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#the way he walks out on house just oding on his floor is also so insane to me .

daddysuga101 · 1 year

Text

Sleeping beauty

Gojo x reader x Geto

Warnings: non con, somophillia, groping, slut shaming, reader is a virgin, reader gets drugged(not by gojo or geto )

"Toru, I'm so exhausted." You mutter weakly. You shift uncomfortably on the dirty floor of the frat house. Your eyes flutter opened and closed and your mouth feels like it was stuffed with cotton so you were 100% sure you were drugged or something.

There's no way light drinking should do this to you. What sucked more was how you couldn't tell Satoru or Suguru who did this do you because all of your thoughts were so jumbled as you went in and out of consciousness.

Gojo gently slapped the side of your face and blinking curiously at you. Humming quietly when you didn't open your eyes.

"Aw she's sleepy." Gojo teases in a low voice. You miss the way Geto glares that Gojo muttering something about how he should be more serious considering the fact whoever drugged you could have made you OD. Thankfully by the way you were breathing steadily, that didn't seem like that was the case.

But more than that, Suguru chastezied Gojo to be more grateful for the fact you not only came to this party with them, but also trusted these two enough to not do something to you while in such a vulnerable state.

Especially now since they moved you into an empty bedroom of the frat house. Gojo once again behind you as you laid your back against his chest and Suguru sitting at the foot of the bed.

Two guys, one roofied girl, all alone and yet you trusted them.

Though, neither boys were quite sure that was a smart decision on your end. They weren't bad by any means, in fact in comparison to the walking piles of shit that frequentented these parties. Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were good guys.

Despite what the general public would think about the two infamous man whores, they had no intention of making you a convenient notch in their belts. In fact if someone asked they'd tell them that they hung out with you because you were funny and cool to be around.

The three of you were as tight as tight could be. So tight in fact you one day spilled your guts to them about being in college and still being a virgin.

They were so understanding and sweet that you really couldn't see the excitement in their eyes at the time. They were good guys. But both knew the other silently wanted you for months. Yet somehow that day made them want you that much more.

'We won't touch her.' Was the settled on agreement.

That being said there was silent understanding between the two of them that if and when you lost your virginity they'd be the ones to take it. It's not cause their bad guys though. They just don't want some real bad guy to come into your life making you a convenient fuck. No they are not bad. Just concerned.

They wanna keep you safe. They love their sweet pure little friend.

And they'd keep all the bad of the world away from you and your purity.

So those days you'd come crying to them about the fact that boys didn't like you, they'd coo in your ear about how boys are just stupid and you have to keep looking.

They didn't however tell you the simple fact that they threaten any and all boys in your class from breathing at you the wrong way. Because again, if they don't look after you no one will. I mean look at the situation you're in now. Drugged up and sleepy, completely unable to protect yourself. Here you are, your breath shallow and your back lying against Satorus chest in such a way (if he were a bad guy) could simply cope a quick feel before you were sober enough to notice.

But Satoru is not a bad guy. Geto on the other hand is staring down at you his tongue peaking out to lick his dry lips.

"She's cute isn't she?" Suguru asked. Toru nods his hand combing your braids from your face.

"So cute." Satoru agrees. The two of them sat in silence watching you as you slept.

"Which asshole do you think roofied her?" Suguru asked playing with the fabric of his own shirt.

"Who knows. I mean don't most guys want a piece of her? Couldve been anyone of those assholes right? That's what you get for dressing like a slut huh?" Gojo teased in your ear pulling your cheek a little.

You didn't respond of course which caused Gojo to laugh. Geto let's out a shaky breath watching the place we're your shirt dips leaving your tits barely covered.

"Virgin my ass. No way a girl her age with tits like that hasn't had a cock in her." Geto muttered dryly.

"That's what makes her special Suguru. A slutty looking body with a virgin pussy. How exciting right?" Satoru said resisting the urge to cup your pussy over your skirt.

"Virgin whore." Suguru remarked absentmindedly palming his erection over his jeans.

"Easy tough guy, she's barely awake." Satorus reminds. Poking your cheek getting no reaction. "Scratch that she's completely out."

"Don't take the high road with me Satoru. You only have her up against you like that so you can feel her body on yours." Suguru accuses his eyes never leaving your barely conscious form. Satoru makes a sort of a huff sound as if he's offended by the accusation but won't actually deny it.

"You're the one palming yourself, fucking perv." Satoru joked. Suguru rolled his eyes his bangs falling clumsily over his forehead as he climbed up the bed straddling your waist.

"Oi! She'll wake up. Plus hell will freeze over before I let you fuck her. If anyone will have her virginity it's me." Satoru remarks with a shrug. Geto rolls his eyes.

"Relax I won't fuck her. But since we're here..." Suguru unbutton his jeans pulling his hard cock out. Satoru rolled his eyes.

"You try to put anything in her I'll kill you understand?" Satoru questioned.

"Yeah yeah." Suguru muttered sticking two fingers in your mouth using your spit as lube. Suguru grabbed his own erection and stared down at you as he began working on himself.

Suguru imagined you waking him up with his cock in your mouth. He imagined fucking your throat and hearing your virgin throat gag on him. He imagined you crying about him being too big when he finally fucked you. He imagined hushing you and telling you to just take it.

"Fuck." Suguru muttered fisting himself harder until he spilled in your clothed tits.

"Fuck baby, such a good girl." Suguru said breathlessly wishing it was your pussy he came on or in.

"Gross. Get your fucking jizz off her." Satoru muttered annoyed. Suguru scoffed.

"What I can't nut on her but you can fondel her?" Suguru retorted referring Satorus hand that found it's way to your breast sqeezing periodically.

"You're forgetting one thing. She's mine at the end of the day. Her mouth, her pussy, her skin. You can jizz thinking about her all you want, but she belongs to me."

"The strongest always gets what he wants." Suguru remarked dryly and irritated as he wiped his cum off.

"Damn straight."

You groaned a little, snuggling deeper into Gojos arms not aware of the fact he was grabbing your breasts.

"Lemme show you something." Gojo said,

"Y/n baby, spread your legs." he murmured you couldn't move so he happily did it for you, his large hands separating your thighs.Your skirt short enough to give him easy access.

"Satoru-."

"You had your fun let me have mine." Gojo said his long fingers cupping over your panty covered pussy. "Also you can relax, I'm not gonna rape her." Gojo says as he rips the crotch of your panties off licking his fingers and running circles over your clit.

Despite your ineberated state you still try to grind your cunt in his fingers making Gojo smile.

"She really is a whore deep down. See how she grinds into my fingers? I bet she wants them in her. You do don't you baby." he asks in your ear.

You groan weekly Gojo’s persistent and relentlessly rubbing of your clit in firm fast enough circles. He feels your body tense up and holds you still as your body tries to fight him off.

You whimper weekly and whoreishly before you finally cum. Your clit swollen and over used by Gojo.

"So sensitive Y/n. Never had her sweet pussy touched before huh?" Gojo asked smacking your clit lightly. You groaned quietly relaxing against Gojo again still not quite awake.

Suguru rolls his eyes because fuck Satoru, he wanted to make your virgin pussy cum first. Oh well, he's sure there's other firsts he can steal from you some other time.

Because again, god forbid some bad guy comes along and tries to take them from you?

Because remember Satoru and Suguru are not bad guys.

---

The next morning while on his morning run Satorus phone goes off and it's a message from you.

Y/n: Hey, do you know why my panties are ripped?

Gojo: yeah those assholes that roofied you ripped them:((

Gojo: but I promise we got you before they could touch u:)

Y/n: oh wow, thanks so much Toru, that could have been bad

Gojo: no need for thanks sweetheart me and Suguru took real good care of ya

#gojo smut #satoru gojo smut #satoru gojō x reader #getou suguru x y/n #suguru geto smut #x reader #jjk x reader #smut #gojo x reader #satoru x you #suguru x reader #getou suguru smut #getou x reader

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angelwithdemonictendencies · 1 year

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are these your teeth or mine? the only language i speak is blood; it’s all red to me, it’s all yours to me.

ax72 x reader: this definitely wasn’t in the job description.

(warnings: blasphemous filth (i’m serious this time, guys), fingering (f on m), unprotected penetrative sex (m on f), choking (back to business), hair pulling (double back to business), biting and lots of teeth (chomp), praise, dirty talk, inappropriate workplace relationship, lots of leg stuff, just be warned. don’t read if you’re not 100% sure.) gif is not mine.

(a/n: whorenation, if you’re not an arber xhekaj fan, boy are you about to be. qh43 is and always will be my guy, but i know in my heart of hearts that ax72 is the hottest player in the nhl. end of story. and this is an ode of sorts to him, his hands (look it up), his legs, that tiger tat on his thigh (cringe in the absolute best of ways), his mullet, and his mustache (i’m drooling). he is absolutely wicked, and he is the best fighter in the league (the antithesis of sin-bin princess tz11). sorry for all the classical references, but i was a classics major before law school, so i have to assert my specialized knowledge. no, he wouldn’t say darling, and no, i don’t care. as much as this is an ode to ax72, it is also an ode to the feminine desire to take what you want by the teeth and make it yours. to that. to the power we have in our teeth, in the most surprising of places. the pace of my posting will be easing up, as i have a lot of exams coming up, but i’ve got stuff in the works. go canucks. see you soon. sink your teeth into life.

you didn’t expect him back so early. usually, on game nights, he would be out until the early hours of the morning, when the darkness grew on the windows like forest moss.

not that you minded, it was your job to watch the house when it was empty. your title was technically something like personal assistant, but really, you just did whatever you could to make arber’s life easier. and that’s what you had been doing for the last two months.

tonight, though, he threw off the routine. you had been in the kitchen, putting dishes away, when you heard the door open, followed by his typical “darling?” and the thud of his things on the floor.

the term of endearment still made you blush, though he rarely called you anything else. “one sec,” you called out, finished what you were doing, wiped you hands on a rag.

you had gotten quite good, at least you thought, at hiding the effect he had on you. it was worth it, for the money, for the flexibility, the way the whole situation felt too good to be true. you knew that if you overstepped, you would be messing up a good thing.

you just couldn’t help but think that maybe this good thing could be even better. you pushed away the thoughts that had been plaguing you, walked to the living room, found the air rippling like a frayed wire.

and immediately, the thoughts, the images in your mind were back. it wasn’t fair. you could never quite get used to the sight of him after a game. the way he sat without tension or worry, letting you fully appreciate just how massive he was. you’d had practice in keeping your eyes locked on his, not letting your gaze stray to his thighs, the expanse of his chest, his hands-

but your mind hummed as he reached an arm up to scratch the back of his neck, defining his bicep and forearm. you licked your lips, his eyes followed the movement.

“you watch the game?” he asked, nodding towards the tv, playing the post game show. his voice was gravelly. you made a sound of affirmation, scolded yourself in your head, reminded yourself that he was your employer. technically.

“congratulations,” you said, willing the squeak out of your voice. “it was fun to watch.” you took a breath, your brow furrowed as you noticed the new shadows that painted his face. the black eye was old, from last game, but the deep bruise on the jaw, the cut across the nose, those were new.

you frowned. “i thought the refs broke you up before you could fight,” you said, shifting your weight on your feet.

