#or rather...DIB likes to reminisce...

[yeonzzzn]

💙beautiful angel: sim jaeyun

2.0 of won’t give up on us for the off limits trilogy

pairing: jake x afab!reader word count: 2.1k

synopsis: after the birth of his daughter, jake takes on the responsibility of watching after her while you sleep and get the much needed rest after giving birth. jake and jay spend that late night reminiscing about old times and discussing the future.

genre: established relationship, older brother’s best friend!au, fluffy, suggestive talk.

warnings: swearing, jake and jay being down bad for daughter/niece, mentions of sex, pregnancy mentions, that’s probably it! ♡

✰ this a 2.0 to this trilogy, please see parts 1-3 under the title before reading this one. ✰

˗ˏˋseries spotify playlist´ˎ˗

Jake lets out a quick yawn, rubbing his right eye as his other holds Hwa tighter then wraps the arm back around her. 

You were sound asleep on the hospital bed, completely exhausted from obviously birthing a child earlier in the day. 

Jake rocked little Hwa in his arms, smiling over how soundly she slept like there was no care in the world. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Jake saw Jay’s head fall from the hand he was resting on, jolting him awake. Jake tried to not laugh, not wanting to wake up his daughter. 

“You can go home, man,” Jake whispers, “You’ve been here all day.” 

Jay rubs his eyes, “You can go home.” 

Jake scoffs, narrowing his eyes, “The fuck I will go home, my fiancé just birthed my daughter.” 

“And my sister just birthed my niece.” 

“Point taken,” Jake sighs, knowing damn well Jay wasn’t going to leave. As he said at the sports bar the night they watched the Formula One races, they were both fucked if you had a girl. And well, here you all were. 

Jake assumed Jay was going to stay at the hospital as well once everyone else eventually piled out. They even had to ask the nurses to bring an extra recliner chair for him to sleep on. 

Jay yawned, sitting up in the chair and stretching his arms above his head, “You sure you don’t want to go home?” Jake teased. 

Jay flipped him the bird and stood up from the chair, “I’m going to the cafeteria, want anything?” 

Jake nodded, “Surprise me.” 

Jay left and came back quickly, carrying two chicken sandwiches, “They didn’t have much, since ya know. It’s two am.” 

Jake shrugged, reaching a hand out for the sandwich, “I don’t care at this point I am just starving.” 

Jay unwrapped the foil on the sandwich and handed it to Jake, “Need me to put Hwa in her little crib thing?” 

Jake quickly shook his head, not being ready to let her go yet. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to snatch her away from his family and friends earlier, to yell at them that he wanted his daughter back in his arms. The protection Jake felt towards his daughter was insane. Wanting to bark and growl at anyone and everything that looked at her for too long. 

Jay just rolls his eyes and sits back in his recliner across the room on the other side of your bed, “Well, I call dibs holding her after we eat.” 

Jake glared at him, only for Jay to glare back. 

“I’m just as crazy about her as you are man,” Jay hissed, “My family too.” 

Jake decided to ignore Jay and take a bite of his sandwich. Jake knew he eventually had to get some sleep, mostly if he wanted to be awake when you wake up later. 

So Jake eventually nods and swallows his food, “Fine, only because I need to get some sleep and I rather my daughter sleep peacefully in one of her family member's arms than that plastic hospital crib.” 

Jay chuckles as he eats his sandwich, “I couldn’t agree more, brother.” 

Brother. That word holds so much more meaning now than it did before. Jake went from being best friends with Jay to practically being brothers from how close they were, to being brother-in-laws. Jake will soon actually be related to Jay, and honestly, he couldn’t wait. 

“It’s crazy how everything worked out,” Jake said, finishing the last bite of his sandwich, his hand that still held his daughter slightly squeezed her small body, “I still can’t believe it. Like I am waiting to be woken up from a dream.” 

Jay just stared at his friend, watching how he smiled down at his niece and the tears swell in his eyes, “You know, I’ve never seen you cry as much as I have ever since you started dating my sister.” 

“Shut the fuck up.” 

Jay laughs, finishing off his sandwich and standing from the chair, “But it’s not a dream, Jake. Trust me I tried to pinch myself awake after finding out you were messing around with my sister.” 

Jake just shakes his head, “It just feels all so unreal to me. Like I’m a father now? Who would have ever thought about it.” 

Jay just nods. It seemed so out of reach and impossible for the old Jake. The Jake who partied every weekend and was bringing many different women in and out of his bed, didn’t take college all that seriously and honestly only did it to stay with his friends. Jay saw a change in Jake the moment his sister arrived at the house during winter break all those years ago. You changed him, and it was for the better. 

“Yeah it’s weird to think about,” Jay took Jake’s trash and threw it away, quickly washing his hands and making his way back to Jake, reaching his hands out for his niece, “My turn.” 

Jake lifts Hwa up, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and straightening out the blanket wrapped around her then sending her into Jay’s arms. 

“Hello sweet girl,” Jay whispered to her, holding her close to his chest and placing a kiss on her forehead, “Uncle Jay has you now.” 

Jake stared at his friend and daughter with endearment, “I love you all so much it’s insane.” 

Jay carefully sat back into the recliner chair, lifting the leg up, “Same here, man. I love you all with every inch of my heart.” 

Jake stood up and stretched, letting out another yawn before sitting back down and getting comfy in the chair, his eyes looking over to you, watching how your chest raised and fell with each sleepy breath you took. 

“Stop looking at my sister like that,” Jay softly snapped. 

Jake looked away from you, his eyes now piercing daggers into your brother, “Huh? That’s my future wife.” 

“Yeah, and you’re looking at her like you want to impregnate her again.” 

Jake smirks, “Because I do.” 

Jay groans, “Jesus fucking Christ.” 

“Trust me, the moment I can, I’m putting another baby in her,” Jake knew these sex jokes were pissing Jay off, they always did. His big brother protective persona always came out. Even though Jake knocked you up and was now engaged to you, Jay still never wavered his protectiveness. And Jake was honestly happy about it. 

“Remind me that I need to speak to her about getting back on her birth control,” Jay said with a roll of his eyes. 

“I’ll just hide it.” 

“Okay yandere Jake,” Jay chuckles, “Calm down.” 

Jake laughs with his friend, enjoying every moment with him. 

He glances back at you, smiling wide, “It’s crazy how things worked out.” 

Jay was busy adjusting the blanket around Hwa, tracing a finger over her little face, “Yeah, things turned out how they were supposed to.” 

Jake sat up in his chair, keeping his eyes on you, “Thank you, Jay.” 

“For what?” Jay asked, leaning his head down to kiss Hwa’s forehead, smiling as she softly yawned. 

“For walking into my life when you did,” Jake was truly, truly, thankful for Jay. Jake remembers the memory so fondly, sitting at the small table in kindergarten alone. Twirling his thumbs against each other as he watched the other kids in his class make the friends he was too shy to make. 

“Why are you sitting here alone?” little Jay asked, nearly scaring Jake to death, “Don’t you have any friends?” 

Jake just shook his head, looking away from Jay. Jake didn’t attend the same daycare these other kids did, everyone already knew each other or were social butterflies enough to make friends. 

Jay sat down beside him, “Sunghoon, come here!” 

Little Sunghoon stood up from the playing mat and waddled to the table, sitting across from Jay without so much as a thought. Sunghoon was shy too, but since he already knew Jay he felt comfortable. 

“What’s your name?” Jay asked. 

“Jaeyun…” Jake whispered, “But I go by Jake as a nickname.” 

Little Jay just smiled, “I’m Jongseong, but my nickname is Jay. And that’s Sunghoon. We are your friends now. I have a friend in the first grade named Heeseung, he’ll be your friend too.” 

And since then the four of them have been attached at the hip. Jake chuckles at the memory. Jay was also remembering the same memory, smiling and chuckling as well. 

“You were so shy back then, I wonder what happened.” 

“I became friends with you,” Jake teased, smiling even wider, “But it’s because of you, on why I am where I am right now.” 

Jay nodded, looking back down at his niece, “Someone had to become friends with you.” 

Jake rolled his eyes, slumping down into the chair. “If you never invited us to come back home with you, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now.” 

Jay nodded again, “Yeah, we sure wouldn’t be.” 

Jay was honestly happy with how life turned out to be. He’s kept the same friends his entire life, had a perfect sibling relationship with you, you’re engaged to one of his best friends and now he’s holding his niece in his arms. Everything balanced out how it should have. 

“I am glad it was you,” Jay said after a few minutes of silence. 

Jake tilts his head into his hand, “Oh yeah?” he said through a yawn, “Glad it was me who became your best friend?” 

“No,” Jay said with a pause, earning Jake to glare at him, “If you’d let me finish,” Jay hissed, “I am glad it was you who fell in love with my sister. You’ve given her a love no one else could. Nobody was good enough for my sister, not until you.” 

Jake smiled, looking at you, “I am so in love with her. Thank you again for walking into my life when you did. For welcoming me into your family and for letting me love YN. You could have easily beat my ass and forbidden me from ever seeing her again. Thank you for accepting my love for her, thank you for letting me date her. She’s my soulmate, my everything,” Jake now looks at Jay, then sending his eyes to his sleeping daughter, “It’s because of you that I not only have the best friend a guy could ask for, but I met my soulmate so early on in life, and now I have a beautiful daughter. It’s all because of you.”

Jay tried to not let the word go to his head and let his ego boost further. Jay knew this was all because of him. But he was glad for it just as much as Jake was. 

“Yeah, be grateful,” Jay teased. 

Jake was about to comment but stopped quickly. 

“Oh my god can you both shut up?!” you groaned, using all your strength to push yourself up to your elbow, “Some people are trying to rest!” 

“Baby,” Jake said, quickly standing up to rush to your side, “Were we being too loud? I am so sorry.” 

You secretly have been awake the entire time, listening to their conversations and cooing over your daughter. You kept praying they’d eventually just shut up and fall asleep. 

You look at your brother, watching as he places more kisses all over Hwa’s face and suddenly you want nothing more than to hold her. 

You reached your arms out, “Gimme.” 

Jay didn’t want to give Hwa up yet but stood up anyway to hand her over to you. 

You smiled down at your daughter, “Beautiful angel.” 

Jake wrapped an arm around you, leaning his head against yours, “She is, isn’t she.” 

Hwa has already received so many kisses since she was born, but you couldn’t help but press your lips to her forehead, sending every ounce of love you have into her skin. 

Jake loved seeing you like this, so motherly. It turned him on, he had to admit. 

“Let’s make another one when we get home.” 

“Oh god here we go,” Jay groaned, sliding down the chair and crossing his arms. 

“I’m telling you,” Jake chuckled, “I am going to knock her up again. I’ll have sex with her every single night over and over until she’s pregnant again.” 

You tried to not laugh at seeing the look of pure disgust on your brother's face. 

“I take back everything nice I said earlier,” Jay said with a pout. 

“No you don’t shut up,” you laughed, “You love us.” 

Jay nods, “I damn well do.” 

Jake kisses your brow, “Let me get you pregnant again,” he whispers. 

“At least get your own apartment or house first, jeez,” Jay sighs, “Our apartment is crowded enough.” 

“Awe, but if we move out how can I tease you about our sex life?” Jake smirked, wiggling his eyebrows at Jay. 

You tuned out the teasing argument between your fiancé and brother, putting your full attention to your daughter, watching as her small eyes flutter open and a yawn leaves her little lips, her eyes now locking with yours. 

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful angel.

—tags: @ikeuverse @slutforsjy @hanjisunginc @alvojake @lhsvibez @wonsbaer @zeeloveshee @jjknoir @jaeyunq @jaklvbub @woniebae @jeongingf1 @haelahoops @willgrysn @in-somnias-world @lovelyikeu @ilikekpop-c @moonrachas @misssparklyprincess @eddieeddiesblog @kaykay11sworld @tasnim10 @kangnina @kthstrawberryshortcake-main @mymemoriesandmelodies @iselltulips @jooniesbears-blog @shawnyle @brownsugarbaybee @woahsehun @laurradoesloveu @citylightsdoll @simjyunnie @cmoundiamante @caramelcandescence @lavenderiridescence @niniissus @wonniethepoo @soobieboobiedoobiedaboobie @fried-bread071696 @coolwitu @kyeoluvr @crimnalseung @jwnghyuns @woninluv @fakeuwus @simhinata

#jake bby #jake sim #sim jake #sim jaeyun #jaeyun sim #jake x reader #reader x jake #enhypen #enhypen x reader #reader x enhypen #enhypen fanfiction #enhypen fanfic #enhypen imagines #enhypen scenarios #enhypen fluff #yeonzzzn writing #off limits trilogy

[emeraldspiral]

Sometimes I wonder about the amount of Zimfluence there was in Avatar.

Like, I've already talked about how Aang defeating Ozai through sheer willpower is reminiscent of Zim overpowering the Control Brains with raw insanity in The Trial, how LoK's ending resembles the post-cancellation ending comic where Zim and Dib leave earth to go frolicking in space together, and how Mai's sour, apathetic attitude being the result of feeling pressured to behave herself all the time to please her parents is similar to Gaz trying to win her father's approval by being the Good Child to Dib's Problem Child.

But like, more than a few people at Nick, including co-creator Bryan Konietzko, worked on Zim before Avatar, and members of the Zim crew have expressed regrets about the show being cancelled and not getting to explore things that they had wanted to. So it'd honestly be more weird of Zim didn't have an influence on Avatar.

So let's consider some of the similarities between the shows and elements that may have been inspired by things people wanted to explore with Zim but never got the chance to.

Like, to begin with, the premise of both shows is that there's a war instigated by an Imperial colonizing force that wants to wipe out and/or enslave all other races and take everything over. It's not a super original concept but there are more specific similarities.

Both shows, rather than just having one protagonist that the story centers around, have a protagonist and a deuteragonist, who both have their own stories which are separate yet interconnected to form one large picture integral to the overall narrative. Both sets of characters are both boys who due to circumstances are pitted against each other on opposite sides of the war but have the potential to be great friends if they didn't have that conflict in the way.

Both Zim and Zuko are banished for stepping out of line and sent on a fool's errand at the beginning of the story to keep them from interfering in the war and embarrassing their leaders. Both are determined to succeed and willfully deceive themselves into believing that the ones who sent them on their missions really do expect them to because they're so desperate for their love and approval. Zim and Zuko both have a second rival (Tak & Zhao) looking to make a name for themselves by stepping on their toes, and Zim & Zuko both end up committing treason by teaming up with their main rivals to stop their secondary rivals from succeeding and robbing them of the victories their self-worth hinges on.

Dib and Zuko are both obsessed with capturing a singularly unique individual in their world in order to win their father's love, but even if/when they succeed it doesn't get them what they want. With Zuko, he realizes that his father only loves him conditionally, and that's not real love at all. With Dib, he realizes that his father does love him unconditionally, but in ETF, the comic Dib's Dilemma, and the Zimvoid storyline it's made clear that Membrane will never believe Dib or respect his chosen field of science, regardless of whether he defeats Zim or not. So defeating Zim isn't the key to his happiness either, although Dib has yet to come to that realization.

The Membrane family and the Fire Nation Royal family both have a single dad with two kids, a boy and a girl, with the boy being the eldest. The boy is supposed to be his father's successor but he and his father disagree and his father refuses to accept his son's dissenting opinions and makes the son feel that he has to earn his father's love and approval by accomplishing something great. The daughter resents her brother and tries to prove that she's more worthy of their father's love by being a Daddy's Girl who acts more like the child he wants. The son is known for being a loser while the daughter is known for being incredibly scary. Both are strong and talented, but the daughter seems to better at everything with less effort while the son is unfairly maligned. The daughter gets treated better by their father, but he's still not really being a good father to her. Although the son is motivated by a selfish desire to prove himself to his father and fueled by a lot of anger, he has a good heart deep down and cares about doing the right thing while the daughter doesn't really care about anything except pleasing her dad and her own gratification.

Dib and Gaz are also somewhat like Sokka and Katara in that they have to more or less raise themselves because their mom is gone and their dad's preoccupied with important world-saving work that keeps him away from them. Katara feels that she has to step up into the role of a mother, despite being the younger sibling, while Gaz is often tasked with wrangling her brother. Sokka and Dib both fantasize about being heroes and making their fathers proud, but are a bit too cocky and get in over their heads their first time facing a real enemy combatant and have to learn to think more strategically and sort out their priorities.

Many fans see Zim as a victim of the society that created him, who's just doing what he does because it's the only way he can feel valued or loved, and wish that if the series had continued he would realize he was being played for a fool and turn his back on the people he'd been trying so hard to please, realize what he'd been doing was wrong, befriend his rival, and become a hero fighting back against the Imperialist regime. And that's exactly what Zuko ends up doing. Also, something at least one of the writers has said they would've done with Azula had the series continued.

Azula is mostly shown as cold and ruthless throughout the series, but near the end she starts to show more vulnerability, starting with the Beach episode. In that episode, her obsession with competition and asserting dominance to affirm her superiority is played for comedy, which makes the similarities between her and Zim stand out much more than it normally does when the series frames her as dead serious. The scene where she awkwardly flirts by telling a guy they could dominate the earth together in particular always gave me Zim vibes from the first time I saw it. There's also one scene where she makes one of her only friends cry and actually feels bad about it and apologizes, similar to the scene in Walk of Doom where Zim thinks he's made GIR cry and tries to make him feel better. Both scenes stand out as rather uncharacteristic for two characters who are usually cruel and callous and don't care about anyone else's feelings.

Zim and Azula also both have huge, but fragile egos, believing themselves to be better than everyone and unable to accept being less than perfect. They both derive their sense of self worth from having power over others and believing that they were just born better, regard themselves as above the need for genuine friendship, view love as a weakness, and consider everyone in their orbit as either an asset to be used and discarded or an obstacle toward getting what they want.

One of the most popular concepts to explore in Zim fanfic is the idea of Zim's ego being broken by the realization that his mission is a lie and breaking down over it, and that's exactly what we get from Azula when she realizes the control she thought she had over her friends and the prize her father was dangling in front of her the whole time were just as fake as Zim's mission.

Bonus: The most popular ship in the fandom is a Red/Blue ETL ship which the creators hate but board artists draw fanart of in their free time and the voice actors are willing to indulge for the fans. Also, it used to have a large hatedom that was just upfront about not liking it because it got in the way of other ships, but then a new generation discovered it on Netflix and now people dress up their petty reasons for disliking it with purity culture BS about it being "problematic".

#invader zim #zim #dib #gaz #avatar #atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #azula #mai #zadr #zutara

[irkentales]

゜   ．  ・ ゜       HE  shouldn’t  be  too  surprised  that  this  was  as  easy  as  it  was.  He  was  at  a  distinct  advantage  than  he  had  been  in  his  own  universe  against  his  own  ZiM.  As  alarms,  triggers  went  off  he  would  receive  the  alert-  or  rather  recognize  that  there  would  be  one  and  dismiss  it  himself.  While  he  always  claimed  it  was  HIS  PAK,  it  wasn’t.  It  was  ZiM’s.  Meaning  that,  theoretically  they  had  all  of  the  same  permissions.

                        EVEN  still,  he  didn’t  want  to  be  here  for  too  long.  He  just  needed  to  get  some  parts  for  his  own  modified  spaceship,  and  then  he  would  be  gone.  He  didn’t  need  to  relive  this  nightmare  any  longer  that  necessary.  It  didn’t  help  that  he  didn’t  know  WHICH  Zim  he  was  intruding  on.  With  any  luck,  it  was  one  of  the  top  100  from  the  Zimvoid.  #63  was  rather  smart,  as  was  #2...

                          REMINISCING  was  just  enough  of  a  distraction.  A  silent  alarm  tripped  for  intruders,  and  large,  mobile  cables  shot  out  of  the  mess  on  the  ceiling  and  lifted  up  the  abomination,  squirming  as  he  tried  to  break  free.  Habit  of  course  is  nearly  impossible  to  break,  and  just  like  so  many  years  that  had  passed  for  him,  Dib  shouted  out  angrily.

                        ❛  ZIM!  WHERE  ARE  YOU?!  LET  ME  DOWN,  YOU  SHORT,  OBNOXIOUS  ANNOYANCE.  ❜  

                        THERE  it  was...  The  parts  of  him  he  had  done  so  well  hiding  around  the  other  Dib-  The  Irken  influence  on  his  own  personality  and  self.

