and finally came to the conclusion that bending was not helping. 

He decided to do something that could actually help him, look around. From what he could gather the walls were caving in around him. He guessed he was tied up in the middle of the room because he couldn’t see the back of it. There were no windows and it felt stuffy. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the dark and he began to notice even more things. Piles of papers were strewn on the floor, maps, notes, some were pages ripped out from history books. Used candles were all over the floor and puddles of ink could be found each time Zuko found crumpled up paper and a broken writing brush. Some things were hung onto the walls with ice picks, it took him awhile to make them out but when he finally did his heart sank. 

Wanted posters. 

There were wanted posters of Aang, Toph, Sokka, Katara, Appa, there was even one of his uncles except it was ripped like the other half was missing or something. And lots of others, though he either couldn’t make them out or didn’t recognize the faces.  Zuko looked to the other side of the room and started to feel more dread setting in. 

He found the other half of his uncle’s wanted poster. It was his picture, an old one but still his(oh spirits,,, who let him walk around with that haircut). A big circle of ink surrounded it along with a bunch of arrows pointed at his face. If things couldn’t get any shittier another huge arrow pointed towards another picture of him. Well not necessarily of him but the Blue Spirit. In big messy lettering, it read, “THE SAME”. 

If it wasn’t so obvious Zuko would have guessed that he probably pissed this person off to a great extent. He got to thinking, who’s he angered lately? He sighed, he hated how long the list was. 

He tried turning around to the best of abilities to get a look at the rest of the place. A table sat in the corner of the room. It was the same thing, notes, books, and bottles of ink. It was weird this time though, everything was neatly stacked and put in the right place. It was completely different from what was in front of him. He wondered what was written on the papers, it must have been different than the rest because the handwriting looked much neater. It was such a contrast that Zuko was starting to wonder if more than one person had captured him. If that was true, his luck just got worse. 

Did he break a mirror or something? Honestly, what had he done to deserve this? Sure Zuko had hunted the avatar for a while but did something like that deserve this much punishment?

Zuko was sure it’d been hours already, he soon started to realize how weak he was and the cold wasn’t helping. He wouldn’t be able to get out of here even if he tried. He could only hope that when he woke up he’d feel a little bit stronger. Come to think of it, Zuko hadn’t really slept well in a while. Trying to sleep on a flying bison’s back while 1,000 feet above the ground is scarier than it sounds.

And with that Zuko fell asleep.

|

|

Y/N didn’t know if it was because she’d lived in the cold for so long but today felt warmer than usual. The marketplace was extremely crowded today, more than usual. She kept looking at the wall of wanted posters and huffed, maybe today would be different.

She never realized how hard catching criminals would be, though like any normal functioning person it wasn’t something she’d thought about frequently before all of this. None of the people on the wall seemed to have a high enough bidding. Once she’d visited General Lee she was sure she had found someone of value, he had a huge bounty over his head and no one had come even close to capturing him. He hadn’t even given her the time of day. The next she’d brought a Fire Nation traitor, accused of aiding the Avatar. Y/N was sure she’d succeeded this time. But, again, nothing. She’d promised herself that she’d never give up on her people but things were getting hopeless. 

Then, something changed. She never knew she’d be so happy to have run into a swamp village and had fainted at the sight of an elbow leech. She’d found who she was going to hunt down . . . Prince Zuko. He was perfect. Oldest son of the Firelord, held a high status, and she’d overheard soldiers speak about how he was a traitor and let everyone down (she then found a wanted poster to prove it). There were basically no cons to him, he was flawless. 

On the plus side she was sure the General would get his rocks off at even the thought of delivering someone so important. He’d probably get some honor badge too. 

Too bad she let him slip through her fingers the first time. That was one of Y/N biggest regrets. 

Y/N’s face grew dull. It didn’t matter, she hadn’t made any progress and wasn’t any closer to capturing him. 

Capturing a Prince is much easier said than done. 

It didn’t make any sense to her, it’s like he'd fallen off the face of the Earth. Usually she’d been hearing about him left and right, from stray Fire Nation soldiers in villages, stories about how once again he’d nearly captured and killed the avatar, but then things just went silent. Y/N hadn’t heard anything from anyone in weeks. Sometimes she’d ask people and their faces would just pull a blank like they’d never heard of him in the first place, other times they’d just straight up get defensive, telling her it wasn’t her place to be asking such things. She didn’t try to think about it too much. A lack of information wasn’t going to bring her down now, she was running out of time. 

Hopefully, the general hadn’t flaked out on her yet, it had been a while since she’d brought someone to him.

Now that she thought about it maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to trust a fire nation general to keep his word. Maybe she should just try and jump him and--OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!!!!

Was Y/N dreaming? She had to be. Things couldn’t be this easy, they just couldn’t be. 

There stood Prince Zuko, almost awkwardly might Y/N add, next to a booth with a merchant selling handmade bags. He was just standing there without a care in the world. It almost made her mad how nonchalant he was being. Y/N really doesn’t want to complain but she thought this would just be a little bit more dramatic.

She moved from the alleyway and moved closer to them, luckily enough the booth next to theirs sold mirrors. 

“Hey Y/N,” Yao spoke. 

“Yeah, uh hey.” Y/N half smiled, not really paying attention.

Yao was the daughter of the merchant who sold the mirrors at the booth, he’d been sick lately so Y/N had been seeing more of her. She didn’t like the circumstances but she did have to admit it was nice seeing a face her age.

“D’you hear about the avatar being here? Guess the rumour about him being dead was bull.” 

“Yeah, yeah I heard. Probably why there are so many people out today,” Y/N said.

“Yuppp, not one person wants to buy mirrors though.” Yao crosses her arms and frowns. 

Y/N laughs, she knew how much she didn’t like the job but she couldn’t not do it, her father needed her to. That’s one of the things she liked about her, Yao wasn’t very selfish. 

She felt guilty about only half listening to her about her day but she had to keep an eye on the Prince and whoever he was with. She kept glancing at them through the mirrors in a way she thought wasn’t too suspicious, but she was obviously proven wrong when Yao spoke up about it.

“He’s cute isn’t he?” Yao smirked, she was whispering now so they wouldn’t overhear.

“Wha-”

“The one with the scar,” She said.

Y/N half nodded, “I guess so.”

“He’s with the avatar too apparently. It’s weird though, he looks so familiar.” Y/N didn’t say anything to that. It’s not like she could tell her she was Fire Lord Ozai’s son.

She was so nervous, he was standing right there, right next to her, barely even five feet away. Though surprisingly Yao didn’t take her nervous silence as the ‘omg I have to kidnap a guy right next to me’ type of silence.

“Don’t worry, Y/N. I’m more into the guy with the ponytail anyway,” She said. 

Y/N laughs and rolls her eyes.

They both talked for a few more seconds until Y/N noticed the two leaving the booth. She waved goodbye to Yao and continued following them.

She started to realize the guy with the ponytail really liked to shop. She swore she nearly laughed every time the guy would drag the Prince around to another booth, he looked so out of place. 

Before she could make fun of him some more Y/N had found her opening. 

Zuko had asked the ponytail boy for a sip of water from his canteen. This was it. Y/N waterbended some of her medicine and went out to walk in front of the booth they were at. She purposely bumped into him rather harshly and slipped a little bit of the medicine into the flask while he was distracted.

“Sorry,” Y/N mumbled.

“It’s--” But she had already gone. 

Now all she had to do was wait a little bit longer. 

|

|

Y/N couldn’t believe things turned out to be this easy. Things went so smoothly it was almost scary. 

She’d sedated him successfully, snatched him up from under his friends nose, managed to get out of a crowded village with an unconscious boy hanging on her shoulder and get home in just a couple of hours. Now all she had to do was write to General Lee telling him she’d found someone and give him Prince Zuko. 

Yeah, this’ll work.

Y/N put down her writing brush and dragged her hands down her face. If she kept thinking about how well things were going she was sure to jinx herself. 

She stepped away from her desk and paced around the room. He had woken up in a while, maybe the dosage she’d given him was too much. 

She stopped her pacing and stood in front of him. She pushed away some loose notes and made herself a small spot on the floor to sit on. 

His scar was what kept her from looking away from him. You really couldn’t miss it, it was pinkish till around the center, where the hue changed to a deeper red. It looked a little bit rough looking too, like if she were to drag her fingers along it would feel bumpy and coarse. 

Whatever caused so much damage must have hurt badly. It didn’t look ugly on him though, surprisingly. It wasn’t repulsing in any way at all, it shocked her how much she kept looking at it. Y/N thought it was a little bit mesmerizing even. 

Suddenly, Zuko had stirred. 

Y/N had felt a rush of adrenaline, and a sense of hope.

The prince met her eyes and gasped. The chains clattered when his back hit the pole.

“Finally,” she said. 

“Uh, hello?” He took a deep breath and scowled when Y/N took a step closer. 

“Who are you--” He tried to ask.

“I really don’t think that’s important,” Y/N answered. 

Zuko fell silent for a second and kept his eyes on her. He was clearly confused; it was written all over his face, it was almost laughable. Y/N watched him while he furrowed his brows and let his frown grow bigger, she wondered if he was going to try and use his firebending and fight her. Honestly, she was a bit scared. She’d never seen him fight before and she didn’t doubt that the Prince of the Fire Nation wouldn’t be skilled. 

“What do you want from me?” He demanded. 

“Well there's a lot to it, but I guess I could cut the story short so we don’t waste any more time.” 

Y/N waterbended the ice holding Zuko up and turned them back into water. 

“You’re my ticket to revenge.”

#atla #zuko #zukoxreader #zuko x reader #avatar the last airbender #toph #aang #katara #sokka #suki #xreader #reader insert

[megalony]

Shattered

This is a firefighter! Ben Hardy imagine that will have a follow up part soon, I hope you all enjoy it. There is angst and injury mentions in this part.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem​ @butlegendsneverdie​ @langdonzvoid​ @jennyggggrrr​ @rogermeddow @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac @vousmemanqueez @jonesyaddiction @ambi-and-sunflowers @milanosaurus @httpfandxms @saint-hardy @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls @mrsalwayswritex @rogerina-owns-me @peterquillzsblog

Ben Hardy masterlist

Part 2

Summary: Whilst Ben is on a job at a collapsing building, he finds out (Y/n) and their son are there and tries to protect them but he can’t stop them all from getting injured.

Enjoy.

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"Whatever, it's fine Ben it doesn't matter-"

"Yes it does, it matters a lot to me (Y/n) because I've never missed a scan before. I want to be there and I want to take Tommy to his game in the afternoon but I can't swap my shift." There was a knowing look in (Y/n)'s eyes that made Ben's expression harden. They had three boys together and up to now Ben hadn't missed any of the scans during each pregnancy, despite the odd and gruelling shifts he worked. But tomorrow he simply couldn't go because he had to work and no one had been able to swap the shift with him.

"You can be at the next one Ben, it really doesn't matter. The job always comes first, right?" (Y/n) quipped back, but her response only caused Ben's brows to raise and his jaw to lock.

"Now that's not fair." Ben's voice was unusually now and with his words being quiet as not to disturb the toddler on his chest, his words sounded menacing. Ben would admit that his job was important to him, it was a vital job that he had been doing for ten years but it wasn't the most important thing in his life. Ben would always put his family first but the point was he had to work tomorrow and if something went wrong at the scan (Y/n) could always call him and he would try and leave as quickly as possible. It was the first time this had happened when they were having a scan.

"Isn't it? You haven't been able to go to half of Tommy's games, it was me who had to leave work to take Billy to the doctor, not you and we were damn lucky my water broke when it did with James or you wouldn't have been there for the birth. I'm not angry Ben because it's just a scan, its routine and we've done it before but we both know the job comes first a lot of the time."

(Y/n) knew she would be rivalling with Ben's job the moment she got together with him and it was always okay because he saved lives. Ben put his life on the line to help others and sometimes (Y/n) did worry he would get hurt badly or not come home at all. But she knew being a fireman was the only thing Ben wanted to do and he was good at his job so she was proud. But the job was almost as important as his family and even though that was understandable, sometimes it did hurt.

"No, that's not fair because when you had your operation I got two weeks off at two days notice so I could be home with the boys. When Tommy broke his leg I was the one who took him to A&E instead of going to work and when you had your accident when you were pregnant with him I left work and came straight home to you. The job always comes second to you and the boys and you know it."

Tilting his head down from looking at (Y/n), Ben looked at the two year old asleep in his arms. Billy had his head resting on Ben's shoulder and his arms curled up against his chest, when he fell back asleep Ben didn't have the heart to put him into bed. He just stayed holding him because he had to get ready and go to work in a few minutes.

"(Y/n) I don't want to argue, I'm sorry but on the next scan I'll be there and I'll take Tommy to his next game in three weeks. Can you take Billy now, I need to get ready?" Ben tipped his head to the side, his eyes sorrowful but he felt a small swell of relief in his chest when (Y/n) nodded before approaching him.

Biting her lip, (Y/n) carded her fingers gently through Billy's hair as she leaned her head on Ben's chest, feeling his free arm wrap around her waist to pull her a bit closer.

"Text me when you've finished and I'll see you tonight." (Y/n) reached over and gently eased Billy into her arms before she quickly pecked Ben's lips. Their gazes stayed interlocked for a few more seconds before (Y/n) slowly left the room to go and settle Billy back down to bed since it was still early in the morning and he was now fast asleep.

"Tommy, I need my shoes back buddy, give 'em here." Heading down the stairs, Ben sat on the bottom step before he motioned for his eldest to walk over to him when he came in sight down the hall. Ben watched with a smile as Tommy slowly waddled over to him, trying his best to walk in his dad's shoes that were far too big for his small feet. When he reached Ben, he stood by his side and kicked the shoes from his feet so they were resting in front of Ben.

Ben's shifts were all twelve hours a day, four days a week but he still had to leave home early so that when he got to work he could put his overalls on and grab his protective equipment. Then when he finished his shift he took longer because he got changed and showered at work rather than driving home covered in smoke and grime. It was tough, but it was Ben's job and he wouldn't choose to do anything else.

"Why are they like that?" Tommy leaned his head on the banister as he tapped Ben's shoe with his toe to signal what he meant.

