#or just jumping awake from being half-asleep at 2am because you just got the perfect dialogue or scene to add | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

halstudandruz · 4 years

Text

Scaredy Cat

*Not my gif*

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader

Requested: Yes

Prompt: Jay convinces reader to watch a scary movie

Warnings: Swearing probably

🎉Happy Birthday to my loveeee🎉

“No.” You stated arms crossed.

“If I remember correctly you said I could pick the movie.” He challenged with amusement.

“But you know how much I hate scary movies.” You whined.

“And what kind of best friend would I be if I didn’t make you watch them?” Jay teased.

“Whatever jerk. I’m making the popcorn.” You huffed getting up to walk into Jay’s kitchen shuffling through his cabinets before finding the perfect bowl, pouring the popcorn in once it was done cooking and adding a little extra butter with garlic salt. “Forgive me if I never watch a movie with you again.” You fell back down beside him crunching on a few pieces of your snack.

“You’ll be fine. I'll be right here the whole time.” He promised throwing an arm on the back of the couch and getting more comfortable beside you after hitting play, stealing a handful of popcorn out of your lap.

“Yeah until I have to go home to my apartment alone.” You rolled your eyes focusing on the intro of the movie.

You had known and been best friends with Jay for years and for years every time Jay got to pick the movie on your movie nights he picked a horror film. Regardless of his knowledge that you simply hated them. You wondered if it was just because they made you vulnerable, made you cling to him in fear, and maybe he liked that. He definitely liked being in control, feeling like he made you feel safe. So maybe he liked the clingy fear that horror movies revoked from you. At least that’s what you hoped. On the other hand what you knew is that even though you hated horror movies it gave you an excuse to shove your face into Jay’s shoulder, take in his smell (and damn did the man smell good.) Gave you an excuse to hide your eyes against Jay’s chest, and tuck yourself into his side and if horror movies gave you the opportunity to do that there’s no way you could hate them that much.

A half hour in and you were already much closer to Jay than what you originally started hands gripping the bowl in your lap tightly when a man jumped up on the screen out of nowhere causing you to jump and send the bowl flying across the room, popcorn flinging everywhere, “fuck!” You exclaimed in surprise making Jay laugh.

“You should’ve seen that one coming.” He teased pulling you closer into his side.

“How exactly do you think I would’ve seen that coming?” You huffed.

“The music got louder.” He shrugged. “Well now we’re outta popcorn you gotta clean it up and make us more.” Jay smirked looking at the pieces scattered across the room.

“I have to clean it up? You’re the one that made us watch this stupid movie!” You exclaimed making Jay laugh louder.

“What do you propose I do? I’m hungry with no snack now.” He asked. Making you shake your head as you picked a piece up off the back of the couch shoving it to his mouth.

“I guess that works.” Jay smiled chewing on the piece of popcorn and opening his mouth again after swallowing causing you to giggle. Rolling your eyes, and not thinking your hand went to Jay’s crotch where a handful of popcorn laid blushing immediately and retracting your hand once you realized where it was. Jay raised an eyebrow, cocky smirk on his face, making you avert your attention back to the TV when you felt a piece of popcorn being pushed against your lips. Huffing a laugh you open your mouth taking in the few pieces unconsciously licking Jay’s fingers with the action. You could see Jay’s eyes widen slightly thanks to the light from the TV before he cleared his throat shifting beside you slightly and turning back to the movie ignoring the action. By the end of the movie the encounter was quickly forgotten and you were practically huddled in Jay’s lap, eyes shoved in his neck to distract you from the bloody, gory details. “It’s over.” Jay announced against your hair.

“Oh thank god.” You replied reluctantly backing away from him letting him get up to turn the TV off and the light on. Looking around at the crumbs still scattered you got up to fetch the vacuum. “You should get a dog.” You commented plugging it in before starting it and cleaning up. After finishing and shutting the vacuum off Jay continued the conversation from the kitchen,

“I don’t have time for a dog.”

“I guess. But then I’d actually have someone who’d comfort me in my times of fear instead of judge.” You retorted leaning against the kitchen entrance arms crossed.

“Oh I don’t comfort you well enough now?” Jay teased, eyebrow raised walking closer as he handed you water making heat run through your body as he inched closer to you.

Shaking your head you made yourself snap out of it, “I mean I didn’t say that.” You shrugged, smirking. Jay laughed in return turning to look at the clock.

“It’s already 2am you should just stay here.” He said walking away from you back into the living room. “You know where everything is in the room.” He continued pulling blankets out of the nearest closet to make a bed on the couch.

“Stop.” You shoved him away.

“What?” He asked.

“I am not taking your bed. Why do we have to have this fight every time I stay here?” You asked, annoyed laying the blankets down.

“[Y/N]-“ He started again as you cut him off.

“Just save us 15 minutes and admit defeat Halstead, goodnightttt.” You hit him with a pillow before laying down. Sighing heavily Jay gave in kissing your head and bidding you goodnight.

The problem was it had been an hour and you were still jumping at any tiny sound. Yes, you were a scaredy cat but what were you to do? You didn’t want to turn the TV on in fear of waking Jay and you certainly weren’t about to try and go home at 3am so you laid in silence tossing and turning images of blood and creepy guys reoccurring in your mind.

“You’re still awake aren’t you?” Jay’s voice came out of nowhere in return causing you to scream and jump resulting in you falling off the couch with a loud thud.

“What the fuck, Jay!?” You yelled in a hushed tone as he rushed over to you clearly trying to keep a laugh in but letting it out once he saw you were okay.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He apologized, helping you up.

“How’d you know I was awake?” You asked turning to see him standing shirtless making you let out what you were sure was an audible whimper but he didn’t acknowledge it if he did hear.

“I could practically hear your wheels turning from the bedroom.” He explained.

“Sorry.” You mumbled falling back down on the couch.

“No. Come on.” Jay protested trying to pull you up.

“What?” You whined standing up.

“You’re coming to bed with me.” He explained leading you towards his room, immediately making your throat go dry.

“Wait what?” You croaked out.

“It’s my fault you can’t sleep so I’m gonna fix that. Plus you threatened to replace me with a dog so...” He joked, pulling the covers back to let you slip into his bed before making the way to his side and doing the same. Pulling you into his chest once he got comfortable. Instinctively your head fell to his bare chest wrapping your legs between his. You had cuddled with him plenty of times before but this was something different, more intimate.

“I make you feel safe right?” He asked, rubbing his hand up and down your back as you nodded your head not trusting your voice as your heart was beating a million miles a minute. “Good. Now go to sleep cause I’m not until you do.” He kissed your forehead wrapping an arm even more tightly around you. Instantly relaxing you took a deep breath closing your eyes before kissing his chest as a way to tell him goodnight. Within minutes you were fast asleep feeling more safe than you ever have before. One thing was for sure, you certainly would be having another movie night.

#jay halstead imagine #jay halstead x reader #jay halstead #jayhalsteadxreader #chicago pd imagine #chicago pd #chicago pd x reader #one chicago

352 notes · View notes

one-of-us-must-be-crazy · 4 years

Note

I PANICKED... I PANICKED!!!

“It’s absolutely not anyone’s fault,” Amanda started the second that she heard the flat’s door open.