“they did.” his lip quirked. “why? you worried about me, darling?”

you flushed a deep pink, tried to mask it by rolling your eyes. his smirk deepened as he leaned back into the chair, spreading his legs apart further. your gaze shot down, eyes wide, before your brought it back up, cleared your throat. “well,” you began, “since you’re back early, i’ll probably head out-”

“what?” his brow scrunched in concern. “no, stay for a bit. watch a movie with me.”

you bit your lip, weighed your options. his eyes lit up with amusement at your obvious indecision. he stretched upwards, arms towards the ceiling, a sliver of his stomach exposed, making your choice a little harder.

“c’mon darling, sit with me,” he drawled, smile lazy as he patted his thigh. he knew he had won. you could never say no to him, looking like that. how long could you possibly be expected to keep your distance? would looking ever be enough?

“okay, just for a little,” you conceded, walking over to the spacious chair on which he sat. “move over.”

he draped his arm over the back of the seat, put something on the tv. “can’t we just share?” his glance was telling. “know how cold you get.”

your throat constricted as you tried not to imagine what he felt like, what it would feel like to have him under you, his warmth radiating through you. maybe a professional would have refused.

“fine,” you said instead, lowering yourself down so that you balanced precariously between one of his thighs and the arm of the chair. he just let out a low laugh before tugging you so that you were entirely on his lap.

he was inescapable; his chest a wall behind you, an arm on each side of you, his legs underneath. he was so warm, so everywhere, it clouded your judgement. your mind felt as if it had been dipped in honey.

you blamed it on that, how you picked up one of his hands, easily the size of his face, and began to play with his fingers as you both watched the screen. “’m glad they didn’t let you fight today,” you admitted after moments in silence, gaze forward.

“yeah?” arber rasped. “i’m not.” he shifted his weight under you. “got me all worked up for nothing.”

your mouth went dry. you squirmed, to which he groaned, a deep rumble that vibrated through his chest and into your back. you twisted to look at him, felt the heat in his gaze melt your own, hot and heavy like liquid mercury.

“hm, love it when you look at me like that, darling.” he reached his free hand up to your face, held the side of it in his rough palm.

your resistance had long worn out. had it ever truly been there? each breath you took flickered. “like what?”

his mouth twitched smugly. “like you want to take a bite out of me.” you eyes must have glossed over at his words, because he let out a low chuckle. his fingers teased your jawline. you whimpered. “oh, pretty baby,” he whispered. “it’s okay. you can.”

your eyelashes fluttered. “i can?” you shifted, relished in the hardness you found beneath you.

he nodded, dragged a thumb along your cheekbone. “go on, darling,” he mused, hooking an arm under your thigh and moving you so that you faced him, your thighs straddling his hips. “sink your teeth into me. know you want to.”

you felt as if you were in some sort of trance, like he was a siren and you a sailor, drowning in your own desire. so there you were, drowning, as you gently lifted his arm to your mouth, bit down on his bicep just forcefully enough to leave a mark, just barely rolling your hips back and forth on his lap when a guttural growl escaped him. he was soft beneath the edges of your teeth - he was yours, then. you looked up at him through your lashes, left a breath of a kiss where your teeth had been.

you looped your arms around his neck, couldn’t help but slowly continue to move your hips, found his scorching gaze a sedative for your mind and an exhilarator for your body. “that feel good, darling?” he asked, one hand coming down to control the rhythm of your hips, the other wrapping around your throat. “know you’ve wanted me for so long, mhm? gonna let me use you?” you whimpered as he tightened his grip on your neck.

“please,” you mustered, barely recognizing your own voice. his eyes crinkled at the corners as he lifted your face to his in a kiss that made you question how you had lasted this long. you had never felt so out of your body, never so self aware. his hand around your throat forced you closer, his brace on your hip set the perfect pace, made you realize how wet you already were, that beautiful friction between your core and his mass of a thigh.

he urged a moan from your mouth, deepened the kiss, made you feel every satisfied rumble of his in your teeth. he slid his hand to the back of your neck, rooted it in your hair, moved his lips down to your jaw, then your neck and collarbone, making you shiver, the weight of your head resting in one hand while the other came down to tease you.

he tugged your shorts aside, dragged two fingers through your folds, groaned at the wetness he found there. “so wet for me, darling,” he cooed, “been wanting me, yeah? know you wear these just for me, hm?”

he thumbed your clit. you threaded a hand in his hair for support. “tell me, darling. tell me what goes on in that pretty head of yours.” he thrust a finger into you, making it that much harder to focus. he smiled at the strangled sound that you made.

“wanted you since the first day,” you whimpered, squinted when he added another finger, moved in and out of you. “can’t help it,” you tried, “just so much of you, everywhere.”

he smirked, picked up his pace on your clit. “yeah? that why you stare at my hands? at my lap?”

you squeezed your eyes shut, nodded. “’m sorry, not my fault.” you felt yourself grow dangerously close.

“don’t be sorry darling. love when you look.” he groaned as you clenched around his fingers. “gonna cum? already?” you could hear his cocky smile. “hm, pretty baby, always so good for me.”

his words had your vision blurring, able to focus on nothing but his hardness beneath you, his breath on your neck, his fingers stilling inside of you. when you opened your eyes, drifting down from your high, you were met with his gaze, fizzling with fire.

he pulled his fingers out of you, brought them to his mouth and sucked, before pulling you forward onto his chest, wrapping his arms around you. like this, his cock was impossible to ignore.

“feel what you do to me, darling?” he asked, tracing down your spine with his fingers. “gonna let me fuck you like you’ve been dreaming of?”

your stomach fluttered at the idea. “please, arber,” you begged. at this point, you would have done anything he asked. such was the plight of the sailor and the siren. “please fill me up.” you lifted your hips up and off of him, reached down to feel his cock under your hand. “need to feel you inside of me. needed you for so long.”

he groaned as you took his cock out, began to pump him up and down. “yeah? my fingers not enough for you?” you shook your head, to which he tsked. “greedy, greedy, girl,” he muttered before reaching an arm around your middle, shifting you until you were bent over the arm of the chair, your hips lifted up towards him.

he dragged his cock through your folds, wet from your first orgasm. “lucky i need you so bad, darling,” he said before sinking deep into you, making your head fall slack and your chest drape over the chair.

he moaned, brought one hand to snake into your hair, pull you up, the other taking a bruising grip on your hip. “always feel this good?” he bit out, “or only for me?” you felt his rhythm of thrusts through your body, all the way to your fingertips.

“just for you,” you breathed, and it was probably true - never before had you felt so genuinely needy, so desperate for someone, such a desire to simply be good.

“i know, darling,” he whispered with an especially deep thrust that had you questioning when he ended and you began. “known you’re all for me since i met you.” he angled his hips up, hitting a new spot, making your back arch. “pretty baby, blushing, biting that lip, staring at my legs,” he groaned, “always been mine. made for me.”

he loosened his grip on your hip, moved his hand down to your clit, rubbed circles that had your moans coming out like whines. he growled. “squeezing me so pretty, darling. gonna cum again for me?”

you nodded, arched further, felt him pull your head back to look at him. “need to cum, arber,” you said like a wince, “please make me cum, want to feel you cum in me, please.”

he rubbed you faster, hips stuttering in a tell. “pretty baby wants to cum, hm?” you whimpered, nodded, clenched harder, felt his stomach flex. “be good for me and cum, then.”

you obeyed, gushing around him and triggering his own orgasm, felt him fill up your senses from the inside out. his warmth inside of you, the smell of him a mist around you, the intimate sound of his that rattled around your head, everything: it coated you like some indeterminant shield - was this how achilles felt?

arber leaned forward, rested his weight on your back, gently bit into your shoulder, left a kiss in its place before lifting you up, around, back into his lap and arms. you felt the gravity of his breathing in your bones, felt the peace of the room in your teeth.

you twisted again to look at him, leaned back into his embrace, sighed out a breath. your gaze met his, different than every time such a meeting had happened before.

his chest shook in a light laugh as he gave his head a single shake. “better be careful with those eyes, darling,” he rasped into your neck. at your furrowed brow, his lips quirked. “they’ve given you away since the beginning.”

and you thought that perhaps there were worse things than to have the truth in your eyes.

fin.

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average-vibe · 7 months

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I’m Sorry, Ok?

summary: wilbur comes home super late from a concert, and forgets to say hello to his favorite person

warnings: language, bad grammar, sad wilbur, mentions of OD

notes: this kinda sucks but it’s my first actual fanfic so i’m proud of myself for finishing lol

masterlist

Wilbur walked into the shared home around 2:30 AM, exhausted from the show. he usually didn’t come home this late, but wilbur’s phone died, so transportation became much harder. eventually, wilbur found a gas station that had a phone charger, but his phone only reached 7% by the time the station closed, and by the time he got into a car, his phone died. it also didn’t help that the show was about 2 hours away from the house. wilbur didn’t care. at least he was home.

He put his keys, phone, and money on the counter before crawling to the bedroom, eager to go to bed. he didn’t even see you, sprawled on the couch, sound asleep. about 5 hours earlier, when wilbur sent his, “shows over” text, you decided to wait for him on the couch, hoping that you could meet him at the door and cuddle for the night. after about an hour, and no texts back from wilbur, you began to panic. you called his phone about a thousand times, then tried Ash, who simply said “he should be on his way.” before having to hang up. you tried wilbur a couple more times, before giving up. you tried melatonin, but you thought that the amount you needed would kill you. you just closed your eyes, and tried to think about anything but wilbur. eventually, and surprisingly, sleep came rather easily.

you woke up around 6:30, and immediately started panicking, realizing that wilbur was not with you. you tried to call, but to no avail. yiu began to actually have a panic attack, worried that wilbur never made it home.

the sound of your sobs woke wilbur up from his already light sleep. as soon as he heard your small, hitched breaths, and your loud sobs, he knew something was wrong. he rushed out of his bed, out the bedroom door, and through the hallway to see you, knees clutched to your chest, eyes shut, and cheeks soaked.

“hey lovely.” Wilbur whispered, almost running to you in a flurry. “what’s the matter? why’re you crying?” he sat down next to you, embracing you with a hug. “wilbur?” you asked, voice cracking. wilbur chuckled, his laugh making you calm. “yes, it’s me baby. now why’re you crying? gonna mess up that pretty face.” he said, taking your face in his hands, and stroking your cheek with his thumb. “i-i thought y-you weren’t um.. c-coming home. i t-thought you were gone.” you’d aid through tears. “baby, i would never leave without sayin bye!” wil said, smiling. “and why’d you ever think i would leave you? i love you.” he questioned, his smile now turned into a concerned face. “i-i sat here waiting for you until it was late and i called you a bunch and you never answered and ash said he didn’t know and i didn’t know where you were.” you said in a rush, looking at the floor in embarrassment.

“oh.” wilbur said, frowning. “i’m sorry, love. i was just so tired from the show yesterday. and the reason i was home late was because my phone died, at this really sketchy place, so i went to the gas station and charged it and then it took me 2 hours to get home..”

you smiled. you didn’t think your boyfriend would just leave you.

wilbur smiled back at you. “hey, now that i’m home, let’s cuddle.” he said.

“alright.” you agreed.

“oh, and, one more thing.” wil said.

“yes?”

“i’m sorry, okay?”