"So I don't burn my feet, bud, or in case anything falls on them so it won't hurt." Ben tapped his knuckles against the top of his boot to show how tough the material was which he was very thankful for. Ben had to walk into burning buildings and step in or around fires so his boots had to be made of material that wouldn't catch fire easily and that wouldn't melt or burn his feet. They also had to be strong so that if any bricks or wood or items fell on him, they wouldn't crush his feet and stop him from getting to safety.

"Why aren't mine like that?" Tommy watched Ben tying up his boots before he stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder, checking that his keys were in his pocket.

"What fires do you normally walk into, buddy?" Ben smiled, trying to refrain from laughing because he didn't want Tommy to think he was being rude when he was only curious. "Right, I'll see you tonight before you go to bed, your mum's gonna take you out today so you be good, okay?" Ben leaned down when Tommy wrapped himself around his legs, humming in agreement before he begrudgingly moved back to let Ben leave. Tommy huffed quietly, knowing that whenever Ben left to go to work at night or when he got home at night it meant it would soon be his bedtime.

"Bye dad."

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"I don't like this Joe, the whole place is about to go." Ben spoke into the radio hooked to his left shoulder as he cast his eyes around his sector of the ground floor car park. The fires in this multi-story car park and shopping centre were on one side of the building and it made the whole thing unsteady and Ben felt like he was going to be crushed at any given moment. Ben's team were needed to try and get people out whilst Joe's team were concentrating on the fires that were still going.

But Ben didn't like the feel of this because the fire meant that the building was collapsing on one side and that normally led to the whole thing breaking down. Ben knew that the building was far too big for everyone to get out safely before something happened but they had to try.

Turning to look over to his right, Ben nodded silently at Sammy before the pair hurried in different directions, both of them picking up speed when they could hear the building trembling. The fires on this floor were minimal but the number of cars suggested people might come down here trying to get out.

"Ben, pull your team out it's too risky. Let search and rescue take over when they get here." Joe knew it was getting to a point where Ben's team were going to be put at substantial risk when they weren't designated to getting everyone out. They didn't have the equipment or protocol to stay and act as a rescue team, it was safer for Ben and his team to get out and then help put out the fires from the outside.

Just as Ben was about to agree, he reached out to his right to steady himself against the wall when the building started to tremor.

"Dad?!"

That one word made Ben feel like the building had already collapsed onto him and crushed him entirely. They couldn't be here, not now, not today not right this moment in time. Ben couldn't have any of his family here in this building or anywhere near this place when it was about to go down.

"No, no no what are you doing here?"

A course of curse words flooded past his lips on repeat as he flung himself from the wall and across the unsteady ground that felt like it was going to give way beneath his feet. Ben's eyes were locked on Tommy who was trying to run but he was wobbling. The moment Ben reached him he wasted no time in scooping him up and holding him to his chest, pressing his hand to the back of Tommy's head as his eyes darted around to look for (Y/n).

"Where's your mum? Are James and Billy with you? Tommy tell me quickly where are they?!" Ben didn't know if (Y/n) had brought the boys with her or if she was just out with Tommy and James and Billy were with her parents like they were supposed to be. (Y/n) wasn't meant to be here, she never said she was bringing Tommy here, Ben thought she was going across town today.

Why did they have to be here?

"M-mum's behind me... t-the boys aren't with us." Tommy tucked his head into Ben's neck as much as he could with Ben's safety helmet and his thick florescent jacket being in the way. (Y/n) had been right behind him until he spotted Ben and made a beeline for him.

"Ben, are you on your way out yet? The place is gonna go down any minute, the foundations are ruined." Joe's voice over the radio was barely heard due to the rumbling sound the building was creating and the panic that could be heard from miles away.

"I can't get out yet, my family's on this floor!"

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

A choked breath mixed with a moan escaped Ben's mouth as his eyes violently flew open like he had been resuscitated. His head jolted up before slamming back down against the concrete floor when he realised his body was far too weak and paralysed from unconsciousness to move.

Where was he? He was on the ground floor level, he remembered going down and knowing it was a bad idea before the concrete walls started to shake and the world turned black.

How long had it been? He didn't know.

Was he alone? Sammy was on the other side of the floor, but he might have gotten out when Joe told the team to retract. But Ben was still here... oh God, Tommy and (Y/n) had been down here with him the moment the place started to crumble like it was the end of the world. Hundreds more questions started to circle through Ben's mind but he couldn't focus on any of them other than needing to find where his wife and son were.

It wasn't dark.

As Ben tried to open his eyes and focus his vision, he realised that there was still light creeping into this level despite half of it being collapsed. The electrics would have surely become severed and broken so to have light meant there was part of the walls that were broken enough for the outside to creep in. That was a good sign.

When his vision managed to focus properly, Ben choked on his breath when he realised that he was laid on his side with his arms cocooned around Tommy who was squashed against his chest. Ben was relieved he seemed to have fallen- or maybe he laid down himself, in this position because if he fell on top of Tommy he would have crushed him. And if he fell with Tommy on top of him and something fell down on them, it would crush Tommy first and presumably worse than it would Ben.

Trying to keep his breathing calm and slow, Ben counted each breath he took until he was no longer on the verge of panicking as his eyes focused on his eldest boy. His vision narrowed and he held his breath so he could try and focus on Tommy and Ben felt tears welling in his eyes when he knew his boy was breathing rather normally considering the shock he must have gone through.

A shuddering breath left Ben's lips as he relished in holding his boy before he dared to look around and try to find (Y/n). Ben couldn't remember if she had been close by or a distance away, he didn't know if he had been holding onto her as well or if she had been out of his reach.

Ben's eyes soon latched onto his wife's frame only a few feet away from him, she was also laid on her side and thankfully had her front facing Ben. Even when he narrowed his eyes, he couldn't quite tell if her chest was moving and with the sirens and screams and ringing sounds, Ben couldn't hear how she was breathing. But he was certain he could see the muscles and skin around her neck moving and pulling inwards suggesting that she was breathing. He kept watching her for a few more minutes before he noticed her hand twitch and he nodded to himself that she was alive.

That was all he could ask for at this moment. He didn’t dare let his mind think about what was happening with the baby after something like this, they were only five months along and thinking of the results of this kind of event made Ben want to be sick.

As he took calming breaths, Ben tried to think what kind of training he had received for this kind of situation, but he'd never been in this situation before and his training had been years ago. The refresher courses didn't do any good and the last one of those had been at least seven months previous. Deciding he would have to try and make it up as he went along, Ben knew the first thing to do was try and see what injuries he and Tommy had and if he could move or not.

He slowly moved his fingers, feeling the gloves over his hands were grazing against rubble and gravel. When he curled his fingers into his palms, he knew he hadn't broken any knuckles or fingers which was a good start. He moved his focus onto his arms which he tensed before pulling tighter around Tommy. Ben could feel the burns and when his left arm started shaking, he figured it was a rather bad burn. But nothing broken yet.

Raising one hand, Ben slowly grabbed the helmet and visor resting on his head and moved his head to take it off. He knew it was safer to keep it on in case any rubble fell but right now he didn't want it constricting him. He cracked his neck side to side and felt very little strain there which was also good.

Trying to shuffle his weight back just a little, Ben very slowly and gently unravelled his arms from Tommy without moving his boy very much at all. When his arms were free, Ben rolled onto his back and then removed the thick padded gloves that made it hard to bend his fingers, Ben then trailed his hands over his upper body.

His overalls were ripped, burnt and hot to the touch and when he moved his hands down to his chest he hissed and jolted against the concrete when he felt at least two ribs on his right side that were either fractured or broken. Now his breathing felt like it was beginning to hurt now he was aware of the pain he was beginning to notice. Moving his hands lower, he grazed only his fingertips against his body so he wouldn't apply any pain or pressure to any injuries he had.

His torso felt strained and bruised but nothing major. Moving his hands to the floor, he felt around him for any bricks or lumps of concrete before he pressed his flat palms to the ground in order to sit himself up.

Ben took a moment to control his breathing and ride out the dizziness in his head before he dared to check over his legs. His right leg had a rather blistering burn to his upper thigh and the way it sizzled like he was sitting on a barbecue made Ben guess it had reached the muscle.

"Shit."

He left the burn alone, not having any water or gauze to clean it with anyway, so he focused on trailing his hands lower down his body.

He'd dislocated his left knee, great.

But when Ben looked at his legs, a sound resembling a moan escaped his lips before he groaned and felt himself beginning to cry without shedding any tears. There was a chunk of concrete like one of the pillars holding up the ceiling and it was laid on Ben's right ankle, cutting off his sight of his foot.

For two, maybe three minutes, Ben sat choking on dust and air wondering if it had gone completely through his ankle and chopped off his foot. Without being able to see his foot or being able to see the damage to his ankle, it felt possible that his foot was no longer connected to his leg. But Ben could feel his whole leg twitching and it didn't feel like his foot wasn't there, so surely it had to be, right?

Ben found it horrifying that he could feel no pain in his leg other than his blistered thigh. He wasn't suffering agonising pain from his ankle bone clearly being crushed by concrete, nor were his nerves shooting with pains or his muscles twitching and spasming with pain. His leg just felt numb from the knee down.

Trying to ignore his own injuries when he heard Tommy lowly groaning, Ben tried to turn to the left but he ended up laying back down on his side to ease the pain he was feeling. He gently brushed Tommy's hair from his eyes that were just beginning to flutter open like butterfly wings. He took a moment to adjust and look at Ben before hi pupils blew wide and a strangled breath escaped his bleeding lips.

The eight year old's breathing started to increase and he began to shake as a silent cry escaped his lips making it clear that his memory was sharp and coming back to him quickly.

"Sshh, hey, hey I'm here buddy. I'm here and I've got you, it's gonna be okay I promise." Ben brushed his hand over Tommy's face, knowing his voice was scratching but he hoped he could still calm him down. He kissed Tommy's forehead and continued to brush his hand over his features to calm him down, listening as his breathing calmed down but he started to choke on wails. "I'm here, you're okay."

Tommy reached his hand up and clung to Ben's arm for a few minutes until his wails turned to sniffs and gasps for a proper breath.

"Tommy, baby I need to check you over to see where you're hurt. I'm gonna turn you on your back, just tell me if anything hurts, okay?" Ben took Tommy's hand to keep him calm when he sat up before he gently eased Tommy over onto his back.

Ben felt something stabbing his chest when he realised he'd called Tommy baby like he used to when he was younger and he didn't revolt against the term. It was a pet name Ben used for (Y/n) and all the boys but Tommy started to say he was too old to be called that, but right now he didn't seem to bother, if anything it seemed to reassure him.

Ben slowly let go of Tommy's hand so he could check him over, wincing when Tommy let out a cry when Ben touched his left shoulder which felt dislocated. Ben tried to breathe slowly and calmly to get Tommy to copy him as he continued to check him over, noting that he had at least two broken or fractured ribs and his right leg felt both blistered and broken. But he didn't feel any pain around his torso or chest other than bruising which was a good sign that he might not have any internal injuries.

"Okay, I'm gonna sit you up, put your shoulder in place and then sort out my knee, okay?"

"Daddy don't... i-it's okay please-"

"It'll hurt a lot less if I put it back in place, I know what I'm doing I swear. Count to three for me baby, please." Ben eased Tommy up before reaching around to hold onto his shoulder. He knew it was going to hurt but he also knew leaving it out of its socket would be a bad idea if they had to get themselves out of here because he could catch his shoulder and make it worse.

"O-one... two-" Tommy cut himself off with a piercing scream when Ben pushed his arm straight up and they both heard it popping back into its socket. It was better to do it when he wasn't expecting it and get it over with.

"Good lad, now you just sit there for a minute, okay?"

Placing one hand on his left thigh, Ben held his lower leg with the other hand and closed his eyes for a few seconds as he calmed himself down. He'd done this before with someone else's knee, but not to himself. But he couldn't move or bend his knee if it was popped out of the joint and at some point he needed to check on his shattered ankle. Drawing in a deep breath through gritted teeth, Ben opened his eyes, focusing his gaze on his knee as he held his breath deep in his lungs.

One... two... three.

Curse words flowed freely from his chapped lips along with a scream of pain when he heard the sickening pop telling him that he'd done it.

Turning his head, Ben looked over at Tommy who was cringing from the scene and the sound he just witnessed and tears were now streaking down his face that was covered in grime and dust. But when Tommy moved his head and caught sight of (Y/n), Ben's voice caused him to quickly look back at his dad.

"Hey, eyes over here. Your mum's okay, she's just unconscious like we were a bit ago. When I sort my foot out, I'm gonna go and make sure she's okay and then we'll get out of here, it's gonna be fine I swear." Ben didn't want Tommy to sit and stare at (Y/n) because he would upset himself and convince himself that she wasn't okay. Ben didn't want Tommy to torture himself looking at (Y/n) knowing that he couldn't help, nor did he want Tommy to go and sit with her in case she had any injuries that he would be able to see.

Pressing his hand under his knee, Ben pulled it until his knee was bent up and he could shuffle closer and bend his other knee to get as close to his damaged ankle as possible. The boulder crushing his limb wasn't too extensive, it wasn't very long in length and it was rather thin which he guessed was a good thing. Daring to lean his head over the boulder, Ben sighed in utter relief when he saw his foot on the other side. He had truly believed he would look over to see a severed limb looking back at him. His foot was bent to the left at an odd angle and Ben didn't have to move the boulder to know that the bone of his ankle would be shattered.

Without even thinking, Ben moved his cautious hand to try and touch his foot that was clad in his boot but to his utter surprise, his foot jerked at the contact which made his ankle move under its constraint of the boulder.

Ben tried to swallow a howl at the sudden agony he felt when a shooting nerve sprung to life in his ankle and bolted all the way up his leg. Now he could feel the pain instead of the numbness. He tried to think what he was going to do and how to get his foot free and as he leaned his head to the side to assess his ankle, he noticed there might just be enough room to bend his foot and slide it under.

"Tommy, can you shuffle over here for me?" Ben cocked his head to the side, watching as Tommy slowly dragged himself over whilst trying not to move his broken leg too much. But when he looked over at Ben's ankle, more tears fell from his eyes and he started to whimper.

