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aecs-multy · 3 years

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Even in the darkest hour, we will find the light

Summary:

When Arthur discovers that Merlin has magic, things go downhill fast, but sometimes you need to reach rock bottom to get up stronger than ever.

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He was tired. As the last bandit fell to the floor barely five meters in front of him, all the energy left his body. Around him were the unconscious bodies of men and women alike, the bodies of those who had tried to hurt them. They had been too many. He knew there had been no way that they had gotten out of the ambush alive if he hadn’t used his magic.

He also knew that there was no way that Arthur hadn’t seen him using it. Slowly, he lowered his hand, that had been pointing at the last bandit he had knocked out. He was so, so tired. He didn’t want to turn around, he didn’t want to see the hurt, the anger, the hatred, the betrayal that would be in those blue eyes he had learned to love.

Merlin’s vision got blurry, but it wasn’t until a lonely tear run down his cheek that he understood why. He was crying. Right in that moment, he had lost everything. He lost his life, his home, his family, his friends, his soulmate. All his life hiding, doing things from the shadows, completely alone, without people that understood him because he couldn’t let them in, for it to end like this.

I should have let that last one kill me, Merlin thought, Arthur wouldn’t have any problem defeating him and I wouldn’t have to turn around and see him now. He almost wanted to laugh. To think that he didn’t want to even look at Arthur right now because it would hurt too much to see what his king was thinking.

The point of a sword was placed between his shoulder plates and he stuttered a breath. This was it. He was going to die by the sword of the man he had sworn to protect, by the sword of the man he loved. His destiny was going to be his end. At least I won’t have to face him, he thought with a trembling smile while another tear fell.

“Merlin,” Arthur said, and his tone was cold, sharper than the sword that threatened to pierce him. “Turn around.”

He gulped and closed his eyes. It took him what seemed like hours to do as he was told, his body trembling with the chill that had suddenly filled his bones, feeling so cold that not even his hysteric beating heart could warm him.

“Open your eyes.”

He shook his head and pressed his eyelids harder together, willing himself to not break down. When he felt the sword reach his throat, he let a pained gasp fall from his lips.

“I said open your eyes.” Each word was said slowly and punctuated with added pressure of the metal against his skin, until a small drop of blood run down his neck.

He did as he was told, but the moment his eyes landed on Arthur’s, he wish he hadn’t, that he had kept them closed and died without the image that would now haunt him during what little he had left of live and during his death.

Those beautiful eyes were shining with unshed tears, full of those emotions he had put there, and he would give his life to make them go away. Arthur was gripping the hilt of the sword with both hands, in a position he had seen him do many times during his training and their adventures. The difference was that his hands were trembling now. It was barely noticeable, but Merlin knew him better than anyone.

“You have magic,” he said.

It wasn’t a question, but Merlin answered with a weak voice anyways, “Yes.”

“All… all this time, you... you’ve been lying to me,” Arthur said, his voice quivering. “I trusted you, I… I let you in, you were my servant, but also my advisor and friend, I… how could you do this to me?”

“I-” he tried to reply, but nothing came out of his mouth. He wanted to say a lot of things, but Arthur wouldn’t believe him, not now, not ever again, and proof of that was how he pressed the sword harder against him, making him hiss in pain.

He kept staring at Arthur’s eyes for seconds, minutes, hours, days? He didn’t know, but none of them moved or looked away. Finally, Arthur put Excalibur down. “I banish you from Camelot, you have until midnight to cross the frontier, if you ever return, you’ll burn in the pyre.”

His whole expression changed as he covered his emotions with a mask, not letting them show, and that was worse than seeing how much pain he had caused him.

“No,” Merlin said, his voice surprisingly strong, but being banished and separated from Arthur would be a fate worse than death. Determination filled him and he swore to himself that he wouldn’t let Arthur send him away. If he had to die, then so be it, but he wouldn’t that which made him whole.

A flicker of anger went through Arthur’s eyes before he could control himself. “What did you say?” Arthur asked between gritted teeth.

“I won’t go away.”

Arthur took a step closer, making them stand with their noses almost touching, but they had never been further apart, and said, “Then you’ll die, is that what you want?”

“No, but the only thing that will separate me from you will be my death,” he said. Merlin turned around and put his hands behind his back, wrists together, presenting them to Arthur to tie them. “I will be by your side until my last breath, until my heart stops beating, so don’t tell me to go, because your face will be the last thing my eyes will see when my world fades to darkness and your name will be the last word my lips will utter.”

“Then you leave me no choice.”

He felt something hit the back of his head, and then he fell, unconscious.

oOoOo

They were all seated in their respective places in the round table, but Gwaine couldn’t help but feel itchy, ready to fight at any moment. Something wasn’t right, he knew it because no one else was in the room but them, and neither were guards outside of the door like there would be any other day. What made him feel worse, though, was the lack of Merlin.

Their friend was always there, even if he wasn’t a knight, and not because he was Arthur's servant. He was always there because he was their friend and even if Arthur would never admit it, they often came to him for advice.

That’s why he knew something was wrong, because Arthur wouldn’t have called them all without Merlin being there, not unless something had happened to their friend. As he looked around, he saw the confused and worried expression of the rest of the knights, mirroring his own.

As soon as Arthur sat, he spoke, “Merlin is a sorcerer.”

With those four words, all the blood left Gwaine’s face. He knew what those words meant, but he refused to believe them. Merlin wasn’t a sorcerer, he was his best friend, he would know. No, Merlin wasn’t a sorcerer.

The silence in the room was deafening, everyone looking around, as if expecting someone to burst out laughing and tell them it was a lie.

“He isn’t a sorcerer, Arthur, how could he? He is Merlin,” Lancelot said, some kind of urgency laced to his words. Gwaine saw that, of all of them, he seemed the most affected by the statement. Lancelot looked as if he had seen a ghost, panic clear in his face, his hands trembling where they rested in fists over the table.

“I saw him myself doing magic, I saw how he defeated 20 bandits with just movements of his hands right in front of me. Merlin is a sorcerer,” Arthur said without looking at them, staring at the door.

“He isn’t,” Gwaine said. “He can’t be.”

“He is.”

“No, he isn’t, because that would mean that he will have to die, and that won’t happen,” Gwaine said fiercely. He wouldn’t let his best friend die.

“He betrayed Camelot, he used magic. I offered him banishment, but he said that he would rather die than go away,” Arthur said, his tone was low, but full of ice and betrayal and it echoed in the room. “He will burn in the pyre first thing in the morning.”

Gwaine didn’t waste a second, he got up and drew his sword. He said, “You won’t touch a hair of his head.”

Arthur didn’t move, didn’t even flinch. “He is accused of treason to his king, of using magic and letting it corrupt him. Both of those crimes are sentenced with death.”

“Treason of what?!” Gwaine shouted angrily, hitting the table with his free hand, leaning on it. “He is the most loyal person you will ever meet, more loyal than all of us together, and not because of a lack of loyalty in our part. He has gone to countless dangerous places for you, done a hundred million things to keep you safe and to protect you. He is the bravest man Camelot has ever seen, and all you give him in exchange is burn him to death?!” He was breathing shakily and his jaw hurt. “If you want to hurt him, you will have to kill me first.”

“Then I accuse you of treason and will die alongside Merlin,” Arthur said, his gaze now in Gwaine.

“Then I shall burn with them.” It was Lancelot who spoke now, and Gwaine noticed that he had stood up and drawn his sword at some point too. “I knew of Merlin’s magic since the first day I came to Camelot.”

Arthur looked at him now, his eyes full of hatred and his words dripping poison when he said, “You knew?”

“I did,” Lancelot said. “You want to know what he used the magic for when I discovered it? To save Camelot from the Griffin. To save you. All those times branches feel on our enemies’ heads, all those times we lost the enemy, all those times he guided us in the right direction, he use magic to help us.”

“Am I surrounded by traitors now?!” Arthur shouted standing up, looking at the rest of the knights, that cowered under the anger that radiated from their king.

“No, you’re surrounded by friends.” Surprisingly, it was Leon who talked. “I didn’t know about Merlin’s magic, but I do know him. I don’t believe that he is evil, nor a monster, nor corrupted. He was your friend, and so are we, and that’s the reason why we stand by your side, but sometimes we must stand against you to make you see reason. That’s why you trust us, because we aren’t afraid of telling you what we think. If you wanted someone to lick your boots and kiss the floor you step on then you would have sacked Merlin a long time ago in the first place.”

Arthur looked more and more enraged by the moment. “Merlin is a sorcerer,” he said through gritted teeth, as if that was the answer to all their problems.

“So what?!” Gwaine asked. “He is our friend and he would never hurt us or Camelot. He is so devoted to you that he would go to the mouth of hell just to make you smile!”

“He lied to all of us!”

“And can’t you imagine why he did that?! In Camelot, if you use or have magic, you die. What did you want him to do, come and tell you?!” Gwaine argued.

Arthur shouted, “Yes!”

“He couldn’t because if he did, you would have killed him, like you are going to do now!”

“I don’t want to kill him!” Arthur said, his voice breaking at the end, and now Gwaine saw what was happening. Arthur had been told all his life that magic corrupted whoever used it, but now that Merlin was the one he had to sentence to death, he was conflicted in his beliefs.

“Then don’t,” Gwaine said softer. “Magic is just a tool, not better or worse than a sword. It’s the one that yields it who choses how to use it. Do you believe that Merlin, and forget for a second that he has magic, would ever betray Camelot, betray you?”

The silence that followed then was answer enough. “We all know Merlin, he wouldn’t hurt anyone that didn’t deserve it.” Percival said.

“And what should I do?”

“Go to the dungeons, tell Merlin that he’s free and he won’t die, tell him that you are going to lift the ban against magic, tell him he’s no longer your servant, and when he has a fit about it, and we all know he will have one because only someone like him would want to be your servant, then you tell him that he’s now the court sorcerer.” Gwaine said.

“I can’t just lift the ban against magic, a lot of people wouldn’t be happy with that and they will demand a reason.”

Gwaine was happy to hear that the only thing he complained about was what people would think. Arthur appreciated Merlin more than he would let himself believe. “Then tell them it’s for Merlin, half of Camelot likes him, the other half loves him and would kill you if you put him anywhere near a pyre.” Gwaine shrugged.

“This isn’t a time for jokes.” Arthur sat down with a heavy sigh.

“It doesn’t need to be made in the span of a day, it will take months, maybe years, but erasing the ban against magic will be what we will aim for, starting with the erasure of the death penalty,” Leon said, always the pacifist and the voice of reason.

“Merlin betrayed me,” Arthur said, probably more to himself than to the knights, and before Gwaine could argue, Lancelot talked.

“He didn’t. Is it betrayal to do something with the objective of protecting their king and kingdom? Is it betrayal to hide something to avoid their death? Is it betrayal to risk their life for the people they love?” Lancelot said.

“We can’t kill Merlin,” Elyan, that had been silent until then, said. “It would be wrong.”

Arthur stared at his hands, thinking, until he said, “I want to be left alone, no one is to disturb me unless it’s an emergency.”

Everyone looked at the rest of the knights, unsure of what to do, not wanting to disobey their king but worried about their friend in the dungeons too. Gwaine wouldn’t move unless Arthur promised that he wouldn’t kill Merlin.

“I’ll go and free Merlin myself, now go,” Arthur said, addressing what everyone was thinking, and one by one, the knights left. All but Gwaine.

“I know your father always told you that magic was evil, but, Arthur, Merlin needs you right now. I can’t begin to imagine how lonely his life might have been, hiding something so important about himself. If you ever tell anyone, I will deny it, but I’m begging you, don’t be a prat, because if anyone can break him, it’s you.”

He didn’t let Arthur answer, he was out of the door before his words could take effect, praying that his friends would find a solution to their differences.

oOoOo

With each step he took down the stairs he willed his beating heart to calm down. He had went to countless battles, fought against thousands of enemies, lead armies to victory, killed mythical beasts, but nothing had terrified him as much as this.

“I want to talk to the prisoner alone,” Arthur said, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. The guards nodded and walked away.

He hesitated one, two, three times before he got the courage to walk in front of the cell where Merlin was. The sorcerer was sitting on the corner, his legs pulled to his chest, his arms around them and his chin resting on his knees, his gaze unfocused. His eyes were red from crying, his face was so pale that Arthur thought he was going to faint at any giving moment.

He had never seen Merlin like this, as if the life had been drawn out of him and nothing was left, just the shell of the bubbly man he had learn to love. Arthur still had problems believing it, that Merlin could use magic, that he could conjure such power.

The knights were right, Merlin didn’t deserve to die, he deserved every good thing the world had. He was the kindest, selfless, most loyal, bravest and strongest person in the whole kingdom. And yet, he had imprisoned him because Merlin had saved his life.

All the things Uther had said about magic, how it corrupted people, how it made them evil and dangerous, how they had to get rid of them, it had to be wrong. Everything he thought he knew about magic from his father was wrong. He didn’t know what to believe anymore, he was starting to doubt all the things he had learnt in his life.

His world was turning upside down, and the only person he wanted to be with was in a cell, where he had put him.

“Merlin,” he said, and talking now seemed like the hardest task of all, but he managed to choke his best friend’s name out of his lips.

The sorcerer looked up, a sad smile on his lips. “Is it time?”

Arthur felt sick. How could Merlin look at him, smiling, and accept his death without a fight? After what he saw at the forest, he knew that Merlin could have escaped, could have threatened him, or done something. But no, Merlin was there, sitting, looking miserable and staring at Arthur with trust and love in his eyes.

“It is,” he said with a shaky voice. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes, but he blinked them away. He wanted to know what to do, he wanted a solution, he wanted to go back in time and not know anything about Merlin’s magic because that way he wouldn’t have so many problems.

“It’s okay, I’ll look after you and Camelot even when I’m gone,” Merlin said, his smile so genuine that Arthur had to grab the bars from the cell to keep himself from falling down when his knees became weak.

“It’s- it’s not okay,” he said softly, voice choked with emotion. He didn’t like showing emotion, he didn’t like being vulnerable, but this was Merlin. Merlin, who had stood by his side even at the worst of times. Merlin, who had broken down his walls and disarmed him with smiles. Merlin, who had been loyal to him all this time. Merlin, who had seen him broken down and, instead of taking advantage of that, he had built him back together. Merlin, who treated him like a person, like a friend, and not like a king. Merlin, who had magic and had used it to save Arthur even when that meant he would be accused of sorcery and condemned to death.

Merlin, who he trusted with his life and who he loved more than he loved himself.

He could be vulnerable around Merlin, because even now, Merlin still believed in him, he could see it in his eyes.

“I- I don’t know what to do, Merlin,” he said, his eyes glued to Merlin’s, pleading him and asking for some kind of solution to this mess.

“Arthur,” Merlin said, standing up and almost falling when his legs gave out. He managed to recover and walked to stand before him. “You might be the king, but you don’t need to have all the answers.”

“That doesn’t help, so just tell me what to do,” Arthur pleaded.

“Well, it’s nice to see that you’re still a prat, barking orders. One might think that after all this years you would have learnt that I never do as asked,” Merlin said, and somehow, Arthur chuckled despite himself. He bowed his head and looked at his feet, a tear falling to the floor, between his feet.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Why? I like being here, at least I don’t have an annoying dollophead bossing me around,” Merlin joked, his tone light, but it did nothing to lighten Arthur’s heart.

“I’ve been horrible to you, haven’t I?” Arthur asked, although he didn’t need Merlin to answer, he already knew it would be a ‘yes’. He had treated Merlin horrible at times just because he felt pressured to keep his servant at arm’s length, because he was the king, and a king couldn’t be friends with his servant. Never mind that to him Merlin was much more than a friend.

“No,” Merlin said, and Arthur felt hands over his a second later. When he looked up, Merlin was watching him with so much emotion that Arthur felt dizzy. “You might be a royal prat, and bossy, but you’re also my friend. I know you, Arthur, and I know you care about me, you don’t need to say it for me to know it. You would have sacked me a long time ago if it weren’t because of our friendship, because let’s be honest, I’m the worst servant ever.”

“You are,” Arthur chuckled wetly, a few more tears running down his cheeks.

“You may not have the answer to this, but I’m certain that whatever you do will be the right thing. I believe in you.”

“How can you say that when you’re locked in a cell because of me?” Arthur asked. He wondered how it was possible that Merlin was the one consoling him and not the other way.

“Because I love you,” Merlin said, his cheeks slowly reddening with a blush. “I have loved you for a long time now and I never told you because I was afraid of losing you. You’re destined to great things, too, and I trust that you’ll unite Albion and lead everyone to a time of prosperity and peace like never before.”

He knew he should say something back, like how he felt the same and that they could rule together one day, that if he was destined to great things would only be because he had Merlin by his side, but he couldn’t make a sound. When Merlin gave him another sad smile and took a step back, Arthur didn’t think, he just reacted.

He grabbed Merlin’s face and joined their lips, doing what he had wanted to do for a really long time. At first, he could feel the surprise in the sorcerer in the way he tensed, but when Arthur didn’t let go or pushed him away, he relaxed, and finally, the kiss was reciprocated. It was uncomfortable with the metal bars pressing in his cheeks, but all that mattered was how much he loved Merlin and the soft lips that moved at the same time that his.

Shivers ran down his spine and a tingling sensation spread through his body with each caress of their lips. His heart wanted nothing more than escaping the confines of his body and go to Merlin, because the sorcerer was its real owner. The feeling of the metal bars disappeared suddenly and hands moved to cup his face, thumbs stroking his cheekbones. Arthur’s arms circled around Merlin’s waist and pushed them flushed together until they were chest to chest, an urgency to touch him filling his bones. He could have lost Merlin because of his own stupidity, and he needed to know that Merlin was there, with him

“I’m sorry,” Arthur gasped when they broke the kiss to get some air, their foreheads pressed together. “I love you, too.”

“I got as much from the kiss,” Merlin said cheekily, his breath coming in puffs that tickled Arthur’s lips.

“Shut up,” Arthur laughed.

“We both know you don’t actually want me to shut up,” Merlin said, moving his head to look at him, an eyebrow raised in a way that made him look like Gaius.

“I don’t want you to change. I want you to always be you. Magic or not,” Arthur admitted, staring back at Merlin’s blue eyes and begging him to understand how much he meant those words. “You’ll have to teach me so that I can understand, but I can’t kill you, I could never do that to you.”

“I’ll tell you everything, I promise, even what I don’t want to say,” Merlin said seriously, but his eyes were full of happiness.

In that moment, Arthur noticed that with Merlin by his side, they could fix this, because they had always done things together. The reason why he couldn’t find a solution was because he needed his other half to guide him.

“Where are the bars of the cell?” Arthur asked when he looked around.

“I… made them disappear?” Merlin said, his eyes wide and innocent. It was such a Merlin thing to do that Arthur wondered how he could ever think that the sorcerer was evil. The knights were right and he would have never forgiven himself if he had sent Merlin to the pyre.

“Of course you did,” Arthur said, shaking his head in amusement. “Everything will be alright, won’t it?”

“It will, Arthur,” Merlin said, kissing him softly once again. “It will.”

#merthur #merlin #merlin bcc #arthur pendragon #one shot #merthur fic #gwaine #lancelot #leon #percival #elyan #knights of the round table #merlin x arthur #i miss my merthur #merlin fandom

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ongaku-ato-kakikomi · 4 years

Note

ooooo :0c sorry for bothering but do you think you could write for the monster prom characters with an s/o who has a really don't mess with me attitude but enjoys cute things, is kinda touch starved an' they like get hella scared when people yell at/near them

Miranda Vanderbilt:

You and Miranda were walking around local shops in town, your girlfriend wanting to see where people of your social status go shopping (you cringed a little at those words, but you know she didn’t mean any harm). Though you looked like you were hating every single spec of this outing since you had to step out of your house, you actually quite enjoyed shopping with Mir’… especially since she seems to be amazed by anything she sees.

“Love, look!” You turn your head towards the mermaid princess just in time for her to hand you a beautiful and glowing (f/c) flower that she bought while you were looking away, a bright smile on her face. “This flower is as adorable as you… You shall take it and keep it close to your heart.”

Your neutral expression suddenly breaks into a red mess when her words stab your heart, your fingers slowly picking up the flower from her own while looking at the ground.

“I-I’m not adorable…” You can’t help but silently be mesmerized by the glowing flower in your hand, already trying to think of a place to put it back at home. “… but thank you.”

Her grin stretches out at the sight of you, your eyes soon going wide when she gives your cheek a quick kiss.

“You’re adorable to me.” She just giggles when you start grumbling under your breath, her hand soon intertwining with your free one before she drags you towards another shop. “Come on now! We have so many more things to see! My kingdom is also in a lack of serfs these days… Do you think one of those shops sell them?”

You can’t help but let out a small smile as you follow her.

Damien LaVey:

The first time Damien invited you to Hell, things were awesome: You tortured a few folks, had dinner with his dads, got to meet a few dead celebrities in complete agony… but the one thing you had been looking out for the most was the tour, and Damien was more than happy to be your guide. He showed you everything he knew you would like and he fucking loved how bright your eyes were sparkling the entire time. Everything had been perfect and awesome until you both got tired, and so you decided to go back to his home.

It’s on the way back home that you met what is commonly known as a fire dog: so basically a dog from hell that is constantly on fire. The creature had been designed to be both cute and awesome, but also to help torture more humans with its deadly features. Damien was expecting you to burst in admiration at the design, but what he wasn’t expecting was for your face to turn into this mushy adorableness as you kneel in front of the creature.

“You… are… so… cute!” His eyes had gone wide in shock when you outstretched your hand gloved with fire protector to pet the said the dog, the creature leaning into your touch as you scratch its head. “Who’s a good boy? You’re a good boy!”

He couldn’t help but snort at the excessively high pitch voice you just used, not having expected that from you at all. You snap your head back at him to send him a glare, your eyes full of a dark emotion.

“What are you laughing at?”

“You.” He puts his hands into his jacket’s pocket and gives out a smirk. “You’re adorable.”

“I’m not…!” Red spreads onto your cheeks faster than a deadly disease, your gloved hand now petting the dog’s belly as it rolls onto its back. “I’m not adorable! I-I’m dangerous!”

“That too.” His smirk stretches out. “But right now, mostly adorable.”

It’s when you let out an exasperated groan that he knew you were the right one.

Scott Howl:

“(Y/N)!” You give out a yelp when large arms suddenly engulf you into a tight hug, not having expected that in the slightest since you were too enraptured into your phone’s content. “I missed you!”

You give out a light chuckle once you recognize the cheery voice of Scott, a small crimson color settling onto your skin as you pat one of his arms.

“Of course you did.” The color deepens when he rubs his cheek against yours, knowing how bright his smile must be. “… I missed you too…”

He gasps in pure joy at those words, ignoring your annoyed grumbling before he picks you up and swirls you around laughing. You almost never admit things like that, so the fact that you just said it out of nowhere made his heart burst out in happiness.

“You missed me! You said you missed me!”

“P-put me down!” You excessively move your arms with wide-open eyes until he finally puts you on the ground, trying not to let his joyful laugh affect your heartbeat so bad. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“Awn, but I like hugging you.”

“That wasn’t hugging, that was an attack!”

He tilts his head at you, confused. “It was?”

“Yeah-”

“Hey, Scott!” You jump up in fear at the sound of that voice, not liking how loud and close it was to you just now. “Are you grabbing a bite with the boys?”

You unconsciously start to tremble as Scott’s cousin speaks with him, putting a hand against your chest to slow down your breathing. The werewolf boy notices your stressful state, and though he doesn’t quite understand everything you’re going through despite you having explained it to him multiple time, he knows you don’t like when people scream, and so he shakes his head at his cousin.

“Nah, sorry.” You give out another yelp when he puts his arm around your shoulders and crushes you into another tight hug. “I’m spending the evening with (Y/N)!”

The cousin quirks an eyebrow before he shrugs and leaves. “Whatever you say, dude.”

You wait for him to have left before you shyly look away. “… Thank you.”

“No need to thank me, sweet cheeks!”

You just give out another grumble when he pinches your said cheek, only making him laugh loudly in response.

Liam de Lioncourt:

You carefully observe the purple vampire on the opposite side of the table, his yellow eyes silently reading through another old book of his while you’re trying to not bother him. You promised you’d let him read in peace and not force him on another of your dangerous adventures out of nowhere. Lucky for him, you’re not in the mood for something deadly, as he would call it.

Your (e/c) orbs slowly move away from his concentrated expression to one of his hands holding the book, your own starting to shake as you try to suppress the need to hold one of them this instant. You desperately need some touch to ease down the tension in your mind and heart, but once again; you don’t want to bother him. Plus, wouldn’t it be hard to turn the pages if he only has one hand?

The sigh escaping his lips brings you back to reality in time to notice him stretching his hand on the table towards you, your expression turning to a confused yet hopeful one as you look back to his. His eyes are still looking straight towards the content of his book, but the simple movement of his fingers urging you to take his hand gives you the answer you need.

You gently put your hand in his and you instantly feel your whole body relax, your happy smile resting on your lips despite your edgy features. Your heart melts when his thumb starts caressing your skin unconsciously, your head instantly dropping onto the table so you can hide the heat your feeling rising inside your neck.

You hate that you hear him chuckle.

“Tired?”

“Shut up.”

Polly Geist:

The blaring music and long screams around you makes your soul terrifyingly shake through your entire core. You normally never stay long at the parties Polly always invite you to; they’re loud and too crowded for your taste, but this time you wanted to force yourself to stay to spend more time with her.

Bad idea.

Now you’re looking around with fear in your eyes, all the sounds cutting through your brain like a sharp knife, and everyone’s too afraid of your tough nature to even ask if you’re okay. You don’t have the reputation of being good and kind among the monsters, and so you desperately try to spot Polly’s ghostly figure through the crowd.

You finally manage to find her, a ghostly alcohol beverage in her hands as she laughs with other strangers. You don’t care if you push a few people away while you walk towards her form, not letting your eyes wander away from her until your fingers brush against her cold shoulder.

She turns her head towards you with a wide grin, but she soon loses it when she notices your whitening expression and the slight fear jolts going through your body.

“(Y/N), what’s wrong?”

“I-I…” You stop speaking and shake your head, trying to regain some composure. “Can we go, please?”

“Yeah, of course!” She drops her cup on the ground and links her arm with yours, giving you a comforting smile while she leads you towards the exit. “Let’s go chill at your house. This party’s lame anyway.”

You give her a small smile, silently thanking her for saving you from this nightmare.

