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malimangle · 1 year

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Pilgrim Aiden + Sentient Volatile Crane

AKA: I have a VERY long and convoluted explanation for how Kyle Crane could be a father-figure to Aiden that I shared with my two buddies, and I am now deeply entrenched in + committed to the bit. So I made father-son content, naturally. It’s mostly senseless gjfkdg

For this story, imagine that we open with Crane’s backstory. His perspective—this whole deal traces his life from Harran and upwards, his various fights and how terribly lonely he is as he travels through the slowly deteriorating world, searching half-heartedly for some half-baked cure for what he’s been reduced to. Like every other man on earth, buddy.

All the while, yes, he’s a Volatile that goes into a fit of what can only be described as insistent monkey brain at nighttime, but he’s still a man, dammit. He craves human connection, and as he always has, he wants to protect + help people. Unfortunately, he can only achieve the latter half. It’s a half-rate substitute for the foremost desire, but that doesn’t change that it’s better than nothing.

As we go over his backstory, we view as he tries―and fails― to save a settlement. They didn’t listen to his warning about approaching Volatiles, and as a consequence, they get slaughtered, with many dying entirely and a solid third becoming infected. The lot of the survivors become Virals. He sorta leaves them alone after that, counseling the Virals as they, over time, begin to lose their human minds to the virus (there’s some INTERESTING world building where human facilities don’t fully shut down til at least a couple weeks into the virus, and Crane gets to talk people through the transition and watch them OFFICIALLY die.)

Well. Some days later a kid comes LITERALLY falling into the settlement, provoking all 21 Virals, and Crane has to put them all down prematurely as they wail at him to just kill them so they don’t hurt this kid.

Aiden initially tries to run from Crane and actually gives him a run for his money, but Jesus, this kid can’t be older than 14, so when Aiden finally thinks he’s lost this ‘weird infected motherfucker’, that’s when Crane springs at him, lifts him by the scruff of his shirt, and--immediately uses his weird telepathy to essentially strip Aiden the fuck down for being completely fucking unattended in the wastes at ‘his age’ and demand that he goes back to his Settlement IMMEDIATELY.

(” Listen, kid--stop screaming, dammit, I get it, I know--LISTEN. Jesus Christ. I know I’m some monster to you but the real problem is the reason why your sorry ass is out here ALONE! What the hell are you doing, kid!?”

“...What the fuck are you????”)

Just imagine Aiden hanging there, mid-air, goggling at this fucking Volatile-adjacent man who is standing in broad daylight and chastising him after chasing him several hundred meters.

“I don’t know what fucking girl you were sweet on here, but I guarantee she’s dead now, and I guarantee that going to have a fucking booty call with her in this day and age is NOT worth your goddamn death. Go HOME.”

Eventually Aiden scrambles together some brain cells thru the shock and he ends up squawking, the picture of baffled indignance, “What the hell are you--I don’t fucking BELONG ANYWHERE, let GO of me, asshole!”

Yeah. Crane initially finds that very hard to believe, but eventually as their conversation continues, he’s forced to accept that, no, Aiden’s fucking serious. He sorta…bluescreens over it. What the hell, he thinks. This 13 year old kid only comes up to my fucking elbow, and he’s out here alone??? Trying to ‘find his sister??’ You must be joking. No way in hell am I leaving this little guy to his own devices.

So, obviously, Crane wants to take Aiden to a settlement to settle in and not be in the wastes anymore, because he knows trying to find anyone in this day and age is a Fool’s Errand, especially someone you haven’t seen in a solid decade.

He feels a bit bad about it, but mostly has zero qualms about telling Aiden so, to which Aiden is like “fuck you no” but either way, Crane eventually “succeeds” in cajoling Aiden into talking to a Settlement. Problem is--Crane didn’t actually succeed. Aiden KNOWS this Settlement is Hostile to Pilgrims. Crane didn’t accept Aiden’s claim that they’d be mean to him because he’s not REALLY a pilgrim (yes he is—Crane doesn’t believe it! The fucking nerve!) and like…”wHoS gOiNg To Be CrUeL tO a KiD, AiDeN??”

Yeah, I’m sure we can guess Aiden’s plan, here. Crane, however, is blissfully unaware of the can of bullshit Aiden’s about to open. This is not going to be softened at all by the fact that, during the travel to the settlement, Aiden and Crane kinda become grudging pals (grudging in that Aiden is softening to Crane over time and VERY angry about it, and Crane is endlessly exasperated by Aiden’s teenagism but also unwillingly(!!) amused by it.)

Soon enough, we’ve got our day of Reckoning. They reach the bigger Settlement. As we and Aiden both expect, they are immediately hostile to Aiden when he reveals he’s a pilgrim—and our poor, previously unaware Crane, in turn, immediately realizes Aiden wasn’t being dramatic, actually, and tries very hard to get Aiden to get the hell out of there and come back over to him without revealing himself to the settlers, because showing himself would cause a panic. Guess who isn’t aware of that because he’s a dumb thirteen year old and the novelty of Crane wore off, like, a week ago? Ding ding ding. It’s Aiden.

Yeah, so, with rising hysteria Crane is trying to get Aiden to bail. Alas, the teenager in Aiden is coming out HARD and, wanting to REALLY prove his point to Crane, who has NOT been listening to his judgment at ALL, Aiden is very showy about calling out to the settlement guards and basically begs for a crossbow bolt between the eyes while Crane literally screams at him mentally.

Right, so. Consequences, here we come. Aiden is so busy being a jerkoff thirteen year old that he’s completely blindsided when one of the Settlers does, indeed ACTUALLY shoot Aiden, right in the front of the shoulder.

A stunned silence. The Settlers look amongst each other, wide-eyed and quiet, but then--as one--almost immediately they decide to commit to the bit. Ohhhh FUCK.

Crane doesn’t even hesitate once that group-decision becomes clear— with some unholy shriek, he leaps into action, and not only swipes the guards off the wall, but flings himself off the wall and seizes Aiden by the middle, loping both of them off into the distance while Aiden screams and shouts for multiple reasons, kicking his dumb little feet.

They have an argument as Crane runs from the Infected he’s accidentally sent into a frenzy between his sudden energy and the smell of Aiden’s blood, and Crane doubles down—he’s like, kid, some people are just assholes, not everyone is like that and no one’ll turn away a KID--especially not one who’s bleeding profusely from the shoulder, now, Jesus Christ, we got to sit down and take care of that soon--and Aiden tells him once more, this time with incredulous insistence, that no, he hadn’t been kidding before and wasn’t kidding now, EVERY fucking settlement this way is hostile as hell to Pilgrims, and after the scene HE made, they were probably going to be on the lookout!

Crane doesn’t want to believe it, but now that truth is starting to actually dawn on him, and he’s just not ready for it. Instead, they eventually lose the Chase and Crane props up Aiden on a car to help him clumsily patch up as best as he can with the materials he’s got on hand from previous finds in hospitals and clinics along the road.

Obviously, it’s a pretty hackneyed job―especially since Aiden botches the fuck out of pulling out the arrow and he can’t give himself stitches. Unnoticed, while Aiden thrashed in pain over the arrow removal, he scrapes the fuck out of his shoulders on the rusty ass car door and gets some minor abrasions—IMPORTANT LATER.

Story marches on. Crane tries to prove Aiden wrong about people being jerks to teenage pilgrims, but it’s pretty obviously a doomed venture when they reach settlement after settlement, and one by one, all of them box Aiden out. Crane gets increasingly frustrated, which comes to a head when he comes raring out and YELLING at the guards who won’t take Aiden in despite his injuries after the twelfth turn-away, which results in a BIG conflict that ends with Crane breaking in, wrecking some shit, and carting Aiden away over his shoulder.

Well, Crane’s meltdown is just the precursor to Aiden blowing up on him, because Crane has only JUST understood what Aiden’s been telling him the whole fucking time! Listen--Aiden’s not sure WHY Crane has been so obstinate about getting him into a settlement, but what he DOES know is that he’s in pain, he’s thirsty, his shoulder and head are killing him, he hasn’t eaten in days, and he’s VERY pissed at Crane. So. While Crane tries to find them a place to hole up for the night and check in on Aiden’s shoulder, they get INTO IT.

This is The Fight. Where Aiden hammers home his goals, and how Crane can’t change his mind. This is the broad strokes of how it goes—this is NOT the dialogue, but essentially what is said:

“It’s not my fault you think it’s stupid, and it’s not my fault you don’t have a Fucking goal.”

“You don't think I have a goal? What do you think I’ve been doing this whole time!? Fuck, kid—I’ve been traveling with you for over a month, you think I’ve just been doing that for the hell of it? I want you to be SAFE!”

“and I’m TELLING you that I REFUSE to be safe until I see this through, and there’s JACK SHIT you can do about it! Either you’re with me, or against me, and there is zero fucking in between. So save yourself the trouble and just LEAVE already! I know you’ve been dying to get rid of me anyway! (stroke of abandonment issue—Crane trying to foist Aiden upon settlements has come across, to him, as an adult he grudgingly trusts trying to abandon him. He thinks Crane is eager to get rid of him)”

“I’m not—what?! Aiden, I’m NOT fucking leaving you, you’re injured and I happen to give a shit about you! You think I want to up and fucking dump you somewhere, that I’d just leave you for dead like this?! Are you joking?! (Crane has misunderstood, a little, but he sounds so earnest here that it throws Aiden off)”

“Well—! If you really gave a shit the way I NEED you to, you’d know just how fucking important Mia is to me, and you wouldn’t tell me over and over again that my one goal in life, my one reason for LIVING, is STUPID. You’ve been nothing but an asshole about this the entire Fucking time and I’m sick of it!”

“… (Crane, being the adult, realizes Aiden is right and accepts ownership of his relentless, though inadvertent assholery) …You’re right, kid. I HAVE been an asshole about this. But fuck, man, look around you. EVERYONE is dead. I have lost so many people, people that meant the world to me, and if that’s pain I can get you to avoid—especially when pursuing it might KILL YOU, I just…I wanted to try.”

“And I want to know what happened.”

“(Crane realizes getting Aiden to give up on this is going to take a lot more time than a single month, and uneasily settles into ‘agreeing’ to help him, because this is stupid but he cares enough about this punk ass kid to want to stick around.) Okay. Alright. Fine. Then I’ll help you find her. For real, this time.”

With that cleared, they finally chill the fuck out. Crane awkwardly leaves Aiden to mope it out while he goes and gets them dinner, because Aiden hasn’t eaten in awhile and he needs sustenance. He goes and manages to take down a couple rabbits, raids a nearby settlement for veggies bcus they pissed him off, and Crane goes back to Aiden to find the kid miserably dozing in the big master’s bed, smelling like he’s in pain. He clumsily makes a rabbit stew and brings it to Aiden, who says in a surly tone, “I’m not hungry.”

Initially Crane assumes Aiden’s doing that classic teenager thing and—since he’s still feeling like an asshole about earlier—he’s gentle with it. He’s like, “Aiden, listen, dude. I know you’re probably pissed off. I would be pissed, hell, I’d be fucking livid if I were you. But even if that’s true, in this day and age, it’s never a good idea to refuse hot food. You can glare daggers at me the whole time, but please just eat something.”

To which Aiden says, with appropriate shame and a much softer face, “Yeah, you got me, I’ve done that before, but I’m not being a hardass for funsies right now.” He sounds a little troubled as he admits, “I’m actually not hungry.”

“Aiden, you’ve barely eaten these last couple days. I want to believe you, kid, but you’re a teenager--there’s no way in hell you’re not hungry, unless somethings wrong.” The rising anxiousness in Crane’s tone prevents Aiden’s hackles from going up entirely, so he just snips,

“Didn’t we just argue about you not fucking listening to me? I’m serious, I really don’t want to eat right now.”

Crane’s heart hammers a bit, “…Do you think something might be wrong?”

“My head just hurts, and my stomach’s in knots, probably over the argument.” Crane feels a distinctly hard twinge of guilt. “I just don’t like fighting. This is probably nothing special. I’m sure I’ll be fine in the morning.”

Crane eventually cajoles Aiden into eating—he pushes the stew around and manages to get down like half of it, which just worries Crane more. He puts it up in the miraculously still-working fridge and goes to settle for the night. Well. Some hours later—when it’s 2am and Crane’s still in stupid-mode (remember: that’s how he is as a Sentient Volatile—he doesn’t get bloodlust. Stupid Insistent Monkey Brain because I can’t handle violent Crane), he’s woken by the sound of his kid hurling over the side of the bed.

He lopes into the room in a hurry like “!!! What ! The fuck ! hurt?!” and Aiden tries to wave him off like “I just don’t think the rabbit sat well with me.” But he’s trembling, sweating, listing a little bit, and pale as fuck. Crane immediately feels his face—he’s sodden with sweat, and boiling. Oh fuck, he’s feverish. He goes to manhandle Aiden out of the blankets and curls his hand carefully around Aiden’s injured shoulder, avoiding the front—but when he grabs the back of Aiden’s shoulder, the kid nearly Fucking convulses.

Oh fuck.

Remember that scrape he got on his back from the rusty car door when he pulled the arrow out of the front of the shoulder?

Yeah. Turns out one of the scrapes was a proper cut, and it got infected with bacteria. Aiden missed it because he doesn’t have eyes back there and, yknow, the front of his shoulder was in such overwhelming pain, and Crane missed it because he was so fixated on the front too. But now there’s visible pus in it and even though Crane is still in stupid-mode, he’s still got the faculties to think to himself a very emphatic, “Fuck.”

He’s like “we need! Pills! Medicine!” and Aiden’s like “so long as it’s not penicillin it’s fine” and Cranes like “?!?!? WHAT.” to which Aiden explains that, for some godforsaken reason, he’s allergic as hell to the one (1) antibiotic that is still around in abundance—penicillin. Cranes like “where! The fuck!! Am I gonna find an antibiotic that’s NOT ! Penicillin! Fuck!”

They start with the first Crane finds—Doxycycline hyclate. It was manufactured in 2022 — it’s 2032. Unfortunately, they don’t really do shit. They went over the expiry for them, and though SOME might still be effective, ultimately they just barely make a dent in the infection. Things are starting to look dire, and the area is starting to clog up with migrating infected and bandits, so they gotta move.

Crane ends up rigging together, basically, a baby carrier for his back to keep Aiden hoisted securely on him using bungee cords and other materials he raids from a hiking store in a Volatile Hive mall. By this point, Aiden is so feverish he can barely speak, much less travel. So he gets Aiden secured, grabs their shit, and in a last ditch effort makes it to a Very large hospital-turned-hive, and basically sets Aiden up in a room, secures it, and fucking destroys all of the Infected in there while staying in tune with Aiden’s struggling heartbeats and deteriorating mind.

Eventually the hospital is secure, Crane reboots the UV lights to keep the nasties out, and rifles through what remains. Blessedly, he finds not only proper I.V needles and fluid, but ALSO Ciprofloxacin, which can last 142 months after expiry before it really is dangerous. It was made in June 2024– it’s February 2032. Only 92 months, well within the limit.

He sets Aiden up with the IV, and with the antibiotics―which he very carefully coaxes the boy into swallowing. By the time Aiden takes these, he’s dangerously close to death’s door, and not altogether there. So at some point he wakes in a hospital room, with shit shoved in his arm, very disoriented, woozy, and hot.

So. Very understandably he loses his absolute fucking shit. Which gives me the opportunity for some VERY heart-wrenching whumpy bullshit wherein Crane gets to cradle a very-nearly wailing Aiden and calm him down from, essentially, a post-traumatic meltdown. Just like I wish my parents woulda done with me, hahaha.

Jesus Christ.

Well. Anyway. Between the IV keeping him hydrated, the antibiotics finally working to fight the infection and compounding on the mild effect the previous ones had, and the comfortable bed, Aiden’s condition does rapidly improve. By the time two days go by, the fever finally diminishes enough for Aiden to be fully coherent. He’s still absolutely miserable, but at least he’s back with it, right? Mmn. It would be nice if he didn’t have to contend with Crane’s deep and almost frantic doting concern, which was exponentially worsened by his flip-out over simply being in a hospital bed.

Eventually: “So you, uh…I didn’t want to bring it up too fast, but I don’t know if you remember―you had a pretty strong reaction to being in a hospital bed, buddy. What uh. What’s going on there?”

Aiden puts down his comic book and squeezes his eyes shut. Fuuuck.

So they’re having this conversation. Awesome. Well. Crane just saved his absolute dick and ass, and went above and beyond to care for him. And like…the guy’s alright. He’s clearly in this for the long haul, so Aiden guesses he sorta owes the dude the full explanation. So he gets into it. Talking about the experiments Waltz was running on the GRE’s dime for some fucking reason, and all the awful shit he was put through.

Crane is.

AGHAST.

...I’m not even going to comment on,, all of THAT, because there’s jack shit I can say to--well. Y’know. Just, holy fuck. Holy fuck. But uh. Make no mistake kid―not your fault, I don’t judge you for that―I mean, look at me, how am I gonna judge someone?--and--and those people fucking suck. I hope you know you’re getting babied forever now though. Fuck, dude.”

“...”

“ᴺᵃᶦˡᵉᵈ ᶦᵗ”

“Ur not my fucking dad, Crane.”

“Yeah, I’m glad! I got a bone to pick with that dude.”

“Jesus. Whatever, look―is babying me going to involve that weird baby carrier thing you were doing the other day?”

“...Holy shit, you remember that?”

It does, indeed, entail the baby carrier thing, though admittedly it’s more for the hell of it. They both come to realize that Crane can travel a helluva lot faster than Aiden can, and if they can trade off on who’s leading, they can travel way farther and waste less time. So they develop a routine―during the day, Crane helps Aiden scavenge―goes where Aiden cannot―while Aiden works on gathering info on his sister and Waltz, does errands, and basically does life maintenance.

By the time sunset rolls around, Aiden and Crane pack up, strap Aiden to his back, pad him a lil bit, and essentially just let Stupid Brain Crane jettison through the night and get his zoomies out with Aiden secured to him. Aiden comes to sleep exceptionally well whilst having the Fuck shook out of him, and only really sleep good when Crane’s there.

Aiden pretends to hate the baby carrier--he tries real hard. Crane figures out pretty quick that he's full of shit. He lets it alone tho lol

Wintering is kinda cute―they make, essentially, a gigantic soft nest to appeal to Crane, and they essentially hibernate together. Just like that, Crane acquires the human connection he craves and like, a weird quirked-up whiteboy of a son. And Aiden gets an adult who protects him and loves him like their own, giving him a parent. So cute. Wow. Love it.

So obviously this gets a little fucked up once they get to Villedor almost nine years later. Aiden’s 21 now, going on 22.

Crane has to make a very tough call―he’s not…going into the city with Aiden. At first, Aiden’s really betrayed―he came this far, just to leave him behind here? What the fuck? Crane quickly explains that he’d love to stay with Aiden, but this is a city full of people. There’s no way in hell Crane can fly under the radar here, and…Aiden has finally found where Mia is. But he won’t find her without acceptance from the locals. And the thought that Crane could fuck that up for him without even trying? Hell no. Crane couldn’t bear it.

And, well…Aiden can’t really argue with that. He wants to, desperately, because Crane’s been by his side for like, a third of his life! The thought of being apart from him after all this time feels weird, wrong, and anxiety-inducing. For BOTH of them. So Crane’s quick to assure―

“Don’t worry, kid. I’m not going to up and lope off into the fucking sunset. You know this radio station we’re in, right now? I’ll just roost here. Make a nice nest and everything. And when you find her, and when you’re ready to either leave or stay, you can just come visit whenever. I’ll work on clearing the metro and putting in UV lights if you leave me any, just so your path out stays open, alright?”

“...And you’ll stay on the radio?” Aiden asks in this small voice.

“Kid… you know I can’t actually talk, right? All I’ve got is this weird mind-link shit, and once you’re out of range, well…”

“But I can talk to YOU. And you―you can do clicks and stuff, yeah? I’ll just ask yes or no questions―two clicks for yes, one for no.”

And hey, that works. They get Crane set up, and while Aiden sets up the bed and gets ready to sleep for the night, Crane scopes out the metro at sunset and goes apeshit on the Volatiles in there. Sets up some UV lights and secures the area, if only so his boy doesn’t get his ass handed to him. Heads back. Now they usually share the bed―Crane’ll be a warm wall of flesh behind Aiden, cover his back and all. They usually reserve the Whole Ticket for winter when it's too damn cold.

For this last night, they indulge in the winter cuddle. Aiden curls up straight in Crane’s lap, head tucked into his neck, and basically sleeps sprawled across the guy’s chest.

As Aiden sleeps, Crane actually cries a little. Softly, with tear ducts that don’t work anyway. He’s really going to miss this kid, and the reality of not seeing him for awhile―possibly not ever again, if Aiden’s unlucky enough―is really starting to hit the dude.

It’s hard to let him go the next day, but he knows this means the world to Aiden, so he doesn’t say a word to stop him. He watches Aiden head towards Villedor the next morning after one last hug. His slowly heaving heart fills with dread.

---

I'm not quite sure how I want to approach Villedor in this one: I DO want Aiden to go thru the story and all that, but I'm not sure how or when I want him to get Infected, nor how often I want Crane to come into play.

I DO want there to be a consistent subplot of Crane befriending a shitload of feral cats and becoming the ultimate catdad whilst he mopes about missing his kid.

I do also really want Aiden to employ diplomacy and get the PK to retreat from Old Villedor without extensive bloodshed since being around Crane has given him the (in Dodger’s words, coconut-sized) balls to defy authority (especially because not being able to try diplomacy in the canon game makes me very sad--so many human lives wasted!)

And I DO want Crane to swoop in and save Aiden from Waltz at the electric car factory and basically scream something to the effect of, "GET THE FUCK OFF MY SON YOU FUCKING ANIMAL." @ Waltz before bailing and forcibly seizing Lawan in one arm, Aiden in the other, as Crane jettisons them to the Central Loop.

(Lawan flips the fuck out over this random Infected, and it is utterly, comically side-burnered by Aiden reuniting with his 'dad', Crane, despite the objective insanity of the happenstance)

Aiden, sobbing: so much terrible shit has happened, a random man broke my heart, I fucking hate this city, I missed you so much, this sucks

Crane, soothingly: If you want to bail for now, it's okay, you can come home with me and the cats for awhile and try again later. We have time.

Aiden: Wait, cats? Cats, plural?

Lawan:

Last but not least I ALSO know that I want Crane to eventually give up on totally behaving himself and instead venture into Villedor regularly--initially 'just to find cat food' but eventually just to sweep the Infected off the streets, throw useful shit into strongholds, and save as many people as possible.

An urban legend starts to thrum thru all of the city--there is a talking Volatile man who eats other Infected, throws antibiotics at people, and gives absolutely fuckall 0 shits about UV light. Apparently he is usually toting around cat products--toys, litter, kibble, nip, etc--and is very friendly. People are terrified out of their wits at first, but the more he talks about his alleged four cats and doesn't rip people into ribbons, the more the fear fades.

Aiden hears about this and, with a very amused nose-exhale, thinks to himself, 'oh man, wonder who that could be. what a mystery. so intriguing. Ah, good on you, old man.'

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jangofctts · 3 years

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Ma’am I’m dying out here. It’s always “Void will wreck you in the fresher” and “Void has the third best stroke game of the squad” but never “Here I wrote a lil blurb of Void wrecking your shit”

Please I need we need it

smH YOURE RIGHT IVE BEEN DENYING YALL KJEKEJH

ct-7775 void // fem!reader

warnings: shower sex

You’re not quite sure when this became a regular occurrence--a couple months ago you think. Sorta like date night, except in the fresher...naked and undoubtedly against regulations. That’s what makes it fun you suppose--a little late night thrill.

Not like anyone would find you, you specifically chose time slots around midnight so you’d have the entire fresher block to yourself--an ingenious idea and totally worth waking up with wet hair in the morning. You just--well you didn't expect someone else to have the same idea. Safe to say it was a little jarring to cross paths naked and afraid, soaped up and scrambling for a towel with Sunburst squadron’s finest and only medic. Void.

To be fair, he hadn't even seen you. It was the end of your shift, tunnel vision on one thing, and one thing only. A nice hot fresher and certainly not a naked you.

With neither of you willing to budge and shuffle around schedules, you came to the brilliant conclusion that you could both shower at the same times--just so long as you both kept your eyes to yourselves. Funny how that rule barely lasted two weeks.

Safe to say, it’s been the best sex you’ve ever had. And all done in a fresher for kriff’s sake.

Once or twice every week you have Void all to yourself--that permanent scowl and grumpy mannerisms washing away with the flow of water and the warmth of your skin. A completely different man--one briefly unburdened with the weight of keeping his brothers alive and well just to send them off to battle the next day. You don’t mind being his distraction--as fleeting as it may be.