#・゜゜・．❛ ━･ ❪ ˗ˏˋ 𝚉𝙸𝙱 ; closed starter. ´ˎ˗ ❫ ･━ ❜ #・゜゜・．❛ ━･ ❪ ˗ˏˋ 𝚉𝙸𝙱 ; interactions. ´ˎ˗ ❫ ･━ ❜ #・゜゜・．❛ ━･ ❪ ˗ˏˋ 𝚉𝙸𝙱 ; v. after nothing. ´ˎ˗ ❫ ･━ ❜ #・゜゜・．❛ ━･ ❪ ˗ˏˋ 𝙻𝙴𝙽𝙶𝚃𝙷 ; semi para. ´ˎ˗ ❫ ･━ ❜ #irkvader #i forGOT TO TAG YOU IM SORRY #i realized after i wrote this i fucked up on some graphics and missed some sO IM SORRY #BUT HERE YOU GO!!! #roach boy came here to steal and got caught

[atlasllm]

*takes puff of inhaler like it’s a vape* hypothetically is the obsession over serious lore in the dream smp fandom reminiscent of the era where invader zim fan artists would draw invader zim as a more grimdark action story about dib and zim’s rivalry about the destruction of the earth, which betrays invader zim’s premise of simply being a dark comedy? it’s not like both invader zim and the dream smp DON’T have any serious action plots, but it’s just baffling for both fandoms to hyperfocus on those aspects rather than accepting its full identity with invader zim as a dark comedy while the dream smp was founded on “boys will be boys” ways of storytelling. 

#atlas speaks;

[lem0nshark-writes]

‘’Warm Nights’’

Fili & Kili x Male (hobbit) Reader

Word count: 2148

Warnings: polyamorous, no incest - issa fili x reader x kili, fluffff, cute stuff okay

It has been a few moons since the dwarves took their kingdom back and the rightful king under the mountain was crowned. You and your best friend Bilbo returned back to the Shire and resumed with patching up the house back after your neighbouring hobbits split all of your belongings between themselves thinking you two had died.

The thoughts of you two's adventures with the company occupied both Bilbo's and yours minds and the two of you often spent time talking about them.

To be quite honest you missed the company a lot, especially the two dorky princes. The three of you managed to bond quite strongly during your journey to Erebor. But you missed everyone else too. Though Bilbo gave you a lot of comfort and his company was very dear to you.

One night as you two were preparing the dinner you noticed Bilbo has made a lot more food than usual, almost too much. But you paid it no mind thinking the hobbit was feeling extra hungry that evening. After you finished up the many foods you helped set up the table.

Remembering you forgot to turn the light off in your bedroom you made you way towards it, and just as you passed by the entrance door to the house you heard a knock.

You looked over at the door in surprise, questioning, not expecting anyone that late. You turned towards the direction of the kitchen and called out for Bilbo, "Hey Bilbo, are you expecting anyone?" you waited for him to answer but he didn't make a sound, you figured he was busy finishing up one of the last few dishes he was working on and shrugged it off, walking over to the door and opening it.

"Who is it-," you didn't even manage to finish up your sentence before a swarm of dwarves fell right on top of you, making you fall backwards on your butt with all the dwarves landing on you.

"Y/nnnnn!~~" all the dwarves cheered your name when they saw you, hugging you tightly not bothering to get off you and almost squishing you to death. Bilbo watched the scene from the door frame with a warm smile plastered on his face. He knew they were coming but wouldn't tell you, wanting it to be a surprise, and oh what a surprise it was.

"G-Guys what are you doing here??-" you smiled in surprise at your friends, trying to hug all of them back when you realized who it is that attacked your small body by piling on top of you.

"We had to visit our favourite hobbits!~" Bofur cheered. "Bilbo didn't tell you?" Thorin added.

"N-No-," you looked over at Bilbo with squinty eyes and he rose his hands up in a defensive way, "I wanted it to be a surprise," he smiled, not regretting his decision one bit.

You wanted to be upset but for the love of it you couldn't, the fact that the company was back together once again was overjoying and you couldn't get the smile off your face.

You and Bilbo took your time to greet each dwarf separately, many tight hugs being exchanged and even some cheek smooches too. And after you all finally done your greetings you and Bilbo lead them all into the dining room which was swarmed with foods and drinks. Many dishes, pastries, all sorts of drinks and desserts graced the table in plenty and you all sat down at the table. The dwarves wasted no time digging right in and soon enough cheerful singing filled the air, all of you joining in, and celebration took over the whole room.

After the lengthy dinner and many songs sung you all took it onto yourselves to clean up and then moved to the living room to share tales of the time you all spent away from each other. Stories of your adventures on your journey to the mountain finding themselves there as well as you all reminisced over the moments shared together.

You spent the rest of the night like that, just hanging out and chatting and when the time came to go to bed Bilbo helped settle everyone into their respective rooms for the night. You so happening to end up, due to the lack of rooms with a one-person bed, sharing a big one with the two princes and him totally accidentally ending up in a big one with Thorin.

The three of you slowly made it to your assigned room, chatting along happily as you walked.

As you got in, the princes started to take off some of their, now unnecessary, layers of clothing to get comfy for the bed and you took that opportunity to claim your spot on the bed.

"I call dibs on the middle!" you chirped cheerfully and catapulted yourself onto the bed, claiming your spot in the middle of the big bed, hugging the extra pillow you brought along.

The two chuckled at you as they put their clothes on the chair next to the wall of the room.

"Works for me," Fili grinned as he took off his boots.

"Me too," Kili smirked as he jumped on the bed as well, landing half-way on top of you, almost knocking all the air out of your lungs, and hugging you tightly.

You chuckled through your coughs and hugged him back, "Dear Lord, Kili-"

He just grinned cutely and so you couldn't even scold him, and just as you recovered from Kili's landing on you you got struck by another one, Fili hugged you just as tightly, snuggling into your body after the jump.

You smirked happily and pulled them both into a tight hug, getting back at them for the jumps.

They both let out gasps from being squeezed but you were gentle on them soon enough.

Brothers chuckled and you did as well and you all fled under the covers, the two of them sandwiching you into big warm hugs, which you very gladly returned.

The three of you shared the comfort of the quiet moment just hugging and being happy to have each other around once again, your heart feeling like it will burst out of your chest. To be quite honest you shared more than just very strong feelings of friendship towards the two, but you never acted on it, both because you didn't want to ruin the friendship but also because you loved both of them equally and you just couldn't pick, you didn't want to anyways.

"I missed you guys so much," you snuggled into them, making sure to grasp them both in your embrace.

"We missed you too," they smiled, each planting a kiss on your cheek, Fili on your right and Kili on your left.

You blushed through a smile and smooched the tips of their noses softly, returning the kisses.

They grinned and rested their heads on your shoulders, their faces almost completely in your neck, so close you could feel their warm breaths against your skin. It made you blush lightly.

"How long will you be staying? I hope you are not leaving tomorrow already .. are you?"

"No, we're not. We'll be staying for a couple of days," Fili smiled at the worry of departure in your voice.

"You're not getting rid of us that easy," Kili added with a grin and moved himself more up and closer to you, his face now halfly touching yours, hugging you tighter.

You chuckled at his words, "I better not," you added with a grin on your face, though blush spread across your cheeks once again because of how close Kili's face was to yours.

Fili stayed on his spot, his head resting on the spot on your chest next to your shoulder, listening to your heartbeats.

He could hear them speed up every time one of them would move closer or even speak. He found it curious, he didn't understand why it would do that, after all there's no way you'd feel the same as him, same as them.

See, the brothers talked after they took their kingdom back over and after things settled down. They've noticed each other's longing gazes whenever the situation would calm down or the conversation died out. They've noticed both of them were missing something, or rather someone. But, seeing they've both been in love with you they decided they would, with your blessing of course, either share or have neither of them be with you. Though the subject came hard to open and discuss once the three of you finally met again.

Fili quietly took your hand in his and held it gently, playing with with your fingers.

Your heart immediately picked up as your eyes shot a gaze towards the blonde dwarf, you gave him a warm smile, hiding the blush that was slowly spreading across your cheeks though the darkness of the room hid it well enough already.

Kili looked up between the two of you, and took your other hand in his, holding it to his chest and kissing the back of it sweetly.

Your gaze now fell at the brunette who was smiling at you already and your blush darkened and you smiled even brighter, snuggling into the two of them.

"Hey, y/n.." after a few moments of silence Kili suddenly spoke.

"Hmm?" you smiled at him, turning your attention to him.

"There's something we'd like to tell you.." Kili continued and Fili's eyes shot at him quickly, not expecting him to open the topic on the first day but also understanding that he can't not be with you for another minute because he feels the same.

"What is it?" you asked with a smile, hoping it's nothing bad.

"So uhmm… I-I don't know how to start but uhmm…" Kili started, now not being sure how to spill their hearts to you.

"When we took back Erebor w-we realized something uhmm-" Fili tried to help, "We don't know how you would feel about it but we have to ask-." You looked between them as they spoke, waiting patiently for the princes to gather up their courage and get to the point.

"Would it be alright if we courted you?" Kili finally blurted out, all three of you now sitting up half-way.

"Both of us, together-" he added with a hopeful smile spread on his handsome face.

You looked at the two in shock, eyes wide and words not leaving your throat. You couldn't believe this was happening.

"W-We know it's weird but.. but we both like you-" Fili started.

"Very much," Kili added.

"And we couldn't come to a decision so, if it would be alright with you-" Fili looked up at you, hopeful smile resting on his lips as well  as the question hanged in the air.

It took you a while to break out of your shock, eyes darting from one prince to the other. But after a few long and torturous moments your brain finally started working again and a quiet "Y-Yes-" left your lips through a breath.

"D-Did you say 'yes'?" Kili couldn't believe his ears.

"Y-You accept our courtship?" Fili questioned, disbelief residing within him as well.

Big smile made it's way on your lips and you nodded your head vigorously before throwing yourself onto the brothers squeezing them into a big and tight hug.

They cheered happily and quickly returned, stuffing their faces into your neck and chest, hugging just as tightly.

After very extensive hugging session the three of you laid back down, now snuggling even closer to each other, the two of them each holding one of your hands in theirs.

"I love you guys," you exhaled happily, snuggling further into the two princes, "I have been in love with you two since the journey as well."

That made their hearts melt a little knowing you felt the same as them, and what a relief it was too.

"We love you too," they replied in unison with warmth both in their voices and in the smiles spread across their lips, snuggling right back.

Your heart could explode from all the happiness it felt at that moment.

The happiness grew even stronger when Fili propped himself up on one of his elbows and leaned in placing a gentle but passionate kiss on your lips, followed by Kili who did the same with a big grin on his face. You gladly returned both, blushing like crazy. The two chuckled at your red cheeks and proceeded to kiss them, each the one on their side, before laying back down and throwing their arms around you.

The three of you laid there like that, snuggled against each other in the warmth of the bed and each other's embraces, all three of you slowly drifting off to sleep.

#male reader #x male reader #male reader insert #poly #polyamourous #fili durin #kili durin #the hobbit #lord of the rings #y/n #x reader #reader insert #fili x reader #kili x reader #the hobbit x male reader #lord of the rings x male reader #kili x male reader #fili x male reader #fluff #fanfic #fanfiction #fili x reader x kili #m/m/m #hobbit reader #fili #kili #the hobbit fanfiction #lord of the rings fanfiction

[the-dream-pawners-canvas]

[ Genshin Impact Imagines ]

Imagine #1 : Of Bargains and Contracts - That which is the most precious shade of gold

Vago Mundo - Zhongli

Imagine having doubts about the fairness of your contract with Zhongli.

After a long day of adventuring for one of Zhongli's rare botanical requests (that ofc, you obtained through your own expenses as per your contract- you felt robbed due to that, truly you did, in which universe was it fair to make the adventurer pay for expenses spent on obtaining your requests? However, you do not find yourself complaining -at least not directly to the person involved- any time soon. Not when he so easily smiles so handsomely -so happily- whenever you provide him with what he requested).

His smiles are going to run me dry of mora, I just know it, you tell yourself. One of these days it would and when you'd need to have a weapon refined but is too damned broke for it -or worse, go starving in the midst of one of your many journeys, Paimon would have your ass for it.

Maybe, just maybe, all of those supposed adventurers that Zhongli had once mentioned in one of his more factual tales to have often decided on staying in Liyue was because of him. Maybe he flashed a great many of them his polished smile and gentlemanly attitude and had just gotten them reeled in- hook, line, and sinker.

Putting it that way, he doesn't sound any more than a con-man, Paimon had blatantly stated so the other day,

'A well-mannered one but a con nevertheless! Who even forgets to bring their wallet nowadays, huh, (Y/N)? Think about it!'

And a part of you do consider it, do boil with the thought. That perhaps you were just being used, that maybe The Mysterious Guest of Wangshu Inn was no more than a conniving, sly, inconveniently comely-

To your surprise, you reach your destination, your thoughts quite a distracting orchestra dedicated to the funeral director. Thoughts that made you steel your nerves as you glared at the polished wooden doors that served as an entrance to Zhongli's study, your mind made up to hand a piece of it to the man who resided just beyond.

'Zhongli, I feel as if the contract we have is rather unfair. You cannot honestly expect me to continue on with this without going broke. We need to make amends to make this transactional relationship work. Paimon is already being a pain since they needed to cut off on food, I do not want to imagine how Kaeya would react once he learns that these commissions from you is funded by our joint expenses and with no reimbursement whatsoever.'

Okay, that sounds good, you think. Civil, proper and not watering down the gravity your true monetary concerns. He'd understand, you hope and place your bets on the proper man that you believe him to be. The concept of mora may just be entirely insignificant to him, only too inconveniently that he forgets he'd need those to make purchases and obtain basic necessities in between his more luxurious wants, which you find ironic.

Taking in a deep breath, you turn the knob of the door and pry it open only to be met by a sight that had might as well called dibs on your future funds down to the last mora.

There stood Zhongli, tall and elegant as always but with far lesser clothes than what he usually has on himself. His coat was nowhere to be seen and instead all there was is his cream undershirt and well-tailored trousers- too damned tight, shirt folded to his elbows, untucked, unbuttoned and deshriveled as his tie was. The longer strands of his luscious locks were out of their usual ponytail and instead pooled about his shoulders and down past his waist.

The backs of his thighs were flush against his mahogany office desk as he leaned back on it, body turned away from you as he concentrated on the energy that was quite literally pulsating as it hovered above the palm of his gloved hand.

The very object that casted such a rich and ethereal golden glow inside the darkened room, painting shadows and lights upon his already sculpted face as if oil on pristine canvas. It was a collection of the palettes that defined Liyue- the dawnbreaks mirrored by cor lapis that littered the ground and the sunsets and high noons radiated by the cryptic shrines and towers that stood as mighty pillars and age-old sentries over the entire island.

On his hand, and with eyes that glimmered with utmost concentration, Zhongli holds a manifesting geoculus-

-traces of the geo archon, the memories and legacy of Rex Lapis.

The implication of it all coaxed a sharp breath out of you and it was this that had snapped the man out of his trance-like preoccupation. He turns towards your general vicinity and his amber eyes widens in surprise for a fraction of a second, the entirety of him taking in the appearance of a deer that had just been caught underneath a street light,

"Ah! Traveler, you arrived far sooner than I had expected!" the distinct light rumble of an uncertain laugh colored his words, his elegant brows furrowing ever so slightly at the astounded look that seemed to have taken an enduring residence on your face before a dawning realization occurred to him- the geoculus he held on his hands.

In flagrante delicto.

"Far sooner, indeed." he chuckles, a fond look swimming in his eyes, a look that heated them into molten gold, gold that traveled unto your throat and spread through your chest like rare colored crystalflies, "It seems that the cat is finally out of the bag," he pushes himself off the table after dismissing the completed geoculus with a wave of his hand and takes languid -albeit, almost coy- steps towards you, those amber gems of his relentless on their search for the placement of your emotions regarding the matter at hand, "Tell me, dear traveler, what do you make of it?" his voice was deep, too deep, as if all intentions were drawn from wanting to drown you in every syllable that left his enticingly thin lips.

You gulp, your limbs suddenly at war as to whether it may find solace in seeking purchase on the ground or in running, "Y-you're... You're the geo archon." you stammered as you looked up at the man who now stood but a mere respectable distance in front of you. It was now you who quaked in front of him instead of the ground or a foe as would always whenever he would display his skill in battle or as portrayed in tales whenever a god would make itself known to mortals. Zhongli had no direct hand on your reaction however, it is the least of his intentions as he willed his presence to remain as it had been before- steady and strong, perhaps a bit intimidating but only to those who did wrong and with an enduring grace reminiscent of willow trees.

He hums in thought and bestows upon you a tender shake of the head, "I was meaning to ask about the feasibility of such unorthodox compensation for your troubles," he asks with the faintest hint of qualms.

You stood there in disbelief.

It just occurred to you then that on the course of your little commissions for him, with every flower he asked you to pick from the most perilous peaks there had always been a geoculus time and again- always a mere reach from where you ought to be, always without fail- a piece of his soul, an essence of Liyue, his memories, his very being and he asks you this as if they were worth so little.

You were getting more than you bargained for and here Zhongli was doing as you had done before- not for himself but on your behalf.

"I- your- a geoculus, an oculus, it's a region's very essence, did I get that right?" You ask even though you know that is the gist of it and a nod from Zhongli provides a seal of confirmation. Venti took the time to explain it to you and then some during one of his once-in-a-blue-moon somber days (when he had one too many drinks, and was in an oddly reminiscent mood), "Venti, he also said an oculus is thus a collection of the reigning archon's memories and a part of the whole that makes them. Is that also true?"

Delight brightens up his already pleasant lips, "I see you are well educated, traveler. Perhaps the bard is not as less as his drinking habits tend to make of him."

"Then why must you still ask me if it is worth my troubles? Of course it would be!" you suddenly find yourself indignant much to Zhongli's surprise, "You'd think such a significant part of you is worth so little, you'd have a heartattack once you skirt beyond the high walls blocking your emotional awareness and see just how many people are throwing themselves on your path just for a chance to pick at the crumbs underneath the soles of your boots!"

And then Zhongli's lips part, eyes glittering and pale cheeks paying homage to budding roses and he just stays like that for a couple of seconds and you realize that you may have run your mouth far too much.

You suddenly want to throw yourself off of one of Liyue's many gorges, good luck to anyone who might want to bother with finding your corpse.

Kaeya might just find that oddly amusing, Paimon not much so.

Zhongli clears his throat and holds his hands behind his back, an eyebrow raised in benevolent scrutiny, "Perhaps the bard may have taught you more than I initially expected. That, or you are -quite unexpectedly- a naturally smooth fellow who knows your way with words, traveler."

"Did you just call me a smooth-talker?" you don't know just where exactly this conversation would be leading you both but he's now making his way back to his desk with a sort of almost imperceptible perk on his steps and sway on his hips and you're now certain that you are compensated well above the usual pay grade by this suddenly too evasive, too temptingly slinky geo archon.

"Perhaps," Zhongli chuckles in amusement at your obvious verbal efforts to pin him back, "A flatterer indeed."

So here's a little fanart I did of our broke Geo daddei/archon, Zhongli! Along with a little imagine to spice things up!

I can't emphasize enough the amount of time, energy, positivity and irl mora this event had sucked out of me and I'm still yet to get him. I know my luck sucks at the highest possible level so would y'all be a jolly lot by helping this wee simp out of her depressed gacha dug hell hole and re-blog for a chance to have this penniless connoisseur come home to me pls

I'm desperate, truly.

Art, Imagine © Yours Truly (pls do credit me when you do re-blog or redistribute, otherwise don't bother)

Zhongli, Genshin Impact © miHoYo

#genshin impact zhongli #Zhongli #Rex lapis #Morax #Genshin impact #Mihoyo #Genshin impact fanart #Zhongli fanart #digital illustration #digital art #Genshin impact imagine #zhongli+x+reader #Zhongli genshin impact imagine #Zhongli x reader

[shadowofthelamp]

I didn’t draw something every month this year, so instead I’m going to pick out a favorite sentence (or two or three) written every month! Starting with January.

Jan __

Dib’s antenna twitched- there was something in Zim’s voice that he couldn’t quite decipher as he stared down at the city below, the lights flickering against his scarred face like the embers of a crashed engine.

Feb __

His fingers tightened against Fiona’s pajama top as he stared up at the ceiling, the light just enough that he could see a pattern of cracks spiderwebbing across the stone.

March __

“You look like shit, Blue.” It was said with the sort of gleeful cadence that could only come from knowing the previous statement was entirely his fault.

April __

Attempting to strangle the head psychologist with his own tie got him solitary, and yeah, sure, he’s not unused to it, but this one was longer than usual, and the water they’d offered earlier this morning might have had something in it, because his head was getting awful swimmy.

May __

He’d run, ripped up his entire apartment for whatever food he could find, and then had started hearing voices other than his own. That was something he had been certain he’d grown out of, at least outside of hauntings. (Getting kicked out of the kid’s asylum three times meant you were either sane or so round-the-bend nobody could do anything for you anyway.)

An hour later, he’d turned into a monster, ripped a man’s head off, and stuffed it down his throat, so needless to say things had gone rather downhill from there.

June __

He could still feel Zim’s fingers on his skin, blood running hot, how his own body (nearly twice Zim’s size now, even though the irken was just as dangerous as he’d always been) reflected in Zim’s bright eyes as he pinned the other down, flames dancing as the world melted into nothing but the two of them.

Zim had kicked him off and they’d continued to tussle, but the physicality of the moment stuck in Dib’s throat like a lump of thick, greasy lard, coalescing into something that burnt like inhaling smoke from a tire fire.