#wilbur soot fluff #wilbur soot #wilbur x reader #dream smp #dsmp #fluff #wilbur fluff #dsmp wilbur

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greycaelum · 2 years

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Recently a stray cat keep coming to my house, and i feed him. Turns out he's a neighbour cat, so all this time he just ask for more food 🥲. Cats are cute but they're also chaotic, so i wonder if satoru turn into catoru what kind od chaos the little furry manace will do? By the way thankyou for feeding my happy hormone with your heartwarm story 💙🙆🏻‍♀️

That's so cute🥺 the kitty cat must trust you to keep approaching for food. It either likes your company or you feed it generously. Indeed they are a fluffball of chaos😂

Lemme add this for Chain Series coz this just seem something that can happen in that AU (≧▽≦)

• "Here," Shoko deposited a large lump of white fluff in your arms. She brushed off the the furs sticking in her lab and downed her beer can.

• "What's the meaning of this? I distinctly remember mentioning I don't like pets." You grimace and ready to let go of the nasty thing.

• "That's Satoru by the way." Shoko shrug making you froze up and question her sanity.

• After Yaga-sensei explained to you what happened you can't help but sigh as you watch the white fluffy cat play enthusiastically with the teddy bear pile beside. What the heck was he doing to get this... Ugh, you shuddered at the thought of taking care a life that will have to rely on you to feed it, and scratch it's belly and mewl like a deranged fool at the middle of the night for midnight snacks—because that's just something Satoru would do. But it's not like you'd live to abandon Satoru.

• "Meow!" The cat hopped to your lap and started rubbing it's head on your chest. Purring and kneading his claws on your lap.

• "Stop that it hurts," you grimace and pulled him off your lap but the gremlin climb back and resumed rubbing it's head on your chest.

• No choices left, with Shoko declaring you can only wait it out. You left to go home with a cat in tow.

• Letting the furry thing loose when you entered the house, you watch his butt as he sauntered to the living, something Satoru always do when he gets home. You need to accept this and think rationally. That thing is still Satoru even if he has this whiskers and pinky cutie nose and beanie paws, and sweet purr and... "Fuck! What am I getting so carried about?!" You cursed and went to the kitchen. Maybe he'll eat tuna sandwich.

• "Mreowwww!" A loud crash of crystal shattering then followed.

• Running to the sound you saw Sato—Catoru walking on a wet surface with broken shards of the fish bowl on the floor, the gold fish barely breathing his gills out.

• "Megumi's gonna castrate you Satoru, that's his goldfish!" You suck a breath and scoop the dying thing and rush to the kitchen putting it in a pan and opened the faucet, hoping the flickering things isn't dead yet. When the water was high you set it on the sink and went back to the living where the perpetrator is calmly sitting on the sofa, innocently licking his paws while washing his face.

• "I don't know... But when Megumi gets his hands on you I swear I won't help you." You know how Megumi treasures that goldfish he got from the first carnival you all went together. "Meow!" Catoru blink up to you with guiltless blue eyes and hop down to rub on your legs.

• "Oh no you don't mister," you pick him up and brought him to an eye level... You watch him blink his beautiful blue eyes and lick his bright pink nose. "Meowww~"

• "You are so cute..." You mumbled while staring in his pretty eyes. "Meoooowww"

• After cat-proofing the living room you went up your bedroom to take a bath with all the sweating you did while moving things and making sure you put the goldfish away from where Catoru's paws could reach. The hot water of the shower soothe away your weariness and the shock of suddenly seeing Satoru turned to a feline. It's not so bad, you thought. After rinsing you went out of the shower.

• "Meow..."

• Your feet almost slipped on the wet surface when you saw the cat sitting on the toilet, eyeing you head to toe in your birth suit. "What the fuck?! How did you get in here?!" Grabbing the nearby towel you wrap yourself and glared at Catoru who just stared at you. You don't anymore if you're imagining things or what but he look smug as he hop down the toilet and with furry tail raised, cat walk out of the bathroom.

• "Oh..." Megumi look at the fluffy white cat sitting on the sofa after he put his backpack in the room. "What's that Megumi?" Tsumiki peek and instantly cheered at the sight of a beautiful cat.

• "Hello, are you Y/n-san's new pet?" Tsumiki greeted at Catoru who nonchalantly climb up the girl's lap and sit there facing her. "Meow~" Tsumiki giggled while Megumi stared intensely at the Cat, as if a light bulb hit him Megumi put his palms forward and without further ado called out. "Gyokuken!"

• "Meowwwwwww!" Catoru stood up Tsumiki's lap and hissed at Megumi's direction as if Megumi is a despicable peasant. "Oh, so your that guy huh? I thought so too," Megumi smirked happy with his prank despite failing to summon his divine dogs.

• A day later you woke up with something warm and heavy resting in your stomach, when you pull the covers off a mop of snow white hair greeted you and Satoru's deep slurry bedroom voice mumbled incoherently. Blinking up to you with sleepy bright blue eyes.

• "G'morning Sugarplum," he murmured, rubbing his face to your warm tummy and stretch out his long limbs, groaning and rubbing his stomach.

• "Get dressed!"

Lol😹

General/Chain's Taglist: @ice-icebaby @aeanya

—Grey,

#gojo satoru chains series #gojo satoru imagines #greycaelum #jujutsu kaisen imagines #catoru is a menace of his own warning #gojo satoru #gojo satoru fanfic #jjk fluff #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen satoru #gojo satoru x reader #gojo x you #megumi fluff #tsumiki jjk #rip goldfish

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dangerouslyallaboutdraco · 3 years

Text

Friday Night

A/n: post-war Draco. Just some tooth-decaying fluff but maybe one of my favourite things I've written

"I'm home!" Draco yelled out as he closed the door to the flat.

He didn't get a reply as he put down his keys then his briefcase before taking off his loafers and untightening his tie.

Their flat was still welcoming, it had been since they brought it. All the muggle artwork Y/n brought home for them hanging on the walls and the east-facing widows always made the flat glow in the morning. It wasn't as big as the manor but it far more intimate and Draco had never felt more at home than he did here.

Now all he wanted was a hug from his girlfriend. He looked around the lounge to see if she was reading on the window seat and then the kitchen to see if she was baking as she often did. When she wasn't in any of her usual places he moved to their bedroom.

His search finally stopped when he heard the music coming through the bathroom door, accompanied by the steam. It was the same jazz music they played at a bar in London that Y/n enjoyed.

Everything in their house was so Y/n, and he had never adored anything more. Maybe her.

With a smile on his lips, he opened the door, stepped in and quickly closed it. The steam in the room flowing out the door was a sure sign that she wouldn't notice the interruption.

He took a seat on the edge of the bathtub, straightening his black suit jacket so it wouldn't crinkle as he watched her body sway in the shower. Her blurred figure was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Once she spent a few more minutes humming to the music she turned the shower off, wrapped a towel around herself and opened the glass door.

"Hey, there, pretty girl." Draco's words caused her visible fright, every muscle in her body tensing as she gasped and jumped up.

"Merlin, Draco!" She squealed as she walked over and punched him on the shoulder. "I hate you."

Draco couldn't do anything but giggle at how cute she was. She didn't kiss him as she usually did each night. "No, you love me." There was no use in replying, she knew he was right.

"Don't you love this song?" Her attention flicked to the trumpet playing through her muggle speakers as she spun around, holding the towel.

"I love you," Draco replied without a second thought.

Her attention was back on him now as she walked over and put her hands on his knees, he didn't even care about her damp fingertips getting the thigh of his suit pants wet. "You're such a sap."

He saw his opportunity to lean up and connect their lips.

"Hey!" She shouted, pulling off once she'd relished in the feeling of his lips. "I wasn't going to let you have that."

All he could do was give her a knowing smirk and reach up to rest his palm on her cheek. Draco swore he could feel his heart skip a beat as she nuzzled into his palm, even after all these years.

His whole heart was on fire in the best way. "Can I take you out for dinner, baby?" He asked, usual dazzling smile.

She nodded with a grin. "If that's your way of making it up to me, then yes."

That was all she said before she walked out of the bathroom door, and pulled him along. Once she was reached their bedroom she sat him down on the bed and walked into their closet, dropping her towel on the floor.

It took everything in him not to go after her but instead, he lay down on the bed and shut his eyes. For an indefinite amount of time, he stayed there.

Until he felt a warm breath on his face, much nicer than the jump scare he gave her. As he opened his eyes and sat up he was met with her absolute beauty. "Wake up, sleepyhead." She sang to him.

"'m not 'sleep." He said, his slurred words an ode to how tired he was.

She did a quick spin for him before she climbed into his lap, wrapping her legs around him. "You're so fucking cute." He told her, brushing a few stray hairs out of her face.

Quickly, she pulled away and got off his lap. "I did my hair and my makeup and put this dress on and all you can say is I'm 'cute.'"

"You are."

She sighed, loudly but Draco pulled her into his chest and smashed their lips together.

As soon as she was relaxing into it he pulled away. "Ready to go?" He now asked, being the one to pull her out of the room this time by their connected pinky fingers. She nodded as she followed him out the door, only breaking their contact to lock the door as Draco walked over to the elevator.

When she found his pinky finger again he was staring out the window, watching the sun set and the sky turn from orange to pink.

Draco was smart. But he would never understand two things.

1. How the sun could set every dusk and still look as beautiful

and

2. How, every day, Y/n could still look as beautiful, maybe more

"It's absolutely resplendent." She spoke, breaking the silence that had fallen.

Draco turned to look at her as she continued to watch the sun. "Wow, look at you reading your dictionary."

"It means attractive through impressive colours." She told him with a sigh, looking annoyed.

"So...you in that yellow dress?" He asked with a wide grin. "But you're also gorgeous, stunning, beautiful, pretty, lovely, charming, delightful, sensational, astounding, elegant, magnificent and dazzling."

"Look at you reading your thesaurus." She quipped his bon mot back at him.

As smooth as ever he replied with, "And together we're going to write some amazing stories."

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thisisgonnafuxkinkillme · 3 years

Text

POV: You Got Wayyy Too High

Warnings: Drug use (weed lol)

Aizawa Shouta/ Eraserhead

“Hey, what are you doing?” asked Aizawa as he plopped his bag at the door. You were trying to smoke weed from a pipe, but instead of lighting the actual herb, you were trying to heat it up from the bottom of the pipe.

You’d never smoked weed, but wanted to try it and bought the supplies from a local smoke shop, as well as buying some good stuff from your friend.

Unfortunetly, you also didn’t bother to look up how to actually use a pipe, instead just relying on knowledge you gained from drug documentaries.

This meant that you only knew how people heated up heroin with a flame under the spoon, which meant that surely you could do the same with weed.

“No, no, no, no. Stop that,” he ordered. You were his age, but nonetheless still buckled under his stern tone.

“Look, do you need me to show you how to do it?” he asked, gently taking the glass pipe from your hand. You nodded.

“Watch carefully,” he ordered, as he properly lit up the herb as he inhaled the smoke. He then passed it to you, watching you carefully to make sure you were doing it right. Soon, you got the hang of it.

Even sooner, though, you were a coughing mess.

“Calm it down, there. Don’t take huge puffs. You’re not impressing anyone here, y/n,” he scolded, taking another puff. He did it effortlessly, as if he’d done it for years. (He has.)

You wanted to impress him, though, even though he seemed to not care what you did. You just wanted to prove to him that you were ~cool~.