Tonight is no different as the solid line of his body slips in behind you, filling in the limited amount of space left in the tiny space. And you mean tiny. You can move without challenging your flexibility or banging your elbows and knees against the walls.

The touch of Void’s palm over your ribcage pulls a pleased sigh from your lungs. His fingers tickle up your shoulder blade and sweeps your hair, plastered to the nape of your neck, to the side. “Let me see you...”

You turn without hesitation, giggling as Void’s hand cups your cheek, his thumbs jumping up to smooth down your eyebrows and wick away the rivulets of water. Before you have the chance to greet him, Void tugs you forward into a deep, toe-curling kiss, shuddering as the cool durasteel of the wall touches your back. You break away and place your palm over his cheek. leans into your palm and smiles as your thumb lands right over the little blue dot tattooed onto his cheek.

“How was it today?”

“Sweets got a splinter and Fuse burned himself playing with matches again.” Void grumbles, sliding his other hand up to cup one of your breasts. He pinches your nipple and rolls it between his forefinger and thumb, plucking out a gasp from your parted lips. “All I could think about was you--always distractin’ me.”

You roll your eyes. “Boohoo--baby is distracted by my tits. You’re lucky I like you.”

Void buries his face into the crook of your neck, nips at your ear and hooks his arm around your waist. “Mhm. If I accidentally kill someone, s’because of you.”

You slide your fingers through his hair, a bit long once it’s wet and free from his headband--you give the strands a playful jostle. Void tilts his head, skims his lips over the line of jaw and steals another kiss--when he pulls away he hesitates here for a moment--simply drinking in the shape of you, every freckle and little wrinkle, grafting it into his memory for eternity. It’s a two way mirror however--

The bags under his eyes, like two swaths of purpling bruisers, are worse than last week and Maker--do they ever give this man a break? “Void--when’s the last time you slept?”

He blinks rapidly and shoves his head back into the crux of your shoulder to avoid your scrutiny. “Don’t worry about it.”

You frown. You’ll push him about it later, because right now? He’s trailing tiny, addicting kisses from your shoulder up to your ear, your blood already singing even though the chaste pecks border innocent. You gasp as those kisses morph into nips, sucking sure to be bruises into the flesh, marking you just below the line of where the collar of your uniform ends.

The arm around your waist skims further down, grabbing a handful of your ass and roughly squeezing. You whimper, curling further into his hold as liquid heat races from the pit of your stomach and outward to each and every limb. He worms his muscled thigh between your legs, pinning you further against the wall, the hand on your ass snaking back to massage tiny circles over your thigh. You whimper and thread your fingers into the wet strands of his hair, arching into his chest.

“Fuck--you’re a vision,” Void pants, “So beautiful.”

He moans low in the back of his throat as your hand gently encompasses his cock, thick and swelling to its full length in your palm. “I could say the same about you, handsome.”

Void shudders and sags into your hold, huffing out curses and roughly parting your thighs further apart. You whine and press your head into the wall as he hikes your thigh up and around his hip. He then slides two of those thick, calloused fingers pass over your clit, throbbing and aching to be touched. Your own slick mixed with the aide of the water let the two digits glide with ease over your lips, rocking down to circle your clenching entrance then back to lightly trace the little bundle of nerves.

His cock jumps in your grip as you whine his name, needy and desperate as you roll your palm up and down his cock. He curses under his breath, and bites your earlobe. “You want me to fuck you, sweetheart?”

You groan as he pushes a finger into your cunt, the muscles squeezing around him for just a shred of pleasure. “Yes--please, Void--fuck me.”

“Such a filthy mouth.” He chastises with a dark chuckle.

You groan out your frustration as you roll your hips, your nails digging into his bicep to pull him closer. He must take pity on your squirming, pathetic display as he abruptly extracts his finger and drops your thigh.

Your stomach drops as your bare feet slip off the tiles, yet the heavy muscled weight of Void’s chest pinning you forward saves you from landing ass over heels. He’s stronger than he looks, a fact you’re confronted with as he scoops your knee over his elbow and squishing you further into the wall. “Careful, mesh’la--wouldn’t want a trip to med bay, now would we?”

You swear and dig you nails into his shoulder, slippery from the water. He grips his cock in one hand and slides the thick head over the wet slit of your cunt, the tip of him catching against your dripping entrance.

You jerk and press your hips back. “V-Void…”

Your breath catches in your throat as the very tip of him, searing hot and harder than tempered steel, pushes into you. It feels the same with each time he fucks you, that pinch and fluttering panic low in your stomach that he’s too big. You squirm and whine as he rocks his hips forward, the little motions seating him deeper into your greedy center. Maker— you think it’ll go on forever, with no room to accommodate him.

“There you go,” he babbles, his breathing a mess of pitchy moans and praise, muffled by the spray of water. “Fuck—such a good girl. Taking it all.”

You shiver despite the temperature of the water, twitching in his hold as the narrow dip of his waist slots against your cunt. Your name flows past his lips, the enamel of his teeth tugging at the fragile skin lining the base of your neck.

Stars— your thoughts are pulverized into dust with the first tentative rolls of his hips. There’s no buildup to the pace he sets or patience as his fingers dig into your ass while the other anchors to the wall.

It’s a ridiculously short amount of time, you think, as your orgasm creeps down each vertebrae, your cunt clamping down on his cock tighter than a fucking vice. One last roll against your clit and you’re done for. So fucking gone.

The edges of your entire universe drop off into some unknown mystery--bursts of white light igniting behind your eyelids as you're brought over the edge.

“Shit—get so fucking wet when you cum,” Void snarls. “And tight. S-so fucking tight.”

You’re not allowed to float down from your high, not until he also reaches his end. Until then you’re forced through the rough scrap of the last dregs of your pleasure, his abdomen scraping agains your throbbing clit. The loud, wet slaps of his hips meeting your cunt echoes in the tiny space, accentuates every hitched moan and sharp whimper. Void’s hand slips off the wall and buries it into your hair at the base of your skull, tugging sharply as your core clenches around his cock.

“M’close,” he pants, his breath humid against your skin. “Can I—fuck--can I cum in you?”

You nod with a shuddering whine.

Your nerves burn as you slip your own hand down to toy with your clit, a simple brush over the nerves and your careening off the edge again. Your cries are a jumble of incomprehensible babbles--the only thing you manage to latch onto is his name.

With a dangerously loud curse, Void’s bruising pace quickens, frantic as he chases his own release. Void’s hips stutter, the hand in your hair tightening into a fist as his teeth embed themselves over your shoulder. With one—two last thrusts of his hips, he cums. Ropes of his release coats your insides, throbbing and twitching until he’s spent, left with the ambiance of quick panting and the trickle of water.

Stars, you can’t fucking think.

With a grunt he stumbles back as much as he can in the limited space, the absence of his cock leaving his cum to dribble out and slip down the inside of your thigh. You’re still squeezing your eyes shut, jittery and unable to move from your current spot without the risk of stumbling to your knees.

Void dips his head and steals a kiss, dragging his tongue deep into your mouth. He groans and keeps you here, leading you through soft kisses and a careful dance of something more than just a simple fuck in a fresher. You’re not sure if you’re allowed to breach that gentle space between you—grasp something tangible with uncertain promises and stolen minutes as sunlight fills the space between your heart and lungs.

He kisses your cheek, breaking away before either of you slip and tumble into uncharted territory. Another time maybe—not in the middle of a war and certainly not in a communal shower.

“Thank you,” he murmurs. And it’s enough—it has to be enough.

#HERE IS MY INSANE RAMBLES HEKDBD #oOf #ask #keida answers #sunburst squadron #my writing #clone trooper x reader #clone oc x reader #clone oc

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insomniac-jay · 3 years

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I Refuse

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Swearing

Aizawa calls a meeting between all the Pro Heroes present at the Sports Festival, desperate to find one that'll take in Bakugo. (Sorta anti Bakugo but not really bc the focus is more on Aizawa than him)

"Here you go, ladies."

Pro Heroine Queen Amazonia handed her two newest interns, Setsuna Tokage and Yui Kodai, their applications with a smile on her face. "Feel free to contact me or my team if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, alright?" she said.

"Uh-huh!" Setsuna gave her a thumbs up.

"Excellent. See you ladies next week. Bye."

"Bye." Queen Amazonia smiled and watched the two walk off. She knew that she was going to turn those into to great heroines and she couldn't wait for some hands on training with them. The ringing of her phone pulled her from her thoughts and she answered.

"Hello?"

"Howdy, Merida." She recognized the voice on the other end as Starlight Ranger's, especially with the cowboy vernacular and Southern accent. "What's up, Dolly?"

"'Raserhead called us into a meeting. I think it's about one of his students." Starlight Ranger replied. A slight sigh left Queen Amazonia's mouth. She was hoping to get back to the agency and prepare for her interns to come in next week but that would have to be put on hold. "I'm coming." she said before hanging up. A big huff left her mouth as she walked towards the meeting room. To her surprised, there were other Pro Heroes outside.

"What's going on?" she touched the shoulder of fellow Pro Hero Hellcat. The other shrugged and pulled out a cigarette.

Inside, Aizawa was glaring daggers at Yarite, U.A.'s external resources admin. "I'm telling you, Aizawa! No one wants him!" he yelled. "Stop these mindless actions and just accept that!" Aizawa slammed his hand on the desk. "There must be someone who does!"

Yarite sighed and rubbed his temples. "Aizawa, any sane hero knows that he would damage their reputation just by them even looking at him." he said. "Please, just-"

"No! Shut up!" Aizawa yelled.

Yarite sighed and grabbed his belongings. This was a useless conversation to have and he didn't get paid enough to sit up and argue with his coworker. Once gone, the other Pro Heroes came in and sat down. "What the fuck is this about, Eraserhead?" Phoenix Knight asked in a rather vulgar tone, which was unusual for him.

"I called this meeting to discuss your picks for interns." Aizawa said. "You seemed to have picked everyone else but a certain student of mine: Bakugo Katsuki." Several heroes grimaced while others rolled their eyes. "As per policy of our school, I urge one of you to take him under your wing."

"No. I won't." Madam Magic said. "Listen, Eraserhead, I know you don't give two shits about your reputation, but I do. I need my career as an entertainer. It's the only way I can earn a living because God forbid you pay female Pro Heroes enough to make a solid living." She stood up and began walking towards the door.

"Madam Magic, don't you dare walk out that door!" Aizawa shouted. Madam Magic turned to him with raised eyebrows. "When did you become my father? Last time I checked, I needed my sponsors to help me pay for my new apartment. Your rowdy student will leave me homeless and struggling to make ends meet." She opened the door and slammed it as she walked out.

"Magic's right, Eraserhead." Power InOut said as he also stood up. "I can't really have a brat like that working for me. Sorry but I'm really not." He, too, walked out of the meeting.

One by one, all the heroes rejected him and left until it was only him left. All he could see was red and he began trashing the meeting room. "Fuck all of you! I'll prove you all wrong!"

Walking past the room was Miss Parker and Polarmare. "I guess they told him what we already knew they were going to tell him." Polarmare said.

"Of course they were." Miss Parker said. "He's gonna have to scramble to find him an internship or else that's his paycheck."

Polarmare chuckled slightly. "I'd love to see that."

@calciumcryptid @floof-ghostie @ozepica @elflynns-horde-of-stuff

#jay's writings #jay's bnha ocs

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restingdomface · 4 years

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Lan Wangji makes extremely deadpan videos of his daily life with Wei Wuxian and their kids and nephews (and nieces if JC and JYL had more). This would include:

*shows a video of LWJ staring out the window for a solid thirty seconds, face entirely unchanged and somewhat disappointed, turns camera around to show Wei Wuxian and the kiddos putting mentos in soda bottles and trying to chuck them at each other, camera pans back to his face, still entirely devoid of emotion*

That one time Jin Ling got stuck up a tree and Wei Wuxian tried to get him down and also got stuck up there and now the other kids are looking for a ladder while LWJ just watches them from the patio, drinking tea. The kids finally give up and shamefully come to LWJ and ask him for help, he gets his husband and nephew down without a word.

The one where he buried 5yo A-Yuan in a pile of bunnies and got scolded by Lan Xichen for it because they might bite him if they get annoyed with him.

There is an entire compilation of rabbits that won’t leave him alone. Climb into his lap. Follow him with every step. Get excited when he comes outside. Hear a guqin and start looking for him. Just. He’s the rabbit whisperer. One of the black ones is just about always with him.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian interacting in any capacity is going to involve a lot of hitting each other and pushing each other over. Only-child kids think they hate each other, but people with siblings are all ‘no no, siblings are just Like That’. People think Yanli is all innocent till they realize she def only tells them to stop when she thinks they might actually get on each other’s nerves. She’s in the ‘boys will rough house and probably only have one collective braincell’ category.

People won’t stop asking him if he speaks so he vaguely makes mentions of having extremely low verbility. They ask if he does sign and he’s not really sure how (lol cause words hard) to explain to them that sign doesn’t really help when the issue is more of him not having much to say tbh. This is apparently the wrong thing to say because then people start being all ‘yeah I get you, I’m pretty dumb too, at least you’re pretty’ and he’s just sorta sitting there with this smacked fish look on his face while WWX can’t stop laughing next to him at the very idea of someone calling his husband slow. Wow. LWJ just sorta finally gets out that he has like two degrees and teaches giqun lessons and it’s amazing. The kids find out about it and can’t stop laughing for hours.

“Hey, why did you name your son ‘sorrow and longing’?” *commense 10 minute video of that time Wei Wuxian got arrested for something to do with a satanic ritual and that’s when LWJ ended up with custody of his adopted son for the next three years and he was in a really angsty mood tbh so it just kinda happened* not a single commenter expected that, even less so when he mentions that they weren’t even together at that point

Films what the viewers think is a prank at first, where he pours a dangerous amount of chili powder into a mug of hot chocolate (with a completely straight face) and then brings it to WWX who takes a drink and makes a dreamy little sigh and goes ‘you always know how to make it just like I want it’ and no one is sure how to react to this video. It’s like watching someone peel and eat a lemon.

You know that video of the girl with the deadpan voice saying she went downstairs to take a shower and there was something brown in the bottom of the tub but it turned out to be potatoes and she’s all ‘not a problem I was expecting, but a problem I can handle’? Okay so that’s how he talks in every video. WWX hands him a baby and he talks to them exactly like that. People ask if he’s good with kids and WWX is all ‘yeah, he’s not just a rabbit whisperer, he’s a baby whisperer too, he’s super great with kids’ *shows LWJ talking to a baby in That Voice while the baby looks at him in utter adoration*

“What’s it like growing up gay? Do you ever get shit for it?” LWJ.exe has stopped working, he has only met one straight couple the same age as him and they’re his sister in law. His brother has three boyfriends, one of which is his brother-in-law. He doesn’t know what a het-er-o-sexual is and he doesn’t want to. Pretty sure his uncle is acearo and hasn’t seen his parents in like 20 years.

LWJ: ‘I apologize for being so emotional in my last video.’ *viewers scrambled to find what video he meant because they ain’t ever seen that man emotional before but end up finding a video where Sizhui told him he loved him and called him papa and gave him a hug while WWX filmed, you can barely see LWJ’s left eye twitching and he pets Sizhui’s head for a moment* viewers are very confused on how this constitutes emotionalism.

Viewers ask to see his brother ‘you know, the one who apparently has three boyfriends’ and LWJ posts a video of LXC passed out on a couch with like three fully grown men all in various states of sliding off onto the floor while the teens play a game of ‘who can stack the most random objects on uncle’s bodies without them waking’ because apparently LWJ and WWX were gone for a weekend and the uncles were supposed to watch the kids (like, all ten of them probably, there’s probably a lot of kids) and it’s Sizhui filming the whole thing cause he’s the ‘good one’ and never does bad things. But he’s also like Auntie Yanli and is totally gonna egg them on from the sidelines.

WWX hands LWJ literally any food and LWJ will eat it all with a completely straight face but as soon as WWX is turned around LWJ is chugging a glass of milk with a look of death on his face. The kiddos straight up can’t stomach his cooking.

😭 someone asks why their hair is all so long and LWJ puts up a video of chatty adorable Sizhui braiding WWX’s hair while he tells him about his day at school. It’s. Too. Cute.

The never ending debate on if LWJ’s deadpan personality/speech is acting or not. No matter how much everyone assures them he’s really just Like That people just aren’t convinced.

Someone points out several times that in their house they have a room with a satanic symbol on the door. That’s just WWX’s home office it’s all good. This is treated as ‘lol WWX is so dramatic’ for like four whole weeks before LWJ posts a video of Sizhui standing outside the office looking nervous. ‘What’s wrong?’ He says. ‘Dad called me into his office.’ Sizhui replies. ‘WWX must be a very strict father,’ the viewers think. That’s not it. That’s not it at all tbh. That video got flagged on like four different platforms and kept getting removed for graphic images and half their viewers don’t. Want. To know. What happened. In that office. (WWX doesn’t even see what the big deal was, that goat was dead when he bought it shut up.)

The others do videos sometimes too lol. Videos include

Jin Ling’s compilation of ‘Mom, what’s for dinner’ and the answer is Always Lotus root and pork rib soup. Someone asks ‘lol she must make that often’ and JL is all ‘lol often, fairly sure she got same-food syndrome, it’s always soup’.

Lan Sizhui at like 17 years old: The one true secret I’ve never told my dads? My most shameful lie? Rabbits aren’t my favorite. My favorite is butterflies. *proceeds to cuddle a bun* I’m sorry Mister Bun, but you just aren’t nearly as pretty as butterflies.

Shaky video of someone sitting on the couch, pointed at NMJ: Brother, while you’re away on vacation with your boyfriends, I don’t plan on leaving this spot for even a minute. NMJ: Oh yeah? What’ll you do when you have to use the bathroom? NHS: Listen, I found a guy on Craig’s List who’s exact fetish is lazy young men who refuse to move and also diapers exist and he’ll be my slave for the week if I let him change me. NMJ: ...I’m taking you with me on vacation. NHS: Yay! NMJ: I’m also taking your phone away. NHS: -wait, no- NMJ: Too late.

Jin Ling: JiuJiu, I spilt soda on your Valentino white belt. Jiang Cheng: *incomprehensible sputtering* -soda on my Valentino white belt-!

Sizhui: *brings Jingyi a bowl of food* Here. Jingyi: Thank you! *takes a bite, face falls in terror, gives Sizhui a betrayed look* Sizhui: Dad’s worried I’m getting sick, he said this would clear my chest cold up. He didn’t consider what horrible things it would do to my bowels instead. Please eat it, he gets sad when I don’t finish what he makes. Jingyi: *glaring* Just dump it down the garbage disposal! Sizhui: *def has a fever if he didn’t think of that* Oh. Good idea.

LWJ: *swaying in place* WWX: This bitch drunk as hell. LWJ: I’m. Gonna comit. A crime. WWX: *crying a little* I love drunk hubby times. A full shot of vodka and he’s not gonna remember any of this. Hey kids, I’m taking Papa on a walk! Sizhui’s in charge!

Zizhen: *sitting quietly on the couch while LSZ, LJY and JL all argue behind him somewhere, covering his mouth with a slightly horrified look* Jingyi: I mean, that’s not fair at all! Who HASNT made out with their cousin at one point or another? Ling: ... Sizhui: You said you’d never bring that up again please shut up. Ling: ...!!!!!! Zizhen: Amazing.

That one time the kiddos hypnotized Jin Ling into thinking he was a kitten. The adults all thought it was really weird that he was finally going through the whole ‘pretending to be an animal’ phase at like ten, but then the kiddos fessed up to learning how to hypnotize and they aren’t sure how to fix it. WWX instigated a rule that no brainwashing is allowed outside his office from now on.

People ask how WWX and LWJ met and it’s told from the POV of Lan Qiren who progressively getting drunker as he tells the story of the terrible high school romance that he had to watch between bad boy WWX and his precious baby angel nephew that made him consider quitting and how no one believed them when they insisted they didn’t get together till after WWX got out of jail for the cow incident.

#the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #the untamed #mdzs #incorrect untamed quotes #incorrect mdzs #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #jiang cheng #lan sizhui #juniors #lan jingyi #lan juniors #jin ling #nie mingjue #nie huaisang #nie brothers #ouyang zizhen #lan qiren

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vermillionflames · 3 years

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hi... idk what this is hehe :)

nozel x oc

word count: 2k+

warnings: language, mention of blood and self-stabbing (non violent)

PROLOGUE

“There, there, Your Highness,” the guard said as he wiped away the princesses tears, “It must’ve been so scary down there. I’m sorry you had to go all alone this time. If I had permission or the strength to go with you I would. But you’re alright now. I’ll be standing guard outside your door all night if you need me.”

The guard had a smile so small you would only see it if you knew to look for it. The princess didn’t need to see the smile to know he meant what he said. Out of all the soldiers in the Kingdom hers were the most loyal.

“Please don’t tell my father I was crying… or the King!”

“I would never, it will be our little secret, alright, Princess Seraphina,” he stuck out it pink to show he meant his promise.

“Thank you,” the young girl crawled back under her blankets as her guard headed towards the door, “Goodnight, Dante.”

REAL TIME I GUESS

You know when you tell your husband for days to not do something because there will be a negative outcome, but he does it anyway? And what you told him would happen, does? And yet he still acts surprised and upset? Sometimes takes his anger out on you via a cold shoulder and glare? No admittance that you were right? That’s what it’s like to be married to the Captain of the Silver Eagles.

I love Nozel dearly but he is more annoying than my father-in-law and the ladies of the court asking about babies. Actually, now that I think about it, the whole Silva family had something about them…

“Vice Captain? Are you alright?”

That’s one way to snap me out of a scheme

“Oh, Nils, I’m sorry. A thought crossed my mind and I got lost in it… What were you saying?” Will probably get scolded for that later.

“I was just telling you how I’d improve myself before my next mission with what I learned on the previous one… Do you think Captain will be pleased with my plan?”

Royalty always wants to improve themselves without much training, but I can’t say that to him without it causing a rile so I just smile at him.

“I think Nozel will be very pleased. Now if you wouldn’t mind, I do have a lot of work to get to,” I gesture to some papers on my desk.

He nods and takes his leave. I sigh and turn my chair to face the window. Noelle should have gotten her grimoire by now, surely. I do not want to do this paperwork or deal with the hell my in laws will unleash on their baby sister, but if anyone had a chance of redirecting their attention to another failure it was me and my womb.

I play with the ring on my left hand. It was his mothers, in fact Nozel had gifted me with more jewelry than I could ever wear that had come from Lady Acier’s collection. Sometimes I wondered if he got it all or first dibs and took it all because he was the oldest. Perhaps her collection had just been so expansive I could have a shit load and the other kids could do. The girls didn’t ever bat a lash when I wore her crowns and necklaces.

There’s a firm knock on my door, they don’t pause before opening it. Husbands, ya know? I looked over my shoulder to see he’s entered my office, not bothering to shut the door (to avoid scandal though I’ve never understood how married people can be scandalous with each other? The policies of this country were difficult to understand).

“Yes,” I ask, raising my brow at him.

“Noelle has received her grimoire,” his face was bleak.

“And?”

“And she still cannot control her magic. She’s still a shame to House Silva.”

The fluctuation in his mana told me all I needed to know.

“Nozel-”

“Don’t try to coddle me, Seraphina. You don’t understand what this means for my family and our reputation.”

I wonder in our 14 years of marriage if he’s ever learned that I can read his mind and emotions. He kept on the mean big brother act and never shut it off. However, I like to take opportunities to argue when I see them. I turn my whole body to face him and cross my arms.

“Like how we don’t have an heir?”

“Don’t start this right now,” his voice was low and serious, “Nebra, Solid, and I will be having dinner with our father and grandparents tonight.”

“Then I’ll join you,” I shot up out of my chair, “It would look bad if I stayed here.”

His stare was cold. I started to prepare an argument in my head.

“Fine. But wear something nice,” he moved his attention to the deep cut of my dress, “Maybe we should get your robes adjusted.”

“Oh darling, I think that’s the most attention you’ve given my breasts in our whole marriage.” I bit my tongue, a little too late for that, Sera. Oops.

“Tsh,” Nozel turned and headed for the door, “You should probably have the maids at the castle help you get ready… We both know you won’t be able to braid your own hair.”

“I beg your pardon?”

The door closed and I was alone again. The mother fucker. He was right, but that mother fucker. If he knew what kind of foul language I had stored in my head for him… Maybe tonight will be the night all chaos explodes. Dinner and a show with me as the main actress.