Vera Oberlin:

The gorgon girl silently types on her phone as she stares at it intently, an unreadable expression settled on her face as she exchanges orders with her minions. Boredom is swirling inside her chest, a few annoyed groans almost escaping her throat during her text conversations with mere people. Crime has been dull and repetitive today; nothing was interesting her or lightening a spark inside her heart.

She slightly stiffs up when she feels arms slowly enrapt around her form, but rapidly relaxes when you hide your face in the crook of her neck and exhale in relief. She frees one of her hands to carefully let her fingers go through your hair, feeling your own body relax through her touch. She gives out a small smile, slightly turning her head to give the top of your head a kiss before she continues to type.

“Hard day?”

You tighten your grip on her, your face slightly rubbing against her skin in the process. “Hm-hm.”

Before she got to know you, she would never have guessed how much you needed touch, but she would lie if she said she didn’t like it.

“Crime’s not interesting today.” She puts her phone on the counter and frees herself from your arms to be able to turn around, her hands rapidly cupping your cheeks as her eyes lay on your tired expression. “How about a day in? Just us two?”

The light firing up in your eyes is the only answer she needs.

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theoriquewitherseld · 4 years

Note

ooooo what’s the fic abt

OK another old ask. This time, I'm sending you the sad snippets, because for all of the extravagant indulgence, it's not exactly lemony snicket if it's not frigging sad. Anyways I just free real estated everything here so yah!

"I'm so—"

"You're not exactly the one who slammed into my car and crushed my legs so they won't ever work right again, Snicket," Pip snapped. "Not to mention, you already lost a leg yourself. Don't constantly apologizing for things you're not responsible for."

You would think most parents wouldn't dare abandon their children, Jak had thought. But they would. He was proof of this. Him, and along several others. Jake placed the bell pepper on the cutting board, and raised the knife and began to chop. He then wonders why.

Or perhaps, he shouldn't have wondered at all, the knife making loud sounds against the cutting board, but he can barely hear it. It's as if all the sounds in the room has become muted, his surroundings plunged into unseen water. His entire being doesn't seem to be quite there, and the hands felt like they belong to someone else. Jake knows the answer. He's not like most kids. He's nowhere brilliant as Cleo or Snicket, or skilled as Ellington or Ornette, or as plucky as them all. He does not have any sort of particular talent that can meaningfully contribute into noble work. The knife choped harder and faster. A hashslinging cook, he thought bitterly, that is all you're ever good for.

He shouldn't be wondering, he shouldn't be surprised why his parents left him. There is nothing that will come out of him. He's not going to be of any help. He was useless, when Moxie was taken and tortured. He was useless, when they took Cleo and she nearly burned along with her work. He was useless even n—

"Jake!" her familiar voice, usually calm, was panicked and horrified, and that was enough to snap Jake out of his thoughts and resurface back into reality, feeling his chest expand from much needed air.

His head jerked to the side, expecting her in danger, but Cleo was perfectly unscathed, to his relief. But her hand was gripping his arm tightly although it doesn't hurt, fingers curled like claws around the white sleeve. Her horrified eyes was looking at something else, and he follows the gaze down. Jake really wished he shouldn't have.

There was red on the cutting board, fresh and metallic as it always is, contaminating the knife and food. To his dull shock, he had cut his fingers, a deep wound across all four digits. But even then, the pain didn't feel real, and he feels like he's once again seen this happening to somebody else.

Instead, her foot slips and she falls into the hole.

Her body slammed unto the wood. That hurt. It hurted her all over, including those that have already hurt before. Her neck still bled. Her back still stung from the lashes. Her head can't seem to work right. It feels muddled. Dirt. She realized. Dirt and wood, encompassing her all around, like a box. It stank and smelled of dirt, the dark wood musky and unpleasant. Moxie weakly turned her head upwards and into the terrifying face of Stewart Mitchum, peaking into the hole she was in.

"Well, I measured this for someone else," he muttered, leaning out of view for a moment. "But I suppose you'll do."

He slams the coffin cover in the terrified face of Moxie Mallahan.

It took a long while, but eventually the three siblings all dissolved into quiet sobs, fight draining out of Snicket's body.

"I wish I didn't know," he whispered, trembling, agony in his voice.

"Lem—" Jacque started weakly, but it's like he never heard him.

"I wish I've gone my whole life not knowing. I wish they never wanted me in the first place, like I always thought they have. Then perhaps — perhaps —" he gave a choked sob. Kit just buried her head unto his shoulder, soaking it.

"Perhaps this would have hurt less," he cries quietly.

"Then let's look at the contents shall we?!" Kellar snarled, a terrifying and cruel sound. He snarled in a way and tone he has long sworn he would never use, ever since his own mother used it on him. It scared him. But he couldn't stop. "You helped Hangfire on his plans, framed a noble man and struck an innocent woman. You held children captive and put them in danger, with some of them dying on your care because they overdosed on laudanum. You sold me off to a villain, you scorned me, hated me, and for what? You still didn't save Lizzie. Someone else did. You're not—"

He hears a sharp sound. He had stopped then and there, a blinding pain had erupted on his cheek and his head jerked hard with the sheer force behind it. It'd hurt. It had hurt worse than the first time she did it. The lump in his throat was agony now, as he slowly lifted his head up and stared at his mother, whose eyes were wide and frantic, breathing rapidly. Then she looked regretful. Then she looked shocked.

"No," she whispered quietly, then she realized how quiet it was and raised her voice. "No, Kellar I didn't mean—"

Her hand reached out and Kellar flinched. But before she could even touch him, somebody has already grabbed her wrist with vice, halting her.

It was Lizzie. And her usually warm eyes are more vicious and cold than their mother's.

"Sharon," she spat, voice like poison, dangerous and scary. "I think you should leave now."

Lizzie put a warm hand on his back, so constrastingly gentle that he wanted to break then and there.

"They recruited us—"

"No." Snicket closed his eyes. "Stop it. Say it what it really is. I've had enough sugarcoating what they did."

Jacques stayed quiet.

"They kidnapped us," Snicket said desperately, "they ripped us away from our parents, and branded us like cattle. They fed us wonderful lies to throw ourselves eagerly in their work, taught us to never question them, and groomed us to become useful but dispensable cogs in their cause. We never volunteered for this. We were practically forced. VFD is nothing more than a sham."

They all just stood there, in somber silence. The darkness bore down on them, hearts heavy. Then Jake spoke.

"They fuck you up, your mum and dad..." he quotes in a tone they've never heard him use, then he walks away, leaving them.

Cleo stares at nothing, but she continues, and follows him soon after. "They may not mean to, but they do."

Kellar stands up to follow suit, face bitter. "They fill you with the faults they had—"

"And add some extra, just for you." Moxie says quietly, her grey eyes the darkest they've ever been, and she's gone as well.

With hands in his pockets, Pip's shoes clacked away. "But they were fucked up in their turn —"

"By fools in old-style hats and coats," Ornette joins, head bowed.

Lizzie's eyes were faraway, not quite herself as her heels clicked on the floor. "Who half the time were soppy-stern..."

"And half at one another’s throats." Squeak finished solemnly, back retreating.

Jacques puts on his hat, his black suit blending into the dark. "Man hands on misery to man." he says.

"It deepens like a coastal shelf," Kit joins him, eyes not meeting any of them.

"Get out as early as you can," Ellington whispers almost inaudibly, sinking into the shadows like a shipwreck to water.

Snicket stared at where they left. His mouth still tasted bitter, and his chest feels hollow. Then he dons his hat, the rim covering his eyes.

"And don’t have any kids yourself," he murmurs the final line, and walks away, allowing the darkness to swallow him whole like a monster.

#asks #atwq #all the wrong questions #lemony snicket #association of associates #the association of associates #the association au #snicket snippets #my writing

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thedevourers · 4 years

Text

THE DEVOURERS - a reader’s choice web novel

The Devourers is a web novel led by you, the readers. Every Thursday I will post a chapter and at the end I’ll give you a choice. The choice with the highest votes wins, and dictates how the story moves forward. What kind of story is it? It has a little bit of eldritch horror meets dark academia meets magic school with a bit of tragic romance thrown in for flavor.

VOTE HERE OR ON PATREON (you get an extra vote if you vote both places!) but PLEASE VOTE. It only works if people vote! Voting closes on SUNDAY AT MIDNIGHT.

FROM DARKNESS WE RISE.

For nearly one thousand years the Commonwealth has stood as a bastion of light in the midst of great darkness. Beyond the edges of the map lie tempestuous seas boiling with unimaginable horrors, vast reaches of ash-covered lands lost to wars whose ghosts still linger in the shadows, forests so twisted with dark magic that none dare approach for fear of going mad. Within its borders, however, those who call the Commonwealth home do so with pride, for they are the last of this broken world to stand defiant, to weather the chaos and destruction which has long since wiped out all other civilizations.

Led by a council of powerful mages known as Brightspires, the Commonwealth upholds justice and civility and derives its success from the values it was founded upon; Enlightenment, Civility, Truth, Equality, and Beauty. These virtues are exemplified in the capital city of Aurilaco, a crowning achievement of architecture and arcana, a city of marvels and delights, of knowledge and history, of democratic values and the opportunity for a better life. Even those who live on the edges of the Commonwealth know its promise—Des Tenretuic Ne Vonsdi. From Darkness We Rise.

All who live within the capital know of the mages’ might, those higher beings whose minds shape reality and protect those who look up toward the floating tower of Cheredeme. The Cincelion Council rules with a gentle hand, and it is they who lead the armies at the edge of the world, they who craft benevolent laws so that all citizens of the Commonwealth live in peace. Some believe them to be gods while others simply thank them for their apparent goodwill and generosity. No one would dare question them, not in public, at least, for rumors that some have the ability to read minds have made all thought of defiance obsolete. They are eternal and detached, unreachable and perfect, like the floating Spire atop the clouds they live in.

They have not always been so, however. The Commonwealth was founded by five mages, but over the years others have been chosen to rise from the masses, to ascend to the heavens and take their place amongst the Brightspires. No one knows how and why these few individuals were uplifted, but the idea that anyone might one day become a Brightspire and serve under the council is a tempting dream. But the Spire has not been opened to anyone for nearly three hundred years. Whispers fly that something is wrong, that Brightspires have been seen more often of late, traveling the Commonwealth and mingling amongst the people. A sight which would have once been nearly unthinkable, extraordinary for its rarity, is now a cause for worry. Because stories enter the capital every day from the edges of the world—stories of monsters boiling up from the southern seas and hordes of undead massing at the northern warfront, of hysteria and madness in the fledgling provinces beneath the vast forest to the west. Of nightmares made flesh seeping out into the very center of the Commonwealth itself.

Annihilation blows through the winds that come down from the Spire of Cheredeme, winds of change and circumstance. Something lurks beneath the streets of Aurilaco, the Jewel of the Commonwealth--creeps into the dreams of those sleepers who stray too far from the lights of their protectors, awakens old enemies and unravels old secrets which were never meant to be shared.

A new generation of mages is set to rise from the growing chaos.

Five unremarkable people from across the realm. Five destinies intertwined and bound together. Five young souls who will decide once and for all if the Commonwealth lives on in light, or is devoured by darkness.

Who you are, how you rule--is your choice.

CHOOSE YOUR PAST.

Are you a criminal, born on the streets of the capital with dirty hands and a dirtier mouth, the best thief in the whole bloody Commonwealth, hungry to make something of yourself and ready to cut down anyone who gets in your way?

Are you a loyal soldier of the Commonwealth’s army, fighting on the front lines of a war that grows more twisted every day, fighting for the good of every citizen who lives far from the horrors you face?

Are you a sailor of the southern ice flows, a wanderer working whaling boats and ice miners at the edge of the world with nothing but the clothes on your back and the drive to find somewhere you belong, even with one eye always on the horizon?

Are you a conman, a charlatan, a rogue and a rake with a honeyed tongue and a smile that could melt even the coldest heart, a careful ruse you’ve built for yourself after years of loss and heartbreak, that lovely exterior nothing more than a pretty mask?

Are you a member of that highest class of citizen, a noble with a long line of ancestors that stretches back to the earliest days of the Commonwealth, determined to ensure the family legacy will continue long after you’ve made your mark on the world?

CHOOSE WHAT HAUNTS YOU.

When you were a child you had a nightmare which plagues you to this day.

The deep. You are fighting against dark waters, heavy clothes dragging you under the waves again and again with only a glimpse of the sky above you—yellow clouds churning with wind. Far off in the distance you think you see a house standing on a tall cliff of white stone, where someone watches as you drown.

The other. You are held tight in the arms of someone you love. It begins as a warm embrace until it slowly grows choking, an arm around your shoulders and your waist, another crushing you to their chest, and you realize that something else holds you. A voice in your ear sounds like the dying of souls, and you go mad with it.

The endless. You find a box in a darkened room. Light shines through the groove in the wood and you approach, heart pounding. Inside you hear every secret hope you whispered to the night when you thought no one was listening. The latch flicks open. The room is swarmed with winged terrors who want nothing more than to feast on your dreams.

The futility. You wait at the edge of a vast field of swaying purple grass. From utter silence a massive shape rises before you. It is a woman, taller than mountains, fiercer than a tempest. Tears roll down your face as she looks down at you, indifference in her gaze. You are nothing. You are small. And you will be consumed by the end of eternity just like everyone else.

The violence. You stand in a quiet forest. The trees sway around you, whispering a language you no longer remember. At your feet lies a child. At first, you think they are sleeping, but then you feel the warm steel in your hand, see the black ichor leaking from their eyes. They are dead and you hold the dagger. The whispers name you murderer.

CHOOSE WHAT DRIVES YOU.

Freedom. You want to live on your own terms, to forge your own path, to cut ties and fly as far and as fast as you can.

Power. You want to shape the world, to choose where the threads of history intertwine and weave it for yourself.

Adoration. You want love and devotion, to walk into a room knowing all eyes follow you, to be the light others turn themselves toward.

Knowledge. You want nothing less than to uncover the secrets of the world, to delve deep into the annals of time and consume all you can.

Vengeance. You want blood, you crave it, the reminder of loss a knife in your heart that you feel every time you draw breath.

So for this first post as we’re still figuring out logistics, I’d like people to vote by replying with the bolded word for each of your choices (total of 3). Voting will end on Sunday at midnight.

You can vote by replying to this post and going to my Patreon (if you do both you get two votes ooooo) so go nuts <3

#I have no idea how to tag this #web novel #choose your own story #authors on tumblr #writers on tumblr #dark fantasy #cosmic horror #romance

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heartwoodventures · 4 years

Photo

Four adventurers enter a stinky, vine infested dungeon at the behest of Ecir Coyacir. Treasure lies within, he claims! But would it be worth the reek? Immediately upon entrance, the party is taken aback by the foul stench emanating from gold puddles scattered across the floor. None are pleased, but it was too late to turn back...

".....This has bad idea written all ovah it," Nazyl says. "This smell...it couldn't be, right? Does goldbile grow in othah places...?"

Khora’s head sinks to the stench growing within his nostrils. A sigh carries his words forth, already sounding defeated, "What did I volunteer for...?"

“The quicker we do this, the quicker we can wash all the smell off....I hate this place already..." N’ana grumbles.

Amid ample complaints, the group pushes forward, traveling through abandoned halls where wild life has long taken over. With just a map to guide them, they carefully navigate the old thieves' hideout one corridor at a time. Not one second passes without someone reminding the others about their distaste for the place.

In between dispatching monsters, Aiswyda steps into the yellow liquid, and watches in horror and...curiosity as it fizzles at her heel. N’ana giggles, the smell temporarily forgotten. "Hehe, go on and jump in! Looks warm!"

Before they can find out, the group reaches a room where the doorway is covered in writhing vines, as if alive. A boom is heard and they hear a voice rasp against their ears.

"I have rivers without water, forests without trees, towns without houses."

Khora's eyes widen to the flow of air as it brushes against his ears. "Huh?" He grows a touch confused, ears flickering over his head as his stance loosens up. "What in the hells...?" Eyes wander in every which direction, words spoken beneath his breath over and over. His company of three are similarly bewildered.

"Ye, uh...got aneh ideas? Kinda drawin' blanks here" Nazyl Tharazyl says.

N'ana Firesong taps her chin. "I think I might know what it is... but I don't want to jump in front of you all..."

"Well, a guess is bettah than sittin' here in this stinkin' hole in silence. Throw somethin' out there," Nazyl notes.

Meanwhile, Khora went back and forth between the members of the group, repeating the whispered words over and over. Aiswyda stands there dumbfounded, a tall and clueless backdrop to his pacing. He begins to wander on his own, before his ears stand on end. "Oh! Oh!"

"Has the rock finally got an idea?" N’ana asks. Khora steps in place as a rush takes him over, like an excited puppy watching its owner return home. He begins to blurt out answers. "A painting! A map! A picture?"

“Go with the first one. No, the second!” Aiswyda makes a pained expression. “No wait, the first one. The first one!”

As Khora blurts out his answer, the corner of the map starts to fade...but once his second answer comes out, the vines of the entryway part to let the group through. Khora clenches his hand into a fist while a cocky grin spreads to his lips. "Hell yeah!" He raised his hand to the air in a triumphant manner.

"Well, whatevah ye said worked. Glad it don't punish multiple answers..." Nazyl notes. "I can't say I approve of whatevah's still lingerin' here. Twelve ferfend it's a bloodeh spirit. Simple thieves don't just animate vines n' speak in the wind..."

Khora continues down the path, weapon drawn at his side in case any more trouble tried to make itself known. "Well if all these creeps and blockades are in our way, then maybe that is good tidings. Means the treasure might still be intact."

As the party makes their way deeper, the foul aura grows stronger still. Gone is even the faintest breeze of fresh air. N'ana stares into the room ahead for a moment, and then looks to the group with flattened ears and a pale face. "I don't want the treasure anymore..."

Nazyl Tharazyl rallies the girl. "Pull it tagethah lass. Yer strongah than that. Just keep yer wits about ye."

"Well let's hurry to the next one...Just seeing these....things make me worried and the smell is making me sick," N’ana curtly replies. "I just want a bath after this...I would give up my treasure just for a nice lavender bath....or for this place to smell of lavender."

Khora's ears stand up straight as his lips curl to form a round o-shape. "OOohh...A bath does sound good right about now."

"If all monstahs n' treasure were found in fair-scented gardens n' houses, we'd all be 'venturers eh?" Nazyl jests.

They step it to the next room, and yet again, the voice from before booms around them.

"Iron roof, glass wall. Burns and Burns and never falls."

It echoes throughout the room and the walls around them shimmer. The coming of another riddle inspires great anger in the party.

"NOT ANOTHER RIDDLE!" N’ana yells.

Nazyl and Khora react more calmly, and take note of the strange behavior of the walls. Aiswyda, on the other hand, jumps at the sound of the voice, and throws a punch at the nearest teammate....Nazyl. The height discrepancy between the two means that the punch sails harmlessly over his head.

“Thal’s balls, so bloody loud! Would it hurt to not be so mysterious?” Aiswyda groans. Thankfully, Khora offers an answer quickly, though he didn’t sound so certain this time.

"A... Lantern?"

"Now open up and no more riddles!" N’ana demands immediately after.

"Yer quick on this one lad. Givin' me a diff'rent outlook of ye,” Nazyl states.

Khora blinks as his stance shifts awkwardly. "What was your outlook on me before?" Worry carried those words forth, Khora unsure if he even wanted to hear a response.

N'ana gives Khora's head a light tap with her fist. "Just take the complament you dummy!"

Nazyl Tharazyl continues. "Loud, brash, too quick ta irritate." He was blunt at least. "Traits I tend ta dislike. But yer sharp, I'll give ye that. I ain't no riddle solvah, n' Twelve know me talents don't lie in me smarts."

Khora's shoulders slouch as his head hangs forward, ears dropping over his head. "I'm not always like that...Just on jobs..."

"Ah, don't beat yerself up ovah it. Some jobs it's perfectleh fine ta be that way, just not when a more subtle touch is required." Nazyl snorts, walking towards the next room, "Looks like the gas is taperin' off."

Khora's demeanor is quick to shift when the path opens up. "Oh yeah!" Disappointment and self-deprecation quickly melt away with excitement as they had done it again. "Excellent!"

The party quickly enters the following passageway, which is absolutely riddled with morbols. The scent of it all is enough to bring even the proudest warrior to their knees. But through complaints and nausea, they carry on, and finally make it to the last room. A square pedestal with four holes on each side, adorned strange markings, stood at the center of the opening. The voice roars even louder around them.

"I cover cities and destroy mountains, I make men blind, yet help them see."

Nazyl reaches for his ears, the voice all but shaking his whole body, "Gods! Now what, a third one?"

Khora Velaceras freezes in place. His eyes went wide and a look of complete cluelessness washes over him. "Yeah... I have no idea on this one. The Sun? Though the sun does not really destroy mountains..."

“It would appear another measly riddle blocks our path,” Aiswyda says, as she looks to Khora expectantly, as if waiting for a magician to repeat yet another magic trick. This time, however, he would not supply the answer. Nazyl thought hard to himself, staring at the pedestal, gears going overtime in his head. "Covahs...citehs...Sand upon the wind erodes rock. Two whole nations rest beneath the Sagolii."

"OOooo! Makes sense!" Khora’s head raises slightly and a shine appears about his expression - as if a lightbulb ignited above his head. Aiswyda, on the other hand, is left in the dark. As Khora tries to explain it to her, the ruins start to glow around the pedestal. One of the openings starts to glow, as if it needed something to be placed within.

"I am something you feel, but cannot see. I can be held, and touch you, but you can not touch me."

"Oh hells it's not ovah!" Nazyl felt his victory rush taper quickly with the addition of a new question. "Bah. This one is a bit diff'rent."

Khora blurts out. "The air!"

However, the pedestal doesn’t react, and its hole continues to glow brightly. Aiswyda examines the pedestal and stares at the glowing opening. "What, do we blow in it?"

Khora Velaceras shakes his head. "I mean if you want to blow on it, then by all means go ahead. Won't catch me doing it."

Aiswyda shoots Khora a dirty look and blows into the hole. “Gods I feel stupid.”

The hole closes, accepting the offering. On the other side, another begins to glow, and the voice echoes through once again.

"Shines like the stars, filling the halls. For naught but rocks, a city falls."

"Color me s'prised...Who wants ta guess this one at bein' fire?" Nazyl offers.

N'ana reaches in her bag and takes a fire shard out. "I guess put this on it?" She places the shard onto the pedestal, letting the heat inside glow. "I hope this works." The moment it’s placed in the pedestal, it shoots out like a rocket, smacking her silly.

Khora shakes his head as he casually approaches the pedestal and walks beside N'ana. "Well... Allow me then." He reaches into his pouch and lets the jingle of coin rattle in the air. "Shine like the stars. Filling the halls. For naught but rock, a city falls." Khora pulls out three gil coins and sets them onto the pedestal. "Money."

The hole to the pedestal closes up and the third hole starts to glow.

"Don't see me move, but still alive. Feet firmly on the ground, but reach for the skies."

This one comes to N'ana quickly. "Trees?"

Khora winks at N'ana with a cocky smirk on his lips. "Why not go get a branch for us since you got the answer?"

N’ana steps over to one of the vines, and chops a bit off at the tip. She then places it on the stand, with some trepidation. "Trees or plants."

The hole closes up and the pedestal starts to hum as the last hole glowed. Would they get their prize after it?

"Still, a mirror the gods can use. Swift, a mountain one day moved. With none, you die, all alone. Too much, you die, in another's home."

Khora Velaceras nods approvingly toward N'ana. "Nice work! And by the sounds of it, I am going to assume the last is water."

N'ana pulls out a gourd from her bag. "Well I have some water... want me to try that then?"

The rest of the party takes a good step back. Nazyl mostly wishes he could -see- what the pedestal is doing. N’ana undoes the cap on her gourd, and pours clear water onto the stand. The final hole closes up and shakes as it falls into the ground, leaving behind a hole. A moment later it comes back up with a treasure chest, along with a longsword made of glass and silver, a staff topped with a caged flame, and a tri-bladed dagger adorned with three ominous crystals that glowed red.

The group had done it.

Three voices whisper around their heads. The word 'Worthy' repeats over and over, along with 'Show your worth'.

Nazyl Tharazyl narrows his eyes, keeping his sword gripped tight. "Wait."

Despite Nazyl’s reservations, N’ana reaches out and takes the blade in one hand. "This does look valuable..."

"H-hold on, I ain't sure-" Nazyl stammers. "Dammit, didn't ye listen ta the voice? Show yer worth...we proved our cunnin', now I'd say it seeks ta test our strength."

Meanwhile, Khora raises a hand to facepalm. "Have you not read the books or heard the stories? Y'never just take the treasure 'cause it is almost /always/ boobytrapped!"

"But... we cleared the trials.... and this is what we came for, isn't it?" N’ana says.

After a long, uneventful pause, Khora bows his head with a sigh. "I hope you are wrong Nazyl but..." The Seeker steps forward and takes the staff presented before them. "But I will admit that this is nearly not as much treasure as I thought we'd find."

“Well..." N’ana looks around. "Nothing is happening...let's take the treasure and leave! I want a bath!" She swings the sword over her shoulder and begins to walk out. With a shrug, Aiswyda picks up the treasure chest, and Nazyl takes the dagger.

“Phew, doesn’t seem booby trapped! Let’s get out of here,” Aiswyda says, the chest held securely in her arms. The thing is incredibly heavy - dropping it would send a smaller creature to the lifestream. However, in some ways, she had the lightest burden of them all.

Those who held a weapon eventually felt an immense heat. The words 'Show your worth' echoes around them with increasing fervor. Nazyl couldn't help but feel...wrong, once they made their way outside. The heat, the voices....the thing must be cursed. They all must be. His hand shifts while holding it, wanting to simply throw it onto the ground. The lalafell grips the knife in a vice, the voices drowning out all other sounds. Not again, don't fall for its words, he repeats to himself...and even then, his thoughts seemed distant and almost unintelligible.

"I really don't like this..." N’ana held the sword over her shoulder, tense. "I wonder if I can trade this for gil..."

"Gods someone silence the whispers...Anyone else hearing that?" Khora’s eyes remain drawn to the weapon, looking to the flame that flickered within the cage and letting it glint in those silver eyes of his. In a moment's irritation, Khora slams the butt end of it to the ground before channelling his aether's forth. He feeds his energy into the weapon, and wisps in the air form as black clouds dance before him. The clouds spark and erupt into a bright and mighty flame. "Shut up!" The Seeker sends a surge of flames forward, as if he himself exploded in anger. The flames swirl around the staff and get sucked into the cage on top.