Well, this ended up in you looking very... uncool.

While Aizawa was chilling with a pretty decent high, you were laid across the bed, starfish style, blasting music in your ears. You were honestly vibing though, so Aizawa didn’t mess with you. For now.

The next day, he definitely teased you a little bit about how totally out of it you were, and how you listened to the same song on loop for 3 hours.

“How did you know that?” You asked, cocking a brow.

“Uh, because your headphones weren’t plugged in?”

Yagi Toshinori/ All Might

He was smoking when you came home, and though he tried to hide it, you smelled it. He acted as if he was just caught as a 17 year old in his mom’s house.

“Uh, no, it’s nothing! I...I don’t do anything like that!” He insisted.

“Toshi, come on. I can smell it,” you smiled. He covered his face.

“Please, please, keep this between you and I...I only do it because it helps with the pain and-”

You cut him off, “ I dont care why you do it, just lemme have some already!”

Of course, you were just teasing him, and he knew that, but he couldn’t help but ask, “...You smoke?”

You shook your head playfully.

“If you’ll let me, I’d like to try some, though!”

He passed it to you, and you took a way-too-long drag. Instantly, you were doubled over, coughing and hacking your lungs out.

He patted your back firmly.

“Since this is your first time, you’re gonna cough a little. Just try to take smaller puffs and take deep breaths. There you go.”

Once you recovered, and Yagi got his turn, he handed the joint back to you. It continued to be passed back and forth between you two until it was finally no longer than a centimeter.

For a moment, you both just chilled out on the couch together, just vibing. That was until Toshinori noticed your goofy, dreamy facial expression. He chuckled to himself, but that was all you needed to become hysterical, laughing so hard that you couldn’t breathe. Seeing you laugh so much of course made Toshi a mess as well, which only added to your decent into utter madness.

Eventually, though, you both calmed down, and Toshi excused himself so that he could go take a quick bath. He often did this whenever he smoked, so that the warm water could aid even more in soothing his aching muscles and creaky bones.

So you were left alone. Totally unattended. At first, everything was totally fine.

However, as you started to actually feel the effects of the herb, you began to panic.

Is this normal? Does everyone else feel like this when they smoke? Oh God, this isn’t right...oh fuck, I’m gonna be the first dumbass to OD on THC...fuck...

Thoughts whizzed past your brain, every single one making sure you knew how totally fucked you were.

Tears streamed silently down your cheeks as you counted your pulse with two fingers on your wrist, but you coulnd’t find a pulse.

oh fuck...i’m probably going to pass out any minute now...it’s all over...

Images of your final goodbyes to everyone you loved flashed just behind your eyes.

“How’re you holding up, pumpkin?” asked Toshi, coming back from the bath, in a robe and his golden hair still damp.

You looked at him, your eyes red and puffy.

“Toshi...I’m...I’m dying...I love you, okay?” you murmured. He would have laughed, all except he saw the genuine fear in your eyes.

He sat down next to you, surrounding you with all of his lanky limbs.

“You’re not dying, honey. What you’re feeling right now is totally normal, I promise. Take some nice, deep breaths for me. Come on. There you go. Good.”

He cradled you there for a good while, until he felt your tense muscles finally slacken, and your breathing evened out.

Toshi made a mental note to never let you smoke that much ever again, guilt pinching at his sides.

Fatgum/Taishiro Toyomitsu

You had taken an edible cookie from your friend. She told you it was just a small bit in there, just enough for you to feel something.

You decided to be modest, eating just half of the cookie. You didn’t notice any effects, and out of sheer boredom you decided to go ahead and eat the rest of it. No harm in that, right?

Well, an hour later, it kicked in. You were expecting to feel something interesting, but you definately weren’t expecting anything like this at all.

Everything seemed so far away. Even your breathing sounded like it was coming down a long corridor and echoing to your ears. You could feel your soul swimming in your body.

Fatgum, who you lived with, luckily finished his hero duties early, and walked into the house joyfully as usual. He called out your name. You didn’t reply.

His large footsteps could be heard, but you were too busy thinking about how weird breathing sounds to notice.

Fatgum soon found you collapsed on the bathroom floor, face pressed against the cool tile.

Immediately, he propped you up against the wall, looking into your eyes with great concern.

“What did you take? Y/n, look at me. What did you take?”

You lazily looked at him, your face completely serious. As serious as it could be, anyway.

“...i...it was...edible...” you mumbled out. As soon as he understood, he was laughing hysterically.

“s..stop...s not funny...” you grumbled, punching him in the gut.

“Alright, alright... let’s get you into bed. You’ll feel much better once you wake up,” he smiled, picking you up and bringing you into the bedroom.

You quickly were comforted by the warm, heavy comforter. Fatgum took a moment to look at you in your groggy state, trying his best to hold back a laugh. It was so painfully obvious that you’d never done anything like this in your life. His only regret was not being around to witness your ascent into cloud 9.

Soon, though, you had drifted into dreamland.

Hizashi Yamada

You locked yourself in your bathroom, sneakily lighting up the joint you bought off of your friend. Your boyfriend was in his room, playing Fortnite or some shit, and frankly, you were embarrassed to smoke in front of him. You knew that he’d definately find something to roast you about, and he was relentless.

A couple minutes after you lit up, though, the door was basically busted down.

“HEY, HEY! You better be planning on sharing some of that!” yelled Hizashi, his hand already out and waiting. He still had his headset on, but you saw with relief that his mic was turned off. You passed it to him.

“Augh! Where the hell didja get this weak shit, y/n? Nah, this ain’t gonna cut it,” he complained, putting it out.

“Hey! I got that from my friend, dude! What the hell?” you frowned. Before you could be too mad at the waste, though, Hizashi pulled out a small wooden box from under his bed. Opening it, he revealed his stash of entirely too much pot.

You covered your mouth, stifiling a laugh. How the fuck could you have not smelled it?

Within five minutes, he’d rolled up a blunt, and was passing it to you, already lit.

It was gone after a little over half an hour, and you could already feel the effects. Your eyes were dry, your stomach craving junk food, and your brain craving chill vibes.

He returned to his game, unbothered but his volume definately toned down about 5 notches. He was a lot more chill than you’d ever seen him act, ever.

You found your way into the kitchen.

Once his game was over, he met you in there. You were in front of the fridge, pulling out thing after thing. By the time he’d gotten to you, you had eaten half a jar of pickles, three pieces of cake (with your bare hands), drank a bunch of soda, and you were headed for the chips that were sitting idly on the top of the fridge.

“oh, God...what the fuck are ya up to, dude?” he groaned. He did not want to deal with this mess.

You grinned at him. “I dunno, maan... look dude could you just get me these up here? please bro...” you giggled. He sighed dramatically, taking them.

However, instead of handing them over to you, with your dirty little fingers, he ate them.

“stoppp, bro, please lemme get some!” you pouted. He acted as if he couldn’t hear you, leaving the kitchen. You followed after him, kicking him in the shins.

Still, he didn’t seem to notice.

“Hizashi, come on, maaannnn!”

He laid himself on the bed, covering himself with blankets. He pulled out his phone, calling you. “Y/n, I miss you so much, man. Come chill out!” he spoke into the phone, trying his best not to break the act. You were absolutely furious at this point, punching at him.

“I’m right here, you doughnut!!” you groaned. Dramatically sighing, Hizashi frowned, “I really wish y/n was here to sesh with me...” all while still eating the chips. You jumped on top of him.

Finally, you caught him off gaurd, grabbed the chips, and locked yourself back up in the bathroom.

This time, though, he just left you be.

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delaber · 3 years

Text

Can’t Have Your Cake and Another Cake Too

Rafael Casal x Reader

Note: Okay, I’ll stop breaking Rafa’s heart now... Last time, I swear! Thanks for the prompts to these lovely anons. Alhough this is not a prequel to Poetic Justice (Rafa x ER Nurse), poor Rafa’s facing some of the same issues. I very loosely based this story on J. Cole’s Kevin’s Heart (don’t know why I’m always incorporating J. Cole into my fics, but apparently he’s always lurking in the back of my mind) and Phlake’s So Faded. Let me know what you think!

Words: 4.7K

Warnings: Cocaine addiction! Does not have a happy ending (nobody ODs and nobody’s dying ...Only on the inside lol)

Tagging: No one! This might not be for everybody and I don’t want anybody to feel forced to read it 😌

It was supposed to be a great night out. The entire gang was there, and at the instigation of Diggs, Rafa was supposed to be on the prowl to get laid so he could take his mind off of his broken heart.

From his seat in the booth, Rafa had a fairly good view of the dance floor and he had already spotted a few honeys who likewise had acknowledged him by smiling and sending him a couple of long looks. One of them had even twirled her hair between her fingers while blowing him a kiss. He had the green light, all systems were go!

However, of all the things that could've thrown him off his game, Rafa would not have placed a single bet on a phone call. But the minute he pulled out his vibrating phone and checked the caller ID, both the group of honeys on the dance floor and his friends occupying the seats all around him were completely forgotten. Nothing else mattered anymore.

He stared at the screen for a while, reading the name over and over again. What the fuck was Morris calling him for? Rafa had told him to stop. Morris knew he was too weak to say no even though he had promised his girl that he'd stop for good.

...Or, you weren't his girl. Not anymore.

But Rafa was still determined to win you back no matter if you had stopped answering his phone calls or not, so he took a tough decision and pressed the decline button beneath Morris' name. He even contemplated putting his phone on flight-mode to remove all unwelcome temptations - he knew you'd never take him back if he fell back in - yet, for some reason taking himself off the grid was easier said than done, and before he had pulled himself together to actually press the little airplane button, a text from Morris had ticked in. It only consisted of two words but Rafa understood perfectly.

'New candy.'

Fuck... Rafa considered the pros and cons of accepting for a few milliseconds before he came to his senses. No, no, no. The only way he'd ever win you back would be by showing you that he could stay sober even after your break-up. Morris could fuck off! As if awaking from a trance, Rafa hurriedly put his phone back in his pocket and desperately tried to forget about Morris' enticing offer by telling himself that he was strong enough to shake it.

...although deep down, he was aware that it was already too late. That no matter what, he wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it now. And no matter how hard he tried to re-focus on the honeys on the dance floor and tell himself how stupid it was to hit Morris up, it was no use, the damage was done; he was desperate to get high!

Deeply, horribly ashamed of himself, Rafa texted Morris the address of the club and impatiently waited a couple of minutes before he walked outside with heavy footsteps. It felt as if he was walking to the gallows, the shame eating him up from the inside. You'd be so disappointed in him!

However, in order to make himself accept what he was about to do, he reminded himself that apparently, you didn't care if he was high or not. If you did, you would've returned his phone calls, and you would've reacted to the fact that he had been sober for three weeks now - but you hadn't. And with that in mind, Rafa managed to push away most of the shame as he laid eyes on Morris' sketchy Subaru parked by the curb on the other side of the road. He walked across the street with determined footsteps, carefully looking over his shoulder to check if anybody he knew were watching him approach what was clearly a dealer's car.

"What's up, bruh!" Morris called as he rolled down his window. He was wearing sunglasses, looking like an absolute turd in the dark night.

Rafa put his arms on the car's beltline and shot Morris a bro handshake through the open window, "what the fuck are you wearing sunglasses at night for? You look like a dick."