I started to make a mental list of things to bring up during our argument as I made a spacial magic gate to my quarters at the Silva Castle.

----

I opted for an emerald gown with silver jewelry for tonight. Rule number one of House Silva: all the jewelry is silver. If you happen to have gold it was either a gift from House Vermillion or House Kira and you only ever wore it to fit a dress code House Vermillion made for a ball. Same thing for red and blue. Do not wear red or blue unless you want to piss off your husband, which I’ll admit is fun but he threw the poor dress into the fireplace the next morning. We don’t even share a room, he had to wake up early, come in, and find it to do that.

Rule number two: be very, very good at keeping your thoughts to yourself. Especially when it comes to Noelle, Acier, and your lack of offspring.

“Seraphina, perhaps you decided to join us because you and Nozel have some good news to share,” if Nebra was anything it was blunt and to the point.

I gave Nozel the side eye.

“No,” He said while lifting his wine to his lips, “Just didn’t want to bother socializing with the rest of the squad tonight.”

I gave her a meek smile.

“Well, Seraphina, I have something to show you, Solid rose from his seat and walked over to Noelle who was staring at her food with tears in her eyes. He pulled her grimoire out from her side while she winced. “Look at how thin this is. You’re more a Silva than Noelle could ever be.”

I dropped my shoulders and focused on my plate in front of me.

“I guess...”

----

If I got anything from that dinner it’s that I needed to find a way to sneak Noelle out of the castle and get her away; at least for a day. I was sat at my vanity removing all the tiny gems the servant had insisted on putting in my hair. If I couldn’t stand up to her to my in-laws the least I could do was get her away. God how many gems were there? I started at the bell to call a maid… I really hate doing this but if there’s one thing I cannot do it is my hair.

After a few moments a young girl came to my room and went right to work undoing the braids and taking out the gems. I watched her in the mirror, she never took her eyes off my head.

“So, what’s the hot gossip from the servants quarters?”

She paused.

“I’m sure nothing would be of interest to you ma’am.”

I purse my lips.

“If I say you can keep all the gems in my hair?”

“That wouldn’t be necessary, the masters pay us kindly.”

“Oh… well surely you heard something that would be of interest to me?”

“Ma’am, I know you don’t stay here often, but typically you wouldn’t speak to me so casually…”

“Who cares about that? It’s late. It’s just you and me here. Everyone else is probably settled into bed,” No budge. Oh. “Lord Nozel won’t be visiting my chambers tonight. It’s alright.”

“Surely the Captain visits his wife every night… You two are in love and you’re so beautiful.”

Great. Not the can of worms I wanted to open. And now I gave her shit to say about me!

“He stays in his room when I am bleeding.” And now I have to stab myself or else she’ll know I lied. Dammit.

“Oh, the other servant didn’t mention you were… Would you like me to get you some warm towels?”

“No, what I would like is some information that only someone in your position would know.”

“Really, ma’am. There’s nothing happening these days.”

“Please?”

“Um… well I have a friend that works for House Vermillion and she said they’ve been preparing Lady Mereoleona’s room for her return. They expect her to arrive tomorrow afternoon.”

Oh god.

“And Lord and Lady Vermillion had to have meat brought in from the town! The chefs don’t even know how to cook meat!”

“Surely they can just give it to the girl and let her cook it herself…”

“You’re funny, Lady Seraphina.”

“Well, ya know, someone in the family has to be! Thank you for your help. You’re dismissed, go off to bed now.”

The girl bowed and left.

And she had the right fucking idea.

I need to leave too. Mereoleona? No thank you. God only knows what kind of torment she has planned for me. Actually, probably not God. Probably no higher being.

I need to hide somewhere and take Noelle with me. I throw off my dressing gown and scramble to put on clothes, throwing random shit I think I’ll want in a bag. Real manic style. Now if there’s one thing I am not it is a bad liar. I throw the blankets off my bed and lay as if I’m going to sleep. Crossing my leg so it sorta comes to wear my center lays and take out a knife and cut my leg… which heals pretty quickly given my abilities. I’m almost certain it’s not enough to be convincing but I am far more concerned in avoiding the Vermillion to care.

Next stop, Noelle’s room. I knock on the door. No answer so I help myself. She’s asleep, dry tears around her eyes. I put my hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, wake up. Noelle.”

She gasps and her eyes fly open, instantly putting her arms in defense. I take a step back… They didn’t wake her up to hurt her… did they?

“Pack a bag, we’re going into hiding.”

“What?”

“Lady Mereoleona is coming back for her yearly visit. I’m taking you and we’re gonna go hide at the beach castle.” Yeah, I married into a two castle family. Had its perks.

“Why?”

“Because you’re my baby sister by marriage and I think we both could use a little vacation. Don’t you agree?”

“Really? But what about Nozel?”

“I’ll deal with him if he notices. Chances are no one will know. So get up, grab your stuff, and let's go.”

She got out of bed quick. I sat at her vanity while she gathered some things.

“Also, no servants.”

“No servants?!” She turned me so quick she almost snapped her neck.

“You’ll live. This is about survival. Now,” I stand to make a portal to the beach castle, “let’s go.”

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actress4him · 4 years

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Whumptober 2020 - Day 26

I had such a hard time figuring out what to write for this one. I knew I wanted to use this alternate prompt as soon as I saw it, but there are sooooo many good possibilities for water whump! I could NOT make up my mind. So I went to @trope-appreciation-tuesdays again, which gave me even MORE ideas, but I finally ended up settling on a mashup between two ideas submitted by @aliceinwhumperland and @theironcarey . I was pretty happy with how it turned out!

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Day 26 (Alt 12) - Water

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Warnings: drowning, broken bones

Branches tore at his face and clothes, weird colored leaves sticking in his hair. Dodging left, then right, missing each tree by a fraction of an inch, Keith was racing quite literally for his life through the forest, and as fast as he was running he was pretty sure he was losing the race. After, all these psychotic aliens lived in this forest. They knew it much better than he did.

He came to the cliff so suddenly that he almost pitched right over it, catching himself at the last moment on a tree. His stomach dipped down into his toes before righting itself. For a split second he just stared over the drop off into the sparkling green water below. The ocean. Great.

But there was no time to pause, no time to even look back and see how close the hoard of angry neon aliens had gotten. He didn’t need to, anyway. He could hear them well enough to know they were close, too close. Changing course, he took off again, parallel to the ocean this time. Maybe he could lose them. Maybe they’d think he fell over. Keith winced, not liking the thought of how close he had come to doing just that.

Then again, maybe down was actually the best way to really lose them. The thought was ridiculously stupid, one of those ideas that would get him yelled at by the rest of the paladins. But this whole situation was ridiculously stupid, and if he could find somewhere that he could jump and not land in the water...well, it seemed like a better option than getting mauled to death by aliens that looked like they belonged in a nightclub.

He found his opportunity a few long, breathless dobashes later. A glance over the edge showed that a ledge had formed about halfway down, one that should be wide enough for him to land on. From there, he would be able to contact the rest of the team, make sure they had gotten away, and get someone to come pick him up. As long as the neon aliens didn’t decide to leap off after him.

He gulped, and went for it.

The freefall was forever long and far too short all at the same time. Keith waved his arms instinctively, trying to keep upright in the air, planning on going into a roll as soon as he hit the ground.

What he didn’t count on was landing with his foot at a funny angle, instantly snapping his ankle. Nor did he expect that interrupted momentum to send him careening to the side, slamming his ribs into the side of the ledge before he tumbled over the side. Wide-eyed, he scrambled desperately for something to grab onto, but came up short.

He was falling again, and this time there was only endless water below.

The surface came to meet him all too quickly, the impact bruising his spine. Instantly the water engulfed him. It was freezing. And he hadn’t gotten the chance to take a good breath, so already he was running low on air.

As the light sparkling on the water began to draw further away, Keith kicked and flailed his arms, trying to get reoriented and keep himself from sinking further. Every kick sent pain shooting through his ankle.

But somehow, it worked. Sorta. His face broke the surface for just long enough for him to gasp in a breath, but he ended up sucking in a bit of water, as well, as he immediately went back under. His lungs spasmed, desperate to rid themselves of the foreign substance. Frantically, he kicked again, and though this time only his hand surfaced, he felt something besides just air and water. Something solid.

His hands went into overdrive as black spots started to dance in front of his eyes. Just when he thought he wouldn’t be able to hold out any longer, they found purchase, and he gave everything he had left to haul himself upward.

Glorious air brushed cold against his face. Keith spluttered, coughing up the water that had been sloshing in his lungs and sucking in gulps of air in between. His chest hurt from the exertion, and that wasn’t even to mention the bruised or cracked ribs on his left side.

When he was finally able to draw in slightly rattling breaths without going into another coughing fit, he finally looked around to see where he had ended up. It seemed to be the opening of a cave. The sea went right up into it, but maybe further in there would be some dry land, which sounded glorious right about then.

Slowly, hand over hand, he began to make his way deeper into the cave along the wall. Twice his fingers slipped, and he almost plunged back down into the water. Each time he had to stop, take a breath, and try to stop his heart from pounding out his chest. He hated big bodies of water. Not that he was scared of them, he just...didn’t know how to handle them. And so far this whole experience was close to the top of most terrifying moments of his life. He did not want to go back under.

After what seemed like an eternity, he reached what he had hoped was the back of the cave. Unfortunately, up close it was clear that it merely went around a bend and kept going, with no end to the water in sight. There was no dry land. Nowhere to rest.

It was then, thankfully, that his comm crackled to life. “Keith, do you copy?”

Thankfully because he wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to hang there, and thankfully because he hadn’t been sure after that spill in the ocean if his comm was even still working.

“I’m here.”

“Thank goodness.” Shiro sounded more than relieved. “I’ve been trying to get you to respond for several dobashes.”

“Sorry.” Keith attempted to adjust his grip on the stone, wincing. “Kinda got wet. Might have taken a bit for my comm to dry out.”

“What do you mean, you got wet?” Lance broke in.

Shiro ignored the interruption. “Most of us are back in the Lions. We have to swing by and pick up Hunk. Where are you?”

“Um.” Suddenly he was quite aware of how embarrassing his situation was. “I’m...in a cave...in the ocean?”

There was silence over the comms for a moment. Then, “Mullet, please don’t tell me you jumped in the ocean to get away from the nightclub aliens.”

“No,” he shot back a bit too quickly. “I didn’t jump in the ocean. I...fell.” It was mostly true. And possibly a worse admission than agreeing with Lance, but he couldn’t stand the tone of voice he was using.

“Are you okay?” Shiro immediately asked.

“Mostly. A little banged up, but I’ll survive.” He’d get lectured later for calling a broken ankle and cracked ribs “a little banged up”, but that was better than making Shiro worry.

“Alright. I’m gonna send Lance to come pick you up, since his Lion will be best if he needs to land in water.”

He wanted to protest. Like, really really wanted to protest. Lance was the last person that needed to see him right now. But Shiro had a point, Blue was the best Lion for this situation, so he snapped his jaw shut and locked it.

Lance spent the entire flight crowing and preening via a private comm channel over the fact that he was coming to rescue Keith from an embarrassing predicament that Keith had gotten himself into. For his part, Keith just gritted his teeth and bore it in silence, while trying his best to keep his exhausted, trembling arms from giving out and dropping him back into the frigid water. His lower body had long since gone numb. The good news was that that meant his ankle was mostly numb, too, only occasionally giving a throb to let him know it was still broken.

“Are you almost here?” he eventually growled.

“What, you in a hurry, Mullet?”

He wanted to say, “Yeah, I am. Did I mention that I was in the water?” But that would have just given him more fuel to make fun of him.

Instead, he griped, “The planet isn’t that big.”

“Well excuse me, but the shoreline is pretty quiznaking long. All you told us was ‘in a cave in the ocean’. I’m still looking.”

Which, that was fair, he guessed. Not that he would ever tell Lance that. And not that his body agreed. “Maybe if you’d stop talking you could concentrate better on looking.”

“Or maybe if you would stop talking to me, I- oh wait, I think I see it!”

Sure enough, the unmistakable whoosh of a Lion’s flight was drawing nearer. “I hear you. You’re definitely close.”

A moment later, Blue’s face filled the opening of the cave. Lance promptly began cackling. “Holy crow, Mullet, this is the best moment of my life. You look like a drowned rat!”

Keith glared, which probably didn’t look all that menacing considering the circumstances. “Ha, ha, very funny. Now are you gonna come in and get me?”

“Sorry, bro, no can do. This is as far as Blue goes. Shoulda picked a bigger cave.” He still hadn’t stopped laughing.

“Yeah, but...ugh. Never mind.” No way was he handing Lance any more ammo. His arms would just have to deal with it.

His fingers had gotten so cold that they had gone stiff and didn’t want to let go of their hold to start with, but he pried them off and began to painstakingly make his way back toward the entrance. Inch by inch, knuckles aching and muscles quivering the whole time.

“Dude, are you seriously gonna crawl along the wall the whole way?”

“Shut up, Lance.”

A minute of silence. His ribs were starting to smart again, stirred up by the movement.

“Oh my stars, this is gonna take all day! What are you doing?”

“I said shut up, Lance!”

“No, I’m not gonna shut up, this is ridiculous! What are you, Spiderman, now? Why don’t you get off the quiznaking wall and swim?”

“If you’re just gonna sit out there and do nothing but watch, then you have no right to compl-”

Mid-sentence, his broken ankle bumped up against the rock and his vision whited out. The next thing he knew, water was up over his head again. Panicked, he tried to pull himself back up by the one hand that hadn’t lost its grip, sliding the other one frantically around the wall until it found another handhold and he was able to haul himself out. He came up gasping, coughing, and spitting once more.

“You okay there, Mullet?” Lance’s voice came echoing through the cave a few seconds later. Glancing over, Keith saw him sitting up on Blue’s nose.

“‘m fine,” he spat. He was shivering so hard that he wasn’t sure whether he could keep crawling.

“You got a water phobia?”

“No. I’m not scared, I just...just no. Shut up.”

“You sure? ‘Cause you sure looked scared. And if you’re not scared, then why wouldn’t you just swim over here like a normal huma-”

“Because I can’t, okay?” Keith exploded. “I...I just can’t, so leave me alone and let me get there my own way.”

He kept still, despite that demand, still not able to will his arms into moving again. Amazingly, Lance stayed quiet for longer than expected.

“Did you hurt yourself and lie to Shiro?”

“No.”

Lance groaned. “Then I don’t get why you can’t swim -!” He paused. “Wait. You...can’t swim. Is that what you’re telling me?”

No, no, that was not what he was telling him, that was the last thing he wanted to tell him, of all people, the three time swimteam champion and competitive surfer. But if he continued denying it he would just sound stupid.

“So what if I can’t? I grew up in the middle of the desert, okay? There was no need to know how to swim.” And no one who cared enough to teach him, for most of his life.

There was silence again, and Keith couldn’t bring himself to look at what kind of face Lance was making at this new revelation. For all he knew, he was laughing so hard it wasn’t making any sound. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Then there was a splash, and Keith snapped his head around to see Mr. Three Time Swimteam Champion popping back up out of the water next to Blue and shaking his sopping hair around.

“Dude! This water is freezing!”

“Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn’t noticed. What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, Lance started swimming straight toward him with strong, steady strokes. In seconds - covering a distance that had taken Keith forever - he was stopping right next to him, treading water.

He grinned. “I’m coming to rescue you like I was told.”

Keith clenched his jaw and stared hard at the rocks. “I don’t need rescuing.”

“Oh, okay, so should I just go back to Blue and fly away and leave you to do this yourself?”

He wanted to bash his head against the wall. He didn’t think he had the energy. “No. Ugh, fine. I need rescuing. But you didn’t have to get in the water and come all the way in here. I could have handled it.”

“Sure you could.” Keith could hear the eyeroll without even looking. “Look, dude. You can’t swim. That’s okay. It’s not your fault no one taught you, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. I grew up on the beach, so of course I know how. You don’t have to pretend like you’re something you’re not just to save face.”

That...was not at all the reaction he’d expected. He kinda wondered if maybe all the water he had inhaled had gotten to his brain, or if the neon aliens had gotten to Lance and done some kind of body swap.

“And besides,” Lance continued, “even the best trained swimmers would have a hard time after being in this temperature water for as long as you have. Which means we should, you know, get going before I can’t swim, either.”

He still wasn’t sure what in the world had brought on this...kind? understanding? very un-Lance-like response, but he wasn’t going to argue against getting out of the water. Even if it did mean having to let Lance drag him around like a little kid.

“Okay. Fine. How...are we gonna do this?”

Lance grinned again. “Well, I’m thinking maybe if we put our arms around each other like this, so we can each use one arm, and we can both kick…” He threw his arm around Keith’s torso, drawing an involuntary hiss as it bumped into his sore ribs. Lance just stared at him, one eyebrow tilted up.

Keith looked away. “I...may have possibly lied to Shiro.”

“And to me.” Lance sighed dramatically. “Fine, so you busted your ribs or something. Any other injuries I should know about?”

“I may have also possibly broken my ankle.”

“Seriously, dude? Alright, don’t kick with that leg, then.”

“I can -”

“I said don’t.”

Keith glared at him. “Fine.”

“Good. So, you just move your free hand like I’m doing, and kick your uninjured leg up and down, and I’ll do the rest. Got it?”

“Got it.” They adjusted until they were in position and were ready to take off toward Blue.

“Hey Mullet?”

“What.”

“You’re an idiot, you know that?”

Somehow, he was pretty sure based on the tone that this was more about his refusal to accept help than the whole falling into the ocean thing. He kinda owed Lance a thank you. He definitely would if he actually managed to get them back to Blue without drowning.

What he actually said was, “Takes one to know one.”

He was pretty sure based on the tone that Lance would know what he meant.

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sillybitchynerd · 4 years

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The thing I hate the most about Dark Phoenix as a movie is the fact that the characters are so good...but they do literally NOTHING with them after setting up movies worth of development and tugging you along with ‘maybe this will be a thing? NOPE!’ You can literally go through every character and watch their development just STOP and see were they TRIED to do something cool and interesting but failed....because they didn’t spend any time on the new thing they wanted that character to be into.

Jean and Scotts whole relationship. Outta the blue more or less, hinted in Apoc but then suddenly they are just a super solid couple. I’ll buy it but we get about maybe.....4 lines of them talking to each other? They make a big deal about them for a bit there with the whole ‘you said you would always come back to me’...but then she dosn’t? It’s not even Scott that does really anything for Jean in the end he’s just there to yell her name a bunch.

QuickSilver: Three whole damn movies about his daddy issues and they don’t even have a SINGLE SCENE together. He’s just yeeted from the movie after the first fight and we literally never see him until the end sorta? Could they not afford the actor for more than two days? But three movies of him finding out Magneto is his dad, coming to terms with it in the next movie and getting ready to confront him then third movie, should be the big confrontation annnddddddd, *fart nosie*

NightCrawler: They didn’t do really much of anything with Kurt and it’s a shame because this is prolly one of my fav versions of him. Sweet religious boy who’s more afraid of fighting, better at running away. They do pepper in little scenes of him being FORCED to fight and really not super into it. The cage match scene were he stops running and fights back only to apologize for defending himself, running around the base being spooked by the dead bodies and blood everywhere. Having a goofy one liner again Warren when he at last traps him (but dosn’t kill him), then in DP he dosn’t wanna fight Jean and tries to plead with her. He dosn’t fight in the street but acts as a taxi for everyone getting jerked around and spooked before a breaking point on the train were he snaps after someone died trying to protect him while he just cowered in the corner. THAT’S GOOD.....but it’s not really developed. He has maybe 5 lines of dialog in the whole movie and suffers greatly from a lot of tiny glances of character with a huge left field swing where he straight up murders people on a rampage. But it’s a blink and you’ll miss it moment that isn’t REALLY out of character after two movies of being a shy run away boy. But....blink and you really will miss it. Feels like they really wanted high fight scene to be this ‘OMG’ moment with him making all these demonic faces and snarling at the enemy before murdering them....but eh,

Charles: Good...fucking god it’s like he didn’t have 4 movies to develop into a character who wouldn’t suddenly become super narcissistic and shitty. He keeps learning the SAME LESSON over and over and over and over. Listen to your friends, you don’t have all the answers, work as a team, believe in each other. Care! But suddenly NOPE he likes photo shoots more than characters he’s said are like his literal children. He puts them at risk because once again he thinks HE knows better and will always know better and refuses to listen to anyone else.

Raven: She’s so...hit or miss for me every single movie. She’s often written as a really REALLY dumb character who even when told flat out ‘if you do this it will destroy our kind in mass murder later on’ will respond with ‘oh wellllll gonna do it!’ but she’s way to flip flop to really have any kind of development to follow. She’s good then she’s bad then she’s good again...then bad again. She cares about the kids, she dosn’t care about the kids, suddenly she cares SO MUCH they are a family but she’s ready to up and leave them in the next scene. Goes on and on about not wanting to be a hero but....is a super hero.

Hank: He’s a character we don’t get a lot on most of the time. They try and make him important but he’s 180 into ‘I’m gonna murder a child I help raise’ was such a whip lash moment. Hanks been at the school since it started....he raised Jean, watched her grow up...and he is so READY to murder her even if it’s clear she can’t control her powers and she didn’t mean to kill Raven. All it takes for him to stop is ‘it’s not what Raven would have wanted’ and SUDDENLY BOOM it’s like he’s snapped out of his murder daze and is super okay now! There isn’t any time for him to swap sides or even get his perspective. He even blames Charles for what’s happening to Jean and calls her a little girl CONSTANTLY but none of that applies when he wants to kill her?

Storm: Such a major character in the later time line is literally background. They give her this weird ‘I don’t trust Jean’ line at the start but it’s suddenly gone two scenes later and she demands to come along to try and bring her home. She’s another one were it feels like scenes are missing. Conversations were she see’s Jean acting funny and has her doubts but then a few more were she remembers what good friends they are and why it’s important to help each other.

Magneto: Stop I’m mad. We watch this man gain and lose family almost every single movie. First Class he gains the x-men and loses them only to gain the baddies as a start up group...loses them in DOFP horribly then gains the X-men again, loses them in APOC but gains a real family with a wife and daughter but wops lost them then tries to join APOC only to be turned on him and round back to the x-men and is SO CLOSE to gaining a son. Then DP, he has Genosha which is just starting up and getting somewhere...loses that it seems and joins the X-men at the very end again only to piddle off somewhere which zero to do with Peter and eh I guess he didn’t really NEED a family. Not like literally every single second he’s on screen that’s his whole character. Losing and gaining family members. It’s FINE, EVERTHING IS FINE.

I love the X-Men. I also really love the movies. Even the newer ones. A small part of me wants them to be good SO BAD and scrambles to find even a shred of decency in them and I found that with their versions of the characters. They are SO GOOD and engaging even if you love to hate them but the stories they are written in, the shit they do is just SO BAD.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. X-men is only good as a high budget TV series. So much of what makes them good is the slice of life problems they deal with as a family as WELL as the fights they have. Trying to mash so many characters together into a 2 hour movie only works if you make it cheezy AF like the early 2000s movies or if you are able to pull an Avengers and give each hero their own movies (or three) and slowly start to pepper in more and more as you go along. They tried...bless their heart. But now Disney has it and....MAN IDK IM SCARED!

#xmen #x-men

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gingerwritess · 5 years

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Hi! I really like you’re writing! Loki an Elliot are adorable! ❤️ I had an idea. You and Loki take Elliot to an amusement park and Loki is being a stubborn little shit and won’t go on the ride(bc they look kinda terrifying but he’s not gonna say that). So the reader promises to give him a kiss if he goes on one and doesn’t enjoy it. So he goes and he pretends to hate it bc he wants a kiss

ok this took forever but enjoy!! its super fluffy!

i don’t own any part of disney, just borrowed their name/park pls don’t sue me

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“That can’t possibly be safe.”

Loki’s staring up at the ferris wheel with wide eyes, a hand full of bright blue cotton candy frozen halfway to his mouth.

“I wanna go on it,” Elliot announces, wiping his ice cream covered mouth on the arm of his shirt. “Be brave, daddy, it’s a big-kid ride.”

Loki gapes at him—there is no way in hell he’s letting his son get on that rickety old wheel and spin off into oblivion, much less get on it himself. “Absolutely not, this one is off limits. You’re not going.”

“Oh, come on, daddy,” you tease, nudging his arm. “Let the kid have some fun.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise my wife had lost her mind…y-you can’t be serious.” His head snaps to yours and he flings a hand at the ferris wheel, that damned mouse grinning down at him, mocking him—he hates this place.

So…happy.

“Elliot,” Loki smiles and crouches in front of the little boy. “Do you have a death wish?”