"D-daddy, y-your..." He couldn't seem to find the words he was thinking of so he just pointed at the sight that made him feel sick.

"I know it looks bad, but baby I need you to help me. I need you to lean over and help push my foot under the concrete, I can't get it free on my own."

Tommy violently shook his head, trying to retreat but Ben reached over and grabbed hold of his hand. His eyes were pleading, he wouldn't ask this if he could do this on his own. Ben didn't want his boy to see him in pain or witness this but there was no way Ben could bend his damaged foot the other way and push it under the boulder as well as trying to lift the boulder enough to slot his foot free.

"Baby I need your help or else I can't go and help your mum. Please?" Tommy started to shake but he finally relented and nodded. "Good boy, all you have to do is bend my foot to the other side and then push it when I tell you to, okay?"

Tommy turned his head to the side when he shuffled closer to the boulder and Ben could see his stomach churning and his throat tightening like he was going to be sick. He rested his left arm over the boulder and held onto Ben's boot, slowly pushing it like he was moving the hand of a clock into the right position but the noise Ben's ankle made caused Tommy to wail. He shivered and shrunk down when Ben growled through gritted teeth and snapped his eyes closed, he had to try and be strong but the pain was making it very hard.

Moving his hands, Ben slipped his gloves back on before he slotted his hands under the small gap the boulder had left. His arms started to shake and he felt his stomach muscles tightening when he pulled up the boulder before nodding for Tommy to push his foot.

Ben tried his best to pull his leg back but it was harder than he thought when his whole leg was numb to the point he could barely feel it. When the edge of his boot barely scraped past the boulder Ben let it drop against the floor before he leaned back on his hands and tipped his head back, closing his eyes tightly. Now the weight was gone Ben could feel every inch of skin and every nerve pulsing and tingling in his ankle like it was coming back to life and he knew it would only be a matter of minutes before the pain started to arise.

"Good lad." Ben breathed through the words as he tried to stop himself from becoming light-headed.

When he dared to examine his ankle, Ben knew he would be lucky if his foot would survive with how shattered the bone was, it looked like his ankle had been flattened and there was a piece of bone poking through the skin that was oozing blood like a small river.

"Tommy, baby you stay there and I'm gonna go see to your mum, I'll be right there you won't lose sight of me for a second I promise."

"O-okay."

When Tommy nodded, Ben managed a tight-lipped smile before he slowly rolled over so that he was resting on his front. He knew it would be easier to crawl over rather than try and stand with a shattered ankle and a dislocated knee, the pain would be too intense to bear. As Ben started crawling over to (Y/n), he started to wonder how long it would be before search and rescue got here and got them out.

There were countless other people trapped here who needed to escape but Ben was praying that since they were on the ground floor, they would be seen to quicker.

They needed help.

#ben hardy #ben x reader #ben hardy imagine #imagine #BoRhap #joe mazzello #dad! ben #firefighter #shattered

[jinmukangwrites]

Whumptober Day 25

Blurred Vision | Ringing Ears

Ao3

Summary: Early into Damian's run as Robin, he finds himself in the aftermath of a warehouse explosion.

-o-o-o-o-

Damian's ears are ringing. That's the first thing he's aware of. The high pitched chiming that's almost as grating as the bells sewn into the tips of Christmas hats. The next thing he becomes aware of is just… pain. Biting close to agony. He shifts, tries to cringe away from the pain, but all it does is tug at something crushingly heavy that lays over his body. 

It's a task and a half just to pry his own eyes open. They're crusted, with blood or just normal gunk he's not sure. All he knows is that when his eyes finally open, the only thing there is to see are blurry blobs of orange shooting up towards a black abyss. It's then when he realizes just how hot he is. 

Desperate to figure out what's going on and where he is, he brings his hands to the heavy pressure laying over his chest. It doesn't go anywhere when he pushes, but he really doesn't feel that strong, and he’s not sure he’d be able to push against the pressure even if he understood what was going on. He blinks his blurry eyes and licks his chapped lips, but nothing happens besides him being made aware of a pounding ache at the side of his head. 

He tries to relax his body now, maybe lay there and let himself calm down from the confusion of waking up disoriented, but the moment he lets his muscles go limp, he catches sight of a big, hulking figure approaching quickly through the orange blobs. 

Immediately, Damian's in fight mode. The figure stops before him, towering like a dark demon, before it kneels down. The second it's within shot, Damian lashes out, throwing out a fist to try and hit… hit somewhere. 

It's useless as his small wrist is easily caught in shadows. The fingers wrapped around his wrists feel tight enough to bruise. 

Something booms through the ringing in his ears. Something that sounds like the muffled sounds of voices on the other side of a thick wall. Damian tries to focus. Tries to tug his wrist. Tries to at least listen to the deep voice that almost sounds familiar… he just can't place why. He knows it. He can’t place anything at all.

"-eve it or not, I'm trying to help-"

And then Damian can't focus anymore, not as the figure leans over him and shoves off whatever is pinning Damian down. His entire world becomes one of vertigo as the strange person hefts him up and over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. Damian's ribs scream in protest, and it's all he can do at least try to struggle. However, a strong arm wraps around his kicking legs with laughable ease. Damian's soon rendered helpless, hanging from the person's broad shoulders, his hands able to do nothing but weakly hit their leather jacket clad back. 

His vision sways. He's pretty sure he might be bleeding from his ears. And the pain only intensifies as he's carried.

Damian almost wants to cry in frustration. He has no idea who this person is… or what they want with him. What if they were the one who hurt him? What if it's them who caused Damian to wake up here? 

What if this was an enemy, and Damian couldn't even struggle. 

Pathetic. 

"-ot you- I got-" 

Damian blinks, or maybe falls asleep, and when he opens his eyes the world is speeding past him and his head feels heavy with a biker's helmet that doesn't belong to him. There's a large body pressed against his chest, and his arms are wrapped around their torso and somehow tied to stay there. 

The world tilts, and Damian loses consciousness again... which is better than throwing up like he almost does.

-o-o-o-o-

Waking up is even worse the second time. Mostly because Damian is more aware to feel just how much pain he’s in.

He groans and tries to shift, but once again he’s stopped. 

Only, this time it’s because his hands are zip-tied together and attached to his belt. His eyes fly open with a shot of adrenaline. He reaches into his utility belt and tries to find something to free himself with, but he quickly finds that there’s nothing there. His belt has been completely disarmed. 

“Stop moving around so much,” a voice suddenly growls, but it’s muffled. Like Damian has cotton stuffed in his ears. He’s now awfully aware of a persistent and sharp ringing right behind his eardrums. “I worked hard on your stitches.”

Damian opens his eyes and while nothing goes into focus, he’s still able to direct his eyes over to who he least expected to come to his rescue, but who he supposes he’s now the captive of. 

Jason Todd. His big, muscled form sits across whatever small room Damian’s in with his hands across his chest. His helmet is nowhere to be seen, but the vague outline of red over his eyes suggests he’s wearing a mask. Damian forces his body to relax and compose itself as he does his best to study his surroundings. All he can really make out is the vague walls of the room—painted a distasteful brown—and the bare, hard as a rock mattress he lays on top of. He tries to shift into a better position, to not look as vulnerable in front of the enemy, but he’s quickly stopped by two different things.

One is the plastic bindings around his ankles. The other is that the movement makes him very aware of those stitches Todd was talking about.

Instead of risking making a fool of himself by wriggling like a caterpillar, nor risking tearing his stitches, Damian glares at Todd through the haze of blurriness.

“What-” Damian starts, but he’s cut off as his chest explodes into fire. His chest hurts.

Todd stands up as Damian desperately tries to get a hold of himself. He tenses as the villain gets too close and reaches to the side to grab something blurry. 

Damian tenses as Todd holds out whatever he’s holding out to Damian’s face. Damian cringes back, but Todd has none of it. He grabs Damian by the shoulder and hefts him up so he’s sitting, his body haunches over slightly as his hands remain trapped just under his belly button. He hisses at the smarting the movement causes and blinks spots from his eyes. 

Todd lets go Damian, unfortunately, has to catch his breath as a seed of confusion settles at the back of his skull. Even though being lifted like this hurt… Todd was shockingly gentle.

Before he can even try to consider what that could mean and how that ties into whatever crazy plan Todd had up his sleeves, the thing held out to him earlier is once again shoved under his nose. Sitting up may have rubbed every single one of his injuries the wrong way, but it’s also somewhat cleared his head; enough so that he can tell that the item held to his mouth is…

An opened bottle of water.

Damian scowls. “How do I know it’s not drugged,” he growls. Or gurgles. It feels like someone took a blade to his mouth and carved the inside of his esophagus apart. 

“Because,” Todd says, sounding insultingly amused, “I have a syringe filled with actual sedatives that I’ll give ya if you keep being difficult. Drink.”

Damian is almost tempted to turn down the water out of spite. But his chest… feels like it’s on fire. Even the thought of speaking another word gives him the feeling that something red hot and unpleasant is dripping down his throat. Instead of saying anything, he opens his mouth and shoves any embarrassment he would normally have somewhere else in his mind. Todd rather… carefully… pours the water into Damian’s mouth. At first, the liquid stings, but soon enough Damian doesn’t even care about how undignified it is to be given water like this. It feels cold and refreshing going down his throat. Soothing. He tells himself that it’s just him accepting help. Grayson says accepting help is never shameful. 

Granted, Todd is the one who has tied him up and made him helpless to quench his own thirst. 

But he’ll worry about the details later.

Once the plastic bottle is empty, Todd puts the cap back on and then begins to crush the plastic between his hands, twisting it at the middle mindlessly as he regards Damian. Damian regards him as well as he tries to figure out what exactly is going on and what will happen from this point forward.

He clears his throat. “Why am I here?”

“Cuz you almost got yourself blown up in a warehouse,” Todd says back, his voice sharp.

Ah. Damian remembers now. He snuck off away from Grayson during patrol after they had an argument about Grason not trusting Damian to go off on his own. He found… some sort of shady deal going on by the docks and… while the rest of the details are a bit harder to recall, he still knows that it quite literally ended with a bang. Todd must have been close by.

It doesn’t explain why he helped Damian though. Nor why he took Damian back here. 

Instead, he glares at the fuzzy outline of Jason Todd. “What do you want from me?”

Todd shrugs. Leans back, twists the annoying bottle in his hands some more. “Nothing. I’m just waiting for the sedative to kick in.”

Damian freezes. Then glares. Of course. Of course he’s drugged Damian anyways.

Almost immediately after that, he feels a wave of dizziness take over. Damian sways against his will, but before he can completely fall over, Todd grabs him by the shoulders and lowers him back onto the mattress. 

“Don’t take it personal, squirt,” Todd mumbles, his voice becoming very far away. Damian’s blurry vision begins to swim. “It’s just gonna be easier to deal with big bird while you’re knocked out. And you can’t try and fight me if you’re asleep.”

Damian blinks hard and tries to make sense of the swirling world above him. “Wh… what…”

“Just wait, next time you wake up, you’re gonna be back home with everyone worrying bout’cha.’

The end of Todd’s sentence becomes nothing but words bouncing around uselessly around Damain’s skull. Before he knows it, his eyelids are unwillingly closing and everything becomes silent.

-o-o-o-o-

Todd is right. The next time Damian wakes up, he’s in his bedroom, Grayson immediately perking up to attack him with... unwanted?... cuddles and worries. Time has definitely passed, and he’s painfully aware of every stitch, bruised rib, and burn on his body. He explains to Grayson once his stomach is no longer rolling that Todd hasn’t done anything to hurt him besides drugging him.

Grayson then explains that he got a note from Todd to meet him to pick Damian up and then didn’t get a single explanation as to what Todd’s intentions or plans were once he got there. Apparently, Damian was handed over willingly and without much tussle besides some sass. Todd left before Grayson even got Damian to the car, saying to forget about the safehouse they were at because he’s not going to be using it again.

Damian can tell Grayson is trying to find reason in Todd’s recent actions; it’s like he’s trying to convince himself that Todd is still some version of a boy he knew long ago, before he went off the deep end and started killing anyone he saw problematic. 

Damian doesn’t tell Grayson of Todd’s shocking gentleness. He doesn’t want to give his hopes up.

Because while Damian, too, finds Todd’s behavior odd tonight, he also knows that perhaps seeing Robin go into an exploding warehouse brought up specific memories for the man. Damian is aware of the circumstances of his demise. He probably just didn’t want to see someone go out the same way he did with the same colors and name.

One thing is for sure, Damian will continue to treat Todd like an enemy until he can prove himself to be trustworthy.

Until he can prove that gentleness isn’t reserved for accidental kidnappings and ransoms. 

Weeks pass, and Damian is reluctantly cleared by Pennyworth to rejoin Grayson into the city for patrol. They run into Todd then, and if Todd happens to not hit as hard as he normally does… well… Damian keeps that to himself.

For now, at least, they’re enemies. But Damian has known Grayson long enough to know that nothing is set in stone, even a bloody warpath. 

#damian wayne #jason todd #dick grayson #robin #red hood #nightwing #dick grayson is batman #dc #dc comics #batman comics #jin writes #fic #fanfiction #whumptober2020 #no.25 #blurred vision #ringing ears #kidnapping tw #noncon drugging

[jebazzled]

SOOO the Drama: Making it Work with Tragic Backstories

Hi everyone, how are we doing? It’s been a while since my last unsolicited tutorial. Is everyone eating well? Is everyone drinking water? Dressing warmly if it’s cold wherever you live? 

Today we’ll be talking about tragic backstories, and how to use them rather than abuse them. 

This tutorial will mention a number of triggers, though not with great detail - more in the interest of providing context. 

Specific triggers mentioned: abandonment, verbal abuse, child neglect, car accident, transphobia, animal death, cheating, bullying, parental death

In the rp community we often joke about loving to put our characters through hell - about really running them ragged - making ourselves weepy. For a lot of us, writing Heavy Emotional Content is a lot more fun than fluff, or characters who are happy, fulfilled, and well-adjusted. I’m literally planning to kill off one of my characters in the next couple of weeks. I get it. 