July __

Above the strap of her tank top, her shoulder was a gorey mess, blood so deep blue that it was nearly black. The light above the sink fluttered like a dying butterfly, making the slick ichor glitter like the infinite universe from Pluto’s surface, an eternity contained in the pulsing of every heartbeat.

Aug __

They were only a few feet up, really, balanced on spindly legs so reminiscent of an earth-insects yet conceived a trillion miles away, but it felt like she was flying and that he could reach up and unravel the entire universe for her.

Sep __

She could have just called, but that wouldn’t have been nearly as fun as rummaging through his trash. He would have found an excuse to avoid her anyway.

Oct __

Moxxie raised an eyebrow with his arms crossed, and Millie considered the towel on the desk before dropping it in the trash. It left behind little splatters of his blood on the polished oak as he gritted his teeth.

Nov __

He thought he knew everything, but he couldn’t because she did, and they couldn’t both be right. The TV played clips on loop as she spun circles around the training room, pretending the punching bag was Sonic, that the air was Sonic, that Kit was Sonic. (He curled up into a ball when she pulled back a fist even though she wasn’t actually gonna connect, and her chest prickled before she tugged him up by one of the straps of his pack and told him to go train in his room.)

Dec __

Zim was, on a tactical and physical level, better than her- of course he was, he had decades and decades of experience and wasn’t an unstable pre-pubescent frankensteined nightmare once you tore the muscle and skin and bone and ribcage open.

#the last one is actually a snippet of td 21 bc it's... actually done! :D #I'm just... not gonna post it until I finish 22 bc I'm not leaving it for another six months #only had to dip into the sideblog for two months yay #I thought I'd have to do it more than that but I did publish at least two things here for MOST months except september and october #shadow says stuff

[electrozeistyking]

is this an info dump on my latest animatic?

You bet your sweetest tooth it is! I got facts n’ stuff I wanna share, so if don’t drop this stuff off, I’m gonna implode.

ANYWAY. If you haven’t seen the animatic, I suggest you go look for it? I typically put my videos under the “zeisty's vids i guess????” tag on my blog. But this is honestly up to you if you wanna read, so uhhh... yeah.

______________________________________________

1: What the Animatic’s About

So when I came up with the idea for this animatic, it was more or less gonna be about Zib. Which it still is, more or less, but then I wanted it to be about Dib. But then I thought it’d be interesting to make it start out like it’s gonna be about Dib telling Zib off, and then REVERSE EXPECTATIONS, it’s been Zib the whole time.

The real meaning behind the animatic is up to the viewer; it’s up to interpretation. 

2: What’s up with Dib?

Huh? Oh.

You mean this frame? I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a part of the hidden meaning I’m unaware of in the animatic, or it’s just suddenly pilot Dib. There’s nothing special about it, I just wanted to make Dib look disturbing.

3: A Callback to Breaking the Line

Don’t know what I mean by that? I mean Zib’s pose in this frame

is actually reminiscent of this pose

in my Breaking the Line comic. I had that pose in mind when drawing this frame. Listen I adored the Moo-Ping 10 server′s responses while dumping each panel into the fanart channel, you think I don’t occasionally think about Breaking the Line? Frogwash. I had to pull a little callback to it.

4: The Final Panels

So the animatic wasn’t always a Doctor One animatic. That kinda came while figuring out what I wanted the animatic to be. 

This was fun to work on. This is my personal favorite frame, because it’s not only aesthetic to look at, but also rather dramatic. 

I also like this one, but only because I missed drawing Doc’s goggles. After chapter six of Doctor One, Battle of the Tallest, Zib actually doesn’t have his goggles anymore, and they were always a big part of Doc’s design in the AU. They were there in the first version of the design 

and, until that chapter, he’s always had them. Now even I wonder what happened to the goggles, because even though I’m the mastermind behind the AU, not even I know where they went.

So drawing Doc with the goggles again was fun. Actually, since I started writing Tallest One, drawing this version of Doc was really fun.

5: Subtle Color Change

In two of the frames, the shade of gray actually changes, did you notice? It occurs before the crazy faced Dib frame, where it’s obvious the color’s changed.

______________________________________________

I’m really proud of the animatic. It’s my first relating to the Doctor One AU, so. Yeah! I hope you guys liked reading this, because oh god, it feels really good to dump this all off my chest. If you have anymore questions about the animatic, things you’re really curious about that I didn’t mention in the info dump, feel free to drop off an ask in my askbox! I’ll be happy to answer any question you might have!

Ciao for now!

~ Zeisty

#Zeisty's Brain Vomits #infodump #long post beneath read more #doctor one au #breaking the line comic #invader zim zib #invader zim dib #dib #i miss you doc's goggles #invader zim doctor one au

[incorrectbatfam]

Batfam during New Years?

This would’ve been more appropriate three months ago, so I’ll be doing it for the 2019-2020 New Year’s

Also I realize this is a lot more than just batfamily and is probably the biggest crossover I’ve ever done but it feels right

Instead of having a blowout gala, the Waynes just invite a few close families. Namely the Supers, Speedsters, Wonders, and Arrows

Lois, Joan, and Iris help Alfred prepare a marvelous dinner while Clark, Jon, and Conner literally fly in with tables from elsewhere. Conner brings a table that looks suspiciously like the one from Mount Justice

Bruce jokingly allows everyone to bring a plus one because he assumes that all the plus ones were on the original invite. He forgot to account for Barry and Bart’s partners, so they have to send the Kents out again to find more chairs

Speaking of speedsters, Dick forgot to keep an eye on his and Wally nabs all the champagne, much to Jason’s chagrin

They have an early dinner because there’s still a lotta people and they want time for other things. That and it takes forever to make speedsters and Kryptonians feel full

There’s a kids table with Damian, Jon, Jai, Irey, little Lian, and toddlers Don and Dawn. Bruce makes an executive decision to move Bart there halfway through the meal

The teenagers gather in Tim’s bedroom to play Never Have I Ever with a stolen bottle of champagne, with a little help from Wonder Girl’s lasso of truth. And after a few drinks, it turns into a really weird game of Truth or Dare where a couple couples officially come out and Tim admits to to eating ketchup with a spoon, which Khaji Da does not react well to for reasons unknown even to Jaime

Meanwhile, the Outlaws find a corner to themselves to play Cards Against Humanity, but it’s rather hard when Lian keeps peeking over Roy’s shoulders and ask difficult questions like “What’s a [REDACTED]”

The adults gather and gossip on the couch with some wine that Selina totally didn’t steal from another party. They talk and reminisce, bittersweetly wondering where on Earth the time has gone. Because at one point, they were all young superheroes, and now they’re together in a manor full of legacies and holy cow do they feel old

Dick bundles the children up in poofy layers before they go outside to play in the snow. Cass declares an official snowball war and single handedly takes down a team made of an assassin, a super kid, two speedsters, and Nightwing

Duke asks Damian what his New Year’s resolution is. Damian replies, “Try not to kill anyone”. Duke is proud but also yeets away from the conversation faster than the Flash

Alfred also had an enormous croquembouche prepared for dessert stored in the other room. Stephanie, Donna, Kara, and Emiko take turns keeping lookout and shoving cream puffs down their shirts

They hook up a karaoke machine and literally everyone scrambles to do a duet with Black Canary (but Oliver gets first dibs). Barbara tricks the machine out so everyone’s voices come out as hilariously autotuned

Jay, Barry, Bart, Wally, Jai, and Irey still continue their annual tradition of racing around the world and experiencing New Year’s in every country. Jean Paul, Mia, and Hal all have a stopwatch in each hand (like those have any use). Irey wins the race, and they suspect Grandpa Garrick threw the competition for her. Bart comes in last because he stopped in El Paso to chat with Jaime’s family

Harper Row arrives late because of a last-minute mission but everyone instantly forgives her because the mission led to her bringing an entire ice cream truck to the party

Diana jokingly dares Clark to kiss Bruce at midnight. She didn’t think he’d actually do it. Lois and Selina have pictures

Barbara puts the ball drop on TV about half an hour before midnight and everyone gathers around in the main room. Tim and Dick also bring a ton of phones and laptops so they can Skype all the folks that aren’t there, from other hero families like the Atlanteans to Arkham inmates like Harley Quinn and Riddler. After all, they had all been through a lot over the years and the turn of the decade seemed like a better time than ever to put differences aside for one night and celebrate as they count down the seconds together

#ask #ask me anything #send me asks #personal #batfamily #batfam #batkids #batsiblings #superfamily #wonder family #flash family #arrow family #aquafamily #lantern family #justice league #young justice #red hood and the outlaws #super sons #teen titans #gotham rogues #dc villains #dc comics #headcanon #tw food mention #tw alchohol mention #tw violence mention #tw just in case

[hi-qu]

Karasuno Boys and Driving

Daichi

Worked part time to buy his car, so he’s very proud of it. Can’t tell him he aint got a Benz, (it a 02 Corolla lol). Car so old he feels like he gotta call it sir.

Cuz he earned, Daichi doesn’t mess around when it comes to his car.

You can’t borrow it, you better not throw any volleyballs near it, don’t even look at it funny.

But he’ll still gladly drive his teammates/friends around town so long as they follow the number 1 rule: You don’t eat in Daichi’s car.

He was driving the first years home after a late practice, and heard someone fidgeting with a wrapper. He whirled around and there was Tadashi, eyes getting misty while holding a cough drop.

“It’s a Halls, Daichi please. My throat is sore.”

He allowed it because he was glad it wasn’t actual food.

Because of his no food rule, his car is immaculate. Probably hasn’t been that spotless since it rolled off the line.

He cleans it every weekend after practice.

Daichi is a careful driver too. The kind who waves other drivers through even though he has the right a way. Truly a pedestrian’s best friend because he won’t block the crosswalks.

No real road rage, just abundantly cautious. Freeways freak him out especially if the lanes are narrow.

Won’t take the car out of park until everyone is buckled in. Will just wait and look at the back seat through the rear view mirror as everyone laughs and carries on. Eventually Suga or Asahi will notice and make sure everyone, Tanaka is buckled in.

Asahi is permanent shotgun, Noya or Hinata is in the middle, Suga to the left, and Tanaka on the right.

If Tsukki is riding, then he’s on the side with the best scenery so he can play his music and gaze dramatically.

He’s the kind of driver you tell your mom about when she asks who’s driving.

Kageyama:

It was his grandfather’s old car. It’s in decent shape.

Knows next to nothing about cars, is just like, “yeah, its blue with 4 doors.”

Thrilled it was 4 door just in case Hinata ever got a car. Best case scenario, Hinata got a 2-door making Kageyama the automatic winner. Slightly less best-case scenario, Hinata also got a 4 door but since Kageyama got his first he would still be the winner.

Didn’t want a car until he realized he could beat Hinata to school. Felt bad because the boy crossed a mountain every day, buuuut he was on a bike so TECHNICALLY Hinata already had an unfair advantage so this would just even the score.

Barely passed his driving test because he can’t parallel park. Doesn’t understand that precision on the court doesn’t translate to precision on the road.

One day he saw Tsukki and Tadashi walking home from school in the rain. He rode up to them slowly, rolled down his window and asked, “you want a lift?”

Tsukki immediately was on some, “oh ho? Us lowly peasants get to ride in the King’s Chariot-“

“Not you. Tadashi. Only. Tadashi.”

Next day Daichi had to have a talk about offering rides and courtesy.

But honestly, it’s probably safer to walk. Boy has no idea what he’s doing. The car’s a stick and he’s forever releasing the clutch too soon/late. The gears are stripping, he’s stalling at every stop sign.

oh no baby what is you doin??

Gets frustrated and just looks at his hands one day in the school parking lot like, “what’s wrong with me? Am I dumb? Is it the car who’s dumb??”

Got his answer when one day he was 15 mins late to weekend practice because his car stopped. After the team determined he didn’t stall it again, and it wasn’t the battery, Hinata is like,

“did you feed your car?”

Cue Kageyama looking like the confused math woman meme

“what do you mean ‘feed my car’?? Cars don’t eat fool.”

“Filling it with gas is like eating! We have to eat to fuel ourselves, so you have to feed a car fuel it, stupid.”

After that, he decided it was best to stick to walking.

 Asahi

2nd best driver on the team due to his anxiety.

Our boy doesn’t mess around with horsing around in his car. He gotta focus on the road.

Doesn’t like driving outside the city limits because remembering turns and exits is just too much. Though Noya helps him by warning him ahead of time. That’s why Noya has permanent shotgun dibs.

His car is mad small for a man his size. It’s a two door he got used, and like Daichi, its his baby so he takes care of it. Except he’s not as fussy as Daichi is. You may eat and drink inside his car.

He has to fold/unfold himself when getting in and out. Its hilarious to watch but painful to him.

Driver seat all the way in the back seat because long leg problems, so only Hinata can sit behind him.

In the summer, he and Noya go cruisin’. He had to be convinced to ride with shades on and hair down, but Noya said looking cool was a part of cruisin’.

Daichi and Suga often go for rides with Asahi and just talk. Maybe park somewhere with some food and reminisce like they’re old men remembering the, “good ol’ days.” Asahi treasures these moments with his friends.

Suga

It was his parent’s old car that they let him use. The largest car out of the group, probably a SUV.

Number one option for when the team wants to go on little excursions because thankfully, we have leg room.

A reliable driver you can depend on to not drive consistently. Sometimes, he is careful and considerate 10/10 driver.

Then sometimes he like, “lets press the gas while going downhill.” Just to scare the first years.

Kind of driver to be like, “I got it,” after the light has been yellow for over 30 seconds. No road too narrow, or parking space too complicated for Suga.

Doesn’t exactly speed, but also doesn’t go as slow as you would like.

Ask him for a ride and he’s like, “yeah, I’ll get you there.” 

But in what condition Suga? What condition??

Knows how to drive like he has some sense but will he use it??? Maybe if Daichi is there.

Doesn’t mind eating and drinking in the car. He’ll also chat away while driving. Only thing he refuses to do is drive the team to a game.

For one, they can’t all fit comfortably, and two, Hinta’s incident in the bus is still fresh in his mind. So, when Takeda brings it up again, Suga goes, “no can-do sensei <3”

Hinata

Baby was thrilled when he passed his drivers exam. Took pics of his license and shared it in the group chat. Then showed it off in person.

Drives his folk’s old car. It's too old for long distances but reliable enough for school and back.

It’s a 2 door, Kagayama is thrilled and it’s a stick, but Shoyo can drive a stick (can’t win em all Kageyama).

So cautious when he drives! Not out of anxiety rather he’s worried about hurting someone. Uses his blinker at the right time, lets kids and old ladies cross first. Really polite at a 4 way, but it’s his turn and he's gonna make himself late with all of this.

Knows how to change a tire and check the fluids because he lives in the country and just learned as he grew.

Car stays in good shape.

One of the few who can handle driving in snow, but he did panic some during his first snowstorm.

The kind of driver that if he even taps another car, he’s leaving a note stained with his tears, his phone number, email, home address facebook, AIM, his mom’s number, and Coach Uaki’s.

Tsukki and Kageyama roasted him about does he climb into his car, (it’s technically a little truck) or does he need a running start.

Still offers them ride because he's a good kid.

Doesn’t know if it’s worse having Kageyama in the back seat, or in the passenger seat. When Kageyama is in the car, Hinata low key flexes by smoothly shifting gears. Worst 15-minute drive of Kageyama’s life.

One time, it was just him and Noya on a snack run and they got pulled over. The cop thought 2 kids took their mom’s car for a joy ride. They called Hinata’s mom to verify his license and that he was 16.  It was low moment for both of them that not even meat buns could fix.

#haikyuu #haikyuu!! #haikyuu hcs #my writing #daichi #hinata #asahi #kageyama #sugawara

[cakesunflower]

Starlite Motel [C.H. One Shot]

Summary: Nova’s not too happy with Calum. Maybe a night in some stingy motel room may change that.

A/N: this is 9k of some motel room fun to be honest. at some point i was like.....what am i writing but i kinda really like it so here we GO. also. i named the motel “Starlight Motel” and then i found that pic in the middle of the mood board and changed Starlight to Starlite hehe it was FATE

“It could be worse.”

Nova didn’t bother glancing at Calum after he muttered out the words, her eyes sliding over to watch him walk further into the room. It wasn’t the nicest of places, with a brown carpet and beige floral wallpaper and despite the bedding being a dark blue color, they still didn’t hide the lumpiness of the mattress and somehow added onto the bland setting. Even the single overhead light in the middle of the ceiling was pathetically dull, the room flashing brightly for a few seconds at a time due to the lightning accompanying the rain pouring outside. Still, through the thin drapes the bright colors of the neon sign of the motel poured inside. Otherwise, the motel room was dark and dull and had Nova’s stomach churning uneasily.

She didn’t even want to look towards the bed, a single queen sized one that she and Calum had to share because she knew neither one was willing to sleep on the floor. It was just their luck that the only motel they’d seen was almost completely booked, the only rooms available being two with a queen sized bed and one with two singles. Michael and Crystal took one of the queen sized ones, Luke claimed the one with the singles since no one was willing to share a bed with the six-foot-four blonde and Ashton calling dibs on the other. Which left the last queen sized bed room for Nova and Calum, much to both of their chagrin, because of course the two people who weren’t speaking to one another were forced to share.

The room didn’t look dirty, per se—it just had that dingy motel vibe that was reminiscent of a place people would come to for paid hookups or forbidden affairs. The cute name of the joint—Starlite Motel—sounded like a joke compared to the tearing wallpaper and rustic looking cabinets in the closet sized kitchen area to the right.

The sound of things thudding on the table pulled Nova out of her criticism of the disenchanting room, realizing it was just Calum settling the food they had on the table. Their group of friends was on their way home returning from spending a few days at Luke’s family’s beach house, only to be hit by an unexpecting storm that made it too dangerous to stay on the road. Fortunately, they’d been right by the Starlite Motel and decided to check in for the night, so they had their belongings with them along with road trip snacks. So dividing the food and drinks between three rooms, they would be sustained for the night.

Nova let out a breath, responding to Calum’s statement to herself with a mumbled, “Doubtful.”

He didn’t hear her and if he did, then he was content with ignoring her as he settled his duffel and backpack on the right side of the bed, silently claiming his side. His back was to the window on the opposite side, though he didn’t look at Nova as he unzipped his backpack and pulled out his laptop, dropping it on the bed and going about his business.

Nova was well aware she was lingering by the door, awkward with tense muscles and a tight throat. Things between her and Calum hadn’t been too good during their last few days at the beach, and the fact that they now had to share a room—a bed—was eating away at her nerves and made her silently curse Ashton for claiming the other bed in the other room. Nova would much rather spend the night listening to Luke’s snores accompanying the rain than being painfully aware of the warm body next to her on the same bed.

Letting out a quiet breath, Nova approached the bed as well, remaining on the opposite side as she lifted her own duffel bag to pull out a change of clothes. The shorts and shirt she was currently in were a bit damp, having been caught in the rain for a minute, and she was ready to change into some dry pajamas and call it a night. The quicker she was in bed, the less time she had to awkwardly pass in Calum’s company.

The tension was thick between the two of them, something that hadn’t really occurred during their five years of friendship, but Nova supposed that’s what happened when two people crossed a line they probably shouldn’t have.   

“I’m gonna hop in the shower—d’you need to use the bathroom?”

Nova glanced up from where she was rummaging through her duffel, breath silently hitching when her light brown eyes met a pair of darker, more intense ones. She hated that she couldn’t read his expression save for the expectant look in his eyes, short blonde hair slightly damp with raindrops speckled in between the strands, his brown skin glistening a bit due to the thin sheen of water and black T-shirt tight against him.

He wasn’t even doing anything, just looking at her, and still Nova felt her heart pick up its pace despite her mind screaming that she was still upset with him. Dropping her gaze back down to her bag, Nova quickly responded, “No, go ahead.”

Instead of responding, Calum merely picked up his clothes and headed towards the bathroom. As soon as he shut the door behind him, Nova’s shoulders dropped with a heavy breath. She needed to change out of her somewhat wet clothes, but she figured she could just do it in the room, and waited until she heard the water running over the sounds of the rain pouring to peel off her clothes and change into pajama shorts and a black tank top, since it was the only clean shirt she had left. She stupidly had forgotten to do laundry before they left the beach house. Her movements were rushed, as if Calum would walk out of the bathroom despite having just gone in, letting out a relieved breath once she slid the comfortable shorts up her legs.

A prickle of annoyance shot through Nova’s brain as she realized that she did, in fact, have to use the bathroom, but was now stuck with having to wait for Calum to come out. It’s not like she could go into one of her friends’ rooms—there weren’t any hallways outside, of course, and it was still pouring and everyone’s rooms weren’t too close to hers. So instead, Nova was stuck waiting for Calum to get out.

She sighed, heart jumping slightly as thunder roared through the sky, and in an attempt to keep herself busy she pulled out her own laptop and camera from her bag, figuring that while she waited, she might as well get some work done.

Whether or not she was ready to scroll through any pictures she may have taken of Calum during the trip was another question.