"Nah, man, it looks cool," Morris laughed, "do you like them? Hell, you should like them - you paid for them."

"What do you mean I paid for them?"

"With the amount of money you spend in my shop, I think it's safe to assume that you paid for these sunglasses and the rims on the ride too," Morris snorted.

"Yeah, about that," Rafa looked away, the embarrassment slowly creeping up his spine again, "you gotta stop calling me."

"You said that last time as well but look at you now," Morris laughed.

"Come on man, it's important that I stop."

"You don't wanna stop though."

Rafa let out a sigh, "look, I'm trying to prove something to my girlf- ...ex-girlfriend."

"A'ight, I respect that," Morris nodded slowly but then he quickly continued, "so did you just call me here to pin your lady troubles on me? Cause I have a customer waiting up on Seventh Ave."

Rafa blew out some air, embarrassed by the decision he was about to make.

"...Or do you wanna buy?" Morris continued as he read Rafa's body language.

"...you're not gonna tell Diggs are you?"

"Do I look like a fucking snitch?" Morris looked offended, "and you know me and Diggs don't talk no more."

"Yeah, alright. This stays between us, okay? If word gets out, I'm fucked."

"A'ight bruh," Morris laughed, "Now, how much do you need?"

"Just... just give me an eightball," Rafa mumbled.

Morris let out a small laugh, "an eightball? Man, you're not about to quit," he chuckled and handed Rafa a zip-lock bag with white powder in it.

"Shut up," Rafa mumbled and pocketed the baggie, "how much?"

"Rafa, you're my man, so I'mma give you a discount because I feel bad for you and your girl. Three hundo."

"Three hundred?! Last time it was two-eighty without the discount."

"Times are changing. I haven't seen you in three weeks, man. Plus, this is a good batch," Morris poked Rafa in the chest, "my contact got it shipped in directly from Medellín. Look, it got fish scale and everything!"

"You better not fuck me over," Rafa muttered and threw Morris three hundred-dollar bills before he turned away from him with an annoyed huff.

"Pleasure doing business as always, Casal! See you next weekend!" Morris yelled after Rafa with a small laugh, apparently not a care in the world for who knew about their illegal transaction.

"Fucking idiot," Rafa muttered to himself without turning around. He had more important things to do than to scold Morris about his indiscretion.

Rafa hurried to the restroom and carefully locked the door behind him before he frantically pulled out the zip-lock bag. He examined its contents and saw the pearl-like surface that Morris had talked about - Fuck it looked good! He opened the bag carefully but froze when he caught his own reflection in the bathroom mirror; the loving look he was sending the bag of coke was sickening. It made his stomach plummet. Had he really been reduced to snorting coke alone in a dirty bathroom of a sketchy club? He remembered when it had been a group activity. Before he couldn't control it.

Shake it off! He told himself. He had every intention of stopping after tonight. This would be the last time.

You said that last time as well, a small voice rang in the back of his head, but he ignored his guilty conscience and instead poured out a small pile of the pearl-like coke on top of the hand dryer. Quickly, he pulled out a random card from his wallet and used it to form two heavy lines. Before his guilty conscience could interfere again, he also grabbed a one-dollar bill that he neatly rolled into a small tube and put between his right nostril and one of the white lines, ready for the rush. His gaze, however, lingered on the random card he had used to break the coke into lines; it was his fucking rewards card for the small organic, artisan shit coffee house that you liked. What wouldn't you say if you knew what he was doing? In his mind's eye, he could see the disappointed look you always sent him whenever he'd come home all hyped up, rambling his mouth off. You never got angry with him and his love of coke, but somehow your disappointed demeanour was way worse. He would've taken screaming and yelling over the disappointed stare and the slow shake of your head any day.

Slowly, he removed the dollar-bill from his nostril, stood up straight and met his own eyes in the mirror again - and for a moment, he could truly see how pathetic he was. What the hell was he doing? He was throwing away his last shot at getting you back - and for what? A few hours of euphoria and confidence?

But she doesn't want you back, a small voice rang inside his head, you called, and you called, and you called. You declared yourself clean to her voicemail and she still didn't reach out. Fuck her!

"Yeah, fuck her," Rafa mumbled before he put the dollar-bill back to his nostril. Quickly, he snorted both lines of coke, shooting his head back afterwards, sniffling a bit as he cleaned his nose with the back of his hand. He knew he only had a couple of minutes before the euphoria kicked in, so he quickly brushed off the dollar-bill and the rewards card and tugged them both back in his wallet. The remainder of the coke was stowed away in his shirt's breast pocket for safe keeping.

Ready for the rush, Rafa was impatiently staring at himself in the mirror. He was thinking about how to avoid Diggs and his condescending looks for the duration of his high, when he was finally overwhelmed by the familiar fuzzy feeling. It came out of nowhere and started behind his eyeballs and continued all the way down to his toenails. It felt as if someone had pulled a large, fluffy blanket down over him, and it was slowly heating up his body, making him feel safe and secure. His pulse quickened in time with his breathing, and he had to close his eyes to get himself under control. He felt fucking powerful! Morris had not lied about this coming from a good batch. "Shit, Morris," he laughed.

There was a knock on the door, and Rafa remembered that he had occupied the men's room for a good five minutes now. He took a last look at his suddenly hazed eyes, aware that no matter how hard he tried to hide it, anyone could see that he was high as a kite. He contemplated riding out his high alone in the bathroom but also knew that with the amount of energy present in his body, he couldn't stay in the small restroom all night. He had to dance! To fuck! To fight!

With a suddenly confident bounce in his step, he opened the door, and sent the guy in line what he hoped was an apologetic nod before he confidently strode towards the honeys on the dance floor.

"Hey Rafa!" he heard someone yell behind him.

Hoping it was someone who wanted to fight, Rafa quickly turned around but was slightly disappointed to see Diggs coming towards him with a huge grin on his face. Shit! Rafa realised that he had to act nonchalant around his best friend. Diggs absolutely couldn't know about the coke in his breast pocket, or he'd be all up in Rafa's face about it.

"Diiiiiggs! My man!" Rafa yelled overly excited, clearly very, very high.

Diggs shot him a look at his weird behaviour before he continued, "where've you been, man? I've been looking for you everywhere."

"R-r-r-r-r-r-r-rrrrrrrestroom," Rafa laughed, he was too happy to pretend otherwise.

"Why are you saying it like th-" the huge grin was slowly slipping from Diggs' face, "...hey, Rafa - look at me," Diggs suddenly sounded all serious as he took Rafa's face in his hands, carefully examining his features, "Rafa, look at me."

Rafa let out a low chuckle, "Diggs, you know I think you're handsome and all that, but I don't like you that way," he joked.

"You're being weird," Diggs furrowed his eyebrows, "- and your pupils are huge. Have you been doing lines in the bathroom?"

"Maybe," Rafa laughed, unable to stop himself from revealing his dirty little secret, "why? You want some? I still have a few hits left," he padded his breast pocket.

"You know I don't do that shit anymore..." Diggs let go of Rafa with a sigh and looked away from him.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you're a fucking saint now," Rafa said a bit more harshly than he had intended to. Ever since Diggs had met Emmy, he had been boring as hell.

Diggs chose not to comment on Rafa's low blow, and managed to keep his calm, "I thought you'd stopped, bruh."

"Morris made me an offer I couldn't refuse," Rafa laughed in an accent halfway between Tony Montana and Vito Corleone.

"Yeah well, I'm not the only one who thought you were done fucking around," Diggs said seriously. He was having none of Rafa's jokes, "I just saw your girl downstairs. She wants to talk to you."

It took a few seconds before Rafa understood, but when he finally grasped Diggs' words, he felt the blood drain from his face and his mouth run dry, "what? No, you're kidding me..."

"Nope," Diggs sighed, "I've been running around trying to find you for fifteen minutes..."

"Shit! What the fuck do I do?" Rafa said in a panicked voice, licking his lips frantically, "I told her I was sober! If she sees me like this, she'll never take me back."

"Yeah, well you better pray that you don't run into her."

Rafa ran his hand through his hair, "fuck I'm screwed. She's downstairs?"

"Was fifteen minutes ago."

"Alright, I'm jumping out this window. You stall her, tell her that I got sick or something."

"You can't jump out this window?" Diggs said incredulously, "we're 50 feet up, if you do that, you die! Just walk out the doo- ...oh shit, dude, we're blown. She's here. She's coming over."

"Fuck! Can I still bolt?"

"Of course not!"

"Well how do I look? Alright?"

"You look-" Diggs cut himself off, "...maybe just try and avoid her looking into your eyes, okay?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to do that?"

"The light in here's paying you a favour but apart from that you're gonna have to pull yourself together. You brought this upon yourself," Diggs said harshly before his demeanour changed completely as his eyes interlocked with yours over Rafa's shoulder, "heeeeey," he smiled broadly, "look who I found."

Rafa slowly turned around and met you. Your stunning beauty - as always - immediately knocking him to the ground. He couldn't believe that it had been four weeks since the last time he'd seen you. He'd do anything to get you back!

"Rafa," you nodded formally with a stiff face. Rafa couldn't help but make a mental note on how weird it was to see you without a smile on your lips. You were normally always so happy. He had done this, he reminded himself.

"Hey baby," he whispered, the words weirdly familiar in his throat.

You briefly raised your eyebrows while looking away from him, clearly uncomfortable by the sound of your old pet name.

"Sorry," he continued, "force of habit. ...I'm just happy to see you."

Your gaze slowly found his face, and Rafa prayed that you couldn't see his coke-eyes from where you were standing.

"Well..." you said and clicked your tongue, "I'd like to talk to you."

"I'd like to talk to you too," Rafa said quietly.

"And you're sober? Like you said on my voicemail?"

"Yes," Rafa breathed, "completely sober," he lied thickly, hyper-aware of how awkward it was with Diggs shuffling nervously beside him. He was uncomfortably rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet.

"Good," you finally let out a small smile, "do you want to sit down?"

"Yeah," Rafa nodded.

"Yeah, I'll - uh - I'll leave you to it," Diggs cleared his throat and padded Rafa between the shoulder blades as a way of wishing him good luck.

"Thanks man," Rafa muttered before he followed you down to a vacant booth in the corner of the room. Instead of sitting down opposite you, he made sure to occupy the seat next to you, hoping that it would minimise the risk of you looking into his eyes. He just had to pretend that he was sober until the high quieted down. Fourty-five more minutes - Less if he was lucky.

"So, how've you been?" You said quietly as you were both overlooking the dance floor, avoiding looking directly at each other.

"Not good," Rafa said quietly, "like shit, actually... how about you?"

"Yeah, well I guess 'shit' sums it up neatly... How's sober life?"

"Oh, it's - yeah - it's - it's great!" He said, the lie thick in his throat, "I feel so much better now." He knew how much he had hurt you, and he knew how difficult it must be for you to face him after you'd said that you never wanted to see him again - which just really only made his lying so much worse. Fuck, how he hated himself for what he had done. What he was still doing.

Your eyes darted across his face before your gaze settled on a spot just below his chin. He was relieved that you weren't staring him square in the eyes. "I was so happy to hear your voicemail," you whispered, "you really flushed your stash?"

"Yes," he croaked.