But there’s also a fair amount of discourse in the rp community about what is pejoratively called “trauma porn.” It’s discourse that is warranted! Because while we love fictional drama, the truth is that sometimes...

well, sometimes it can be too much, can’t it? 

Here’s the thing about trauma: a tragic backstory does not a well-developed character make. Too often, too many of us lean on these traumatic histories as a crutch towards building a character, without meaningfully exploring that trauma with any depth. The truth is, in fiction, tragedy only builds character when when you do. And tragedy is far from the only way to create a nuanced character. 

In this tutorial, we will examine common approaches to character backstories, alternatives to tragedy-as-a-default, and figure out how to have your cake (the feels) and eat it too (with purpose.)

BUILD-A-BACKSTORY

In my experience, the most common approach to writing a freestyle application is writing a chronological history (you can read my app guides, including thots on alternative styles of freestyle, here). Ain’t nothing wrong with that! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! 

It’s an approach that makes sense, as it forces you to fill in the blanks to answer the question: why is my character Like That? And often, as writers, our first instinct is to provide the saddest answer possible.

“Why is Susie so clingy?” 

Her parents abandoned her at a fire station when she was an infant, and rather than being raised in foster care, she grew up at the fire station. But the entire company that raised her died while fighting a wildfire, and she is certain that any time anyone walks away from her, they will never come back. 

“Why is Brent such a misogynist?” 

His mother never wanted him and told him so every day of his youth. When he hit puberty, she stopped speaking to him entirely, and the day he turned eighteen, she changed the locks while he was at school. 

“Why is Lichen such a high-achieving go-getter?” 

Lichen was born with glass bones and paper skin. Every morning they break their legs, and every afternoon they break their arms. At night, they lie awake in agony until their heart attacks put them to sleep.

Feels like a lot, doesn’t it? I may have done a little exaggeration, but - not a lot, frankly. 

Especially if other characters on a site are loaded with tragic histories, it can be hard not to equate a certificate from the school of hard knocks with a Pulitzer. You want something juicy to write about, yes? And this is all so juicy! 

But here’s the rub: often, these histories will never come up again outside of an application, or will not be practically dev’d out beyond shock value. Susie will never be reminded of Frank, the fireman who taught her to ride a bike. Brent will focus his sexist comments on objectifying women’s bodies rather than degrading their personalities and motives, which were the issues with his mother. Someone who didn’t read Lichen’s app would have no clue that they have had a total horror show of a life. 

If you are writing a tragic backstory that doesn’t have a continual impact on your character, you are writing trauma porn, and it is doing nothing for your character. 

This doesn’t mean that your characters should be fully and constantly occupied with memories of their trauma - in fact, constant introspection is an easy way to stall threads (per my “why aren’t people writing with me?” guide here) - but it does mean that if your answer to the question, “why is my character Like That” is a compelling one, it is one that a reader should be able to answer even if they haven’t read your app, if they’ve read a few of your threads or other writing. 

This is a careful balance, of course, but think of your characters the way you think of yourself! For example: probably the most Potentially Dramatic thing about my personal life is that my older sister is developmentally disabled, and I am one of her legal guardians. When my parents die, I will inherit my older sister, and will uproot my life from wherever I am living at the time to move back to my hometown and make sure she is taken care of and happy. This is not something that I constantly think about, but it is difficult to know me for any meaningful length of time and not be aware that I have a developmentally disabled sister, as I mention her in passing, think about her when her favorite music comes up on Spotify, and tell people to donate to her favorite charity, Special Olympics. 

If I were writing an app of myself as a character and spent a good portion of the app untangling my relationship with my sister, and then never mentioned her in any of my thread posts, then is she really important to my character? Or was I flexing her for depth?

Do you see what I am getting at here? If it matters, it will come up more than once. If it only comes up once, and it’s in your app, you should think of something to explain your character’s personality and motivations that is perhas a little less loaded. 

BUT WITHOUT THE SADS, HOW DO?

The good news is: you absolutely do not need a tragic backstory to write a nuanced character! Again - think of your characters the way you think of yourself, or of other real people. While everyone has gone through heavy things in their lives from time to time, chances are that your life does not resemble that of a soap opera protagonist. And aren’t you a multifaceted person, full of depth and life? Aren’t you someone whose story is worth telling, even if it feels like your life is pretty ordinary? 

After all, it’s not the past that makes a character - it’s the present, their current voice, actions, and missteps. That is where you want the real juice to be, because that is the shit you’re writing! 

Some potential “everyday histories” for our above cast of characters:

“Why is Susie so clingy?”

In elementary and middle school, Susie was bullied on and off - a few weeks spent hanging out with the in-crowd, followed by a month as a social pariah. She could never understand why. When she moved to a different state for high school, she attached herself like a barnacle to the clique the Tulips, and has made it her goal not to let herself get shaken back to the outskirts this time. 

This isn’t as dramatic as Susie’s earlier backstory - in fact, it could apply to any number of people, being passed between friend groups for years on end. But again: your character doesn’t need a one-of-a-kind daytime talk show-worthy backstory to have a unique and compelling history and voice! 

“Why is Brent such a misogynist?”

Brent’s mother never wanted children, and made it pretty clear to him throughout his youth. His father, though, as always there for him - including when his mother walked out and never came back, after cheating on Mr. Brent’s Dad for years. From then on, Brent and his dad only had each other - and their bitterness towards the woman who wronged them.

This still gives you some family drama - unloving mother, and some adultery - but having Brent be raised by someone who has their own beef with women eliminates the shock value of locking your son out merely for being a boy. Also, this take acknowledges misogyny as a learned behavior.

“Why is Lichen such a high-achieving go-getter?”

When their parents divorced, Lichen only came out to their mother as nonbinary, and presents a fully different persona when they are with their father. Being in the top 5% of their high school class and being a national champion Lincoln-Douglas debater is the only thing Lichen and (deadname) have in common. 

I acknowledge that Lichen’s previous story was a meme. The above story could be made much more intense (for example, if Lichen’s father were a member of the Westboro Baptist Church and then Lichen’s supportive mother dies in a freak accident and Lichen, unable to hide their true identity, is imprisoned in their father’s basement until they pretend to have seen the error of their ways and identify as cis again) but the above gives plenty to chew on! 

While drama and trauma can be satisfying to write, there is plenty of drama to be found in the everyday. Building a well-rounded character is much less about what happened to them and much more about what they are doing, thinking, and feeling now. 

That said, 

TIPS & TRICKS FOR WRITING TRAGIQUE CHARACTERS

Don’t go overboard. If it is not going to come up ever again after the app: leave it out. 

Impact is about the character, not the reader. If it was important enough to leave in the app, it should have an identifiable impact on your character. The main purpose cannot have been to shock the reader. 

It’s not meaningful JUST because it happened. If someone can follow your character’s story for any extended amount of time and not realize that, say, your character’s mother died in a boating accident, then it isn’t actually important that your character’s mother died in a boating accident, and you should let her live. 

If ALL of your characters have a heavily dramatic backstory, ALL of your heavily dramatic backstories lose their meaning. Dramatic backstories are fun but they should not be a constant: they will begin to feel cheap and lazy. 

Your character does not need to dwell on their tragic backstory! While a character should acknowledge their history, a character does not need to realize that their backstory is meant to be tragic. For example, Sally might have been raised by her Aunt Agatha after her parents disappeared in a hot air balloon when she was a baby. Rather than being sad about her missing parents, Sally might think of them as total strangers and of Agatha as her sole parental figure - and her sadness might be for Agatha, who does miss Mr. and Ms. Pumpernickel. 

And that’s literally all she wrote! I hope you find this helpful when you’re writing your characters - tragic or otherwise - and developing their plotlines. The world is not made of trauma and fluff alone, friends. Go forth and contain multitudes!

#rp guides #resources #writing resources #rp writing #applications #character development

[shyvioletcat]

Okay jk one more prompt: “That was kind of hot.” 😂 I can see this being a pun intended situation with Rowan being a firefighter hehe

Hi, hello everyone! This took me longer than expected because its hella long. But no way was I cutting it down. Enjoy. 

Masterlist

~~~~~

Aelin was ready to shake off the awkwardness from the night before, if only just for her own peace of mind. Her kids had their excursion to the fire station and she wasn’t going to let her errant blouse ruin that for them.

When she’d realised she was standing there half naked in front of Rowan Aelin was glad she had been blessed with whatever amount of foresight that morning to put on a good bra. If Rowan was going to see her in such a state she was glad it was at her best.

It was also becoming blatantly obvious Rowan was into her, and more than just a little, and she wasn’t about to deny that she wasn’t very attracted to him. But the thing was she wasn’t sure if she wanted to make the first move. It would be far more interesting to see how long it would take for her to break down Rowan’s unwavering resolve. She had a sneaking suspicion it was rapidly reaching its end.

What threw her plans out was that Rowan was already gone by the time she got up. So with a sigh Aelin threw back her covers and got ready for the day.

~~~~~

“You’re in early.”

Rowan tried to ignore the mischief dancing in Fenrys’s voice.

“Want to make sure everything is perfect for when your friend gets here?” Fenrys asked, make sure to accentuate friend when he said it.

Rowan continued to ignore him.

“Come on Whitethorn, not just a little bite?”

The slamming of Rowan’s locker was his answer. Fenrys laughed.

“Feeling a little frustrated there, bud?”

If Fenrys had a talent it was to know exactly what would piss people off.

“If you haven’t been able to charm her maybe I’ll give it a go,” Fenrys mused to himself in a way that was begging, almost pleading, for a reaction.

“One day, Fenrys, someone is going to punch your teeth out and I hope I’m there to see it,” Rowan said as he made his way to the door.

Fenrys’s laughter chased him out the door and Rowan got as far away from it as he could before he was the one to punch Fenrys’s teeth out himself.

~~~~~

“Alright children you know the rules,” Aelin said as the minibus pulled to a stop. “You listen to all instructions and you don’t touch anything unless you’re told to. This isn’t a playground, this is a workplace and the things in there are used to help people. Understood?”

There was a lot of nodding and choruses ‘yes Miss G’. The kids were excited and ready to practically bounce off the bus.

“First instruction, when you get off line up beside the bus,” Aelin said as she stepped off the bus. There was a rush for the door as twenty 8 year olds made for the door. Elide would bring up the rear making sure everyone got off.

“Miss G?” Aelin heard beside her as she watched the last few kids get off the bus.

“Yes Benjamin,” Aelin said as Elide stepped down and the bus door closed.

“Do you think Fireman Whitethorn will answer my question? He didn’t get to last time,” Benjamin asked.

“Do not ask him that again,” Aelin said, her cheek involuntarily flushing.

Elide, of course didn’t miss a thing.

“What was the question?” She asked innocently.

“It was —“

“If you promise me that you will never repeat that question to anyone you can have a prize from the prize box.” Aelin wasn’t above bribery when it came to this.

“Without having to get 10 stickers?” Benjamin asked with wide eyes.

“Yep. Now line up please,” Aelin said.

“What was the question?” Elide asked again. Aelin ignored it. “Oh come on. If you’re trying to hide it that bad it’s something embarrassing. My imagination is running wild.”

“Nothing, lets get these kids off the street before we lose one,” Aelin said dismissively.

“I’ll find out, you know I will,” Elide taunted. Aelin didn’t doubt she would.

Aelin led her students towards the fire station, excited murmurs a constant behind her. She’d walked towards the big red doors that looked as if they led to the reception area. Aelin held the door back as they all filed in, she was sure at least half of them were about to explode.

“Hi everyone!”

Aelin turned to see Rowan standing by the door behind the large built in desk. Just about twenty voices chimed ‘hi’ back.

“Should we get started?” He asked with a charming smile.

Aelin let to door shut behind Elide as the door behind Rowan opened and another firefighter stepped through. Aelin recognised him as the friend she had met very briefly when Rowan had first installed the padlock on her door. She’d been so angry the first time she saw him Aelin hadn’t noticed how devastatingly beautiful he was.

“Alright guys, my name is Fenrys. If you’d like to follow me,” he said and walked back through the door.

The kids eagerly followed, leaving Aelin and Elide to follow up behind. Rowan joined them.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey yourself,” Aelin said then indicated to Elide. “You remember Elide right?”

Rowan nodded. “How’s it going?”

“So far so good,” she replied.

“Well I’m going to go help Fenrys out,” Rowan said a little awkwardly then went back to the front of the group.

“What happened?” Elide whispered.

“What do you mean what happened?” Aelin whispered back.

“That was super awkward.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aelin said crossing her arms over her chest.

“Yeah okay,” Elide retorted sarcastically.

They followed where Fenrys and Rowan led, which was into the locker room.

“This is where we put our stuff while we work. This is my locker,” Rowan explained and opened it. There was a duffel bag and some toiletries in there Rowan leaving it open for a few moments before he closed it again. “We wouldn’t want your bags interfering with your day today, so find a safe place for your bags and then we’ll go see the the fire engines.”

There was a rush of movement and Rowan had to move out of the way as the majority of the kids piled their bags right in front of his locker. He didn’t seem to mind. He just smiled.

“That’s a little bit cute,” Elide muttered.

Aelin was inclined to agree.

Fenrys and Rowan took them out of the locker room and walked them to the fire engines in the garage. The kids were in awe of the big trucks.

There were a few other men moving around the trucks, two dark-haired one blonde. They were all impressively built.

“What is this place?” Elide muttered beside her as the men stopped what they were doing and started to line up. Aelin’s mouth fell open a little.

“Do they have to pass some kind of test?” Aelin mused.

Because as the five of them lined up… it was like they’d walked into a dream. A dream full of very handsome firefighters.

There was a man who looked identical to Fenrys, except where Fenrys hair was golden his was black. The man beside him had rich brown hair and eyes, he shot Aelin and Elide a dashing smile making the two women share a look. The last of the newcomers was older than the others looking to be maybe mid 40s instead of mid to late 20s like the rest of them. He had a kind face and something about it had Aelin looking a little more closely at him. When he looked at Aelin he did a double-take, an odd look on his face.

Rowan spoke drawing the attention of everyone in the room, distracting Aelin from musing further about the third man.

“This is Connall, Vaughan and Gavriel. We’re all going to show you different parts of the fire truck. We just need you in groups of four.”

To Aelin’s surprise the kids happily split themselves into groups in a few minutes. She thought she would have to divvy them up but they were all so excited that they didn’t really care who they were with. Gavriel took his group to the cab of the engine, Vaughan around the other side to show them what was hidden under the roller door, Connall showed them the hose, Fenrys working with him was going to explain the water tank, and Rowan showed them the suits that lined the wall. Aelin and Elide wandered around from group to group, making sure every one was behaving and to help move them along when it was time to. Aelin couldn’t keep the smile from her face, her students were loving it.

Every once and a while the siren would go off for half a second, making everyone jump and laugh a it blared in the small space. One of these times she was with Fenrys and Connall, holding up the hose. She had been intently listening to what Connall was saying that when the siren went off she stumbled back and let out a small yelp, her hand going to her chest. Fenrys was there with a steadying hand and her students laughed at her. 

“Just so you know we’re all extensively trained in first aid,” Fenrys said quietly as Connall continues his part of the presentation. “If you happen to pass out I hear my CPR technique is the best.”

Aelin looked at him, one eyebrow raised. “That’s your line?”

Fenrys shrugged and gave her a dashing smile. Aelin just laughed. Connall cleared his throat giving his brother a pointed look. 

“Oh, my turn? Alrighty. You see the water tank...” 

Aelin zoned out as Fenrys started his presentation handing off the hose to Connall. A glance to her left showed her Rowan looking at her as the kids in his group tried on various equipment. He looked away quickly but Aelin didn’t miss the look on his face. The look she was pretty sure was jealousy. Maybe it was time to pay Rowan a visit.

She sauntered over, arms crossed over her chest. Rowan didn’t acknowledge her when she stepped up beside him, but he obviously knew she was there. 

“These pants help protect us from the heat of the fire,” Rowan explained holding up the yellow pants. 

“How about you dress me up Fireman Whitethorn. Let the kids see the full get up,” Aelin suggested casually. The look he gave her was anything but, his mind no doubt flashing back to her undressing last night. Aelin gave him a knowing smile.

Rowan just shook his head a little before he said, “That sounds like a great idea.”