                                                     *****

The scalding water threatened to burn off his skin, but still Calum stood under the showerhead, letting it wash over him like lava. His head was bowed, feeling the water seep into his scalp before he closed his eyes and tilted his head back to allow it to hit him in the chest. He’d already shampooed his hair and washed off the soap, at this point only standing in the shower to delay the inevitable act of leaving the bathroom. Call him a coward, but he wasn’t entirely ready to go into the room where Nova was currently in, instead opting to punish himself under the stream of hot water. He believed he deserved it, given the way he’d been acting towards Nova for the past few days.

But Calum couldn’t help it. He’d done something—something he didn’t entirely regret but knew had the potential to change things—and he was confused. And when Calum was confused, especially about his feelings, he had the destructive habit of shutting down. Of pushing people away. It was how he functioned, had often gotten berated by friends and family for behaving this way, and no matter how much Calum tried to better himself, somehow he always reverted back to the classic behavior. He was well and painfully aware that’s why Nova was upset with him, and he didn’t blame her.

And instead of trying to make it better, his stubborn silence was only making things worse.

Eventually, Calum decided to step out of the shower, reluctantly using the white towel provided by the motel to dry himself off before pulling on a pair of grey sweats and an old Queen shirt. He stood in front of the mirror stuck onto the tiled wall, using his hand to wipe off the steam to get a better look at his reflection. Blonde hair stuck up every which way due to his haphazard use of the towel, but even in the low light of the bathroom Calum noticed the newfound rosiness on his tanned skin, particularly on his cheeks thanks to the searing shower. He could feel the humidity in the small space, the exhaust on the ceiling slow to rid of the steam, and Calum gave a clench of his jaw before forcing himself to open the bathroom door.

The blast of cool air from the room was a welcome slap against his skin, the steam curling out into the room and before Calum could even take a step forward, Nova was in front of him. Her sharp eyebrows raised as she remarked, “You take forever.”

Calum’s dark eyes met her lighter ones, the pink and red colors of the neon sign outside that was quite close to the window washing over her. His gaze dropped to her lips briefly, pursing his own as he stared long enough to allow the memory of her lips pressed against his appear to the forefront of his mind. The mere image of kissing Nova had Calum’s muscles tightening as he lowly responded, “You could’ve just knocked.” He would’ve gotten out if he knew she had to use the bathroom.

Nova let out a breath through her nose, shoulders dropping slightly as she looked past him. Calum did his best not to let his gaze linger on her prominent collarbones, or any of the skin revealed due to the spaghetti strapped tank top. For a minute, he wondered if she wore that on purpose. Then he remembered Nova could wear whatever the hell she wanted for herself. He shouldn’t be concerned with it. Still, his chest tightened when her neck tensed after she sighed. “Can you move out of the way? Please,” she added as a reluctant afterthought.

Silently, Calum stepped around Nova, hearing the door click shut behind him after she passed him in a whiz of flowers and strawberries, a scent he was intimately familiar with that now twisted his stomach. Calum’s jaw tightened, teeth pressed together as he haphazardly draped his towel on the back of one of the chairs before dropping himself on his claimed side of the bed. They had been driving for about five hours when the storm hit, home still a good few hours away which caused them to find the motel. Still, Calum wasn’t tired as he propped the pillows behind him and reached for his laptop, turning it on as his gaze flickered to his right.

Nova’s laptop was open, and Calum couldn’t help but gaze at the screen as his eyebrows drew together when he caught sight of himself. It was silent in the room, the rain pouring outside, as Calum realized Nova must’ve been looking through the photographs she had recently taken, and his heart jumped to his throat when he saw the photos of himself.

While they were at the beach house, they went out to dinner one of the nights to a rooftop restaurant where one view was of the water and the other was of the city. Nova had asked them all to stand by where the city was a silhouette behind them, taking photos of her friends that were used to being her subjects. One of the pictures Calum was currently staring at was one of him, dark and a warm purple as he gazed out at the city in front of him, holding onto the railing and looking completely lost in thought when in reality, he’d been restraining himself from letting his gaze slide to the woman behind the camera. The woman who belonged in front of the camera was always hiding behind it, but that never stopped Calum from capturing a few snapshots of his own on his phone.

Under that picture, Calum caught sight of previews of more Nova had taken, eyes narrowing ever so slightly when he noticed most of the next few pictures were all of him. On the roof, around the house, at the beach—she’d captured him whether he was aware of it or not, and something about that had the knot in his chest loosening. She was so talented, something Calum was reminded of every time he was lucky enough to see the photographs she’d taken, and the fact that she’d taken photos of him were more beautiful than the subject deserved.

The bathroom door open, and Calum looked to the opposite left corner of the room to see Nova walk out, feeling a lump form in his throat. As she neared the bed, not really looking at him, Calum suddenly felt uncharacteristically awkward. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Nova tense in what he figured was embarrassment when she realized she left photographs of him on her laptop screen, hesitating before picking up the device and resting it on her lap.

As a feeble, dumb way of hoping to alleviate the tension, Calum commented, “That picture makes me look like I’m tryin’ to solve a problem or something.”

She scoffed lightly through her nose. “Really?” Nova responded before adding under her breath in a mutter, “And here I thought all you could do was create problems.”

For a moment, Calum thought he had heard her wrong, gaping at her in disbelief as he demanded, “Excu—what’s that supposed to mean?”

Nova didn’t even bother looking back at him, attention on her laptop as she snapped in return, “You know exactly what I mean.”

Calum pressed his lips together, muscles tensing as he took a breath because, yes, he knew exactly what Nova was talking about. He stared at her, at slope of her nose, sweep of her lashes, pout of her lips and curve of her jaw. He stared at the woman next to him, gorgeous and smart and kind and his friend who he knew he fucked up with. The guilt returned, as did every conflicting struggle he’d fruitlessly tried to push away, and Calum straightened his back.

“Listen, Nova, I know I—” He picked up her laptop, ignoring her protesting “hey!” as he rested it on his bedside before facing her once more, noting the indignant expression that washed over her face. “I know I upset you with what—”

“I’m not upset, Calum,” she interrupted, frowning in annoyance as she gave a shake of her head. As if she couldn’t deal with the proximity of them both sitting on the bed, she got off and stood to her feet, running her fingers through her long dark hair before facing him again. She was washed in red and pinks from the light pouring through the window. “I’m embarrassed. I’m angry. Because we slept together, you told me you liked me, and then next thing I know—you’re ignoring me like I don’t even fucking exist.” Calum’s jaw clenched as Nova shook her head again, looking at him in disappointment and disbelief. “I’m hurt because I never expected to be treated like that by someone who I thought was my friend.” Taking a step away from the bed, Nova jutted her jaw out briefly before saying, “You treated me like I was some random girl you fucked around with and never wanted to see again. So no, I’m not upset. I’m pissed.”

“I fucked up, alright? I know I did,” Calum spoke up, pushing himself off the bed as well as it separated the two of them, standing on either side. “I shouldn’t’ve ever treated you like that, and I’m sorry, Nova. I was just—”

“If you say you were scared, I swear to God, Calum, I’m going to punch you,” Nova cut in fiercely, a stern look on her face. Calum pressed his lips together, the excuse dying in his throat as he realized, upon hearing Nova’s words, how shitty of a reason that was. Just because he had been unsure about something, didn’t give him the right to treat his friend badly. And he hated himself for even doing so in the first place, because Nova never deserved that. She crossed her arms over her chest, fixing him with a berating look. “That’s a cop out and you know it.”

Still, Calum bristled, because the way he had reacted couldn’t be helped. “It’s how I felt, Nova,” he argued, voice strained against the control he was fighting to keep. But he was getting worked up—had been for the past few days since everything happened. All Calum could hear lately was the blood rushing behind his ears, and now the sound of the storm raging outside wasn’t helping the matter. He ran a haphazard hand through his short blonde hair, strands slightly damp before dropping his arm to his side like it was dead weight. “We crossed a line that we can’t take back and—”

“Is that what you wanna do?” Nova interrupted, eyebrows furrowing together in a frown that conveyed the very hurt she had been talking about. It twisted his heart uncomfortably. Lightning flashed outside, brightening her in a white before her skin was once again splashed in the reds and pinks of the neon lights. “Take it back?”

Calum wasn’t deaf to the disappointed hurt that was carried in her voice, blunt nails digging into his palms as a mild punishment for any pain he was causing Nova. And he desperately wanted to put her at ease, to let her know that taking it back was the absolute last thing he wanted to do. Because that first kiss with Nova made Calum feel like he could finally breathe as if he hadn’t been before. Being able to kiss and touch and taste her, to feel her nails digging into his back and the ends of her hair tickling his bare skin when she hovered above him and their bodies pressed together under the sheets, had been everything. It had been what he needed this entire time without realizing it.

And now that Nova was standing there, asking him if he wanted to take all of that back, Calum had no idea why he froze. Had no idea why he couldn’t just open his damn mouth and instinctively tell her that there was nothing to regret with what happened between them.

But he couldn’t. Even when the silence dragged on and the rain pelted against the window pain and Nova’s throat worked as she swallowed down the lump in her throat after blinking away the crestfallen expression that had taken over her pretty face. “Okay then,” she finally spoke up, her voice bordering on a whisper as she softly cleared her throat and walked around the bed. Calum’s eyes followed her, frozen in place as she neared him before brushing past him. His heart was drumming wildly against his chest, teeth hurting from how tightly he was clenching his jaw, watching as Nova picked up her laptop from his bedside before walking away. She didn’t turn to look at him as she approached the table where the food was, and Calum would’ve missed her what she said over the sound of the rain if he wasn’t so painfully aware of everything Nova said and did. “We’ll pretend it never happened.”

And before Calum could even argue, to shout and declare that he didn’t want to forget about it, Nova sat herself down on a chair with her back still towards Calum, earbuds in and laptop on as she moved on to do her work. She ignored him, just like he did her the past few days, and Calum was left standing by the bed hating himself for letting it get this far.

                                                             *****

Calum watched her as he stood on the shore, dark eyes keeping track of her floating body in the water. It was slightly cool where he stood, the salty sea breeze tickling at his skin, the bonfire he and his friends started a few feet too back to allow the warmth of the fire to wash over him. His bottle of beer was abandoned back by the fire where he had been sitting, hearing the chatter and laughter of his friends, the music playing, and the vague crackling of the fire over the sounds of waves softly crashing on the shore and around his bare feet.

He was mostly sober, only a few beers in and just barely feeling a buzz, which is why he stood at the shore keeping an eye on Nova. It was a terrible idea, her going into the water after taking a few hits from a pen that was too strong—fuck know what kind of weed was in it; the first time Calum took a hit, he couldn’t pick himself off the floor, and he was the smoker of the group. So he couldn’t help but keep watch as Nova just remained on her back, letting the water move her about, though she never strayed far from the shore. It was a bad idea, letting her swim in the ocean when she wasn’t sober. Dangerous. But his friend was a stubborn one on any given day—when she was inebriated? Even worse.

“Stop watching me like a creep and come on in. The water’s fine.”

Nova’s voice was a lazy drawl, melodic as it drifted over the waves and reached Calum’s ears. He straightened his back, watching her somewhat silhouetted figure change positions so she was no longer on her back, instead upright in the water and facing where he stood. Lifting his chin, Calum called back, “You should come out. It’s gettin’ late.”

It wasn’t even midnight yet, but Calum would prefer if she wasn’t high and swimming in the ocean. Maybe he could just drag her out of it.

“Don’t be such a downer,” she scoffed, the water lapping as she floated. Nova giggled at absolutely nothing in particular. “You know you wanna.”

Her voice took a sing-song turn, causing Calum to roll his eyes in exasperated amusement. Looking over his shoulder, Calum watched as his friends chatted away by the fire, not paying attention to the two of them at the ocean. He hesitated, feeling the cool water around his ankles send a shiver up his spine. Though, Calum wasn’t sure if that was because of the cold or because of the prospect of joining Nova in the water.

Calum could feel her challenging gaze on him from where she was, and for a moment he wondered if she’d picked up on his behavior as of late. If she knew that he’d been attempting to keep some distance between them, in ways he’d hoped had been subtle—like riding over in a different car than her, picking the room furthest from hers. Just small things to keep himself away from her because Calum wasn’t too entirely sure what would happen if he let himself get close.  

Which was difficult, seeing as they’d always been good friends. And if he completely just started ignoring her then, well, that wouldn’t sit well with either of them. He was already doing a shit job at being a friend—but what was he supposed to do when being Nova’s friend wasn’t something Calum wanted anymore?

Maybe he’d taken too long to respond or move, because suddenly Nova was making her way over to the shore, rising out of the water as she approached him. The distant fire and high moon making her glistening skin glow, long dark hair wet and sticking to her while the dark blue one-piece she wore accentuated any and every curve she had. Calum pressed his teeth together at the sight of her, forcing himself to keep his gaze on her usually honey colored eyes that seemed too alluringly dark in the night.

She stopped in front of him, peering up at the blonde with eyes narrowing and a slightly tilt of her head. Calum could feel the scrutinization in her gaze, the thoughtful pout on her full lips bringing back the desire to kiss her as he clenched his hands into fists. “You’ve been avoiding me,” Nova remarked in a drawl, eyes meeting his as Calum’s throat worked. “Did I do something?”

“No,” came Calum’s instant, truthful response, pressing his lips together and sighing through his nose as his gaze flickered over her and out to the vast water. It looked dangerous in the night, not at all something he wanted to venture in. “No, you didn’t. You’re. . .” He trailed off, looking at her once more, picking up on the curiosity raising at her eyebrows as she looked up at him. There was a pounding in Calum’s chest, the sea breeze tickling his lungs and the sight of Nova tightening his chest. He admired her, for a moment, for all her beauty under the moonlight, absently breathing, “You’re perfect.”

Silence fell upon them, distantly hearing their friends and the music, though the waves crashing on the shore around them sounded thunderous. Calum didn’t regret letting the words slip, couldn’t keep his eyes away from hers, or from occasionally dropping to her lips. The space between he and Nova was closing gradually, neither of them too aware of who was moving yet not at all caring.

The salt in the air tickled at their noses and the light breeze had goosebumps rising on their skin, but the closer they got, the more they could feel the other’s body heat warming their own. And the closer they got, the more aware they got of their hearts threatening to burst.

“I’m high.” Calum blinked, not entirely expecting for that to come out of Nova’s mouth, leaning back ever so slightly as his eyebrows twitched into a confused frown. Before he could even question her, Nova took another step towards him, freezing him in place as her eyes remained on his. “I’m high, but I’m perfectly aware of what I’m doing. So I don’t want you thinking I don’t know what I’m about to do.”

Before Calum even had the chance of questioning Nova on what she meant, the remaining distance between them was closed and he was feeling her lips against his, his lower lip caught between hers in a sucking kiss that instantly left Calum dizzy. And just like that, he was letting himself forget his attempts of trying to avoid Nova, and instead was melting into the press of her body against hers and cupping her face in his hands and tilting his head to deepen the kiss he’d waited so long for.

Calum’s eyes flickered away from the screen of his laptop, lips pressed together as he stole a look at Nova. He remained on the bed, leaning back against the headboard with his laptop in his lap, headphones in his ears as he barely watched a show on Hulu. He was deaf to everything but the show, though Calum doubted there was anything else to hear save for the rain on the windows and occasional thunder growling in the sky. Nova’s back was to him, but Calum wished more than anything she’d speak to him.

He knew he had fucked up. That night at the beach, after they’d kissed by the water, sneaking back into the house had been fairly easy and falling into bed with Nova had been a blurry tangle of limbs and heated kisses and orgasms that had both of them seeing stars—and it had been good.

Until the bit of panic set in and Calum stupidly decided to pretend that it never fucking happened. That he never gave into the desire that had been gnawing at his skin and that sex with Nova wasn’t just sex—it was so much more than he could ever hope to express.

And he was royally fucking everything up.

He had stupidly started the trip with trying to avoid Nova, and now it was happening all over again because he couldn’t figure out his own feelings and was, in the process, hurting Nova’s. The guilt and self directed anger sat heavily in Calum’s chest, his eyes glued to her back, and his jaw began aching from how hard he was clenching it without realizing. Calum had spent days ignoring Nova, and now that she was doing the same to him, the unease was twisting at his stomach relentlessly and all he wanted to do was talk to her.

But that wasn’t fair to Nova; Calum was getting a taste of his own medicine and he couldn’t handle it.

Before stopping to think about it, Calum closed his laptop and put it on the bedside, getting up from the bed as he could now hear the rain over his pounding heart, ignoring it as he quickly approached Nova.

He knew she could see him come up to her, instead choosing to keep her attention on her laptop, and Calum shook his head at her before announcing, “I don’t want to take it back.” He noticed her freeze in moving her finger over the keypad, his own throat working as he added, “I don’t want to pretend it never happened. Because it did, and I don’t regret it.”

At that, a disbelieving scoff escaped Nova as she finally looked up at him, sitting cross legged on the wooden chair and raising her eyebrows. The dull light of the room provided shadows against her sharp features, though they did nothing to hide the fiercely scrutinizing look she wore. “Really? You don’t regret it?” she repeated challengingly, looking ready to call him out on his bullshit as her long hair fell behind her as she continued to gaze up at him, not for a second believing Calum’s words. How could she, after how he treated her? “You’ve got a shit way of showing it. Because if a guy told me he liked me and I slept with him, I would assume that means we would try to make something out of it. But if he goes on to ignore me like I don’t even exist?” Nova gave a one shouldered shrug, looking cold and distant and pointedly up at Calum. “Then he’s just an asshole who would say or do whatever he needed to to get into my pants.”

Calum’s expression fell into one of incredulity, mixed with heated offence that Nova would ever think of him being capable to do something like that. His own blunt nails dug into his palms, gaping down at her as he felt as though he’d been slapped in the face. His chest stung from her words, a lot more than he thought possible, and while Calum knew he hadn’t treated Nova fairly, he still felt a boiling flare of anger burn at the blood in his veins. His eyebrows drew together over narrowed eyes, demanding through practically clenched teeth, “Is that what you think of me?”

He saw the way Nova’s throat worked, knowing that she was perfectly aware of the weight her words carried. “Hard not to,” she stole his breath by responding, neck tense as she tilted her chin. With a shake of her head, Nova scoffed, “You can’t expect me to sit and analyze your every move, Calum. We fucked and then you just stopped talking to me. This isn’t a game to me, alright?” She suddenly stood up, shutting her laptop and taking a step from Calum, a frown on her face as she looked at him. She hated how heavenly he looked even against the dangerous red lights of the sign outside. Nova swallowed. “I like you, which is probably stupid of me because of how you’ve been acting, but that doesn’t mean I’m just gonna let you treat me like crap because you can’t figure your own shit out.” She gave a shake of her head. “Stop being childish and do something about it.”

“I want to be with you.”

The words slipped out of Calum’s mouth without much thought, flowing past his lips so easily yet hanging between them like a dead weight. Those words had Nova pausing in her movements, brown eyes flickering to meet Calum’s darker ones that stared back at her unapologetically. And Calum. . . He didn’t regret letting the words out, didn’t at all want to take it back. He didn’t want any regrets, didn’t want to fuck up his chances with Nova more than he already had.

“I want to be with you,” Calum repeated, raspy voice stronger and purposeful, never letting his gaze waver from hers as he frowned slightly at his own stupidity for taking so long to let himself admit his feelings. “Not just for a couple of hours or for one night or just in this stingy motel room.” He watched the way her lips parted, lips he desperately wanted to kiss, as every word he uttered registered in her mind as he slowly closed the distance between them, taking a few steps towards her. Hesitantly, Calum’s hands reached up to cup Nova’s face, unsure if she would let him, feeling some of the tension from his shoulders ease when she didn’t pull away or swat at his hands and allowed his large hands and ring clad fingers on her skin. Her neck was tense, throat working, as Calum’s voice dropped a few octaves as he ducked his head ever so slightly to maintain eye contact. “I want to be with you for as long as you’ll let me, because I really do fuckin’ like you and I’ve done a shit job at showin’ it.”

Nova’s eyes stared into his, as if looking for any kind of sign that he was kidding, that he wasn’t as serious as he sounded. But she found no trace of hesitation, of reluctance in regards to the words he was saying—words that were completely taking her breath away and making her wonder if this was some kind of fantasy. But it was real, and Calum was serious, and Nova was struggling to find the right words in this delicate moment.

“Show it, then.” Her words surprised both of them, and for a second Nova wondered if she had actually uttered them as Calum stared at her.

It had only taken a moment’s consideration on Calum’s part, and that was only to make absolute sure Nova’s words insinuated exactly what Calum thought they had. But he’d easily picked up on the glint in her eyes. He felt the ghost of a smirk curling on her soft red neon light bathed face, under his touch, that told Calum she was daring him to prove just how much he liked her in his actions rather than his words in the moment. He wasn’t going to disappoint her again.

Ducking his head, Calum’s full lips met hers in a searing kiss that was far more desperate than any of the ones they’d shared that night. Nova’s response was instant, frantic, fisting the front of his shirt to pull him impossibly closer before her grip loosened and her hands slid down to the hem of his shirt. Satisfaction burned through Nova’s veins when her tongue trailed the seam of Calum’s soft lips and he parted them for her without hesitation, deepening the kiss as he felt her pull his shirt up, the kiss breaking only for a moment as Calum let her pull the shirt as high as she could before he grabbed the crumpled fabric gathered behind his neck and pulled it off completely.