Unable to hear the voice, Aiswyda is shocked by Khora’s outburst. “Gods, what’s going on? Get a hold of yourself!”

Khora grits his teeth as he darted a feral gaze toward Aiswyda. "You do not hear the bloody voices? The whispers?!"

“Nay, since the last riddle it’s been all quiet now. At least, the whispers have been quiet,” she answers, as she ushers the group out with an increased sense of urgency, until the four of them were no longer deep within the ruin’s bowels. Unfortunately for them, the troubles didn’t end there. As the group steps out, they notice an area over by the client with a HUGE burn mark in the ground, and a knocked out man off to the side.

"...Guess they've been buseh entahtainin' guests...." Nazyl manages.

An unfamiliar Miqo'te looks toward the arriving party, and then back to the Hyur. "We'll have some more fun in the future, love. Promise I'll work on the pre-game just for you." She holsters the gun and blows a kiss toward, making a break toward the unconscious man (Kevin) and throwing a smoke bomb down. The client, and the strangers, were gone by the time the cloud expanded.

They had missed quite a bit.

#balmung rp #Heartwood plots #ffxiv rp #nazyl tharazyl #khora velaceras #N'ana Firesong #Aiswyda Nuthalwyn #retrieving the relics

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daydreaming-jessi · 4 years

Text

Henlo I am buzzing with energy, so I decided to go ahead a conclude the whole cliffhanger in the Beej and shoggoth au I left last time lmao. This is gonna be a monster I feel so um I’m so sorry

SO! one night Lydia and Beej were hanging out, watching horror movies. Delia and Charles went out on a date, and the maitlands were having a quiet night in up in the attic.

The cats were acting weird all day. Shoggoth kept walking the house, checking every window, barely stopping to eat. Azazel was actually keeping still, seeming to keep vigil in the sitting room seemingly, watching the wall that still had marks on it from months before. Circe seemed to be on edge, actually hissing at anyone that petted her out of nowhere, and patchie and Beef kept hiding under the sofa.

Lyds and Beej tried to walk them, but they weren’t having a good time. Beej was worried, but lyds suspected a mouse had gotten into the house or they’d seen a stray outside and tried to appease beej’s worries with Friday the thirteenth.

So the two were sitting on the couch cuddling under the knitted blanket barb had managed to make, making jokes at cheesy acting and props, eating popcorn and just having a good time all around.

Suddenly there’s a shout upstairs, and a series of bangs and shuffles. Lydia and Beej share a concerned look. Suddenly shoggoth let out a very haunting yowl and charges upstairs, with Azazel close after. Lyds and Beej decide they should investigate.

Up they went, to the attic, coming up to a chilling sight. Green light filled the attic, Adam and Barb were suspended in air, looking very similar to a sight seen months before.

“Barb, Adam!” Lydia cries, rushing forward. Beej remained at the stairs, frozen, as a familiar energy hits him, holding him frozen in place.

“You.”

Lydia turned to see a familiar sneer, familiar red glasses and pearls. Juno.

“I should’ve known it was you harboring these fugitives,” Juno sneered.

“How... how are you back?!”

“You think a simple sandworm can stop me? My son is an idiot, kid. They only stop ghosts, not millennia old demons that keep order of the netherworld.”

Barbara lets out a pained scream at that moment.

“Let them go! They didn’t do anything!” Lydia sounded hysterical now. When barb was being exorcised before, it didn’t sound half as painful as it does now. She got the feeling Beej had been holding the power of the exorcism back, months before.

“These ghosts are fugitives, punk. They should’ve gone to the netherworld the day they passed. No exceptions. If they wanted to be in the living world, they should’ve gotten a pass. But now they have to be punished,” Juno huffed. Both ghosts let out pained cries.

“No! Wait, please, you can’t! They-they didn’t know-“ Lydia tried.

“Oh please. They have the book. They knew they were breaking the rules.” Juno interrupted.

Lydia was panicking now, and she quickly sucked in a deep breath. “Beetlejuice!” She cried.

“Don’t bother.”

Lydia turned to see Beej standing rigid, frozen with his eyes rolled into the back of his head, hair black. A skeleton stood beside him, chattering and clicking.

“I should’ve known he’d stay around here, bumming off a bunch of breathers. He grows a spine for once and then doesn’t even try to take over. Why do I even keep him around?” Juno brushes past Lydia, moving to circle Beej, like patchie eyeing up a squirrel he’s about to pounce on.

“Why do I keep him around? After everything I’ve done for him, and he drives me to drink my sorrows away! I’ve given him all I could and he just disappoints me over and over again... I believe I’ve had enough. Keep those two in place. It’s time I start over with this mess,” Juno smiled, sending a chill down lydia’s spine.

“No!” Lydia cries, leaping forward to stop the demon. But Juno flicks her wrist, and Lydia freezes in place, lifting off the floor.

“Well well Lawrence. Do you remember that little curse I cooked up for you? Wasn’t there a little clause about your true name? What was it, Betelgeuse?”

The room becomes cold. The green light becomes mixed with black shadows. Lydia feels tears springing into the corner of her eyes without thought.

“Ah. Now I remember. Oh foul son o’ mine, never shall you be seen lest named times three. But, beware. Should your true name be uttered thrice, bid farewell to any life. Such a shame, isn’t it? You had such potential. But you wasted it all and wasted me away with them. Remember, everything I do, I do for you. Maybe now you’ll learn your lesson,” Juno hissed.

Lydia wants to scream, fight, do anything. Her family is about to vanish before her, and there’s nothing she can do. Charles and Delia weren’t here to help, barb and Adam were going to be gone, Beej was about to be gone, and who knows what Juno was going to do to lyds. I’m so sorry Dead Mom.....

“Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse. Betel-“

A yowl fills the air, and suddenly Juno has a face full of black fur, white slashing the air. Juno screams, and the skeleton is bowled over by four other balls of fur, scattering it’s bones across the attic floor. Adam and barb fall to their knees, gasping and sweaty. Beej gasps, stumbling back. Lydia crashes to the ground. She can hear the door opening downstairs, the panicked shouts of her parents starting to come closer.

“Argh! What a horrible little creature! Ah, Jesus! How on earth did it touch me.... ? what did you do Lawrence?” Juno stares down the panting green haired demon. Beej glares back, hair a mixture of white and red.

“Can’t handle a little cat scratch ma?” He growls.

The door slams open, Charles and Delia enters looking ready to fight. They see Juno, sees their family collapsed to the floor, shoggoth lay unmoving as her kids slowly move to protect her, and both are ready to act.

“Get away from our family!” Charles nearly roars. Juno looks unimpressed, and tries to flick her hand again. “Dad!” Lydia cries, but nothing happens. Juno’s eyes widen. She tries again. Again.

Adam and barb have managed to stand and pull Lydia up to her feet as well, standing close to the door outside, ready to run if need be.

“What did you do Lawrence?”

“What was that thing about names again, Mom? How they are powerful enough to control an entire being if you know it right? Well, I’ve learned a lot these past few months, more than I ever learned from you. And one of the things I learned is that cats are smarter than anyone I’ve ever met, and mom cats are a helluva lot better than you ever were,” Beej smiles, remembering all the rants Delia and lyds gave when they heard just how well Juno raised him.

A hellish growl fills the air. Juno looks back to see the black shag she threw standing up, a neon green eye zeroed in on her.

“Ma, meet shoggoth and her kids patchie, Azazel, Circe, and beef. They don’t like it when our family is disturbed.”

A rumble fills the room, a chorus of hellish growls echo through the air, and Juno screams.

“NoNONO! How could you do such a stupid thing?! How could you?! I’ve given everything, everything! You idiot, you awful bastard! NooooOOOOOOOOOO-“

Juno seems to crumble in on herself, her screams filling the air. Barb and Adam clutch Lydia tighter. Charles and Delia rush forward, and grab Beej, pulling him away from the shrieking demon slowly spewing out smoke that reeks of cigarettes. The ghosts hurry to them, everyone holding each other close.

Shoggoth throws her head back and yowls, and the roof cracks open like a maw, and black and white stripes descend.

“NO, NO MY POWER! NO, STOP! I CAN’T BE STOPPED LIKE THIS NO!”

A sandworm wraps Juno up tight, the roof closes, and Shoggoth stalks closer, shadow leaking behind her, and overtaking the room. It’s like all those times shoggoth lays on a sleeping face, blocking the world out.

Slowly the light comes back. The bones are gone, all that’s left of Juno is her red candy glasses.

Sandy is lounged around the attic, seeming to purr at the black lump in the middle of its coils.

“Shoggoth!”

Lydia and Beej rush forward, closely followed by the others.

The kittens are pacing worriedly, mewling and gently butting at their mother’s body. Beej reaches out, like he did three months ago, gently scooping up the giant, black cat and cradling her close to his body.

“Is she...?” Lydia feel liquid start to drip down her face, her throat aches, all she’s able to think is that despite everything she’s lost another person.

A small purr sounds off from beej’s arms.

“Oh thank god!” “Shoggoth!” “How is she?” “She okay??” “It’s ok, lil guys, Mom’s gonna be okay.”

The kind vet that checked up on shoggoth all those weeks ago, performs a late night home visit.

Shoggoth now has a limp that may not go away, her tail is even more crooked, but she’s purring and grooming everyone like she didn’t just eviscerate a millennias old demon. The kittens just can’t decide what to do with themselves. They’re cuddling their mom, they’re cuddling their humans, they’re play fighting with Sandy.

Speaking of...

Sandy refuses to leave. No matter how much Beej tries to cajole her, the sandworm shakes her head stubbornly. “You’re too smart for your own good!” Beej grouches. But he is scratching her chins.

Delia: How on earth is she gonna fit in this house?

Sandy: *shrinks herself down to a more typical snake size to better match her environment*

Delia: *exhasperatedly clutching a crystal now* well I guess this is just what the universe planned for us I guess!

Adam: *happy snake nerd noises*

Lydia now teases Charles for the whole “our family” thing for a minute, but then he’s like “lyds I knew the instant that demon showed back up in our house that we’d adopted a family of ghosts.” She just smiles and hugs him. He’s certainly not wrong.

So things return to normal, just with the addition of a garbage disposal of a snake slithering around, randomly picking a human or ghost or demon or cat to be a new perch. Sandy certainly doesn’t have a favorite perch. She loves all the Adams and non-Adams equally, what are you talking about?

She has her own heating rock she retires to every night that Adam built for her. No kitty dare bother her lounging time, except for shoggoth, because sandy’s a pushover for shoggoth. But then again, who isn’t?

And Beej? He can’t complain. He’s not invisible or alone anymore. His mom won’t bother him again as he recovers from her years of abuse, he is constantly inundated with the cutest lil kitties and snake, has a punking lil sister, pseudo parents, and a cute couple of ghosts that call him sweet. All because of a girl who lost her mom, a widower, a life coach, two white middle class ghosts, and a ragged black cat, all of whom that he loves freely, and dearly.

Oh, there is one thing that’s new. Beef learned how to turn on the stereo. And somehow, Jump in the Line plays every time. Yeah, Lydia knows for certain Dead Mom is proud of their new family. She loves it a lot too.

PHEW! That be it for that. I may draw things for this au more, especially since they now have a pet sandworm snake lol. I’m so glad so many people like this au, I love it a lot. All because i just thought to myself “what if Beej found a cat?” and just started tapping at my phone. It’s dumb and cute and probably tropey and a lil ooc, but hey. That’s the fun of fandom. Lemme know if you’re curious about something, I love chatting about this stuff

beetleb@bes, pls dni

#beetlejuice broadway #beetlejuice the broadway musical #beetlejuice #shoggoth au #lawrence beetlejuice shoggoth #delia deetz #charles deetz #lydia deetz #adam maitland #barbara maitland #beetlelands #space noises #lololol i hope i did ok i felt the pressure when writing this aha #juno shoggoth

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forkanna · 4 years

Link

[AO3 LINK] [WATTPAD] [QUOTEV]

WARNING: this chapter is definitely NSFW.

NOTE: I will be taking a short break to work on a few things before posting chapter twenty-one. I chose this as the stopping point because it's a very nice chapter to end on; no cliffhanger haha. But I promise, in a week or so I'll be back posting more!

CHAPTER TWENTY

"This… doesn't have to lead anywhere, Anna," she whispered, trying to suppress her anxiety spikes. It was okay. It was Anna, it was okay.

"Usually leads one place with me. Though some guys prefer a couple of other places," she mused with her head tilted to the side. It only took her a moment to sit bolt upright and say, "N-not that you're a guy! That's not- I mean, just cause you have… wow, my mouth gets dumber every day…"

Elsa snorted and reached up to pet over her hair. "You're still taking this better than I expected. Especially given… how you found out."

"Nawww, come on, that was the best way," she giggled, recovering as she settled back down, grinding on Elsa in a way that she was not totally sure she was okay with, but was okay enough with it not to ask her to stop. "Right in my face! And like… I can feel you're ready for me. If you think you have to wait until you romance me or some shit…"

"But I do want to romance you," she whined, and pressed on while ignoring the adorable coo from Anna at how "cute" she was being. "Why shouldn't I? You're so beautiful, and sweet, and thoughtful, and… and you deserve-"

"I'm getting what I want. You. This is romantic to me, y'know? Just us, doing what comes natural. As long as we're both comfortable, both into it… I don't want to wait."

Elsa drew back to gaze up at her with bedroom eyes that she had no control over. She couldn't hold out much longer, even though she had held out for twenty-three years. "You're sure? I feel like… I'm just… treating you like an object. That I had you one-day-shipped to me like the 3DS."

"I'm not complaining," she giggled. "Except you're wrong. Cause I came here on my own, drove my own crappy little Metro all the way to Cali. My choice. I'm where I wanna be, Mountie."

"God, that nickname… I'm not even Canadian."

"Just say 'aboot'. Come on, one time."

"No."

"Come ooooon…" But instead, Elsa blew a raspberry on her neck - and Anna shrieked, flailing around in the tub. "OH MY GOOOODOMIGODNOooooOOOOOoooOO!"

Even just this was like heaven. She wished they could be like that all the time. But they couldn't. Still, as tempting as it was to use that as an excuse to pull the plug on everything… she would be strong. Anna convinced her that she shouldn't and she didn't feel like walking back on all that now.

So she picked her up, awkwardly carrying her into the bedroom. Anna shrieked and giggled even more, slapping her shoulder one time as if to tell her to put her down - except she couldn't bring herself to say it. Then she flopped the teenager down onto the bedspread, watching her bounce with an elated grin of her own.

"You're getting your bed all wet!"

"Ask me if I care."

"Do you cammmphhh… mmm…" It was so easy to start that again, and Elsa found herself praying her lips would never have to be anywhere else.

Her hips seemed to feel the same way. She continued to roll them blindly, allowing instincts to rule her as she practically devoured this girl in her arms. Someone who actually wanted her, warts and all. For who she was.

It was Anna who finally broke the kiss to lean up and whisper into her ear, "Go ahead, I'm… on the pill, you won't- Good fucking God, I'm so wet…"

"And you're worried about my bed again?" she playfully remarked, earning a breathy titter.

"Shut up and fuck me."

"The mouth on you, sailor…" But before Anna could deliver another retort, she did as she was asked.

"AH!" she gasped out as their bodies fused, eyes fluttering shut and head falling back. "Oh- OHHHHH, WHOA! How the hell did you ever hide this monster cock?!"

"Carefully," Elsa groaned - though she could barely think to respond. Only her acting skills saved her, otherwise she would have been too overcome with the incredible sensation of the sweetest girl she had ever known being a part of her. Even if only for tonight.

Now they began to move. And pleasure evolved to a whole other level. Elsa was awkward because it was her first time, but Anna clearly had dealt with virgins before; she knew exactly how to move her hips to match the movements, hooking her ankles around Elsa's back to shepherd her. The steady moans didn't hurt, either. They stoked each other's fires hotter and hotter with every shift of their bodies, every pulse of their sexes against the other. If she had known this could be so good, maybe she would have breached that contract ages ago.

But it was good she hadn't. This way, she got to save herself for Anna.

"A-ah! I'm gonna cum!" Anna panted minutes later - how many, Elsa had no idea. "Wow, you are just… hitting me right!"

"You're… guiding me!" Elsa accused. Anna's only response was a little giggle. "Is this right? You're really…?"

"Mmh!" she groaned while nodding. "Fucking me right! I…"

"Anna!" she gasped before pounding harder. She was a little worried about if she would be able to finish, thanks to her hormones, but if anyone would get her there without it being a problem… it was definitely this ravishing redhead.

Though of course, it was Anna who came first. Even though the actor had studied this kind of thing a lot when first looking into bottom surgery for herself, feeling those silky walls fluttering around herself was another matter; it was as if Anna's body were begging for her release.

So it got what it wanted.

"OH!" Anna gasped when she felt the proof of the finish filling her. "Whoa, Elsa, I- OH WOW, that's a lot! Thaaaaat is a LOT, holy SHIT! MMHHHH!"

Letting out a breathy laugh, Elsa held as still as she could while her flesh pulsed, finishing up its climax. Then she flopped down onto Anna's body with a sigh of mingling elation and relief.

"Ooof, you're… heavy!" Anna grunted. "Not like, fat, just like… a whole person… on top of me! HELP!"

But Elsa only laughed. She wanted to be a person-blanket for just one moment more.

To Be Continued…

#Very Important Person #elsanna fanfiction #forkanna writes #elsanna #jess the writer #nsfw--text

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racetrackhiggins · 4 years

Text

Hanukkah Binch

This is from the rp that me and @alkimara did a while back, I actually looked at the date, and this segment in particular is from like a year ago, I went back and formatted it from discord and made a couple spelling error edits I noticed but there’s probably more. They requested I post it after seeing a post about there not being a lot of Hanukkah celebration fics and stuff

Disclaimer: neither of us are Jewish, all the information I wrote in here was honestly taken from hours of googling, but I might have still gotten some stuff wrong, but I hope it’s at least okay :)

word count: 15433 ship: finch/buttons

Well, another year, another lonely Hanukkah. Finch had tried to remake his mom's challah, but it wasn't the same, and he'd let it sit too long in the oven. Might as well toss it. He wondered what his mom was doing... He wondered if she missed him as much as he sometimes missed her. But he couldn't go back, not with that monster of a stepdad living there. He'd probably end up dead if he ever stepped foot in there while having a boyfriend.

He spun the little dreidel on the coffee table idly, watching as it landed on gimel. Whole pot. Had he been playing with someone.

He sighed, looking at his phone again. Buttons' still hadn't responded to his text. He was probably having fun with his family, Finch couldn't blame him. Maybe he should just work on that animation, at least it would give him something to do…

Buttons saw Finch turned away, and was quiet, so so quiet... "Hey babe~," He giggled, wrapping his arms around Finch's waist. "How are you~?" He looked around, noticing immediately that Finch was alone here, and his heart broke slightly.

Finch nearly screamed, whipping around. "My god, you almost gave me a fucking heart attack!" He looked at Buttons with a disbelieving smile on his face. "What the fuck are you doing here, I thought you were with your family?"

"I heard you were here being alone and mopey," Buttons hummed, "Came to either give you company or invite you over. Or both." He looked over, "Can't play dreidel with a party of one. Well... You'd gotta teach me how to play.'

Finch was quiet for a moment. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't- fuck. He covered his face so Buttons wouldn't see him crying.

"Wh-? Hey... Babe?" Buttons gently curled Finch closer, nuzzling close. "I got you..."

"S-sorry, just..." he couldn't finish the sentence, worming himself around to hug Buttons' neck tightly, burying his face into the crook of it.

"I got ya... You wanna come over? Bring some stuff? You'd probably be teaching us a lot," He chuckled. He moved to rub Finch's back, "Literally I've been trying to get them to let you come over since the break... Finally got 'em."

Finch nodded softly. It had been a long time since he'd been in a... family environment, unless you counted this as a family. Which he kinda did. "I-I'd like that," he said quietly.

"Alrighty, pack your things, and uh... We'll try not to break anything," Buttons hummed. "I may or may not have family in the car downstairs."

Finch laughed in disbelief. "I can't believe you..." But he got up, starting to pack his things, just kinda emptying out his bookbag and stuffing some clothes, his laptop, and some chargers into it. When he came back out with it on his shoulder, he glanced over at the stupid little plastic menorah. He didn't even consider himself a practicing Jew anymore, but... the dumb little fake flames made him feel connected to his mom, in a way. He looked away, clearing his throat. "Guess I'm ready."

"Clearly, you're not," Buttons hummed, going to pick up the menorah. He also picked up the dreidel, though that was more in secret. He handed the menorah to Finch with a small smile, because supportive boyfriends are supportive. "Now, is that everything?"

Finch gave him a small smile as he held onto the menorah's base. "Yeah..." He pressed a kiss to Buttons' cheek.

Buttons smiled, kissing Finch's forehead in return as he brought the other downstairs and to the car.

"So, you're Benny's boyfriend~?" An older girl asked with a smirk, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, here we go," Buttons mumbled.

Finch grinned, glancing at Buttons. "Yep," he said a little shyly. "I'm Finch."

"Good to meet you, Fin- aAH!!"

A younger boy shot up from the passenger seat, "42 WALLABY WAY SYDNEY- Oh that was fast." He laughed as he got hit by the girl who was driving.

Buttons sighed, opening the rear door, "My older brother and sister, Ed and Jan. Ed has narcolepsy."

Finch snickered, "Hi, nice Finding Nemo reference." He kinda fiddled with one of the unlit bulbs on the menorah, not really sure what to say. As an only child, he'd had no idea what to do with siblings in general.

"Welllll hop in!" Jan laughed.

Ed beamed, "Why thank you."

Buttons stepped to the side, helping Finch into the car before climbing in himself, being careful with Finch's stuff and especially the menorah. Ed looked over at it, eyes wide in curiosity, but he didn't comment, instead deciding to vibrate in place.

Finch very subtly took Buttons' hand when he got in, partially out of nerves. "So, uh, how old are you guys?" he asked to the two up front.

"25," Jan answered, starting to drive.

"23," Ed said, blinking slowly, "Trying to get settled in my own place, but I'm not allowed to be alone, in case I fall and hurt myself."

"Versus I'm just working from home to help our parents pay for all of your colleges," Jan said again, glaring in the rear-view at Buttons, who shrugged. He gently intertwined his fingers with Finch's, trying to relax Finch by rubbing his thumb over his hand.

"Ah," Finch nodded. Um... "What about the others?" He knows Buttons had mentioned bits about them before but he couldn't for the life of him remember.

"Benny's 21, Amy's gonna graduate now at 18, Max is 17, and Junior is 12," Jan answered, squinting at the road. "Road work ahead," She muttered.

"I sure hope it does," Ed smirked.

"If I wasn't driving, I'd knock you into another coma," Jan growled.

"I can do that myself, thank you very much," Ed winked.

"At least he's cultured," Finch snickered, maybe not so subtly leaning against Buttons. Boy was like a damn cat sometimes.

Buttons moved an arm around Finch, switching the hand he was holding Finch's hand with. He hummed, shifting to be comfortable, even with their seat belts on.

"Cuddlebugs," Jan giggled. "But also- Ben? Mom was asking if you two wanted to share a room."

"Ohoho??" Ed wiggled his eyebrows, grinning.

"I mean, we already share a room, so even if we weren't dating I wouldn't have a problem with it," Finch pointed out. "Plus, I'd hate ta steal someone else's room."

"Ed, knock it off," Buttons groaned.

"I second that," Jan said, flicking Ed's forehead.

"I mean, he's got a point," Finch murmured with a grin to Buttons.

Buttons blushed a bit, murmuring back, "Yeah but they don't gotta know that."

Ed had a giant smirk on his face.

"Alright, boys~ we're home~!" Jan announced as she pulled up to the house. "Please leave your limbs inside the vehicle until we've come to a full and complete st- eDWARD!" Ed had opened the door and hopped out of the car, racing to the front door. Jan groaned as she put the car in park and turned it off, getting out, "I have the keys you idiot!!"

Buttons hummed, getting out of the car and helping Finch out with his stuff.

"I'm guessing it's always this chaotic?" Finch smiled, trying to pretend he wasn't nervous about meeting Finch's whole family. He'd already known that Buttons' family had inherited a nice house but like... this was

nice.

"Oh, it's worse inside," Buttons snickered. "Be careful with the twelve-year-old. We're trying to keep him from swearing," He hummed, moving to help the other inside.

At the door was an older woman, standing inside the house with a kind smile. She was hugging each of her children and kissing their cheeks, and Buttons looked a little nervous. "Hey, mom," He smiled, going to hug her. "This is my boyfriend-"

The woman turned to Finch, pulling him into a hug, "Hello! Welcome! What's your name??"

"Finch, nice ta meet you, ma'am," Finch said politely, a little surprised by the hug. Did he hug back??

A younger looking boy ran down the stairs. "OOOOO, BENNY'S BROUGHT HIS BOYFRIEND~!" he shouted for the whole house to hear.

"June,

," a mousy looking girl said, pushing his face as she passed him.

"Hey! Mom! Amy pushed me!" Junior shouted as if she weren't right there.

"Did not!" Amy argued.

Finch just kinda glanced at Buttons as if to ask if this was normal for siblings.

Buttons just sighed in distress. His mom soon released Finch from the hug, "Finch. Ah- it's okay, I suppose you can share your real name when the family isn't all about. I've heard about your little code names." She smiled at Buttons, who glared and slowly narrowed his eyes. "Right, Button~?" God damn it.

Buttons sighed, "I'll go set up my room. Where's Max?"

"Practicing, I think," His mom answered.

Buttons nodded, looking at Finch, "Well, c'mon. Let's get you settled."

Finch nodded, carrying his stuff and letting Buttons lead him.

Junior was

following them, curious about the new boy and the weird candle thing he was holding.

"Junior, whatcha doin'?" Buttons hummed casually, opening the door to his room. He moved to help Finch set his stuff down, going to flop on his giant bed, making it pretty clear that they'd be sharing. He looked over at his little brother, an eyebrow raised.

"What's that thing?" Junior asked, pointing at the menorah.

"It's a menorah, but like really shi- uh, not very well made. An actual one would have real candles," Finch explained, barely catching himself.

"What's it for?" Junior asked.

"It's, uh, well, it's a Jewish tradition to light them, one a night, to represent the eight nights oil stayed burning when it was only supposed to last two," Finch explained, a little happily.

"Oh, its that Hanukkah thing! I've heard about those, I've never seen a real one."