“That…is not a promising comment to walk in to,” her new partner, her new flatmate, her new…Person, looked more concerned than she thought he would.

“I’ll explain…”

“Explain-” he took a glance at the kitchen counter, looking at what she had spread out over them, and then slowly back at her, “What…is…? What happened?! Why are there three of them?”

Earlier that day:

Amanda had refused to get out of bed. Her lover, relaxed late into the morning due to a low charge looked so human in the sunlight that crept in between the window blinds that she wanted to enjoy it. He was warm to the touch, charging over night after what she called a panic attack, and what he called a system error, had left him drained.

Despite no breath or heart beat, and only a subtle technological buzz signaling that he was ‘alive’ at all, the warmth, the way his face actually looked at rest for once, and the daylight high lighting him in such an unflattering, such a human way, displaying fine lines and crows’ feet, a day’s worth of stubble, Amanda would have been fine dozing the whole day away with him.

She must have fallen back to sleep at some point entirely, however, because she had woken up with a pillow under her arm instead of a ridiculously and unnecessarily well muscled torso. Christopher was long gone, and a note in his font-perfect hand writing was on the bedside table.

I had to go into the city to find a new cord, might be a few hours, I’ll call when I think you’re awake. Love.

It made her smile, but also struck her as deeply sad, that he had so little experience with love that he only wrote the word rather than following it with a comma and his name, or even a full “I love you,” but the smile at his sweetness won.

Amanda could smell coffee too, he must have put it on a timer or left it on the heater for her. She dragged herself out of the warm burrow of the fleece blanket and her duvet, pausing a moment to smell his pillow–laundry detergent, and a vague soapiness–an obsessive, tween-wearing-her-crush’s-sweater moment that she would deny if anyone caught her doing it.

The kitchen was a short walk but cold, and the flirty choice to pull on his boxers instead of her pajama pants last night after a 2AM snuggle turned into something that they probably shouldn’t have tried when he was already so low on energy now felt like genuinely bad decision. She wonders loosely if the frankly stupid idea to give into the middle of the night urge had any part in how drained he must have gotten to shut down wholly, but after his panic attack, she had welcomed the change of mood from him. And the other things.

She was half day dreaming about a particular movement he had tried, and she never really got much out of missionary but if he wanted to keep doing that thing with his hips then–

Fish was dead.

“FUCK.” her eyes had just glanced over the living room when they fell on the little tank, a five gallon thing with a gold fish in it that Christopher had been saying all week he wanted to replace with a larger one seeing how gold fish can live much longer and healthier lives in fifty or hundred gallon tanks but–

Fish was floating on the surface of the water.

“fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuCK FUCK FUCK.”

Him coming home to seeing his pet, his only bit of light and kindness he’d ever gotten before he met her, the pet he was allowed to name as he was just coming into his sentience–him coming home to seeing his pet dead was out of the question entirely.

Without thinking, or even registering what she was doing, Amanda ran through their room, dressed in her clothes, pulled on boots, took a picture of the fish and searched addresses for pet stores.

Then she called her partner, blessedly he didn’t answer but she left a hasty, and half-convincing voice mail that he could take his time becuase she was going on a run anyway. Despite the fact it was raining.

Three pet shops later, Amanda was sprinting back (carefully) into the apartment, two bags, each with a goldfish, in case her luck truly went to hell and one of them died in transit. They almost looked like Fish, but Fish had to have spots becuase that meant that a certain android with perfect image recall in his memory would know instantly that something was wrong.

Amanda rummaged around for a net to scoop out the tiny corpse, stress blessedly not allowing her to meditate on the guilt she felt for planning on throwing away or flushing it when she was so careless with human lives not so long ago on a hellish station in the middle of nowhere. Slightly nauseous, she went to lift the sad thing and—

“—MOTHER FUCKER!” ——-Fish jumped.

Fish was not dead.

Yet.

Fish was flopping around on the carpet —without thinking, Amanda grabbed him–carefully–and dropped him back in the tank. Fish didn’t look too bad for being dead (asleep?) a moment ago, and flopping around a second ago. There was a strand of hair on one of his fins now, presumably hers, from the carpet, but he looked okay enough.

Amanda slammed the tank’s lid back down, and then looked over to the counter where the other two fish waited in their little bags.

“I fucking hate you.” she mumbled at the tank, half to herself, half to Fish. Fish had lost the hair, and was acting like a normal goldfish, not one that was recently dead. “Chris, you couldn’t just get a fucking cactus. Or an aloe plant. Something sturdy...”

They only had the one tank, and not willing to risk letting the others do something, get in a fight, plot an escape, sacrifice to a fish god, she put nothing past them. Fish had to live at least another hour. So, plastic containers.

There were two that looked almost big enough but not quite, and one that she wanted to use had curry stains in it, so maybe not for a fish. Or for anything beyond the recycling chute in the hall. Fine. So.....

Amanda was duct taping the spout shut on the iced tea pitcher (neither of us even drink iced tea why do we have this?) and writing “TEMP FISH HOME. NOT DRINK.” in permanent marker on the tape when---

“It’s absolutely not anyone’s fault,” Amanda started the second that she heard the flat’s door open.

“That…is not a promising comment to walk in to,” Samuels looked more concerned than she thought he would.

“I’ll explain…”

“Explain-” he took a glance at the kitchen counter, looking at what she had spread out over them, and then slowly back at her, “What…is…? What happened?! Why are there three of them?”

“I PANICKED.....I PANICKED!!!!! Fish was dead, and--”

“Fish was dead? What happened!”

“Nothing happened! he was fine! A little fuzz from the carpet--”

“Why was Fish on the carpet?!?!?!?!”

“HE WAS DEAD? I had to go and get these guys, and then Fish had the audacity to not be dead when I got back and--”

“You...were going to lie to me that Fish was alive?”

“Not really I just wasn’t going to tell you.”

“Amy!”

“Well now Fish has two friends.”

“Now I need to go back out, and get a bigger tank...”

“Probably. You said you wanted to anyway.”

“Not today. How long was Fish out of the water?”

“I don’t know, ten seconds? Not long. And he was floating at the top of the tank. I thought he was dead.”

“Oh, no Fish just sleeps like that sometimes,” Samuels inspected the impostor fish closely, they were good matches, but not to his eye. They were going to have to get the hundred gallon tank. No way around it now.

“Why the fuck does he sleep like that?!”

“I don’t ask you why you sleep the way that you do,”

#outreotter

15 notes · View notes

oscar-piastri · 5 years

Text

scared to be lonely

title: scared to be lonely

summary: reader is acting a little bit too clingy for ben

words: 2.3k

taglist: @styles-charli

notes: this has been on my drive for two months so i thought i’d upload it while i’m writing new stuff

“Where are you going?” you asked your boyfriend as he put on his brown bomber jacket and grabbed his keys.

“Out, you remember?” he told you, now putting his shoes.

“Can I come?” you shyly asked, looking at your feet.

“Uh, it’s boys night…” he gently recalled you

“Yeah… Right. Sorry I asked” you mumbled, as you turned to walk into the kitchen.

“Love, are you okay?” Your boyfriend asked you a little worried as he hurried to come near you.