“A what?”

“That’s what I thought.” He stands up and shakes his head at you. “No one from this family steps foot on that…that wheel.”

You roll your eyes and grab his hand, starting the trek towards the winding line of people waiting to get on, and Elliot squeals excitedly when he sees where you’re headed. “Sorry, snowflake, you don’t call all the shots here,” you call back to Loki, who’s sulking behind the two of you. “We paid a lot of money for this little vacation, so if he wants to go on the wheel of death, let him go on the wheel of death.”

Oh, wonderful. Now Loki’s pouting.

The light-up Mickey Mouse ears Elliot snuck on his head don’t seem to be cheering him up either.

“All these people,” he groans once you’re in line, leaning against the railing and crossing his arms. “You two just go, I’ll wait for you when you get off. I might hurt someone if I stay here any longer.”

“No! Dad, you gotta go!” Elliot hoists himself up on the railing next to his dad, stealing a chunk of his cotton candy. “Are you scared or somethin’?”

Loki scoffs and lightly whacks Elliot in the face with his stick of cotton candy. “You have three seconds to reevaluate that sentence, young man.”

Giggling, Elliot waves you over to whisper in your ear. “Dad’s scared to go on the ferris wheel.”

“Oh, really?” You grin at Loki and adjust his mouse ears, patting his cheek when you pull your hands back. “I bet he’s scared cause he knows he would love it…”

You swear you can feel the daggers Loki is glaring at you right now.

“Tell you what,” you begin thoughtfully, swinging Elliot into your arms as the line starts moving. Loki stays planted firmly on the railing, scowling at you with lips a tiny bit blue from the dyed sugar he’s been eating all day. “I’m willing to bet that you’re going to have more fun than you’ve ever had in your life, once you get your stubborn butt on the ferris wheel.”

“You’re delusional.” Loki grins and lightly flicks your forehead. “Even IF I was to go on this, I would be miserable the entire time, without a doubt.”

“For the god of lies, you’re a terrible liar. Don’t you think, Elliot?” You bounce the wiggling little kid in your arms.

“The worst-est,” Elliot agrees. “C’mon, dad, it’s super fun. You gotta go.”

Loki scowls and shakes his head at his son. “The only way you’re getting me on that wheel,” he pokes a finger into Elliot’s chest, “is if you can make me an offer worthy of the gods.”

“Deal.”

“Really?” You laugh and shift Elliot to your other hip. “Dad drives a hard bargain, kiddo. Good luck with that.”

“Nah, I got an idea.” Elliot grins, his bright eyes narrowing with a mischievous glint.

Oh no.

“If daddy can go on it without smiling ever,” Elliot states firmly, pointing a finger right back in Loki’s face. “Then he gets a surprise.”

“And what might that be?” Loki’s biting back a grin, you can tell.

“Can’t tell ya. Issa secret.”

“I don’t believe you, little silvertongue.”

Elliot crosses his arms and pulls a dramatic pout at his father. “That’s rude, scaredy-cat. I’ll tell you that it includes a kiss from mom and a hug from me, but that’s all y’get to know.”

“Scaredy-cat?!”

“You’re gonna pay for that one,” you whisper to Elliot, tickling him in the stomach and handing him over to Loki, who takes him tight in his arms, holding the squirming little kid in the air.

“You dare call your father a scaredy-cat, Elliot Lokason??” As threatening as his voice sounds, you can hear the laughter behind it as Loki easily holds Elliot in one arm, the other hand turning icy blue and slipping up the boy’s shirt. “That is no way to speak to a king, peasant.”

“NO! I’m a prince, dad, stop, I’m a prince too!!” Elliot squeals with laughter, feet kicking helplessly in the air. “Sorry sorry sorry, sorry dad, stop!!”

The little boy is still squirming with laughter under Loki’s freezing blue hand on his tummy, his own lighter blue starting to blossom from the centre of his chest.

“Well then, the prince of Asgard…” Loki pauses his icy tickle attack, finally setting the blue kid on the railing in front of him, putting a hand to his heart and turning his voice deadly serious. “…must know how to speak with poise, grace, elegance, and regality in every syllable.”

Elliot giggles, putting a little hand to his blue heart and mimicking his dad’s formal speech and accent perfectly, his eyebrows furrowing as he best tries to copy his dad’s pose. “With noise, space, elephants and legal tea in every syllable—”

“That is not what I said.”

You double over with laughter, the seriousness in Elliot’s little face too much to handle as he mimics his father—his father, that is, whose scowl is quickly being overridden by an inevitable smile when Elliot breaks down laughing, too.

He watches the two of you, clutching your stomachs as your faces scrunch with laughter, and a jolt of something warm shoots through his body when you grab onto his arm from laughing so hard. Loki can’t help it; he grins.

How??

How, in the name of all that is sacred, does he get to have all this?

He stares at you, eyes flitting between you and your son, a few stray laughs leaving his lips as you move with the line and climb into a hanging carriage, flopping onto the bench, your shoulders still shaking from laughing. Elliot gasps for breath and throws himself over your lap, absolutely mad with giggles that just pick up for a second storm when Loki climbs in the carriage, ducking low to avoid hitting his head.

“You—you’re—” he breaks down in giggles again, pointing at Loki and covering his face with little hands. “You’re so tall! Mom, mom, he’s so tall, I can’t—”

You’re not sure why Elliot seems to find that so funny, but you find yourself hoping to god that he keeps laughing; you can practically feel the unbridled joy in Loki’s heart at this moment.

He slumps onto the bench across from you, looking uncharacteristically out of proportion on the ride probably not meant for someone with the build of a god. Long legs stretch across the floor and tangle with your ankles, and he runs his foot up your calf with a grin.

“Maybe this won’t be so bad.”

“Hey!” Elliot jumps to his feet, still hiccuping from laughing so hard. “No—hic—ehehe…no smiling, ‘member??”

“Ah. Right,” Loki sighs, crossing his arms and slumping further down in his seat. “No happiness at Disneyland.”

The ride starts moving, lifting your carriage in the air and Elliot rushes to the edge, looking through the gated barriers at the amusement park below.

“I wanna fly,” he announces, turning around and flopping onto the bench next to Loki. “I wanna know how to fly, dad, you know how to fly?”

“Not exactly…”

Elliot frowns, a concerning glint in his eye. “Morgan’s dad can fly.”

“Morgan’s dad wears a metal wetsuit,” Loki scoffs, lightly pushing his son’s face away. “And, last I checked, doesn’t have the ability to freeze his child when that child gets…troublesome.”

He raises his hands with a grin as Elliot shrieks, scrambling off the bench and hurtling over to hide behind you, sending the hanging carriage swinging back and forth.

“S’not good to threaten your kid, dad, don’t do that.”

“Yeah, honey,” you laugh, wrapping your son in a protective hug. “Don’t threaten to freeze your kid, that’s not setting a good example.”

“A good example?” Loki scoffs and laces his fingers behind his head. “I’m sorry, my love, but there’s no hope for this one. You remember last night, don’t you?”

Elliot grins and snuggles up closer to you, ever sporting the adorable facade of a little angel—oh yes, you remember.

“Froze my tongue to my fork during dinner…”

“That was n’accident, sorta.”

“…turned the hot water to ice in the middle of my shower…”

Elliot bursts out laughing again. “You screamed!! Mom got so worried, you screamed—”

“Tell me again, why did we bring you here?”

“Cause you love me.” The little boy scrunches up his nose in a grin. “You love me, you love me—hey!! You’re smiling!”

He is, shamelessly and clearly with little control. “You’re a pain,” he laughs, conjuring a snowball and chucking it at his kid. “But…I do love you.”

“Love ya too, loser.”

Another snowball hits Loki square in the face not two seconds later.

“ELLIOT!!”

“What?! Dad started it!”

* * * *

“So,” Loki hums the moment he takes a wobbly step back onto solid ground. “What was my surprise, unðr?”

“Uh, you lost, dad.” Elliot grabs your hand and reaches for Loki’s with the other, skipping happily between the two of you. “I was gonna surprise you with unlimited hugs for a day, but you had fun, huh?”

“I was miserable, wasn’t that obvious?”

“You were laughing, daddy, mom saw you too.”

“Leave me out of this,” you laugh, holding up your hands in defence. “I’ve yet to make a deal with your father that’s actually ended well.”

“Oh, really?”

Oh no.

Loki turns to you with a glint in his eye. “I seem to recall a little late night wager where you told me not to make a sound or else you would—”

“LOKI, THERE’S CHILDREN.”

“Educating the masses,” Loki grins, swinging Elliot in the air as he skips obliviously along. “I think I should be rewarded even for going on that death wheel, don’t you agree?”

Smooth change of subject, Loki. A+ parenting.

Elliot thinks for a minute, jumping and swinging using your hands to lift him higher. “How ‘bout you get a hundred hugs today? Not ‘nfinity, only a hundred.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal, little giant.” Loki swoops the little boy up into his arms and plants a loud smack of a kiss on his chubby cheek, squeezing him in a tight, squirming hug. “You mentioned there being a ‘mom component’ as well, don’t think I forgot about that.”

“Uh huh.” Elliot nods and grins at you, resting his head against Loki’s cheek. “Mom’s gotta give you unlimited kisses. Forever.”

“What?!”

“You heard him,” Loki laughs, using up another one of his hundred hugs. “Unlimited kisses…forever…I like you, Elliot, good thinking.”

“I didn’t sign up for this,” you sigh as Loki wraps his arm not holding Elliot around your waist, pulling you into his side.

“You married me,” Loki grins, stealing two quick pecks to your lips.

“Don’t remind me—”

“Had a kid with me, too.”

Three more smooches and he’s squeezing your cheeks together with a hand under your chin—already abusing his power.

“You agreed to spend the rest of your life with me,” Loki laughs, lacing his fingers through yours and leading you towards another cotton candy stand. “And if that requires unlimited kisses…”

Elliot nods with as smug a grin as he can muster.

“…then you might as well enjoy it.”

You roll your eyes and wrap your two boys in a giant hug, tugging Loki in for a proper kiss. “Then get over here and maybe I will, idiot.”

Elliot claps his hands over his eyes. “That’s gus-tusting.”

“This was your idea, Elliot.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

hope you enjoyed, feel free to send me ideas!

loki tags: @bluediamond007 @himitoshi @drakesfiance @destiel1597 @dangertoozmanykids101 @archy3001 @jcalpha1 @yzssie @skullvieplu @forthesnakeofdragons @skulliebythesea @wegingerangelica @storiesfrommirkwood @agarwaeneth @adaliamalfoy @laurfangirl424 @paradisaicsam @fitzsimmons-is-forever @ladylokimischief @katelinwrites @tarynkauai @polaristrange @loavesofmeat @canadian-ravenpuff-multishipper @lou-makes-me-strong @holyn0vak @chocolatealmondmillk @swtnrholland @kenzieam @jessiejunebug @catticas @the-republic-and-face-of-texas @doralupin01 @whitewitchdown @atomiccharmer @falconfeather23435 @babygirlicecream @avengrcs @vethrvolnir2 @bookgirlunicorn @wabisabigrl @myhealingstar @khaleesi-marvel @ei77777 @spacecrumbs @scarlettrosella @rocks-are-pretty-odd @confessionsofastrugglingteen @easilydistractedwriter @arttasticgreatnessoftheawesome77 @fluffyllamaswearinghats @milktearose @lcyouinhell @h0tshotholland @dontmesswithmemundane @southsidesarcasticwriter @helnik-s @lilith-akemi @fire-in-her-veinz @unlikelysamwinchesteronahunt @mischievousbellerina @kcd15 @mellowgirl01 @lokislilcaribbeanprincess @allthingzhiddleston @scorpionchild81 @lokixme @vast-ish @blue-automne @galaxycharmed @devilbat @kangaroobunny @end-up-well @planetariumx @sarcsep @mrfandomtastic @amaru163 @im-way-too-many-fandoms @caswinchester2000 @kybaeza @little-scintilla @vintagesunshinebitch @adefectivedetective @poetic-nikolai @moonduhsted

#loki x reader #loki reader insert #loki fluff #dad!loki #domestic!loki #loki imagine #loki requests #disneyland loki #loki fanfiction #loki drabbles #loki laufeyson #elliot lokison #elliot lokason

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voidendron · 4 years

Text

Story Time

One-Shot, 2′327 Words Star Wars AU

(( the formatting got fucky and hard to read for mobile, can’t get it to fix itself, so reposting as a text post instead of answer in an attempt to get it to work.

set later than previous SW fics where they actually like. can stand each other. it ended up WAY longer than I anticipated, but So. Worth it. It was a lot of fun :D ))

Warnings: Alcohol, Drunkenness (mild), Swearing Characters: Chase Brody, Jackieboy Man, Jameson Jackson, Marvin the Magnificent, Dr. Schneeplestein, Septic Eye Sam

Chase had dropped off a pretty large shipment earlier, which left the cargo bay of his ship with plenty of room. With an empty crate acting as a makeshift table, they all sat around it, some with more distance between them than others. It had been Chase’s idea, because of course it had been.

Jackie was looking at his drink skeptically (probably wondering if Chase had come by it legally or not) while Sam pouted at the fact Marvin wouldn’t let them have any. …Which was funny considering that, while they were the youngest there, they were as much an adult as the rest of them. Jameson had waved off the offer, not wanting to remove his vocoder—vocabulator?—whatever it was; Chase had heard multiple names used for the things.

Chase might have been a little tipsy at that point and he could feel Schneep eyeing him. He was watching himself, though, and at least his astromech could pilot while he was unable.

“Anyway,” the Bothan said as he threw a hand up, “that’s how I accidentally pissed off a governor and got an assassin sent after me!”

Marvin made a noise akin to some sort of hissing laugh. “I think I’ve got more questions than I started with.”

“Yeah…” Jackie took a testing sip of his drink as he leaned back against an empty pallet. “What was that part about getting stuck in the wrong vent again?”

“Doesn’t matter—my time’s up! Who can one-up that?” Chase pulled his best rendition of a grin that he could with a snout full of sharp teeth.

“Eh, I’ll give it a shot.” Marvin adjusted his legs and patted his helmet to make sure it was still resting at his thigh. “This was back when Sami was a teenager, but… Heh. You remember that Acklay?”

The younger Mandalorian immediately perked up and started grinning. “You told that story for weeks after!”

“Hey, that’s where I earned my signet—‘course I’d keep telling it!”

“Acklay…” Jackie rubbed at his chin. “You mean those freaky six-legged buggers that try to spear ya?”

Marvin grinned; his feline fangs were even sharper than Chase’s and glinted in the light from overhead. “Oh, yeah. And those legs are sharp, dammit.” He traced a line over his breastplate up to his shoulder and added, “Got a nasty scar here from it, and proud of it!”

“So what about the Acklay?” Schneep actually…tilted his head a little. God was he expressive for a droid.

“All right. Let’s see if this one-ups Chase’s ship-crash of an experience, huh?” He took a swig of his drink, then settled back comfortably. “I did a lot of our clan’s supply runs—especially if it was into dangerous territory. I had to go to Felucia for some plant. Not a botanist, so don’t remember what it was or what it was used for, but whatever. We needed it and that’s all you need to know about that.

“So, I was searching for this plant, watching my back for dangerous fauna, and then I heard it.” He gnashed his teeth together, making poor Sami jump at the noise. “It was above me, on one of the…root-things all over the place. Just watching me. And the thing was huge. I’d only seen them from a distance until that point, but one good strike would’ve speared one of its legs straight through me.

“When it shifted, the entire root creaked under it. It must’ve been waiting there long before I got there ‘cause there was no way I wouldn’t have heard it walk up there.” He muttered something in Mando’a and chuckled to himself. “So I did what any impulsive Mandalorian would do and started shooting at it.”

Jameson startled Chase—as well as some of the others by the looks of it—when he suddenly piped in. He hadn’t expected the guy to actually listen enough to contribute. “Acklays have exoskeletons. A blaster such as you carry would do little.”

Marvin frowned a little at Jameson, but at least he wasn’t baring his teeth this time. For once? “Yeah. And I remembered that fact only when it lumbered off the damn root and nearly speared me under it.

“That was back before I got my jetpack, and carried a vibroblade instead of my electrostaff.” He patted said weapon where it laid next to him. “So I was stuck on the ground with somethin’ a whole lot faster than me, with more reach, and those fuckers are scary agile, too. I was alone with the only things I’d have a chance with being a few grenades and my blade.”

Jackie arched a brow. “…You say that like ‘a few’ grenades are just a casual thing.”

“Well, yeah. Mandalorians are usually armed to the teeth.”

“Fangs,” Chase corrected with a chuckle. “’Cause you’re a Cathar, so you’ve got fangs.”

Marvin just snorted. “Someone get him to bed—”

“—I’m not that drunk—!”

“—Anyway. So I’ve got this Acklay that’s way bigger than me trying to knock me over, spear me, chomp me, whatever it can. It broke some of my straps, so I was left without a breastplate or right pauldron, lost one of my blasters, I’m dragging my sash in my hands since that got cut, too, and I really wanted to keep my grenades with me, all while I’m trying not to let this thing make a meal of me and it’s screeching in my ear.

“So I’m trying to duck around plants and dive for areas it can’t fit, but it just plows through or destroys them to leave me floundering for a new spot. I can see my ship, but this thing’s driving me farther and farther from it, then I trip, and all I see is one of its legs poised to impale me. I roll, but it still catches me,” he traces the line on his chest again, “so now I’m bleeding, can’t move one arm, and this thing reaches down to chomp me, catches my other pauldron instead and pulls it off so I scramble to my feet.

“I’m covered in mud and pollen and my own blood, my visor’s so filthy I can barely see. I pull a grenade off my sash and activate it, ‘cause at that point I’m thinking I’m about to die and I’m desperate. So I throw the fucker, and the Acklay snatches it out of the air and swallows it.

“Boom. I watched the thing get blown apart, grabbed my stuff and the plant after looking around for it again, and beelined it for my ship.”

Sam shook their head and grinned. “When he got back to camp he was a mess. He was dragging the armor that was pulled off by its straps and had his arm against his chest. His collar bone had been broken and he didn’t even sling his arm! The medical droid scolded him so bad. And the first thing he does? Pull off his helmet, grin a huge grin, and give the plant to our leader all proud of himself!”

“Hey, I had a right to be proud!” Marvin turned to show the marks on his pauldron; sure enough, it was an Acklay head. “That’s how I earned my signet!”

“…Damn.” Chase shook his head. “I’ve heard those things can kill groups of trained soldiers if they’re caught off guard.”

“Impressive,” Schneep agreed. “Very impressive!”

“So. Anyone wanna one-up that?” the Cathar challenged.

Jackie shook his head. “I thought I had a story. No way it tops that.”

“Let’s hear it anyway!” Chase said.

“Yes, please,” the droid agreed.

“Eh. Well.” He rubbed the back of his head. In the dimmed light of the cargo bay, it was almost eerie the way his red eyes glowed as he cast them around the room. “I was in my Y-Wing when Vader joined a battle?”

Chase choked on his drink and was left coughing for a solid thirty seconds. “You survived an encounter with him?!”

“I spotted his TIE from a distance, but it didn’t really…register? that it looked a little different from the rest? Soon as my squad leader saw it, I swear I was gonna go deaf. She flipped. Out. Ordering the squad to retreat immediately. It was right about then that a star destroyer came outta hyperspace.

“We knew that was it. We didn’t have a chance of winning that battle, so we fell back in the hopes of not losing multiple squads.” Jackie frowned. “Half my squad was killed—all good men, friends—when Vader showed up. Pretty sure he’s the one who got to ‘em. I’d never been so terrified. Heh. And I never even got close to it—just saw it on the other side of the battle. Even now, I don’t think anything’s scared me so damn bad as seein’ that one TIE.

“I wouldn’t fly for days after that, and none of us would shut up about seeing it. We didn’t win that battle, but surviving that sorta encounter at least deserves some bragging rights. Right?”

“Wow!” Sam leaned forward, hands on their knees. “I’ve only ever heard stories of him, but that sounds scary!” They were…grinning, as they said it. Of course they were, Chase thought with a chuckle. He swore those two Mandalorians were addicted to danger. Maybe he was a little, too, but hey.

“Okay, we’ve got a game goin’ now,” Jackie said. “Someone’s gotta go next.”

Schneep shuffled awkwardly, then offered, “I was stolen by pirates?”

“Hey, now.” The Chiss frowned despite the story he’d just told. “We rescued you. Can’t hold that over our heads forever.”

“Oh, no, no!” He put up his hands, shook his head. “You saved me from the third time! But I’ve been stolen before.”

“…Third time?”

“By pirates, yes.”

“That implies you’ve been stolen by things other than pirates, too,” Marvin muttered with a huffed laugh.

“Dude,” Chase grinned, “you’ve got tell us about the first time. Or second—whichever’s more interesting. Please?”

The arms set into Schneep’s back for more fine-tuned work shifted and clattered and his eyes brightened a bit. Maybe he couldn’t make facial expressions, but he had other ways of showing how he felt. It was frankly adorable how expressive he actually was.

“This happened during the Clone Wars. I was a Republic medical droid—”

“I…had forgotten how old you were,” Jameson said.

Jackie scoffed. “You forgot something? You’ve got like. A literal computer attached to your head.”

“It didn’t seem like important information, so I disregarded it.”

“Guys,” Chase scolded, “don’t interrupt him.”

His extra arms fidgeted even as he tried to remain still. “I had been stationed at a small outpost to tend to the Clones there. It was too small and not well-defended—in a very bad location, as well. Very bad planning overall. That is what I was told. Pirates were able to overwhelm it.

“They took hostages, stole the droids and supplies, and fled back to their ship before reinforcements arrived.” He put his hands on his hips like he was disappointed, but also chuckled. “They tried to short me out! But they shocked themselves instead—is very funny to remember. They cursed and jumped around while their little machine zipped and zapped. The astromechs they stole found it hilarious and would not stop chittering!”

Chase laughed. That seemed to make Schneep a little more confident—he wasn’t used to talking so much about himself, it was clear, but the Bothan hoped he would start loosening up like this more often.

“The pirates were incompetent. They overwhelmed the outpost with sheer number and firepower, but I swear, far dumber than a battle droid. The Clones complimented one with insults—right to his face!—and he took it as genuine!

“They floundered around each other like the fish out of water! One accidentally released one of the Clones and the poor man was so confused that he just sat there waiting to be cuffed again, and another nearly shot his buddy while cleaning a blaster and having it go off. It was maddening! They wanted to sell us droids and ransom the Clones, but the truly frustrating part was watching them all be the idiots! I do not even think we were worried for our own well-being they were so nonsensical!”

Most of them were laughing, now. Even Jameson had his head tilted like he just couldn’t make sense of pirates. One of the lights on his AJ^6 was even blinking very, very slowly.

“Dude.” It took Chase a couple tries to actually get any proper words out through snickers, “I’m actually afraid of the answer, but… How badly did you embarrass them to get away?”

The droid cupped his hands over his face and laughed again. “The Clones tricked them into undoing their binds, but they were still locked in the cell. So the astromechs—they ambushed a pirate and stole the key from him!”

“Oh, god. Did they not know how freaking feisty mechs can be?! You don’t tick them off—‘specially not a group of ‘em!”

“Apparently not! They zipped and zapped and pinched until they got the key and released the Clones, and then they took over the ship! The pirates were locked out of the cockpit and the mechs found us the nearest Republic fleet. We all had such a hard time believing it actually happened—and no one would believe us! They could not believe someone could possibly be that incompetent!”

Sami looked like they were having a hard time breathing they were laughing so hard, and both Jackie and Marvin had covered their faces.

“…I think Schneep wins for most entertaining story,” Chase suggested. The others only nodded. “Unless Jameson..?”

“I have nothing interesting to tell.”

“…Oh-kay. Our dear droid with the freakin’ comedy gold of dumb pirate stories wins.”

Schneep clasped his hands together, something in his chest chirping.

#fanfic #jacksepticeye #chase brody #jackieboy man #marvin the magnificent #jameson jackson #dr. schneeplestein #septic eye sam #answered ask #anonymous #star wars au #blitz indites #swearing /#alcohol /#drunkenness /

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royalbloodedbastards · 4 years

Text

chatzy // lucky f*cker

DATE: Friday, April 24, 2020 CHARACTERS: Casey and Alec ABOUT: A friendly (?) five-round competition. Cheating encouraged. Curses, not so much.

Casey didn't bother changing out of his joggers and company tee after work. Teaching children how to walk on a balance beam, Casey barely ever broke a sweat, so the clothes were about as clean as they were when he put them on. Besides, Casey wouldn't be surprised if he and Alec somehow found their way into doing some sort of physical activity. Casey felt the tall weeds smacking against his shins as he neared the lake. "Hey!" he called out to an Alec-shaped person 20 yards away.