"I'm glad that you're finally taking care of yourself," he couldn't make out your face in the dark but he could hear a hint of happiness to your voice that you were clearly trying to suppress. It made him feel horrible.

"Yeah, I want to stay sober for you," he said slowly. At least that wasn't a lie.

"You have no idea how happy that makes me," you said quietly, the happiness definitely shining through now.

Rafa's heart was fluttering in his chest, and he felt the coke-induced euphoria run amok in his brain, "...does that mean you'll forgive me?" All his senses were heightened.

"It's a step in the right direction" you said quietly, still not looking directly at him, "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too baby," Rafa said quietly and boldly took your hand in his.

Finally, you looked up at him, and to avoid you noticing his bloodshot eyes with the dilated pupils, he took a quick decision, leaned in and crashed his lips against yours.

Luckily, you mistook his desperation for passion and fiercely kissed him back, your hand releasing itself from his, and instead caressing his neck. In-between kisses you managed to mumble, "I'm still... mad... at you."

"I know," Rafa mumbled, enjoying the familiar feeling of your lips against his. Your hands switched to caressing his torso, and your small fingers travelled over his stomach and up his chest, coming to a halt over his heart. It was racing against his ribcage and he had no idea whether it was due to the coke or due to the heap of emotions he felt in his chest. He couldn't believe he was kissing you again. He had completely written it off no more than half an hour ago.

Your right hand moved away from his heart but came to a sudden halt when you felt a small bump in Rafa's breast pocket. Still kissing him, you ran your fingers over the bump a few times before you remembered that it was where he always kept his coke. Quickly, you pulled your lips away from his.

"Wait, no, don't take kissing away from me," he hummed, completely unaware of the discovery you'd just done.

You were looking at his euphoric face with the closed eyes and the swollen lips as you moved your hand over his breast pocket once more.

When Rafa realised what was going on his eyes flew open and he spluttered, "it isn't what you think!"

But he was too slow to react, and before he had had the chance to move away, your fingers went inside his breast pocket and grabbed the small bag from there. "You've got to be kidding me!" You said angrily as you held his coke between your fingertips.

"Baby, I can explain," Rafa said quickly while desperately grabbing your wrist.

"Rafa, you fucking idiot! Don't touch me!" You wrestled yourself out of his grip, got up from your seat, and fast-paced towards the door.

"Baby! Baby!" Rafa yelled out as he ran after you.

"Don't touch me!" You cried, attracting the attention of everyone in your path.

You stormed out the door, Rafa at your heel desperately clinging to every inch of you that he could reach. When you reached the curb outside, he finally managed to run up in front of you, stopping you in your tracks, "baby, I can explain!" He said desperately.

"You said you'd flushed it all!" You were screaming at him now, the tears running down your face.

"It was a mistake, baby, I swear I didn't mean to. I flushed it all, I promise. It's just a setback."

"When did you buy this, Rafa?" You said through gritted teeth, "how long did you manage to stay sober before you decided you wanted to throw it all away?"

Rafa looked away from you, he was so embarrassed by himself, "Morris called and I tried to say no, I really did! Baby, I tried so hard to resist it. But he was persistent."

"Well, did he force you to buy?" You hissed. You were having none of his excuses.

"...No." Rafa admitted.

"When did you buy it?" You emphasised every word, "before or after you called me last weekend?"

"After..."

"When? How long after? When did you have your setback?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes! I need to know if you did it because you were physically craving it, because you just felt like getting high, or if you did it because you’d thrown the thought of us away when I didn’t answer you.”

"I tried to fight it, I swear I tried to fight it," he was getting choked up.

"Rafa, tell me when you bought it."

He considered shooting you a lie but he didn't want to fuck up any more. "I bought it tonight..." he finally muttered under his breath, avoiding your gaze.

"You're not serious!! You bought it tonight?" You bellowed, "are you trying to tell me that you planned on throwing away your soberness tonight? That if I hadn't shown up, you'd be high as balls right now?"

Rafa didn't say anything, he just looked at you with huge eyes, the embarrassment evident on his face - and first then did you notice his blood-shot eyeballs with the abnormally large pupils that had taken over most of the green that was normally present.

"No..." you whispered when you realised, "no, no, no..." you groaned quietly, clutching your chest, "you're high right now?" The heartbreak was evident in your voice.

Rafa sent you a pained look. He fucking hated himself.

"You're high..." You stated in a whisper, the tears were streaming down your face, "you lied."

He had broken your heart. Again.

"I - I didn't mean to," he croaked, "I was just so happy to see you. I knew you wouldn't want to talk to me if I told you the truth."

"So you planned on telling me when?"

"I don't know," he croaked, "I didn't think it through. I've been sober for three weeks. Tonight's just a small setback. Baby, I swear, I'll block Morris and I'll flush this baggie right now if I can just get you back," Rafa was begging, “I’ll stop if you tell me to!”

"Rafa, how many times do I have to tell you," you cried, "You have to stop because you want to. Not because I tell you to stop! I don't care about the snorting! I don't care that you party and get high! You've done lines of my tits several times for God's sake! But I can't live with the constant lying that has become part of it!"

Fuck, Rafa knew what you were building to. His life's biggest mistake. He had it coming, he knew it. He deserved it. He was a fucking cheating coke-head and he hated it. "Please don't bring it up," he sobbed.

You didn't listen to him. You had to confront him with it because he clearly hadn't understood. "Rafa, you fucked another girl! And you were so high that you didn't even realise it! And when you woke up the next day and saw what you'd done, you lied about your whereabouts and the fact that you'd been high as fuck! I had to learn about it through her!" You were sobbing, "...and instead of staying home and comforting me, you lied about having to go to the studio, and you met up with Morris and you got high! Again! If knowing that you're breaking my heart with your constant lies doesn't make you want to quit, I'm not sure what will."

"I want to stop!" he sobbed. He had never felt so horrible before, "I love you, I want to be with you," he sniffled and took your hand, "please give me another chance! I'll stop snorting. I'll stop lying. I'll do anything for you."

It looked as if you were contemplating his words but the look in your eyes darkened suddenly and you let out a whisper, "no Rafa!" as you pulled your hand away from his.

"Baby, please!" He pleaded desperately, "I love you."

"You love coke more," you whispered.

"I have a problem," Rafa tried desperately, "I know. I can't stop. But I'll get help. I'll do whatever you want me to do!"

"Rafa, if you stop snorting because I tell you to stop, it will never last! You love getting high!"

"That's not true... it's pathetic," he cried.

"Rafa, honey,” you said quietly, “- ask yourself this; would you be throwing away this baggie and deleting Morris' number if I wasn't leaving you because of it?"

"Yes," he croaked immediately.

You took a deep breath of air, hurt written all over your face, "Love," you sighed desperately as a fresh wave of tears started streaming down your face, "you're lying again..." you sobbed, and put the baggie in the palm of his hand and folded his fingers around it.

"I'm flushing it," he croaked.

"Do whatever you want," you whispered and looked him in the eye, "We're not together anymore. I'm done - it's over,” you said as you slowly turned around and started walking away from him.

“No, no, no! Please come back!”

“No Rafa… This time I'm serious,” you said before you started walking again.

This time, Rafa didn't run after you. He just watched you walk further and further away from him as your hands dried the tears off of your face every two seconds. He imagined you stopping, imagined the hurt look you'd send him. How he'd run over to you and take you in his arms. Imagined how he'd apologise and you'd both hug and cry and kiss it out. But you didn't stop. You didn't send him any look at all. And he didn’t run to you, he was glued to the pavement.

He stood as if frozen in time and looked after you even long after you'd disappeared around the corner. Suddenly, however, he noticed that he was still clutching the baggie in his closed fist. Slowly, he opened the palm to reveal the beautiful mother-of-pearl-coloured powder. He contemplated dropping it down the gutter next to him. It would all be so easy.

But instead, he closed his fingers around it and pocketed it right above his broken heart. It would help relieve the terrible thunder that he felt rolling over him. It brought along a storm of emotions. A hurricane of regrets. And he was desperate to get high.

#rafael casal x reader #rafael casal #daveed diggs #blindspotting #rafael casal imagine #rafael casal fanfiction #bay boys #heartbreak #drug addiction #please don't hate me lol

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oh-for-fic-sake · 4 years

Text

No Boyfriend’s

Masterlist

Henry comes home to find out his three year old princess has a boyfriend, whats a dad to do?

Warnings: swearing, fluff

A/n: so I had so much fun wrighting this fluff piece! Thank you to @jessevans for requesting it.

No Boyfriend's

You walked up to the preschool to pick up your daughter from her afternoon session. You had to admit when Henry had first sugested moving out of the city You had been a little skeptical. He had been adamant that he wanted your child to have a childhood much like his. Out of the hustle and bustle moving out into 'the sticks' as many londoners would call it. You'd settled in a quaint picturesque little village near Canterbury in Kent the location was perfect for henry's work with the port of dover thirty minutes away and the center of london with all the airports around an hours drive in the opposite direction it was ideal. And best of all it was out of the way and had all the amenities within the village itself a post office, shop,pub, Doctors surgery and pharmacy the local primary school and pre school was literally a five minute walk from your house and the closest secondary schools were a ten minute bus ride into canterbury itself and when the time came you had six to choose from.

The reason for the move? Your now three year old Daughter the apple of her daddies eye. You remebered the day you'd told your boyfriend you were pregnant, you'd been terrified as much as he said he wanted a family you couldnt help that twinge of doubt. But he was exstatic within moments he had darted out of the room when he returned he was clumsily trying to dial his mothers number with shaking hands tears streaming down his face as he kept asking if you were sure even when his mother picked up, you could here her laughs of joy as he told her. He paced the room leaving you to sit on the bed giggling as he refused to sit down whilst on the phone with his family every time he walked past you he move his hand pressing on Your flat tummy asif trying to feel the child already that or he was trying to imagine you with a bump and that grin? You'd never seen him smile like that before it truly melted your heart seeing him so happy. He was always and attentive boyfriend but once you was pregnant he was..Incredible always by your side when he was at home tending to your every need and he somehow managed not to be over bearing.

It was when you went to the first scan that he had proposed some might say it wasn't the most romantic but for you it was perfect! Leaving with the first photos of your little jellybean and a fiance. Fuck yes! You thought that you couldnt get any happier but then came the gender scan. You knew he didnt mind what they were but you also knew deep deep down you both wanted a little girl to coddle over and buhe wanted a daddies girl someone who he could be their knight in shining armour. He could bearly keep still beside you holding your hand tight watching the screen trying to get a look at your little 'nugget' as he had called them he couldn't keep quiet either with every swipe of the ultrasound wand he was changing his mind.

"Girl? Is that? I can see? nope Boy definatly boy"

"Henry babe...dont get to excited that's the umbilical cord...I think?" They were being a little bugger crossing their legs making the sonographer work hard to move them around as you had to move again and again trying to get the little one to move. Finally they spoke.

"And you two are about to have... Little....Princess! You have a baby girl on the way congratulations" you both froze looking at the screen seeing your baby...your daughter. Immediately you both burst into tears.

"A-a girl your sure?" Henry asked in a quiet shaky voice the woman smiled nodding handing you both tissues then moved slower over the child showing you exactly what she saw then printed off some of the photos for you. Once home Henry began refering to her as 'little lady' on account of her 'protecting her modesty' by crossing her legs.