“Yeah” you lied, putting a small and fake smile on your face. Ben hesitated a few seconds, thinking if he should believe you or not.

“Alright love. I won’t be home late” he said, gently kissing your forehead before petting Frankie’s head and leaving the house. The sound of the door closing echoed in the house, that felt empty.

It’s not that you didn’t trust your boyfriend when he was out, god you could trust him with your entire life! It’s just that you hated to be alone. Weird, right? You hated that feeling of loneliness but you are dating someone who is barely home because of his drastic schedule. So when he’s home, you just want him to never leave you alone again.

You spent the night watching TV with Frankie peacefully sleeping and snoring on your laps. Biting your lips, you took a glance at your phone that was laying right next to you, wondering if it was a good idea or not to contact Ben. Well deep down, you knew what was the right answer, but you were dying to know what he was doing or just talk to him, to kill the feeling of constant loneliness. However, you decided to leave your phone and put back your attention on the tv.

Your phone lighted up at 2am, with a new text coming from Ben appearing on the screen. “I don’t know if you’re awake but I’m just letting you know that I’m on my way home” You smile relieved when you read that text. You chose not to answer him and just wait for him, so you could fall asleep in his arms.

After long minutes, you finally heard Ben coming home. Thinking you were asleep, Ben slowly closed the door, only using his phone to light up the hallway to see where he was going. Walking past the living room, he saw that the TV was still on and he was surprised to find you on the couch, still awake.

You slightly jumped when you noticed Ben’s form next to you. “Y/N, it’s 3am. Why are you still up?” He asked, rubbing his eyes because he was exhausted.

“No I just woke up not so long ago” you lied to him, not wanting to tell him that you didn’t want to fall asleep alone. You grabbed the remote to turn the tv off, and grabbed Ben’s head so you could both go to bed.

You both stripped out of your clothes to put on your pj’s. By the time that you cleaned your face, your boyfriend already collapsed under the covers. You hurried to climb in the bed as well, resting your head on his chest as you put one of your arm around his chest.

You’d usually hate that smell, this sent of his cologne mixed with alcohol and cigarettes. But tonight, it was one of your favorite thing, because it meant that Ben was right here with you, as you slowly started to fall asleep.

You woke up the next morning, in a different position. When the sunlights came through the curtains, it woke you up right away. You were sleeping on your side, feeling an arm wrapped around you and a face buried in your neck. You could spend the whole day just like that, and this exactly what you wanted to ask your boyfriend when he’d wake up.

You felt something moving against your neck and slowly, the arm that was wrapped around your waist was gone, as your boyfriend rolled on his back to look at the ceiling.

“Good morning” you said rolling on your other side, so you could admire your boyfriend still half asleep.

His hair was a mess and covering his forehead, his vibrant green eyes were barely open but it was still the most beautiful view.

“Hey love” he mumbled, placing his hands on his head groaning.

“Headache?” You asked softly, knowing that too much sound would make his pain even worse.

“Yeah.. Music was way too loud. Looks like I’m getting too old to go out” he joked, which made you smile.

You got up of the bed, making your way to your bathroom trying to find some painkillers with a glass of water. You carefully brought them to Ben, placing the little pill and the glass on the bedside table.

“How about we stay in bed all day?” You suggested, climbing back to bed with your boyfriend. You were hoping for a positive answer.

“I can’t, I have plans” he quickly said before taking the pill

“Oh. Can I come?” You blurred out, disappointed in his first answer.

“Again?” He awkwardly asked you right away, but he realised how rude it sounded and quickly apologized.

“It’s just.. I miss you, and I wanna spend time with you when you’re home” you confessed, truly hoping it would change his mind.

“I know, but you’re not the only one I wanna see, I missed my friends too” he explained as he tenderly fondled your cheeks.

“I get it…” you loudly sighted before putting on a fake smile, in order not to worry your boyfriend. He smiled right back at you before pecking your lips and letting you know that he’ll be in the shower to get ready, implying that you could join him.

Letting your head fall back in the pillow, you ignored his invite. You were too upset and sad to get in the mood.

You try to make it look like you didn’t care but in fact, it was killing you inside. You didn’t realize how cligny you sounded and acted, but you actually couldn’t help it.

Days had passed since that moment, and everything was slowly starting to feel better for you, as you managed to spend a few moments with your boyfriend. You enjoyed every minutes, every seconds of those moments with him as they warmed your heart, making you alive each time. But not everything can’t be perfect for a long time, because your heart seemed to break as you saw Ben getting ready to go out, again.

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked a little bit worried, kneeling in front of you. He was on his way to meet his friend, but he saw you all curled up in the couch, wearing one of his hoodie and got all curious about why you weren’t feeling well.

You left your position to sit on the couch. “I just wanna spend time with my boyfriend” you whined, trying to grab Ben’s hand to put him on the couch with him, but sadly he resisted and brushed your hands away.

“We just spent two days together without living the house. It was good and I loved it, but love, I made plans” he grumbled, as he got up and grab his stuff again. You were quick to follow his steps, grabbing his hands before he could reach the door.

“Please, stay…” you muttered, making him turn straight to face you. But you weren’t expecting Ben to be so angry; his jaw was clenched, he was staring at you with a glance that made you shiver. You were about to apologize but he’s the one who spoke first.

“For the love of god, Y/N, stop being so fucking annoying! Just let me enjoy some free time for myself” you wanted to say something but you just let him vent, throwing his anger and frustration at you “JUST LET ME LIVE” he finally growled. His loud voice made you take stop steps back, surprised by his act. Instinctively, you bit your lips to control your tears and keep them from running down your cheeks. Ben was panting, after what he just told you. His eyes were still glued on you and you could read every sign of someone being angry on his face.

“Have fun, then” you spoke but your voice was barely audible. Still, Ben seemed to have heard it because two seconds later, he slammed the door shut behind him, leaving you alone with the echo of his words.

The rest of the day was exhausting and pretty long, especially since Ben just left on a fight. You kept wandering in the house, holding your phone in your hands, hoping he would call. Of course you wanted to call him, to apologize again, but just like he said, you needed to let him live.

You spent the night awake, remembering every words he said to you, making your heart breaking even more. Just sitting on the couch, watching dozens of tv shows you were waiting for Ben to come home.

You found yourself quite a few times calling Ben’s name in the house when you heard a noise, but it was always just Frankie walking around, and you couldn’t hide the deception.

You weren’t really tired, you were just too sad to feel anything. You completely lost track of time, you realised it was morning when you saw the sun coming up, through the curtains you only half closed.

Frankie seemed to have realised that something was off; it’s like she could feel the pain. She followed you everywhere, hitting your hands with her little paws to get you to move or even just pet her. She was trying to let you know that you weren’t completely alone. You gave in and let her climb on the couch, so you could hold her against you and just rub her tummy, which made you a little bit better.

You wanted to cry too, let the tears take your sadness away but you couldn’t, you weren’t feeling hunger too, it was like Ben’s words took everything from you.

But finally, hope was growing inside you when you heard the door open, meaning that Ben was home. You assumed it was around 5pm, because the tv show you were watching usually started at this hour. You felt relieved when Ben’s steps were coming closer to you.