In the half a second his shirt had obstructed his view, Nova had pulled off her own tank top, Calum’s breath gathered like a suffocating pocket of air in his lungs at the sight of her completely bare upper half, teasingly having forgone a bra. Both appreciated her decision, not at all patient enough to deal with something as obstructive as more clothing than necessary.

Their lips met once more, nipping and sucking as their fronts pressed together, heated skin on skin making Calum’s heart drum against his chest at the feel of the soft flesh of Nova’s breasts press against him. Their movements were fueled by impatience and unadulterated desire of being tangled together as Calum’s hands gripped at Nova’s hips and turned her before guiding her down onto the lumpy mattress of the bed, maneuvering themselves with familiarity and soft, appreciative breaths.

Nova was deaf to everything save for the pounding in her ears due to her quickened heart rate, could feel nothing but the heat radiating off of Calum’s body as he hovered over her, his warm ring clad fingers pressing into the bare skin of her waist while he pressed his chest against hers, leaving no room for space as his tongue easily took control over hers. She was even hyper aware of the cool metal of his rings on her fiery skin, of the pendant of his necklace resting in the dip between her collarbones. Her hands found his hair, fingers threading through the blonde strands and feeling the soft buzz of the shorter strands on the sides and back of his head since he had just recently shaved it once more.

Keeping her hands in Calum’s hair, Nova didn’t assert any control when his lips left hers, her own feeling deliciously swollen from kissing his mouth that was now trailing kisses up her jaw and down her neck. Nova’s eyes closed, head tilting to give him access to as much skin as she could, losing herself in the scratch of his scruff so much so that she didn’t even register his fingers toying with the hem of her sleeping shorts. Calum paid close attention to that one spot in her neck he’d discovered made her breath catch in her throat, lips and teeth and tongue working on leaving a mark in his wake as the soft, breathless gasps Nova was emitting played like music to his ears.

The blood was pumping in Calum’s veins, feeling the way Nova’s body was reacting to him as it spurred him on even more, remembering the first night they did this and vaguely asking himself how he could’ve been stupid enough to think he could push this away. That he could push her away.

His lips left a trail of fire in their wake, igniting Nova’s nerves as he made sure to mark up her neck and throat, her collarbones, even her breasts as he paid particular attention to them. Calum trailed down, down, down, eyes lifting to look at the purplish marks that would soon appear on her golden skin, which was currently bathed in soft reds and pinks, feeling himself harden even more at the way her neck tensed and chest rose and fell because of her labored breathing. Labored breathing caused only by Calum’s mouth, a surge of arrogant smugness coursing through him at the way her left handed fingers pushed her own hair back while the other remained tangled in his own as Calum mouthed along the hemline of her shorts—a wet spot right where it should be soaking through the flimsy material of the piece of clothing.

Looking at her laying there, breathing heavily for him with closed eyes and kiss swollen parted lips, had Calum’s grip on Nova’s hips tightening, fingers digging into her skin. She looked gorgeous, breathtaking—ready for this and ready for him on the bed of some random motel room with a sign way too bright right outside their window. But the red and pink colors provided a nice tint in their second story room, the thin curtains parted ever so slightly, the sound of the rain only just overpowering Nova’s breathing.

Calum looked up at her, head between her thighs and knees resting on the ground, husky tone practically purring smoothly, “Can I show you, doll? Will you let me show you just how much I like you?” Nova’s chest sank with a consensual breath, arching her back ever so slightly to push herself towards Calum. He smirked at her eagerness, one hooked finger pulling back the band of her shorts before snapping it back in place, enjoying the soft sound of it hitting her skin. Not as much as her little gasps, though. Turning his head, Calum mouthed at the inside of Nova’s thigh, purposefully scratching his scruff to her skin. “Gonna have t’use your words, angel.”

“Yeah.” Her response was instant, desperate as her right hand remained in his hair as she tilted her head on the mattress so her gaze could drop to look at him. To look at him leaning on the floor with his head between her legs and wishing so fiercely that he would just take her damn shorts off already. The sight of his short blonde hair already messed up thanks to her fingers, his naturally full lips pink and kissed, darkened eyes standing out against the red and pinks of the room had her heart going into overdrive and throat drying. He looked just as ready to move forward as she did, and the very thought of that was dizzying. His touch felt so familiar but Nova needed so much more of it. “Yes, show me, Cal.”

Much to her relief, her shorts were off right as her answer left her mouth.

Arms wrapping around Nova’s thighs, Calum brought her legs over his shoulders and fluttered more kisses along the inside of both her thighs, watching as she bit at her lower lip in impatience for him to get where she needed him most, her grip on his head slowly growing tight with every kiss he gifted her with. And Calum was nothing if not a generous giver, lips and tongue working at her core enthusiastically as he felt Nova’s other hand tangle through his hair as well, accompanied by the pretty sounds escaping her lips.

He kissed and licked and sucked, adjusting his right arm around her leg so he could use his thumb to rub at her clit in accompaniment of his tongue working her over. Calum’s dark eyes watched Nova; watched as she tilted her head back and parted her lips, listened to the whimpers and appraisals and moans she was making, and felt the way her body was reacting to him as he savored the familiar, dizzying taste of her that he was sure he could never get enough of. His fingers dug into her skin, the metal of his rings biting into her as he expertly brought her closer and closer to the edge.

The sound of his name falling from her lips, breathlessly and eagerly, along with any other noise she was making was overtaking the sound of the rain and Calum reveled in it. Loved the fact that he could make her louder than a storm raging on outside as he ate her like he was starved.

Even as her hands kept his head right where she needed him to be, her orgasm wracking through her body as her moans were joined in by the crude sounds of Calum greedily taking everything she had to give, he didn’t stop. His hooded gaze remained on Nova as his lips sucked at her sensitive clit, holding her down as she writhed under his grip.

Eventually, Calum let up, licking his smirking lips as his lean body slid up hers, feeling Nova’s hands slide to cup his cheeks as she leaned up to kiss him once more, the sounds of her moans as she tasted herself on his tongue firing up Calum’s body all the more. “Taste so good, angel,” Calum rasped against her lips, keeping his weight on his right arm while his left gripped her hip, chests pressed together. Their skin was heated; hot with desperation and desire as Nova’s hands found the waistband of Calum’s sweats, pushing them down as he nipped at her lower lip. “Can’t wait t’feel you ’round me.”

“God, yes, please,” Nova responded, her lips still pressed against his as she spoke, adoring the feel of his mouth on hers and the scruff of his chin and his body pressing against hers. Adoring him.

Their frantic movements never ceased as Calum assisted in ridding of his sweats, eyes catching sight of his wallet on the bedside table. Nova’s eyes followed his gaze, letting out a quiet chuckle as she rolled onto her stomach so she could easily reach for the leather wallet, Calum resting on his knees as she opened it and pulled out a condom. She didn’t even get a chance to turn around as Calum’s body hovered on top of hers, the pendant of his necklace grazing her back as his lips brushed along the shell of her ear. “Hands and knees, baby,” he murmured, grabbing the packet from her.

Nova released another breathless laugh as Calum brushed her long hair over her shoulder, every small and pressing touch igniting a newfound fire in her blood. “Bossy,” she teased.

Calum didn’t waste time in rolling the condom on, the curve of Nova’s ass pressing into him as he teased her slick folds with the tip of his cock. “’S how you like me,” he stated, not even a question, which only served to emphasize the arrogance he displayed in the bedroom that Nova found herself enjoying.

He pushed into her, the sounds of their appreciative groans mixing together as they savored the sensation of being so close, so intimately. His grip was tight on her hips, rings biting into her skin as the sound of rain rapidly pattering against the window was joined by Calum’s hips snapping against hers and groans and moans from both mixing together in inspired symphony.

Shit, he adored being this close to her, craved it for so long and had reveled in it that first night—and now it was even better than he remembered. Calum was pissed at himself for trying to push Nova away, his anger at himself only striving him to quicken his pace, losing himself in how skin was slapping against skin and how fucking good she felt around him.

He shifted them moments later, never relenting, right hand going from Nova’s hip to lay on her lower stomach and the other sliding up her front, his touch scorching her skin as it went. Calum pulled Nova up, pressing her back to his chest as ring clad fingers found her throat in just the right spot, hitting her in just the right spot as Nova tilted her head back on Calum’s shoulder as he put the right amount of pressure where it needed to be.

“Can’t get ’nough of you, angel,” Calum grunted, parted lips quirking into a smirk at the blissed out expression Nova was wearing, tilted his head to mouth hot kisses along her jaw. “Feel s’good.”

Nova’s left hand came up to grasp Calum’s wrist in a daze, feeling the cool metal of his bracelet in her grip as every time he pushed into her, her breath hitched and stars appeared at the back of her lids. He knew exactly how to hold her, knew her body so intimately already, and it was driving her crazy. Her skin felt hot with a thin sheen of sweat, obsessed with the cool press of his rings on her skin and finding it lucky that Calum was holding her up because she knew she couldn’t do so herself with how sinfully he was moving within her.

His words had a breathless smile tugging at Nova’s lips, focusing on forcing out words despite only ever being able to think of how fucking good he felt. “Realize what you’ve been missing, huh?” she teased in a gasp.

Calum tightened the pressure on her neck just a little more at her snippy comment, teeth nipping at her earlobe. She sounded heavenly, panting against him as he brought her to her second orgasm of the night, his own building up quickly as well, refusing to let go until she did.

Calum smirked, knees digging into the mattress, holding Nova tight against him and ready to feel the familiar bursts of electricity within his veins as they neared their release. She was all he wanted—he couldn’t believe he even tried to push her away. Never fucking again. “Can’t miss what’s mine.”

                                                          *****

Nova leaned against the doorway of the bathroom, arms crossed over her chest as her gaze remained on the bed on the other side, just a little to the left. She let herself admire Calum for a moment, leaning back against the headboard with the sheets gathered at his hips, head tilted back as he brought the cigarette up to his kiss swollen lips—thank God they’d lucked out on a room that allowed smoking.

The curtains were parted, the neon colors washing into the room even more. The rain had died down a bit, the relentless slaps of water sounding softer now—less muffled due to the window being open. The smell of rain and cigarettes mixed together in the somewhat dark room, adding onto the stinginess of the room yet remaining to be a combination Nova enjoyed. Wearing Calum’s shirt and being engulfed in his familiarly delicious scent only made everything seem more. . . Intimate.

“You gonna just stand there? Or you gonna join me?”

Nova rolled her honey colored eyes, though her lips quirked up as she wandered back to the bed. She climbed on at the end of the bed on her knees, smiling coyly as Calum’s hooded gaze watched her crawl towards him, the glowing ember at the end of the cigarette in between his lips like a beacon drawing her in. Instead of tucking herself into Calum’s side, Nova brought her right leg over his seated body and settled on his lap, straddling him in nothing but his T-shirt adorning her body and the bedsheets separating them as Calum released a cloud of smoke.

They openly admired each other for a moment, with Nova taking in how his naturally full lips were pink and kissed and how he hadn’t bothered to fix his spiking blonde hair after her fingers had their way in between the strands. And Calum’s lazy gaze drank in the darkening spots on the skin of her neck and throat and how pretty she looked in the red post-sex glaze of the room they’d lost themselves in.

“So are we gonna talk?” Nova spoke, parroting the words he had just uttered as she plucked the cigarette from between his fingers, bringing it to her own mouth and asking, “Or just sit and stare at each other?” before placing it between her lips.

Calum’s eyes were on the way her lips wrapped around the cigarette, briefly flashing to how pretty her lips had looked around him, before his brown eyes met her softer colored ones. His hands found her hips under her—his—shirt as his somewhat hoarse voice questioned, “Talk about what?”

Nova shot him a flat look as she inhaled the nicotine, feeling it familiarly burn at her lungs as she held the smoke in before allowing it to curl out of her mouth when she responded, “About what this is. ’Cause last time this happened, you didn’t handle the aftermath too well.” She reached her arm out to tap the cigarette above the provided ashtray on the bedside, watching as Calum’s lips pursed at her truthful words. “I need to know this time is different, Calum.”

“It is,” he insisted, voice firm and confident as his thumbs rubbed circles at her skin. Calum didn’t blame Nova for seeking reassurance, knew it was his fault she had to in the first place because of how he’d treated her after the first time they slept together. He just hated that he gave her any reason for doubting him in the first place because he was an idiot. “I screwed up before, but ’m not gonna make the same mistake twice, yeah?” His hands lowered just a bit, gripping her thighs as he sat himself up properly instead of slouching, feeling her ankles lock behind his back as he kept his honest gaze on her. Her natural scent that reminded Calum of apples still faintly clung to her, mixed with the nicotine, which he willingly inhaled as there was only a few inches of space between their faces. “I wanna be with you, whether it’s in this motel room or out of it, for as long as you’ll let me.”

Her heart was both flying within her chest while also beating rapidly simultaneously, a warmth spreading through her that was softer than the fierce heat that coiled at her stomach from before. Calum’s words rang with nothing but genuine honesty, his eyes never leaving hers as he spoke, making her stomach flutter and breath catch in her throat. Nova didn’t even want to think of how long she’d waited to hear Calum say something like that, to openly and willingly admit that he wanted to be with her. The fact that she was finally hearing it in some cheap motel room didn’t matter, so long as she got to hear them.

Left hand settling at the back of Calum’s neck, Nova’s fingers lightly threaded through his short blonde hair. She spoke breathily, the rain not loud enough for the sound to be lost. “So we’re giving this a shot?” she questioned, absently ridding of the used cigarette in the ashtray so her now free fingers could lightly play with the pendant of his necklace, long lashes lower as she watched herself do so. “You and me?”

Calum’s throat worked, unable to stop himself from thinking just how pretty she was. Pretty, smart, funny, kind, daring and everything else that made Nova the person she was—the person Calum was, he could finally admit, so hopelessly head over heels for. A warm yet fierce admiration that he wanted to hold on for as long as the universe allowed for him to, because while Nova was one of the best friends he could’ve asked for, she was so much more than that. So much more special and worth having in his life, and he’d be damned if he let himself ruin this. Not again.

“Yeah,” his husky voice replied earnestly, nudging his nose with hers so she could meet his gaze. Calum’s lips curled upwards in a fond, sincere smile as his hands gently cupped her cheeks. He softly pressed his lips to hers in a slow, gentle sucking kiss that Nova returned, and Calum felt the same shocks of electricity rush through his veins at the first touch of their lips. She woke something inside of him with every touch, and it drove Calum crazy in the best ways. How could he ever deprive himself—deprive both of them—of that kind of undeniably thrilling sensation?

He pulled away ever so slightly, foreheads and noses touching, lips brushing against hers as he murmured over the gentle patter of rain, “You and me, angel. What d’you say to that?”

Nova’s lips curled into a smile, a glimmer in her honey eyes that had Calum smiling as well because how could she not, when she was looking at him like that? And then she laughed, gleeful and melodic and easily making Calum do just the same as pressed her lips to his and mused in relief, “About time.”

tags: @crownedbyluke @irwinkitten @glitterprincelu @softforcal @valentinelrh @hotmessmichael @astroashtonio @hereforlukescruff @c-sainthood @flannelpunkcalum @calumh-excess @captain-what-is-going-on @angelbbycal @cosmixcalum @invisiblexcth @empathycth @calteahood @hearts-to-the-sky @slimthicccal @cathartichaoss @calumhoodless @softboycal @calumculture @fucking5sos @soulmatecashton @babygirlcashton @rosecoloredash @inlovehoodx @dontjinx-it @wrappedaroundcal @monsteramongmikey @bloodlinecal @sublimehood @xhaileyreneex @cliffordcntrl @calistheloml @cal-pal-cuddles @gettingjillywithit @grittyisathot @ohhmuke @egyptiangoldhood @akacalciumhood @asht0ns-world @old-zeppelin-shirt @calumsmermaid @5secondssofssummer @5sos-stan4lyfe @calntynes @all-i-want-is2b-loved-by-you @booklove-2 @isabella-mae13 @kchillout @lovelettercalum @checkeredcalum @saintcalum 

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[yoontothemoon]

almost ,

pairing — kim mingyu x female reader words — 2003. it is a little long, sorry. warnings — themes of underaged drinking ( technically if you’re in the states ). drugs ( marijuana ). also technically making bonfires on a beach is illegal. summary — he was an ex-something, an ex-maybe, an ex-almost. 

you used to love the ocean.

used to.

honestly, you used to love a lot of things. you have convinced yourself that used to was a state of being. it was better than the alternative anyway as you looked out to the waves, watching them lap against your knees before receding again.

it was a reflection of the night and how things transpired over time. the things that went wrong and the people you had crossed.

you wanted to feel numb to it all, half begging seungcheol for whatever remnants of cannabis he had left tucked behind his ear and rolled between his fingers. they were like tiny apologies that he could press into your palm, hoping for something better.

you count the ways that things went wrong.

— one ,

you don’t really know why you agreed by you suppose that seungcheol had coaxed you with the promise of alcohol at first. he was about the only one your trusted to hand you anything because he would test it first. he was a true friend, despite dragging you out of your obvious comfort zone.

he always repaid his debts.

despite all of your better judgment, you had agreed to go on the stupid trek from school to the beach. soonyoung had suggested that you make a day of, with a bonfire and food—with friends, though you weren’t quite sure you could call them that. 

you didn’t like the idea, but your friends classmates did ( or rather the female ones ). so, the lot of you had gathered outside the university, so thankful for the end of semester. 

it was a time to make memories, you thought, despite how odd you felt in the mismatched group of acquaintances. that was the best that you could call them considering you barely knew half of them as it was. you knew them from high school, though you barely shared any classes and even now as you had made your way into university.

you had moved on with them, from school to school so you supposed that was why you agreed.

you agreed because she wanted you to be there. she wanted you to be her back up.

there was no way to say no.

it was a flaw in your code—a mistake, as your backbone slipped from beneath you.

— two ,

you had spent five—or some—years around him. five. five in which you barely spoke to one another, watching from across the way. four, in which, you wished you could just disappear and one where you held your tongue. that was the extent of your interaction with kim mingyu. it was one class, twice a week for five years.

band. 

however lame it might have been, it was the one time you could have interacted—which you did not. 

it wasn’t a glamorous class, not something that you were proud of by any means but you liked it. even if you sat across the way and he never quite looked your way. not when you sat in first chair violin while he sat on the opposite end with percussion and acoustic guitar.

it was better that way, you think.

you were happy just to know him—a version of him that you had made up in your mind. a silly infatuation with someone you didn’t even know.

he was your secret. not well kept or concealed but still hidden—like hiding a needle in a stack of needles.

you were one of many in the five years you sat across to him. you just acted indifferently.

— three ,

when she tells you that she likes him, you can’t help but smile.

it wasn’t a good smile, or a happy smile. it was your defensive mechanism. 

you smiled.

you had resigned, some time ago, to smiling through everything because frowning seemed like a waste of time. and if you smiled, you knew you could at least pretend for a while—pretend until it felt like you weren’t pretending anymore. until it made you feel just an ounce better, even if it was a lie.

you knew it wasn’t a way to live, but what else could you do?

you smiled, barely and controlled with the kiss of disappointment at the edges. it wasn’t as if you could call dibs on a person, after all.

you resigned to let her have him because that was what friends did. it was what you did. you put everyone else first.

— four ,

you’re not brave, through rightfully who at that age between your teens and adulthood really was?

there a considerable amount of thought went into it. you were not brave. and as much as you wanted to speak your mind, you faltered. you rarely faltered when it came to this. rarely missing a beat between snarky and half-way witty comments.

you become a lesser version of yourself, not quite there. you shrink. you make yourself smaller, as if you aren’t the sun so that other stars could shine just that much brighter.

at that age, you didn’t know how quickly you could burn out—how terrible it was to diminish yourself in the presence of others.

you could count the ways it went wrong.

you think that the universe is petty, petty because it threw you in this situation. petty because you wanted to steer clear of this and it just said no.

it was unfortunate, you supposed because sometime between the walk to the beach and prepping the bonfire, you found yourself situated on mingyu’s lap.

it wasn’t the first time that night that he had you all to himself.

he had lingered behind the group, not once but twice.

once, when you crouched down to tie your shoe. twice, when you had slowed to wait as the light had changed.

in those moments, you made light conversation—much more than the two words a class you had allotted in all the time you had known him. correction, known of him. it might have been enough for him to think you were funny, you think in the briefest moments of eye contact.

you didn’t think about the fact that he towered a head over you. you didn’t think about the way that he stuffed his hands in his pockets to stop him from reaching over to pull your cardigan back on your shoulder. ( you note that he had noticed, mentally debating on whether he should or not. ) and you definitely didn’t think about the fact that your friend was staring from across the street. 

you did think about the way he laughed—so full and hardy when he’d throw his head back. you had always thought it was a courtesy. it was the way that the laughter rolled through him accompanied by his habit—fingers carding through the black. he’d push his bangs back after he had settled with lips pressed together, collecting himself in the aftermath.

so you flashed him a smile, however small and beneath you. a smile that seemed only half way there, controlled and a little too put together as you walked. you didn’t think anything of it, a habit you had formed over the years.

but he surprised you, faltering slightly.