It wasnt long after youd began talking about moving seroiusly, the house was big enough sure but now you knew the baby was a girl it all seemed much more real. Sure you'd both spoke about buying a house together on and off as youd moved in to his place earlier in the relationship but this time it was more feasible the idea of raising your precious little girl in the middle of london didn't bode well for Henry he was also concerned about haveing photos of her taken he was an actor hell your relationship was posted all over social media by your third date! He didn't want that attention on his daughter so you both started seriously looking. It only took another nine weeks to find a place you both fell in love with the Georgian detached house it looked like a mini manor with its decorative columns and tall windows had a huge garden to for kal it was perfect.

At six months you had a small private wedding and it was then that he anounced your marriage and baby Cavill, potsing your favourite wedding photo of you in you and Henry facing each other laughing witb your foreheads together, you were wrapped around each other as close as ou could get considering the bumb that had seemingly grown overnight his hand resting on the cute bump you were laughing because she had just kicked him when he had told you he loved you. Almost like 'dont forget about me!', Kal had photo bombed to his head poking out between your an Henry's legs smiling , a part of your flowy dress caught up on the bears ear head tilted the only one looking at the camera and in the same post he added an ultrasound of your baby girl. You got congratulations from many of yours freinds and family. And Henry's freinds and costars each wondering the same thing 'how the fuck did Henry keep it quiet?'. You wondered that as well, the hole pregnancy was just memory after memory. Henry made sure you did everything you could to document your daughters creation, you did the photo of your bump once a week the last one being you in the hospital in the middle of slow labour holding the gown tight around you a mere half hour before she was born. He had made sure you did the belly casting which had been tidied up and trimmed painted pink and was in the cupboard, then the 4d scans expensive tho they were nothing and you mean nothing compared to seeing her little face for the first time, it was then you realised she looked nothing like you! She was all her father although a slightly more feminine and less sharp and it was also there you were told she had lots od hair...Curls you felt like you'd hit the jackpot. At the birth he had been incredibly supportive until he wasn't, well you disagreed he wanted to film it and not just your face he wanted to film it you said no but regretted it after as it would have been solid proof of what happened. You see one moment he was there then mid contraction....you heard quiet 'nope' a huge thump is what alerted you to his fall.... there was an alarm pressed and nurses came running in each giggleing, it was rare now days to have a fainter.

"Are you FUCKING KIDING ME?! HENRY?! OI! HERNY? CAVILL GET YOUR ASS UP!" You had to stop shouting and started breathing heavy as another contraction pulled at you once over you began barking orders to the nurses.

"KICK HIM...KICK HIM IN THE NUTS! DONT WORRY ABOUT STERILISING SUPERMAN HERE! NEVER AGAIN! HE WONT THEM TRUST ME... HENRY GET UP! ARE YOU LISTENING? STOP BEING A LITTLE BITCH! I AM NOT DOING THIS AGAIN COS HE FUCKING MISSED IT! LOOKING WHEN I TOLD HIM NOT TO!" The nurses didn't know what to do it took three of them to place im in the chair each trying desperately not to laugh as you had a melt down screaming at him to 'wake the fuck up' You swore you even heard laugher from outside signaling that his family had heard. Yes your wonderfully supportive husband had fainted through stress? Excitment? Anxiety? Low blood sugar? Each time you asked him it had been different answer but and to quote him 'it was definitely not because I looked' which neither you or his brothers will ever believe or let him forget. Luckily he came to as you finally birthed his daughter. A stunning screaming little dark haired bundle. He sobbed when he held her for the first time leaning over her cradeling her so gently leaning over her kissing her as many time he possibly could he was the first one to hold her, hug her kiss her and change her. The photo of his first cuddle hung proudly in the hallway ,you will never forget that moment, the moment when Henry's whole world changed you could see then just how much he had wanted this. Your daughter was going to be the luckiest little girl in the world.

Paige had grown into a daddies girl, through and through which made today much better. Henry was coming home from filming man from u.n.c.l.e he had been away for months and you had kept his arrival home a secret. Henry was going to make it home in about twenty five minutes. You stopped just before the colourfull gates unable to go in with Kal, you could see the kids lining up in twos underneath the oak tree in the small garden. You smile moving to stroke Kals ears hushing him as he barked loudly vibrating with exciment his tail thumping on the floor as he sat like the good boy he was. At his bark you could hear the kids all squeal with excitment, they loved it when you brought the 'wolf' to the preschool. It was funny hearing Paige whine to them that 'his name is Kal and he's a bear'. He was quite the spoilt pup when he helped you pick up his sister getting hugs and kisses of all the Paige's class mates. Finally the small class was walked out of the garden one of the teachers holding the gate lettjng them leave to their parents. Paige waited in line pointing to you then was let out you ducked down hugging her kissing between her her curly little pigtails.

"Hey baby! Have a good day?" She nodded passing you her small bag and a small potted plant? You looked at her confused but said nothing. She turned and giggled hugging kal smoshing her face in his chest making him stand up she pulled back and squealed as he latherd her with kisses three hours away from her was apparently to long!

"Oh no Kal! Stop it silly bear!" You laughed watching her push weakly at kal who began to settle down now that his 'pup' was with him. You noticed the other parents hovering there kids all pulljng itching to come get Kal cuddles. You smiled to them nodding suddenly they came over all giving him pets and love which he lapped up. You also used it as a sort of lesson the do's and donts of petting dogs, which did some of the other parents a favour. Kal wagged his tail and droped to the floor he couldnt roll over fast enough directing the tiny hands to scratch his belly mouth open tongue lolling about as he panted one happy little bear. After you were sure all the kids got there cuddles you moved calling kal he huffed at you ignoring you instead wanting more love. You smirked down at him sighing as the children giggled. Finally after much coaxing from the other parents you and Paige managed to heave kal away with promises of chicken and snuggles at home. Soon you was on your way home kal padding beside you happy as can be.

Paige took he spot beside you holding his lead with you she was talking about her 'boyfriend' a little boy who she had taken a shine to. It was really sweet he had just moved to the area a little asian boy who paige had bonded with quickly. Really they were just best freinds but he was the first boy she had made freinds with hence she had opted to call him her boyfriend.

"So then Micah played let me play and-and he let me be a knight!" You smiled at her as she beamed excited.

"Really? A knight?" She stopped at the road with you looking both ways then crossed quickly.

"Yeah! Like in daddy's games!! And he gave me some of the bany tomatoes in his lunch...did you he grew them in his own garden!!" You gasped sown at her.

"Really? Oh my, sound like a little dream boat!" she scrunched up her nose lookjng up at you placing a tiny hand to he forehed sheildjngnher eyea from the afternoon sun

"Wha?" You chuckled shaking your head at her.

"Never mind jummy is just being silly" nodded to you her lightl blue eyes sparkling at you then Continued talking about her day mostly about Micah and the games they played.

When you reached home you watched as kal began barking and whining which could only mean one thing. Henry was home already, you unlocked the gate and released the dog with a quiet 'go get daddy' he tore off whining running to the door scratching and pouncing barking the whole time.

"Mummy whats wrong with kal?" You looked down at her knowingly"I'm not sure why don't you go see to him?" She nodded her head biting her lip then licking it, she looked so much like her father doing that. Then she was off running to the house just as Henry opened the door. She froze then screamed for him quickly falling to pieces with grabby hands wantjng her daddy. You watched all choked up as always she was bawling her eyes out by the time he had jumped the steps to the house scooping her up in his huge arms. He clutched her to his chest shushing and rocking her as she cried into him fisting her small hands in his shirt just calling him over and over. He moved his head kissing her trying to calm her, he hated and loved this. He hated her getting so upset when her returned but secretly loved that she missed him. The first few times he left he was worried she wouldnt remember him but juste as youd promised him she had.

The first time he came home you’d taken her to the airport to meet him...He had ended hup having to sit in the back with her as she refused to let him go getting hysterical each time he tried to pry her off of him. She had gotten better as she got older understanding that daddy had to work and now she was older she could speak to him on the phone and video chat. Each time after the initial crying and snuggles she would stay stuck to his side weather she was sitting on the sofa between his legs when he was playing games or in the makeshift gym with him useing his reps to practice her counting...even if in five mineuts he managed two hundred by her count they were always together. Hell sometimes he even read a new script as a bed time story, which not even you were privvy to!

You laughed walking up to him winding your arms around them both cuddling your daughter between you he leaned in kissing ou on the lips.

"God its good to be home" you smiled smoothing one of paiges high pigtails she whined calming down kicking her little legs wrapping an arm around his neck and moved suckling her thumb a little. He moved you all into the house patting her bottom lightly somthing he had done since she was born it always soothed her. You moved to the kitchen opening the back door letting air in it was to hot, you placed the small plant on the windosill by the sinck giving it a tiny bit of water as you noticed the siol had dried out. Henry stayed close behind you wanting to be around you, you moved to the slow cooker flicking it on to warm up the already cooked casserole. He came up behinde you movijng to have Paige on one hip still rocking her slightly even tho she had calmed down.

"Ohh look baby chicken casserole...Did you help mummy with that today before school? " She giggled peering over the pot.

"Yes daddy! I putted in the veggies! And tatoes! Daddy!" He smiled at her gasping.

"You did the veggies and the potatoes?! Such a clever girl making daddies favourite dinner" she giggled at the praise nodding.

"And-and I tasted it to!" he gasped at her as she got all excited

"And what do you think?" She grinned and 'whispered'

"Needed salt" you spun round and gasped at her offended.

"You little!" You chased her and Henry around the kitchen island wriggling your fingers as if to tickle her.

"AHH HAHAHa NOOO! DADDY RUN RUN!" you giggled as he scarperd out of the kitchen hovering by the door and moved all you saw was the tops of their heads peering into the kitchen. You rolled your eyes as they made a 'plan of attack' you turned back to the pit placeing the lid back on.

Suddeny Henry had you, arms pinning yours to the sides as Paige 'tickled' you making you laugh.

"Oh my god! Stop I give I give!" Finally Paige relented koala climbing Henry who quickly scooped her up to his hip.You moved in kissing her cheek then henry as he wrapped his free arm around you nuzzling in to your neck giving a quick nip before licking at your skin.You giggled trying to escape yet all he did was grab you around your waist and hoist you up.

"HAHA! I have you both now!" You laughed and Paige squealed as he spun around holding you both before making his way to the living room you wriggled free pretendingnto run from him making paige call out to you for help as he threw her up in the air holding her with 'slam dunking' paige to the sofa making her laugh and scream as he followed lifting her littl tshirt blowing rasberries on her tummy makeing her squeal and laugh louder. You smiled at the two, this is what you missed when he was away, the laughter of a full house. You sat down in Henry's armchair as he and Paige 'wrestled' soon attracting kals attention who like the loyal steed he was came to paiges aid pouncing henry making him groan and roll off her givingnher and kal the chance to escape to the garden, you both let them the garden was safe and having kal around was like a live in nanny he wont let anything happen to her.

Henry rolled over on the sofa lounging back panting crooking a finger at you. You crept over moving to sit in his lap, he tugged you down to him pressing a gentle kiss to your lips. He moved sitting up more cupping your ass smirking.

"Soo? Did you think about what I mentioned?" You grinned and pretended to think for a second making him groan leaning in leaving kisses on your neck and jaw.