Finch snorted, "I'm not even sure this really counts, but it's all I could afford so..."

"I think it counts," Buttons said softly, putting an arm over Finch's shoulders.

"Looks like you made it all by yourself~. You're more talented than just drawing, y'know," Buttons smiled. He looked at Junior, "Finch makes animations and drawings! Don'tcha, Finch?"

"Yeah," Finch said sheepishly.

"Like Disney?!" Junior asked excitedly.

"Like... well, I guess, but I'm certainly not good enough to make a whole animated film, maybe a short at most," Finch shrugged, scratching the back of his neck.

"Woah..."

Buttons was beaming, "Yeah, I've got a pretty talented boyfriend, huh~?"

... And now there was a loud electric guitar coming from the next room. Buttons sighed. Max.

"No fair you have a cool boyfriend," Junior pouted, ignoring the guitar.

Finch flushed a little at that. What, no, he wasn't cool! He looked up at the guitar, looking at Buttons as he sighed.

Buttons smirked, "'Course I do~." He looked over at Finch, "That's Max. They're. Uh. I don't know the term. Rock band. Very... metal."

"Sounds like

cool," Finch chuckled softly as Junior ran off. "I am certainly not the cool boyfriend. I'm just some animating nerd who showed up with a dumb handmade menorah." He flopped next to the bags, sighing softly as he set the thing down. The lights flickered for a second, and he tensed up for a moment before they went to normal. "Probably won't even last much longer if I don't change out the wires. Why bother though?" he murmured under his breath.

Buttons pouted, going over and flopping on top of Finch. "Because it looks like it means a lot to you," He said softly. "I don't know why, but it does. If you need help, we can fix it," He murmured, kissing Finch lightly.

Finch looked up at Buttons softly. "You know why I stay at the dorm instead of going home every year?" he asked quietly, knowing full well he hadn't told anyone about his family situation, not even Buttons.

"No," Buttons said softly, moving off of the other and sitting next to him, carefully holding Finch's hand.

"Cause I ran away from home when I was sixteen," Finch said, letting out a small, humorless laugh. "My stepdad nearly killed me when he found out I was gay, my mom never knew how he treated me when she wasn't looking... So I left."

Button's eyes widened, and he moved closer to Finch, looking at the other with an expression that could only be described as holding a lot of emotions.

Finch had to look away from him, running a hand through his hair. "My dad died when I was thirteen, and Aaron came in and 'saved' my grieving mother not long after." He sighed, holding onto the menorah and looking at it. "Guess this is me just trying to feel like I did in the past. Obviously, it's not the same. Can't even actually light this stupid thing." He sounded a little bitter about it. "But I couldn't use real candles in this or I'd just burn something down."

Buttons was biting his lip, thinking. He gently looked over, taking the menorah and turning it off. He set it to the side, standing and tugging Finch out of the room, heading out to the garage with the other, still quiet and thinking. He let go of the other, grabbing a stool and climbing on it, reaching for a large blue bin. He grabbed it, carefully pulling it down and setting it on the ground with a grunt. After digging around for a few seconds, he pulled out a

bag of clay, putting it on the metal table. He looked at Finch, "Bake-able clay. Will not melt from a candle. Well- not if we put in the little metal cups at the bottom." He dug around, pulling out the metal cups that were usually seen in tiny candles. Except there was no wax or wick. "Jan used to play around with candles," Buttons hummed, setting the metal pieces on the table as well. He looked at Finch, heading around the box and going to take the other's hands again. "It might not be the same, you might not be able to get to the past, but... There's nothing wrong with remembering how happy you were."

Finch watched with confusion until Buttons started explaining. He bit his lip, and god damn it, he was starting to tear up again. "Hah, we could make real dreidels with that too," he said, trying to blink away the wetness to not much avail.

Buttons saw the tearing up, "Oh. I did it again." He chuckled, gently offering his arms for a hug, "Also,

make the dreidels. Or you'd have to teach me how to help."

"I can help," Ed said, peeking in. Buttons glanced away, and Ed continued,

"Please?" Buttons said softly.

"I didn't say no," Ed laughed, moving into the room.

"Sorry I'm coming in and Jewing everything up," Finch joked, wiping his eyes. "I really appreciate it, though..."

"Jesus was Jewish," Ed snorted softly, going to pat Finch's head before moving to pull the clay out of the bag. He blinked, going for his set of sculpting tools and setting them out before starting to play with different pieces of clay. "Plus we mostly celebrate Christmas for each other and presents," He chuckled.

"Very true. To be fair, most Jews believe that a guy named Jesus existed and was probably a cool dude... that's about the extent of it though," Finch grinned, feeling much better.

Buttons had moved to grab another piece of clay, playing around with it to warm it up.

"Lit," Ed said with a grin.

Finch grabbed a piece, kneading it. "I've only made a dreidel once before, wonder if I could do it again. I'm still convinced my dad had switched it out with a better one so I wouldn't feel bad when it didn't spin right," Finch said, smiling softly... damn, it had been a long time since he'd thought of that.

"What's so hard about making a spin?" Ed grinned, grabbing the entire thing of clay- which was as big as a laptop -and just dumping it out, starting to knead it like a large piece of dough. "Shit, this is hard," He mumbled.

"I mean, I was also like six at the time," Finch grinned. "And my dad was a sculptor for a living." He snickered at Ed, "I don't think we're making bread, that's a whole other tradition. I do remember he said it should be about the size of the hole of your fingers," he said, holding his pointer and thumb together in a circle.

"Yeah, but I'm tryin to smooth this out for the uh... the candle stick... What's it called?" Ed tilted his head, curious.

Buttons took a smaller piece of his big piece, holding it out, "Like this?"

"Menorah," Finch said, nodding in approval to Buttons. He was rolling the clay into a ball, starting to roll a point with his palm. For a moment, he could swear he felt his dad beside him, reminding him how to do it. There was a small smile on his face, perhaps bittersweet.

Buttons leaned over from his spot, watching, trying to follow as he did it.

"Right," Ed hummed, still rolling out the clay. And then he hummed again. "Well. Maybe you'll need to do this alone."

"Ed???" Buttons looked over.

Ed gave a thumbs up, moving over to the hammock in the room, and barely managing to get on it before collapsing, snoring lightly.

Buttons sighed.

Finch laughed softly. "I don't mind." He scooted closer to Buttons, letting him see exactly how he was doing it.

he heard in his head. Finch repeated it to Buttons, not realizing he'd copied his dad's Spanish accent, too focused on the actions of his fingers.

Buttons blushed a bit at the accent, but didn't dare break the spell that Finch was under, following along as best as he could.

"Could ya hand me the little... that thing with the string on it?" Finch asked in his normal accent, pointing in the direction of the tools.

"Yup," Buttons hummed, grabbing it and moving it over to Finch.

Finch took the string and used it to cut clean sides onto it, and suddenly it looked like a somewhat long dreidel. He set it on the ground, slicing it down to size before taking the extra and beginning to form it into a little rolled snaky piece for the top of the spinner to be cut out of.

"Ohh what the..." Buttons took the string piece, trying to copy what Finch had done. A little crooked, but it still looked like a dreidel. Mostly.

"Looks good!" Finch grinned proudly at him, kissing his cheek. He molded the snaky part to the top of his dreidel, smoothing it out so it looked nearly seamless, before pinching the extra off and molding it to be a neat top. "Do you have paint? It would be easier than trying to cut the symbols in."

Buttons was sticking his tongue out as he followed, "Yeah, more paint in the bin. There's also some teeeeeny tiny brushes." He was squinting, trying to focus, so happy that Finch said it looked good.

"Sweet, then this is done to bake," Finch smiled. He looked over at the menorah, thinking. If they were gonna make it candle-safe, then there would be no need for the wires.... He could just use the base and sculpt over it with clay, then- wait, no the plastic would probably melt in the oven. "I think we just start completely over," Finch murmured, setting the menorah down, using it as a visual example as he started rolling out a base from Ed's big ball.

"Alright," Buttons said after a moment, seeing no other way. "We can use the little metal bits as molds for where the candle will go?" He offered, using some wire to start planning out the structure. He ran into the house and back out again, having a roll of aluminum foil. He started rolling off large sheets, trying to build up the menorah’s main bulk.

Finch smiled, just looking at Buttons for a long moment as he worked. It was fitting, maybe. Finch had made his menorah years ago out of homesickness and sorrow, never quite content with it. Now Buttons was here, helping him build a new good memory to associate with Hanukkah. Not just the sad longing of the past.

Buttons caught the look, giggling softly. He moved over, gently kissing Finch, 'cause the other was just too damn cute. "Alright," He hummed, pushing the menorah forwards, "I did my very best~!"

"I love you so much," Finch said softly as he took the menorah base. He looked back up at Buttons with a small smile. "Thank you for doing this with me, and for not letting me be alone this year."

Buttons smiled softly, "'Course... I love you too, Finch. A lot. I'm glad you're here with me. Even if my family is uh... Crazy." He chuckled a bit, happy.

Finch laughed softly. "I certainly see why you seemed so used to the Newsies when we moved in." He had a long rope of clay at this point, and he put the end on the bottom of the base, starting to wind it around the foil, making sure there were no breaks in it.

"Yeah," Buttons giggled, watching the other.

Finch managed to get it halfway up before he needed to roll more. He quickly rolled it out, his tongue sticking out a little bit in focus as he did. He carefully molded it to the end of the previous one so you couldn't tell the end or start of either. He winded it up the rest of the way, nodding a little bit in satisfaction.

Buttons just watched, his elbows on the table. He was fascinated with how the other worked, and snorted softly, "Y'know I'm like. The only one in my family that doesn't have artistic talent? Ed can sculpt like a badass, Amy can paint, Max loves their guitar like it's their kid. Jan with watercolors is something extraterrestrial. We don't really know if Junior has anything, though." Buttons sunk, moving his face against the table, "Then there's me, who I guess can sew. And my artistic and talented as fuck boyfriend~."

"But you're cute as a button~" Finch teased, glancing up at him. "And at least you have a life skill," he said, nodding at him.

Buttons rolled his eyes, "My mom says that too much. Jack said my name in front of her and it was the death of me. I'm just a ghost." He giggled, and blinked. He gasped, offended, "Art is a life skill!! Look at this sculpting talent from a beautifully sculpted man! You could sell things online!!" He grinned at Finch, his voice loud and dramatic.

"Shh, you'll wake your brother up," Finch said, definitely not turning red at all.

Buttons giggled, "I could- and have -screamed into his ear. Doesn't do a thing."

Finch laughed softly, starting to wrap the clay in the same fashion around one of the prongs of the candleholders.

Buttons moved over, wrapping his arms around Finch's waist, nuzzling into his back, but not hindering the other from working. "I~ Love~ You~," Buttons hummed with a smile.

"I love you too~" Finch hummed, glancing at him for a moment, leaning his head against him.

Buttons moved to kiss the other happily.

"Gay."

Buttons sighed, pressing his head against Finch's shoulder, "Gotta love my family."

Jan giggled, "Mom wanted me to let you know Dinner will be ready in around an hour."

"Alright, thanks, Jan," Buttons said, still hiding his blush and cuddling with Finch.

"Sure, Jan," Finch said in an imitation of the meme with a small giggle as he worked. "Hopefully I'll at least be done with this part... yeah, no there's no way I will."

Jan rolled her eyes, heading off again.

Buttons sighed, looking up, "I can help. Maybe. Yes?" He looked hopeful.

"You can go ahead a roll out more? That way when I run out, I have more ready," Finch suggested.

"Alrighty~!" Buttons beamed, moving away to go roll out more clay happily.

Finch smiled as he kept working, planning ahead in his mind, realizing that he was very much modeling it after the one his mother had. The twists were more like his dad, though. By the end of the hour, he'd finished one side of the menorah.

At some point during the hour, Ed had bolted awake. And then slapped himself to keep himself awake. "Fuckin'..." He sighed, waving to the two as he moved out of the room.

At the end of the hour, Buttons was beaming, "It looks great!" He looked excited, practically vibrating in place. "Alright, c'mon~," He giggled, gently moving the Menorah to the middle of the table where it would be safe. He smiled at Finch, leading the other to the kitchen happily.

Finch grinned back to him, following him.

Buttons' dad was in the kitchen, totally not flirting teasingly with his wife. "Hey, Ben, how goes it?" he grinned, pulling away from her to ruffle Buttons' hair. "You must be Finch," he said in a friendly manner, shaking Finch's hand. "You can just call me Peter."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Finch said a little sheepishly.

Buttons sighed, smiling a bit from his father's head-rub. "Hey, Dad," He chuckled, moving to help set the table. He smiled a but at Finch and his dad, confident that they'd get along okay.

Junior came bounding down the stairs, making web-slinging noises as he pretended to be swinging in like Spiderman. "I hear there is... dinner~" he said dramatically. He dropped it after a second, pouting, "Amy says she's not coming cause she has to write a paper."

Peter sighed, glancing at his wife. "You want me to get her or just bring her a plate?"

Finch sorta scooted a little closer to Buttons.

Buttons blinked, gently tugging Finch closer, "It's okay, no one's gonna eat you." He giggled a bit, kissing Finch's cheek.

Max came downstairs with a sigh. They appeared completely androgynous, black hair and black and pale makeup over their face. They definitely stood out from the crowd with the black metal t-shirt and spiked bracelets, but they just hummed as they moved to help set everything up, nodding their head casually at Finch.

"You sure?" Finch asked quietly at Max's appearance, and he'd certainly be lying if he said he wasn't a little intimidated by them.

"Well, I might, but not now," Buttons snickered quietly. "Also, don't worry about Max. They're doing their thing, and we love them anyway," Buttons giggled, a little louder.

Max gave a rock on symbol with their hand, smiling a bit.

Button's mother, Jess, sighed. "Go bring her down, she has the entire week and can take a 20 minute break for family." She pecked husband's lips, moving to bring things to the table.

Peter nodded, heading upstairs as Junior hung onto his mom's arm. "Gross, you gave Dad cooties~"

Finch laughed softly, "Fair enough." He waited for Buttons to tell him where to go/what to do.

Jess hummed, "He already had cooties long before you were born." And she looked at Jan, the eldest.

Ed hummed, moving to sit, and Buttons gently motioned for Finch to sit next to himself. Ed sat across from Finch, Max going to sit on the other side of Finch instead. Jan sat next to Ed, leaving the last spot for Amy, and the heads of the table for their parents.

"Ewww," Junior cried, running off to the table. He leaned close to Buttons, "Mom made a dirty joke," he said scandalously.

Finch snorted, covering his mouth to try to disguise his laugh as a cough.

Jess rolled her eyes, smiling a bit as she moved to sit. She sighed, waiting for Peter and Amy.

Amy came down and sat down, sighing a little bit. Peter came and sat at the other end of the table. "Looks great, hun," he said, looking at the spread.

Jess smiled at that, "Had to work my best magic for our guest."

The people at the table moved to hold hands, Max gently taking Finch's other to connect the circle. Hm. Black fingerless gloves. After quickly saying grace, Buttons, Jan, and Jess moved to serve the food. When that was done, they sat again, and started to eat.

Finch felt a sort of pang in his heart that he elected to ignore as he started to eat. "It's really good, ma'am," he said politely.

"Thank you," She hummed with a smile. "So, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?" Ah. The family interrogation. Buttons sighed, as if he was expecting this.

"Oh, um, well, I'm in my third year like Benny, and I'm going for an Animation major," Finch said.

"Oh, good luck," Jess said politely. "Sounds like a fun field, certainly a lot of work!"

"Takes me forever for one sketch," Jan said with a bit of a laugh.

"Yeah, it can take me weeks to do a ten minute short, " Finch grinned. "I had to simplify my style a little to make even that."

"Wow," Jan laughed.

"Big yikes," Ed nodded in agreement.

"Yeah... Ben's had to drag me away from my tablet at 3 am cause I was still working on a project," Finch chuckled, glancing at Buttons.

"At 3am you weren't even focusing," Buttons grinned.

Jan chuckled, "Deadlines suck."

Finch nodded in agreement.

"Could you draw Spiderman?" Junior asked, his eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, sure!" Finch said.

"I wanna be Spiderman, he's so cool, and he lives in New York, so I could be Spiderman," Junior said idly as he ate.

Hm. Alright. Finch could do that, probably by the end of the week.

Ed giggled, "Just gotta find a radioactive spider."

Jan flicked his arm.

Junior nodded, "Mhm."

"Don't go around trying to get bit by spiders," Peter warned, glancing at Ed.

Junior pouted a little, but simply kept eating.

"I'm done, can I go work on my paper now?" Amy asked.

"Sure, tell your little internet girlfriend we say hi," Peter teased.

Amy blushed a little bit, but didn't respond to that as she took her plate to the kitchen.

Ed shrugged.

"Good luck, Amy~!" Jan said cheerfully.

Max kept eating, remembering something. Ah, they'd just bring it up when they needed to.

Once everyone was done eating, Junior ran to go play video games until his mom told him to get off of it, and Peter carried plates to the sink to wash them.

Finch looked down at the table, murmuring a short and quick prayer, hoping no one noticed. He stood up. "Do we need to help..?" he asked Buttons.

Max had done the same without even asking, just staying by Finch. Seems someone was educated. Buttons was a bit confused but respectful, leaving his hands in his lap and waiting until Finch was done. "Nah, my dish day was yesterday," Buttons said with a smile, "We can probably just go up to the room."

Max got up, moving to the kitchen, because today was their dish day.

"Would it be okay if I went and tried to finish the menorah first?" Finch asked softly.

"Shit, almost forgot," Buttons huffed. "Yeah, let's go." He smiled at the other, moving back to the garage.

And then Jan grabbed him. He squeaked, Jan holding him a chokehold as she said kindly, "You go on ahead, I'd like to talk to Ben for a second."

"O-okay," Finch said. "Please don't break my boyfriend." He waved to Buttons as he went back to the garage and got back to work.

"I'll do my best," Jan beamed.

Ed moved back into the garage a few minutes later, getting some clay from the larger wad. He looked over at Finch's sculpture, "Looks nice." He started messing with the clay, working on his own thing.

Buttons squeaked.

"Why else would you bring him home?" Jan smirked.

"Because?? He was at college all alone???" He answered, face bright red. "Okay- I- Jan- I know I love him- but like- we

"Never too early or late to hop on the wedding train," Jan grinned.

"Says you! Where's your marriage?" Buttons glared.

Jan put a hand over her chest dramatically, "Across the seven seas in aromantic land, remember?" Buttons groaned, looking at her, and she giggled. "I just wanted to see what was up. Everyone seems to like him. Just putting a little~ thought~ into your head."

"Thanks," Finch said shyly, smiling softly at it. Maybe another hour at this pace and he could finish the wrappings. Then from there, the rest wouldn't be too hard.

Ed nodded. And then he felt something familiar. "Hm. I really hope I don't collapse," He muttered, pacing more to keep himself awake.

Finch looked up, setting the thing down. "Do-do I need to get anyone? Or catch you?"

"Uhhhh...." Ed shook his head, "No, lemme jus- siNKING SHIP-!!"

As soon as he'd started yelling it, Max was under him, catching him as he fell over. Max sighed, helping the other over to the hammock, "Got him..."

Jan appeared at the doorway, calm when she saw Max had their brother, and continuing to hold Buttons in a chokehold out of view. She moved away, casually continuing their conversation.

Max sighed, "You worked another late night." Ed huffed something, trying to keep awake, but nope- he passed out. Max looked over, "Sorry about that."

"Ah, it's fine," Finch said a bit slowly. "That happen often?"

"Yeah. He's got narcolepsy with cataplexy- it's better on days where he actually gets sleep," Max said, moving over. "That's pretty," They hummed, looking at the menorah.

"Oh, thanks. My last one isn't so much, so Bu-Ben was helping me make a new one," Finch said, gesturing to the flickering fake candles on the plastic one. "I'm gonna make a little Star of David piece to put on top for the shamash to sit on once I'm done with this part."

"Nice," Max hummed. They looked around, pulling out a ninth metal cup, "Probably gonna need that one." They rolled their shoulders, tilting their head, "Also be careful that it's strong enough that you can drop it from an inch off the table and it won't break- that's usually a tell if it'll crack in the oven."

"Yeah, I figured I'd roll the wire into two triangles, put the clay on, then put them together and make sure they are really secure," Finch said, motioning with his hands.

Max gave a thumbs up, looking over at Ed. They sighed, playing with one of their rings, looking worried for their brother. He moved back to the hammock, bringing up a chair, carefully watching the other. "What was he doing before he passed out?"

"He was starting to do something with the clay, but he'd just started, so I'm not sure what," Finch said as he started working again.

"Alright, gonna need that to trigger his memory again so he doesn't pass out again," Max sighed.

"How's that work?" Finch asked curiously.

"So, from what the doctors say," Max hummed, trying to think, "Basically the cataplexy means he gets paralyzed. The narcolepsy actually makes him pass out, which becomes a lot easier when his muscle tension is basically zero. It's also 'cause he doesn't release wake-up chemicals, as the Doc called them. So when he's slept like shit, you can imagine how much easier that is. Usually it doesn't last very long- but it's disorienting, so it takes a while for him to remember what he was doing. The faster he remembers, the faster he can wake up." Max smiled a bit, happy they'd remembered all of that, and looked up. "I may or may not be interested in the medical field," They admitted.

"Oh... Huh. That's pretty cool," Finch said. "The medical field interest, not the... yeah." Stop talking now.

Max laughed a little, "No, it is all cool. It's just kinda shitty, too."

Max pat Ed's forehead, and he shot up, blinking rapidly, "FUCK!"

Max chuckled, "What were you sculpting, bro?"

"A-a-auh...." He looked over, squinting at the clay, trying not to collapse again, "Uhm... Uh..."

"Easy, focus. Kinda looks like a flower?" Max said, glancing over.

"Oh. A rose. I was-" His face heated up, "-doING A THING FOR A FRIEND." He took a breath, because fuck he didn't want to pass out again.

Finch kinda watched as he worked, not wanting to disrupt or somehow make it worse.

Max gently pat Ed's head, "Let's bring it up to your room, yeah?"

Ed sighed, waving Max off. He got up, moving over to the table (only slightly woozy). He waved to Finch awkwardly, then moved with Max out of the room.

It was another half-hour before Buttons moved into the garage, "I'm freeeee~!"

Finch waved to them, going back to work. By the time Buttons came in, he was finishing the last one. "Jeez, she stole you for a while," he teased. "What were ya talkin' about?"

"Sibling stuff," Buttons murmured, blushing a little. "Wow, that looks nice~."

"As an only child, I have no idea what that means," Finch giggled, twirling the menorah in his hand. "Yeah, it's not bad, huh?" He beamed, setting it down carefully as he grabbed the wire again, cutting pieces out and forming them into the shape he wanted above the top to make sure the sizing was okay. Content, he took them back, forming them into two triangles before grabbing a piece of clay and rolling it.

Buttons watched with interest, recognizing the shape. "We could probably pop it in the oven and head up, Max doesn't know the definition of sleep. Ironically," He chuckled.

"Yeah, all I gotta do is make the Star and form it, and the cups, onto it and make sure they are all secure, make the bottom, unless you wanna do that. Just take a cup or a ball of some sort and form it around it, then cut it to be even," Finch said, focused as he stuck one of the wire pieces through it. "We could probably finish the whole thing within another hour, at most."

Buttons nodded, moving to help how Finch directed him.

Once they had put the final touches together and Finch had made sure everything was secure and wouldn't easily break off, he looked up at Buttons proudly. "I think it's done!" His eyes were shining in a way they usually didn't.

Buttons smiled happily at the shine, going, "Alright, let's put 'er in~!" Soon enough, they had the manorah in the oven, and Buttons was leading Finch upstairs again after Max swore to bring the item out of the oven when the timer went off.

Finch flopped onto the bed, sprawled across it, his eyes closed but a small smile on his face.

"Incoming," Buttons laughed, flopping next to Finch and nuzzling close. "Day 1. Status: Alive. Mostly."

"Day 1, didn't massively embarrass myself in front of your family. I hope," Finch giggled, wrapping around him like a koala.

"Nope," Buttons giggled, snuggling closer happily. "Are we showering or just sleeping?"

"I'm guessing we can't shower together without raising some eyebrows," Finch grinned, opening his eyes to look at him softly.

"I mean, we can, we just can't make noise," Buttons snorted softly. He curled into the bed and Finch more.

"Hm, tempting~" Finch grinned, not having much intention of leaving Buttons' arms at the moment. After a moment, he said quietly. "I want to make a quick animation for your brother, he seems to really like Spiderman, so I wanna do like... a shot of Spidey swinging into the frame and pulling off his mask and it's Junior. You think he'd like that?"

"I think he'd scream out of pure joy," Buttons chuckled.

He thought to himself, his ears going red again.

"Would you absolutely hate me if I started storyboarding it now?" Finch grinned. "I'll stay here and let you cuddle me if it helps~"

"As long as I get to cuddle you, I don't care," Buttons hummed happily.

Finch kissed him quickly before hopping down to grab his laptop and tablet, setting it up as he got back and settled against the pillows. He closed the latke recipe that was open when he opened his laptop; he'd considered trying to make them, but after the failed challah, decided not to. He woke up the tablet by wiggling the pen across it, opening Flash.

Buttons didn't notice (mostly cuz he didn't understand). "Hey, if you're interested in making any other stuff, we got plenty," Buttons giggled, cuddling up to Finch's back. He kept his arms around the other's waist, letting him work.

Finch shrugged, "I wouldn't want to make another mess. I tried to recreate my mom's challah- its a type a bread- and it turned out pretty horribly. I burned the hell outta it but somehow the inside was still raw. Guess I'm not a baker," he joked as he started sketching.

"Hmm~... If you want, we can try to make it tomorrow. We really don't celebrate a lot," Buttons admitted with a bit of a chuckled. "Our celebrating is chilling without school."

Finch was quiet for a moment, it seemed that maybe he didn't hear him? "I'd like that," he said after a moment, glancing at Buttons. "We could make latkes and doughnuts," he smiled softly. "And maybe retry the challah, possibly with some help."

"What's a latke?" Buttons asked curiously, nuzzling into Finch's neck and watching the other.

"Basically like a fried potato pancake," Finch explained. "Latkes and doughnuts are traditional, cause the whole oil thing, and you fry them in oil, ya know. They were my favorite part, but I haven't had them in years."

"Well... We got a frier..." Buttons looked extremely interested. "We can try it~!"

Finch butted his head lightly against Buttons'. He was so in love with this boy, and so so grateful for him and his family taking him in and letting him celebrate his own holiday.