“I’m sorry” you heard him say but it took a few seconds to understand his words. “I shouldn’t have yelled like that”

“Oh no, Ben! I’m the one who should be apologizing! I was being an annoying girlfriend” you said as you hurried get into his arms, missing that feeling where you could touch him.

“It’s just…. I know something is off with you and I know for sure, that you’re not telling me everything and it’s bothering me. Because you can trust me with your problems” he said as he placed a -meche- of hair behind your ear.

“I know…” you muttered, blaming yourself for this situation with your boyfriend.

“Just talk to me, love. How can you expect us to fix things, if you never talk about what’s wrong” he said a little bit pissed and annoyed. You knew that if you kept things to yourself, it would start another fight, and you heart and mind weren’t ready to fight against Ben, once again, especially since he just got home.

You stayed silent a few minutes, remembering what Ben told you a few moments ago; that you could trust him. And you did trust him, it was just that bringing up your issue would be too painful, for you. You took Ben’s hands in yours and made him sit on the couch with you. You finally took a deep breath and decided to tell Ben. “I’ve been alone all my life. At school, I was always the one alone to do group projects, I didn’t have tons of friends. The ones I had? Always going out with me, always making plans without including me. I spent most of my free time in bed, alone in my room watching my friends on social medias having fun without me. It did something to me, I realise that. It made me hate loneliness” you let out, with a wobbly voice.

“But… When I’m away?” He questioned. You were expecting that, it was obvious that he couldn’t understand the whole situation.

“I spend my time at work and go straight to bed. Doing any activities that won’t remind me that I’m alone. But Ben, when you are here with me, and you leave me to go with your friends, it’s just making me feel lonely. Because you’re finally home, yet I’m still alone. And I hate to feel like that” you confessed, whispering. Ben was completely listening, holding your hands tighter. His act showed you that you weren’t alone, and that he was here for you now.

“Love, I didn’t know… I’m so sorry” he apologized, pulling you closer to him so he could hug you

“I want you to know that I don’t blame you or your friends for going. I’m glad you’re still having fun! It’s just… I don’t know, I just feel it and I can’t fight this feeling of loneliness. And when you left, it was even worse” It felt really good for you to finally let things out.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere, anymore. At least, for a few months” he told you, making you smile. “How about we stay on the couch and watch a movie?” he suggested and you nodded, not wanting to waste any minutes.

Ben was now aware of your situation and he promised he’d never get upset when you’re feeling low and just want to spend time with you. The two of you agreed to keep being honest with each other, to avoid any fights like that to happen again.

#ben hardy #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy imagines #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy one shot #p: ben hardy #w*#*

206 notes · View notes

iamthehousethatfloats · 5 years

Text

I smushed together Family and Holidays... SCROLDIE WEEK

This is set in my Hearts of Gold universe, and so as per usual it is FLUFF and ANGST galore. Della and Donald are both here, just accept it. It’s Christmas. And Scroldie week.

💖🎄🥂😭

Dickie and Goldie arrived at McDuck Manor on Christmas Eve. Goldie had been hesitant about coming so early, it was a little too close to ‘normal’ for her liking, but Scrooge had pulled out his trump card and she’d stood no chance.

‘When was the last time Dickie woke up on Christmas morning, surrounded by her family?’ Scrooge had asked, knowing exactly what he was doing, the sly bastard. ‘She’ll miss half the fun if you only get here at lunchtime.’

And so, as he knew she would, Goldie caved. Of course, the side benefit to this was that Scrooge got to wake up on Christmas morning with Goldie curled around him, mildly hungover from last night’s egg nog contest. He kissed her awake and she snuggled close to him, and their lazy lovemaking that morning was serenaded by a chorus of laughter and squeals of delight echoing from downstairs.

Goldie hadn’t expected presents. From Scrooge, maybe, he was sentimental like that, and maybe something small from Della and Donald, but she hadn’t anticipated the kids would have a gift for her, all wrapped up under their enormous tree.

She unwrapped the golden grappling hook, with its remarkably unsubtle rope of blue, green, red and pink, and went very quiet. Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby piled on her in a candy fuelled group hug and she pretended to hate it as she tried not to cry.

Lena handed Scrooge and Beakley matching wrapped parcels, uncharacteristically shyly. Each contained a family photo, that Webby had insisted taking months before, and Lena had complained about at the time. There they all were, their strange, complicated little family. Scrooge and Goldie, Dickie and Lena, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, Donald, Della, Launchpad and Mrs Beakley. Only Lena had photoshopped Goldie out of the one she gave Beakley, a fact which made both women laugh out loud.

Everyone gave Dickie a present. She could barely move for paper when she was done. A new lens for her camera, paint brushes and art supplies, boxes of hair dye, a new patchwork waistcoat, comic books and candy galore. Her grin was wide and her arms ached from the hugs she couldn’t help but dole out. Goldie watched it all with a soft smile on her face, and Scrooge threaded his fingers through hers and held her close.

As the morning went on, the kids few wilder still. All except Dickie. Once the rush of excitement had ebbed, her smile began to falter and she migrated to the sidelines while the younger kids played. Goldie noticed, of course, and when Dickie took a moment to slip out of the room, Goldie squeezed Scrooge’s arm and nodded in her direction, communicating silently before getting up to follow her.

She found her out in the hall, staring up at the framed painting of Scrooge, Donald and Della that hung in the place Goldie knew Dickie remembered another family portrait to be.

‘Dickie? You okay?’ Goldie asked, coming up behind her. The girl jumped, and wiped at her eyes. Goldie’s heart clenched just a little.

‘Oh sure Gigi, I’m fine.’ Dickie replied, her breezy tone sounding anything but. ‘I just got a little... emotional I guess. I never thought I’d see a holiday like this again, with family and everything. It’s just... almost too perfect. I mean I know it’s not... it’s different and that’s weird, but at the same time it’s sort of the same, you know?’

Goldie put her arm around her granddaughter.

‘Kiddo, if you’d told me a year ago that I’d be here in McDuck Manor on Christmas morning with you, and Scrooge and his ten thousand children, I’d have laughed you out of the room. I may not know exactly what you’re feeling right now, but the weird part? I’ve got that down.’

‘You know we don’t have to stay.’ Dickie said, immediately. ‘I don’t want you putting yourself through all this if it’s just for me. If it’s too weird for you we can go, we can just have a nice day, you and me.’

Goldie paused, weighing up the options. She didn’t believe Dickie wanted to leave, not really. She was having a wobble, and that was to be expected, but she was where she belonged, with her family at Christmas, and pretty soon her head would be turned again - but only if they stayed.

‘Oh sweetheart,’ Goldie sighed. ‘As much as I might like to deny it, I want to be here as much as you do. Honestly? Don’t tell your Grandpa, but this is the best Christmas I’ve ever had.’

That afternoon, while Mrs Beakley prepared dinner and the other adults took a much needed break from the merriment, Goldie took Dickie and the kids abseiling down the side of the Money Bin. Della joined in while Donald stood at the bottom with his head in his hands, ready to break whatever child’s fall he needed to.

Miraculously, they all survived, and Dickie waited until they made it home to tell Donald about the last time Goldie arranged such an activity.

After eating their weight in Christmas dinner, and falling asleep in front of the TV while the credits of Christmas on Bear Mountain rolled, the kids all dragged themselves up to bed.