Alec spun around, flat rock ready to skip in hand, and threw their hands into the air. "Casey!" they called back. They started to jog over to him, tripped over a stick, pedalled their arms through the air for a few seconds to regain their balance, then continued until they were close enough that they didn't have to yell. "What's up?" they asked, holding their hand out to start their handshake. "Come here often?"

"Not in the daytime!" Casey chirped back. He slapped his hand into Alec's, pulled them in for a bro hug, then tenderly laid a palm on Alec's butt cheek. He rested his head against Alec's, completely still and silent for a few seconds before pulling away. "Glad you could make it!"

Alec copied Casey right down to the seconds of silence, then laughed as they pulled away, handshake completed. "Me too! Here." They pressed the rock into Casey's hand without any other explanation. "No twister and oil, but still gonna be a fun time!"

Casey just blinked down at the rock in his palm. "Are we... Stoning each other?"

Alec ran their fingers through their hair to mess it up. "Kinda one-sided if we were, eh? Let he without sin." They grinned at him. "We can get stoned!"

Casey smiled and clasped a hand over his chest. "A person after my own heart. Please don't tell anybody, but—" Casey pulled his pen out of his pocket. "I took like, three hits before teaching my class today."

Alec mirrored him and pressed a hand to their own chest. "You say like you're only learning that now!" They leaned forward and lowered their voice to a whisper. "I'm going to tell everyone and get you fired."

Casey gasped and smacked the side of Alec's arm. "Don't you dare! Those children are grubs but their parents tip me so well." Casey held up his pen. "They're even sponsoring this afternoon, don't you know?"

"You guys are getting tipped?" Alec grinned at him and plucked the pen out of his fingers. "Thank you, parents! Think if I email them they'll sponsor my bad habits?"

"If you offer to take away their children for two hours, I think they'll sponsor anything," Casey half-joked.

Alec laughed. "I thought you meant like, threaten kidnapping for a second! Blackmail them!"

Casey clutched Alec's arm and guffawed. "That's so evil, oh my gods! How much money do you think they'd offer? Don't answer that, you'll go straight to hell." Casey shook his head and stepped toward the water. "Brilliant mind, Alec Masters, brilliant mind."

Alec shook their head vigorously. "No! I'm not condoning that at all." They winked at him. "Not at all."

Casey closed his eyes, smiled, and shook his head. "You smooth talker." He turned to gesture out toward the lake. "So what's the vibe then? A stoned swim? A baked boat race? Some fazed fishing?" Casey looked back at Alec, grimacing. "Please don't say fishing."

Alec looked out over the lake when Casey gestured to it. "Fishing? Gross, I left that behind when I was fifteen." They started heading back towards the water. "Can we combine them? Make our own game?"

"Yeah!" Casey agreed. "I love a good game. Or—that's not true. I love a good win. The game is secondary." He looked at Alec. "Are you thinking some sort of athletic competition?"

"I love a good win," Alec agreed. "No matter what." They picked up another rock and hucked it into the lake. "We should find a way to balance this shit out, you got crazy time powers and I'm lucky as all fuck." Laughing, they picked up another rock and tried to skip it, getting a solid few bounces before it sunk into the lake. "Some sorta middle ground, eh?"

"Interesting," Casey muttered. "We could play Russian roulette. I doubt you'll get the bullet and then I can just try dodging it."

"Huh. That's is an idea, but if you readily have a gun on you, I gotta go." Alec squinted at him.

Casey grinned. "Do you think I seem like the gun-totin' type?"

"Gimme a second to think on that," Alec joked, bumping their shoulder into Casey's. "I'm gonna go with no?"

"Damn, guess I bought those chaps for nothing then." Casey shook his head. "What about a tourney? Five game spread, half skill, half luck, winner takes all?"

“I’ll still admire you in them.” Alec continued speaking immediately after saying that. “Amazing. Ideas for games or are we making them up?

Casey smiled and nodded at the first part of Alec's sentence before continuing onto the next. "We don't have to make them all up, but maybe the tiebreaker—assuming we'll need one—should be a custom challenge. So we make sure the odds are dead even."

Alec messed their hair up again. “I like it. What’s the winner get?”

"Hm..." Casey looked out onto the water. "The chaps?" he joked.

Alec grinned at him. “I’ve never wanted anything more.” They tossed a rock into the water. “I’m kidding, please don’t actually give me them if I win.”

Casey laughed. "I'd have to actually get them if you did, so I can stand behind that." He shrugged. "Is there something that you want? Maybe the loser can grant some sort of wish or service to the winner."

Alec took a seat on the bank of the lake. “Yeah, sounds good. Winner gets a wish?”

Casey nodded and joined Alec on the ground. "Winner gets a wish," he repeated. "Better if it's not something of monetary value, I think. Might make it more special. Not to say that it can't have a cost associated, but more than just getting you something off Amazon."

Alec made a face. "Yeah, I can't afford anything of– what is it? Monetary value?" They laughed. "I was thinking more of the favour kind."

“Perfect.” Casey leaned back onto his elbows. For a moment he tried to think of something he could get Alec to do if he won, but realized the possibilities were too endless and shelved the thought. “Got any ideas for games?”

"That I could win? So many, you bring any cards?" Alec laughed at the idea someone could leave their room without a pack of cards in their pocket. "I mean, for you it could be dodging shit the other throws."

Casey tipped his head back and forth. "Could be..." Suddenly he clapped and looked at Alec, eyes widened. "Paintball gun. Sixty seconds each, fish in a barrel style. Nail the other player with as many balls as you can."

Alec's eyes widened. "Do you have a paintball gun? I'm so down."

Casey pumped a fist in excitement. "I don't, but I bet you fifty bucks my friend Cameron knows where to get one. Rhetorical bet."

"Awesome!" Alec scooped up another rock. "What do we do for right now?"

Casey shrugged. "We could race? Opposite shore and back? Or lap the lake on foot."

Alec looked down at the condition of their sneakers and judged they’d probably last a lap around the lake. “On foot, ready set go!” they blurted out, already launching themself forward to start running.

"Oh, fuck you!" Casey shouted after Alec, scrambling to get up. With his eyes locked on Alec's back, he took off in a sprint. Suddenly, Casey was very glad he decided not to change.

Alec laughed, losing a couple steps of speed as it took some breath from them. They continued on, jumping over sticks and large rocks as best they could without careening headfirst into anything. “I need the head start!”

As Casey veered off the path and the ground turned into stones and sticks, Casey closed his eyes and flipped a switch in his mind. When his eyes opened again, the earth was gliding below him in slow motion and each of Casey's bounding strides felt like flight. He watched carefully each time his foot hit the floor, aiming for the flattest parts of the earth too give himself the best leverage to spring forward. He could hear Alec droning ahead of him, but was too focused on his footholds to parse what the actual real-time words were. Casey just shouted back, "Cheater!" hoping it would come through even in hyper-time.

Alec glanced over their shoulder when they heard Casey say something and promptly tripped over a root. After windmilling their arms for balance they succeeded in not wiping out, but definitely lost their early lead. “Fuck!” they exclaimed with a laugh. “S’why I needed it!”

Seeing Alec's form crumple, Casey thought for a moment that he was about to witness his friend eat dirt. He snapped out of hyper-time and watched as Alec flailed, caught their balance, and then whiz by as Casey gained the lead. He laughed and yelled out, "I thought lucky kids don't trip!"

“Lucky kids don’t fall,” Alec exclaimed although they still had no idea how their powers worked. Determined not to lose any more ground, they fell silent and tried to grab for Casey in front of them to pull him back.

Once Casey had the lead, he stayed in real time to try to gain ground the "fair" way. That is until he felt Alec clutch onto the back of his shirt, pulling him back. Casey stumbled and found himself running alongside them. "Fucking cheater!" he yelled in a glee-tinged rage. "Unreal!"

Alec grinned over at him, hopping easily over the next root that came up. “Don’t be a sore loser!” they yelled back as they cut to the side, ducking under a tree in a shortcut they had spotted a few seconds earlier. Once they skidded to a halt on the beach a few minutes later, in the lead, they sat down, trying to catch their breath. “Fun!”

One moment, Casey was trailing Alec, fully engaged in hyper-time. Then, suddenly, Alec veered sharply off-course and even in hyper-time, Casey couldn't shift his momentum quickly enough to give chase. Cursing himself under his breath, knowing he had lost the race, he kept running anyway. Sure enough, when he arrived at the beach, Alec had already beaten him there. Casey used what little breath he had left in him to sprint forward and leap onto Alec, knocking them flat down onto the sand. Hovering over them, Casey pointed an accusatory finger. "You dirty, little bastard! I see your game!" His voice thundered, but Casey was smiling cheek to cheek. "You wanna play dirty? I can get dirty!"

Alec grinned up at them from the position they now found themself in and took a second to wonder how long it would be before they stopped finding sand around their cabin. They shoved Casey’s chest and laughed. “Threat or promise?”

"I fucking swear," Casey replied, panting. He pushed off the sand and collapsed onto his back, his chest heaving as he breathed. "You are so in for it," he laughed almost maniacally.

Alec rolled onto their side to face him, still grinning widely. They rested their cheek on their hand. “I’ll believe it when I see it. What’s next?”

Casey turned his head to look at Alec. "Just give me a minute to stop dying," he laughed. Slowly his breath returned to him and Casey propped himself up on the sand to look at Alec. "Alright, fine. Maybe this is a mistake, but since I picked something, you should pick the next thing."

Alec sat up as Casey propped himself up. They clasped their hands together. “I was hoping you’d say that. How biased am I allowed to get?”

"Fuck," Casey hissed, falling back onto the sand. "I already hate the sound of this. What is it?" He asked, afraid to know.

Alec laughed at his reaction. “Not that bad! Since I cheated and all.” They put the word ‘cheated’ in air quotes. “How about diving in the lake and seeing who finds the coolest stuff?”

Casey narrowed his eyes. "Okay, but are you secretly a merperson? Are you gonna try and drown me this time?"

“Yep! I brought you here to drown you!” Alec replied cheerfully. “Wanna check me for gills?”

Casey grinned. "Okay, well you know nothing turns me on like a good threat." He stood up on the sand and shook his legs out. "Is there a time limit?"

“Five minutes? Keep it short and sweet?” Alec started shaking sand out of their hair.

"Five minutes," Casey repeated. "Let's do it!" He kicked his shoes off and started pulling off his socks, making a small pile of them on the sand.

Alec followed suit and pulled their shirt over their head before running into the lake. “Starting now!” They dove down and opened their eyes underwater to search for anything out of place along the bottom of the lake.

"What the fuck!" Casey was still getting undressed when Alec ran off into the water. Quickly whipping his shirt behind him, he started toward the water, hopping out of his joggers as he went. Once he was in, he held his breath and dived deep, paddling toward the floor of the lake. He tried opening his eyes underwater to search for anything, his hands patting at the mud and sand.

Alec noticed a faint glimmer at the bottom of the lake after their third time coming up for air, and swam down to clear enough silt away to figure out what it was. A minute later, they emerged at the shore, holding a tiny chest, maybe half a foot long, over their head in victory. “Got something! Wanna open it?”

Casey was catching his breath on the sand after dropping off his third empty alcohol vessel. He looked over to see Alec emerging from the water, holding something of actual interest. "What the fuck," he sighed in exasperation. "How did you even find that? Yes, obviously. Crack that bad boy open, baby."

“Luck?” Alec chirped, sitting down on a log instead of the ground so all the sand didn’t stick to them while they were soaking wet. It took them a few tries but after slamming the clasp into the log, it sprung open and a collection of coloured glass marbles poured out into the sand. “Aw, fucking sweet. I love marbles.”

"Oh my gods," Casey gasped as the marbles spilled out onto the sand. "You're..." Casey held up a hand to block Alec from his field of vision. "You're a fucking cheater and you know it, with your lucky bullshit, but I can't even hate you because I think you're so cool, and that disgusts me."

Alec laughed and tried to push Casey's hand to the side so they could still see him. "What? How is it cheating if I can't control it?"

"Don't make me explain my logic, Masters." Casey dropped his hand and pointed accusatorially at Alec. "This is a purely emotional argument and I stand by it 100%."

Alec started gathering up the marbles to return them to the chest. "Should we put this back? I don't wanna get cursed." They slid off the log to kneel down. "But okay, okay! Your turn to choose, you can cheat now!"

Casey waved a dismissive hand at the chest. "It's marbles, how bad could the curse be?" Casey sat down in the sand, then quickly clambered up to his knees when he felt granules of sand find his way into his boxers. "Fuck. Okay. Uh..." He closed his eyes, tipping his head side to side. "I don't know. I need to catch my breath for a minute."

"If each marble is cursed it could be really bad," Alec offered as they closed the lid to the chest. They had one green marble still in their hand, and they held it out towards Casey. "A souvenir! Sure, let's take a break. You can brainstorm ways to beat me at a game. Mind map, maybe?"

Casey laughed and leaned away from Alec's hand. "Why would you say that every marble is cursed and then give me one? I'm not taking one unless you take one!"

"I said if they're all cursed!" Alec laughed and tossed the marble at Casey anyway. "I'm not risking bringing pirate treasure into the place I sleep! What if there's ghosts?" They considered the chest anyway. "But they are nice. Maybe I'll leave it here and see if it's disappeared by tomorrow. It could belong to one of the naiads, I don't want to steal it– but what if it doesn't belong to anyone, and we were meant to find it, and I'm spitting in the face of destiny by not keeping it? It's a treasure chest! That's some find, eh?"

"Okay," Casey laughed, standing up on the sand. "Just get this thing away from me because now it's just cursed in my brain. Like hashtag cursed." He walked over and placed the marble beside the chest. "And listen—I wouldn't have to brainstorm ways to beat you if you weren't such a cheater. I'm not over here, confounded by your skill, let's just make that clear."

"Sounds good!" Alec picked up the mini chest, walked to the edge of the water and hucked it back into the lake. They dusted off their hands and headed back over to Casey. "Whoa, okay, there was no cheating going on in that last game. No skill, either, but no cheating!"

"Uh-huh. How am I supposed to know you didn't run over here this morning and chuck that same box of marbles into the lake?" He shrugged. "Seems kinda convenient, don't you think?"

"Sounds like way too much work for me." Alec grinned at him. "Out of character."

Casey smiled. "Fine. I'll concede, it does seem like more effort than I can imagine you putting in." Casey walked over to his joggers and started dusting the sand off his thighs and calves.

Alec picked up the marble that they had left behind originally and threw it into the lake as well. "No loose ends!" They scooped their shirt up to pull it back on, only realizing after it stuck to them that they were still dripping water and now also covered in sand. "Aw, fuck."

Casey laughed seeing Alec's mistake. "Shit. I didn't think this through." He looked at his own clothes that he had strewn about the sand. "I mean... Guess I have no choice. Just gonna be sandy."

"We'll be smooth like rocks after it exfoliates us!" Alec sat down to put their shoes back on, giving up entirely on not turning into a sand dune. "Probably shoulda taken my pants off before jumping in the lake, eh? Too late now. I'm right tempted to just roll around and get as sandy as possible so I can stop avoiding it."

Casey laughed. "Okay, you can do that. I'm gonna wait." Casey spread his legs and held his arms out to the side, facing the sun in the hopes that it would dry him off faster.

Alec considered going through with it, but the sand was less appealing by the second. They stood up and joined Casey facing the sun instead, closing their eyes and focusing on the warmth against their skin as though concentration would aid in the drying process. "How many rounds is this competition out of?"

Casey shrugged, his eyes closed. "I don't know, five? Wait—" he looked over at Alec. "Did those two just count as rounds? Did we already start?"

Alec cocked their head to the side. "Did they not?"

"Well, if I knew they were gonna count I would have tried a little harder!" Casey argued. "Cheated a little more," he added with a smirk.

Alec grinned and shoved his shoulder. “You still got three more chances.”

Casey laughed and shoved Alec's shoulder back with a bit more force. "That's not how majority works, asshole. I only have three more chances if I win the next two rounds. If you win one more time, you already win by default."

Alec leaned when they were shoved but didn’t move their feet. “Easy solution! You just gotta win the next two rounds.”

"Alright, fine. Then I know what game we're gonna play." Casey dropped his arms and instead turned to stand completely straight facing Alec. "Ninja. One on one."

Alec huffed at the game choice, still smiling, and turned to face Casey too. “Times like this I wish I knew how to control my powers!” They shook out their arms. “Remind me the rules?”

Casey stepped away, just in case Alec tried to pull any funny business and start before Casey was ready. "We take turns. Single, one-strike movements, try to hit your opponents limbs. When a limb is hit, it's out. First person to lose all four limbs is the loser. Got it?"

Alec nodded, well aware of how this round was going to turn out but willing to give it a shot anyway. “Got it. You start?”

Casey smiled and in the blink of an eye, time skidded to a near halt. His eyes focused on Alec's leg—the closest limb to where he stood—as Casey aimed a sweeping kick at the back of their heel.

Alec tried to lift their leg up out of the way but started too late, and only succeeded in unbalancing themself as the kick landed. They winced as they hit the ground. “Can I get up or am I disqualified?”

Casey laughed. "You can take a turn to get up or you can try to strike me from the ground."

Alec grinned. “I dunno if I agree with these rules.” They kicked one leg forward anyway to try and hit his shin.

Almost too easy. Casey watched as Alec's leg swung toward them at a glacial pace. As they reached his shin, Casey just picked his foot up and set it back down after they had passed. Then, without waiting more than a second after Alec had reached stasis, Casey brought an arm down to try to take out one of Alec's.

Alec expected the next hit to come immediately, but without knowing where Casey was aiming, they still pulled their arm back too slowly and got caught on the wrist. They tucked their arm behind their back and grinned up at him. “Cheater,” they sing-songed as they lunged forward for one of his legs again.

Casey realized too late that he was overzealous in his previous attempt to take Alec out because it left him prone to a straight shot in the leg. But somehow, Casey managed to spring up as Alec lunged and hop away from their strike, landing in a more upright position this time. "Oh shit! Close call!" With a spin, Casey swiftly turned and went for Alec's remaining leg.

Alec gasped when Casey managed to dodge them and, with their momentum from the lunge forward, there was no chance of dodging Casey’s attack on their other leg. “What! That was such a good dodge!” they exclaimed, momentarily pulled out of game mode by how impressed they were. “That was awesome!” Realizing they still had one arm left, they tried to swing towards Casey’s leg without using any of their other limbs.

Casey watched as Alec came for his leg. He tried to lift his leg up over Alec's arm but underestimated how much force he'd have to apply. Casey felt Alec's hand clip his foot and cried out. "No!" He fell to one knee and assess his opponent. "Thanks. Guess your luck is rubbing off on me," he smiled. Then, after calculating his best move, Casey lunged forward to attack Alec's remaining arm.

Alec tipped backwards in a last ditch attempt to avoid Casey, but they were too slow and ended up both losing and sprawled out on the ground. “I got you once!” they exclaimed as they sat back up, rubbing their heel where Casey had kicked them originally. “That’s more than I expected! Good game.”

"Good game," Casey agreed. He held out his hand to Alec to help them up off the sand. "Your heel's okay?"

“Just bruised,” Alec replied cheerfully, taking Casey’s hand and pulling themself to their feet. “That was a sweet kick. And that dodge! Fucking awesome.”

"Dodges are my game, babyyyy!" Casey tapped Alec's shoulder as they came to a stand. "Can't get beat if you don't take heat."

"That's a fantastic motto! Rhymes and everything, full poet." Alec widened their eyes as a thought came to mind. "Did you kill at dodgeball when you were a kid? Not actual murder. Like, make your opponents cry. Emotional murder."

"Oh yeah, dodgeball was child's play. Way too fucking easy, it was almost sad," Casey mourned. "But also actual murder."

Alec laughed. "Dodgeball is child's play, that's kinda the point, eh? I can't think of it without getting flashbacks to grade 7 gym. A fuckin' time."

"Maybe we should make it adult's play," Casey suggested. "Could be our next round?"

"Adult's play," Alec repeated with a laugh. "Sounds like a sex shop. For sure, let's do it!"

Casey chuckled at the observation. "Great. Then we should change venues. And clothes, I guess, unless you wanna play wet."

“Guess we need a sorta ball, eh? Or more than one.” Alec sighed and tipped forward so they were leaning against Casey, chest to chest. “Where do you even get those?”

Casey smirked. "You trying to see my balls? Is that what this is all about?"

Alec laughed and wrapped their arms around Casey, resting their chin on his shoulder. “My Masters plan.”

Casey snorted, returning Alec's embrace. "You know, for a vegan, you're so fucking cheesy."

“I’m gonna choose to take that as a compliment!” Alec swayed side to side. “Are we gonna find a ball or just chuck rocks at each other?”

Casey lowered his arms to Alec's waist so they could slow dance more properly. "We could chuck rocks, but it'll suck a lot more for you when I peg you in the face with one."

Alec put their hands on Casey's shoulders and leaned back enough to grin at him as they followed his lead. "I can try and find the cursed marbles again, dive back into the lake."

Casey laughed as they swayed gently. "Why would they be cursed? If somebody was going to bury a treasure chest and lay a curse on whoever found it, do you really think they'd just fill it with marbles?"

"One hundred percent! Why wouldn't you fill it with marbles? What else is there to put?"

"I don't know, bones? Gold? Something more exciting?" Casey started turning them in circles as he spoke. "If I got cursed with a chest full of marbles, I literally would not tell anybody. That would be the lamest curse. I would rather let it kill me."

Alec snickered. "Maybe that's why. The true curse is the embarrassment that comes with."

Casey sighed longingly, looking into their eyes. "You just get me."

Pretending to swoon, Alec leant against Casey again. "Is the third challenge seducing me?"

Casey smirked. "Depends. Is it working?"

"Like a charm." Alec pressed their cheek into his shoulder. "But that doesn't mean you win."

"Are you sure?" Casey tipped his head to rest on Alec's. "'Cause I'm already holding a prize, baby."

"Oh my god," Alec whined under their breath. "You're so smooth, what the fuck."

"You've been hit by—" Casey thrust his hips to one side. "You've been struck by—" Then to the other side. "A smooth criminal."

Now, Alec was holding onto Casey for balance as they laughed, moving with him. "And he's talented too! Triple threat!"

Casey laughed. "Gotta have those smooth karaoke skills." He gasped. "Oh shit, we should have a karaoke party."

Alec gasped in unison. "We should– fuck! Yeah! I love karaoke." They laughed. "That can be our tiebreaker if you win the next round!"

Casey exhaled a sigh of bliss. "I am so down for that. How do we determine who wins? Won't we need an unbiased third party?"

“Aw, man, yeah. It’d be better with like, music too.” Alec took one of Casey’s hands and tried to spin him. “And karaoke’s meant to be bad! Trying to be good at karaoke goes against the laws of the universe.”

Casey lifted his arm up and spun through it. "Mm, those are some straight truths." Once he spun around, he lifted their hands to get Alec to do the same. "Okay, whether or not it's part of the game, let's make this happen for us because now I have the idea and my soul will never be at rest until we do."

Alec spun too and let go of Casey’s hands to flop back onto the ground now that they deemed themself dry enough. “We gotta! Can’t have you sticking around to haunt me ‘cause we failed to make karaoke happen.” Alec grinned up at him. “I bet we can set it up in the rec room, make it a whole thing.”

Casey clapped in excitement. "Yes! Oh my gods, are you friends with Blue? She would eat. This. Up." Casey clapped again on each word for emphasis. He joined Alec, siting on the ground beside his sweats. "Wow, look at us. Party planning committee. Who woulda thought? Not me."

Alec leaned against Casey as soon as he was seated next to them. “We got a lotta friends in common!” They laughed and twisted to flop over Casey’s lap, looking up at him. “I’m more the ideas guy than the planner. Are you good at actually getting stuff like this to happen? ‘Cause we can always rope Ime in, they’re right organized.”

Casey wove his fingers through Alec's hair and scratched their chin with his other hand. "Yeah! I organize Asian Dinner Club and I'm also doing a thing with Akira. A party's a straight shot, no problem. But definitely ask Ime anyway because they're just a legend and I would like them to be there."

Alec closed their eyes, their expression drifting from excited to content. "Aw, sweet, double the planning, half the work. Ime'll be down for karaoke night, they love watching people get embarrassing. Whatcha planning with Akira? They're so intense. Like, in a hot way."