“it’s okay to frown, y’know.” he commented with the faint trace of his lisp at the edge of his words. it was the first time that you had truly looked at him, slightly wide-eyed before averting your gaze again. 

you didn’t know how to respond—not one smart mouthed comment, though you were a little preoccupied. you noted the way that he looked at you. you tried to ignore it. it was a look that spelled an inkling of affection when the corners of his lips tugged up trying to make light of his comment. he quickly replaced the confidence with clumsy fumbling until you had decided to walk a bit faster.

you lowered your gaze after that moment, half ready to shove and smooth down the edges of your misplaced infatuation.

that was until you found yourself on his lap.

it was a simple choice, barely noticeable when he had caught your hand and pulled you down. it was an ill attempt to pull you out of the way of soonyoung shuffling driftwood about with seokmin.

a part of you thought nothing of it, a simple gesture considering everyone knew you were clumsy. ( you would never hear the end of infamous story in first year where you had taken down every single sheet music stand in one go. ) to reconcile the fact even when seungcheol quirked a brow at you, eyes shifting to the lingering hand at your waist.

you looked back, holding your breath for dear life.

you counted the ways in which you made it worse.

in the moments in between, you forgot about your situation. you were almost bright, radiating your light in hushed conversation. you felt at ease because the girls had gone to get food and the boys had haphazardly tried to start the fire.

it was just mingyu and you in your own little world, half reminiscing about the last year—the year you had gotten closer before you closed off. you had forgotten what it was like to laugh, reminding yourself that he wasn’t just in your head—or rather he was.

it was a moment. just the one that you shared with him. it was the culmination of regret of not talking sooner and the almost confessions that darted between lips and the flash of his canines.

it was easier to hold them in, right at the roof of your mouth as you thought of responses until your private conversation drifted away. 

your attentions shifted as you started to laugh at soonyoung’s splintered pain and joshua’s mocking impressions. you stopped paying attention to mingyu, so much so that you relaxed.

you made no effort to move. you might have been inclined had mingyu not causally placed his hand on your hip, drumming faint rhythms against your thigh. you balanced yourself lightly, with a hand on his shoulder—fingers etching stars against his skin like second nature.

it wasn’t until someone had commented on how comfortable you looked that you shifted. you turned your head at the exact moment that he had.

“gyu?” 

“did you-”

too close, your brain lit up with alarms and alerts blaring in your ears in the seconds that your lips almost brushed against one another. he was an almost, though you had no time to think about it.

you realized, all too suddenly, that those alarms were tangible as soonyoung hastily tried to put out the bonfire.

you scattered. pulled apart from each other as you took off in different directions.

you could have sworn that he tried to hold your hand, in the faintest moments when you stood. you swore you could feel the warmth of his palm and his fingers pressing constellations against yours.

you were never great at holding on.

you retreated, like fleeing the scene of a crime. 

quite literally.

cheol was your witness, wandering to the end of the beach where the rocks met the waves. it was as fast as your legs could carry you, hoping that exhaustion wouldn’t kick in too suddenly. bolting down the beach without looking back. 

( perhaps, you were thankful to your younger self for double knotting your shoes. )

you were desperate not to look back, not at the devastation on your friend’s face or whatever blush you could see on mingyu’s face from the dim embers.

it was enough distraction for you, but even more so when seungcheol all but pulled you into the water.

the ocean always seemed to ground you, waves chilling your legs as you held the hem of your skirt. and though you hated the fact that your converse were down soaked, you waded further in.

“are you okay?” he asked, passing you the lit papered apology.

“no,” you respond, trying your best to breath out the feelings with every puff.

you loved the ocean, but that was before you threw your infatuation into it.

#svt mingyu #seventeen mingyu #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #seventeen drabbles #mingyu imagines #mingyu scenarios #fanfiction #kpop scenarios #m: mingyu #a: yoontothemoon #svt angst #seventeen angst

[accio-kitty-malfoy]

A Breath of Fresh Hair

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24633025/chapters/59552158

Chapter Two: Friends, Reunited.

 Charlie had arrived late into the previous night. Harry had heard him being greeted by his mother and father. He could see in his mind Arthur taking the luggage out of Charlie’s hands and Molly replacing it with a cup of tea. Harry fell to sleep with their indistinguishable chatter floating in and out of his ears. The morning after he was able to take in Charlie’s appearance. The last time he’d seen him was about four months previously and he was just a little bit more tanned, his muscles were a little bigger and his silky hair was that little bit longer. Harry’s fingers twitched at the thought of tidying it up a little bit and feeling the weight and shine of it in his fingers. Envy also flitted in the pit of his stomach. He loved cutting and styling others’ hair, but his was still an uncontrollable mop. Charlie was also clearly covering up yet another new tattoo. Harry thought that Ginny looked the most like Charlie out of all the brothers; both of them had a somewhat androgynous beauty and natural glow about them.

“You alright mate?” Ron’s concerned face came into focus over his cup of tea.

“Yeah, just thinking I guess.” Harry smiled reassuringly at Ron and began to eat the omelette that had just been placed down in front of him. It was delicious.

 Bill and Fleur arrived just after all the breakfast things had been cleared away. The heat had come back with a vengeance and Fleur looked like she was melting with her huge baby bump. A gigantic smile kept breaking out on Bill’s face every time he looked at her. Fleur was on Maternity Leave from her position as a healer at St Mungo’s and she was due to give birth a couple of weeks after Ron and Hermione’s wedding. When they’d told the family, Molly could barely contain her excitement. She’d already knitted the baby enough clothes for the first year of its existence. Harry chatted with the family for a while, enjoying the busy hustle and bustle of people having several different conversations at once, people flitting in and out of the kitchen doing jobs and Bill and Fleur’s Basset Hound Philippe playing with Charlie’s Central Asian Shepherd Hound Lucy.

 Ginny was buzzing with nervous energy next to Harry. They’d decided that Harry was going to cut their hair the next day. They were going for a style that was short at the sides with some length at the top so they could style it if they wanted to. It was currently tied up in its usual messy bun and Harry couldn’t wait to get his hands on it. Ginny had spoken to Hermione about it, worried that the drastic change would detract attention from her at the wedding and put it on Ginny instead. Hermione had just smiled and wrapped Ginny in a hug, assuring them that they should do whatever made them comfortable. Harry could tell that Ginny was worried about how her family would react. Harry knew that they had no reason to be. They’d all been perfectly accepting when Charlie had come out as gay and then later on as asexual, but he could also understand Ginny’s fears. They’d also been the only little girl of the family for a long time. Ginny was also super nervous about the upcoming trials for the Holyhead Harpies. They’d been training non-stop since they’d been asked to try out the previous month. The try-outs were still a month off, but Ginny wanted to position of Chaser so badly that all of their fiery determination had been poured into practicing and training. Harry reached under the table and squeezed their hand, shooting them a small smile, and they seemed to calm down a fraction. Ginny jumped slightly as an owl tapped frantically on the kitchen window. It was Pig with a letter. They ran over to the window to let the frantic owl in and carefully untied the letter before giving the tiny owl a treat and rushing upstairs.

“Gin’s been getting a lot of letters recently,” Ron remarked, looking up from the sketch book in front of him and tucking a pencil behind his ear. “I wonder who they’re from.”

 The Weasley kids and Harry decided to go out for a friendly game of quidditch before lunch, Fleur and Hermione watching from a blanket set up under a large parasol. Ron, Bill, and Harry were on one tea; Charlie, Ginny and George were on the other. The game soon became fierce and sweat was dripping off them all before they’d finished. Ron had become a pretty good keeper, but he was no match against Ginny. They were relying on Harry to catch the snitch, but the game came to an end before that happened when Arthur came out with a tray of his home brewed cider and two gooseberryaids for Ginny and Fleur. They were all parched and the cold beverages felt like heaven as they lounged in the shade, sipping and chatting. Molly was soon walking out of the house towards them, lugging the picnic that her and Ron had prepared the day before. It was spread out on blankets and everyone ate ravenously, and silence fell upon them for a while. When a lot of the food had been consumed and people were picking at bits that were left, conversation started up again and turned towards the upcoming wedding.

“Are you excited Hermione?” Fleur asked, resting her glass on her bump and shifting to try and get comfortable again.

“I am. There’s been so much to plan, but I’ve been so thankful for my mum and Molly helping with the organisation. They’ve been stars.”

“I can’t wait to see your dress, I bet you’re going to look stunning.” Charlie grinned at her. Harry agreed. He wondered what kind of style she’d gone with. For her job at the ministry she usually just wore smart trousers and a blouse and comfy shoes that allowed her to be on her feet as much as she needed to, and around the house she either wore cropped capris and a tank top and cardigan or maxi dresses. She usually either had her hair braided to keep it away from her face or left it natural and wore a thick fabric headband. Comfort and practicality were Hermione’s style, but she always looked effortlessly wonderful.  She smiled back at them and tapped the side of her nose. Ron looked at her adoringly.

 Ron and Hermione got together at the end of the war. There was something about them that just fit. Hermione was strong and independent, and Ron loved that about her. He knew that she could look after herself and he admired her passion and drive. She’d gone back to Hogwarts to study and get the qualifications she needed to get the job she wanted at the Ministry. She threw herself into her studies as a way of dealing with her grief and as a way of proving herself to others. Ron stayed at The Burrow and looked after his mum. He cooked and cleaned on the days that she couldn’t get out of bed and he drew a lot. He would go out for hours walking and drawing landscapes. He drew a portrait of Hermione for their first anniversary and it was one of the most beautiful things that Harry had ever seen. He’d managed to catch her power, calm confidence and wicked mischief whilst also perfectly portraying her soft curves, perfect skin and gorgeous bouncy hair. It really was a masterpiece. After a while he started drawing up plans for buildings that Dean and Seamus were working on. They offered him a position in their business as a partner. He declined, saying he’d rather work freelance, but they would have first dibs on him if they ever needed him. It was tough for the couple at the start of their relationship. They were apart for a lot of it, only seeing each other at weekends and during the holidays, and they were both broken and grieving. They made it work though. The three of them spent the weekends and holidays that Hermione was back from Hogwarts looking for ways to fid her parents and restore their memories. It took them seven and a half months, but they managed it with the help of the rest of the family and the teachers at Hogwarts. Harry blinked a couple of times, picking up a handful of blueberries and anchoring himself back in the present. Ginny squeezed his shoulder supportively and left to go and find more cider for the rest of the group and gooseberryade for themselves.

 Neville, Dean and Seamus arrived later on that day. They were going to spend the couple of days before the wedding putting together gazebos and marquees to give people places to shelter from the heat. Neville was in charge of living flower arrangements, including flowers that glowed with soft light when it went dark that would provide lighting in the evening. The next couple of days were bound to be full of stress, work and excitement. None of them minded, however, as they’d been promised Molly and Ron’s cooking. Harry was looking forward to watching everyone creating and working with the things they loved. It was fascinating to him to see people so passionate about things. He was charged with odd jobs and then styling the hair of the bridal party, which included Hermione the bride, Ginny as the maid of honour and Fleur and Luna as the bridesmaids. He couldn’t wait to see what they all looked like after he’d finished, especially when they were all in their beautiful clothes.

 After a while, Charlie, Bill and Fleur went back into the house and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Dean, Seamus and Neville sat reminiscing about their days at Hogwarts. Neville had become a professor of Herbology at Hogwarts the year before after his Grandmother had passed away and was looking forward to going back after the summer. He adored his job; he swore when he took up the position that no child under his care would ever feel the way he did at school and Harry knew that he would stick to his word. He also wrote a plant advice column for the Quibbler and dabbled in landscaping and flower arranging in his spare time, if he ever had any. He’d been ecstatic when Ron and Hermione had asked him to do the flowers for their wedding. Dean and Seamus had brought Noodle along with them and the three dogs were bounding around the garden, making a game of who could make the biggest splashes in the pond. The group sat watching and laughing at the dogs, making bets on which one would run up to them and shake water all over them first.

 “Pizza?” Ron’s question caused a flurry of excitement amongst the friends and they all gave him their orders for him to make on his outdoor pizza oven. The pizza was crisp, the cheese was gooey, and Harry was thankful that he was Ron’s best friend; the guy knew how to cook. After they were all so stuffed with pizza that they didn’t think they could move, Seamus conjured a fire pit and Ron went to look for marshmallows. They sat late into the night drinking and talking and being at piece with the world. They were all excited about the wedding and all of the things that were planned for after it, but after a while they all began struggling to keep their eyes open and decided that it was time to retire to the house, ready for the insane amount of work that they would be doing in the following couple of days.

 Harry went to sleep with a full stomach and a full heart.

#drarry #pan ginny #non binary ginny #trans luna #bi harry potter #gay draco malfoy #black hermione granger #aromantic asexual charlie

[darks-ink]

What A Nice Surprise CH.11

Almost at the end! Also I have such a good time writing these family fluff scenes, not gonna lie.

First Chapter - Previous Chapter - Next Chapter AO3 - FFnet

The doorbell rang, and Maddie looked up from the dinner she was preparing, startled. From the corner of her eye she could see Jack do the same, the invention he was tinkering with immediately put down on the table.

“D’you think that that’s Phantom?” her husband asked, turning to glance at the clock. “A little late for him, don’t you think?”

“He might be in trouble.” She put down her knife, glad that she hadn’t put anything on the fire yet. “We shouldn’t keep him waiting.”

Jack nodded, following her towards the front door. “Right you are, Mads.”

When she opened the door, she was immediately – instinctively – scanning over Phantom’s appearance. Glow was bright but flickering – emotion, maybe, instead of exhaustion – and no ectoplasm stained his suit. No visible injuries, tears, rips.

Then she noticed the ghost hovering next to him, almost identical in appearance, and she blinked in surprise.

“Hi Maddie, Jack,” Phantom said, a lopsided smile on his face. “Can we, uh, come in?”

“Of course.” She stepped aside, and both ghosts floated in. The other ghost glanced around, green eyes wide with curiosity, which further cemented Maddie’s suspicion that this wasn’t a duplicate gone wrong. Not that she thought Phantom was capable of duplication, anyway, but he had a tendency to surprise them.

“Who’s this?” Jack asked, smiling at the girl ghost. He offered her his hand, and hesitantly, she took it. “I don’t think Phantom ever mentioned your name, kiddo.”

She glanced from Jack to Phantom, then back again. “I’m, um. Danielle. But call me Dani, please?”

Jack released her hand, instead patting her on the shoulder with his massive hand. “Dani, nice to meet you! I’m Jack, and this is my wife Maddie.” He gestured over to her, and she reached out to shake hands with the ghost as well.

“Pleasure to meet you,” she said as they shook, smiling at the young ghost. Younger than Phantom even. By a couple years, if she had to guess. And so similar that they must’ve been siblings. “I didn’t know that Phantom had more ghosts in his family, to be honest. He’s never spoken of you.”

Dani laughed awkwardly, glancing over to Phantom again. The other ghost came to her rescue, nodding towards the living room. “Ah, yes, well. I’ve got a good explanation for that, and one that maybe… we should sit down for?”

Maddie caught a concerned look from Jack, and silently agreed. To Phantom, she nodded. “Yes, of course. Come, have a seat.” She added the last for Dani, gesturing at the couch.

She, herself, sat down on the couch itself, Jack by her side. Phantom and Dani both perched on the armchair, simultaneously, each taking an arm. The two ghosts shared a look, one she couldn’t decipher, but she did catch the shrug from Dani and the exasperated eye roll from Phantom.

Definitely siblings.

“So, now that we’re all situated…” She leaned forward, hands interlinked, expression patient and open but waiting. “I think we would both like to hear more.”

“Right, right.” Phantom looked over at his probably-sister, comfortingly patted her on the shoulder, then turned back to her and Jack. “So, basically, the short version is that Plasmius tried to clone me but didn’t do a very good job of it.”

Maddie felt her jaw drop, and Jack produced a strange noise between a cough and a surprised yelp.

“Excuse me?” she said, already seeing that they were serious – Dani looked seriously uncomfortable, and Phantom was clearly trying to make her feel better despite the circumstances. “But how? Why?”

“Because he sucks,” Dani mumbled under her breath. More loudly, she added, “He wasn’t happy with how well Phantom was doing. He still wanted to train Phantom, but he stood no chance of getting the actual Phantom, so he figured he would make his own.”

“Except that that was easier said that done,” Phantom continued, picking up the slack for Dani. “No matter how he tried, he couldn’t produce a stable ghost, one that could last. So he, uh. Decided to go a little more traditional on how ghosts are formed.”

The ghost wrapped an arm around his supposed clone, pulling her against his side. “He decided to use human DNA, too. I’m not sure what he was expecting – maybe that the human side would die and help guide the formation of the ghost? But I do know what ended up happening.”

“Well, it must’ve worked somehow.” Jack gestured at the two ghosts perched on the armchair, frowning. “Although he must’ve done a bad job with the DNA either way, if she ended up a girl.”

Dani glanced between Phantom and Maddie and Jack, brow creased. Then she nudged Phantom. “I’ll just show them. That’s easier, right?”

“Probably,” the ghost acknowledged. To the two humans, he said, “Trust me, there’s a good reason why I’m confident in saying that things didn’t work out as Plasmius expected. And there’s also a good reason why we came here.”

The clone nodded, pushing off of the chair. Rather than float, however, she settled with her feet set on the floor. She balled her hands into fists, then resolutely raised them in the air.

Maddie was about to ask what she was trying to achieve when a bright spark formed close to the girl’s waist. It expanded rapidly, forming a ring of white light around the ghost. One ring became two, slowly splitting apart and moving across Dani’s body.

Admittedly intrigued by this, Maddie sat back and watched with a strict eye. The area between the rings, which they had passed over, seemed to change in appearance. Rather than the black-and-white suit which she wore, reminiscent of Phantom’s own, an oversized blue hoodie and red shorts appeared. Her bare legs had the same skin tone as her face, that strangely human tint, and eventually blue-and-white sneakers appeared as well.

Then the ring passed over her head, over her scrunched-shut eyes and her hair… and white turned pitch black. A red beanie appeared, but it did little to hide the messy black haircut.

She gasped, and Dani opened wary eyes. Blue eyes.

The girl – ghost? – flinched under the watching eyes of her and Jack, folding in on herself, and Phantom quickly laid a calming hand on her shoulder.

“Shh, it’s okay Dani,” he soothed, pulling her back onto the chair and against his side. “They’re just surprised because they’ve never seen anything like that before. It’s okay, right, Jack, Maddie?”

Startled back to the present, she quickly nodded. “Yes, of course. It’s just…” She gestured at Dani, vaguely. “I’m not sure I get it. Is this not just a form of shapeshifting? A little strange, of course, if it’s not a power you possess, but–”

“No, no,” Phantom cut her off, shaking his head. “She didn’t just change on the outside. She became human. V- Plasmius, he used human DNA, right? And now Dani isn’t entirely ghost. She’s part human, too.”

She frowned, looking over at Jack. Surely that wasn’t possible…? They had looked into it before, the possibility of combining living matter and ectoplasm, but they deemed it impossible. One couldn’t be alive and dead at the same time. Ectoplasm simply wasn’t complex enough to sustain such a thing.

But wasn’t Phantom virtually alive, too? With a heartbeat and organs, and a need to breathe and eat and sleep?

“Do you know whose DNA he used for the human side?” Jack asked, seemingly unconcerned by whether or not this was scientifically possible. “To what extent does she resemble you, Phantom? Any traits carried over from when you were alive?”

The ghost started, eyes big and staring at Jack. “Well, um. We don’t know where the DNA came from, so. We don’t know how much came from the human DNA, and how much might’ve come from me. We think it might be 50/50, but we can’t prove it.”

“And I’m not really interested in finding out anyway,” Dani confessed with a shrug. Her sneakers thumped against the chair, legs too short to reach the floor from where she was perched on the arm again. “The whole… genetics thing, I don’t care about. I wasn’t born, so as far as I’m concerned, I don’t have a real family. A blood family.”

Jack snorted, then hummed. “A family doesn’t have to be related to be a family. And, the same way, people can be related to you and raise you your whole life and not be your family. It’s all about caring.”

Phantom raised the arm that was wrapped around Dani to ruffle her hair. “And you’re still my family, anyway, lil sis. We share DNA, and I care about you, so you’re my family twice over.”

Her face twisted into a shaky smile, and she shoved Phantom. “So you keep saying.”

“I keep saying it because it’s true!” the ghost protested, barely holding onto the chair, fingers digging into the plush material. “I called dibs, you’re mine now! Don’t make me lick you to prove it!”

“Lick me?” Dani repeated with a questioning frown and a smile. “What’s that supposed to–”

Phantom lunged, suddenly, wrapping both of his arms around Dani and pulling her against his chest. Then he stuck out his ecto-green tongue, pretending to lick her, before ruffling her hair. “There!” he exclaimed loudly, “Everyone knows that once you’ve licked food it’s yours, so obviously the same rule goes for siblings, right?”