~~~~~

Rowan tried, he really had tried, not to get annoyed when Fenrys flirted with Aelin. When she had laughed at whatever stupid pick-up line he’d come up with it had broken his resolve. He knew it had been stupid line from the look on Aelin’s face, obviously finding it more amusing than anything. What got to him was knowing that Fenrys was doing it mostly to get a rise out of him. At least that’s what Rowan was telling himself. It was stupid to be jealous, they weren’t anything to each other, not roommates, barely even friends. 

That was a lie, on his part he definitely considered Aelin a friend now. A friend who was determined to torment him.

“Here start with the pants,” Rowan said as he went to pass them to Aelin. 

“If you would be so kind,” Aelin’s eyes darted to the group and back up.

Rowan sighed and knelt, laying down the pants so Aelin could step into them. As she did, she gripped his shoulder lightly making him shiver at the light contact. Then Rowan pulled them up by the suspenders which Aelin slipped her arms through. Next he put a hood on over her head, Rowan explaining that this kept things from falling into the suit like ash. Then there was the jacket and the helmet. Aelin shrugged on the jacket after Rowan had guided it onto her arms and placed the helmet gently onto her head. She grinned up at him from under the visor, completely dwarfed in his uniform. It was actually adorable.

“How do I look guys?” Aelin said twisting from one foot to the other. 

“I think Fireman Whitethorn would look better in it,” a girl chimed in.

Aelin looked at Rowan, that grin still on her face. “I think you’re absolutely right.”

~~~~~

After all the groups had seen all of the engine Rowan led them back into the main building. 

“We’re now heading out the back so we can show you some training drills,” He explained. “We’re about to go past the office of our Captain. He’s a bit grumpy so we need to keep quiet.” Rowan pressed a finger to his lips for emphasis. A few of the kids giggled.

They walked past said office and Aelin couldn’t help but look in. She stopped in the other side of the hall in the guise of supervising the children as they walked past, Elide beside her. A man with dark hair sat hunched over his desk, his face was harsh but he Aelin wouldn’t deny there was a handsomeness to it. Just another confirmation there was some kind of hotness test these firefighters needed to pass to work here. Aelin kept moving but Elide lingered for a moment more until Aelin said, “See something of interest, Elide?”

Startled out of her trance by Aelin’s words she started walking again, a faint blush on her cheeks. It was then the Captain looked up, his eyes darted from Aelin to Elide, where they lingered a little long for Aelin’s liking. Then his face turned into a scowl as the rest of the children passed. Aelin decided right then she didn’t like him very much.

Outside there was a large open space. There was a small building in one no doubt used for drills. Rowan stopped walking and like a row of little ducks so did the children. Fenrys and Connall appeared, holding a length of what looked like old hose. 

“Me and my team are going to set a fire and show you how we respond and put the fire out. This is completely controlled so you are all safe. But just to make sure Fenrys and Connall will be here, make sure you don’t go beyond the hose they are holding up.”

After his explanation Rowan went of to wear Gavriel and Vaughan were suiting up and did so as well. The twins held up the hose one at either end of line of students. Aelin stood behind them, watching intently for any runners.

“Jake, don’t even think about it,” Aelin said sternly as a little brown haired boy looked ready to cause mischief. He immediately settled and even went as far as to take a small step back from the hose. Good.

Vaughan went out to what looked like to me a pile of scrap wood, with a flick of his wrist and a lighter it was ablaze. He jogged back to the other and they went into action, pulling down the visors of their helmets and picking up the hose. Although it was over quickly, the drill was quite impressive to see. They worked efficiently as a team, positioning themselves and aiming the hose. Once the fire was out the class cheered. Aelin smiled at their enthusiasm. Then they demonstrated using a ladder and the hose against the building in the corner, without fire though, and then the how to do the classic stop drop and roll technique. Once again without actual flames which Aelin thought a little boring.

“Who wants to have a go of the hose?” Rowan asked as he came over, pulling off his jacket and helmet. Hands shot up and ‘me me me’ was said over and over again. Rowan just smiled. “Alright, we’re going to set up over there. While we do get into two lines.”

There was some bustling but eventually the kids sorted themselves out. Although when they saw that Rowan would be manning one of the hoses some of the kids jumped ship to his line. Connall manned the other but it seemed Rowan was a crowd favourite. 

“Benjamin, over to the other line,” Aelin said as she spied him looking a little to eager. 

“But --” 

“No buts, over you go. Help even up them up,” Aelin told him.

He sighed a little but did as instructed. 

“I still want to know what the question is that he’s so desperate to ask,” Elide muttered. Aelin chose not to answer.

What Rowan and Connall had them do was hose down two giant, bright orange road cones, their turn ending when they knocked them over. The whole class loved it and whined and complained once Rowan announced it was time to go back inside for lunch.

They went back to the locker room to collect their bags and then to the dining room, which also looked like it served meeting room as well. The kids scattered themselves around, pulling out their lunch boxes. Aelin went over to where Rowan stood supervising them.

“So, good job out there with the flames and everything. Very impressive,” she said. “That was kind of hot.”

Rowan choked on his bite of apple.

“I was talking about the fire,” Aelin said with a smirk.

Rowan just coughed some more. 

“What on earth did you think I was talking about?” Aelin said, voice oozing with sarcasm.

Rowan was saved from answering as the Captain walked in, his arms full of paper bags. There was a definite look of surprise of Rowan’s face as he walked towards them. He deposited the bags onto the large table before he came all the way over.

Rowan cleared his throat one last time. “This is Captain Salvaterre.”

The dark broody man just gave her a small nod, Aelin focused on keeping her face neutral, remembering the disdain on his face when saw her students.

“I guess I have you to thank for letting me bring the kids here, they’ve really enjoyed it,” Aelin said.

“Good, I’m glad.” He certainly didn’t sound it. 

Elide wandered over about then.

“Elide Lochan, my class aide,” Aelin said.

“Nice to meet you,” Captian Salvaterre said, and sounded sincere about it. He even went so far as to extend his hand for Elide to shake.

Aelin sent Rowan a questioning look but he seemed even more confused than she was.

Elide shook his hand, it dwarfed hers, but it was Aelin she addressed. “We should start packing up soon to meet the bus. I think someone else had it booked for this afternoon. A sport thing.”

Aelin glanced down at her watch. “You’re right. Get them to start packing up their bags.”

Elide nodded and started to move around the room. 

“Bags are for the kids,” the captain said then left without another word. 

“He’s charming, absolute prize that one,” Aelin said once he was out of earshot.

Rowan shrugged. “He’s not that bad once you get to know him.”

“I don’t think I want to,” Aelin replied, a look of something close to disgust on her face. “So I was thinking I’d get dinner for us tonight. As a thank you for today. I know a good Italian place that delivers.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Rowan said, a small smile on his lips.

“Great. I’ll see you at home then?”

Rowan nodded. “I’ll see you at home.”

Aelin moved away to get her students ready before Rowan could see the smile on her own face. He liked the sound of him saying he was coming home to her. It also helped that she’d received a notification about an hour ago that her package had been delivered. Her plan was all coming together.

~~~~~

Tags:  @tangledraysofsunshine // @nalgenewhore // @highqueenofelfhame // @galyxsy // @fucking-winchester-trash // @literary-licorice // @http-itsrebecca // @highladyofthesith // @aelinfire-bringer // @soup-that-is-too-hawt // @sleep-and-books // @3am-reading // @average-girl-at-best // @but-she-was-aelin-galathynius // @rowaelinforeverworld // @alifletcher2012 // @westofmoon // @tswaney17 // @mydarlingfireheart // @rowansfirebringer // @chocolate-eating-bitch-queen // @vanilla28 // @fireheart-of-your-dreams // @enquires-state-building // @im-not-rare-im-rarr // @your-high-lady // @mariamuses // @ttakeitbacknoww // @vi0let-femmes // @kindofawalkingpoem // @sleeping-and-books // @armixers-unite // @velarian-trash // @queenofxhearts // @princess-galathynius // @heroesofterrasen // @ladyofstoriesandmusic // @unassumingsodalovesherbooks // @empire-of-wildfire // @brittneym15 // @camerooonchiu // @worldoffae // @mybbyfeyre // @crackedship // @lowhangingtreebranches // @over300books // @yourwhisperingshadows //  @thesirenwashere // @pilesofriles // @chemicha // @keshavomit // @sarahbringsoutmygay13 // @wifeofchrishemsworth // @impossiblescissorspeachpaper // @cat5313 // @judelovescardan // @illyrian-velaris // @flowerspringsea // @whitethorn15 // @whiskeybusiness1776 // @notaddictedtoanything // @thereaderandfangirl

[jaskierswolf]

You Set My Heart Ablaze pt.4/25

Previous

Jaskier woke up on Thursday to the sound of his alarm blaring in the back of the rather lovely dream he’d been having. At least it had started off as a lovely dream. He’d been rescued from his flat by a rather dashing, and topless, Geralt Rivia. Not all his dreams involved a burning flat and topless firemen but it was starting to become one of his regular ones. Geralt had just been about to kiss him senseless when the fire engine’s sirens had started going off and Geralt had dropped him in surprise. He’d fallen a good few feet before he’d hit the ground and sat up with a start in his bed.

He cursed and flopped back onto his pillow. It was still dark outside and he’d stayed up far too late last night writing a new song. In his defence, he’d been hit with inspiration at the most stupid hour but what was else was he supposed to do? If he’d tried to go to sleep without figuring out the chords he would have been awake all fucking night.

His alarm was still beeping incessantly at him. “Oh fuck off!” He groaned and knocked the clock off his bedside table and buried his face in his pillow.

He was just about to fall back asleep when his phone started to ring.

“Cock.” He moaned as the screen suddenly lit up the room. “Fucking. Bollocks.”

He peered at the screen and winced at the light burned his eyes. He squinted as he tried to make the letters out. He struggled to see without his glasses or contact lenses and wasn’t sure where his glasses were. They’d been on his face when he’d fallen asleep. “What the?”

It was Tissaia de Vries.

Jaskier was not aware they were on friendly enough terms for early morning phone calls. He pawed at his phone to put it on speaker phone. “Tissaia…”

“Jaskier.”

“The fuck?”

He heard an exasperated sigh from the other end of the line. “You text me last night, Jaskier. I do not want to know why you were awake at two in the morning but you left very strict instructions to call you. It’s the firefighter’s event today. Stregobor is expecting us in the school hall in an hour. Get up.” The phone clicked off.

Jaskier frowned. He searched in the mess of sheets for his glasses before finding them on the floor. Luckily he hadn’t squished them in his sleep and they weren’t too crooked on his nose. He scrambled to unlock his phone, sure enough there was a text to the slightly terrifying art teacher begging her to wake him up in the morning.

“Huh. Go past me.” He groaned and hauled himself out of bed.

He reluctantly went to shower. He probably didn’t have time but for no particular reason he really didn’t want to skimp on the personal hygiene today. He washed his hair in record time and then cursed as he stood in front of his wardrobe. Normally if he wanted to impress someone he’d go for tight skinny jeans and one of his favourite floral shirts but he couldn’t wear his jeans to work and they’d be outside all day so he’d probably freeze in the shirt. He stroke the fabric of his favourite shirt, the one with dandelions on, and then shut the cupboard. He moved to where he kept his jumpers. He had a rather nice turquoise one that really made his eyes pop. If he matched that with a nice pair of black trousers he would lot hot and work appropriate!

He ran a towel through his hair to get the excess water out. He thought about styling it properly but again being outside for most of the day would mess it up anyway so he might as well go for the naturally fluffy look. Maybe Geralt would think he looked adorable and extra cuddly like this. He swapped his thick rimmed glasses for his contact lenses and he was almost ready to go.

He glanced at his phone to check the time.

“Oh shit!” He cursed and pulled on his jumper in a rush. He’d have to skip breakfast today if he wanted to make it to school in time.

He rushed around the kitchen to swig some water before leaving for school, and not a moment too soon. He skidded into the school hall with one minute to spare. The rest of the teachers were already assembled. Tissaia rolled her eyes at him as he entered and he hid behind Triss from the headmaster’s glare.