Dickie woke around 2am, to the sounds of a ruckus from downstairs. Panic struck her at first, but then she recognised her grandmother’s wild laughter and crept out of bed to investigate.

She arrived to find an absolute scene of chaos in the living room.

Scrooge and Della were hunched over the coffee table, going hard at a snap game. Goldie and Beakley were cheering them on, several empty bottles of champagne at their feet.

Donald looked to be the only vaguely responsible adult present, and even he was swaying tipsily.

‘DICKIEEEEE!’ Goldie cried, spotting her suddenly. ‘Get over here, you miraculous miracle child, you!’

Dickie laughed and shuffled over to where her exceptionally drunk grandmother sat, and found herself immediately pulled into a clumsy hug.

‘Granddaughters are the greatest, eh Bentina? That’s what we were just saying. You’re the greatest. You and Webby, the greatest.’

‘Absolutely.’ Mrs Beakley nodded, sloshing her class of champagne over the carpet and paying it no mind. ‘Here’s to being Grandmothers!’

‘Grandmothers of wild, amazing granddaughters!’ Goldie cheered, and the two women clinked glasses. Dickie snorted with laughter and wished she had picked up her phone before coming downstairs. This was the kind of quality blackmail content she could use the whole year round.

‘SNAP!’ Scrooge yelled suddenly, as Della groaned and dropped her head on the table in defeat. ‘HAHA!’

‘You didn’t play fair, Uncle Scrooge,’ Della complained. ‘Half the time you called snap when there weren’t even two cards there!’

‘Poppycock,’ Scrooge dismissed. ‘I see two cards, I get the points. And really it was two against one... because there are two of you right now! Look at that, all those years with no Della’s and now we’ve got two of ye!’

‘Okaaaaaaay, I think it’s time for bed, adults,’ Dickie laughed, reaching out to grab hold of Scrooge before he fell over. He looked mightily surprised to see her, and delighted too. ‘You’re all going to regret this so much in the morning, hangovers last forever when you’re old you know.’

‘The cheek!’ Scrooge sputtered, while Goldie collapsed into giggles at the sight of his indignation. Dickie managed to get her grandparents to their feet and Donald managed the same with his sister. Mrs Beakley waved them away from her spot on the sofa, declaring she would absolutely be fine and would go to bed any minute. Dickie had no doubt whatsoever that she would still be on that couch in the morning.

She managed to get Scrooge and Goldie up the stairs safely, and thought it best to leave them to their own devices from there. After this much alcohol, and at this close proximity to a bedroom, Dickie knew better than to stay within hearing range. She kissed them both goodnight and wished them a Merry Christmas, and left them to it.

Back in her bedroom, Dickie settled in her bed and reached under her pillow for her sketch book.

She’d been working on her drawing, she was getting pretty good at it. Goldie had gotten her a tablet for Christmas, despite not knowing what the heck it was, and she couldn’t wait to start turning her scribbling sketches into digital art - she was taking a course next semester.

Until then though, she contented herself with her sketch book. She sat in bed, illuminated by the bright full moon, and flipped through the pages. She’d gotten quite good at Scrooge, and Goldie of course was no hardship. But there was one face it had taken her a while to get right. It scared her at first, how much she found her mother’s face fading in her own memory, but she had finally gotten it right. She lingered on the drawing of Dawson McDuck, her feathery white blonde hair and her crinkle of her eyes, her multitude of beaded necklaces and the tiny dream catcher earrings she always wore.

Dickie hadn’t shown her to her grandparents yet. She wanted to... but she’d wanted to get it exactly right first. Finally, she had. She would show them tomorrow, she thought to herself, and in a way, Dawson would then exist in this world too, if only in mind.

Dickie ran her fingers along the line of her mother’s beak, to where it drew up in the corners with just a hint of a smile.

‘Merry Christmas, Mom,’ Dickie murmured, smiling back. ‘I miss you. I miss you all, so much. But I need you to know that I’m okay. I’m with Grandpa and Gigi, and... I’m okay.’

Dickie laid back down in her bed, the drawing propped up against the wall so she could see it from her pillow.

‘Goodnight Mommy,’ she whispered, as sleep claimed her at last.

#scroldie #scroldie week #scrooge mcduck #goldie o'gilt #dickie duck #dawson mcduck #SORRY FOR THE ANGST #holidays #christmas #family #ducktales #hearts of gold #duck fiction

66 notes · View notes

lumiolivierlithium · 3 years

Text

The Good Old Days Chapter 32: Fourteen Hours

A/N: Hi, friends. I'm running on pure ADD and executive dysfunction today. It took me half an hour to send a tweet this morning. And even right now, I'm pretty sure I'm overstimulated, but here. Have a chapter. x

That night, I stared up at the ceiling and took a moment to realize exactly where I was. This beautiful hotel room in the country I was born in. For the first time in my life, I’m not sharing a bedroom with anyone. Things were almost too quiet in here without Tony snoring and César babbling in his sleep. But I’m not complaining. If I wouldn’t have told Mama our suit was already paid for, we would’ve stayed at Tio’s like we normally would. And I’d be listening to a conspiracy about Batman trying to mug the Hamburglar through a freight train. Don’t get me wrong. I’m so happy we’re here. It’d just be better if I wasn’t alone.

And sharing my bedroom with my brothers wouldn’t make this all better. It’d be so…So good to have her here, too. The only thing that could make this trip perfect. And she’s only fourteen hours away. Fourteen. That’s it. She used to be an entire ocean away. And now…She’s only fourteen hours away. I laid in bed, lost in the ceiling. And all I could think of was her. And how she was only fourteen hours away from me. Fourteen hours and she could be in my arms again. And that’s all I could ever ask for.

I rolled over and checked the clock. A little after two. If we were still back in Williamsburg, I’d be sitting in the Narrows right now, probably throwing one or two back with the Old Man. I probably would’ve just gotten off the phone with Vanessa. There’s no way in hell I’ll be able to fall back to sleep. Even if I forced myself. My first thought was to go onto the balcony, but I couldn’t do that. I didn’t know which way Manhattan was from here. All I knew was there’s an ocean somewhere. Since I can’t find Manhattan and I’m not going back to sleep any time soon, I might as well get up. Although, when I walked into the kitchenette, I thought I’d be alone.

“Mama,” I sat at the table with her, “What are you still doing up?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Mama gave me a little nudge, her mind just as elsewhere as my own.

“You should go back to bed,” I insisted, “We probably have a big day ahead of us.”

“Are you really telling me to go back to bed?” she looked at me strange. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think her wooden spoon just apparated in her hand, “I couldn’t sleep. I tried. It wasn’t happening. What about you?”

Because Mama was bound to figure it out anyway. Even if I were to tell her I was doing alright, “I think it’s more than just jet lag getting to me.”

“You want to talk?”

“I could talk,” I nodded. A friendly ear to vent to couldn’t kill me. Mama got up from the table and dug under our sink. She pulled out a beautiful glass bottle and a pair of shot glasses. That’s something I wasn’t expecting from her, “Mama, what are you doing with that?”

“You think I don’t know how to take care of my babies?” Mama started pouring tequila, “You and your brothers had to get it from somewhere, Francisco. And as much as I loved him, it certainly wasn’t your father.”