Buttons laughed a little, placing kisses on Finch's cheek and neck happily. "I love you so much~," He hummed.

"I love

so much," Finch countered. "And... thanks. Seriously. I would be moping in my bed all alone right now had you not brought me in."

Buttons hummed again, "I couldn't let my boyfriend just be mopin'...." He smiled a little, "Plus, I get to cuddle you in my bed~." His voice dropped a little, "Get to be with you~ In my bed~." He was just teasing now, kissing Finch's neck again and letting the kiss linger.

"Oh, naughty naughty brat boy," Finch teased, trying to stay on focus with the sketching, as tempting as Buttons was.

"Hehe~," Buttons giggled, lightly nomming on Finch's neck. He settled down, though, wanting the other to focus, and hummed softly, just keeping close.

Finch rolled his eyes with a smile, leaning a little more against him. "By the time I finish the storyboarding, most of your family will probably be asleep," Finch said, just kinda throwing that out there.

"Not me~," Buttons smirked, "And my room is next to Ed's and Max's... Ed is a deep sleeper, and Max sleeps with music..." Just to say that. Y'know.

"Hm. Interesting." Finch said oh so casually, just sketching. No naughtiness happening here, so innocent~

Buttons hummed in response, teasingly nomming on Finch's neck again, and just resting there.

Finch laughed softly, resting his head against Buttons'. "Does your mama know you are trying to be naughty with your boyfriend under her roof~?" he teased.

"Considering I have five siblings, I don't think she can scold me," Buttons smirked.

"You know what... fair enough," Finch snickered. His hand moved fast, and the general motion of a figure swinging into the shot was clear.

Buttons got a little distracted, watching Finch draw quietly, just looking amazed. He relaxed against the other, almost hypnotized by Finch's movements.

By the time he was done, an hour and a half had passed. "How's that?" Finch asked, playing the simple animation back on a loop for him.

"Looks badass," Buttons hummed, eyes wide. "June's really gonna love it."

Finch grinned, saving it before closing his laptop and setting it on the ground beside him. He hummed, coming back up to kiss Buttons softly. "What now?" he asked teasingly.

Buttons felt a shiver move through him, glancing to make sure the laptop wasn't in the way. He shrugged, a bit mischievously, "I may or may not have supplies for some fun, if you're interested...~"

"Oh? What kind of fun?" Finch grinned teasingly.

Buttons hummed, curious, and he moved to kiss Finch gently, hugging the other a little closer, "Pretty sure you're aware of the kind of fun." He smirked a little, kissing the other again.

"I'm a good little Jewish boy, a man of God, I have no idea what you're talking about," Finch teased.

"Pfft," Buttons snickered, his voice dropping lower. "When we got together it's 'cause you were getting off on me in the shower~." He moved to kiss Finch's neck, lightly nipping on the skin.

"W-well, I'm also half Spanish, must be where my lack of shame comes from," he joked. Certainly untrue, told by the blush on his face.

Buttons snickered, "You wanna test that?" He shifted, nuzzling a little lower, scraping his teeth against what he knew was sensitive skin.

Finch made a small whine, leaning his head away a little to give him more room.

Buttons hummed, and... Gosh, he was in a playful mood. He blew a raspberry against the skin, giggling as he picked up Finch and turned, laying the other against the bed with quiet laughter.

"You dork," Finch giggled, holding onto Buttons' waist.

Buttons was beaming, snuggling closer, "Yep." He moved up to kiss Finch happily, "One happy dork that's happily in love." He moved his hands to either side of Finch's head, palms on the bed, "Also one happy dork that has his boyfriend pinned to a bed~."

"What's that make me, huh? Just a boyfriend pinned to a bed?" Finch winked, a grin on his face, looking just as taken with him.

"How about a cute, adorable, artistic and amazingly talented boyfriend that's pinned to a bed?" Buttons hummed.

"Unrealistic," Finch deadpanned, snorting softly.

"Very realistic," Buttons said with a smile, kissing Finch again. "I love you~."

"I love

," Finch grinned happily, kissing him back sweetly.

"I love

Buttons giggled, kissing his nose. "I love you so so so so much~," Buttons hummed, shifting a bit to straddle the other.

"Stop takin' the words outta my mouth," Finch teased, pulling Buttons down to kiss him again. "It's rude~"

"It's not rude, it's mind-reading," Buttons giggled, leaning into the kiss, feeling so happy, his heart so full of love he was gonna explode.

"Well, ain't it lucky I love you so much~" Finch could say it all night, and it still wouldn't seem like enough.

Buttons gently pressed himself down against the other, his kisses lowering again to Finch's neck, nipping and nuzzling close, "And I love you tons~."

"I could say it a million times and it wouldn't be enough times to tell you how much I love you," Finch said, holding onto him, nuzzling his face against his hair.

"I could scream it to the world but I wouldn't be happy until every star heard me say I love you~," Buttons giggled.

"That's gay, Benny," Finch teased.

"We're gay, Patty," Buttons teased back, moving up to kiss Finch's lips. "Like, real gay."

"Thank god," Finch sighed. "I don't know what I'd do if we were straight. Die, probably."

"Probably," Buttons giggled, nuzzling closer. He was really teetering on the edge of being horny and just flopping on the other in cuddles. So he did just lay on the other in cuddles. For now~!

Finch squeezed his arms around him, kissing his forehead. "God, imagine telling that scared little boy running away from home that this is where he'd end up..." he said softly. "Holding the cutest boy in the world, so happy and full of love~"

Buttons squeaked like a squeak toy, giggling as he nuzzled closer. "Sometimes the bravest people get the nicest things~," He praised.

Finch wondered how he'd react if he knew exactly what he'd been through, and was almost tempted to tell him. He didn't want to ruin the moment though, and decided against it. "Yeah... I guess I'm just a lucky guy," he murmured, leaning forward to kiss Buttons softly.

Buttons noticed the look. "Hey, you wanna hear a secret?" He said softly.

"Sure, what is it?" Finch asked curiously.

"I lived in Cali, for like, a really long time~," Buttons giggled, mimicking a Cali girl's accent. He shifted, going to normal, "A fire ate our house. It was just me and Ed and Jan. We were homeless for a bit, then we inherited this place... Still poor, but not homeless." He smiled softly, "I barely remember it, but my family calls it the Dark Ages of our history."

"Damn, must've been scary... At least I didn't have to worry 'bout anyone but myself," Finch said, implying that he too had been homeless.

Buttons hugged Finch closer, "I'm just... Trying to say I know some of it. I clearly don't know everything and you don't gotta tell me everything. I love you, okay?"

"Yeah..." Finch pressed his forehead softly to Buttons. He sighed softly, working his hand into Buttons' hair. "And it's not that I don't wanna tell you, I just... it's not the funnest story, ya know? Don't wanna bring the mood down."

"Up to you. I think the mood right now is cuddles and love," Buttons hummed, relaxed on top of the other. He relaxed with the pets, keeping close.

"I will one day, alright?" Finch promised, kissing him softly.

"Alright," Buttons hummed, leaning into the kiss. He nuzzled close, wanting to comfort the other.

Finch closed his eyes with a soft sigh, happy to just be here with him. "You're warm," he mumbled.

"You're cozy," Buttons murmured, relaxing. "Get to cuddle a cute pretty boy in my bed," He hummed happily, eyes closing.

"You're the cute pretty boy," Finch murmured, snuggling him closer.

"No you are," Buttons hummed, kissing Finch's cheek.

"You are, no take backs," Finch giggled softly. He was already starting to doze off.

"Okay, but you are too," Buttons said, his words barely above a whisper. "G'night, babe..."

"G'nigh," Finch mumbled back, falling asleep in the warm coziness of his boyfriend.

Buttons woke up around 9:30, trying to ignore the sun in his eyes. He shifted very slightly, resting in the crook of Finch's neck, relaxed.

"Mornin'," Finch mumbled, having been stirring from sleep for the last few minutes.

Buttons just hummed in response, slowly curling his arms around Finch more. He realized why he'd felt so sluggish for the past few mornings- Finch wasn't there. He cuddled more into the other, happy that he was with Finch now.

Finch pressed a soft, sleepy kiss to his forehead. He had an idea of a cute animation bit of this- ohhh he had ideas for a few cute animations and he'd put so many hearts people would choke on it.

Buttons smiled, blushing a little. He moved to kiss Finch's lips sleepily, imagining waking up like this every morning and just melting from that.

"What a lovely wake up call~" Finch teased, his voice a little rough from sleep, his hair sticking up in every direction messily.

Buttons hummed softly, "Mhm." He kissed Finch's cheek, moving off of/away from the other and sitting up, stretching and cracking his joints.

Finch tried to pat his bedhead down as he sat up, yawning. Uh oh, how'd he get here? He was now wrapped against Buttons' waist, his chin resting on his shoulder. Mmm, he didn't mind.

"Hum~?" Buttons moved an arm around Finch's shoulders, cuddling the other closer, "Why, hello." He gently kissed Finch's forehead, relaxed.

"Hi~" Finch smiled sleepily, blushing a little because he was just... very happy, very warm, very gay.

Buttons saw the blush, shifting to kiss Finch's lips happily. Very warm. Very gay. Much cuddle.

"Ugh, you're gonna kill me, I'm not emotionally ready for you to be kissing me so sweetly," Finch whined.

"Sh, let me revel in my morning breath not killing you," Buttons teased, going to kiss Finch again, tongue swiping against the other's lips.

"See, that's how much I love you, I don't even care that your breath stinks," Finch giggled.

Buttons laughed. "Well." He kissed Finch's nose, "Then let me go take care of that." He got up, getting a change of clothes, "Most of the rooms up here are bedrooms, first floor is anything you want it to be. Don't be afraid to come join me in the shower~." He winked, tiredly moving out of the room.

Finch sat there for about maybe half a second before getting his own change of clothes and followed him. I mean, what better way to wake up than a shower, and it would only be saving water!

Max was already downstairs, a bagel in the toaster. They looked over at Finch, rolling their eyes and shaking their head softly as they waited. Hm.

Hm. Finch just quietly leaned against the wall as he waited for Buttons, having a feeling Max knew what they'd been doing upstairs.

Yes. Max definitely knew. As they got their bagel, they looked at Finch with a raised eyebrow, "I'd appreciate it if you two left your orgasms away from where I shower." They snickered a bit, then paused- "Oh, the manorah. It's in the garage. Didn't crack at all, so it should be good for painting."

Finch flushed, giving him a small shamed salute, "Cool," he said in a small voice.

Max gave a thumbs up, taking a bite of the bagel- were those raisins? -and headed to the living room.

Buttons hummed as he came downstairs, blinking when Max stopped him. He nodded, blushing a little, then moved over to Finch. "Well, we weren't quiet," He mumbled, a little embarrassed.

"I know, I thought we'd done at least a fairly good job," Finch blushed, putting his face in Buttons' neck. "Hopefully he's the only one who heard."

Buttons chuckled, keeping close, "Hopefully." He hummed, looking over, "What do you wanna eat~?" He was thinking about the different things they had, humming.

"Whatcha got?" Finch mumbled into his neck.

Buttons shifted, an arm around Finch's waist while the other opened the fridge, "Egg, bread, bacon... more bread in the form of bagel." He chuckled a bit.

"Bacon... Egg.. cheese...

," Finch said slowly, rising from Buttons' chest dramatically slow.

Buttons snickered, kissing Finch's forehead again before going for the bagels, "Plain or cinnamon raisin?"

"Plain, please~" Finch said, leaning against the counter as he watched. It was cold... "Would you,

, have hot chocolate we can make?"

Buttons let out a

hum, taking out two bagels. He took a breath to continue the hum as he put them into the toaster, going back and taking out the jug of milk. He finally broke the hum, "You want the weird powder stuff or actual chocolate syrup?"

"Hmmmmmm, weird powder stuff

chocolate syrup," Finch grinned, rubbing his gay little hands together.

Buttons gasped dramatically, "Oh, that's

He moved to get two mugs, pouring the milk into both. "Marshmallows or nah?" He put the milk back, going for the syrup and a packet of powder.

"What kind of man do you take me for, Benjamin. Of course marshmallows," Finch said dramatically

"I take you for a man who likes marshmallows, Patrick," Buttons answered, eyebrows raised as he moved to pour the cold milk from both mugs into a bigger cup, and put that in the microwave.

"Good," Finch grinned, draping himself over Button's shoulders, maybe needing to stand a little bit on his toes to do so.

Buttons crouched a little, giggling.

Finch stayed on him totally not dozing off again until the microwave went off. "Benny, the microwave went off," he said as if it weren't obvious, not moving a muscle.

"You koala," Buttons hummed happily, going to take out the milk. He poured it back into the mugs, putting the respective chocolates in the mugs and stirring. He went for the mallows, humming, "Careful~ It's hot~." He relaxed, happy with Finch.

Finch hummed happily, basking in the warmth of the mug, taking a small sip. "Ow." He blew on it a little and took another sip. Still hot.

"I said careful," Buttons giggled, kissing Finch's head.

Buttons didn't notice how his mother was by the doorway, smiling softly and watching her son just being happy in love.

"But it's so good," Finch pouted, taking another sip and ignoring his burning taste buds, not noticing her either. He jumped a little bit as the toaster went off, but managed not to spill the hot chocolate. He pressed a kiss to Buttons' shoulder as he set the mug down to get them. Again, not caring about the hot.

"Babe!" Buttons squeaked, moving to grab Finch gently and pull him back. "Heat, love.

"Hungry, babe.

," Finch grinned. "Fire cannot kill a dragon~"

"You're a bird," Buttons snickered, carefully popping out the bagels onto a plate. "You want any butter or cream cheese?"

"Crem chez," Finch giggled, snuggling into his back. "And of course I'm a bird, thaz why dey calls me Finch~"

"I thouz dey callz ya Finch cuz you sing like a preddy birdie~," Buttons hummed, going to get the cream cheese and putting it carefully on the bagel. He perked up when his mom laughed softly, blushing. His mom hummed, going to make a mug of coffee.

Finch snorted at that, flushing a little when he realized she was there. "Good morning, ma'am," he said quietly, still a little shy around her.

The woman laughed a little, "Jess is fine, dear."

Buttons handed Finch the bagel, kissing his forehead anyway. She seemed to soften at that, happy that her son was happy.

Finch nodded softly, taking the bagel happily, taking a bite.

She hummed, "I'm going out today with your father. Don't burn the house down."

Jess moved to kiss Button's cheek, and he smiled a little, "Have fun."

"Thanks," She hummed, getting the cup and moving off.

Finch waved, leaning back against Buttons as he ate his bagel. "We gonna have a cook day?" he asked.

"Yup," Buttons beamed. He put some cream cheese on his bagel, taking a bite and sipping happily from his mug. Hot chocolate and bagels.

Finch finished one half of the bagel when he remembered. "Oh, yeah!" He ran out to the garage with no further explanation.

He picked up the menorah carefully, happily checking over it.

"Hum?" Buttons just let the other run off, continuing to eat his breakfast. He shifted to see what ingredients they had, a bit worried they might not have everything.

Finch was quite happy with it, and the dreidels had turned out pretty good as well. He left them there, already thinking of the colors he'd paint them. "They turned out great!" he said happily as he came back into the kitchen.

Buttons smiled, "That's good! So then maybe while things are cooking we can paint? Is there any baking involved?" He looked over, eyebrow raised.

"Latkes will be quick to make, I think it's literally just prep and mix the ingredients and then fry them. Donuts are a little longer to make the dough, but cook quickly once thats done. Overall, prolly would only take... two hours roughly? Well, actually less if we're workin' together and doing them at the same time." Finch explained, pulling up recipes on his phone. "Then we'd be done, and we can paint," he smiled happily.

"Alright... Frier." He reached down, pulling out the long rectangular frier. He set it on the counter, taking the basket out, and making sure it was clean before pouring in the oil. He hummed, plugging it in and covering it up so it would be ready to use later. "Alright, explain away~."

Finch nodded, reading over the instructions of both. "Yeah, we have to leave the dough out to rise for an hour, so it would be best to do that first."In a small bowl, combine the yeast, 1 tablespoon flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and water. Mix well, cover, and allow to rest until the mixture becomes foamy," he read aloud. "In another large bowl, mix the remaining 3 cups of flour with the melted margarine, salt, remaining sugar, and the egg yolks."

Buttons was grabbing ingredients, putting them up, "Alright, uh... Do we need the same stuff for other things?"

"For the latkes, its shredded potatos, grated onion, eggs, flour, salt, and peanut oil," Finch read. "Oh, and jelly and powdered sugar for the donut filling and topping."

"Oh boy," Buttons laughed, looking around. "I'll do my best."

Finch grinned at him, "Do we need ta go to the store for anything?"

"Uhhhhh I don't

so...?" Buttons pulled out the potatoes and onions.

"Okay, cool," Finch beamed, rolling up his sleeves. He set the phone in between them on the counter, looking around. "Measuring cups..."

"Cabinet right of the oven," Buttons answered, bringing things over.

Finch went and grabbed the cups, getting a couple bowls down too. "Gotta melt the butter down," he said to Buttons. "A fourth of a cup." He started reading the directions again, following them as he measured out a small amount of flour and sugar, double checking this was right. Yeah, the rest went in the other bowl.

Buttons went to cut the butter, putting it in a bowl and popping it in the microwave in intervals, not wanting it to explodé.

Finch stuck his tongue out a little in focus, making sure it was all measured and mixed right before he covered it to rest a little while he measured out the mixture for the larger bowl.

Buttons moved to bring the butter, helping measure and mix where he could. He was enjoying helping, following with a hum.

Finch smiled at him. This was nice, and quite peaceful. The house itself was quiet, although he could hear some commotion that sounded like playing outside. He'd already managed to get flour on his shirt and a little on his face, but that was okay.

As they continued, Buttons noticed the flour on his love's face. He got a rag and licked it, and when Finch wasn't paying attention he moved to scrub the flour off before setting the rag down and continuing in what he was doing, humming softly.

"Gross, cooties," Finch teased jokingly, glancing at him as he whisked the mixture.

Buttons rolled his eyes, "Oh, yeah, 'course. You're infected now."

Finch giggled, huffing as he kept whisking. "You know, I just realized that this has to turn from a liquid to a solid."

"So how much mixing do we gotta go?" Buttons said with wide eyes.

Finch looked down at the bowl. "I realize now that usually a mixer would be used for this. Do you have one by any chance?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhh....." Buttons moved around, trying to find it, and he eventually did... Oh jeez. He started climbing the counter, standing on top as he got it, putting it on to the sink. He moved down carefully, but of course he slipped. He yelped, crashing to the floor, thankfully only falling on his side. "Ow..." He mumbled.

Finch yelped, quickly setting the bowl on the counter and kneeling beside him. "Are you okay??" he asked worriedly, carefully helping him sit up.

"Yeah, all good," He managed, laughing a little in disbelief. "Usually I don't fall over," He managed, rubbing his arm. "Oof..." He looked at Finch, "I'm good."

"Are you sure?" Finch asked, clearly disbelieving that he was really all okay.

"Yeah, yeah... Hold on." He gently nudged Finch away, stretching out his arm and rolling it around, then bending his joints, making sure his shoulder and elbow were okay. He nodded, "Yeah, all good, just sore." He chuckled, "Body fat really out here saving my bones." He gently moved closer to Finch again, "I'm good."

"Should I kiss it better?" Finch said a little cheekily after making sure he really was okay.

Buttons blinked. He held out his arm, "My bownes weally wurt, dey's needin' twu wuv's kiss."

Finch snorted, taking his wrist tenderly and pressing small kisses up his forearm before looking at him, still holding his wrist loosely. "Anywhere else?" he said with a cheeky grin that had his mother seen, would think he looked just like his father.

"How about here?" Buttons said softly, pointing at his lips.

"Oh, of course, it's dangerous to let those go unkissed~" Finch teased as he pulled Buttons forward a little while leaning in himself, kissing him tenderly.

Buttons hummed happily in the kiss, moving his arms around Finch's shoulders and pulling the other in for a bit of a longer kiss.

Finch hummed, leaning in a little more into him, deepening it a little.

Junior just wanted a snack. Just a snack, not a scar for life. He ran into the kitchen, not expecting, of course, to see his older brother making out on the floor with his boyfriend. "Eeeewww, gross!" he shouted, covering his eyes maybe peeking.

Amy snorted behind him, "Do I ever want to know how you two ended up there?"

Finch had pulled away from him, flushing a little as he stood up quickly and helped Buttons up, "He, uh, he fell, I was helping him up."

"I've never helped anyone up like that before," Amy chuckled, going to the fridge with raised eyebrows.

"Do you guys always kiss?" Junior asked, wrinkling his nose.

Buttons

blushing bright red and still leaning into Finch. He managed to stand with the other, letting go carefully, and glaring a bit at Amy. He looked back at Junior, "Yeah. People kiss people that they love." He was calming down, trying to ignore his burning blush.

"Someone at my school got in trouble cause he was kissing a girl," Junior said, taking the applesauce Amy handed to him.

You could almost see the struggle on Finch's face not to say "cause being straight is illegal" as a joke. Amy looked like she might be holding back a retort of her own.

"Well, that's not fair," Buttons answered, "Unless the guy or the girl were already with someone. Or they were supposed to be in class." He smiled a bit.

"He was playing a joke on her I think..." June looked confused for a second as he thought of something. "Wait, but I love Mom and Dad but I don't kiss them?"

"Well, you kiss their cheeks- but you save lip kisses for people you're thinking about marrying-" oh. "-I MEAN. AS IN. SPENDING YOUR LIFE WITH THEM- I MEAN... Yeah I'm not making this any better," He muttered, head down in defeat.

"Oooohhh, okay!" Junior seemed content with that. "I'm gonna play Sims now." He took his snack and walked out.

"Well, you two seem busy enough in here," Amy said, a knowing look on her face as she too walked out.

Finch looked back at Buttons with raised eyebrows. "What was that you were saying?" he teased, leaning into him. "What, you havin' some ideas in that brain a your's?"

Buttons nodded, huffing at Amy, and then turning bright red. "I been having ideas, Finch. Don't get too excited about them, they ain't for a long while," He huffed, gently nudging the other, seriously trying to calm down his blush. He whined, putting his face in his hands. Stupid Jan.

Finch giggled, nudging one of Buttons' hands away with his nose to kiss his cheek. Weirdly enough, he wasn't bothered by the idea. The idea of spending the rest of his life like this... it was tempting, really.

Buttons blinked, shifting to kiss Finch gently. "One day," He murmured.

"I wouldn't mind that," Finch murmured softly back, staying where he was for a moment before kissing his cheek once more before going back to start the mixer up.

Buttons' eyes lit up at that, and smiled a bit as Finch moved off. He was just standing there stunned, watching the other happily. "Have I told you how much I love you?" He hummed, head tilting to the side.

"I believe you might have mentioned it once or twice," Finch giggled, glancing back at him. "I might need help figuring out how to use this, by the way."

"Oh fuck-" Buttons laughed, going over to set it up.

Finch helped the best he could, and after a... couple minutes, it was running smoothly and mixing the batter. And soon it was turning into a dough. "Had I done that by hand, I would have been absolutely jacked by the end," he giggled.

"Yeah, you could be using your hand for something else," He smirked.

"Gross, gutter-brain," Finch snickered, pushing him lightly. When the mixture was looking doughy, he got the dough off the whisk and covered it with a towel, setting it to the side to prove. "Well, that's there for about two hours, so wanna make the latkes?"

"Sure~," Buttons hummed, going to set up the next stuff.

"Potatos, eggs, flour, salt, mix em together and thats it, ya just just fry em after that."

"Alright," Buttons said, starting to pour things in.

Finch leaned against him, helping where he could but maybe just kinda cuddling him.

Buttons enjoyed the cuddles, blinking as he uncovered the frier. He put things in the basket, moving it into the frier and covering it again. "How long do we wait?"

"Doesn't say... Prolly gotta watch 'em, just said turn 'em when they're golden brown," Finch said.

"Alright... I guess," Buttons murmured. He took the basket out and turned things over before putting it back.

Finch nuzzled into him. watching and directing him to the shaping of them, happy and warm.

Buttons followed, humming along. By the end, they had a nice plate of them. "What should I do with these?" He hummed.

"Let 'em cool, nom nom yam-aka," Finch giggled.

He rolled his eyes, setting them in the microwave. "Y'think the dough's done? How long did that take?"

"Like... 30 minutes. So we got a while longer," Finch murmured, still nuzzling him.

Buttons turned, wrapping his arms around Finch and nuzzling him closer, humming softly.

"Wanna paints the dreidels?" Finch suggested.

"Alrighty," He murmured, kissing Finch's forehead, moving with the other but still keeping an arm around his waist.

Finch led him along to the garage. He took the slightly wonky one, hiding it in his hand and pushing the other (slightly better) one to Buttons. "See, they turned out great!" (Not pointing out that he'd given Buttons the one that he'd made, of course.)

"Finch," Buttons said, deadpan, "I'm not dumb. The one I made had an indent right there."

Finch clicked his tongue, putting Buttons' back on the table. "Yours is still good too," he said with a smile.

Buttons looked at his, beaming, "Fuck, it came out better than I thought it would." He went to try to spin it, and it was a little sloppy, but it worked!!

Finch beamed, going to find the paints. He did after a few moments, bringing the bin over and setting it down on the table between them.

"Alright, you gotta teach me what to paint," Buttons giggled.

"I can shows ya, but I'm gonna paint mine first~" Finch grabbed the blue, getting one of the brushes and starting to paint one side of it. "Once it dries, we can paint the symbols and the top on."

"Alright." Buttons copied, painting his as well.

Once he'd painted the sides, he watched Buttons, blowing on it to dry faster.

Buttons waved his gently in the air to dry it off, humming softly. He then went and painted a stripe of blue on Finch's cheek.

Finch squinted, slowly leaned in, took Buttons face... and he kissed him sweetly. Then while he was distracted, did a quick two dots and a curve to paint a smiley face on his cheek.

Buttons blinked, and then melted into the kiss a bit. He giggled, looking over in a mirror at the smiley. "Y'know what, that's fair," He laughed.

Finch laughed softly, grabbing his chin to turn his head a little, painting a little heart on his other cheek.

Buttons hummed, letting Finch do as he pleased. He looked in the mirror again, gasping. "Oh no. My reputation!!"

"Oh, and what reputation is that, hah?" Finch asked, kissing his lips softly since his cheeks now had paint on them.

"Me being a big tough button," Buttons pouted.