Casey groaned. "Oh my gods, don't even get me started. Like... Oof." Casey shook his head. "We're planning a fight night. I think right now it's gonna be an elimination-style bracket, but we haven't really worked out the safety details of how to make sure people don't die." Casey squeezed Alec's cheeks together to push their lips into a pucker. "Aw. You're so cute."

“I’m guessing you agree,” Alec laughed. “But that sounds cool! I like the rhyme. Fight night.” They moved their mouth like a fish a couple times as Casey pinched their face, then snickered and lifted a hand to push his face away. “I’m cuter when my face is normal!”

Casey laughed and dropped his hand by his side. "Everybody is cuter as a fish," he disagreed. Casey scooped up a bit of dry sand and began sprinkling on Alec's chest. "Do you think we should have a theme? Or do you think 'karaoke night' is the theme?"

“There’s gotta be a theme. Pyjamas? Oh man, what about like, borrowed clothes, you can only wear shit you take from your friends. Vibe swap.” Alec traced a fingertip along Casey’s collarbone.

"Oh, cute!" Casey exclaimed. He scooped up some more sand and continued sprinkling it over Alec's chest. "Wow, that's a great idea. Huh... Except if we invite Akira, I have no idea what they look like with a shirt on," he snorted.

“They can borrow one of my cropped shirts,” Alec laughed, starting to trace spirals into the sand on their chest. “Maybe that’s close enough?”

Casey laughed. "Hot. I might ask you for one of those too." Casey scooped up another handful of sand and sprinkled it on their stomach this time to avoid ruining their pattern. Then suddenly, he gasped. "Oh my gods, you can wear my sporty spice outfit. Loved that text, by the way."

“We can swap outfits from that party! But you can wear real shorts.” Alec beamed. “I forgot about that text until I saw it again the next morning, I was some wasted. But I remember the outfit! It’s stuck in my brain. In a good way.”

"It better be," Casey grinned. "That was easily, like, top five hottest things I've worn." Casey started to scoop up more sand, then added, "Oh, but you have the wear the little white shorts. The outfit is a set. The cleats are optional," Casey joked with a wink.

“I’d never leave them out! The shorts were the best part!” Alec continued the spiraling pattern down to their stomach. “I dunno if your cleats would fit, which is a national tragedy. An international tragedy.” With a dramatic sigh, they finished their pattern and started tracing spirals along Casey’s chest. “I have the perfect pair of shorts I can lend you.”

Casey laughed and shook his head at Alec's sensationalism. Tracing their pattern, Casey spiraled his finger up Alec's torso. "Ooh, describe them to me. Paint me a picture."

Alec tapped their fingers above Casey’s heart in a moment of thought. “Nope!” they decided, grinning at him and dragging their fingers across his chest again. “It’ll be a surprise.”

Casey's jaw dropped in offense for a moment before closing back into a smirk. "Should I..." He narrowed his eyes in contemplation before shaking his head and laughing. "Fine."

“Should you what?” Alec chirped, lifting their hand from his chest to card their fingers through his hair. “You’ll like them, they’ll be funny with the shirt I wore to the party. Maybe I should offer to lend everyone my clothes for the party and start an army of short shirts.” They sighed. “But I only have three. I should buy more. But money.”

Casey shook his head. "Nothing. I thought I would surprise you back but the idea I came up with feels like an uneven tradeoff. Too inappropes." Casey put his finger on Alec's chest and resumed tracing it along the patterns on their chest. "But we could make some of my old t-shirts into crop tops. If you don't mind me stealing your look."

“Too innapropes?” Alec threw a look of clearly exaggerated offense at him. “That sounds even more fun.” They closed their eyes again. “That can be a different themed party, where everyone gets sloshed. ‘Short shirts and shoot shots’.”

Casey laughed. "It would probably be too intense for this kind of party, so maybe we'll just save that in our little back pocket for later. But yes—" Casey tapped on Alec's solar plexus. "Fucking love the sound of that. Short shirts and shoot shots. I want both of those things."

“Aw, I hate mysteries.” Alec drummed their fingers on one of Casey’s shoulders. “Imagine we call the party that and people show up ready to get wasted, but it’s really an amateur basketball league?”

Casey's eyes widened and he let out a laugh. "Wow! Oddly enough, that's exactly the kind of party the surprise would be perfect for." Casey shook his head and looked off into the distance. "Has anybody ever told you that you have a beautiful mind, Alec Masters? Beautiful, mystical, and chaotic."

“You’re killing me,” Alec whined, pressing the back of their hand to their forehead. Before they could continue complaining, their momentary frustration was erased by compliments. “Other than you, right now? Sure gotten the chaotic part a lot!” They started brushing the sand off of their chest. “My mind thanks you.”

Casey grinned. "Your mind is so welcome." Casey leaned back onto his hand so Alec could dust themself off.

Alec sat up as Casey leaned back and brushed the remaining sand off. They climbed into his lap, kneeling on either side of his legs, and rested their arms on his shoulder with a smirk. “Keep the compliments coming, it’s distracting me from how much I want to know the mystery.”

Casey hummed as Alec climbed up into his lap. He slid his hands up to Alec's waist and smiled up at them. "Wow, if it gets you on my lap, then I'll compliment you all day long, baby."

Alec laughed and started running their fingers through his hair again. “Aw c’mon, it wouldn’t even take that much. Not that I’m turning them down.” They traced the fingers of their other hand along where his neck met his shoulder.

Casey laughed and shook his head. "Okay, you say that, but I feel like we've said this to each other before and nothing has happened, so clearly it takes a little more than compliments."

Alec scanned his face for a moment then gave a lopsided grin and ducked their head to press a kiss to the side of his neck, an inch below his jaw. “And what do you want to happen?”

Casey's smirk grew into a full-on smile upon feeling Alec's lips against his neck. He wrapped his arms around Alec's waist and replied, "This." Then, Casey leaned back onto the sand, pulling Alec down with him so they straddled his hips.

Alec moved with him easily and leaned over Casey, one hand on his shoulder pressing him into the sand. “Smooth,” they commented, voice lower though they were still smiling, and leaned down to kiss him.

Casey just hummed back happily and slid one hand up to thread through Alec's hair as they kissed.

Alec broke the kiss for a second to move to lean on their elbows, half to get closer and half so their hand was free to tug Casey's head back enough that they could kiss along the underside of his jaw. They grinned against his skin. "Does this count as the fourth game?"

Casey tipped his head back to relinquish his jaw to Alec. He traced his fingers down their neck and along their spine. "Mm, depends," Casey teased. "How do I win?"

Alec hummed in thought as they continued their trail of kisses along Casey's jaw and down his neck. They released his hair and brushed their thumb along the other side of his jaw. "Not a clue."

When his fingers couldn't crawl any lower, Casey began sliding them across the rivers of Alec's ribs. "We'll call it a win-win."

Alec considered this as they dragged their teeth over his pulse. They pressed a final kiss to his skin, then sat up abruptly and grinned down at him. "I thought you were competitive.”

Casey shrugged, his hands falling to Alec's legs as they sat up. "There's no winners in love and war, right?"

Alec glanced idly around the lake. "Fair point. Wanna go back to my cabin?"

Casey smirked. "Would it make me sound too eager if I said I'd race you?"

With a laugh, Alec rolled off Casey and climbed to their feet. "Game four, race to my cabin?"

Casey reached over to grab his joggers and started pulling them back on. "If that's game four, I can't wait to see what game five is."

Alec waited for him instead of launching into a head-start this time around. "Assuming you're gonna win this race?"

Casey pulled his shoes back on, but just balled up his socks in his pockets and tucked his shirt into his waistband. "I don't know, are you gonna push me?"

Alec grinned at him. “Only if you’re in the lead.”

Casey shook his head, grinning. "Fucking ridiculous." He rose to his feet. "Alright," he announced, starting a slow jog. "Let's do this."

Alec immediately took off towards their cabin at full speed.

Casey waited until Alec was ahead of him to start picking up speed. With any luck, Alec would cramp up or run out of breath by the time they got to the cabin. Then again, Casey wasn't the lucky one. Casey slowly built up to a run, keeping at least two meters to the right of where Alec was running in case they decided to get tricky again.

Alec managed to keep up their pace until the cabin was only a minute or so away, at which point they slowed to check behind them as to where Casey was in comparison.

Casey had kept pace with Alec the entire way there. Right when Alec turned their head, Casey bounded forward to run right at their side. "Feel like cheating?" Casey taunted.

Alec huffed a laugh and tried to pick up speed again. “More with every second!”

Casey matched Alec's pace, running ahead along with them. "Sorry I have to do this! Casey prefaced before shoving Alec to the side and sprinting even faster.

Alec yelped and somehow managed to grapevine their way into keeping their footing. They found an extra burst of energy from the adrenaline, running faster to try and catch up. “Fuck off!” If they weren’t so focused, they’d be grinning, but it was still clear they were amused by the tone in their voice.

In one last mad dash, Casey burst into a sprint toward the cabin. Casey extended his hand out toward the door. As soon as they connected, he yelled, "Safe!"

Alec skidded to a stop before the door and slumped against it. “Close,” they answered, catching their breath. “Really close.”

Casey turned around to lean against the door frame. "GG." He smiled and extended a hand toward Alec. "Ready for round five?"

Alec slapped him a high five, then realized what he probably meant and grabbed his hand, tugging him inside after them. “Tiebreaker.”

Casey followed them inside, kicking the door shut behind them. "First to bust is the loser."

“Wasn’t a given?” Alec paused to lock the door behind them then reached forward to pull Casey closer.

Casey stepped on the heels of his shoes to swiftly pull his feet out as he moved toward Alec. "No cheating."

Alec turned once Casey was close enough to press him against the door. “No promises.”

Casey hummed as his back hit the wood. His eyes flickered over to the various game tables. "You ever get fucked on one of those?"

“More times I can count.” Alec slid their hands over his chest to his hips. “You interested?”

Casey feigned a sigh. "Well, I don't wanna be contrived." Casey's hands mirrored Alec's, grabbing their hips and pulling them in. "But I can't say I'm not interested."

Alec lifted one hand to touch his jaw as they leaned into him when pulled. They moved to speak into his ear. “You wanna get fucked on one?”

"Interesting," Casey replied, in a tone of voice that sounded genuinely interested. "Porque no los dos?"

Alec laughed and kissed him briefly. “Take turns?”

"Fuck yeah," Casey replied with vigor before kissing them again.

Alec pulled the tucked up shirt out of Casey's waistband and tossed it to the side, pulling his lower lip between their teeth as they pressed against him. "Yeah?"

Not wanting to break their kiss, Casey just responding by gripping Alec's thighs and hoisting them up into a carry. He moved across the cabin to set Alec down on a card table. "Hope this thing is strong," he mumbled against Alec's lips.

Alec exhaled a short laugh against Casey's lips but closed the distance again as soon as possible. "S'not a machine," they teased as they were lowered to the table. "Breaking promises."

"We can make the rounds," Casey chuckled as he moved to trace kisses along Alec's jaw.

Alec tilted their head back and grinned up at their ceiling. "Then we better get started."

#mus.casey #rel.casey&alec #frm.chatzy

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templecfyourself · 4 years

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@x060214 // x.

He said what ….? Seth was already having a hard time with everything that was going on. First of all .. Roman and him weren’t on good terms anymore. He was sure that friendship soured when he tried to shit talk Dean after having left him. Now, there was Dolph, spreading rumors about him behind his back. First of all, he didn’t like when other’s viewed him as the weak one, other than Roman & Dean. ( They had a special relationship, of course all he cared about at the time were their opinions of him. And if he looked weak to them, that was fine. ) But to anyone else, Dolph, for example, it was a quick way to having the Iowan lose his mind. All he had been doing since Dean had left was trying to mend the sadness that the other had left him in. He was trying to prove to the WWE Universe, ( and most importantly, himself ) that he could be strong, with or without Dean by his side. With or without Roman by his side. And he thought, it was working, up until he heard a little rumor flying around the lockeroom, that he wasn’t all that strong. That Dean was the strong one, and Seth, was the weakest link. Funny thing was ( yes, funny ) was if Dean was around, and hadn’t have left, he wouldn’t have cared about ANYTHING that had come from Dolph’s mouth. But now he was exposed and vulnerable, and there was nothing he could do, other than TRY so hard to show how strong he was. ( Even though, he wasn’t that strong at all ).

“How about no?” He suddenly snapped towards the other, his arms wrapped around his chest. ( That was another small thing that he did when he felt threatened ). “If I went around, spreading rumors about you, would you like it?” He didn’t expect the other to actually answer that question right off the bat, because he knew, the other would just throw a horse shit sorta answer at him. He never took Dolph seriously, he was always a smug little two bit asshole in his eyes, not one that was worth his time, unless he wanted attention. Well, he got it, but not in a good sort of way. “If you just wanted my attention, why don’t you, oh y'know, come talk to me? Come to my hotel room during down time – ? Instead, you have to spread stupid rumors which’ll have everyone question me, including my best friend. I’m pretty sure you’re the reason he punched me in the face, so thanks for that.” He was already irritated. He rubbed at his eyes a little, followed by a long sigh. It had already been a long day. “ – So what the hell do you want from me huh? And don’t give me a bullshit answer,cause I don’t have the time.”

Dolph knew that Seth wasn’t having the best time right now -- anyone backstage could see it. Hell, he was fairly certain that the fans could see it, what with how desperate his promos had become. How he scrambled to assemble his own group of supporters to help keep him afloat in the turbulent sea that was WWE. How he lashed out at anyone and everyone in a desperate attempt to look superior and composed. Maybe it was a low blow to talk about someone struggling so hard to maintain some semblance of control over their life, but Dolph had never claimed to take the high road -- or to even consider it, for that matter. It hadn’t been intentional, at least not at first. People had been talking about Seth’s new gimmick backstage and it had slipped out that Dolph thought it was all bullshit. The second time, and the time after that, though? It had been completely intentional. He wasn’t even really sure why he took the time to say things about Seth, just that he made an easy target and it was gratifying to talk shit about someone else ( those were his motivations for a solid ninety-percent of the things he said ).

Seth was confronting him now, in his face and visibly tensed, shoulders set at a severe angle to match the strain of his jaw. “Rollins, I talk shit about everyone -- don’t think that you’re special, ‘cause you’re not,” Dolph retorted, crossing his own arms and scoffing loudly. “And Reigns punching you was his choice. Don’t put that on me. Besides, I’m just saying what everyone else is thinking: you’re a fraud, and someone needs to call you out.” Framed that way, it almost sounded as if Dolph was doing a public service. Shoving his hair out of his face, an irritated expression fixed on the other wrestler. “You’re acting like you’re better than everyone else-” Pot, meet kettle. “-and you’re not. You’re calling yourself a Messiah, like you’re gonna save wrestling, but you can’t even save yourself. Hell, you couldn’t even stop Ambrose from leaving you, how do you think you’re gonna change an entire company?” That was a low blow, and Dolph knew it, but he didn’t regret it. At least, not yet.

A deep breath, stepping forward, further into Seth’s space. “I want you to admit it, Rollins. That this is all a lie. That you’re full of shit.”

#x060214 #i. x060214 // dolph.#i don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me 「 dolph interactions 」

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monomas-a-smug-bih · 6 years

Text

Hi could I get another Bakugou scenario! (there not dating yet btw) reader is fighting with a villain who turns out to be her sister specifically the one that caused her parents deats to get into the leage? She’s broken and sorta loses it. Angst with a Fluff ending please owo -anon

Oooh interesting, I really dragged this one out though lmao my bad

~•~

You tackled your “sister” to the ground, furious at all this nonsense she’d been sputtering. It was only to taunt you, you told yourself, it can’t be true... but her merciless and cocky expression told you otherwise.

“Oh aren’t you just precious, you always were they’re favourite anyways. The only thing that matters to me is the League!” Despite being pinned to the ground her face lunged closer to yours. “Those worthless adults can burn in Hell for all I care!” You gasped, the grip on his wrists tightening, you pushed your knees into her sides. And to your surprise, they’d started to crumble. Like the dirt you’d slammed her onto, her body started turning an earthy brown, rising up from her toes and soon up her neck. No. She can’t leave, not after saying something like that!

“STOP IT!”

“Bye bye, “little sister.”” Her eyes rolled back and went blank, the earthy tones finally flashing over the rest of her figure, completing the earth-clone. Her body went solid so she could flee somewhere else. You sat there in shock for a second. Your missing older sister, a villain? Specifically the one who- you growled and screamed, leaning back and swinging your upper half to punch the replica across the face infuriated by such betrayal. Only for it to hurt like hell, it felt like you’d just punched a block of cement.

But you didn’t care,

not anymore.

So overcome by frustration and rage and sadness and emotions you couldn’t even name... you hit it, over and over. The statue’s head had eventually cracked and even shattered to pieces like a pile of sand, starting to fade into some kind of dust, the same eventually happened to the fake body beneath you. It stung your blazing eyes, irritated your flared nostrils. Everything seemed to sting and itch and hurt. Your throat sore from screaming, yours ears ringing from the power passed down to you as it shook and tore the ground beneath shaky knees.

Your quirk that was oh so similar to her’s feeling like nothing but a curse, a connection to that filthy lying-

you rammed your fist down ruthlessly once again. Since your poor hands had nothing left to pummel, your tortured knuckles just desperately dug up and hit the sandy dust away. Up until you were hitting the hard, dirty, rock floor to the point it started to crack, ignoring the blood beginning to speckle the torn ground. Pants and angry cries started to jump from your lips, caused by this unbearable emotional turmoil you’d somehow been spiralled into. The earth seemed to shake, dust running around your hunched over and dangerous form low to the ground like rippling waves. You felt your tight lungs heave for air, only managing to make this nightmare you were drowning in pull you back to sick reality.

You rose your fist up once again. This time sitting up to hammer your anger into the bloody soil and break it to pieces with both weakened hands. But to your annoyance, you couldn’t. A thick and rough orange and green gloved hand seized you by the wrist. But you didn’t care, the rage and frustration in your throbbing veins bringing your free hand to clutch your held wrist, ripping it down onto the ground so harshly it send waves of dust across the floor, sending wind to rush through the surprised boy’s swaying ash blonde bangs, his sharpened wide eyes burning into you. Bakugou looked shocked, he retracted his hand. After the sudden pause in your fit, you felt all your feelings start to numb, your emotions starting to fade. You hit the dirt again, the adrenaline’s absence from your muscles making you hit it much weaker than before. You tried again and again, only to feel even more deflated, leaving you only with the underlying sadness you’d been raging over on the first place. You bit your lip to silence a whimper, looking down at your sore hands until squeezing them into trembling fists. Of course he’d have to see you like this, so weak so pathetic. Gritting your teeth you felt a new liquid rush down your face, it wasn’t blood or sweat this time, but a tear. You sucked in air sharply, falling forward a little but catching yourself. Another stream dropped down your cheek, then you felt the same wetness run down your other cheek, confirming your total state and feelings of absolute hopelessness and embarrassment at your very own behaviour.

Bakugou jogged over and rushed to your side, assuming you’d finally taken out that incredibly annoying villain. But what he found was definitely unexpected. He spotted a broken-hearted girl hit the dirt again and again, to the point where he had to stop her. Now, she’d turned into a mess, fallen forward hunching over on her scratched up and dusty elbows, whimpering and cursing her own existence. He felt an odd pang in his tightening chest. Was it pity? It was weird, he wasn’t really used to feeling this sympathetic around people. None the less he wanted to make you stop, your cries weren’t only frustrating but no way in hell did he want to see someone he almost considered a rival this...this weak!

“Hey.” Nothing. He growled. “Hey!” Her trembling form didn’t make any moves. The reason this was pissing him off so much was the obvious fact here, you were anything but weak. He’s sparred and fought by your side multiple times, he even admitted to himself that you’d definitely grown on him. Your competitive and resilient nature extremely easy to get used to. But here he was, watching you so unusually shaky and fragile looking. And Bakugou wasn’t used having to comfort anyone either, so he felt sorta awkward and strangely useless. But he decided he needed to do something, and pushed a persistent padded hand onto your back sternly, rose red eyes focused. “Stop that shit already!”

The shakiness he felt on your back paused, you leaned up a little bit. You arms straightening out enough to support yourself, but tangled h/c tendrils shielded and stuck to your roughed up face. The fact he still found you beautiful this damaged almost bothered him, he couldn’t help but iternally admire you for pushing yourself to change your attitude almost right away. You tried your best to breath, realizing how hard such a simple thing had gotten once you’d almost lost it. Despite your back being sore and bruised, his hand there felt nice, reassuring even, you felt you had (if even just a little bit of it) Bakugou’s support, potentionally someone to finally lean on. You gulped, your vision of the crumbling dirt beneath you finally clearing. You tried to speak, despite how sore and dry your throat felt. Your chapped lips pulled apart, you felt Bakugou’s strangely pretty eyes on you in wait for a response.

“I...I-I...” your shaky voice betrayed you, so you just sighed and looked at the stained soil, a couple more small tears dripping down and wetting it’s surface. You quit, could you really even attempt to put your scrambled thoughts to words?

Bakugou felt like something had grabbed hold onto his heart and squeezed. He sat there almost bewildered by your rarely vulnerable state, until he realized you weren’t planning on speaking and had given up again. He huffed, something told him to bring his hand off of your back, and he faced you. Roughly, but in his own thoughtful way, he parted your h/c locks, scooping it up and brushing it back, then pressing the stubborn hand to your forehead so you’d look at him. You did so reluctantly, curious sorrowful eyes bouncing up to his crimson ones. The way your glassy e/c orbs seemed to brighten up and sparkle at the action made his heart beat irrationally fast. Slowly, a small but thankful smile climbed onto your face, he swore that damned organ of his would jump right out of his chest, pink dusting his cheeks. It faded away again though your smile, her eyes bouncing to the ground before leaning forward. Bakugou felt his breath hitch.

You leaned in and rested your head square on his chest. The ash blonde boy blinked his ruby red eyes confused. Had you finally gone unconscious? He hoped you couldn’t hear how stupid his heart was beating...

“...y/n?” You sniffled in response. Since your fit of rage was calmed, the silence finally sunk in. You enjoyed the temporary peace, exhaling calmly. But aside from that, you hadn’t forgotten the events that had just occurred; your own sister being a villain, a murderer. You tried to swallow your disbelief, but tears still seemed to stick to your lash line. Bakugou rose a brow, what the hell were you doing? “Oi-“ he stopped himself, feeling your drained and damaged arms snake around his waist, you squeezed the black fabric of his hero costume. He gulped, not missing the shakiness of your movements. He watched his gauntlets flash a faint orange, did you really make his damn hands that clammy? He huffed annoyed, still confused and flustered by your actions at this point.

You gulped, unable to hold your remaining sobs in any longer, digging your head a little closer to his chest to hide your grieving form. You finally broke, letting all your remaining emotions flood into him. Bakugou just frozen little concerned, placing a hesitant hand on your shoulder blade once he’d heard you’d started crying again. You sniffled, finally feeling your head clear. You could finally breath again. Shyly and sorta needily, you slid a hand up his well-built back and shoulder blades. You put your hand on the back of his warm neck and pushed the dense boy’s spiky head down onto your shoulder. Now that he was low enough, you rested your chin on a comfy spot by his shoulder. You giggled sadly a little in your head. Has this unapproachable dummy never been hugged before?

The explosive boy leaned over involuntarily. He was about to question and protest, but then he felt your warm face rest in the space between his shoulder and neck. His brows bounced up in surprise, why the hell were you hugging him?! After a moment or two you still hadn’t let go, he let out an “annoyed” sigh and did his best to squeeze you back with his ridiculous gauntlets. You hummed peacefully, finally melting into his touch. Bakugou felt a weird feeling in his stomach, he’d never been this close to you before, especially not like this. Despite the dusty and deadly air, your hair still seemed to smell warm and welcoming to him, feeling your finally rhythmic breath pet his neck made his mind spiral a bit. You felt even better than you thought you would in his strong arms, safe, secure. He smelled of sweat and ash, but aside from the harsh scent and his rash attitude, the familiarity of it all was so soothing and comforting. Bakugou gulped, feeling her breath brush his ear,

“Thank you,” she muttered softly, her addictively friendly voice seeming an octave higher than usual.

The sound of feet clattering against the earth interrupted you two, you opened your tired eyes, spotting a blob of dark reds, than a yellowy and a pinky one beside him. You pulled away, a hand still lingering on the explosion user’s forearm. Kirishima’s cheerful voice reached your ears.

“Hey! You guys okay over here!?” They ran over waving, Kaminari looked absolutely exhausted, Mina shot you two a concerned look with her piercing yellow eyes. You wiped your damp cheeks and rubbed your own eyes, ignoring your several injuries and heaving yourself to your feet without thinking twice. Which had been a very terrible choice you might add.