“I don’t need the tequila, Mama,” I shot her down, hoping that would…I don’t know…Do something. I know she knows I’m an adult of fully legal drinking age across the board, but she also has a certain image of me in her mind that I don’t ever want to taint. And if I did, I feel like it’d be me signing my own death warrant. She’s seen me come in drunk before and I paid for it dearly. I still get the occasional eye from her and it kills me.

“Yes, you do,” she assured me, “Francisco, do you know why tequila makes you sleepy?”

“Why?” I played into it. Also, genuine curiosity wanted to know.

“It does the same thing for your brothers, too,” Mama explained, “Because when you were all little, I’d give you tequila to make you sleep at one point or another. Not in massive quantities, but especially when you were teething. And that carried over into your adulthood.”

“Mama!” I gasped, “You gave your babies tequila?”

“As my mother did with me,” she argued, “Which is why tequila makes me tired, too. I’m not pouring you this shot for my health, mijo. I won’t stop you.”

“Alright,” I wasn’t going to say no. I needed to get some sleep and my ass was far too wide awake for two o’clock. Even if it’s in a different time zone. So, I gladly took my shot as Mama told me and poured myself another one.

“What’s on your mind, cariño?” Mama asked, taking her own shot like a champ. Nowhere did I think that in my time back in Spain, I’d be throwing back tequila with my mother. Yet here we are.

“She’s so close…” I laid my head on the table, “She’s so close, Mama. Victoria sent her away and now, she’s so close…”

“Then, go.”

“What?” I felt like I was walking into a trap. It could’ve been the Old Man in the back of my head telling me that I needed to walk away from the table without my dick in my hand. I never did understand some of his folksy wisdom. I think the Old Man just had a weird way of phrasing things, “No. Mama, I can’t do that. And leave…”

“Don’t you give me that, Francisco,” Mama stopped me, “There’s a little girl a short train ride away in Italy wishing to get back to you more than anything else in the world. If you had the chance to put her out of her misery, wouldn’t you?”

“Wait,” I wondered, “How do you know that?”

“Again, mijo,” she smiled, “You act like Vanessa and I don’t talk. We’ve been writing each other back and forth for the last couple months. You two have your phone calls every night. We have our letters. Now, you didn’t answer my question. If you had the chance to put her out of her misery, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course, I would,” a weird tug in my chest caught me off guard, “But…”

“Then, don’t worry about me,” Mama took my hand, “There are trains still running at this time of night. I’m sure one of them has to be going to Rome. Or at least it can take you to somewhere just that much closer. I understand.”

“But Mama…”

“Francisco,” she hushed me, “Don’t ‘but Mama’ me. I know why we’re here. As soon as I saw where our plane tickets were taking us, I knew why we were going. I knew this wasn’t just a trip for me. This wasn’t just for us to return to the motherland. This was so you could find some way to get back to Vanessa. Or at least feel a little closer to her. And when tu Mama tells you to go and get the girl, you go and get the girl.”

“I guess you’re right,” I giggled a bit.

“You’re damn right, I’m right!” Mama squeaked, “Look, Francisco. I know how much you love Vanessa, but you’re not the only one that loves her. And there’s no one in this world better suited for her than you. And I’m not saying that because I’m biased. Now, I’m going to throw back the rest of this tequila and you’re going to go get on a train to Rome. Si?”

“Si, Mama,” I got up from my seat and kissed her cheek, “Gracias, Mama. Te amo.”

“Te amo, cariño,” she rested her head on my hip, “Do you have her ring with you?”

“I…!” I wasn’t totally sure about that. I thought back for a moment or two when I packed. And I didn’t remember opening up my…son of a bitch, it’s still in my fucking nightstand, “I…”

“You don’t, do you?”

“No…”

“You know,” Mama looked down at her hand. Specifically her left one, “Mine is still here if you need it.”

“I appreciate it, Mama,” I shook my head, “But her family’s here. I don’t need to do that now. It wouldn’t be right. If I were to propose to her here and now, it’d be more so to spite her mother than anything else and that’s not what this is all about.”

“Alright…” she dropped it, “Go, Francisco! We don’t know when the next train leaves.”

“Alright, alright,” I grabbed my jacket off my chair, threw my shoes on, and took off.

This might be the tequila talking, but am I really doing this? Or did I just get swept up in Mama’s excitement? No. This is a dream. I’m still asleep in Williamsburg. I didn’t even give Mama the tickets to Spain. I’m just having a really vivid dream. Because why else would I be walking the streets of Barcelona at two o’clock in the morning, looking for a direct train to Rome if not this being a dream? Or the fact that Mama was giving me tequila to help me sleep, even in my infancy. Or maybe…Just maybe…I’m fucking insane enough to do something like this. The Old Man always told me love could make people do some crazy shit. Maybe this is just my crazy shit I do for the woman I love. Because jumping on a 2AM train to Rome from Barcelona might be the craziest shit to date. I had fourteen hours to sit and think this ridiculousness over.

And possibly kick myself for not bringing Vanessa’s engagement ring with me. That was pretty much the entire reason for this trip. Other than the obvious to see the family in Spain again. But I had Vanessa in Rome. And me in Barcelona. And fourteen hours on a train to sit and think this one over. I wasn’t sure if it was the motion of the train or what I was about to do or the tequila hitting me wrong that was making me nauseous, but damn, I could throw up right now. And it wouldn’t be pretty. Fortunately for me, this train was practically empty, so if, say someone who gets very tired on tequila very quickly wanted to catch a quick nap (or even sleep entirely), he could. I stared out the window and watched the Spanish countryside go by, hoping that tequila would hit me a little nicer.

Although, once I got to Rome, I realized I hadn’t slept in the slightest. I had zoned out for the last fourteen hours, in an absolute trance. I was starving, sleep deprived, and probably would kill someone if they looked at me cross-eyed right now. But I had better reasons to be in Rome than to serve jail time. Even the American embassy wouldn’t come to bail me out for that one. I had to snap out of my trance, though. I was in Italy, a man on a mission. I needed to find the most beautiful American woman in all of Italy.

It’s only a little after four. I bet she’s getting out of class right about now, if she’s still in class anyway. I wish I knew what the name of her school was. I’m sure it’s in a pretentious and prestigious looking building. Then again, those were most buildings in Rome. All the official ones looked like they were there for thousands of years. Because chances are, they were here for thousands of years. Roman civilization was insane like that. I could see why Vanessa wanted to study here. This might be one of her mother’s schemes that horribly backfires for Vanessa’s benefit.

But her boyfriend might be a major dumbass. What kind of idiot takes a fourteen-hour train ride on almost no sleep because he’s jet lagged all to hell? This one. This would be that fucking moron. That’d be me. My ass was dragging and I’ll be damned if I see Vanessa and I’m sleepy bitchy. And hungry bitchy. I needed to find coffee somewhere. Normally, I wasn’t the type for coffee. Considering where I come from, I understand how much that seems like a mortal sin, but I needed coffee. Strong shit. In a perfect world, I’d have Abuela’s horchata, but unfortunately, I didn’t get that.