“Close call.” Triss hissed.

“Yeah yeah. Laugh it up.” Jaskier snapped back.

Stregobor began to run through the schedule of the day, letting them know which classes would be heading out to meet the firefighters at what time, the changes to the lunch rota, safety measures for if a fire alarm was to go off with so many people on site. Jaskier snorted a laugh at that, earning himself another steely glare from the headmaster, but it was worth it. There would be literal firefighters on site and Stregobor was mansplaining fire safety. He heard Triss giggling in front of him, even Istredd smirked as Jaskier caught his eye across the room.

“Oh for god’s sake, Julian. Can’t you stay professional for just five minutes?” Valdo sighed loudly so that everyone could hear. Jaskier glared at his former university friend and he felt his nails dig into his palms, an impressive feat considering how short he kept them as a musician.

“Well excuse me for actually having a sense of humour instead of being a soulless demon from beyond the void.” Jaskier hissed back. It wasn’t his best comeback but he hadn’t had coffee this morning and he was in serious need of a nap.

“Mr Pankratz. That is the sort of behaviour I would expect from your children, not one of my staff.” Stregobor snarled from the front of the room.

“Sorry, sir.” Jaskier grumbled. “Won’t happen again.”

In his head Jaskier was already composing a brilliant scathing song that would highlight all of Valdo’s numerous flaws in vivid detail. It was a pity there weren’t any good rhymes for his name. He could make do with comparing the other teacher to mouldy farts. It wasn’t grammy winning but it made a point. Perhaps his bandmate, Priscilla, could help him find some better rhymes. It had been a while since they’d gotten together in the recording studio and taking down Valdo Marx was something they would both delight in. It had made such great fodder for their second album. He was sure he still had some bitter songs left in him about the traitorous failure of a teacher.

The doors crashed open near the end of Stregobor’s monotonous dribble, and Jaskier almost swooned.

In the doorway were four firefighters, all built like a house and looking absolutely delicious in their uniforms. It was better than Jaskier could have imagined, and dear god had he imagined. It was a pity that they had opted to wear shirts but beggars can’t be choosers. Despite their similar build, the four firefighters were all vastly different in looks. The eldest had silver hair, not too dissimilar to Geralt but a few inches shorter and he was stockier than his younger colleagues. Even from a distance, Jaskier could see the webbing of burns over his hands. The thing that really stood out were his eyes. They were a dark chocolate brown but they had such depths. If Jaskier didn’t know better he would have said the man was an immortal. His eyes were ancient and wise. He would bet that the firefighter had some incredible stories to tell.

The next firefighter had a brilliant shock of red hair on his head that tumbled over his ears in luscious curls. Jaskier had some serious hair envy. He wondered whether it still looked so naturally tousled even after wearing his helmet. He was also sporting a matching bushy ginger beard. The man almost looked like a phoenix which was ironic considering his job.

The last new addition had a very similar bone structure to Mr Phoenix, both had startling green eyes to match. Jaskier supposed they must be related in some way. Instead of ginger, he had a dusty sandy blond hair. It was messy but shorter than the rest of the crew, falling just below his ears. What drew Jaskier’s attention was the jagged scar across his face. It was messy and Jaskier couldn’t but imagine what could have caused such a nasty scar. His heart went out to the fireman.  Jaskier didn’t know the man but he knew that the man did not deserve whatever pain was in his past.

And then there was Geralt.

And to the gods was he beautiful.

Of course, all the firefighter’s were beautiful in their own way. Jaskier could find beauty in everyone as long as their heart was kind, but Geralt just was wow. Jaskier had never had a type before but his type was Geralt now.

Oh Freya was he smitten or what?

He should probably try and rein in his crush slightly. It was really getting out of control. He tore his eyes away from the man and back to the tyrannical monster that was the headmaster.

“Gentleman. Welcome.” Stregobor smiled sweetly at the new arrivals. “Vesemir?”

The eldest firefighter nodded. “That would be me. We spoke on the phone.”

Stregobor’s smiled didn’t reach his eyes, and Jaskier thought he looked downright creepy. He turned his attention back to his latest infatuation.

But Geralt was already looking him with those gorgeous amber eyes. A strand of silver hair had escaped the half up do that he always wore and was falling in front of his face. Jaskier so wanted to tuck the loose strand behind Geralt’s ear, maybe braid his hair so it stayed back properly. He’d look so handsome with a braid and Jaskier could only imagine how soft his hair would feel between his fingers.

Jaskier mentally berating himself for staring and gave Geralt, no, Ciri’s father, a wave. Geralt nodded almost imperceptibly and Jaskier only noticed the tiny smile because his gaze was drawn to Geralt’s lips as if he were a siren singing the sweetest melody.

“As you may know, Mr Rivia’s daughter Ciri” Stregobor was saying. Jaskier snapped himself out of his Geralt fuelled daze to focus back on the headmaster when he heard Ciri’s name. “is in the Buttercups with Mr Pankratz. Julian, you will need to look after Ciri today as the other children will be able to spend time with their parents or guardians.”

Geralt cleared his throat. “Actually, I’ve made arrangements for my friend to look after Ciri today. There’s no need to bother Jaskier with extra duties.”

Jaskier felt a little weak at the way Geralt said his name. It wasn’t anything particularly special but Geralt’s naturally gravelling voice just made him feel things that really weren’t appropriate for the workplace, but he still managed to force his own voice to function like a normal human being who wasn’t dying of thirst. “It’s no bother, Geralt. I assure you.” It came out a little flirtier than he intended but honestly who could blame him.

“Hmm. Thank you, Jaskier.” Geralt’s eyes soften and Jaskier felt like his heart was going to burst out of its chest.

He blushed furiously. “No problem, Geralt.”

“Get a room.” Triss whispered back at him.

“Oh shush!” Jaskier snapped back.

It was going to be a long day for his poor bisexual heart.

_________

Jaskier had rounded up all his kids in the classroom. The parents were having an introductory tea and coffee session with Vesemir and Stregobor. Vesemir was doing a presentation on the rising statistics that his team had been facing over the month or so, and the younger children had been asked to stay with their teachers in case they found some of the images and stories too distressing.

Jaskier’s class had spent the beginning of the morning drawing their best attempts at firefighters. Most of the children had drawn the four men in uniform with their hats and long hoses. Jaskier had plastered a wide smile on his face as he’d praised the drawings, even if a few of them looked as if they’d never seen a firefighter in their life. Ciri had drawn her father, but not in uniform. Ciri’s Geralt was wearing all black and was stood next to some kind of large dog. Geralt holding Ciri’s hand in the picture and Ciri beamed as she showed off her artwork.

“Wonderful Ciri!” Jaskier clapped his hands. “Who’s this?” He pointed to the dog creature.

“Roach!” She giggled.

“Roach? That’s… a good name?” He lied.

“All of Dad’s horses have been called Roach!” Ciri explained. “We always go to the stables at the weekend. Dad even lets me ride her as long as he’s holding onto the reins.”

Jaskier blinked trying to process this new information. The image of Geralt riding a horse was now seared into his brain. Shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbow and hair flying in the wind as he gripped the animal between his thighs.

Fuck…

Jaskier really needed to get laid.

This infatuation with Ciri’s father was getting out of hand.

“Wow Ciri! That’s really cool. You should bring some photographs in for next show and tell. I’m sure the others would love to see Roach.” He replied to the young girl.

The bell rang and Jaskier took a deep breath. It was their time to head outside to the truck. A perfect time to start working on getting over his crush on Geralt Rivia. He was Ciri’s teacher. It wouldn’t be appropriate to start flirting with her father in front of the whole class.

Jaskier clapped his hands with a stamp of his foot to get the class’s attention. “Listen up, Buttercups!” He called, signing the words as he spoke. The class quickly quietened down but he could still feel the excitement buzzing around the room. “We’re going to head outside now! Nobody is to run off with their parents without telling me first. I know you’ll be excited to see them but I just need to know where you are so I know you’re safe, ok?”

“Yes, Mr Jaskier” The class echoed back.

“Excellent. Now the fire engine is all very exciting. Trust me, I can’t wait to have a look! But do we remember the rules?” He looked around expectantly.

A few of the kids nodded.

“Dara?” He asked.

“Don’t touch unless the fireman says we can.” Dara replied dutifully. Jaskier hummed as he focussed, carefully watching the young kids hands. He’d done a course in sign language over summer when he’d been told about Dara being in his class but he wasn’t fluent yet and he still missed words. Dara’s interpreter was a great help but he was still determined to be able to communicate with the young boy on his own by the end of the term. Luckily the internet was full of really useful tutorials to assist him in his quest.

“Yes, good! Anyone else?” Jaskier beamed. “Marilka?”

“We can’t keep asking them to put the sirens on.” She sulked.

“Now that’s an important one! We have to protect those eardrums! Otherwise I might as well forget about my guitar.” Jaskier laughed when all the children protested at that. “Last one!”

The kids frowned as they thought about it. Jaskier took pity on them.

“No running off without telling me.” He reminded them. “Are we ready?” He asked brightly and pretended to cover his ears as the class all screamed back a yes. “Come on then!” He grinned. “What are we waiting for?”

________

Jaskier was enjoying a blissfully childfree hour. All his children had been passed back over to their parents or guardians and were crowding round different parts of the schoolyard. Vesemir was running drills, adjusted for the children, to give them an idea of what training the firefighters went through on a daily basis. Two other firefighters, Lambert and Eskel, were helping the children hold on to the hose as they took turned at pretending to put out a blaze. The children were squealing excitedly as the adults took photographs. Geralt was in charge of the fire engine. He was calm with the kids and seemed to have endless patience for their requests to put the lights and sirens on. Jaskier leaned on the wall as he watched Geralt point to the buttons on the fire engine’s dashboard. Marilka was fidgeting happily next to him, an oversized helmet almost covering her eyes.

Jaskier smiled fondly at the pair of them. He hadn’t interacted much with Geralt, outside of his dreams of course, but he seemed to be a man of very little words, preferring actions to long speeches. He always thanked Jaskier for his weekly update email or letter if he was feeling extravagant, and after the unfortunate babysitter incident Geralt had insisted on buying him a coffee as a thank you. Jaskier had tried to protest but reluctantly sent his favourite coffee order along with his weekly report. The next time Jaskier had been on playground duty, Geralt had walked up to him in the playground and pressed a large caramel latte into his hands. It even had a sprinkle of cinnamon on the top. Jaskier would have blamed his flushed face on the cold weather if Geralt had asked but thankfully the other man didn’t seem to notice.

The only thing Jaskier knew for certain about Geralt, was that he completely adored his daughter. Jaskier mused that it was probably appropriate that Ciri was the only thing they ever really discussed but he wanted to know more. What was Geralt’s coffee order? Did he always wear black when he wasn’t wearing his uniform? Were his eyes really that colour or was he secretly wearing contacts? What was his favourite type of food? Did he have any favourite bands? Would he like to hear Jaskier’s music? Jaskier so desperately hoped Geralt would like that.

He sighed dramatically.

He was being ridiculous. He was pining after a man he didn’t even know. It was so shallow of him to yearn over the man based purely on his looks. Well, not purely. Jaskier was certain the man had a heart of gold. He was raising Ciri after all and the girl was an absolute delight! Jaskier didn’t choose favourites but if he did Ciri would certainly be his favourite student. She just had a way of making everyone she met fall under a charm. She wouldn’t love Geralt if the man was a complete dick.

Maybe Jaskier was putting him on a pedestal? But he didn’t seriously have a chance with the man so was there any harm in that? He just needed to keeping his thirsting under control when Geralt was close by. It couldn’t be that hard? Could it?

Geralt’s amber eyes looked up and caught Jaskier staring. Jaskier chuckled breathlessly and gave him a little wave. Geralt tilted his head with a small smile as if to beckon him. Jaskier narrowed his eyes suspiciously but went over to see what the problem was.

“Geralt?” He asked as he reached the bright red truck. Marilka was still pretending to drive the engine to some emergency or whatever, gripping the steering wheel tight and making her own siren noises.

“Jaskier. I umm. It’s not from the coffee shop and I didn’t have any caramel or cinnamon but… here.” Geralt pulled out a thermos from the door of the fire engine. “Figured it might be a long day for the teachers.”

Jaskier stared dumbly at the flask in Geralt’s hand. “You didn’t need to do that.” He stammered.

“I know.” Geralt shrugged. “It was Ciri’s idea.”

Jaskier smiled brightly. “She’s a good kid, Geralt. You should be proud.”

“Mr Rivia!” Marilka shouted to get the fireman’s attention. “Can girls be firemen too? I wanna be a fireman!”

“Yes.” Geralt pulled out a photograph from the glovebox and pointed to a girl who was laughing and had her arm around Geralt’s shoulder. “This is Renfri. She’s part of our team. She had to stay behind today. She’s probably the best of all of us.”

Jaskier felt his heart ache as Geralt’s eyes softened when he spoke about Renfri. He was such an idiot. The coffee was Ciri’s idea, it had probably been Ciri’s idea the first time too. Geralt probably didn’t even like men, and on top of that his ex was Yennefer Vengerberg. Jaskier was nothing compared to her. Just a silly musical primary school teacher. Renfri looked fucking beautiful too.

But there wasn’t time for his personal crisis. He was a teacher and he had a job. “Even if Renfri wasn’t part of the team, that shouldn’t stop you wanting to follow your dream, little Buttercup.”

Geralt hummed in agreement and then propped the photograph up on the dashboard. Marilka’s father appeared moments later and dragged his daughter from the truck to allow the other kids to have a chance. Geralt nodded a goodbye at the child and then patted the vacated seat.

Jaskier grinned and slid into the seat. “I’m not a child, Geralt.”

“Fire safety is for adults too.” Geralt said seriously but when Jaskier looked at his face he could see the way Geralt’s eyes were twinkling with amusement.

“Oh screw you.” He muttered under his breath.

“You got lunch?” Geralt asked as he pulled out a lunch box. Jaskier almost squealed when he noticed it was a My Little Pony lunchbox. Sure it wasn’t the Applejack that Jaskier knew and loved, he’d never forgive them for changing the design, but Geralt Rivia had an Applejack lunchbox! Jaskier’s day was made!