“Ew, dude.” Dani made a disgusted face, attempting to grapple Phantom off of her again. “That’s disgusting!”

Maddie felt herself smile involuntarily. Jack nudged her, and she looked over to see him grin widely as well.

“Remember when our kids were like that?” he asked, face so bright she wouldn’t be surprised if he glowed like a ghost.

“Are you sure these aren’t ours too?” From the corner of her eye she watched Dani, her crystalline blue eyes and her roughed-up black hair. The shape of her face, so similar to Phantom and so similar to… to Danny.

Her eyes softened. “Jack, don’t you see it as well? They don’t know where Dani’s human DNA came from, but…”

“You think it’s Danny too?” He wrapped an arm around her, pressing a kiss against her temple. “Well, I’m not opposed to having another kid.”

“Phantom is practically ours as well,” she agreed, a soft smile on her face as she leaned against her husband. “But we’ll have to ask the kids too, honey. Phantom only drops by occasionally, but I won’t let Dani do that. She has human needs, and deserves to be raised that way, too.”

“Do you really mean that?”

Maddie started, suddenly reminded that Phantom and Dani were there too, and looked over to the two. They had halted in the middle of a fight, Dani sitting on Phantom’s chest, her wide blue eyes staring at Maddie.

“Do you really… Are you really saying you want me to stay here?”

“Well… Of course, sweetie.” She shifted, and Jack took the silent message and let go of her. Standing up, she crouched down next to Dani. “Phantom is virtually our family. And if you’re his family, then you’re ours as well.”

Dani blinked big watery eyes at her. Then suddenly she sprung forward, her twiggy arms wrapping around Maddie. She stumbled, barely catching the girl, but held her nonetheless.

The couch creaked behind them as Jack got up too, moving closer. He wrapped an arm around the two of them as well, tugging Phantom closer with his other. “We’re all a family, Dani, Phantom. Blood-related or not.”

She nodded against Maddie’s chest, warm in her arms. Her breaths – short and stuttery due to her tears – were hot against Maddie’s bare neck.

“Thank you,” Dani muttered between sobs, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Maddie untangled one hand, gently wiping a few tears off of Dani’s face. “I don’t care where you came from, sweetie. If you’ll have us, we would love to be your new family. We’ll have to ask our other kids, but they’ll be happy to have you, too, I promise.”

“If you say so…” Dani fidgeted, shooting a fleeting glance over at Phantom. Catching the underlying meaning, Jack dragged Phantom even closer, one arm slung around the ghost’s shoulders. Once he was close enough, Dani dug her fingers into his jumpsuit, pulling him into a proper hug, the two of them sandwiched between her and Jack.

Phantom spluttered, surprised, color fading from his extremities as he instinctively tapped into intangibility. But Dani held on, and once he realized what was happening, Phantom melted into the hug, too. He was cold where Dani was warm, his snowy white hair gently waving on a non-existent wind. But he was no less real for it, soft muscle and sharp bones in a too-lean body.

A green flush spread on Phantom’s cheeks, his glow warm and soothing, illuminating the matching red blush on Dani’s face. The two of them were curled into each other, with her and Jack’s arms wrapped around the both of them, pulled against both of their bodies.

She wasn’t sure how long the four of them ended up sitting there. Eventually she became aware of the hum Phantom seemed to emit. The ghost didn’t seem aware of it, despite it steadily increasing in volume, but Jack’s wide-eyed look suggested that he heard it, too. Felt it, as well.

It was… it was almost like a purr. With his eyes scrunched closed and his face soft and pleased, Phantom looked – and sounded – like a content cat. Did ghosts purr, somehow? Had they simply never noticed before, too occupied to hear the soft sound?

“You’re purring again,” Dani murmured, voice soft and somewhat sleepy as she nudged Phantom. “It makes my core feel weird.”

Phantom’s eyes opened as he squinted at her, and the hum quieted. It didn’t leave entirely, though, as he protested, “It’s not a purr. It’s just my core humming.”

“It sure sounds like a purr.” Dani grinned, lopsided. “You sounds like a cat.”

Luminescent green eyes opened further just so Phantom could roll them, and he pushed himself slightly further out of the embrace just so he could look at her properly. “It’s a hum. It’s normal for ghosts, in case you didn’t know, when they’re content and around their family.”

“So it is a purr,” Jack teased, a faux-thoughtful look on his face. “Like a happy cat.”

The ghost gasped, offended, as his gaze swept over to Jack. “Not you too! It’s not a purr, it’s my core!”

“Are you really upset that we’re comparing a phenomenon we’re not familiar with to a much-beloved equivalent in cats?” Maddie asked, ruffling Phantom’s hair. “A ghost core is strange to us, as is its behavior. The purring of a cat, however…”

He huffed, a childish pout on his face as he crossed his arms. It only lasted for a few moments before he broke out in a laugh, chuckling. “Alright, alright, fine. I’m not mad.”

“You almost had me going, kid!” Jack laughed too, clapping Phantom on the shoulder. “I was worried for a sec!”

Maddie watched the three of them laugh, a soft smile on her face too. Then she caught sight of the clock on the far wall and froze.

“What’s wrong?” Phantom asked almost immediately, clearly worried. His glow flickered anxiously.

“Nothing, nothing. I just saw how late it was getting,” Maddie confessed, starting the arduous task of untangling herself from the pile of limbs. “I barely got started on dinner, and I’ll need to make more now. Phantom, sweetie, will you eat along too?”

“I, uh, shouldn’t.” He made a complicated face, then patted Dani on the shoulder. “You’ll be okay without me, right? I’ll stick around so you can get introduced to the Fenton kids, but I really should go afterwards.”

Dani looked hesitant, but relaxed a little as Phantom explained. She nodded. “Okay, I guess. I can’t force you to stay, anyway.”

“If you couldn’t make it without me I would stay, of course.” He nudged her, keeping half an eye on Maddie as she wrestled herself out from in-between the ghost and the half-ghost. “But Maddie and Jack will take care of you, you know that, right?”

“Yeah,” Dani agreed, expression softening as she looked at the two of them. “Yeah, I know that.”

Phantom patted his sister-clone on her shoulder once more, then he lifted in the air. Phased himself out of the pile, which allowed Maddie to pull herself out as well.

Jack, seeing the pile get broken up, pushed himself to his feet as well. “I’ll call the kids down, then. Get everyone introduced.”

She nodded at him, dusting off her jumpsuit a little. “I’ll be in the kitchen. Call me over if you need me for anything.”

“Will do,” he agreed with a nod, helping Dani to her feet as well. “But I’m sure it’ll be alright. We’ve got some great kids, Mads.”

“Even more now that we had before.” She smiled over at Phantom and Dani, watching them react simultaneously; both blushed, turning to face away from them. Laughing a little at the identical display, she started making her way to the kitchen.

It didn’t take her long to realize she was being followed, and she glanced over her shoulder to see an awkward-looking Phantom. Quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Figured I would see if I could help,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck as he floated after her. “Since I’m kind of responsible for the hold-up, and all that.”

“You really don’t have to, sweetie. It’s not your fault.” She paused in front of the pan of already-peeled potatoes, frowning at the crumpled things. Without their skin, they hadn’t lasted.

“Maybe not,” the ghost acknowledged, “But I feel responsible anyway, and I want to help.”

She clicked her tongue, then turned to hand him the pan. “Well, if you insist on helping, get rid of these for me, please. But really, Phantom, it’s alright. You can calm that rabid sense of responsibility, I promise.”

“No can do.” He huffed out a laugh, grinning at her as he moved to the trashcan. “It’s an uncontrollable beast.”

“That honestly sounds a little worrying.” She watched him with a creased brow. “You’re just a kid, Phantom. You shouldn’t feel responsible for so much stuff. Even what you’re doing for Amity Park, it’s a little much, isn’t it?”

“I’m fine, Mom,” Phantom groaned. Then he stilled entirely, flushing bright green, staring wide-eyed at her. Embarrassed, apparently, at having called her ‘Mom’. Like she and Jack hadn’t been telling him for forever that he was basically one of their kids, born to them or not. Maybe if he would tell his own parents he wouldn’t go searching for new ones.

But it wasn’t like she could just tell him that. He would clam up.

Instead she crossed her arms, stared him down impassively, one brow raised. “Is that so? Because you look a little thin, Phantom, have you been eating properly? Honestly, you’re as bad as my son.”

Phantom spluttered, pressing his hands against his face but peeking between his fingers to watch her. The white gloves stood out starkly against his flushed-green skin. “Are you for real?”

“Oh, I’m for real.” She smiled at him, then decided to take mercy and turn away. Instead she started rummaging through the fridge, hoping to find something to warm up – cooking an entirely new meal would take too long. “I feel like he never eats, and I’m not sure why. And you, Phantom, might be busy, but that’s no reason to skip meals!”

The ghost continued to sputter behind her, and her grin grew wider. Not that he could see, anyway, since she was still facing the fridge.

Speaking of which, wow, what a sad sight. She definitely needed to do groceries. Might as well take a trip to the mall too, take Dani along so she can buy some more clothes. Her hoodie and shorts certainly seemed like actual human clothes, but Maddie highly doubted that she owned a lot of those. Maybe even nothing besides what she was wearing. And really, that wouldn’t do.

She clicked her tongue, straightening up again. But the kitchen was empty – Phantom seemed to have left. Strange. She hadn’t heard Dani call for him, but maybe he had left to escape the situation. That, or maybe he had just gone invisible. Really, she had no way to tell.

Instead she wandered over to the living room, pausing in the doorway. Watched her husband sitting on the couch, Dani curled up next to him, with Jazz sitting on the armchair and Danny standing close by. They were all talking animatedly, but Maddie couldn’t overhear from where she stood.

They looked happy, though.

The bellowing voice of her dad startled Jazz into awareness. She blinked, dully, at the open book in front of her. Then she rubbed her eyes, frowned at the clock, and got up. Was dinner done already?

She exited her room, trying to neaten her hair back into her hairband. Made her way down the stairs and saw her dad sitting on the couch, Danny sitting next to him.

Stopped. Looked again.

That wasn’t Danny. That was some girl who, for whatever reason, looked almost exactly like Danny. What the hell?

“Dad,” she finally managed to say, eyes still locked on the girl sitting next to him, “Who is that?”

“Jazzy-Pants!” he cheerily greeted her back, one massive arm curled around the tiny girl. Her black hair was mussed up, looking like it had been subjected to Jack’s ruffling several times already. “That’s what I was hoping to talk to you and Danny about! Do you know if your brother is coming, too?”

“No clue,” she answered, moments before hearing a door slam upstairs. “Oh, no, there he is already. Never mind.”

And, as if timed, Danny appeared at the top of the stairs. Looked over from her, standing at the bottom, to the couch with Jack and his female look-alike.

“Huh,” he said, eyes darting between all of them again. “That’s… huh.”

The girl on the couch giggled, but when Jazz looked over at her she buried her face in Jack’s side to hide. Hmm. Shy, maybe?

“That’s a good way to summarize it, son.” Jack grinned brightly, patting the girl on her back. “Come on, have a seat. It’s kind of a complicated story.”

“Please tell me you didn’t accidentally create a new kid in the lab,” Jazz muttered darkly, claiming the armchair as hers. “Because while I’m not opposed to having a baby sister, there are more normal ways of acquiring children.”

“Well, you’re pretty close actually.” Jack scratched his cheek, and Jazz felt her brain grind to a halt.

“Excuse me?” she snapped, wide eyes darting back to the girl. She really did look suspiciously much like Danny, except younger. Just slightly off. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Pretty sure he was about to tell us,” Danny grumbled, pushing her back into the seat. Instead of sitting down as well he simply leaned against the arm of the chair, his own arms crossed. “So if you’ll just settle down…”

“How are you not freaked out about this?” Her eyes shot between him and Jack and the girl curled against Jack’s side. “He just said–”

“That you were close, but not entirely right. So let him talk, big sis, and he’ll explain. Right, Dad?”

“Uh, right.” The man in question nodded exuberantly, then ruffled the girl’s hair before leaning forward. “So, yes, she was created in a lab. But no, we didn’t do it nor were we responsible in any way.”

“But…” Jazz turned to stare at the girl, meaningfully. “I mean, come on, can you not see the resemblance?”

“A ghost called Plasmius created her. Cloned her, sort of,” Jack started to explain, gesturing with his hands. “He tried creating a clone of Phantom, but apparently that didn’t work out well. So he used human DNA as well, of an unknown source.”

“Oh,” she said. Next to her, Danny remained silent and still. His gaze was locked on the girl. And Jazz might not know what was going through his head, but she sure knew what was going through her own. The resemblance was uncanny. It was incredibly unlikely that Plasmius could’ve combined the DNA from Phantom and a random human being that wasn’t Danny and ended up with someone so much like him. Right?

Jack cleared his throat, smiling comfortingly. “So, yeah. This is, uh, Danielle. She goes by Dani.”

“With an I,” the girl – clone? – said, speaking up for the first time since Jazz had joined them. “It’s Dani with an I.”

“But wait.” Jazz held up her hand, halting the conversation. “If she’s a clone from Phantom, wouldn’t she be, I dunno, a ghost? Or at least have like… white hair or green eyes or something?”

“She does,” Jack started to say, while Dani simultaneously protested with “I do.” The two of them paused, turned to look at the other, then shrugged. It was Dani who spoke up again.

“I do,” she repeated, crossing her arms with a disgruntled huff. “But only in my ghost form. I’m half ghost, but I can shift between which side is more dominant. So now I look human, but I’ve still got a core, and by triggering it I can become more ghostly, and I’ll look more like Phantom.”

Beside her, Danny hummed, thoughtfully. She turned her head to quirk a brow at him, but he ignored her to keep looking at Dani. At his sort-of probably clone? Wow, that was weird to consider.

“So… I’m guessing she’s here for a reason?” Danny cocked his head at the two on the couch. “Is she just here temporarily, or…?”

“Well,” Jack scratched his cheek, grinning sheepishly, “We were kinda hoping you kids were okay with her staying here permanently. Phantom is already basically family, and, well.” He gestured at her, and both Jazz and Danny nodded their understanding. “Plus, she’s just a child. She needs – deserves – a family, and you can bet that the ghost who created her wasn’t planning on giving her one.”

A pregnant pause. The idea made sense, at first glance; a ghost who was willing to just create new life like that likely wouldn’t make good family, no. But neither did they, and it was already hard enough to handle the household with the four of them. Who knew what kind of complications a half-ghost clone could bring?

Before she could say anything, though, Danny blurted out, “I’m alright with it.”

“What?” Jazz snapped, whirling around to look at him. Danny himself fidgeted under her stare, an uncertain smile on his face. “Danny, no offense, but do you really think that we’re the right family for her?”

Dani gasped on the couch, and Jazz turned to look at her again.

“Well, yeah,” Danny started to explain himself beside her, forcing Jazz to look away from the sparkling blue eyes on the couch. “I mean, if she’s part ghost she should be with ghost experts, right? And we already know Phantom, so. Obviously we’re the best family for her.”

Jazz blinked at him. “Did you just… Yeah, no, I guess you’re right. That makes perfect sense.”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Danny grumbled, rolling his eyes at her. “I’m not that stupid.”

“Sure don’t look like it.” She shook her head, then turned to look at Dani again. “I guess they both have very good points, so. I’m okay with it too. Dani, if you want, welcome to our family.”

“It’s a mess,” Danny warned dryly, a wide grin on his face as he pushed away from the chair. “This is your first and only warning.”

Dani laughed. “I think I’ll be alright,” she managed in-between giggles. “I’ve got ghost powers, how bad can it be?”

“Not sure if ghost powers can protect you from ecto-powered food, to be honest.” Jazz hummed, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “Little brother, do you think you can go intangible to avoid getting bitten by the Franken-Weenies?”

“Probably not,” he answered with the same tone of faux-thought. “Although if she can shoot ecto-rays on her own power she might be able to fend them off.”

Jazz snapped her fingers, turning to point at Dani. “That’s perfect! Now we won’t have to use a baseball bat if the turkey comes back to life!”

“That was one time!” Jack grumbled, resigned but with a fond tone beneath it. “And so were the hotdogs!”

“Not if you count up all the separate times food came back to life.” Jazz quirked a brow at him, and he huffed. “Just because they’re different products doesn’t take away that it shouldn’t be alive.”

Before they could bicker more, however, Maddie joined them. “Speaking of food, kids, anyone opposed to having pizza today?”

“Hadn’t you already started on dinner?” Jazz frowned at her. Sure, the thing with Phantom and Dani had probably taken a while, but surely not this long?

“It kind of wilted away while we were talking with Dani and Phantom,” her mother admitted with a sheepish smile. “Besides, we’ve got something to celebrate, right?”

“I’m okay with it.” Danny shrugged, a wide grin on his face. “Pizza is never wrong.”

“Boys,” Jazz huffed under her breath. Not quiet enough, apparently, based on the soft giggle from Dani on the couch.

Well, would you look at that. She had a good sense of humor, too. Maybe a tad more common sense than the others, too. Wouldn’t that be something?

#danny phantom #phanfic #dp fanfic #phanfiction #dp fanfiction #danny fenton #dani phantom #jack fenton #maddie fenton #jazz fenton #dark writes #what a nice surprise

[wonderlandmind4]

Never Be Satisfied...

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Based off of the song Satisfied from the amazingly intelligent Hamilton Broadway Musical.

Warnings: Slight language. Angst. 

Words: 2.3k

A/N: Hi. A month ago I was lucky enough to see Hamilton. The song Satisfied had quickly become a favorite and this idea was born. The emotion and self-sacrifice in this song really got to me. This also has elements from Helpless (this is my first song inspired fic and real shot at some angst.)

Nightfall brings the end to a joyous ceremony. It had been a long day, your feet sore from the heels you had to wear, glad the wedding is over for you to finally take them off. It’s been an hour since you’ve gone to bed, staring up at the ceiling fan in the room as you lay there suddenly makes you feel lonely. The room is dark, silent, despite the warm body sleeping next to you. You frown, reminiscing about the wedding that took place just hours before, and the speech you had to emotionally make your way through. You had paused, and although it looked as if you had to collect yourself, overwhelmed with happiness, it was for a different reason. Your mind had flashback to the first time you met your sister’s new husband.

One Year Ago:

The atmosphere of the party around you is light, friendly chit-chat makes a casual background noise while you try to focus on the conversation happening in front of you. Your date is rather obnoxious, a little loud with his overdramatized reenactment of the last intel mission he was a part of. It’s all well, the story, but it doesn’t change the notion that you are absolutely bored out of your mind.

He’d barely paid attention to you the whole night, didn’t even offer you a drink or introduce you to the people in his department he’s talking to. Clearly forgotten by the four men surrounding you, your eyes begin to flit across the room, wondering if you snuck into the kitchen and read the stove manual if it’d be more entertaining.

You catch a glimpse of your sister, but her attention is elsewhere, captivated by something or someone you can’t see. You sigh under your breath, twirling the melting ice in your whiskey glass. Time to freshen up your drink and maybe stay put at the bar. Here you thought Avenger parties were supposed to be fun.

You excuse yourself, falling upon death ears, and slip away from your date and his coworkers. Someone inconveniently steps in front of you, so you side step them, turning halfway to get by. It proves futile, avoiding other people, because you bump right into a solid body. The empty glass nearly tumbles out of your hand before you regain your grip.

“Sorry,” You wince, meeting the person’s gaze.

“Hi.”

Your breath halts in your lungs as you stare into eyes so blue they would put oceans to shame. For a few beats, you temporarily forget where you are, hell, you even forget what your dang name is. The coy smile spreading across the full lips of the person brings everything up to speed. Right. Avengers party.

“Your drink is empty,” The man says, although he doesn’t take his eyes off yours.

You nod, feeling like you’ve fallen into a trance. Loud, unabashed laughter from somewhere in the room snaps you back to reality.

“Hi,” You respond belatedly, if a little breathless. “Excuse me.” You slip past him.

You breathe easier once you reach the bar, leaning against the counter top, sliding you empty glass across the surface. The bartender is busy making another drink, so you wait patiently. A figure catches the corner of your eye as they step up to the bar on your right.

“Hmmm,” The man hums, “You don’t seem very satisfied.”

The familiar voice and words are clearly directed to you. The borderline rudeness of the statement makes you turn your body to face the man you bumped into three seconds ago. You quirk an eyebrow.

“Excuse me?” You question, affronted.

The man chuckles under his breath, copying your move and leaning his arm on the counter. His eyes sparkle with a knowledge you haven’t figured out yet. As if he has you pinned from the moment he saw you.

“You strike me as a woman who has never been satisfied,” He repeats, voice dropping an octave.

You bristle. “I’m not sure what you mean. Did you forget your manners?”

“We’re the same, you and I.”

“Is that right?”

Finally, the bartender comes over, taking your empty glass and your order. You’re grateful for the distraction. The flare of irritation, yet utter intrigue of this man, calms down in your chest; it’s not like you haven’t seen him around before. Once the bartender starts making your drink, you turn your attention back to him.