“Y-yeah we’re fine.” You said only half truthfully, feeling your legs and arms burn and throb now that your high on adrenaline was over. You felt a hand jump up to the small of your back, startling you a bit.

“Oi! Don’t get up so damn fast you idiot!” You looked over to the wild haired boy beside you, sending him a grateful smile, earning an odd look in return. Mina glanced at Bakugou and then sent you a curious look, almost deviously. The pain you felt in your calves when you lifted a foot to step forward wiped the smile right off of your face. You’d definitely overdone it this time. You grabbed your left knee for support, only for your unhappy body to send pins and needles running down your whole leg to almost get back at you for being so reckless.

“L-l/n!” Kaminari spoke as your fell back down on one knee. You grunted, wincing and trying to push yourself back up.

Your bubbly friend Mina rushed over to help. “Don’t push yourself so hard y/n! Here let me-“ The pink skinned girl had just crouched down when you were somehow lifted up off of your aching lower half, the hand that’d been on your back now hooked around your waist protectively. Bakugou slung your arm over his shoulder nonchalantly, steadying you like a huge sturdy crutch.

“Just fucking lean on me and stop being such a damn handful already.” He said surprisingly calmly, not even asking for permission or complaining before helping you out. When you looked his way he was staring ahead boredly, but you’d never miss the slight pinky tint on his ears and cheeks. You grinned at the aggressively caring gesture. You all started walking to find the others.

“Thanks Spikey.” He scoffed in disgust, up until he noticed the shocked look on all of his close friend’s faces walking on either side of you two. Mina’s wild rosey curls bounced as she jumped up practically squealing, thrusting a fist in the air.

“I knew it I knew it! You guys are totally dating!” She held her chin proudly like she’d just cracked some unsolvable case wide open.

“Mina!” Kirishima scolded her like a parent would their insensitive child.

“HAAH?! Shut your goddamn m-mouth Raccoon-Eyes!”

“*gasp* is Bakugou-senpai st-stuttering?” Kaminari chirped with a dramatic hand over his mouth teasingly, only making the situation worse.

“I SAID SHUT IT!”

“HE TOTALLY DIDN’T SAY NO!” Her dark eyes widened in delight, her grin widening even more.

“NO! ISN’T IT OBVIOUS YOU SHITTY ALIEN!” The angry blonde snapped.

“Obvious you two are meant for each other~ And that’s not an insult, aliens are hella cool!”

You could tell Mina’s persistence was starting to get to him, but seeing such a tough face so red and flustered was too adorable to stop this great exchange. Bakugou’s shoulders felt extremely hot, he looked like he was about to literally explode. But you couldn’t help but let go of the genuine chuckle you’d been holding in, chortling and soon bursting into an honest fit of laughter at the looks on your friend’s’ faces.

Bakugou whipped his head to the side, an adorably honest laugh reaching his ears. Your scraped up yet delighted face smiled brightly until your eyes squinted shut, showing off your long lashes that seemed to compliment your shining eyes he always got lost in just right. Your cute fit of giggles was music to his ears. Once you realized all eyes were on you now, you blinked and stopped self-consciously. You eyed everyone as they waked, then looked to your left. The fact Bakugou had already been staring down at you so intently meant when you turned to look at him you almost bashed foreheads. You rose a brow at his determined looking red orbs, watching the annoyed twitch of his furrowed brows and the forced scowl on his smooth looking face. You stared at the boy curiously, heat rushing to your face because of the lack of space between you two. Sudden thoughts of what it’d be like if Mina’s statement had been true started flooding your brain, would Bakugou Katsuki really go for someone like you?

The intensity rising between you two made eye contact seem like the most difficult thing ever, you were almost nose-to-nose after all. But when his dazzling eyes bounced down to your lips you almost lost it, whipping your flushed face away and flattening your mouth into a straight line all flustered. His l-lips were almost touching m-m... you slapped your free hand over your mouth. Of course that just fueled everyone’s fire.

“See just look at them! I’m telling you, it’s lov-“ the friendly shark-toothed redhead interrupted her frantically.

“MINA!”

Meanwhile you and Bakugou sat there red-faced. But the look on Kaminari’s horrified face made a subconscious smile climb back onto your rosey features. Then a thought came to mind. Looking at all of these friends you’d made at UA high, having a villainous evil sister didn’t seem so bad. Maybe the family you’d never had to start out with was just waiting to be found, in caring people like these. You let out a relieved sigh, feeling the ‘hm?!’ falling from the blonde boy’s lips make his chest rumble. An exhausted giggle left your lips.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

~•~

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha scenario #bnha imagines #bakugou katsuki #bakugou katsuki x reader #bnha imagine #angst #fluff #mina ashido #kirishima ejirou #kaminari denki #one shot

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taakofromtaz · 6 years

Text

wrong side of reality

Summary:

taako has an imaginary friend named lup

Notes: (transposed from AO3)

For pyrrhlc.

this is my secret santa fic for tumblr user defcnestrate! (sorry if this was a little late. i had unforseen events impede my plans to write before the deadline)

(i had to do some investigating but i think i tagged the right person. if this isnt you, let me know, pyrrhlc!!)

happy candlenights!!!!

title from "young and meanace" by fall out boy

(did a little beta work. fixed some typos, added a few words)

[character study, introspective, vignette style sorta, trans taako]

Word count: 2256

[writing tag] | [Archive of Our Own] | [fic index] | [please consider donating!]

Ever since Taako was little, he had an imaginary friend. She was an elf like him and trans like him and looked just like him with the mismatched eyes and blonde hair except it was like a mirror. She knew everything he was going through because she was going through it too.

He’s too old for that now, but sometimes, in his weakest moments, he likes to pretend she’s still with him.

Her name was Lup and he liked to pretend he was a twin.

Something about the Umbra Staff makes him think of his childhood imaginary friend. She would use something this ridiculous, he thinks one night when trancing is impossible. He wraps his arms around the staff and closes his eyes.

This is weird, he thinks. She isn’t real. The staff is warm and he likes to think that imaginary Lup would like fire. Useful fire for those cold and sleepless nights on the road. Useful fire for keeping raiders off his back it the scariest, darkest nights. Useful fire to cook something just right even without a professional kitchen.

Lup would play with fire and Taako would change the world to match.

Taako doesn’t remember the last time he had a room to himself. A normal kind of remembering this time, instead of the weirdly huge gaps in his mind that made him sick and sad and lonely. The first thing he does is throw himself on the bed that’s big enough for at least three of him and roll around on top of the comforter until he can get over the fact that it’s perfect.

The next thing he does is scatter his belongings all over the room, followed by an incredibly brief bout of panic wherein he picks it all back up and leaves it in a heap beside the bed instead. The bathroom is next on his inspection tour. It’s a simple affair but fairly elegant. Taako is impressed and a little awed. (He learns over the next several days that the bathroom is his and his alone and he has a hard time not rubbing it into Magnus and Merle’s faces.)

When he finally collapses on the clean bedspread, still coming down from the high of having such nice new digs, he allows himself to think about Goldcliff, about Sloane and Hurley, about the truly massive fireball he’d managed that ended that fight.

His breath hitches and he shoves his fists against his eyes.

This isn’t what he wants to think about. He doesn’t want to think about the looks Hurley and Sloane gave each other all the way to the end, he doesn’t want to think about the hug that Hurley gave him, doesn’t want to think about how he melted so completely in her hold that he didn’t even notice that she was giving him her harness, doesn’t want to think about the way the silverpoint crept through their veins and turned their blood to ash right in front of him.

The thought sends a cold jolt down his spine and the irrational thought that he needs to find the Umbra Staff now.

He finds it hooked around the footboard and he snatches it quickly, pulling it closer before scrambling his way under the covers, still fully dressed. He wraps himself around the staff and presses his forehead against it. It’s warm, almost hot, and suddenly Taako’s reminded of how filthy he is, covered in a layer of sweat and grim from the battlewagon race and the battle with Sloane afterward.

(After the three of them finished their customary post-mission trip to the Fantasy Costco, they’d been stopped by Avi and escorted down to their new rooms, a private suite with its own elevator and a common room featuring a portal to hell—aka a giant floor window—overlooking the planet below. There’s a bedroom for each of them, already assigned, and a bathroom at one end of the hallway, opposite and excluding Taako’s en-suite. There’s a fairly large kitchen attached to the common room, separated only by an island bar with three stools. All in all, it’s pretty tight, but they hadn’t had the chance to clean up before being left to their new digs.)

Taako can’t bring himself to care that he’s getting the new sheets dirty. He’s already a disaster, what’s it matter what he gets up to in the comforts of his own room (and isn’t that just wild? His own room. Wow.).

“You did good today,” he says out loud, keeping his voice down just in case there’s someone standing outside his room. “You cast some bombass spells and saved a shitton of people today.” He sighs and moves the umbrella back to smack himself in the forehead with it. “But gods, Taako, you’re still a fucking idiot.”

The Umbra Staff quivers and Taako squeezes it tighter. For a moment, he imagines it’s a neck in his hands and he stares at his white knuckled grip. He takes a shaky breath and closes his eyes.

“You’re not real, Lup. You’re just something I made up because I can’t stand to be alone.” His eyes sting behind his lids and he struggles to keep his breathing steady. “But gods I wish you were.”

Taako lays long enough to almost fall asleep. He moves to curl into a ball and his ribs ache his clothes pull weird and he sighs, reluctant to leave his warm cocoon. He forces himself to get up and peel off the dusty, sweat soaked shirt and jacket and binder and he kicks his shoes and pants to the side with a growl. Luckily, whoever it was that set their rooms up managed to stock the dresser with his clothes.

Donning an oversized sweater and a pair of shorts, Taako crawls back into bed and tries not to think about Sloane and Hurley’s dying faces.

Taako’s never loved someone that much.

L-U-P.

Taako tries so hard to pretend the letters on the wall mean nothing to him, tries so hard to pretend that L-U-P is a string of letters he’s never seen before, never uttered like a prayer in a moment of weakness, never crossed his mind or passed his lips or stuck with him as his only companion against horror and heartbreak and crushing loneliness.

No. The word means nothing to Taako. It’s not a name. It’s just a word.

There’s no mystery here, he wants to say. He wants to shake the boy detective, wants to turn him away from the letters, from the thought, the idea of Lup as an entity. She’s mine, he wants to say. You can’t have her. The words not again linger in his mind for far longer than they should.

Madame Director calls Taako to her office the day after L-U-P. Taako tries really hard to ignore how worried he is that something’s going to go terribly wrong and forces himself to act as casual and put-off as he possibly can. He wants to pretend that this is just an annoying formality. He can’t. He doesn’t want Madame Director, please, dear gods, anyone but Lucretia.

She has her stern “I know you did something so don’t lie to me” face on and Taako feels his skin crawl with irritation. He hates her holier-than-thou attitude sometimes. Just because she has a magic jellyfish that can unmake entire lives doesn’t make her better than the rest of them.

“Taako,” she says, and sometimes he hates the way she says his name, too. He hates the way the syllables sound familiar coming from her mouth, the gentle way her lips wrap around it, like a suffocating hug from a bear that wants to eat him.

“Director,” he says back, just to be petulant. He knows why he’s here and he refuses to break. He’s allowed his secrets, his privacy. Sure this is the best gig he’s ever had, but by the gods does he feel trapped here more than some of the time.

“Care to explain what happened yesterday?” She quirks a brow at him and he gives her a deadpan stare, unimpressed.

“Oops,” he says with a careless shrug, entirely unapologetic.

“This wasn’t on purpose, was it? It wasn’t an act of petty vandalism?” She’s the picture of calm and grace and as much as Taako wants to keep poking this lion, the longer he sits under her stare, the more anxious he gets.

“Listen, I dunno what the whole deal with this ‘luhp’ thing is, but I have other things I’d rather be doing,” he says, forcing himself to mispronounce Lup’s name. The further away from her he can paint himself, the better the situation will turn out. Experience has taught him this time and time again.

Lucretia looks exhausted and for a moment he feels concerned. Smug satisfaction quickly takes its place and he moves as if to stand when she remains silently for a solid minute.

“Look, are we done here? Can I go?” Taako gestures to the door with the Umbra Staff.

The Director’s eyes lock onto the staff and Taako can see her shoulders tense. He moves the umbrella his other hand and crosses his arms in front of it. “Just tell me why.”

Taako purses his lips and considers his answer. He turns and strides for the door, uncrossing his arms to grab the handle. “Look, Director,” he begins, fighting back the urge to call her Creesh for reasons he’s not entirely sure of. “Whatever happened yesterday? That wasn’t me.” He twists the knob, pulls the door open, takes a step out. “And Lup is just something I made up as a kid. Don’t worry about it.”

He closes the door and leaves. He doesn’t look back.

For only a second, Taako thinks he see Lup with him, there in that white space. When he turns to look, all he can see is the red dirt of Refuge and he doesn’t think about her again until he dies. I hope she’s not dying, too, he thinks, and then, but dying’s never stopped her before.

Every subsequent death, he finds himself searching for a glimpse of her. One time it’s a flash of blonde hair. Another time it’s the tips of pointed ears. Yet another is a ghost of a smirk.

The color red follows her and when he looks, it’s dirt and he’s in Refuge again.

Lup would have liked Roswell, probably, and definitely Ren. He hopes they can meet one day. He forgets he ever had the thought.

The Umbra Staff tries to kill Kravitz and that’s just fucking rude. Why does it have to act up like this? Why can’t it just be like any other cool staff? (Taako thinks that if he could ever make a staff it would have a blade on the end. Not because he would use it like a sword, but it would look super intimidating and maybe an enemy will think it’s a melee weapon and assume he’s weak when he’s anything but.)

The whole thing about something undead makes Taako’s skin crawl. He doesn’t like the feeling of not being able to trust the Umbra Staff. He’s come to rely on its steady presence to ground him during his lowest points and he doesn’t want anything to come between that. Fuck the rest of the base if it means sacrificing personal comfort.

Why would a dark spirit risk being discovered to save Taako’s life so many times? If there is a lich—and gods, maybe there is and he just never knew because they used to own the staff before him—then the only thing he can do is hope it won’t escape and try to murder him. But, again, why save his life and help him get stronger? Why not just kill him immediately?

Kravitz may be hot, and he may be right about an undead spirit, but he’s wrong about it being a danger to him.

(Lup would never hurt him.)

The fireball that Angus shoots out is huge, bigger than the little boy is capable of casting or even handling. When he speaks up, babbling excuses about how he couldn’t possibly have cast that spell, something clicks in Taako.

“I know, I know,” he says, and he hopes he doesn’t sound like a weirdo because honestly? He wasn’t listening.

He’s too busy thinking about how to free Lup from the Umbra Staff.

Why didn’t he think of this before? It’s a miracle it never happened on accident even, but here, and now, Taako realizes that he has to break her prison to set her free.

From the moment he drank the baby’s ichor to the second he snaps the Umbra Staff over his knee, he had managed to convince himself that Lup was still a candy-coated dream. She seemed too good to be true, too good to be real, she had to be fake, she could only exist in the imagination of Taako’s intense, lonely need to never be alone. There was no way she was real and somehow he’d managed to convince the others that she was.

But now she is. She’s real and wonderful and phantasmal and resplendent and—

Taako feels like he can breathe for the first time in over a decade.

Thank the gods, he thinks, eyes burning and tears rolling down his face faster than he can think to stop them. She’s real. Thank the gods.

And then she puts him on blast but he’s laughing and he’s happy.

She’s real.

#taz #tazb #thezonecast #taz fic #trans taako #kiera writes fics #taako #lup #twins #i spent over an hour in the tazscripts looking for a description of their new suite #bc thats how i do #apparently #qiera

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phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess · 7 years

Text

Junkrat Headcanon

He has a bad memory, patchy really. There’s a big old void in certain places, and at best, other bits get filed in the wrong places sometimes...

He might tell you a story six or seven times, and never remember you know it.

He might be asked a basic question, and blank.

Sometimes he turns to Roadhog, because the man is usually in the vicinity, for answers. The taller man’s ability to just produce all the facts, stories and things Junkrat can’t recall, after a few seconds’ thought at most... it always left Junkrat in awe of him. Like he was some mythical being endowed with some great ability to know-all or something...

He does tell him that... a few times, because the thought surfaces a few times, and Junk never quite remembers he’s said it. But Roadhog always laughs, good-naturedly, and lets the statement float away on the breeze uncontested. Sometimes Junkrat worries he puts too much on Roadhog, asking him to be the repository for both their memories... as much as he can be, but Mako never seemed to mind. And openly says so more than once, when Jamie needed to hear it.

But the thing is... while Roadhog will always be there to quietly remind Junkrat of a fact or memory he forgot, or just listen to the same story a thousand times, because he KNOWS Jamie and understands it upsets him to realise he has forgotten again...

Perhaps, when they join overwatch, the others aren’t as fast on the uptake as Roadhog. [And Roadie was whipsmart, despite what people always assumed (because of his appearance), the man could size up a situation or opponent in a heartbeat and crack skulls in the next...]

“How can you not know how old you are?” asks Mei, puzzled, as Junkrat scrambles to recall. He ends up so stressed out he can’t get a sentence strung together, trying to recall.

Besides, you never tell someone a weakness unless you can trust them completely and they’ve been at base a day or so.

It leaves the cryogenics expert with a less-than-stellar perception of him; thinking him evasive. Especially since he couldn’t answer any cursory questions with any real certainty...

But he was telling the truth.

Why would no one believe him?

“I think he’s just faking it...” Mcree says to Hanzo, when the pair accost him to ask about the treasure and the omnic secret. But he can’t recall it, off-hand... he did have prompts in the sidecar, and Roadie knew what it was... but Jamie couldn’t remember.

“I’m telling the truth!” he insists, but their expressions hit home more than their words. The disbelief. “I ain’t lying!”

“Oh yeah... prove it!” comes the challenge.

But he can’t. They keep asking the same questions, asking the wrong way, not leading anywhere but in circles.

“You will tell us.” Hanzo assures.

And they won’t accept, “But I can’t...” as an answer.

He’s so tempted to use his bombs to get out of this confrontation, but that Soldier guy looked like he’d get real mad if Junkrat blew up another wall; and he didn’t wanna get thrown out. Roadie seemed to like it here, and they had clean stuff, real food and beds!

They have him backed into a corner, literally and figuratively. And he kinda wishes there was a good lie he could tell the bounty hunters to make them back off... but it was hard to be deceptive if you might accidentally tell the truth or something along those lines. The logistical thinking tended to get muddled.

It was why he liked technology, explosives, machines... so ordered, diagrams were absolute; he could follow them and understand without too much stress. Tended to remember pictures better, anyway.

And maybe, he could have just stood up straight and walked away, ‘cause they weren’t exactly the tallest on the team or the burliest... but the thought is buried under all the additional processing happening internally.

He starts to wonder if there even was a secret, had he made it up? had Roadie told him he knew one, to placate him? Or had he lied about that? And if it was real... what was it? He didn’t have any of his usual visual clues (something roadhog had helped him devise after realising Junkrat was great at memorising or at least associating, diagrams and ideas).

A metallic fist slams the wall by his head and reality snaps back with a flinch, “What?”

And there’s a moment, between the two older men, where they seem almost uncertain. Like they were starting to believe Junkrat... but before anything can process, Roadhog comes storming in to the explosive expert’s rescue. He’s never been happier to see the guy in his life...

...or has he?

“How could you do such a thing?” Ana scolds, putting out the small kitchen fire (and to be fair it was an accident). “What would your mother say?”

It stops him dead.

...what would she say?

...who was she?

...had he had a mother, before?

...was she still out there wondering what happened to him or should he have mourned her?

...what if she was, how would she feel about her son being... this? He’d killed people... sometimes blew shit up for the fun of it...

So many questions, and none of them could be answered... all he had was a familial-shaped void where his memories of her should be...

Perhaps it was the hollow, haunted look on his face or his non-responsiveness, but Ana clearly realised something was wrong. She approached him from an angle where he could see her coming, if he wasn’t lost internally... and slowly put a hand out, eventually placing it on his shoulder.

She anticipated the slight jump, the Junkers were not yet used to having contact with anyone but each other for a long time, but their survival instincts/paranoia overrode their touchstarved-ness. At least he could look at her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know...”

“No... ‘sokay... I just... didn’t remember I didn’t remember ‘til now.” he mutters, unusually subdued. “Can’t remember... if I had one, or her face... nothing..."

“I am sure you had a wonderful mother, who loved you as much as I do Fareeha...” Ana reassures, off-handedly thinking about how she would feel if this was her daughter, young, lost and unable to recall anything about Ana’s love or pride in her. Just the hypothetical situation broke her heart.

“...maybe.” concedes the junker, then he laughs coldly, brushing her hand off as he walked away. “But if she’s a lucky... she died long before she had to see her son turn into this...”

To that, the Sniper could not think of a comforting retort. And her hatred of the Omnics, of the damage they had wrought on so many lives, young and old, grew ever-stronger in that moment.

“...oh, did you have a sister?” asks the ever-curious DVa one day as they pass a toystore and Junkrat pauses to stare at the dolls.

He looks at her blankly, cocking an eyebrow, and says nothing.

She raises her hands in mock surrender and laughs, misunderstanding, “Dude, if you collect dolls that’s totally fine with me! I know Torb has this collection of old tech that he’ll never get to work again, but clutters up the place with anyway... and I think Reaper has glass figures or something and-...”

“Thanks... but s’not that.” he interjects her supportive speech. He keeps looking at this one doll, just a random, run-of-the-mill type, kind you’d find all over the globe for cheap. “Just... made me think I seen that before... or somethin’ like it, and I don’t think it was... mine...”

He frowns, “Least probably not... mighta had a whole collection before the world went to hell or something...” and then he makes that piercing laugh that still sent a chill through the Mechapilot’s bones. The conversation was at an end, clearly. So they both moved on... but she didn’t miss his glance back at the doll, or the confusion on his face as he tried to grasp at phantom memories.

DVa never brought it up again.

“Crikey, that’s fucking amazing, mate!” comes the booming praise, over his newest track, and the shorter of the two clicks back onto solid floor; having been practicing his wallriding in the specially-equipped gymnasium.

“Thank dude!” beams Lucio, a man who was basically sunlight in human form. His smile falters for just a second, but Junkrat sees it.

“Wot, mate? Is it the ‘fucking’? I can say ‘freaking’ instead if ya prissy ‘bout that sorta thing...” Lucio hesitates, but decides to be straightforward. “Nah, I’ve heard worse you say what you want, man. It’s just... I mean, not that I don’t appreciate the daily compliments, but-...”

And he sees Junkrat’s face fall. “I’ve... said that to you before?”

“Yeah, but it’s fi-... wait, come back!” he calls after the retreating Aussie, but Junkrat’s already gone.

Now he sees what Ana meant. They needed to speak to Mercy about this.

“...no, I meant where IN Australia?” Soldier sighs, exasperated with the new recruits. It’d been a long day of paperwork, and he was over this little game.

Junkrat shrugs, “Ya asked where I was born, and I’m 99% sure it was Australia... dunno where exactly though.”

God, this damn kid was playing games again, this happened everytime he or Reaper needed to get something administrative done with the Junkers. He should have asked Roadhog, but Mercy wanted to speak with the guy for some reason... so he was stuck interviewing the evasive explosives expert.

“Alright, fine... I’ll just put down ‘Australia’ until you’re ready to cooperate. Next question, WHEN were you born?”

“Uh...” Junkrat stalls, starting to count on his fingers. Jack could toss him out the window for prolonging this, did the Junker get perverse amusement out of this or what?

“That’s something I also ain’t real clear on, think I’m... twenty... uh, twoish?” “You’re telling me that you, someone who has committed elaborate heists all over the globe, and evaded arrest... magically can’t remember his real name, age, or birthday?” snaps the man, really losing his patience for whatever this is.

“Well... yeah,” admits the Junker, getting a little smaller as his eyes dart to the only exit in the room, flesh hand fingering one of his bombs.

“Don’t you dare blow anything else up, we’ve already replaced two walls this week!” he cautions, fingers itching to go for his blaster. Was this what Overwatch was reduced to? A handful of ragtag criminal punks being recruited to fill the gaps where good soldiers had stood, proud and willing to serve?

“...ya ain’t giving me many other options here, mate. I said I don’t know, and I don’t. Roadie might... sometimes I remember things and tell ‘im, but then I forget I did...”

The answer makes him pause. Maybe the kid wasn’t lying or fucking about.

He gives him the benefit of the doubt, “Alright, I’ll ask him. There’s still a few questions left we can try to answer... Do you have any current convictions? We can check yes automatically. Any dietary requirements?” Junkrat perks up, but Soldier cuts him off with, “Bearing in mind that requesting fried frill-neck lizard (whatever that is) be added to the rotational meal menu... is not a dietary requirement.”