Jaskier shook his head. “I’ll eat with the kids when we go back inside.”

“I am proud.” Geralt said quietly as he unwrapped his sandwich. Jaskier’s stomach rumbled and he suddenly remembered he’d skipped breakfast. Geralt raised his eyebrows at Jaskier before tossing him the apple from his lunchbox. Jaskier failed to catch it and it landed in his lap.

He smiled brightly at the fireman. “Thanks.”

“She’s so strong.” Geralt continued without missing a beat. “She’s been through more than any child should, more than any person.”

“She’s coping alright.”

“Yeah, but that’s got nothing to do with me.” Geralt sighed. “I’m just gonna fuck it up. You’re good with the kids. Ciri adores you. I wish.” Geralt paused and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I wish I knew how you did it.”

Jaskier gaped at the fireman. “Geralt.” He breathed shakily. “You’re amazing with children.”

“No.”

“Yes!” Jaskier protested.

“Hmm. How would you even know?” Geralt spat out bitterly but made no move to evict Jaskier from the truck.

“Call it instinct. That and I was watching you talk to my kids.” Jaskier admitted. “They loved you.”

“It’s just the uniform. Makes people trust you.” Geralt shook his head.

“Geralt Rivia!” Jaskier gasped in outrage. “Enough of your self-loathing. What would you say to Ciri if she started talking that way?”

“Hmm.” Geralt growled.

“Precisely. So, have a little confidence. You didn’t choose to be her father but you’re doing a bloody brilliant job from what I can see.” Jaskier insisted. “We’re trained to spot potential home problems you know, and given the circumstances I think you’re doing just fine.”

They fell into silence whilst Geralt ate his sandwich. Jaskier was afraid to say anymore in case he accidentally revealed just how much he’d been watching Geralt whenever the man visited the school, or how much he treasured every email and look that he received from the man. He knew he had a habit of talking to much, to be honest it was why he was good at teaching. Instead he began to hum under his breath, the song he’d been composing the night before. Geralt didn’t seem to mind so he sang a little louder, experimenting with lyrics. He’d thought of a few but nothing seemed to fit.

“It wasn’t Ciri’s idea.” Geralt eventually said as tucked his lunchbox back into his bag under his seat.

“What?” Jaskier frown at the non-sequitur.

“The coffee.” Geralt nodded and the pushed open his door and jumped out, leaving Jaskier very confused and alone in the truck.

He glanced down at the flask in his hand and opened the lid. He inhaled the smell of coffee with a moan. It was strong coffee, Geralt really knew the way to his heart. He took a tentative sip, expecting it to be bitter without the caramel syrup he so adored but to his surprise it was sweet and creamy just like his usual order. It wasn’t caramel but Geralt must have dumped a shit ton of sugar in the thermos to compensate. Jaskier hummed happily as he took another sip. Oh it was definitely strong yet milky and sweet. The only way to drink coffee in Jaskier’s humble opinion.

He laughed to himself, alone in the fire engine. How was he ever going to get over his infatuation with Ciri’s father if he kept being so thoughtful?

Jaskier was well and truly fucked. ______

Next

#the witcher #geraskier #geraskier fanfiction #geralt of rivia #jaskier pankratz #teacher!jaskier #fireman!geralt #geralt x jaskier #modern au #you set my heart ablaze #wolfie's witcher writing

[a-crimson-lion]

The Moms Of BNHA

[Warning: Spoilers and Potentially Triggering Opinions follow. You've been warned.]

[Also: Long Post.]

So, I've been thinking about this when I should be doing, homework (lol), but... can we talk about a certain trio of moms in BNHA?

Inko Midoriya

Inko is probably the least problematic mom I'll be talking about today. Does that make her perfect? Hell no! But she tries so hard for Izuku, and it shows. Even if she doesn't support Izuku's dreams of heroism once he's diagnosed as Quirkless, it's clear that she supported him in any other way she could think of. She's also worried about his well being, as we see after the mall confrontation and the aftermath of Kamino. And when she sees Izuku's dreams finally becoming a possibility after a lifetime of doubt, she apologizes, fully supporting Izuku's choice in life from there on out. Sure, after Kamino she considers pulling Izuku out of UA, but that's not from a place of selfishness or malice. It's out of worry. She wants her son to be happy, but she also wants him to be safe.

Honestly, I can't think of any legitimate reason to full on hate her...

Rei Todoroki

So Rei... gosh where do I begin?

She's definitely more problematic than Inko, or rather, her situation is. People tend to get on her case because she was apparently just as abusive to Shoto as Endeavor was, and-

Can... can we talk about this for a moment?

I understand that what Rei Todoroki did was wrong, end of discussion. I understand what Rei did only worsened the circumstances for her family, her son, and herself. I understand that while her institutionalization wasn't fair, it was likely for the best given her state of mind. But to put the blame squarely and soley on Rei's shoulders?

That's where I draw the line.

I only say this with the experience of a novice, but from personal experience, most people don't just randomly lash out spontaneously. In my case, it's usually a series of offenses (minor or major) that I refuse to respond to because I feel like that will make me a bad person, but that residual rage? It builds up. Sometimes you can let it out in minor spurts, but it's not enough. One day, one way or another, it will boil over. All that anger, all that frustration, all that rage will combust. You won't be able to stop it once it starts. You'll feel tense. You'll punch things, not caring whether you'll break them or they'll break you. When you get tired of that, you'll storm off into your room and angrily sob into your pillows, or yell/growl... or both. And when it's finally over, you'll still feel like crap. And it'll be a long while before it feels like you or anyone else can forgive yourself.

This is me anywhere from several months to several years. Rei Todoroki had to put up with Endeavor and his abusive behavior for about a decade.

Rei was abused, end of story. Rei's children were abused, either physically or neglectfully, end of story. We've seen Shoto's training. We've heard Endeavor hitting his wife and hearing her scream. People are not perfect. People are not invincible. To expect that someone like Rei could keep her head held high when it felt like the world was against her is like expecting a stone to say the same shape and size out in the open for thousands of years.

In the end, it all wears down.

Rei even knew this herself. She knew she was breaking down, and tried to call on her other family in order to stop something bad from happening. Too little, too late. Rei sees her son, the left side of her son, the side that her husband was responsible for, in a sense. She remembers all the beatings, all the physical and mental degradation against herself and her kids, and she snaps. She has finally had it with Endeavor, and in her fury, she pours boiling water against his face. Only it wasn't her husband's face. It was Shoto's. Her youngest child, her little boy, the one Endeavor was the most brutal to. The one she had wanted to live without fear of a beating.

And she just struck him without a second thought.

There's immediate remorse. Rei doesn't stew in her rage; the guilt overtakes her almost instantaneously. You could argue that trying to ice boiling water is not the best method of preventing a burn, but it's the intentions that matter here. From what I've heard, the scar could have been a lot bigger if Rei just stood there. Plus, I don't think it's necessarily common that people think 100% sanely when they're overcome by extreme emotion. Saying Rei was wrong for trying to soothe her son's burn even if it wasn't the best method is like getting made at a fireman for successfully putting a forest fire out, even of the trees are no longer living.

It's permanent damage, but would you rather deal with that, or something worse?

And just imagine how Shoto feels in all of this. There's sadness. There's betrayal. Of course some of it is directed at Rei, and deservingly so. The one person he felt he could trust basically just turned on him, seemingly out of nowhere. And yet... even though Shoto is a child, he's far from naive. He knows that Endeavor isn't a good person. He's heard his mother's cries, likely her arguments with his father, and he's even been a witness to Endeavor's abuse towards her. She may have done the deed, but for Shoto, the scar isn't his mom's fault. It's Endeavor's. He was the one who abused them, he was the one who took away their sense of happiness, of safety, he was the one who pushed them to the brink and then pushed them some more.

If he had just been a bit more considerate, a bit more reasonable, a bit more human, Rei's breakdown might have been delayed, if not outright nonexistent.

And can we just talk about the Rei/Endeavor parallels for a bit? Nowadays the manga readers are in the midst of Endeavor's redemption arc. I personally think that it's mildly problematic, but I will admit that it's probably better for Endeavor to not continue being a sorry excuse of a human being for the remainder of the series. That being said, I'd like to point out that Rei came first. Rei threw the first jab, and immediately felt remorse afterward. Shoto walked back into Rei's life, and she did not take that opportunity for granted. She spent the time shortly after her hospitalization trying to get better, and this is only more apparent when we see her for the rest of the series. As for Endeavor? His change in behavior was a lot slower. I'll admit that functionally speaking, he's a good hero, but as a person he's the scum of the Earth. He doesn't try self-evaluating after Shoto's fight with Izuku when Shoto says he only used his fire because he forgot about Endeavor. Even at Kamino, Endeavor is still an ass to All Might even though they have bigger things to worry about. And when he sees Small Might, exposed to the world? His first idea is to state that knowing he'd never catch up to All Might drove him to abusing his family.

Endeavor, buddy, that was your call. Not All Might's. Quite frankly, I don't think he's even aware of the BS you put your family through.

One of the few things that frustrates me about Endeavor's redemption is not that he has one; it's that under different circumstances, it wouldn't exist to begin with. Without All Might's retirement, without Endeavor forced into the spotlight as the new #1 Hero, there is no development on his part. I'd have the gall to say that Endeavor would still be a narcissistic asshole if All Might managed to hang on to his power for a while longer. Without the pressure of being #1 on his shoulders, Endeavor continues (in vain) to try and surpass All Might, or at least get Shoto to. He's still a good hero functionally speaking, but how long until his obsession starts to cloud his judgement? How long before the #2 Hero eventually slips up in his rage-fueled fervor?

I'll say it again: it's good that Endeavor is trying to change, but without any actual unprovoked self reflection on his part, it's not as impactful.

So to sum it up, I don't think Rei deserves all the hate she gets. She deserves to be held accountable for what she did, yes, but she's also a human being who was put into a mentally toxic position. It's a miracle she didn't snap sooner, and it's a miracle she's finally making progress with help from her kids.

Mitsuki Bakugo

And finally, the reason why I started down this train of thought.

I'm not even gonna try beating around the bush here: Mitsuki Bakugo is a bad parent.

Notice how I didn't say abusive. No, that does not mean I'm validating her. It just means I personally haven't seen or heard enough in the series thus far to justify whether she should be held on the same level as Endeavor, if not close.

I still have enough sense to see that she's not a good parent though. Far from it, actually.

So far we've only seem Mitsuki officially in a parent teacher meeting after Kamino, and a brief mention of her from Katsuki during the Remedial Course Arc. It doesn't paint a good picture. Right from the get go, her first scene is her hitting her son on the head and calling him weak. This isn't some slapstick or tough love, as some people will say. This is something entirely different, and it should tell readers two things.

Mitsuki is disconnected from her son.

Mitsuki is a carbon copy of her son.

Now take that second point with a grain of salt. People have said time and time again that Mitsuki is basically a genderbent Katsuki, which is accurate to a degree. She's also more mellowed out than Katsuki, as she can talk to other people without trying to assert her dominance. She's actually surprisingly aware of her son's superiority complex as well, but... For all that, it's obvious that Mitsuki isn't actually fully aware of her son's issues. Like her son, Mitsuki is also too focused on her son's brute strength. Calling him weak isn't some karmic justice for all the times Katsuki has said the same to other people; it's a feedback loop that feeds into Katsuki's insecurities, which feeds into his inferiority complex, which feeds into his superiority, which then repeats ad infinitum. You could argue that maybe Katsuki has acted too thick-skinned around his mom to let her actually get a feel for his problems, but I personally doubt that she's really tried to understand her son, or maybe she just... gave up.

And then there's Katsuki saying that he was raised with violence. "BUT CRIMSON, SHE HAS TO BE ABUSIVE IF SHE'S WILLING TO HIT HER KID, WhY cAn'T yOu AcCePt ThAt!?" Well, from what I learned, people can hit their kids and still? Not? Be abusers? Spanking used to be a thing, y'know, and while it's heavily controversial nowadays, I doubt that the good parents used it at the drop of a hat. Kids can be jerks; I was one. Back to Mitsuki, I doubt that this line meant from the day Katsuki had been four years old, his life had been hell. I feel like even if Mitsuki was still brash, she didn't immediately start beating on Katsuki when he started to get a big head. If anything, I'd assume she waited about two years at most before she started letting the fists fly. Keep in mind, almost everyone Katsuki meets admires him for his abilities. Who's to say his mom wasn't one of those people at the start? It wouldn't have been until Katsuki ego started becoming a noticeable issue that Mitsuki decided she needed to tale care of it. Only problem? Mitsuki makes bad decisions, just like her son. Resorting to physical violence and verbal taunts did nothing to help Katsuki, but it's what Mitsuki knew how to do, so she rolled with that. I'm not giving Katsuki a pass because of this, however. Shoto essentially went through the same thing, and his response was not to endlessly shout at others or display dominance. The violence targeted at the boys was brutal, but violence doesn't justify more violence. Katsuki may have had a convenient excuse to start being an ass to people, but so did Shoto. And yeah, "Earlyroki" was an ass, but at least it wasn't intentional.

Before I go, I just want to bring up really quick where Masaru falls into this. One could argue that Masaru's also to blame for how Katsuki turned out for not stepping in but... have you seen Mitsuki, or even Katsuki for that matter? No offense to Masaru, but he's kind of a doormat character. He only married Mitsuki due to her persistence, and while Masaru's "Oxidizing Sweat" quirk is likely destructive, Masaru himself is... not. He seems to be the exact opposite of his wife and son personality wise, only instead of canceling them out, his lack of dominance forces him to run for cover should a dark omen come about. We've seen what Katsuki's done to Izuku before UA. Masaru basically has to put up with two of those, and unlike our protagonist, he doesn't have the resilience to withstand that much anger.

So...

TL;DR. Inko Midoriya is a great mom who just wants her son to be safe and happy. Rei Todoroki cares a lot about her son and is willing to work to show it, even in the face of setbacks. Mitsuki Bakugo is a terrible parent who either needs to figure out what's wrong with her son properly, or leave to someone who can.

Thank you for your time.