"Aw, poor babe," Finch giggled. "Everyone already knows you're a big softie~" He poked his cheek where it wasn't painted.

Buttons puffed out his cheeks, then giggled and went to normal, kissing Finch, "Whoopsies~."

Finch giggled, then turned his head back to the dreidel in his hand. He tested it, and the paint was dried. So he set it down to pull up the symbols on his phone, figuring he would go ahead and explain the game while they was painting, but he grabbed the silver paint first.

Buttons listened to the explanation, following along and asking questions where he was confused. He looked excited to be playing the new game, almost buzzing in place.

"Ya got the coins, or sometimes, like my family did it, we'd use some sorta candy like M&Ms or somethin', and ya give everyone an equal amount, we usually agreed on seven each," Finch explained as he found smaller brushes for them, handing one to Buttons. "This one," he gestured to the symbol on the phone as he started carefully painting it on one of the sides, "Is Nun. Easy 'nough to remember, nun does nothin', if ya roll it, you just pass to the next player."

Buttons quickly realized they were going to have to expose Finch to the Candy Shelf. He tried to hide the slight panic as he focused.

"Gimmel," Finch explained, too focused to notice, "means ya 'get'. Land on this and you take the whole middle pot, and everyone else has ta put two coins in to make a new pot."

Buttons nodded again, humming.

"Hey is half, so ya take half the pot." Finch paused to finish the symbol before continuing. "And Shin is share, so you'd put two coins in the pot."

"Alright, that all makes sense," Buttons hummed, trying to think. "Are you allergic to anything?"

"Nope," Finch said as he finished painting the top of the dreidel silver before blowing it.

"Phew," Buttons murmured, following all the symbols as he painted them on. "I may or may not have a sacred thing to show you in the kitchen."

Finch looked up at that, "And what's that?"

"It may or may not include something to play this game with," Buttons said casually, blowing on his dreidel to dry it off.

Finch was intrigued. He touched the paint, dry. He spun it, and it twirled for a good moment before it landed. "Gimmel, I take the pot~"

"If you eat all the candy, I think my family will throw me out of the house," Buttons giggled, kissing Finch's nose before motioning for the other to follow him back to the kitchen. He'd completely forgotten about the paint on his face.

Finch snickered, following him. "That's alright, I already took my prize this mornin'," he teased.

Buttons gasped, looking offended, "But don't you want it every morning??"

"Every mornin' sounds nice~" Finch grinned.

Buttons smiled, moving to kiss Finch gently before going to the cabinet. With a dramatic, shakey hand, he opened it and pointed to the top shelf. ... That's a lot of candy. Who needs that many different types of M&Ms???

“Oh my god,” Finch snickered. “It’s a whole treasure trove! Ya got that marked on a map somewhere?”

"Come over for Easter," Buttons answered ominously.

"What's Easter?" Finch joked, putting an arm around him. "I bet it's insane with all a that chocolate."

"Oh gosh it's fun," Buttons giggled.

"I just know that when the egg bunnies come out, means chocolate's on sale soon," Finch snickered.

"No, it means you get to run around collecting eggs and get

chocolate," Buttons clarified.

"I'm a Jew, this holiday isn't for me, therefore I gotta pay ta get in on it," Finch said, nudging him with a grin.

"Sh, I'll sneak you in," Buttons giggled, "Like sneaking people in the movie theater for a free movie."

Finch giggled, leaning into him. "Are there like... rules?" Cause like legitimately other than the commercialized stuff he wasn't sure how it was celebrated.

"Nah, just don't steal the little kid’s candy," Buttons hummed.

"Huh. There's like.. no rituals or nothin'?" Finch asked a little confused. "Ya don't go ta church?"

"Finch, we're not 'go to church every Sunday' Christians, in case you hadn't noticed," Buttons smirked.

"Well yeah, but like most Jewish holidays you'd go ta temple at least once ta pray," Finch said.

Buttons shrugged a bit, "Well, we don't usually go."

"Huh... alright," Finch shrugged. He looked at the time, at the bowl. "We still got a while before that's done so... We could start paintin' the menorah," he suggested.

"Alrighty~," Buttons hummed, following Finch back to the garage.

Finch started working on painting, not realizing he'd started humming softly as he made sure to get in the indents of the swirls.

Buttons watched, cuddled into Finch's back, watching and listening in a soft amazement.

" His voice was soft and sweet, his lips barely moving, still looking unaware of what he was doing as his hands moved. "

Buttons was melting. Buttons was so in love

He snuggled closer, quietly listening, not wanting to break the spell.

" Finch had starting riffing Zendaya's lines, realizing what he was doing. He blinked, looking at Buttons shyly. "S-sorry," he said sheepishly, a bit of a blush on his face.

"Don't gotta apologize," Buttons murmured, "Like I said; your voice is beautiful." He was loving listening to the other, snuggled close.

Finch's blush only grew at that, and he was too shy to continue, squirming a little bit in a little bit of embarrassment as if this didn't happen all the time.

Buttons laughed softly, nuzzling into Finch's neck. "C'mon, little bird... You can keep singing~."

Finch squeaked at the nickname, totally red now. "Noooo, it's embarrassing...."

"No it's not~," Buttons cooed, kissing Finch's neck. "It's adorable is what it is, birdie~."

"Stooooopp," Finch whined, getting even more flustered.

"Ooooh," Buttons smirked, kissing again, "I don't wanna stop, little birdie~."

"Anyone who says you're innocent obviously has never been in my position," Finch muttered, trying to paint even with the rising heat.

Buttons snickered, "I'm just a guy who sews." He shifted to actually lick Finch's neck slightly before moving away teasingly, going over to another box on the shelf. He brought it out, setting it on the table, "Speaking of..." He opened it, starting to shuffle through the stuff, curious.

Finch shivered at that, squirming in his seat, glancing at him with a pout before he started painted again.

Buttons froze when he found something. He slowly pulled out a tiny dress, looking at it a bit fondly. "Hey, Finch... When we get our own place, can we get a dog? Maybe a cat, too..." He smiled softly. It was definitely a dog dress.

"I never had a dog before, you'd hafta help me figure out how ta take care of it. But I don't mind," Finch said, looking up.

Buttons looked excited for that, buzzing a bit. "Either we get a dog, or kids." He snickered a bit at that, eyebrow raised towards Finch.

"Why not both?" Finch grinned. "Prolly would hafta wait a while for that one though...." he said a little more seriously. "I wouldn't wanna fuck up a kid..." He looked away, going back to his painting.

"We wouldn't fuck up a kid," Buttons said seriously, pausing in his little search. He looked at Finch, slight concern in his eyes. "'Course we'd wait, there's some stuff I gotta do first." He hid a smirk as he looked down again, "Oh- found it." He pulled out a bracelet from when he dabbled in jewelry. It was a silver band that had beads that looked like they were made from string. He set it on the table, humming as he slid it over to Finch.

Finch glanced up at it, a smile playing at his lips, "What's this?"

"A bracelet," Buttons said matter-of-factly.

"Well, duh, but why're ya givin' it to me?" Finch asked curiously.

"'Cause I want you to wear it," Buttons said softly.

Finch rolled his eyes a little, but slid it onto his wrist. "Happy, you dork?"

"Extremely," Buttons whispered, looking at Finch with a new smile, then covered up the box again and setting it away. He moved over, wrapping his arms around Finch's waist and and cuddling into his back, looking like a Soft Button™.

Finch sighed softly, looking back at him as he leaned back into him. He pressed a soft kiss to his lips, content and happy.

Buttons leaned into the kiss with a soft smile, nuzzling close. He looked over to the Menorah, "It's beautiful."

"Yeah?" Finch asked, looking over at it. "I'll paint the bottom and the Star gold, think it'll go pretty good with the blue and silver. I mean, ya know, Hanukkah colors," he smiled.

"It'll be amazing." He gently kissed Finch's cheek, "I'm gonna go try to bring down the candy and not fall over." He walked back into the house, looking relaxed.

Jan walked in through the back door a few minutes later, "Oh, hey! Wow, that looks nice." She looked over, whistling. Her eyes went to the bracelet as she watched him paint, and breathed out a soft, "Oh wow... He gave you it..."

Finch looked up, following her gaze to the bracelet. "Yeah, he just slid it over, wouldn't tell me why."

Jan hummed at that, leaning over the table again, "When he was first getting into crafts, he made his own string wefts. He'd buy the little folded things, and wind them into a tight ball. He got the idea to make them into beads, even if it was a big waste of string. He was so proud of the bracelet 'cause it'd taken so long to make each bead." Her gaze fell, "He was in either elementary or middle school, on the edge there. He brought it to school, and someone stole it. Basically, that was his first fist fight. He was so ashamed when Mom came to get him out of detention, but he also realized that he needed to hide precious things. He started keeping a lot of secrets after that. We didn't realize he had a box of sewing things until he went to college." She added the last part with a chuckle, rubbing her legs together. "He hid it, and he swore that he'd never let it go and only let someone he truly loved even see it again. He of course showed us before he hid it away... I've seen him eye the box when he was in other relationships, but he never took the bracelet out for them."

Finch listened in interest, his mouth falling open a little at the last part. He blinked, looking down at the bracelet he wore, fiddling with the beads that baby Buttons had so painstakingly crafted.

Jan chuckled softly, watching. "Yeah... I never expected him to touch the thing, honestly... I thought he forgot about it." She chuckled softly, shifting and standing up again. "Anyways, I'll leave you to painting," She hummed softly, going inside.

Finch smiled softly, reaching his hand up and kissing the bracelet softly before he went back to painting. Within a few more minutes, he'd finished, setting it down and looking over it with a happy grin.

Buttons came back in, humming, the smiley face washed off but the heart still there. He moved over, gasping softly and putting an arm around Finch's waist. "When it dries, we'll light it. Where do you think we should put it?" He looked excited, kissing Finch's cheek before going to find some candles.

"Wherever your mom says is okay. Usually by a window, though," Finch beamed.

"Alright, I know just the spot then," Buttons giggled. He moved to put the metal cups into the slots, and then put the candles into those, not lighting them but letting them sit there. He moved to pick it up like it was glass, being extremely careful with it (and not touching the paint too much) as he brought it into the house. There was a nice high table next to a window with two shelves under it that had books, and there was a white tablecloth over it already. He carefully set it down, smiling a bit and showing Finch.

Finch smiled, his eyes soft as he looked at it. It was almost bittersweet to see something that reminded him so strongly of home. "We'll hafta light six of 'em now, then the seventh when it gets dark."

"Alright... Let's wait until the paint fully dries, I don't wanna mess it up." Buttons moved to Finch's side again, an arm around his love's waist as he kissed Finch's temple happily.

Finch turned, nuzzling into his neck. "I love you," he murmured.

"I love you, too," Buttons murmured just as softly, cuddling Finch close, happy with the other.

"Jan told me what this bracelet is, by the way," he said softly, kissing his neck just as lightly.

Buttons shifted, blushing a little, going, "Ah, well that takes away the mystery..." His voice was soft, and he shifted to nuzzle closer gently.

"Wish I had somethin' like that I could give you," Finch sighed, his grip squishing a little tighter on his boyfriend, his best friend, his lover. He wanted something he could give to him.

"You being here is more than enough, Patrick," Buttons said softly, shifting to look at the other, "You just letting me love you, loving me, that's more than I could ever ask for."

Finch couldn't bring himself to pretend he wasn't tearing up at that. He brought one of his hands to Buttons' cheek, holding him softly. "I used ta think I wouldn't find no one," he admitted softly. "That maybe I wasn't meant to have someone like that loving me... You sure proved me wrong."

Buttons smiled a little at that, moving to kiss Finch gently, "Glad I did." He kissed Finch again, holding the other closer, pressing their foreheads together lovingly.

Finch sat happily in his embrace, content to stay there like that forever.

"So, should we check on the dough, or just cuddle on the couch?" Buttons hummed, content in Finch's arms.

"Hmmmm, my heart says cuddle but my mind says check on the dough, otherwise we'll forget about it entirely," Finch murmured.

"Hmmmm what a dilemma," Buttons hummed, gently shifting to kiss Finch lightly. "Well, I feel like there'll be plenty of time for us to cuddle," He said softly, nuzzling against the other. He still couldn't bring himself to move, though.

"Mhm..." Finch hummed back, not moving a muscle and not really intending to.

"Oh jeez, we're gonna stay like this forever, huh?" Buttons mumbled tiredly, feeling warm and cozy even though they were standing. He took a few shuffled steps towards the couch, sitting and pulling Finch to sit on top of him, laying down and pulling Finch close.

"Oh no," Finch murmured, nuzzling into his neck happily.

"A tragedy," Buttons breathed softly, kissing Finch's forehead, "Stuck forever cuddling the love of my life."

"Mmm, doesn't sound too bad, when ya put it like that," Finch said softly, ignoring the way his heart skipped a beat when he called him the love of his life.

"No, it doesn't," Buttons murmured, nuzzling closer and his eyes closing.

Finch hummed happily, burrowing into the crook of love's neck and dozing off quickly.

Amy came downstairs a little bit later to see them curled up. She shook her head softly, chuckling to herself as she took pictures for blackmail (or really cause she knew her mom would think they were cute) went into the kitchen, finding the mess they'd left and a proved dough ready to bake. Jesus, they'd even left the fryer on. She went over, inspecting the scene, and when she found the latkes in the microwave, she figured pretty easily they'd been making donuts. She rolled up her sleeves, going to work, I mean, she wasn't doing anything else anyways.

Junior came in a little bit later, curious, and started helping, both being quiet as to not wake the sleeping two. When they were done, Amy covered the donuts in a cling film, presented nicely on a plate, before they cleaned up and went back to their rooms.

Buttons had woken up first, but was starting lovingly at Finch. He moved his hand to rub the other's back gently, just lost in thought about how much he loved the other. Having Finch come over had really slammed things into perspective, and he decided right there that he could genuinely spend the rest of his life with this man.

Finch hummed sorta how a cat does when you suddenly touch it while it's dozing, stirring at the movement. He sighed, cuddling deeper into him.

Buttons bit back a laugh, continuing to rub Finch's back softly. He was just laying there, soaking in the affection, loving having the other there with him.

"I wuv you~" Finch murmured happily into his neck, pressing a soft kiss there.

Buttons giggled softly, "I wuv you too~." He was just relaxed and happy, curling Finch a little closer. "I think we passed out," He said quietly, looking around tiredly.

"What time is it?" he asked. "Ah, the dough mighta been sittin' too long..."

"Y'wanna go check on it?" He hummed, gently nudging Finch to sit up.

Finch grumbled at the nudge, but got off of him. He went to the kitche- What. He blinked. Their mess was gone, and there was. The donuts??? All nicely arranged on a plate????? "Wh- did I go crazy or somethin', we didn't finish them, did we?" he said, bewildered and not considering there were other people in the house.

Buttons got up, going over. "The Fae must'a come," He breathed, "Or my siblings." He snickered a bit, going over, kind of wanting one, but looking at Finch.

"Well....." Finch scooted over to the plate, sneaking one of the donut balls and biting into it. He squeaked as jelly almost dropped down his chin.

Buttons tried very hard. He was really trying. But he moved forwards, licking up Finch's chin. "Oh, that's good," He hummed, going to get a donut ball for himself and popping it into his mouth.

Finch giggled. "I think we did good~ Well, us and whoever finished 'em."

Buttons nodded happily, still chewing since he had literally shoved the whole thing in his mouth.

Finch popped the rest of his in his mouth, humming. He opened the microwave, getting one of the latkes to taste test it too. He nodded in approval with a grin, offering to Buttons.

Buttons made an 'ooo' sound, taking one of the latkes and eating it. "Wow, that's good," He said, doing a happy wiggle.

"Hey, and I bet the paint's dry, so we can light some of the candles now to get ready for when it's night," Finch said, nudging him.

Buttons perked up at that, looking around and grabbing a lighter. He handed it to Finch, nudging the other back, "C'mon, then~!"

Finch was excited, he hadn't been able to actually light a menorah in years. "Light the top candle, that's what we use to light the others."

Buttons blinked, and walked over with the other. He looked at the top candle, lighting it for Finch, looking excited.

Finch took the candle, carefully lighting six of them. "Usually, we'd light them one a night, but it's the seventh night, so when it gets dark we'll light the next one," he explained as he did, setting the candle back on the top. He stepped back and looked at it. Oh. There was a look in his eyes for a moment, of a deep sadness and longing, before he blinked and looked back at Buttons. "Pretty, ain't it?"

Buttons had seen it, and he carefully moved an arm around Finch, "Yeah, it is."

"Well, what trouble are we getting up to now in the meantime, hah?" Finch asked, poking his side.

Buttons looked over at a clock, shrugging, "Looks like it's only 3..." He looked at Finch, poking the other back.

"Hmmmmmmm....." Finch nuzzled back into him. "Then we got a while. Whatchu wanna do~?"

"I dunno, what do you wanna do~?" Buttons hummed, nuzzling back as he curled Finch closer, kissing the other's forehead happily.

Finch hummed. "Cuddle while I work on the animation?"

"Upstairs we go~," Buttons giggled, taking Finch's hand and moving back up to his room. He waited for Finch to settle down with the laptop and drawing tablet before going to settle behind the other again, cuddling into his back happily while scrolling through his phone.

Finch pressed a soft kiss to his forehead before settling down and starting to draw the base sketches.

Buttons was relaxed, just cuddling the other and looking through tumblr. He did make a post- "cuddling bf while he draws. never been more gay in my life."

Finch hummed softly, not thinking about it as he focused on the anatomy of the drawings.

Buttons snorted softly, going to reblog it and adding:

Buttons smiled softly, kissing Finch's neck before going back to scrolling.

#Newsies #finch cortez #buttons davenport #finch newsies #buttons newsies #wow also looking back over it on my blog tumblr really just like murdered the formatting huh #oh well i dont really wanna look through all of it to fix it

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phoneboxfairy · 5 years

Text

Winter Warmth ch 12 - Natsu’s Quest

Ao3 link to the full fic (with intended formatting)- https://archiveofourown.org/works/11603859/chapters/26084934 (Jeez I am on a ROLL this weekend with writing.) Wanted. One wizard to help with a desperate situation. A golden gate key and five hundred thousand jewels are your reward.

Desperate situation? Natsu had no idea what that could mean. He really didn't care. All he was concerned about was finishing the job, collecting the reward, and getting back home.

It turned out that "desperate" was subject to interpretation.

"You want me to get rid of all the dead plants in your yard?"

"Young man this is not a yard; it's a garden."

Grrrr.

"Okay, my bad. So you want me to get rid of of the dead plants in the garden."

"That is correct. I simply cannot host my candlelit garden dinners when my garden is overflowing with dead filth. What would the chancellor say?"

Natsu had no idea what the chancellor would say, nor did he really care. He wasn't about to say that out loud, though.

Do it for Lucy. That thought is what motivated him that entire afternoon.

It kept him from swearing up a storm as a thorny vine slashed his hand.

It kept him focused on getting this ridiculous job done.

And honestly it kept him from just burning the entire yard (garden) to a crisp out of frustration.

Only love could get Natsu to do such a tedious job. His entire plan depended on getting it finished to the rich lady's satisfaction.

Sure, he did burn away some pesky brambles that wouldn't budge otherwise, but the woman didn't seem to mind. He ignored the obvious sneer as she took in his muddy clothes and soot streaked face.

Clearly she noticed the way his eyes lit up when she gave him the money and the key.

"Might I ask why you wanted this drab little thing?"

"My girlfriend's a celestial witch. Best in Fiore." Proud grin, flashing fangs.

"Oh, the Heartfilia girl? Good family. Despite your horrendous fashion sense you seem to have some taste. Good day." Another sneer as she closed her door, leaving Natsu and Happy free to leave.

"Sheesh, what a snob. Why are some people like that?"

"I dunno. Guess they think being rich makes the world spin around 'em." Shrug. He smirked.

"Good thing Lucy's not like that."

"Anymore!"

The cat chuckled. Natsu was tempted to lash out, but Happy was right. She had been a little brat at first...thankfully she had grown up a lot since then. Grown into the strong mage he knew and loved.

They both had grown quite a bit, in fact.

The thought made him smile.

After lunch the pair focused on the other component of the trip: picking out a ring for Lucy. Truthfully, Natsu wasn't really worried about the price. He only wanted to find something that would suit her. Playful and fun rather than extravagant, with a touch of elegance.

That was easier said than done.

This town had an entire row of jewelry shops, each with what seemed like millions of rings to choose from. He spent what seemed like hours looking and growing increasingly irritated when Happy chimed in with an idea.

"Why don't you ask Mira?"

"Because I didn't think about it, that's why, buddy." He ruffled the exceed's fur, pulled out his lacrima, and called Mira.

Of course, as fate would have it, something caught his attention just as she answered.

"Natsu? What's up? Is everything alright?"

"Everything's great. I think I found the perfect ring."

"Ooooo! I want to see!"

"Huh? How?"

"Oh, tap the camera button."

"Okay..." Tap. The screen changed to display the counter in front of him. He moved his hand a bit so that the ring in question was plainly visible. “Is it the one with the blue stones?” “Yeah...think she’ll like it?” Natsu blushed, suddenly feeling shy. Mira squealed.

“Of course she will! You got the key, right?”

“I got it. Still can’t believe Aquarius’s key ended up in the hands of some crazy rich lady...” “What matters is that you have it, and you’re giving it to Lucy. Now, buy the ring and hurry back home, alright?!”

He could have sworn he caught a glimpse of she-devil in her eyes. Gulp. “Yes, ma’am.”

“And don’t forget to call Lucy tonight!”

Blip.

The call ended before Natsu could retort that he would never forget something that important.

Some time later…

Dragon slayer and exceed were lounging around next to their tent and a roaring fire. They had just eaten dinner and now Natsu was contemplating when to call Lucy.

And of course Happy was egging him on.

“What are you waiting for? I know you loooooooove her.”

“Duh. Everyone knows that by now. What if she’s busy writing?”

“Like that’s ever stopped ya before!”

Natsu grinned at that.

“I guess you’re right, buddy.”

Mere moments later the lovebirds were chatting away quite happily. Lucy had indeed been writing her novel for most of the day, so Natsu’s call was a welcome break.

It was a long conversation. They talked about her writing, how her latest novel was going. As he did so very often, he encouraged her.

They talked about the job. Lucy had a good hearty laugh at Natsu’s impression of the stuffy rich lady.

Then they talked about the goings-on at the guild. He listened to this intently. He would never admit it but truth be told he felt a bit lonely, even with Happy traveling with him.

“I wanna show you somethin’.”

“Huh? What?”

“Look...” He switched on the lacrima’s camera and pointed it at the night sky, so clear and full of stars. “It ain’t Stella but it’s still pretty cool.”

“It’s beautiful. Thanks, Natsu.”

“No problem. Wish you were here.” His voice softened with those last four words. Well, if it wasn’t for the big surprise, he would have brought her along…

“Could we watch it together?”

“Sure.” Anything for her, especially if it made her smile. He lay in the grass with the lacrima on his chest, gazing up at the sky with his girl. It wasn’t hard at all to imagine her laying next to him as she pointed out constellations and planets.

Immeasurable time passed. At long last Lucy’s voice caught his attention.

“I should go. We both need to get some sleep.”

“Yeah, guess you’re right.” Yawn, stretch. “Sweet dreams, babygirl.”

Shit… He had NOT meant to call her that. Not out loud. Shit, shit, shit! No mistake, the slayer’s face was hot with blush.

“Babygirl…? I think I like that...”

“Y-you do?” Gulp.

“Yeah. It’s sweet.” Soft giggle. “Night, Natsu. See you tomorrow night.” Right as the call ended he heard something, three words someone without dragon slayer hearing might very well have missed. These three words touched his heart and made him want to get home to see his girlfriend as soon as possible.

“I love you.” ~~ Natsu and Happy were on the road early the next morning. They had a long way to go still and Natsu was determined to get back to Magnolia before nightfall.

They almost didn’t make it in time. About halfway home, walking along a river, they were attacked by a rather aggressive river monster.

Thankfully the beast was sent packing, or, well, swimming, with a well-placed Fire Dragon Iron Fist.

Back in Magnolia, Natsu stopped at their cottage first. This was mostly because he wasn’t about to meet up with Lucy looking and smelling like three days of travel. He washed up, got dressed, and listened to Happy giving him all kinds of hell about supposedly being whipped the whole time.

“Whatever, buddy. You’ll understand when you’re older.” Said with a chuckle. That was when Natsu took a long look at his reflection.

His hair had grown out a little. Nothing like the wild mess it had been after his year of training, but long enough to notice.

The stubble on his cheek was new. The entire look was scruffy yet mature. He decided that he liked it… and privately hoped Lucy would, too.

Lucy…

Thinking about her, especially their pending reunion, made the dragon slayer smile.

That smile remained on his face as he ran back to the guild hall with Happy clinging to his shoulder.

Soon…Soon!

#nalu #fairy tail nalu #fairy tail fanfic #nalu fanfic #nalu fluff #fairy tail #my writing #aw sweet

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andrina-the-amazingsupergenius · 4 years

Text

When in Blackpool, the Las Vegas of England || Rowdy and Randy

Summary: Andrina gets the best idea for a joke she’s ever had.

@n0ttinghamshad0w

ANDRINA Andrina was in Blackpool, bitches! How did she get here? She didn’t know. It was one of those Andy-spirals that started off as a joke, then turned into a dare, then turned into a promise, then turned into a swear. She’d just been closing up shoppe in Whosits and Whatsits, checking on their stash. She’d just put on some music– Highway to Hell by AC/DC. She just pretended to play air guitar, just fell into Rob’s arms, just made out with him a little on top of Attina’s desk, when the words road trip fell out of her lips. Wouldn’t it be so funny? she’d said. And maybe Rob said something about there being a couple of buyers who might be interested in Cruella’s finest. And couldn’t they be there, and back again, before anyone knew it? And no she wasn’t drunk, when she started the trip, coasting along in the Whosits van. And she wasn’t drunk when they got to Blackpool either, after midnight, and found the downtown alive and throbbing, bleeding light like a wound. And she wasn’t drunk when she had sex with Rob in the loo of an old arcade, after completely kicking his arse at Pacman, his hair in one of her hands, her raffle tickets in the other. She was, actually, just polishing off a cocktail when they started playing Blackjack. She was, maybe, getting a little tipsy, and a little handsy, as she watched Rob count cards and get away with it. By the time they left, it was 3 in the morning and they were a few hundred quid richer. Andrina’s fingers were caressing the nape of Rob’s neck and she was thinking about fucking him again. That’s when the sweet voice of Freddie Mercury caught her pinball eyes. She turned her head to the sweet rock music of Don’t Stop Me Now, and out of nowhere, Andy started laughing. “Hey, you know what would be so funny?” Andy said, sliding her hand down Rob’s spine. She sipped at the vanilla milkshake she’d just bought cheap outta a McDonalds, and her eyes glinted when she met Rob’s own. “If we got married here.”