I walked into a gorgeous little café that would put anything in New York to shame. The sweet smell of dark roast put me in such a good place. It reminded me a little of the Bean. And when I think of the Bean, I think of my first date with Vanessa, so that might be more bonus points in this place’s favor. I just hoped to all things holy, unholy, and purgatorial that someone here spoke English. I’m sure they had at least one person on hand that knew English.

“Buon pomeriggio signore,” the little one behind the counter greeted me, “Come posso aiutarti?”

Shit…My Italian was garbage. But there was one phrase I knew better than anything else. And it might be the most useful, “Lei parla inglese?”

“Yes,” she giggled, “I do. American?”

“Actually,” I explained, “I’m from Spain, but yeah. As far as my green card’s concerned. Can I get three shots of espresso and a chocolate cherry biscotti please?”

“Sure,” she punched in my order, I threw her some money, and God bless her, she had my order out in a matter of minutes, “Here you are. Enjoy your stay in Rome.”

“Grazie,” I smiled at her and grabbed a seat outside. It was too nice to be inside. Besides, maybe if I’m lucky and vigilant enough, I’ll catch a glimpse of my girl. It is a small world. And I know Rome’s a big city, but it can’t be that big. If I know Vanessa like I think I do, there’s no way in hell she doesn’t have a regular coffee shop yet. It wouldn’t surprise me if I found her regular spot.

“No…Fucking…Way.” I knew that voice. I knew that voice from across the fucking ocean and through eight miles of concrete. I knew who the fuck that was, “Either you’re a hell of a doppelganger for my future brother-in-law or I’m about to cry ugly tears in front of an Italian coffee shop.”

I merely gave her a shrug and stood up. Without another thought, she bolted toward me and wrapped herself around me. Sweet, sweet familiarity, “I missed you, too, Veronica.”

#the good old days #oc backstory #fan fiction prequel #mafia au #switch #for the family

0 notes

yuki7900archive · 6 years

Text

Random Drabble : Spinjitzu

Random oneshot including my FC, Mei-Lin! I’ve deliberately left things out about her as I am eventually going to write a story for her, and putting those things here would just spoil it.

I hope you enjoy the oneshot :)

On occasions, Lloyd would go off and wander around Ninjago city's central park. During the night time was usually when he'd be found there, or rather wouldn't, as most people would be either be asleep or inside. Some nights the boy wouldn't be able to sleep, being kept up with his thoughts and memories. Despite him and his father having now formed a new bond, that didn't change the past, it didn't change who he was or who his father was. His dad was still an evil warlord and he was still the green ninja. One destroyed, the other protected.

The attacks Garmadon made were less frequent now, only usually coming over to Ninjago to spend time with his son. He wanted to make up for the time he had missed due to the circumstances. As much as Lloyd was happy to finally spend time with his dad, as all he wanted was for his dad to pay attention to him, he couldn't help but be reminded of the time before then. The time where his father ignored his existence, didn't care about him. When he was hated by everybody simply because of the name he had. All the bullying and the torment, all the pain and loneliness. It all still felt so real in his head, even though it wasn't even really the case anymore. He'd never forgotten every whisper, every taunt, every insult scribbled on his locker. They were all permanent in his head.

When those nights came by he wouldn't sleep. He couldn't. So he'd simply leave those things behind in his room and go someplace else. That place was the park. He liked the park. It was calm, it was quiet, he could be left alone. It was the perfect place for him to be when he felt down. That night was no different.

He'd snuck out of his house, taking the five-minute tram ride from his house to the park and jumping off just outside the park entrance. The metal gate stood tall, a message written on the archway saying "park" for all those who wouldn't know. Who wouldn't know it's a park though?No one had seen him walk along the pathway, letting his surroundings be engulfed with trees and bushes and flowers. He walked along for a few minutes until he came across a specific tree, one with a small engravement in the bark. The mark was a very rough and un-even circle (or more rectangle), having been cut with a penknife. Upon approaching said tree he left the gravel pathway behind, walking along the grass and heading deeper into the trees. It was a lot darker off the path, the tree branches and their leaves only allowing minimal light through to the ground to illuminate it's own spotty, make-shift course. He used it as his guide, seeing as he wasn't able to see much else. Pretty soon he came to his little secret area. His sanctuary, if you will.

It was a small gap in the trees, a circle where the land indented a bit, and a pond sat on the other side of the circle. There was a tree looming over the pond, watching over it. The leaves hung down and were basically a shield so he could remain hidden in the dark, or if it rained and he needed shelter. There were a few flower patches dotted here and there. They were all small and dainty, easy to trod on if he wasn't careful.

With a sigh he relaxed his muscles and slowly looked around at his oasis, a smile spreading on his face as his mind blanked completely. The moon and stars shone down on him from the night sky above as he took in this environment. It was so different to the city. It was slow, and peaceful, and tidy too. He loved this place so much. He was so happy he'd found it.

He sat himself down by the pond, looking at the reflection in the water. His golden locks tumbled over one side of his face, hiding one of his emerald green eyes from sight. He just sat and stared at the water for a while, occasionally dipping his hand in and feeling the cold water pool around his fingertips. The water tickled his skin in an odd way, but it wasn't bad.

He took his hand out of the water, placing it down on the grass next to him. He released a deep breath and closed his eyes. He didn't allow his mind to wander, he kept everything silent. He listened to the air, and took in the sounds of the leaves rustling around him. He felt the grass brushing against the palms of his hands and suddenly that feeling was there. That weird feeling he couldn't quite explain. It started at his hand and traveled up through his body, coursing through all of him and spreading to his heart. This feeling was calm, yet brimming with energy. He could feel it wrapping around him, entrancing him and making him feel safe. Hopeful, even. It was a nice feeling, a wonderful one.

He slowly stood up, releasing the grass in his hands and raising them to his chest. A few moments later he began, slow and steady. He built up his movements, not rushing through them. He twisted his body and glided his hands through the air carefully, remembering the steps of Spinjitzu that his uncle had taught him and his friends over and over. He gradually began to pick up the pace as he let go of it all, ignored the world's outer shell and absorbing what was flowing through its inner shell instead. The very core of the earth was flowing through him and it felt like he was being given the biggest hug he'd ever received (well, next to Kai's). He felt safe, he felt happy, he felt free. He also felt a slightly stronger source of energy coming from behind him. He smiled to himself, halting with his motions with his hands out in front of him.

"I know you're there Mei." He heard her jump down from a tree branch, crunching the grass beneath her as she landed.

"Guess I wasn't quiet enough." She seemed chirpy as she approached him.

"I thought you were asleep." The boy turned to face his friend, seeing that she was still in her pajamas, but had shoved on her favourite purple hoodie to keep warm.

"Nope." The light brown haired teenager shook her head. "I was wide awake."

"Is that why you followed me? You couldn't sleep?" Again, she shook her head.

Nah, I just..." The girl shrugged. "You seemed sad. And I was also kinda curious to see where you were going at—" She pulled out her phone, the screen illuminating her freckled skin as she checked the time. "—2AM."

Lloyd nodded and shrugged as she looked up at him, putting her phone back in her pocket. That was fair enough. Why would Lloyd need to be out at two in the morning? Why would he want to be out at that time?