-Crimson Lion (24 November 2019)

#bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #inko midoriya #rei todoroki #mitsuki bakugo #mitsuki bakugou #izuku midoriya #enji todoroki #endeavor #shoto todoroki #katsuki bakugo #katsuki bakugou #masaru bakugo #masaru bakugou #anti endeavor #anti mitsuki #kinda #like 75% #character discussion #character analysis #meta #drabble #long post #late night post #i've been thinking about this for longer than i should have #i really need sleep #a bit personal tbh

[marymccartneyphotos]

Sir Paul McCartney Loves Bringing His Family Together Over Food

May 31, 2008 -- Times Online

He and his daughter Mary fire up the barbecue and explain why family and food go hand in hand

"Oh most wonderful father," intones Sir Paul McCartney, his hands clasped in front of him like a Victorian patriarch delivering grace.

"Almost wonderful father," his daughter Mary sings back.

"Who we really revere…"

"Who we really fear…"

"Who really makes us tick…"

"Who really makes us sick…"

Thirty years on, it's a rare glimpse into the private world of Paul McCartney, a playful two-hander that he and his late wife Linda shared with the children before meals at their Peasmarsh estate in Sussex, or on the family farm in Scotland.

"Can you believe it, Dad," says Mary, "I've got my kids saying this now." So a family ritual passed down from one generation to another. But it also shows how Paul's legendary insistence on shielding his young family from his fame was a two-way street. He had capped his success with the Beatles and was performing with Wings, but he got no favours at home. "It was just our way of making Dad not feel too special," Mary remembers. "You can always rely on kids to bring you back down to reality."

At 38, professional photographer Mary is still doing a good job of keeping her father in check, setting him to work prepping vegetables for the first barbecue of the summer, and telling him where to stand as she clicks away with her camera. "I'm used to the kids directing me," smiles Sir Paul, as the most famous left hand in rock'n'roll picks up a paring knife, "and hopefully I do it with good grace."

They like to get together as much as they can. "It's not as often as it used to be, when all the kids were living together," says Paul, who at 66 looks a decade younger, "but Mary will cook for me if I'm in London." "At weekends we kind of hang out," adds Mary, who is expecting her third child at the end of July. "Like a lot of families we are kitchen-orientated. It's the room we hang out in a lot. And we try to get together for Christmas."

"This year, we were 17 around the table. I counted," says Paul, who by now has sliced his courgettes and chopped the ends off his asparagus, and turned his attention to the barbecue.

He's a charcoal man, through and through. "I married an American, you see. In England at that time we didn't barbecue – it was an American or Aussie thing. And I thought I should try it.

I said to Linda, `Would you like that?' So I got quite good."

He says fire-making is in his blood. "I was a Boy Scout. I was kind of not inner city, but Liverpool council estate, so it was nice to get away, experience nature. I've got a deep love for it. I do a lot of work in the woods, so over the years I've learnt to make a good fire. My dad was a fireman and sometimes I do music underground and use the pseudonym of The Fireman, so there's a lot of fire in my history.

"After I'd burnt a few things and realised how long it didn't take – things don't take as long as you think – yeah, I got to be quite a dab hand at it all. You've got to just keep turning and turning."

Being the first family of vegetarianism, today's feast is of course a meat-free affair. Mary has brought some veggie burgers and sausages from the Linda McCartney range of frozen foods, which she has marinated in her mother's home-made BBQ sauce. There's also cornbread and fresh salsa, chargrilled mushrooms with rosemary and garlic, and salads, all from Linda's Home Cooking, published in 1989 and still the fastest selling vegetarian cookbook of all time.

At the barbecue, Paul beats out a tune with the tongs and sings snatches from the Monkees theme tune as he turns burger flipper. "People say `Why have substitutes, why not just eat vegetables or just eat meat?' Well, it's so you can take part in the social traditions of a barbecue. You can have your mates round and by the time you've got the bun toasted, bit of mayo, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, pickles and burger, hardly anyone will even remotely know the difference.

"One pivotal moment was when we had Steve Martin, the American comedian, round, and I opened up the barbecue, which I'd closed to smoke the burgers a bit, and he said, ''I'm sorry, I can't have any of that. I'm a vegetarian.' And I said, ``Well, I've got good news for you, mate. Everything on here is veggie.' He had about three."

Paul can't remember who first suggested they give up meat in the early Seventies. "I always assumed it was Linda, and she thought it was me. We were sitting down eating a leg of lamb on a Sunday in Scotland and newborn lambs were gambolling outside the window, and we went, `Whoah, we're eating one of their legs.'"

It is ten years since Linda died of cancer, and Paul and Mary agree it was an unwritten promise they would keep her food brand going. "It's really personal to us because it is carrying on Mum's message," says Mary. "We know what she would and wouldn't have wanted." They go to all the tastings, just as they did when Linda was alive. "Nothing goes through without the McCartney say-so," explains Paul. "It has to, because it's our name on the packet."

Necessity has made Paul more interested in food these days. "When I first met Linda, I was living in St John's Wood, a real bachelor existence – a musician, even worse – and she used to joke she'd looked in my fridge and there was just a half bottle of sour milk and some crusty stale Cheddar, and she said, `Not very encouraging. Right, we'll be changing that.'

"But when I was with Linda I didn't cook much, because she was so good. She and the kids would do all the meals. So I took a secondary role. But more recently I've been having to cook for myself and I love it. Just the other day I made a lasagne for the first time in my life and used Linda's book. The only panic was when my lasagne sheets got stuck together. I thought, `Oh my God, this is a housewife moment.' It said to put them in boiling water and I should have done it one by one, but I put them in all at once. I must say it came out brilliant, though. I was very proud of myself."

www.lindamccartneyfoods.co.uk

#vegetarian #food #Paul McCartney #article #Mary McCartney #family #Linda McCartney

[sabine-leo]

A smile to remember-Chapter37

Author: @sabine-leo

Chapter: 37 /?  

Genre: Fluff, Humor, Romance, mentioning of Smut, Angst, Comfort

Note: A big THANKS to all of you for reading, liking and rebloging this story!

The next week was a busy one. Between working, packing things up before the workers would come in to get busy in the house, helping Tom move some stuff over to your flat and deciding on some questions the architect had regarding interior design you and Tom tried to have at least two quiet evenings before he had to leave. It wasn´t that easy to say the least. Some reporters camped out before your flat which aggravated Tom to a point were he paced the living room, dishevelling his hair further and further. Tomorrow he had to leave early in the morning and you were cooking a nice dinner for your last night together.

 “What if they don´t leave when I am gone? What if they follow you around and start to harass you again?” Tom clenched his jaw together while he took a quick peak out the window. “They are not on private property, so I can´t call the police to get them gone…” You set the oven on a lower flame and turned to hug Tom from behind as he was bracing himself onto the dinner table.  One hand of his instantly covered yours affectionately as you began to talk.

“Remember…we had a similar conversation before. And I said no `What ifs`…”

 Tom sighed and closed his eyes as he felt your head came to rest on his back. “I remember love, But the difference was that we were in my -now our- more secure home and I was by your side.” He tensed a little as he continued “…by tomorrow I am half a world away and can´t protect you…”

Breathing a kiss between his shoulder blades you tried to ease his mind a little more. “And again. I remind you of something I have said before Thomas. You can´t always protect me from drunken men…or in this case bloody paparazzi.” Tom turned and looked into your eyes. “I too remember that! And my answer to this statement of yours was. To hell I can´t!”

 So, you had heard correctly back then.

His gaze got intense. “Come with me! Take an absence of leave and join me!” You closed your eyes for a second and stroked down his chest with one hand. “Thomas, I can´t just follow you around and wait the whole day in a hotel room while you are working… probably around the clock from what I have seen on your schedule.” You made him sit on a chair and sat down on his lap. “And besides…We are renovating a WHOLE house while you are away. I need to stay here in case there are questions AND move our stuff back into it while cleaning out this apartment.”  

 Tom groaned and rested his head in the crock of your neck. “Dammit Darling! I hate it when you are reasonable!” You chuckled and kissed his head. “I promise I will be careful and if I don´t feel safe at any time I will call for help.” Tom just huffed near your neck. You silently laughed.

“I can feel that love! You are making fun of my need to protect you!” He lifted his head and tried to look stern…and you tried to keep a straight face. “Am not!” you hid a grin. Tom snarled and stood up with you in his arms. Walking over to the sofa and tossing you onto it. He was about to jump as Police lights lit up the windows and you heard muffled commotions. “What….” Toms head snapped up and he walked closer to the windows, you following but your phone rang before you could get there.

 Picking up you said. “Yes, this is (Y/L/N)”

“Hello my dear!” Mrs Wilson greeted cheerfully while you put her on speaker.

“I just wanted to let you know that one of those…gentleman…waiting outside stepped onto my flowers and tossed his cigarette into my garden which set my doormat on fire.”

“Oh god, Mrs Wilson I am so sorry!” Tom started but she interrupted him.

“No one needs to know that I accidently tossed a little accelerator and a burning match through the mail slot in my door.” She chuckled. You started to grin and clapped a hand over your mouth.

“Anyways my darlings. The police will make sure they are occupied the rest of the night. They were very lovely to a frail old woman like me… So, enjoy a peaceful evening! And Thomas…”

“Yes Ma’am…”

“Have a save journey and be a dear and bring me some croissants when you are back from your press tour! Toodeloo…” and she hung up. Tom and you looked at each other as if asking if that really had happened just now, then you both started to burst out laughing.

 Tom took you into his arms and kissed you with his smile never leaving his lips. “I think you will be safe without me for a while. Mrs Wilson might be a better Bodyguard than I could probably hire!” You hugged him tight and chuckled softly. “Can we now stop pacing the livingroom and have a nice last dinner together?” Tom kissed your head and nodded. “Yes, I just need to make one last phone call. Then I am all yours for the rest of the night. Without interruptions and without divided attention.” Rolling your eyes playfully, you pried yourself off of him and walked back to finish the dinner. Tom took out his phone and called his assistant Luke. “Yes, Tom here! Before you pick me up tomorrow morning stop at the bakery on Gloucester Avenue and get some croissants and fresh baked buns. Also set up a delivery to Mrs Wilson right across (Y/N) apartment….No…Yes, every day… Yes…No, I will not leave my phone on. See you tomorrow morning! Bye!” Tom hung up and shut his phone down before walking into the kitchen and helping you with the last preparations.

 This night belonged to the both of you. He made sure that you had his complete attention. During dinner you talked a bit about the house and how you would handle decisions that needed to be made by the both of you. There would not be a lot of decisions as the both of you had already made sure that everything was settled prior but the few that would come up Tom was certain you could handle without him. After Dinner you watched a movie together. All cuddled up on the couch and missing utmost of the plot because you mostly relished in the fact that Tom kissed you senseless. At one point you just grabbed the remote and shut the TV of. Toms head came up and he grinned.

“Was my choosing of movie not to your liking?” You giggled and said 

“I have no clue what we have…” you made air quotes “…watched…at all!”

 Tom chuckled sensually and hefted himself up. “Alright. I will tell you which film is now about to begin shortly!” He grabbed your hand, tugged you up and with a quick motion threw you over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. You giggled breathless and asked. “Film?!” Tom patted your behind and grinned. “Yes! Film!” He started walking to the bedroom. “It´s called `No sleep till morning…comes´ “

You laughed out of breath. “That sounds like a Thriller!” Tom snickered and tossed you onto the bed, riding himself directly of his shirt. “Try again!” He rumbled darkly.

“Action?”

Tom grinned mischievous and shoved his pants down. “Again!”

You bit your lip and crawled backwards on the bed.

“I am starting to think… Adult Content is involved!”

 The deep chuckle out of his throat as he started to sneak his way up your body in just his tight boxers vibrated up your legs. “Darling… Ever spoke out the word Porn?”

“Thomas William Hiddleston! You are so British I never thought you knew such words!”

Tom watched you with hooded eyes as he pressed his groin against yours.

“Have you READ Shakespeare?” He teased and kissed your neck. Wrapping your arms around him you laughed and closed your eyes. 

“Is there a plot I need to be aware of?” You asked.

“You getting naked…that´s all the plot I need!”

 Oh, you did get naked. And the title of Toms movie was very accurate. There really was no sleep till morning dawned. Snuggled up against his warm chest you drew patterns on his skin with your index finger. Tom twirled a strand of your hair around his. He sighed “Luke will be here in an hour…I better get under the shower now.” You hugged him closer instead of letting go. Tom chuckled and kissed your head. “Love, it will be my pleasure to take you with me under the shower like that. But getting dressed or getting through security at the airport might be a bit more unfeasible.”

 You lifted your head and looked into his eyes. “I hate it when you are reasonable!” You quoted him and stole a kiss from his chuckling lips. Getting up you stretched naked as you were and Tom growled as he wrapped an arm around your waist and man handled you into the shower, the both of you laughing. “JUST washing Mister! I am sore for the next 6 weeks!” Tom laughed out loud “Mission accomplished then!” He started the water and kissed you lovingly.

 The hour was almost up. You had made a quick breakfast and a hot cup of tea for the both of you as Tom gathered his last things. With a smile on his face he picked up the notebook you had gifted him as you barely had known each other and put it into his backpack. He was just done drinking his tea as the bell rang on your door and you opened it for Luke. “Hey (Y/N)” he said you and hugged you in greeting. “I delivered your baked goods and did as ordered!�� Tom smiled. “Thank you, Luke.” Luke nodded and took the luggage out of the entrance and loaded it into the trunk while Tom turned to you. “You promise me to stay safe?!” You smiled and nodded. “Only if you do!”

 The both of you hugged and kissed goodbye until Luke cleared his throat. “We really need to leave now.” Tom sighed and held on to you for a moment longer. “I love you!” He whispered into your ear and gave you one last deep kiss that had to last until he would be back in 6 weeks. “I love you too!” You said with a voice that betrayed you and broke at the end. Tom clenched his jaw and stepped out without letting your hand go until the very last moment. You would have gone to the airport with him but this time he would not go through the normal check in where you could have said your goodbyes. He would meet up with Ben and some other actors in a Lounge and be driven to the plane directly. No flying coach this time.

The car door closed.

A last wave.

A last blown kiss and they drove off.

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