The Junker deflates a little. “Then nah.”

Well, at least this was going faster.

“Okay, just a handful more, bear with me... have you had your complete medical check with Dr Ziegler, yet?”

The odd laugh he got in response stated that clearly the Aussie had managed to evade Mercy, thus far.

“Put that as a No, then.” Soldier mumbles, checking off everything n the clipboard, and hovering the pen over the next set of boxes...

“What is your preferred sex? Male, female, nonbin-...” he tries, but Junkrat’s mirthful tone cuts him off.

“Prefer it as often as possible with all of the above, mate.” The wink he adds at the end has Soldier tossing the clipboard in surrender... clearly the kid was messing with him.

“I’m too old for this...” he moans loudly, knowing Reaper was probably watching the security feed and laughing his undead ass off.

“Hey,” interjects Junkrat with a peculiarly soft tone, belied by the shiteating grin plastering itself across his soot-stained features. “I like a bloke with experience...”

He blew a rather exaggerated kiss at the exasperated Soldier, and the man just gave up there and then, looks like he was never getting a straight answer out of the damn kid. How had Roadhog survived all these years?

Meanwhile in the monitor room, Reaper was, indeed, laughing his head off. He’d never let Soldier 76 live this down.

Zarya was always aware that she cut a startling figure of a woman, tall and muscular enough to wrestle multiple bears at once. Many people tended to stare, agape, the first time they saw her, or exclaim something in surprise. Some flushed or stammered, clearly attracted, it was very flattering.

But it could grow wearisome.

Especially when it came to the newest Overwatch members.

Once again, the comment rang out about the gymnasium. “Crikey, what a beaut of a sheila!” And yes, it was flattering, intended to be, in fact. However, the reality was, she had heard it so often in the last few weeks, it was starting to grate on her nerves somewhat.

“Thank you my friend,” she acknowledges, as always. “I like the way you light up a room” she responds, smiling. And, as always, he laughs.

In fact, many on the team had tried to put out the ever-present fire, more than once; but it was just part of him. Didn’t burn anything, just sort of glowed. Zarya found it mesmerising, especially during these ‘paint-by-numbers’ sessions.

At first, she had thought it was a joke... or something between them, an ‘in-joke’ da? But, it was the look on his face when he said it that made her realise that this Junkrat person sincerely saw her anew almost everytime they crossed paths.

His face betrayed the same shock, awe and mild lust that had adorned many faces that gazed upon her in the past. Every time. And she realised that perhaps he did not remember their previous encounters...

It was less frequent, now a month had passed, but every so often, she would hear it. But pretending to be delighted, every single time, was not so heavy a burden to bear for a teammate. Zarya would play this game, until he remembered... and even if he didn’t. That was what friends were for.

Besides, it was flattering, and he was not so bad. They both despised omnics to a similar degree, and she respected his approach to battle.

“...are you aware that we have the same conversation every few days, Mr Junkrat?” Winston asks, adjusting his glasses and peering at the Aussie.

For his part, Junkrat immediately drops the wrench he was working with and tenses; his expression clouds, like he’s deep in thought, trying to run back over past situations where they’d done this.

Tracer appears by Winston’s shoulder. “Did you break him?”

“...’sfine.” Junkrat answers, bending to pick up the tool and keep working. “Didn’t realise. Sorry.”

He doesn’t respond to their overtures at conversation for the next hour, and leaves for lunch with Roadhog. But he will be back in a few days, and Winston won’t break the narrative again... it is always a fascinating conversation, even if it is easily scheduled.

“I did not build her for this, how many times must I tell you!” shouts Efi, the eleven year old genius frustrated to, once again, find one of the new ‘heroes’ trying to ride Orisa like some kind of horse.

She’d told him so many times that was not appropriate, or, inherently safe.

But every so often, he’d be there; this ‘Junkrat’, who always looked dirty and acted as if he had no idea that they’d discussed this matter before. It did not feel good to see him make such a startled expression, guilty and chagrined, until she said the words ‘again’ or ‘how many times’... which always turned it to confusion and embarrassment.

Today, she had returned to base to find him there again, Orisa trying to be patient as always. “Please cease your actions, for your own safety. I was made to protect, not to be transport, although I will be happy to carry you in an emergency.”

“Get off of her! Why do you keep doing this?” she shouts, understandably annoyed.

And the australian explosives expert freezes, his previous joviality at the challenge of trying to ride an omnic (which he had originally detested, until Efi had bridged the gap between the Junkers and her creation) evaporates. He looks suitably chagrined.

“...did it again, huh?” he says, and leaves too fast for her to answer.

Orisa narrows her eyeslits. “This is the sixteenth incursion by the new member ‘Junkrat’, and his twelfth attempt to ride me as one does a horse or vehicle.”

Efi blinks, “Oh? What did he do the other four times?”

“Memory data and visual surveillance indicates he came in, in much the same manner as usual... then paused, and stared for a long time, before leaving.” Answers the OR15.

“...memory data...” mutters the genius. “You don’t think...?”

“Observation and analysis suggests that interactions with this person are repetitious due to faulty memory collection databanks.” Orisa answers, succinctly.

“He doesn’t remember I told him off.” Efi responds, thinking, “Have you collected indications that he is able to read proficiently, in your interactions, Orisa?”

“The new member, designation Junkrat, is literate based on personnel records and observed behaviours.”

Efi brightens, “Oh, perfect!”

The next time Junkrat suddenly gets the idea to ride the Omnic team member (Orisa), he encounters a sign on the door. “Hello Mr Junkrat, Just to remind you, Orisa is a member of your team and not a horse! She is capable of carrying you out of danger if you need it, but cannot be ridden, because she was not built for that. I made this sign to help you remember our conversation about it! Thank you for understanding, Efi” He huffs out a small chuckle, “Fair enough, kid.” and leaves. But really, even if it’s a little concerning he can’t recall... he’s touched she went to the effort of making him a sign to boost his memories around the topic. He leaves himself a note to teach her how to make an impromptu explosive out of everyday items, as a sort of thank-you; after all, what harm could come from that?

“I am sorry to interrupt, but you have told me this story several times, Junkrat.” Symmetra informed, succinctly.

He just about choked on his own tongue as he swung around to look at Satya with wide eyes. “Are you sure?”

She nods, once, in confirmation.

“...oh.” He rubs the back of his neck with his metal hand. “Ah, sorry. Kind of repeat stuff sometimes... didn’t realise... just tell me if I do it again, okay?”

They are in lab three, working on their weapons. Her sentry matrix needs an upgrade, and he has to make a few additions to the bomb-launcher and riptire. It was a weekly activity; everyone had staples of their battle technique and weaponry, but additionally, they all liked to improve their items where possible.

They work in silence for a long while, both caught up in different trains of thought, before Satya breaches the companionable void of sound. “You may have noticed, that I do enjoy things to happen a certain way... that I do not overtly mind repetition, Junkrat. Do not think I am angry or annoyed with you. I was merely... pointing it out.” “Ya don’t have to be nice about it, m’used to being told I already said something. Ain’t a big deal..” he finally answers. “You misunderstand me, Junkrat. There is comfort in both silence, and familiar repetition, especailly for me on occasions when battle has been difficult or a task is frustrating... while my initial statement was to make you aware you repeated stories, it was not an entreaty to cease. I enjoy listening to them, when we work. As I hope you do, when I speak of my own.” “Oh...” there was a pause. “Oh! So ya don’t mind I’m a little messed up?”

Symmetra smiles warmly. “I do not believe there is person out there who is not, to some degree. Now would you like to continue the tale, or shall I retell one of mine for you?” “You really don’t mind?” he checks again.

“Junkrat, when you look at the architecture of my home, it is grand and beautiful, intricate... and most importantly, the pattern within each design is repetitious. That is what catches the eye and captivates. A story worth telling, is always meant to be retold to those who will listen and understand.” “That’s the nicest way anyone’s ever said they’re okay with me telling the same shitty stories over’n’over again... you’re one alright sheila, Symmetra!” he grins back. “Now, where was I? Oh yeah... so there I was, ‘fore I met Roadie, right? And there was this big bloke at the bar-...”

The familiar cadence filled the room as Symmetra went back to work, content at having the rhythm of things restored once more.

"I thought we had settled this...” sighed Genji, to his mentor. “Patience.” cautioned Zenyatta, unobtrusively weathering the brunt of the anti-omnic rhetoric for possibly the fifth time since the Junkers had moved onto base. “This is not his fault, not directly, and we cannot blame those who have suffered for their hatred born of fear and loss.”

“But we have done this so many times already!” sighs the youngest Shmada brother.

“And we will do it again, in future, as necessary. That is what it means to know true patience...” responded his mentor, utterly cryptically, as always. Roadhog tended to glare them down, but Junkrat was the more vocal. And they’d thought after the first few altercations and subsequent conversations, that things were finally evening out. They seemed to trust the pair enough in battle, to heal and protect, but then there would be days like this. Days when there was no recognition in the shorter Australian’s eyes, as he beheld them with shock, fury and some slight tinge of fear-laden madness...

Genji deflected anything physical, and Zenyatta provided calming words until the young man had calmed down, recalled them, or simply run out of steam. At which point he would provide his Orb of Harmony to reinstate tranquility. It was frustrating, and while Zenyatta was content to wait it out, provide a calming presence and wisdom afterwards... Genji just wanted to know why it kept happening, and how much longer they would have to bear it.

Mercy had tracked him down, eventually. For the mandatory physical (comprehensive, not the basic bioscan from their initial entry). She had heard things... from various members, both directly and indirectly; had spoken to Roadhog. And now she was armed enough to offer him options...

He resisted, as was initially assumed he would. But between her gentle persuasion and Pharah kindly carrying him there (sans explosives), they managed.

Like Roadhog, his basic biology was a little out of whack, due to the large degree of passive and direct radiation they had been exposed to over the years. Elevated heartrates, internal scarring, little things that were outside normal range by only a fraction...

She did need some help to pin him down for vaccinations, because he didn’t really see why they’d bother... the radiation took care of that sort of thing, kept the bugs at bay and all. But Mercy insisted it would be important in the long run... one the radiation was treated, which was, of course, something they could flush out using her nanotechnology and new concentrated anti-rad serums.

She was explaining them in detail, and he got lost somewhere in the technical side of things, so Mercy flat out vaccinated him against anything she could think of... he honestly wasn’t that bothered afterwards. Perhaps it had been the unknown component... there can’t be that much medical care in Australia right now.

It was then, Mercy brought up the difficult topic... of memory, and mentioned that she had spoken to Roadhog. Junkrat didn’t seem overly offended, just kind of embarrassed. “Yeah... can’t remember much...” was all he offered.

“Well, I will be honest Jamie... I cannot do much for the missing gaps in your memories, but I do happen to have a few methods available that can stimulate your neural pathways and promote greater memory retention and recall. Especially for short-term memory, like conversations and such."

“You can do that?” he asks, surprised.

“Of course!” she enthuses. “But I must caution you, the results will not be immediate... but they will improve your memory retention and recall over time. Maybe not to a perfect level, but...”

“I’ll take whatever ya got!” grins Junkrat.

“Excellent,” Mercy replies, moving over to pick up the associated devices. “Let us begin...”

Unfortunately, the team noticed. And put their noses in his business.

“No, it’s NOT!” he shouts, startling the room into silence.

He’s too angry, too frustrated, to elaborate, and storms off. Roadhog’s footfalls tart, then falter... like he’s decided not to follow Junkrat. That’d be right.

He kinda wanted Roadie to come... but he also wanted space. It was a messed up feeling Jamie didn’t have the words for...

But, as he stormed out onto a landing a few floors up, he realised he wasn’t alone.

“Do you wish to talk about what troubles you, Jamie?” Zenyatta asks, in that oddly ethereal tone, hovering nearby.

Junkrat feels the Orb of Harmony attach, it always makes you feel lighter, strangely safe. He plonks down on the ledge, drawing his flesh knee to his chest; resting arms and chin on it.

“It’s... I dunno, mate... how’m I supposed to feel?” Junkrat says, voice cold, tone seething. “Everywhere I fucking look-....! Oh, er, sorry mate, you a monk and all...”

“Think nothing of it... swear if it calms you, ‘mate’ Jamie.” Zenyatta replies, tone almost amused.

“Well it’s just like, I know me memory’s fucked up... has been for a while. Before roadie, when I was by myself, it didn’t matter ‘cause I didn’t remember I didn’t remember, right?”

“Indeed.”

“Then I teamed up with Roadie, and he kinda started to remind me that I had said something, or forgot something... and he remembered the important stuff... d’you know I can;t even remember how fucking old I am most of the time?” Junkrat laughs, incredulously, with a hint of anger and hysteria mixed in.

“I understand that would be frustrating.” Zenyatta consoled.

“You bet your shiny metal arse it is!” laughs the aussie.

There was a pause before Zenyatta adds, “I do not, technically, possess an ‘ass’, what else may I bet on this?”

The Junker hoots out a laugh, at the very serious tone the monk said it in, and the mood lightens a fraction.

“Heh, nah... the real problem is just... ever since we got here, everyone’s either been super angry at me or just letting me repeat stuff over and over. I don’t know which was worse, really. I mean, you’n’Genji had to deal with me yelling at you all the bloody time, and I remember that now... feel like a fucking prick about it...

But... now everyone knows they’re TOO understanding. Everytime I mess up, whether I know it r not someone’s bloody saying ‘It’s Okay’... but it’s NOT! It’s not okay... it’s... I dunno, I cant put it in words or nothing.”

Zenyatta nods. “You feel more self-conscious about your memory concerns due to the fact that now a larger group of people know, and it is frustrating, which is understandable. Our teammates are trying to help and understand, as best they can... but the concept is new to them. However, the more you remember, and the more they show sympathy to your condition by providing you friendship and insights into their own lives, the greater your awareness of what you do not know of yourself. Specifically your past, and who you were.”

Junkrat squints at him. “...did becoming a monk make ya psychic mate?”

Zenyatta hums back in amusement, his version of laughter. “Something akin to that.”

“I mean, ya right but I don’t wanna admit it. ‘Snice to have everyone care ‘n’all, still weirds me out though... and it’s... too much, sometimes. Sorta like what Symmetra says happens to her... how, suddenly, everything gets too much and she has to get away. Not that bad, though. Dunno, ‘sall weird. Do ya think I should go back and apologise or just avoid everybody for the rest of my life?” he jokes.

Zenyatta hums back again. “Perhaps we can simply sit here and watch the sunset, and decide what to do after that. If you are still feeling unsure, I do have Transcendence ready... you will be far too relaxed to worry about anything, afterwards.”

“That a threat to make me go back inside after we watch the fiery orb hit the sea?” Junkrat mutters.

Zenyatta tilts his head. “Indeed, Jamie.”

“You’re pretty fun for a monk, and an Omnic, Zen...” Junkrat says, a faint smile on his face as the frustration ebbs away under the mysterious power of the orb and good company.

“High praise, Jamie. I thank you... ‘mate’.”

And that’s how Junkrat nearly fell off a balcony, laughing at an omnic monk imitating his Aussie accent.

His memory does improve, somewhat. But the team learns to just work with it, and accept duplicate conversations as something that occasionally happened. It hurt no one, and everyone had their idiosyncrasies... who was to judge any one hero for theirs?

Junkrat, sometimes Jamie if he recalls it, feels integrated into a community for the first time since he can remember. And can finally trust other people, outside of Roadhog; though hoggie is still his go-to for forgotten facts and friendship.

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abirdandabeast · 7 years

Note

Can u do a fanfic where bb has to give raven mouth to mouth resuscitation. After that she thinks he was kissing her and gets really angry; bb try's to experience lain but just plays along with it and kisses her anyway xx

So this turned out a bit different than what you requested, but I just sorta went with it. Hopefully it’s still enjoyable!

Soft light tickled her cheeks. Raven peered up through lidded eyes, catching sight of the bright sky smiling down on her. Grass rustled about her, whispering, wake up, it’s morning.

Raven slowly sat up, blinking. She was sitting upon a gently rolling hill, surrounded by dancing wildflowers that almost glowed lavender in the afternoon sunlight. She frowned.

Something was off, though she couldn’t think of what. She had the feeling she was supposed to be somewhere, but for the life of her, Raven couldn’t remember where that could be. So instead she sat and gazed out at the field of wildflowers, trying to piece together the scrambled fragments of her mind.

A caw from beside her snagged her attention. Raven turned, her face screwing up in confusion. Beside her, seemingly materializing out of nothing, was a crow with feathers that matched the puffy clouds drifting above. The animal cocked its head at her and cawed again, as though it expected her to answer. Her frown deepened, and Raven waved her hand at it. “Shoo,” she hissed.

The crow merely hopped to the side, ruffling its feathers. “Caw,” it said, its black eyes boring into her. It stepped forward, pecking at her hand.

“Hey!” Raven snapped, jerking her hand away. “Go away!”

The bird flapped away from her, its white feathers shimmering. Raven watched, her jaw hanging at the sight. It was like the crow was made of stardust, the way it shimmered and glowed as it streaked across the sky. Raven’s gaze followed the animal as it flew down the hill, its reflection mirrored perfectly on the surface of a still lake that sprawled out down below. The crow circled, letting out another eerie caw, before diving for the water.

Raven gasped. “What the?” She was on her feet in an instant, confusion muddling her mind as she stared at the lake’s rippling surface. Surely, the bird was mad. Perhaps it was teasing her, even. But as each minute ticked by, there was no sin of the bird resurfacing.

“Hell,” Raven growled. She took off towards the lake, fuming at the ridiculousness of the situation. Stupid crow, trying to swim in the stupid mysterious lake. Upon reaching the shoreline, Raven hurled herself into the water, not even bothering to take off her cloak.

“Wanna know something crazy?” There was a smile on his lips as he spoke. She raised a brow, her book perched delicately in her hands.

“What?”

“Ya’ know how monkeys can use tools and stuff? Well, crows and ravens can too. They’re crazy smart,” he chirped, a grin flashing across his features. The grin faded quickly, replaced by a shy blush. “Like you…”

It was almost a whisper, but it echoed long after he dashed away. Her gaze lingered where he’d just stood, his quiet words replaying over and over in her mind…

Her skin was ice cold. Raven trembled as the cold worked its way to her bones, gasping at the sight of her frosty breath spreading out before her. Great Azar...

She was floating among the stars. The feeling that this made zero sense floated up within her muddled mind, but those thoughts were dashed upon the sight of the feathered beacon of light flapping through the swirling galaxies before her. “Wait!” she cried. Raven attempted to summon her magic and follow, but if she moved, she couldn’t tell. She seemed to just hang there, suspended in time and space.

Raven felt her heart sink as the crow grew smaller and smaller, soon becoming just another sparkle amid the stars around her. Time slowed, and she grew colder. She hugged her arms about herself and closed her eyes.

Is this it? she thought. Will I die out here, alone? Cold claws gripped at her heart, and tears burned at her eyelids. It was her worst fear come to life, the demon that lurked within her. Being alone. Truly, alone.

The tears spilled down her cheeks, the warm liquid burning trails onto her skin. She cried silently, curling up into a ball and shivering until she couldn’t feel her limbs anymore. Her thoughts began to flicker, and Raven drifted towards the darkness in her mind. Sleep, she thought. I just want sleep. So tired…

Something warm tickled her nose. Raven shook her head sluggishly, turning away. But the warmth was determined, spreading across her arms and down to her legs. She cracked her eyes open, only to snap them shut with a groan.

“Too bright,” Raven mumbled tiredly, her eyes slowly blinking open once again. All around her, there was light. It was as if she’d somehow floated directly up to a star, and she had to squint just to look at it.

She looked behind her. There stretched the universe, vast and endless. The swirling stars made her breath catch in her throat, and Raven almost leaned out to join them again. But then she shivered and remembered just how cold she’d been.

The light was warm. Welcoming. It beckoned her, willing her to fall into its warm embrace. Raven Bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, reaching her hand out into the light’s center. The cold fell away from her, and she was warm.

“I hate rain.”

She pursed her lips, shooting him an intrigued glance. “Why?”

“It’s depressing.”

“I don’t think so,” she said. “It’s refreshing. Calming, even.”

He stared evenly at her, his lips carved into a deep frown. “You can’t fly in a downpour,” he said.

Raven stared upward. A starry night stared back at her, winking mischievously as the constellations danced across the sky. There was a movement from beside her, and the boat she lay in swayed on the water.

“What’s that one called?”

She followed the green hand that pointed up into the shimmering stars, squinting as the constellation in question sprung to life before her eyes. “Ursa Major,” Raven murmured. “See the bear?” She reached for his wrist, moving his hand to trace the figure of a bear into the night air.

“Oh.” He laughed, the sound ringing like bells in her ears. Raven could feel his warm gaze resting on her, and she turned to see happiness brimming in his eyes. Raven smiled.

This was nice. Stargazing was a pastime Raven enjoyed, especially in the quiet company of Garfield. They’d been staring up at the constellations painted above them for hours, pointing out their favorites and the ones they knew.

Garfield scooted closer, draping his arm across her stomach. A soft smile toyed at his lips, and she could feel the affection swelling off of him. Raven felt her breath hitch as he drew closer, their lips brushing. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she kissed him.

The kiss was sweet and slow. Raven felt her heart hammering in her chest and butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Garfield broke away, his breath tickling her lips. “Raven,” he whispered. She blinked up at him, biting her lip. To her surprise, his smile vanished, replaced with a deep frown.

“Raven!” he croaked. There was an urgency in his voice, an urgency she didn’t understand.

“Garfield?”

Something wet splattered on her cheeks and forehead, and Raven peered up past Garfield at the dark clouds looming overhead.

It was raining. They were no longer on a boat, but sprawled out onto the pavement of some abandoned street, with towering skyscrapers thrusting up at the storm clouds overhead.

“Wake up, Rae!” Garfield pleaded. She blinked, turning her gaze back to his. There was desperation there, pouring from him like a gushing waterfall. “I need you.”

Raven opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came forth. Instead, she reached up to brush his cheek. Her hand found his tangled wet hair, and she pulled him close, kissing him again.

“Stay with me, Rae! I’m not losing you, not like this!”

His voice was pleading, desperate. Raven tried to hang on, but everything was so numb. She could feel his warm hands on her chest as he worked to keep her weak heart beating.

“Listen to me, Raven. Just don’t leave me. Please.”

He sounded so sad, so…broken. She wanted to reassure him, but her body seemed reluctant to obey her.

“…get her to a hospital.”

Not Garfiled. Robin maybe? Where was Garfield?

“Raven…please…”

She felt something warm on her lips as someone breathed air into her lungs.

“One…two…three…”

Raven felt her grip on reality weaken, with only one thought flickering on her mind…

There was a soft beeping to her left. Raven groaned, peeling her eyes open. She squinted, adjusting to the light.

A hospital room met her gaze. Raven blinked, frowning. Was this…real? There was a gentle snore to her right, and she turned to survey her apparent companion. Beast Boy curled awkwardly in a rickety hospital chair, fast asleep. The sight brought a smile to her lips, and Raven bit back a snort.

“Oh Garfield,” she muttered softly, her voice hoarse. She must have spoken louder than she thought, though, for the shapeshifter jolted awake.

“Raven?” He blinked, confusion flitting across his features. They stared at each other for a solid minute before realization dawned upon him, and an expression of utter joy split onto his face. “You’re awake!” he cried, flinging himself at her.

Raven chuckled as he hugged her gently, only daring to give her a slight squeeze. “Uh, thanks,” she murmured. Beast Boy scrambled off of her, a deep blush staining his cheeks.

“S-sorry,” he stammered. “I just, uh, I was…” He trailed off, staring awkwardly at the floor. “You almost died,” Beast Boy whispered. Raven shrugging, wincing a little.

“I didn’t.”

An odd look shadowed his face, and he opened his mouth to speak when the door burst open and their remaining teammates piled in.

“Oh, Raven, you are awake!”

“Hey, Rae, how ya’ feeling?”

“Glad you’re okay.”

Raven smiled and chatted, her gaze almost constantly drifting to Beast Boy. She offered him a small smile, which he returned fully. There was a twinkle shimmering in his eyes, reminding her of stars, and Raven knew he knew.

And so she reached out, hesitantly, and whispered in his mind, I love you. He blinked, surprised, and smiled.

I have no idea if I like this or not. So let me know what you think! Hopefully it’s not terrible, lol. XD Enjoy!

-mod vixensheart

#bbrae #beast boy #raven #teen titans #prompt me!!#but not really #that's just the tag now #bbrae fanfiction #idk if this is good #oh well

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