“You’re a woman who’s never been satisfied?” You quip, taking joy out of his little jaw tick.

“I’ve never been truly satisfied either,” He smirks, his eyes never leaving yours.

“That seems like a personal problem.”

“Unless I’m mistaken and that look of utter boredom was just the trick of the light.”

You grab your new drink, taking a small sip, gauging his expression. There’s no malicious intent in those blue fibers, just a genuine observation. God, he’s handsome, too, and he fully knows it. Finally, you hold out your hand. “M’names Y/N L/N.”

His smirk morphs into a friendly grin as he takes your hand in his own, calloused one. Warm shivers travel up your arm and down your spine, igniting spark you never believed was possible. You’re struck with the notion to take him and this conversation far away from this place. Away from the dull chatter and the egotistical personality of you’re supposed date.

“James Buchanan Barnes,” He introduces, as if you don’t already know exactly who he is. “But I’d rather you call me, Bucky.”

“You’ve been watching me this entire time?”

“Well, when you see a pretty dame like yourself looking as if she’d rather eat her shoe than listen to her date utter one more sentence…it’s noticeable.”

You can’t help the startled laughter emitting from your mouth. You lift your glass to your lips to muffle the sound, but Bucky’s eyes lit up regardless.

“You don’t look too entertained yourself, Sergeant Barnes,” You point out casually.

“Much better now that I came over here,” He counters with a wink.

Oh, he is a flirt, this one. You know it, you’ve heard he was way back in the day, but at the same time, you know he isn’t just playing you. He seems just as interested in you as you are in him. It’s why you are still standing next to him, matching his wit word for word. You lick the lingering drop of whiskey from your lips, his eyes following the movement of your tongue.

“Parties aren’t your thing?” You question lightly, shifting just a tad closer.

He leans forward, his knuckles grazing yours on the counter. “Not really, but I figured I’d chance disturbing my usual life routine for this evening. I’m glad I did.”

“I second that,” You agree, lifting your glass in a small toast.

Bucky eye’s gleam off the reflection of the glass as he lightly taps his against your own. You both take a sip, your eyes slipping from his to glance around the room. Your date hasn’t noticed your absence at all, still talking with a flare of arrogance.

“So, what’s your date reenacting over there?”

Bucky’s words fade from your ears as you catch sight of your sister across the room. That dreamy look on her face from minutes earlier is solved when you look back at Bucky, then to her face again. It clicks in your brain. You’ve never seen your sister look so…so…helplessly enamored. She’s never been one for jumping from guy to guy, hell, she’s never been one to really grab the spotlight and introduce herself to someone she’s interested in.

And she is interested in Bucky Barnes. The man standing next to you. The man who boldly called you out. The man who has been flirting with you, and you him for the past two, three, possibly five minutes. The man you felt an instant connection with, the one you’re already falling for. Your heart sinks a little in your chest.

Your sister’s eyes meet yours, almost begging you, as if she’s nervous that you already metaphorically called dibs.

This one’s mine. She mouths helplessly at you, the worry in her eyes evident. You swallow the lump forming in your throat.

“Y/N?” Bucky’s voice pulls you from your thoughts.

You abruptly set your drink down, a little harder than necessary on the counter and give your attention back to him. You smile brightly, straightening up to grab his arm, taking the glass out of his left hand. He nearly stumbles when you pull him forward.

“Come with me,” You demand excitedly.

He shoots you a confused look. “Where are you taking me?”

“You wanted to mix up your routine, right? Well, I’m about to change your life.”

You ignore the way his eyes linger on your face. Ignore the bemusement and the slight disappointment. Then he smiles, and it breaks your heart.

“Then by all means, lead the way,” He relents.

You continue to tug him along, your fingers gripping the sleeve of his gray shirt. The opposite side of the room isn’t a great distance, and once your sister realizes you are heading her way she perks up, subtly fixing her hair over her shoulder. There’s no mistaking the shy little smile or the hopeful look in her eyes when you and Bucky finally stop in front of her.

She confidently holds her hand out immediately. “Liza L/N. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sergeant Barnes.”

“L/N?” Bucky questions, looking between the two of you.

“My sister,” You nod, your hand slipping from his arm.

Bucky gently takes hold of your sister’s hand. “I’m glad to meet you, Liza.”

“I’ve heard so much about you,” Your sister gushes. “Thank you for all that you do. You’re a true hero, Bucky.”

The soft look melting in Bucky’s eyes makes you take a step back. You figure your sister’s words mean a lot to someone who was a former, controlled assassin. Their focus now only seems to be on each other, as if everything else is fading around them. You take this time to make your escape.

“I’ll leave you to it,” You gracefully step away, ignoring the sharp clenching in your stomach.

Your sister’s eyes fleetingly meet yours before she smiles back at the man in front of her. You spin on your heels, glancing over you shoulder just for one last look at the handsome man who had already caught your heart. Bucky made your sister laugh about something, but his blue eyes catch yours. You snap your head back, breaking the eye contact.

Once again, you promptly smack into a solid body. “Sam!”

Sam Wilson steadies you with a knowing expression on his face. “What did you just do?”

Puzzled, you ask, “What? What are you talking about?”

“Did you just…” He narrows his gaze at you, then suddenly he’s pulling you back to the bar. “Did you just sacrifice yourself for your sister?”

You scoff, rolling your eyes, picking the drink you left on the counter back up. “Please. I just introduced them.”

“You and Barnes were just canoodling two seconds ago.”

“We were not canoodling.”

“He only had eyes for you, sister,” Sam tells you, crossing his arms. “You were already smitten with him, and he looked like he wanted to sweep you off your feet.”

“Sam, please,” You beg. “It’s nothing. It’s fine.”

He shakes his head with a defeated sigh. “You always put your sister first.”

You frown, as if he just insulted you. “Look at her, Sam. Have you ever seen her so helpless like that? I know my own sister, and you will never find anyone more trusting or kind. She deserves happiness and if it comes to it, yes. I will choose her happiness over mine. Every single time.”

Sam purses his lips, glancing across the room. He’s silent for five long seconds before he meets your eyes. “And are you satisfied with that?”

“Yes. I am.” You tell him sternly. You grab your drink. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have a date to get back to.”

You leave him without another word, weaving your way back through the small crowd. As you make your way, you ignore the churning in the pit of your stomach, the burn in your nose and the ache in your heart. You are a SHEILD Agent and have been working hard to climb the ranks without any compromises. If you were to get involved with an Avenger, well, the gossip can be insidious in New York City. Especially around the compound.

You finally reach your date, the man you’ve been seeing for the past three weeks, grabbing his arm. You whisper some lustful things in his ear, words you don’t want anyone else to overhear. When he gives you a sly look, you smirk, nodding your head. He excuses himself, taking your drink to place on the table, then he’s leading you out of the room and away from the party.

You can’t help yourself, looking over your shoulder for your sister one last time. You spot her, standing intimately close with Bucky, their shoulders pressed together, matching smiles on their mouths. Then, as if he can feel your stare, he looks up. Those intelligent, blue eyes of his sear into your gaze, sending your heart into a burning desire for him to continue to look at you like that. You break from his eyes, spotting Sam also looking at you, with an air of sadness, or pity. You grind your teeth, snapping your head forward.

Present:

As you lay naked under the sheets of your bed, next to the new guy you’ve been seeing, you roll over facing the window. The lights of New York City don’t compare to the light you saw in Bucky’s eyes when he first spoke to you. Fantasizing about those eyes of his staring at you if he were in this bed doesn’t do anything to ease the ache in your chest. Bucky married your dear sister, Liza. At least you can keep his eyes in your life. You squeeze your eyes shut, exhaling shakily, pushing the pain for the past year away.

Nice going, Y/N. He was right. You will never be satisfied.

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

Tagging: @afewmarvelousthoughts @thecreatiivecorner @kat-lives @justreadingfics @watchoutforfrostbite @keldachick @stressedasalways @invisibleanonymousmonsters @moonbeambucky @barnesb1tch 

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes one shot #song fic #hamilton inspired fic #satisfied fic #satisfied #my fic #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fanfiction

[p-artsypants]

Rage Awakened (8)

THIS IS THE REAL CHAPTER I SWEAR.

I apologize for my little prank earlier, it was just too hard to resist! 

Ten years ago, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus lost their fellow apprentice, Sora, in Deep Jungle. Now, they are to return with two new students, Riku and Kairi, to lock the heart of the world. All the while, something watches from the trees. Feral!Sora AU

FF.net | Ao3

@chachacharlieco @violetstar-writes

Eraqus assumed having all the kids out of the house would be a treat. Finally time to get things done that he had been putting off.

But he had neglected to factor in all the chores left behind.

He was in the throne room, mopping the marble in silence. He sighed to himself, his mind active of worry. Aqua hadn’t checked in in two days. He kept telling himself it was just because they were busy, but the paternal part of his brain kept telling him that they were in danger.

“One more day, and then I’m going after them.”

Turns out, he didn’t have to go that far. The front door slammed open.

“Master!” Aqua called.

The mop fell to the floor with a clatter as Eraqus ran from the room.

His children were all gathered in the entryway, a young, barely clothed man in Terra’s arms.

“Oh god...is that...? What happened?”

“We found and sealed the keyhole,” Terra explained, wanting to get that out of the way. “But then we were attacked by a creature, it kind of looked like a heartless, but not...”

“It had long red eyes instead of yellow dots.” Added Riku.

“Long red eyes? Did it hurt him?” He gestured to Sora.

“No, it just...” Aqua struggled to explain what happened. It was rather bizarre after all.

“Here, let’s take him to the infirmary. You can tell me all about it then.”

The infirmary was just a room with a bed, bathroom, and cabinets filled with potions, ethers, elixirs, and panacea.  There was not much use for a first aid kit with those who were proficient in magic around.

Sora was lowered onto the bed, still not waking.

“He doesn’t look injured. Tell me what happened,” Eraqus demanded as he began his examination.

“Well, Kairi was the first to see him...”

They each took turns explaining what had occurred, each making sure there was not a single detail of the trip left out.

After Eraqus had looked him over, the story was still going, and all he could do was listen, his face screwed up in thought.

“His keyblade…ate the monster?”

“That’s what it looked like...a heart wasn’t released either.”

“Hmm...” the Master hummed in thought, truly lost for words. “I am deeply troubled by this information, but I’m glad you told me.” With nothing else to do for poor Sora, he simply covered him with a blanket and made him comfortable. “All we can do now, is wait for him to wake up. Perhaps he will allow me to study his keyblade then.”

Aqua said, “Master, he’s still rather hostile towards those of us he knew back then. He thinks we abandoned him there.”

Eraqus sighed, “a logical conclusion. Then I suppose we will just have to regain his trust.”

“And how do we do that?”

“Simple.” He looked to Kairi. “We have a liaison.”

“Me?” She asked.

“Of course. Aqua says he’s taken a liking to you.”

“Yeah but...” she hesitated, “he said he remembered me, from a time when he visited Radiant Garden as a kid. What if I don’t live up to those expectations? Will he feel betrayed again?”

“Oh Kairi, you needn’t worry about that. Just do your best and be a friend.”

Unsure, she said nothing, only hunched her shoulders.

“Now, you’ve all had a very long week, why don’t you get cleaned up and go to bed, hm? King Mickey has invited you to a dinner in celebration of your hard work tomorrow night, so sleep in, relax, you’ve all earned it.”

“Dibs on the shower first!” Ventus shouted, before running out of the room. The rest soon followed, except for Kairi, who lingered, watching Sora.

“If you’re feeling restless, I could use some help preparing Sora’s room.” Eraqus offered.

She nodded, pulling her eyes away from him, and together, they went down the hall.

The Castle of Departure was a very unique castle indeed. It’s form was tied to Eraqus’ keyblade, and therefore his will. Extra rooms could be created as needed, without the exterior being altered.

Eraqus stopped at the spot in the hall between Riku’s and Kairi’s rooms, then he summoned his keyblade, light surrounding the tip.

A door with a crown appeared in a flash, and unlocked with a click.

Each room in the castle was different. The bedrooms were paired with the owner’s keyblade so that only they, and Eraqus, could unlock it. In turn, the room was made just for them, and showed a reflection of their heart. Kairi’s room looked very similar to the one she had back home in Radiant Garden; large, with plush carpets and big windows with wispy curtains. Likewise, Riku’s matched the one back in Destiny Islands, despite that room no longer existing.

So opening Sora’s door, Kairi expected a child’s room, since that’s the way it would have looked back then. However, that’s not what was inside. At one time, this may have been a child’s room, and a rather small one at that, but something was wrong. Immediately inside was a three wall section, that was reminiscent of these times, a small bed against the left wall, pictures on the right. Souvenirs and mementoes, various types of gear for snow, ocean, and desert, a whole pile of toys and play weapons, all in a hodge-podge of childhood excitement and wonder. But where the fourth wall, the adjacent wall should have been, there was a staircase that led down into a huge room. Only the ceiling was visible, as everything else was hidden under piles and piles of junk.

The larger section of the room was dark, despite the skylight, only the tops of the piles were visible. The further down, the darker it got, until everything was seeped in darkness. Who knew just how deep that went? A layer of dust covered everything, and cobwebs hung like curtains in the corners. Besides the neglect of ten years, the room just felt heavy.

Eraqus coughed at the dust cloud that had unsettled upon opening the door. “We may have our work cut out for us after all...”

Kairi wandered in, her eyes bounding over each corner in curiosity.

“Was it always like this?”

“No,” Eraqus stated, walking over to the stairs. “There was a bay window here once, huge and let in plenty of light…It was always messy though.”

“So...I didn’t realize these rooms could be this big.”

“They’re a big as they need to be. Ventus’s room, when he first came, was tiny, and completely white. But as the years went on and his heart healed, the room grew and color appeared. I suspect that this mess is a physical manifestation of the state of his heart, much like his keyblade.”

“I can understand the mess and darkness then, but why is the room so big?”

“That I don’t know. I surmise that Ansem the Wise could have the answer, but it is difficult to understand the heart’s nature.”

Kairi gave a lingering look to the hoard, then turned away, noticing the right wall. At first glance, it looked like it was covered in magazine clippings, but upon further inspection, it was plain to see they were photographs. Photos mostly of people, and Sora was with them. Many she recognized. A younger Hercules, Peter Pan, some pirates from the Caribbean. There were even more that she didn’t recognize. But in each picture, Sora was beaming with excitement and hugging someone. Above it all, there was a sign written in child’s handwriting. ‘People I never want to forget’

Then, right smack in the middle, there was a picture of him with her, of all people. Both very young, around six years old. Arms wrapped around each other, cheek to cheek, and smiling bright as the sun.

Carefully, she pulled the picture off the wall and flipped it over. In her uncle’s handwriting, ‘Kairi and her Prince Charming’ was written.

“We did know each other.” She whispered. “Did you know?” She asked Eraqus.

He hummed in confirmation. “Most of the time, I allowed Terra and Aqua to go out and see the worlds alone, knowing that the worlds themselves could teach them infinitely more than I ever could. However, after an incident involving a dragon, I became much more cautious about what worlds Sora went to with them. On missions deemed too dangerous for him, I took him to Radiant Garden or Disney Castle. He’d continue his studies either with the Captain of the Guard, Goofy, and the Court Magician, Donald Duck, or with your uncle, learning the affairs of the heart.”

Kairi continued to stare at the photo, begging the memories to return.

But alas, they were blank.

“When he disappeared, I came and told you myself what happened. You were inconsolable for days. Ansem the Wise said you hadn’t cried that hard since you lost your parents. You refused food, and eventually stopped talking to people for the next two years...that’s actually what prompted your Uncle’s experiment on you. He worried that even as a Princess of light, you could become lost to the darkness. So he asked me to lock your heart, and in turn, you lost your memory. That wasn’t the intended effect, but...”

Kairi vowed at that very moment that she was going to remember everything about him, and make a whole bunch of new memories in the process.

She turned to her master, smiling despite the heartbreak she had just endured. “We better clean up for him then!”

—

In the middle of the night, when all was silent, Sora awoke.

His immediate, very logical reaction was panic. He was in a place totally different from where he fell unconscious after all. But once he realized he was alone, he relaxed ever so slightly. He sat up, feeling the blanket that was draped on him. It was clean, and in good repair, not like the scraps of cloth he found in the jungle. And it smelled familiar.

He slid out of the bed, his bare feet touching the cold hard floor. He looked around, noting the absence of foliage. Peering out the window, he couldn’t see much in the darkness, but there didn’t seem to be any trees at all. A strange place. Then, he found the exit and crept into the hall.

It was eerie, being in a foreign place at night. The halls were wide, but mostly empty, so there weren’t many places to hide. Instead, Sora kept to the shadows, and moved slowly.

There was something familiar about this place, though he couldn’t quite place it at the moment.

Then he passed the doorway to a large throne room, and it hit him. His old home. When he had fallen in battle, they brought him back instead of leaving him behind like he expected.

Perhaps...they really did care for him.

But that’s not what he said.

He followed the familiar path to his old room. Though, his door was flanked by new doors on either side.

He pressed against the door, it opening with a creak.

The inside had been vacuumed and dusted, and a large sheet covered the far wall.

Eraqus looked up when he heard the door open.

“Sora,” he said simply. “I wondered when you’d awake.”

The response was a hiss, as the boy backed into the hall.

“So you are feral, just as Aqua said.”

Sora quit hissing, but kept his distance.

“Have I ever given you a reason to distrust me? Did I not care for you and love you like my own son? You were always so smart, Little One. Why would I purposefully leave my prodigy in the jungle all alone? Would I abandon him?”

Sora whimpered at the softness of his tone. It wasn’t accusatory, or demanding, just casual.

Eraqus beckoned him forward with a flick of the wrist. “Come here, Little One. Let me see your keyblade.”

Little One. Little, but mighty. Small in size, but big in heart. That what he used to be called. That was his title. He hated it at first, but grew to see it as an honor. Those who heard it would underestimate him.

Though, he wasn’t sure if he deserved that name anymore.

Shyly, Sora crawled over to his master on his knuckles. Eraqus sat on the bed and patted the mattress next to him, but Sora just knelt at his feet.

Master Eraqus held his hands out. “Come on, it’s alright.”

With great hesitation, Sora summoned his keyblade and rested it in his hands, ashamed.

Eraqus was silent as he studied the blade. “What have you been doing all these years?”

He didn’t answer, only stared at the ground in shame.  

“This is...unheard of, as far as I know. Perhaps Ansem will have some answers in due time.”

Sora still didn’t respond, only clenched his fists.

“But that’s a problem for another day. Come, let’s get you cleaned up. King Mickey has invited you to Disney Castle for a dinner tomorrow. You remember Mickey, don’t you?”

Sora sat back, staring at him thoughtfully.

“Maybe Donald? Or Goofy?”

His eyes widened slightly as he declared, “A-hyuck!”

Eraqus smiled. Not all was lost. “They’ve missed you, you know? It was very hard on them.” He stood, and gestured Sora to follow.

Curiously, Sora followed obediently, walking on his knuckles and toes.

Eraqus led him to a bathroom at the end of the hall. Sora watched as he flicked on the light, and turned the water on in the tub.

“You haven’t had a proper bath in some time. You’ll have to get cleaned up for the party.”

Sora crept to the tub, testing the water with his hand.

“Warm enough?”

Sora gave a little nod.

“Alright, just wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Once he was alone again, he explored the room, faintly remembering how things worked. The sink, the toilet, and even the shower caddies filled with soaps. There was a red bottle, and he pulled off the cap, taking a whiff. It smelled like fruit, so he gave a little taste.

Bad idea.

Eraqus returned to find Sora rubbing his tongue on a towel.

“Um, that’s not—here, let’s get you washed up.” He picked up the open bottle of soap and brought it over.

He had raided the laundry room and found some suitable pajamas. A shirt from Riku, some pants from Ventus. Enough to give the boy something to wear that was more than the loin cloth.

Sora climbed in the tub hesitantly, feeling weird about it. But Eraqus was unfazed as he dumped a bucket of water on him to wet his hair.

“You’re lucky your hair wasn’t matted. We won’t have to cut it…though a trim might do you well.” He squeezed some shampoo into his hair and started to massage it in, but Sora smacked his hands away to do it himself.

“Of course, I don’t need to do this for you anymore.” Eraqus said with a hum. “Think you can handle the rest on your own? I’ll make you something to eat.” As he stood, he could faintly hear Sora speak.

“T-thank you…Master.”

With a soft smile, he left the room.

Alone, Sora continued to lather the shampoo in his hair, his mind wandering.

This was…completely different than he expected. Different than what he said would happen. He was met with kindness and understanding. He was wanted, and maybe…even loved.

Well, he couldn’t go back to the jungle. So he was stuck here, no matter what. And Kairi and Riku seemed to be on his side.

Kairi.

Perhaps she would be worth staying for.

#fanfiction #kingdom hearts #rage awakened #sora #kairi #eraqus #riku #terra #aqua #ventus #kh #kh3 #tarzan au #feral!sora