ROB This was the closest he’d been to home in ‘bout two years now. ‘Course they weren’t even that close, mind you. ‘Course Rob wasn’t supposed to be thinkin’ of Nottingham as home. ‘Course Rob was supposed to have left Swynlake soon as the Davis job was over, find Tuck and Martin and Jo once again. Funny how plans change. Here he was now, pockets full of money he’d won and he’d whispered in Andrina’s ear that maybe they should consider a career in gamblin’ instead — she’d make a mad good poker pro, if he had to guess. Briefly, he entertained travelin’ the world, goin’ to casinos in Monaco and Las Vegas, places glitzier and more glamorous than lil’ Blackpool — his head spinnin’ with possibilities, with thoughts of suave suits and sparkly dresses and then Andrina spoke. He let out a laugh. That was the furthest thing from what he was thinkin’ right now really and so amused was he that he near scooped her up and planted a kiss right on her mouth. “Imagine the two of us gettin’ married at all,” he said, leanin’ over to take a sip of her milkshake. And ‘cuz it was a dumb joke by Andrina, he went along with it, of course, ‘cuz that’s what the two of ‘em did. It was sorta like a game. Well it was really a game — sometimes against one another, sometimes on the same team. The only rule, really, was that they had fun. And Rob did like havin’ fun. “Here’s how it’ll go,” he said with a grin. “I’ll knock the rings off a vacationin’ couples hand — a rich one, mind you, only the best for my betrothed. And you’ll sweet talk a dress from a shop clerk who’s sweet on you, not even a dress maybe just a veil or somethin’. And we’d have to get married by that bloke over there — “ Rob pointed at the Freddie Mercury impersonator. “‘Cuz it’s not real love unless it’s sung by Freddie, you know.”

ANDRINA She loved this game. Andrina actually loved a lot of things. She once thought that wasn’t the case-- that she was sort of a heartless monster (lol) and the love gene had skipped her. But since she’d started stealing things, Andrina realized that her love gene was just different. Maybe she didn’t have one or two hobbies-- maybe she had a whole bucket-full, and that was okay. Maybe she didn’t want to go on dates or get a boyfriend and maybe she really was going to be Wine Aunt. But that wasn’t failure. She wasn’t heartless. Andrina loved nights that ended in a completely different place than they began. She loved the chaos of her room, its pieces always spread out like she was a magpie with her nest in constant creation. She hated working the counter at Whosits, but she loved sorting through the boxes of donations. She loved playing dress-up; she loved sex in public places; she loved getting in the Andrina-Zone between the hours of midnight and 4 in the morning, where the world was quiet and it zeroed in to whatever weirdo project she was working on. Those hours were Andrina at her most exhilarated, creative, blissed out. She stumbled into bed exhausted and happy as if she’d had the best sex in her life, though Andrina would tell you it was always better than sex. She didn’t understand the thrill her sisters got from crushing on this or that person or the dreams they had about husbands, wives, kids-- even empires. But she knew what it meant to love. She didn’t think she loved Rob, but she loved the type of life he gave her. She loved that he never pushed her into stupid boxes. She loved every night like this one. It was between the hours of midnight and 4. The Andrina-Zone. Her favourite hours. So maybe that’s what made that particular, stupid box appeal on that night. Because it wasn’t just a box, it was a story. Rob told it so well, Andrina’s heart was suddenly pounding, she wanted to know more. “Ooooo, the height of romance-- why, I do declare, Mr. Gardner, if I won’t just marry you right on the spot.” Andrina affected her voice into the buttery accent of a Hollywood movie star. She cooed. “I want a rock as big as the moon, Mr. Gardner! Will you steal me the moon?” She batted her eyelashes at him. She giggled but then her eyes flashed and she was Andrina again. “I dare you. Hey, whoever gets back to the chapel first wins a prize!”

ROB The game was on. Rob tugged Andrina’s hand to his lips, pressing a fresh milkshake sticky kiss to the back of her hand, and then dropped it, giving a two-fingered salute as he backed away. “Prize to be determined by winner — starting now!” And off he dashed. Sometimes, if he really wanted to get thinkin’ about things, Rob realized he was turnin’ 30 this year, which never seemed like an age he’d even get to, really. He figured he’d be caught by then, figured that like many of the blokes he’d grown up with, he’d be lost to drugs or to the cops ‘cuz of somethin’ else. But he was lucky — he was lucky and hey, he dinnit know the makeup of his DNA, but he looked enough like everyone else to get by. And he was very good at what he did and so here he was, almost 30, older than he thought he’d ever turn and still just as wild as he was at 18. Well, he was more careful now. Dinnit draw attention to himself. Dinnit get into fights. Instead, he slipped into crowded casinos and bars and he looked for couples sloshed outta their minds. Rings were tricky little buggers. Try a wrong hand, with someone whose ring was just tight enough, and you were easily caught. Rob waited a lil by the bar, orderin’ a drink and keepin’ an eye out for easy marks. For the bloke — he spotted an older fella, sittin’ with a girl who had to be at least half his age. On his left hand, a wedding band. Rob kept his eye trained on this fella, ‘cuz he knew at one point this man’d slip his ring into his pocket, feelin’ too guilty about flirting with the pretty young bird with the reminder of a wife at home. This happened quicker than Rob anticipated, which dinnit make him feel at all bad, as he brushed past and slipped his hand in the man’s jacket pocket and secured the gold ring. It was more varied with stealin’ a women’s ring. He could check the loo, see if anyone forget their ring as they washed their hands. He could hope that there was a gal who had a similar mindset as that old bloke. But really, the best bet in a place like this was to find a bird who was too skinny, too jittery, wearing fancy clothes and with pristine skin — someone drunk enough to say yes to a dance and not notice if in grabbin’ her hand, Rob slipped off her ring. He spotted a bird like that, and just his luck, it was someone at a Hen party — not the bride, but another gal and everyone at Hen parties, ‘specially Hen parties thrown by rich women, wanted to dance with fit scrappy blokes. The girl in question was blonde and had massive fake tits and plump fake lips and before Rob asked her to dance, he heard her talking loudly to her friends about sendin’ back her meals last night at dinner and how she had to fire her last chauffeur for takin’ time off to see his newborn baby. So yeah, he dinnit feel bad as he snagged the large diamond off her ring finger. She was so distracted by the fact he was whisperin’ some dumb sexy thing into her ear that she barely noticed. Rings secured, Rob bolted back out into the night, racing to the chapel as fast as he could. He saw Andrina right across from him, ‘bout the same distance away, and then grit his teeth and ran the remaining distance.

ANDRINA Andrina loved games, but she loved winning more. So as Rob pulled away, she was already laughing, her victory a bright spark in each eye. They hadn’t established any rules, which meant that Andrina could cheat if she wanted. And duh, she wanted. Cheating never cheapened a victory; it sweetened it, reminding Andrina that she was clever, and she loved being clever. And without Rob around to curb the worst of her impulses, she’d give into them. So Andrina didn’t bother to race off into the city, to find some shoppe with its lights still on. She knew how this worked. She’d seen movies and TV and stuff (wasn’t life just like movies and TV and stuff?) Andrina slurped at her milkshake and strided toward the very chapel they were supposed to meet at. She walked right in and up to the desk. “Hey, do you guys do, like, bridal veils and dress rentals and stuff?” she asked the man working at the counter. The man started at the desk, looking up from his phone. His eyes were bloodshot. Ooooooh he was high as fuck. “And by stuff, I also mean weed, you have any of that too?” “Wh--” “I’m kidding! Kind of. I am if you are,” Andrina flashed a smile and leaned over the desk, showing off her cleavage. “We...are a wedding chapel,” the man stated very slowly. He licked his lips. “We do have uh, tuxes and dresses available with some of our packages, listed here in the brochure…” “Here’s the thing,” Andrina said and she leaned in even closer. “I sort of have a bet with a friend. Can I like, just borrow it?” “Uh.” “I’ll give you the rest of my milkshake,” Andrina sang, giving it a shake. She tilted her head and grinned. “And I won’t tell your manager you groped me.” The man’s jaw went slack. Ten and a half minutes later, Andrina was outside, dressed in a cheap wedding dress, with a joint between her teeth for good measure. “I WIN!” she shouted toward Rob. “By all means, take your time! Maybe I’ll just marry my new friend, Earl!”

ROB “Ah, fuck,” said Rob, but he smiled and sprinted the last bit of the way. Reachin’ into his pocket, he pulled out the ring, and as he reached Andrina, he more or less crash landed onto one knee, holdin’ out that big, obnoxious rock that he’d swiped. “Andrina Genieve Triton,” said Rob, voice all serious, as he held out the ring. “Will you do me the honor of marryin’ me?” This was a grand game — a grand joke, yeah? Imagine scrappy Robin Hunt from Nottingham ever getin’ married. ‘Course it would be somewhere like this busted wedding chapel in Blackpool, with rings he stole. When he’d thought of marriage in the past, it seemed like somethin’ impossible: Rob was not a man who wore stuffy suits in a proper church and said bullshit lines in front of a priest. That’s what most girls wanted — maybe not a church, but a country club. Maybe not a priest, but a speech from their fathers, a best man and all that bullshit. Andrina dinnit though. Andrina had a bloody joint in her mouth now and the wedding dress she wore looked like a Halloween costume with its gaudy jewels and plunging neckline. She looked like the best goddamn thing he’d seen in his life. “Well whaddya say?” said Rob, still on one knee.

ANDRINA: The ring was gorgeous. Also, really ugly. It was both these things at the same time, and Andrina’s eyes widened at the sight of it, before she burst into laughter. Of all the ridiculous things that Andrina had ever done in her whole life-- this was the most ridiculous. A spontaneous trip to Blackpool! Gambling, sex in the bathroom, milkshakes, Earl, a costume wedding dress! And now she was looking at some kind of Kardashian mistake of a ring-- she had no idea if any of those stones were real, because they were the kind of thing that looked so shiny and over-the-top you had to second-guess, but also maybe it was real, and Rob held in his hand more money than any of them had ever had in their bank accounts combined (and that was saying something for Andrina, Daddy’s Little Princess). And here he was, offering it to her. And was he serious? Suddenly, Andrina didn’t know. Suddenly, she was looking down at the only boy who had never asked her to be anything that she wasn’t, and he was wearing that smile of his-- one that looked like he was always hiding the best part of an inside joke. She wanted to kiss that mouth. Andrina wondered if that meant she was in love with him. She wondered it, and nothing moved inside of her. No big firework moment-- but none of the cold, clammy fear either, that had always taken her by the neck and never let her go. She could marry this person and she didn’t think it would change anything, besides the fact that she’d have this massive, ugly ring to wave in people’s faces. Also, she could call herself Mrs. Gardner in an affected posh accent, which was always fun. Mrs. Andrina Gardner. Or Mrs. Andrina Hunt, or whatever. “I think I dared you first, that’s what I say,” Andrina declared. She grinned. She yanked up Rob by his collar, took the cigar out of her mouth, and planted a kiss on his lips, dirty and greedy and still tasting a little bit like milkshake. When it broke, she stuck the cigar in Rob’s mouth, took the ring, and slid it on her hand. She fanned it in front of her face. “I’ll do it if you’ll do it,” she said. And that was definitely a yes in Andrina-speak.

ROB Hell, they’d come this far and Rob wasn’t about to back out now. Did he want to get married? He dinnit know. Getting married was somethin’ he’d just never thought about. When Andrina kissed him though, hard and fast and sticky, he had the quick little thought that if somethin’ ever happened — if he couldn’t kiss her anymore — he’d be missin’ something more than just her lips. Not to say he wanted her to be the only person he kissed from here on out (or vice verse), but just that if he couldn’t kiss her well, then — Look, this was all some complicated stuff to be thinkin’ about when he was supposed to be havin’ the happiest day of his life, yeah? He didn’t answer her directly. Cigar still in his mouth, he grabbed her and lifted her up bridal style and spun around a little, before marching right into the chapel. “Oi!” he said to the greasy-lookin’ bloke at the counter. “We’re here to get married! Where do we do that at?” Determined not to put Andrina down till the moment they were in front of whatever sorta makeshift aisle they had in this horrendous lookin’ building. The greasy bloke grabbed some forms and led them through a door, down to a room dressed up in pink gawdy hearts and flowers and floatin’ lil naked babies. He plopped Andrina down then and extended his arm to her. “Ready?” he asked. There was still a teasin’ look in his eye, of course, but it was coupled with just a bit of seriousness. ‘Cuz here they were, here he was with Andrina wearin’ some trashy rental gown and ring he’d nicked at a nightclub, lookin’ at him like he was a prize she just won at a carnival. He looked at her and he felt… well happy. Ahem. He turned away, shouting at greasy fellow. “Can we get a wedding march here? Or something dancey? I wanna do this proper, mate. Only the best for the love of my life.”

ANDRINA: Rob lifted her up and Andrina squealed, instantly kicking her feet as if she was trying to escape. Rob’s grip was firm though. He had her locked in his arms. Locked down, some might say-- hardy har har, marriage is an oppressive institution that people still willingly entered despite a shitton of sexist comments and attitudes!!!!!!! But Andrina could escape if she wanted. Elbow Rob in the face and give the bugger a nosebleed and call the whole thing off. She’d even laugh it off and make it impossible for Rob to get mad at her. She knew how to play her cuteness as a shield like that. But she didn’t want to escape. She kind of wanted to get married. Why not? It wasn’t permanent. No matter what anyone said, marriage was a checkbox, and Andrina could check it off tonight, and erase it tomorrow. But she wanted to say, at least once, she’d been married. In Blackpool. On a whim. To the love of her life-- or maybe not-- but certainly to a lad she liked more than she’d ever liked any boy. So she struggled only to make this more fun, and if she was playing a part, she was playing damsel, for once. God knows she’d never play that part again. And then it was time, and she clicked down onto her boot heels and flipped her hair. She pretended to sniff snootily and tugged down at her sweater as though she was adjusting some kind of fancy bodice. Then she weaved her arm through Rob’s and waited for the music. The wedding march sounded and Andrina turned to Rob with her Serious (™) face on. “Race you down the aisle,” she said, Seriously. And then she darted down the aisle, yelping as she felt the veil stuck in her hair give way a little. She reached up to secure it, and nearly tripped over the cheap dress. Rob caught her, and then they were laughing again, spinning the rest of the way, to the intolling organs and a bored looking for-hire officiant at the other end. When they arrived, she was out of breath, but grinning. She flashed her ring at the officiant. “Pretty, innit?” “Beautiful,” deadpanned the very bored bloke. She wondered if this place paid more than McDonalds or Starbucks. Hmm, back-up options for a career… “Ahem. We are gathered here today--” “Wait! Rob, play my dad for a second. You gotta give me away.” She said and elbowed him in the side.

ROB “Right, o’course,” said Rob without a moment’s hesitation. He darted back down to the end of the aisle. The rent-a-preacher stared at the both of them. Rob extended his arm out to Andrina and did his very best JEFF Triton impression. “You look beautiful, darling,” he said, making his voice deeper which wasn’t necessarily how JEFF sounded, but it sounded vaguely what Rob imagined fathers to sound like. “I’m so happy that you’ve found someone for you.” He didn’t know what fathers said to daughters on their wedding days, but he imagined it went something like that. Puffing out his chest, he stomped down the aisle as the music played again. The bored pastor, preacher, random official person sighed. “Are you ready now?” he asked. Rob saluted, still pretending to be JEFF, and then took his place as Rob. He clasped his hands together like a groom in a movie, even though he was wearing a Dead Kennedys t-shirt and some old worn jeans, he pretended he was in some fancy tuxedo. “Ahem. So, like I said we are gathered here today to join together this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony...did you wanna do your own vows or just do the ‘for better or worse’ bit?” “Nah I can do my own,” said Rob. He wasn’t about to say some church bullshit. He cleared his throat as the pastor bloke man person went about all the other “Andrina,” said Rob, clearing his throat. “You’re absolutely batshit and I say that as someone who’s too hard to handle for literally every person in the world I've met before. You’re sexy and fun, but you’re also my partner in crime.” A smirk here, ‘cuz that was literal eyooo. “And you know, “ Rob continued, a little more sincere now if you knew what to listen for, but you’d have to really know what to listen for in Rob’s voice. “I don’t think there’s been many girls in my life I’ve wanted to never stop kissin’ but I never wanna stop kissin’ you. I promise I’ll always be down to do something as wild as gettin’ married in this chapel and I promise we’ll never be bored. Or maybe we will be, but we’ll find somethin’. I love you — “ It slipped out and he couldn’t stop now, so he just grinned as he talked hopin’ she’d also find it like a joke (or hopin’, maybe that she didn’t). “And I’d steal a million pounds for you and you know it, babe.” “Lovely,” said the pastor, then turning to Andrina.

ANDRINA: It was a joke as they waltzed down the aisle the second time, Andrina taking long, serious strides, trying to remain smooth-faced. It was a joke as Robbie jumped to the front, smoothed a hand down his front, clasped his hands together. It was a joke as Andrina climbed up to meet him, lifting her chin before sticking out a tongue for a split second before the officiant finished his cliche, scripted speech. It was a joke as Robbie started his vows. But it wasn’t a joke for long. Andrina couldn’t trace where the slippage happened. But Rob’s smirk faded at some point and suddenly she was noticing the color of his eyes, which she’d never noticed before. She was not the type to note shit like that. That was for Tiny and Dell, even Lana to a point. Andrina only cared about how smart a boy was. If she was in the mood, she’d pick a stupid lad to get her off, finding the most embarrassing, neanderthal dirty talk a strange turn on-- like watching shitty porn on purpose. Other times, she picked someone a little wittier, who could keep up with her jabs-- good not just for the fuck, but for the foreplay. Rob was obviously the latter. She loved his mouth, kissed it plenty of times, felt it on her neck, her breasts, between her legs. She liked when he talked and when he didn’t-- when he chuckled, when he smirked, when he sucked on a lolly she nicked for him from the market. But now she was looking in his eyes and her stomach fluttered. Butterflies, for the first time, here on her wedding day. She could blame the wedding for them. Blame her veil and the fake stained glass behind Rob and the big rock on her finger. It was all just an illusion. She didn’t really feel… she didn’t actually… But maybe she did. And suddenly there was a before and an after. There was a split in Andrina’s roads. She saw it clearly, her life behind her-- a life of seven sisters, never enough space, and always drama she was obligated to participate in. She’d leave Blackpool and return to it. The idea crushed her. She was suffocating right here, right now, which is usually how she felt when a boy, any boy, looked her dead in the eye like this and told her that they liked her-- except Rob was doing that right now and all she wanted to do was fling her arms around his neck and beg him to steal her away next. Don’t make her go back to that fucking town, to all those sisters, to her shitty apartment and the dinners she had to show up to like reporting for the army, to her dead-end job, to Attina’s depression. Please, dear god, no. Her marriage was a getaway car. Rob was driving. Andrina was calling shotgun and hopping the fuck in. “I think vows are overrated,” she said. “But I promise that you are the best fucking thing that ever happened to me.” And she looked to the officiant. “Okay, say the thing.” “Oh-- that’s all--?” “Yeah. Chop chop buddy!” Andrina said with a hand wave. “This is the happiest day of my life, helloooooo!” “Er--right. I now pronounce you--” Andrina flung her arms around Rob’s neck and kissed him before he could finish.

ROB Rob kissed Andrina back, picking her up a little and swingin’ her around. And ‘cuz why do this if he didn’t do this the right way, he picked up Andrina’s legs and carried her in his arms, like they were somethin’ out of a movie or somethin’. Ha. Rob Hunt from Nottingham Orphanage never thought he’d be worthy of a movie. Not that this shitty chapel and these stolen rings and this rent-a-pastor were worthy of a movie. They were all shams, hacks, more reflective of Rob, really. But Andrina — Andrina was a real thing, better than any dumb movie endin’ because she had a wicked smile and sometimes in the morning her breath smelled and sometimes in the night she kicked, but she was smart and she never stopped, ever, and the mask Rob wore always somehow disppeared with her. Also she was sexy as fuck. He spun Andrina around a little, givin’ a bit of a woop, the gave her a proper snog. It was sticky and messy, the sort kiss that horny teenagers in the back of a car kissed. And what of it? He couldn’t wait to go back to the van and shag his wife. “Hey, uh, sorry but you’ve got to sign these forms and stuff,” said the rent-a-preacher, holding up some papers. “It’s real quick, I promise. Sorry shoulda done it before but — “ “Yeah, yeah, just bring it here,” said Rob, dropping Andrina down and grabbing the pen to quickly sign because, okay, the primary thing on his mind right now was sex.

ANDRINA: Andrina was also thinking about a car-shag-- a back-of-a-van shag, actually, was more accurate. Her thighs were already trembling, desire as hot as the rest of her blood. If she stepped back from herself, she’d maybe realize it was the adrenaline from what might have been some kind of mental breakdown or dissociative episode. Because, her! Andrina! A wife! Honesty, this was her most brilliant joke yet. Wait until she told her sisters. (This thought instantly led to a short-circuit, and the Nyan Cat Video played on repeat.) First though, right. Paperwork. This was another chance for Andrina to rewind this whole insane episode and decide she wasn’t going to be a wife after all. But Rob grabbed for the pen without hesitating, and fuck if she was going to prove to be a coward in the last ten seconds of the biggest Andrina-prank ever concocted. Plus, she got bragging rights, she supposed, being the first sister to ever marry. That was kind of a fucked up thing to think. But it’s true, went the little voice in her head. As Andrina signed her name with a flourish, something very pleased inside her stretched itself out and started purring. A smile slid across her face. No one thought it’d be you, Andrina. Yeah, maybe this is a mental breakdown. Or maybe you finally found out who you’re supposed to be. “Should I take your name?” Andrina said as she straightened up. She wiggled her veil off so she could plop it on Rob’s head instead, stepping forward to adjust it carefully. “Andrina Gardner. But that isn’t even your real name right? Well, that’s kind of hot. A fake-new last name. Or maybe you can take my last name-- it can be your new fake name. Or like, fake-real name. Rob Triton.” Her eyes moved from the veil down to his own. She smiled. It was her softest smile of the whole night. “What do you think?” ROB Rob had no attachment to his name. He slipped on and off his name like it was a scarf of some sort. Sometimes he forgot Robert Gardner wasn’t a real person; sometimes he forgot Robin Hunt was one. Sometimes, he forgot that once he went by Oliver and also that was his legal middle name. “Well, you can’t marry Robert Gardner ‘cuz he ennit real,” said Rob, cheerfully, tossing the veil over his shoulder. The rent-a-pastor looked massively confused, but Rob paid him no mind. It’s not like this bloke was gonna do a deep investigation into Robert Gardner. That name was so common, Rob had chosen it for a reason. Sometimes Robert Gardner felt more real to him than Robin Hunt. Robin Hunt was a name chosen by a system, a name written on paperwork and run through computers. A name he’d shed because the baggage of being Robin Hunt was too heavy for him to carry. A name he sometimes felt guilty about leaving behind. But he needed to pick up new ones. He had to keep evolving. Stay still and he’d die. He looked at Andrina now, his mouth cocking up into a smile. “But I can marry Andrina Triton. I’ve never had a real name of my own, so I might as well take yours, yeah? I don’t need to be Robert or Robin. Just Rob. Time to reinvent myself — “ He took the paper and signed Rob Triton with a flourish. “There we go — who’d thought you’d make a new, honest man outta me, eh?”

ANDRINA Andrina stared down at Rob Triton and felt something. That something didn’t have any name that she knew. It tickled, and if she thought about it too much, she suspected it might feel a little bit like heartburn. Here’s what she did know: that something made her want to take this piece of paper with Rob Triton written on it, tear it up into pieces, shove it into her mouth, and eat it. That’s how much she loved seeing it written out like that, the idea of not belonging to Rob at all-- but him belonging to her. Instead of giving into her weirdo, paper-cannibalistic desire, she swept up the paper, folded it neatly and then reached under her dress, hiking the whole thing up. She hadn’t taken off her jeans, see. So she could just slip the paper in the back pocket. She let the dress back down and then slipped her arm through Rob’s own. “Okay Mr. Triton. I think we need to consummate our marriage,” she winked at him. The officiant grimaced. “Chill out, we won’t do it here,” Andrina said and giggled. “We have a very on-brand sex van. Let’s make the most of it. Maestro, play the wedding march!” “We don’t really do that on the way down the aisle…” “Nevermind!” Andrina exclaimed and she tugged Rob down anyway-- and together they skipped their way back out into the early hours of a Blackpool morning.

#rowdy and randy #para

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dp-pastandpresent · 5 years

Text

Past and Present: Chapter 30

"The screen shows the little clouds exploding! You must have to touch them! Let them Pop!"

"Say that again?" Danny's voice crackled through to Tucker's headset.

"Touch the orbs, let them pop!" Tucker practically yelled back, realizing he was losing his connection.

The three of them were still sitting around the computer, all with headsets on, staring at the screen as Danny's dot disappeared.

Suddenly, Tucker found himself lurching back as the screen went solid green, his headset turning to static.

"Did yours…?"

"Go to static? Yup," Maddie responded.

"So, does that mean?" Jack asked.

"He's out of our range?" she offered. "There is nothing we can do now but hope he survives on his own in there."

"But there has to be SOMETHING we can do!" Tucker said angrily as he turned to the adults behind him. "Anything else integrated into that suit?"

"We put so many things in there, I forgot what half of them do!" Jack replied, then put his head down in frustration.

"Jack, remember, there are parts of the Zone that we haven't even explored. Parts we can't even begin to imagine. We've barely even cracked the surface!" Maddie said, getting up and putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I guess Mads, but I just wish we knew more. We've been studying ghost lore for so long, waiting for this moment, and it feels like we're back to square one."

"It does seem so doesn't it, dear?"

Tucker turned to the adults at this, trying to find a way to bring back the confident ghost researchers he had heard so much about.

"STOP! Both of you. Just. Stop. You are Jack and Maddie Fenton, the two scientists who DISCOVERED THE GHOST ZONE. You have worked too hard to give up now! Yes, Danny is out of reach. No, we don't know what has happened to Sam. BUT we do know that we can't just give up!"