"I just needed to get away for a bit, ya' know?" Mei-Lin placed her hands behind her back and looked to the side.

"Yeah, I know." Her eyes seemed to glaze over as memories clouded her vision. Lloyd knew what she was thinking of and he couldn't help but frown. She didn't like talking about her past. Lloyd knew simply because she'd told him. She only really seemed to trust him. No one else. Not even Master Wu, who knew about it anyway (that dude knew everything, it was nuts).

The girl lifted her head up, a sigh leaving her lips and her pupils coming back into focus. She began taking everything in, slowly twisting her body around as she took the chance to look at the place. "Nice secret you've got here, come here a lot?"

"Eh," The blonde put his hand out and shook it a little. "Kinda. I mean, I used to come here a lot but...life's been good at the moment."

"True. It's definitely a lot better." The freckled-faced girl finished her 360-degree spin and was now grinning at her friend. He smiled back, finding it contagious. "So. What do ya' get up to when you're here?"

"It's kinda hard to explain..." Lloyd scratched the back of his head and turned away, now facing the water in the pond that was in front of him. His reflection stood alone momentarily before another came into view beside him. She waited expectantly, not forcing him to answer but still wanting him to. The boy blew the fringe out of his eyes, not that it worked, and tried his best to put the feeling into words.

"Okay, so..." He sighed. "Ya' know how I'm the Green Ninja, the ninja of life?" She blinked and nodded her head. Crossing her arms she sat down on the floor, Lloyd joining her. His hands reached for the water again, his fingers causing a ripple as they were dragged along the surface. Mei watched him mess around with a curious expression before sticking her hand in too. She drew back a little upon realizing how cold the water actually was, making her friend chuckle and smirk.

"And, you know I have no elemental powers?"

"Yeah?" Her tone was one of slight confusion, wondering why these linked to anything he was about to say.

"Well...Even though I don't have powers I can still like...feel life." The brunette looked at him, an arched eyebrow and eyes half shut as she tried to understand what he meant.

"Feel life?" She said in puzzlement.

"Yeah. Like..." The boy stood up off the ground and looked up at the sky. "I can feel life flowing through me." Mei-Lin didn't look like she understood fully what he meant. Not as in she didn't get what he was saying, more how it were possible to feel life. He wasn't too sure how either, but all he knew was that he could feel the energy of everything. If he focused hard enough, that is.

"I don't really know how else to put it." Mei-Lin shrugged.

"That's okay. I think I get what you mean." She stood up and looked up at the sky with him. "But, why do the Spinjitzu? Does it enhance it?"

"Yeah. And it's actually kinda relaxing to do." He glanced to the side to peer at Mei-Lin. She was staring upward still, watching the stars. She had hummed in response, not taking her eyes away from the scene above her. She was lost in her own thoughts again, Lloyd wasn't sure why though. Had he said something? He didn't think so. Maybe it was the night sky? Another past memory of hers? One he didn't know? He wouldn't be surprised if she had kept something from him, as she wasn't the most open person. Sure, she'd talked to him about things that bothered her, but he could tell when there were things she wanted to keep to herself. This could be one of these times. Or perhaps he was just over thinking things.

"I don't know Spinjitzu yet." She'd blurted out randomly, making the boy jump a little.

"You don't?"

"No. Wu says I will learn in time, but..." Her voice trailed off as she sighed. "He says that about a lot of things." The blonde boy chuckled.

"Yeah, my uncle has a tendency to be cryptic. But trust me, he knows what he's doing, just means you gotta be patient."

"I'm not saying I'm impatient, I can wait, it's just hard not to wonder sometimes." The girl let her head tilt down to the ground as she shook her head and sighed yet again. "Sorry, does that make sense?"

"It does, don't worry." The conversation stops for a while, both of them having sat back down to lie on the grass and continue looking upward, forgetting their worries. It gave Lloyd a chance to think to himself as Mei hummed a little tune. He probably shouldn't do it, Wu might get mad at him if he found out. He was waiting for the right time, Mei-Lin had told him this. But as far as he was aware she was more than ready to know. She had no elemental like him...at least they weren't aware of any elemental she may have. Wu hadn't said anything about it but it could very well be true. But...if he taught her Spinjtizu then Wu would only have himself to blame for not saying anything to them about her possible elemental powers, yes?

"Hey." His friend stopped humming and turned her face to look at his. "Get up." Lloyd grinned at her as he got up on his feet, his hands on his hips as he looked down at her. She didn't respond at first, not until the boy held out a hand to her and pulled her up off of her back and onto her feet.

"Okay," He took a hold of her arms and positioned them in front of her. "I'm gonna do this slowly so follow my lead. Tell me if you get lost." He stood in front of her, the same position she was in. He took a deep breath before slowly reciting the steps out loud as he did them. Mei-Lin only stood at the beginning, until she realized what it was Lloyd was doing and her face lit up. She watched his movements carefully and tried to copy them as best she could. She got stuck at a few points as she struggled to remember the order in which to do things, but soon she had the hang of it and Lloyd tried to let her do it on her own. He kept his eye out for any missteps or incorrect hand gestures, at the same time telling her when she was doing good so she didn't wonder.

"This feels really weird to do." She'd laughed as she kept her pace up.

"Yeah it will do, but you'll get used to it. Besides at least the others aren't here watching, right? I had to do it in front of everyone."

"It's not the doing it in front of people that bugs me, it's more just that it feels so odd. It looks like I'm just flailing my arms around." Lloyd snorted and smirked as he crossed his arms.

"We can stop if you want-"

"No!" She cried out, momentarily faltering. "No, let's keep going." The green ninja laughed at his friend. For a few more minutes he watched until she seemingly had the whole thing memorized. She wasn't making mistakes, having any blips, she seemed to be fine. Eventually, he found that her movements were more fluid and relaxed, her demeanor calmer than it usually was. She was letting herself go. It was rare to see her feeling chilled out. Even when she was having fun and hanging out with friends she didn't seem as relaxed as she was at that moment. The last time he'd seen her like this was when he'd woken up in the night and went to get a drink, and found her and his mom on the sofa. They had been talking, Koko cuddling her like she was her own daughter and Mei clinging to her like she was her birth mother. That was quite some time ago now, but Lloyd recalled the look on her face. It made him happy that she was calm. He'd snuck back to his room, not wanting to ruin the moment.

"I think you've got the hang of it now." The brunette stopped.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Wanna keep doing it, or head back home?" She didn't say a word, instead grabbing his arms and pulling him closer. She then latched onto his body and moved him to the right of her. Her hands moved back to the start position and she took a deep breath, closing her eyes and starting Spinjitzu all over again. The boy didn't say anything back either, he simply copied her and the two were in sync.

Life came flowing back into his veins, the feeling overtaking his systems yet again and making him feel at peace with everything. Nothing mattered. Nothing at all. This time he also felt a strong source of life coming from beside him, it was strong and more powerful than it had been before. It felt great, knowing that that was his friend, and that for the first time in a while, she was doing okay.

She was genuinely okay.

#I can't write good endings xD #or good titles #you want good fanfic titles?#go to eyeofthewolfe #her fanfics have literally the best titles they are so great #ninjago #lego ninjago #lego ninjago movie #abbyfanfics

22 notes · View notes