The couple looked at each other, then to the teen in front of them, a bit struck by his confrontation.

"Think guys. Is there ANYTHING in that suit we can use to figure things out. Anything that has a longer range?" Tucker asked, trying again to bring back the heroes he knew they could be.

"GZPS went out already, as did our coms. He's gone too deep into the Zone, we can't communicate," Maddie answered.

"The extra energy boosters won't do any good either, as they only affect him," Jack added.

"And we can't check his vitals because they were connected to the GZPS," Maddie finished.

"His vitals… wait!" Tucker quickly responded, then added, "We were able to check his vitals, his location, his everything, on your computer program!" He turned back to the computer and began pushing keys as the screens changed.

"And?" Jack asked.

"Well, you said yourself you packed a lot into that thing. Maybe TOO MUCH! Maybe if we remotely disable some of it, we'll be able to get enough power to boost the rest!"

"Tucker, that's brilliant!" Maddie exclaimed, giving him a hug from behind. "Turn off the GZPS, since we know where he is now, and play with the coms. See if you can disable the two-way audio."

"Why would we disable that, Mads?" Jack asked, confused.

"Sure, we want to hear what's happening on his end, but I don't think there's anything we can tell him while he's confronting that monster that will really help," Maddie explained.

"OOOOO," Jack said, his mouth in an O shape.

"GZPS. Off." Tucker said as he clicked a few buttons. "Two-way coms, off. Try the audio receiver now!"

Maddie put her headset back on and played with the dial until finally she let out a smile. "It's static, but I can hear a bit. Danny just said something."

She lurched back at this, as if taken aback.

"What!?" Jack and Tucker said together in surprise.

"It's just… I heard another voice. It must be HIM. It's so deep and profound."

Tucker grabbed his set and put it on but frowned in dismay as he messed with his dial.

"The frequency must still be too weak. We can only get through on one set. Maddie it'll have to be yours."

"That's fine Tucker," she replied, before adding, "Can you check his vitals now, or do we need to disable more?"

Tucker looked back at his screen but sadly there was no information about Danny's health.

"I don't get it. We should be able to see how he's doing, I turned off what you said, plus a few of those extras, like the coffee warmer you added Jack…"

Maddie looked at her husband and raised an eyebrow.

"What, no one likes a cold cup of coffee…" Jack replied quietly.

"Wait! I think he… he took off the suit!"

"Why on Earth would he do that!" Jack asked loudly, raising his hands. "He knows he needs his strength!"

"It's Clockwork. I just heard his faint voice say something about Danny benefiting from removing his suit."

"I just hope Danny knows what he's doing," Tucker responded, feeling a bit unsure of their ghostly hero's chances of saving his friend.

"Unfortunately, I can't hear everything. It's fading in and out. And if Danny really took it off, it's not even as close to the speakers as it once was." Maddie replied in dismay.

"But it's better than nothing! Keep listening Mads!" Jack said, regaining his positive attitude.

"Well if you'd stop talking it'd be easier!" she said, walking towards the back of the lab with her head down.

"I think she needs some space," Tucker whispered to Jack as he turned back toward the computer. "Is there anything else on here that may help us?"

"I've got a few folders with ghost information, and there was a bit on Clockwork, but really not much. I can pull them up if you think they'd help," Jack answered.

Tucker looked back at Maddie, who was still deep in thought trying to hear what was happening deep in the Zone, sometimes making a face at what she heard.

"Looks like we'll be here awhile, so go ahead."

Tucker was scanning the files Jack had pulled up, looking for anything that may give them a clue to Clockwork's motives.

"Master of time. Able to control who stays and goes. Helps ghosts move on…" Tucker murmured as he scrolled. "All things you've already told me when I arrived, basically."

"I told you son, I've shared pretty much everything I can already. Me and Maddie, we haven't been able to research individual ghosts much, seeing as we haven't had access to the Zone until recently."

"Wait! Here's something!" Tucker interrupted, squinting at the screen. "It's a scanned document, from your mom I'm guessing?"

Jack looked at it too and nodded. "I've only been able to decipher about half of what it says though, since her handwriting was so frail towards the end."

Tucker kept squinting as he scanned his eyes over it, mouthing the words to himself before turning to Jack and pointing at part of it.

"Is this the part you couldn't read?"

Jack looked and nodded again.

"Jack, I think Sam's in trouble," he gulped, before continuing. "If I'm reading this right, that medallion we have is more than just a trinket. It says here 'Clockwork's medallions allow a being in and out of his lair. Without them they can't find it.'"

"I think we figured that out. After all it's our map now!" Jack said.

"But there's more! This here, in really messy scribbles! She must have been in a hurry or something, I'm only able to piece a few small bits together. But it doesn't look good."

Before Tucker could say more Maddie came running over to the group.

"Boys! We've got a problem!"

While the boys played on the computer, Maddie sat quietly in the corner, concentrating hard on picking up what little she could from her headset.

"You said his powers were fueled by our love…"

A rush of relief took over Maddie as heard Sam's voice this time, clearly still alive.

"He finds himself questioning things… that's when the human emerges."

She gritted her teeth. Clockwork again. And she wasn't even to hear the whole bit of his sentence.

'Think Maddie! Put these pieces together. Clearly Clockwork is telling the kids that they are linked, but we kind of knew that already…'

She stopped as she heard more come through.

"I have not been able to see…. Until it occurred in real time… because of your powers."

Maddie opened her mouth in awe, finally figuring a few things out.

'Clockwork's visions are affected by Danny's powers? But wasn't Clockwork supposed to be all-knowing? Able to control everything and everyone? Ha! We'll see about that!'

She was about to go back to the group and tell them what she had just figured out, to see if they had any ideas about how to use this to their advantage, when she heard more.

"…Let him lay! Let him realize I am right!"

The voice was angry, as if something had just happened to set him off. Maddie was horrified to think what it could have been and what he could have done, but also too intrigued to let herself get distracted by the boys. She glanced over at them to see them peering at the computer intently, and decided to stay and listen, planning to fill them in on it all when she had a more concrete idea.

"I may not have my powers… Tell me what's going on…"

Maddie sighed in relief as she heard his voice, though it was strained and full of crackling static.

"This amulet…"

She felt like she was hearing a soap opera play out as she strained to listen, not wanting to stop even as the static got worse and worse. 'Danny must have gotten further from where his suit landed,' she thought.

"It's linked to your destiny…"

Sam this time, before even more static came, so strong she couldn't hear a word.

'Clearly that amulet Danny has is linked to his powers, his love. And so is Sam. And that power is stronger than Clockwork thought. It's strong enough to overtake him even. If only Danny can find a way to harness it…'

She kept thinking, glancing at the boys again to see them squinting at their screen, while listening intently to the static in her set. She was about to pull it off and give up when something broke through that caught her attention.

"I AM NO ONE'S TOY!" Danny's voice rang through, clearer than it had been before.

"Danny!" Sam's voice now, but not as clear.

Maddie closed her eyes again, straining to hear, knowing it could be important.

"Trust me. Trust us! This will work out...!" Her voice was really weak now, almost completely gone.

She knew something was up, and she knew she needed to share what she had heard. She turned back to the boys, ready to explain when one last bit came through.

"I love you, Danny."

Tears filled Maddie's eyes at this, full knowing that something bad must have happened to Sam. Hoping that maybe the boys could shed some light, she ran over to them, fear in her voice as she said, "Boys. We've got a problem!"

"Jazz's notes say WHAT?" Jack asked again, as Tucker explained what he was able to decipher.

Maddie had just finished frantically filling them in on what she had heard, and was now tapping her toes impatiently, knowing that every second they spent was another one Sam was in trouble.

"Humans. They can't survive for long in the Ghost Zone. Only a few things can fix that, and one of them is Clockwork's medallions. Or at least, that's what her scribbles look like they say," Tucker replied. "And if Maddie is correct in what she heard, I have a feeling Sam took hers off."

"Which means…. She's gone?" Jack asked.

"Now Jack, don't race to any conclusions, we can't know for sure. And even if she did take it off, I bet Danny found a way to save her." She paused, then said, "Unfortunately, my headset is static again and nothing is coming through at all." She frowned, tears forming in her eyes.

Jack put his arm around his wife, trying to comfort her the way she always did him.

"This isn't our fault. This isn't anyone's fault except that low-life ghost, Clockwork. And I promise Maddie, we WILL make him pay!"

"But what can we even do?" Maddie replied, her usual confidence shaken.

"What can't we do? We're family! And family always wins!" Jack replied with a boom in his voice. "Plus, Danny is strong, powerful and in love! And if family doesn't win, love will!"

Tucker listened intently as Jack cheered up his wife, trying to figure things out. It wasn't until Jack mentioned love that he remembered something very important.

"Guys! We should probably fill in Sam's grandma, don't you think?"

With a little coaxing from Maddie, Sarah had decided to take a breather and go for a roll around the block. It had been a rough day and she needed to get some space.

'A few weeks ago, we were all normal. Living at home. Going about our lives. And now? Sam's been abducted by a crazy ghost who can control time!'

'But a few weeks ago, Sam was also depressed and lonely. It was only a matter of time before she took it a step further.'

She really didn't know which was better – returning to life as normal or letting ghosts control their fate. In her mind, they were both bad choices.

'How about something in the middle. Something where Sam is happy, Danny is able to find balance and we all return to life?'

'Danny shouldn't even exist. He died fifty years ago!'

'And yet there he was, standing in front of you earlier today, almost human.'

She couldn't make sense of it all, not really. As much as she wanted normalcy, she also found the idea of her former boyfriend returning intriguing, refreshing almost. It was like they all had been given a second chance.

'Second chance? Ha! You're 50 years older now, it's not like you should be with a teenager!'

'Of course not, but Sammy, she's getting the chance you never had!'

"If only…" She found herself saying out loud as she returned to the Fenton House. So much for a breather. She knew she'd feel better she went back in and tried to help in some way.

She wheeled herself up their ramp and into the house, which had been left unlocked for her, only to find the living room still empty.

'Whatever is going on down there, I sure hope they find their answers sooner rather than later.'

She went back over to the main room and found a TV remote, ready to let the glow of the screen distract her while the real work was done downstairs. But before she could click it on, she found her vision going black and her head getting dizzy as she fell forward and hit the ground.

At the reminder from Tucker that Sam's grandma was still upstairs, patiently waiting for results, Maddie had run up to check on her once more, knowing she'd have to break the news of her granddaughter's fate very gently.

She turned towards the living room and looked around, not seeing Sarah at first and assuming she was still outside. But then she looked again and saw a glimpse of her metal scooter. Eyes wide, she quickly ran into the room, only to find that Sarah was lying on the ground, with nothing so much as a heartbeat or pulse.

#danny phantom #sam manson #tucker foley #dpau #danny phantom fanfiction #phanfiction #danny phantom fanfic #fanfiction

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aspiringarmstrong · 6 years

Text

Star vs Destiny - Chapter 11

Marco emptied the boiling water into his water skins. He may be on a suicide mission, but he didn’t need to come down with a case of Montezuma's Revenge.

“It’s odd you only drink boiled water,” BuffFrog said.

“On our world, we have to purify the water so parasite and bacteria don't infect us,” Marco explained. Looking around the swampy forest, he was sure there was something nasty was waiting for him to ingest it.

“Ah, make sense. My grandmother once ate fish with parasite. Six weeks later, her belly burst opened and thousands of bugs covered the table.” BuffFrog reminisce. “It was a great feast for our family.”

“You… ate your grandmother?” Marco asked in horror. BuffFrog let out a chuckle.

“No… no… we ate the bugs. Grandmother still alive.” BuffFrog said. His leaned close to Marco, showing his a rather scary face. “My grandmother… she never dies.”

Marco didn’t know how to take that and turned back to his pot of water.

“Marco…” BuffFrog whispered and pointed up. There was a flying eyeball with bat wings staring at them.

“Toffee watches us.” He whispered.

Marco pulled a dagger from behind his cloak and threw it at the eyeball. It dodged the attack, but its wing was nicked, causing it to careen into the ground.

“Marco…” BuffFrog said with a pleading warning.

“He knows we’re coming for him now, There’s no turning back,” Marco said, recovering the eyeball. He looked dead into its center.

“You hear me Toffee? I’m coming for you! I’ll make you pay for everything you did!” Marco screamed and threw the eye on the ground. It flopped helplessly and let out a squeal as Marco’s foot crushed it.

BuffFrog looked away with a solemn gaze.

“Eyebat was longtime friend.” He said. “I will miss him.”

Marco stopped twisting his foot and turned to BuffFrog.

“I… I’m sorry. I assumed it was just a projection or something.” Marco said, regretting killing the creature.

“Was his birthday next week,” he said, picking up his friend and moved to the treeline. He turned his head to look back at him. “You assume many things Marco, this war… this will happen, but… losing good friend still hurts.”

Marco watched BuffFrog fade into the forest to bury his friend. Marco shook off his guilt and continued with his water replenishment task.

OoOoO

Star, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, King and Queen Butterfly sat in one of the meeting room with a newly conscious Ludo. Star looked around for Glossaryck all day, but he couldn’t be found. Jackie was in her assigned room with guards outside, and Tom agreed to keep her company.

She didn’t want to even think about Tom right now and the whole mess she’d made with that. Jackie was slightly apprehensive to have him hang out, but if Toffee tried another attack, she would be the most likely target, and Tom was best suited to handle something like that.

At least… the best chance of surviving.

“Are those two insane?” Ludo screeched once he was apprised of the situation.

Mrs. Diaz cried into the barrel chest of her husband. Star’s parents regarded the others with a look of grave concern.

“What are we going to do?” Star asked.

“As much as I regret to say it… we should assemble the guards.” King Butterfly suggested. “I’ll send the word out to the other kingdoms. We’ll need to assault Ludo’s Castle as soon as we can.

“I’ll send word to the Magic High Commission,” Queen Butterfly said. “We’ll need all the firepower we can get.”

“I’ll help,” Ludo said, standing up on the table. Everyone glared at him. He cleared his throat and stood up as regally as he could. “I still have monster contacts who didn’t join me or Toffee. I’m sure I can convince them to join us.”

“I can call Princess Ponyhead and see if she can get her family help too,” Star suggested. She thought of her other friends, but none really had the fighting power they need, and she didn’t want to put them in danger.

“It’s a five-day trek through the forest to get to Ludo’s Castle.” King Butterfly said. “We all know how sturdy Marco is, but I worry he won’t survive that trip. Even in my prime… I’d have difficulty.”

“He’ll be fine,” Ludo said with a grin. “BuffFrog is with him, and if anyone can get him there in one piece, it'll be him.”

Ludo thought for a moment.

“Well… I can’t really tell if that’s good or bad… what’s better? Dying horribly in the forest, or dying horribly by Toffee’s hand?”

“No matter what,” Star interrupted. “We need to move now. He’s got a three days lead on us. Why can’t I just scissor us to the castle and meet him there?”

“Ah..haha” Ludo chuckled. “That’d be my fault.”

Star looked at the green chicken creature with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, only my scissors would let us in there. I’ve set up various portal traps that redirects anyone attempting to breach my borders into the bottom of a lava lake.” Ludo chuckled.

“How can he do that?” Star shouted. “Mom! How can he do that?”

Queen Butterfly shrugged.

“I’ll talk to Hekapoo when she gets here… see if she can figure that out.”

Heckapoo is a being on the magic high council and the creator of the Interdimensional Scissors. Everyone who has a pair has met her and passed her test. Each set of scissors is designed for the owner specifically. She’s a rather aloof person, but Star liked her when she met her.

“I suggest we start getting our forces together,” King Butterfly said. “If Hekapoo can fix whatever Ludo’s done around his castle, then we can portal there quickly, otherwise it’s going to be a long and treacherous march.”

“We’ll get Marco back.” Queen Butterfly said, reassuringly. Her expression didn’t quite seem to match her confident tone.

OoOoO

Toffee watched his screen black out when Marco’s foot crushed his spy. The other monsters around him seemed upset over the loss of their spy. He didn’t understand why the loss of such an insignificant being was affecting morale, but it didn’t matter.

Marco was coming… alone.

He grinned in delight.

He knew that the boy was going to be useful.

Even though BuffFrog survived his attack, it was inconsequential. The creature served his use. Ludo surely had succumbed to the poison, even if he didn’t, It really didn��t matter. Those pieces were off the board.

He has the wand. The Butterfly Army was on their way. He was sure the Magic High Commission was going to be there, along with a force from the underworld and whatever other Mewmans who were stupid enough to join them.

What was the earth term he heard?

Fish in a barrel.

He flexed his right hand, staring at his missing middle finger. Turning his gaze to the right, he smiled at the pedestal that held the wand and toasted his glass to it.

To his future rule… and revenge on Queen Butterfly

OoOoO

Jackie set down her cards with a grin.

“Full house! Aces over sevens!” she declared.

Tom grunted and threw his cards down.

“Sorry that you got stuck babysitting,” Jackie said.

“Nah, it’s not a problem. I get why they asked.” Tom said as he shuffled the cards. Jackie piled up the poker chips on her side and took the cards as he dealt them. “If Toffee used Star’s wand to control you again...”

“Yeah I’d get all possessed and my head will spin around like a pea soup sprinkler.” Jackie laughed. She was terrified by the idea, but she was trying to put her situation in a better light.

“The castle is really well protected. The only reason Toffee kept control was because Marco brought you in.” Tom explained. “But, I don’t know much about this guy. Queen Butterfly said he’s a real mastermind type… and he thinks like ten moves ahead.”

Jackie passed two cards and looked at her hand. It was three of a kind. Not that strong, but from Tom’s bewildered expression, she could make it work.

She added to the pot and gave him a wink.

“I get the rules to the game, but why do you keep on winning?” He said as he fumbled his cards around. He matched her bet.

“It’s more about reading people,” Jackie said and added more chips. “And taking risks.”

Tom matched her bet and chuckled.

“You sound like Star,” he said. Jackie grinned and added more to the pile. Tom raised an eyebrow at her.

“She never really talked much about your history…” Jackie said, adding another few to the pot. Tom seemed visibly agitated with the large pile of chips that had accrued. He changed his hand around a few times before matching.

“Honestly there’s not much to talk about. Ponyhead, Star and I were friends since kids. We dated for about a year, that felt like a lifetime ago but was only a few years ago. She was crazy, I was hot-tempered, Ponyhead… well, she hasn’t changed much.” Tom laughed. “I feel so stupid how I was used in all this, too. Honestly, part of this is my fault… I just, once I found out who Toffee really was, I couldn’t bring myself to really say much about it.”

“Oh?” Jackie said, adding more to the pile. “Do tell?”

Tom chuckled and matched her bet.

“I can see what you’re trying to do,” Tom said. “When I met back up with Star, I was trying to fix my anger.”

Jackie quietly listened. It seemed important, so she didn’t want to instigate another bet just yet.

“I used to have a counselor who would help me out. I thought if I fix myself for Star, she’d take me back.” Tom said. “It didn’t help much, because I realized I was doing it for her… not for me.”

“I see,” Jackie said. “Self-reflection can be good.”

“So, I found Toffee.” He said, ashamed. “My counselor told me he couldn’t do much for me and gave me his contact information.”

“So… this evil mastermind… became your therapist?” Jackie said in shock. “Wow… that’s a lot to take in.”

“I know… I mean, he helped a lot with things. Aspects of myself I didn’t want to acknowledge.” Tom said, setting down his cards. “He helped me talk to Star and get close to her. Showed me how you can plant little seeds, and if you tend them gently, they will be able to grow into something powerful.”

Jackie leaned back and put her feet on the table.

“Yea, I guess I can see that,” Jackie said. “I mean, Marco’s been trying to plant his seed in me since kindergarten… wait… that sounded really bad.”

Jackie and Tom both erupted in laughter. They stopped for a moment and smiled at each other. She felt slightly guilty knowing what was going to happen to Tom once things settle down. He seemed like a really good guy.

“Are you worried about Marco?” Tom asked. He must have seen her worry and assumed it was about him.

“Yeah.” She said, throwing another chip in. “Are you?”

Tom matched her bet and nodded.

“All right, I call,” Jackie said and showed her three of a kind.

Tom grinned devilishly and showed a straight flush.

“What?” Jackie said astonished. “How?”

Tom whipped his hair back in a cool manner and threw on his shades.

“Well… you are playing cards with a devil.” He grinned and took his winnings.

“Oh give me a break!” Jackie exclaimed with a chuckle. “And give me those!”

She snatched the sunglasses off Tom and put them on herself.

“Ohhh, I’m a devil” She mocked him.

“Hey! I don’t sound like that!” He protested and tried to snatch the glasses back.

“Oh, you so totally do!”

OoOoO

Star sat in another meeting room on the other side of the castle. She wondered how many of these rooms there were, and why her ancestors decided to scatter them all over the place. Why not just make a ‘meeting room wing’ or tower or something.

She sat next to her mother and stared at the Magical High Commission members. She had met and even grew up with some of them.

Lekmet: the bipedal goat with bat wings who could only communicate with goat noises.

Rhombulus: A large man who wears fur underwear and a cape, with snakes for arms crystal nipples and a massive rhombus shaped crystal for a head with one eye floating inside. He seemed to be the only one who could understand Lekmet’s bleats.

Omnitraxus Prime: A small floating orb with stars and galaxies swirling about inside the glass, a skull suspended in the center.

Two other chairs sat empty.

“Blaat,” Lekmet replied.

“He wants to know where Glossaryck is.” Rhombulus translated.

Queen Butterfly shrugged.

“Uhhhg,” Rhombulus grunted. “He’s always like that!”

“Where the heck is Heckapoo?” Omitraxus inquired with a small giggle at his pun.

A portal was sheared open near the door and in stepped Hekapoo

She wore a black and yellow dress. Spikes came out from the elbows of her long sleeves, flame red hair, and a golden crown with a flame on it.

“We don't need that dingbat anyway,” she said with a scoff and took her seat. “Let's get this over with.”

Star watched as her mother went over the events that had taken place. Once she was finished, the Magic High Commission all stared at her, mouth agape.

“That Septarian is still alive?” Hekapoo replied. “I thought we took care of him years ago!

“I’ll crystalize him this time,” Rhombulus said, waving his snake arms around.

“You know that won’t work” Omitraxus replied. “He can absorb magic.”

“I know this is a dire event… but,” Queen Butterfly stammered. “I think Marco needs to be the priority. We need to stop him before he gets to the castle and attempts to take Toffee on by himself.”

Queen Butterfly looked to Hekapoo.

“What? Why are you looking at me?” She asked. Queen Butterfly pulled out a birdcage with Ludo inside. “What… is that gross chicken looking thing?”

“It’s Ludo, the original owner of the castle. He did something to prevent any magic teleportation to his borders. It’s a two-day march from any point we can teleport.” Queen Butterfly said. Hekapoo gave the chicken a weird look.

“I don’t remember giving you any scissors.” She said suspiciously.

“Well… I inherited them… from my great uncle’s sister’s cousin.” he said with a nervous chuckle. She glowered at him and grunted.

“What… exactly did you do to block portals for that big of a distance?” she growled.

“Well, you know how portals have a radius. They can’t be more than so much apart or they won’t work?” he chuckled and fidgeted his fingers. “I found out you can connect portals to each other if you overlap them.”

“YOU DID WHAT?” Hekapoo shouted.

“It took me years, but I linked the boundaries of my kingdom with portals from the scissors. They’re not active and open since they’re weaved together like a web.” He chuckled, showing some pride in his ingenuity. “There’s only one spot that’s safe to go through, and my scissors are the only pair that is programmed with it.”

“And… if I were to go there right now?” Hekapoo asked while brandishing her scissors.

“One of two things,” Ludo said nervously. “This room fills with lava… or you’ll be swimming in it.”

“Do you know the spatial coordinate for your hole?” Hekapoo said while glaring at the tiny birdman.

“No… It’s programmed into the scissors,” he said with a whimper. Hekapoo grumbled to herself, slashed a hole in space-time and left. A few moments later she came back with a massive book and slammed it in front of Ludo.

“What one is it?” she roared. Ludo looked up at her and down to the massive book. He gingerly reached out of his cage and opened it to the first page.

“No… that’s not it,” he said and turned the page. “Not this one either.”

“This is going to take forever.” Omnitraxus bemoaned.

“Yeaj… this is volume one of three thousand. I can’t fix what he did unless I know what pair of scissors his ‘ancestor’ bequeathed him.” she said.

“Blaat.” Lekmet said

“He asked; doesn’t your dimension’s time run differently? Like… 12 days per second?”

Hekapoo glared at the goat. Grabbed Ludo’s cage and stormed off through her portal.

“Is Ludo going to be okay?” Star asked her mom. She shrugged.

An hour almost passed. Star was getting worried. The portal tore open again and the birdcage was thrown back through as Hekapoo stepped back.

“Mom… how long…?” Star was about to ask.

“A hundred and twenty years.. Give or take.”

“Can Ludos live that long?” She asked, looking into the motionless figure in the cage.

“He’s fine. I had to regenerate him a few times over the years.” She said. “We went through all my scissors… twice.”

“Snip… snip… snip...” Ludo said from the bars. “They all go snip.”

“The whole trip was a waste of time. His junking up the system like that, I can’t access the history of them from my main book. It’s going to take weeks to clean up his mess manually.” She groaned.

“Umm, Hekapoo?” Star asked, raising her hand. Everyone looked at her. She loved being the center of attention, but not the center of their attention. “From what I understood, it’s like a big web or net right? Can’t you focus on one part of it, and open it up enough to let us in? If it's around the borders, we can port there… walk through… and port to the castle?”

Everyone turned to Hekapoo. She closed her eyes for a moment as if mulling something over.

“Yeah… that could work. If the donk head here only did this to the borders, then inside should be fine. We just can’t emergency teleport out of there until I get the original scissors back.” She said and tossed a tiny fireball at his cage. He let out a small squeak and scooted back. “Yeah… that got boring after the first ten years.“

“I’ll go and let everyone know what the plan is and ready everyone for the first transport.” Queen Butterfly said and stood up. Everyone else agreed and left the meeting room. Star looked over at Ludo’s cage when she was halfway out of the room. She looked up at her mom who rolled her eyes and sighed.

She gave her mom a hug and ran over to Ludo’s cage, grabbed it and followed along behind her. She hoped that she would be a strong and powerful ruler like her someday.

#star vs the forces of evil #star vs evil #starco #star_Butterfly #Marco_Diaz #toffee #Jackie_Lynn #Jacko

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