"I did" you finally replied, you felt him hold his breath as his nose ghosted your ear.

"I stopped them that night~ all back to normal now" he pulled back staring at you

"Really? You mean it?" You nodded them brought you forward for a deep kiss. He had mentioned trying for another child when he came back, youd always intended to give Paige a sibling but not when she aas still a baby baby. Now that Paige was older and going to be in school next year you had felt ready to try again and had be over the moon whne henry had suggested it in a video chat instantly stopping your contraception so eveything would be back to normal and you could start trying asap asfterall you knly had him home for a few months then he was off to play superman again. He smiled lunging forward pinning you below him devouring your mouth you moaned as things got heated.

You felt them. Eyes. Blue eyes to be exact. You both sighed and turned to Paige who was staring unblinking at the two of you from the door. You moved pushing him up.

"Mummy? Wheres my plant I wana show daddy what I grew!" He looked at you and sighed a little, you could tell he was a bit dissapointed but you waved him off as he stood pulling you up with him you moved in whispering.

"Tonight love" he grinned and jumped up a bounce in his step holding his hand out to paige who took it.

"Its on the windowsill in the kitchen" Henry nodded left the room letting you relax for a while already knowing you were picking up your kindle to read. Once in the kitchen he lifted Paige placing her on the counter and pulled over the small plant.

"So whats this then?" She smiled touchingnthe leaves softly

"Its a strawberry plant daddy...I did it from a tiny seed!" He smiled at her looking to the plant it wasnt half bad small but alive which is more then he could say for his when he tried.

"Oh you did this? At school?" She nodded at him and moved the leaves about.

"Yes and it will get bigger and grow pretty flowers...And the flowers will grow a strawberry! Miss bou said we cant pick em till they are a bright red like in the shops... and we can take pictures in to show em off!" He nodded to her

"So your gardening at school now? Is it fun?" She giggled putting the plant down

"Yeah we got lots in our vegetable patch...we got some lettuce and peppers and spinach and and tomatoes! But they not ready yet...Micahs is! Micah grows the at home... can we grow some veggies daddy?" He smiled at her

"We certainly can...Besides we will need to plant your strawberries in the garden...I will make your ownn little growing patch amd we can grow anything you want how does that sound?" She squealed and bounced on her bottom making him smile.

"Lets make a list and we can go get them tomorrow" she nodded in agreement. You walked in the kitchen as henry and Paige leaned over the counter making a list

"Whats going on here then?" Paige quickly riped the paper from under Henry's nose.

"List mummy! Of palnts for my veggie patch! Daddy wants to help!" You smiled peaking over the paper seeing two halves one side had strange 'paige writing' the other a list Henry had written. Compost, tools, string, pots then lots of different fruit and veg. You chuckled shaking your head.

"You missed watering can...maybe we could get a waterbutt? And one of thows plastice green houses to start the seedling off?" He smiled nodding addjng them to the list as you went and checked dinner. You nodded then turned to the other two."Right you tow dinners done wash up then go wait at the table...Had it in the slow cooker all day just needed to be heated up" he leaned over kissing you once again thanking you then helped Paige was her hands leaving to the dining room with Paige.

You did this everytime he came home early dinner meant an early bedtime for Paige and then You could give Henry a proper homecoming. You dished up the dinner home made chicken casserole you moved quickly with the three bowles placing them on the table then sat down ready to eat as Henry began talking about work. you smiled letting him gush about his work, you loved seeing him like this he blushed slightly.

"Any way enough about that, how have my two girls been?" You watched at Paige grinned across the table to him.

"I made a new friend daddy!" You swallowed your mouthfull choosing to keep quiet you knew where this was going you grinned into you bowl. He smiled at her leaning over to wipe her mouth quickly making her giggle at him as he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Oh really? And whats her name?"

"Haha nooo! Daddy its not a girl...I've got a boyfriend!" Henry choked onhis mouthfull paiges face dropped and she looked to you worriedly you smiled reassuringly at her. Henry hit his chest coughing finally getting himslef under control, he looked at you shocked and terrified you nodded at him chuckling.

"A-a boyfriend? Poppet dont you think your a bit err young for that?" She frowned at him shaking her head.

"No daddy! He is really nice! He lets me be a knight! And today we had lunch together and he fed-ed me his tomatoes."

"Gave paige he gave you his tomatoes" you corrected as Henry gaped at her unsure what to make of it.

"So he is just a friend?....he better be" he grumbled the last part under his breath.

"He is a friend...My boyfriend I love him daddy... he gives me hugs! And Kal likes him to! He's my hero" You giggled as Henry was panicked and at a loss.

"Really....love I thought daddy was your hero?" Creased up he actually looked a bit hurt from her words she gave him a sympathetic look.

"Yes daddy you are...But Micah is to! He is soo pretty and fun and he don't make me be the princess all the time...And he shares his colours"

"Okay so you love this boy Micah?" She nodded pushing her food around in her bowl.

"What do you love about him?"

"His hair! Its black and shiney! And and he is cute!"

"Aha but you do know he isnt your boy friend right? Your not aloud boyfriends yet....No boyfriends untill your older." He said she looked at him wide eyed then you her bottom lip quivering.

"What? But but I love him!" Henry crossed his arms at her she mimicked him scowling

"No absolutly not baby" .she whined and smaked the table in a huff

"NOOO! MY BOYFRIEND!" He raised a brow at her as she had a paddy.

"No boyfreinds untill your 21 and thats final ittle lady"

"No! Micah is mine! My boyfriend! A-and you cant stop us from playing! So there!" Henry rose a brow trying to ignor your quiet chuckles as Paige made huffed and stuck her nose in the air being a right little madame. You watched givjng Henry the stink eye as a grin crawled across his face. Here we go.

"Its illegal...he could get in trouble, daddy could get in trouble" Henry tilted his head at her as she gasped trying to read him, you could see her mind trying to work him out. Is he lying? Or not? but her father was an actor...And a damn good one he had a poker face like no other. You knew where this was going, you knew you should stop it but his was gold! You had a feeling that henry was not gojng to ckme out on top.as she opend her mouth.

"W-well we wont tell..Keep it a secret!" She said holding a finger to her lips Henry tutted shaking his head.

"Oh poppet...Do you know where daddy has been these past months?" You squinted at him trying to see exactly where this was going knowing you were going to have to pick up the pieces. She nodded then shook her head no. He smiled devilishly at her. Oh shit here he goes.

"Daddy has been to spy school" you gasped at him oh hell no he wouldnt...yes he fucking would you could see the twinkle in his deep blues.

"Spy school?" She spoke in a small voice then turned to you looking fro one to the other he nodded at he

"Y-your a spy?" He nodded and she gave him a sa look.

"Yes, and I made friends with lots of spies" she twitched slightly shaking her head.

"And they told me that the spy rules says that a spy's little girl isn't allowed a boyfriend until they are twenty one....If they did find out daddy could get in trouble...You dont want daddy to be in trouble do you?" She shook her head bottom lip trembling as she was torn. She looked like she would explode as she tried weighting up her 'options'.

Suddenly Henry dropped his smug look and looked more like a deer in the headlights as Paige began wailing moving her arms making grabby hands to you. You sighed and hoisted her into your arms rocking her trying so hard not to laugh.

"W-why is da-daddy mean?....I ju-just want to pl-play with my boyfreind!" You patted her back rocking her.

"No-now D-daddy will get i-in trouble! But I-I just w-wana plaayy!" She cried harder hicupping between her words.

"Oh sweety come here shh shh" you gave Henry a look as he leaned back in his chair crossing his arms at you shaking his head. Stubborn and protective of his little lady.

"Nope..Not having it" you hissed at him knowing you had to spell this one out for the big idiot.

"Daddy didn't mean it,he wont get in trouble at all baby girl"

"Yes I did"

"HENRY!" he shut up at your hiss

"Bu-but d-daddy said-"

"Hey look at me...Dont listen to daddy he is an idiot and just jealous of Micah" she sniffled an nodded

"Y-yeah cos he-he's got pretty Shiney hair... D-daddies just got stupid curls!" You giggled as Henry looked aghast at her not believing wht ha was hearing

"Exactly daddy is just being a grump! you can still play with Micah...He is your best friend isn't he?" She nodded sniffling

"and you love his like a friend right?" Henry now realised his mistake blinked at you as you rolled your eyes shaking your head at him like 'what the fuck? Really? Shes three' .oh. She pulled away wipinng her eyes looking to henry's matching blues.

"Really daddy? C-can I still play w-with micah?"

"Yes of course...I'm sorry baby...you and mummy was right I just got jealous...daddy is used to being your only hero." Smooth cavill real smooth. She bought it tho nodding he tilted his head down.

"Yo-you wont be in tr-trouble" he shook his head at her

"A-and Micah wo-wont be in t-trouble?" Again he shook his head and reached for her.

"No baby daddy was just being silly...Come here Can you forgive me poppet?" She thlught about it then nodded lunging for him cuddling him he mouthed a sorry to you but you just rolled your eyes at him. Idiot.

It was later that night when Henry returned to your bedroom after reading Paige to sleep,. You both flitted about one another getting ready for bed ou was brushing your teeth when he brought it up.

"So who is this micah then?" You rolled your eyes still hearing a little hostility there...To a fucking three year old. You spat out the toothpaste and looked to henry leaning on the door.

"A little boy...He moved to the village just after you left...Paige was instantly taken with him, he is asian so was avoided by the other kids...you know what she's like with hair and shes never seen straight pitch black hair before... she gushed about him for a few days then they became best freinds....And she call's him her boyfriend because he is the first male friend shes made! God henry really shes three! There none of that shit yet...not for a good few years!" You turned away from your sheepish husband.

"So? nothing i need to know? theres nothing going on? whats his parents like?" You blinked at him..

"Seriously? Like are you being serious now? Ok well fuck it his dad has taken over the doctors surgery and is actually your and my doctor now that dr marsh has retired! His mother is a stay at home wife, they have a cat called fuji; cos he is fat and a gold fish called mino because its a mino...he is a sweet polite boy ...his favourite colour is green he grows fruit and veg in his garden and you know what Henry he fucking loves batman! and whne he batman versus superman comes out he is gonna want batman to kick your ass! there you happy Jesus fucking christ almighty!" Henry smirked moving towards you slowly stalking towards you really.

"Fuck off" he just chuckled quickly wrappjng himself around you.

"God your so sexy when our mad come here~" you blinked at him

"Oh hell no You did not get me riled up to have rough sex.....Henry I!....you little shit!" He laughed knowing you’d caught onto him making you more irritated and dragged you to the bed kissing at your neck along the way.

"Come on love time for number two...A boy to keep and eye on Paige for me when I'm away!" You chuckled relenting as he laid you down on your bed.

#henry cavill x reader #henry cavill fic #henry cavill imagine #henry cavill #henry cavill x daughter #henry cavill x child

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utterlyinevitable · 3 years

Note

Their first kiss is so sweet! What is Odes friends reaction to the news? Naveen and Alans?

What was their first time like? Did she stay with Ethan in his bed?

Do they get the big house? Does she like to play for him? What was going through Odes mind when she went home after their first kiss? Was their next interaction awkward? What was their first official official date like?

Thanks for indulging me and answering my questions about these two! Let me know if its too much 😬

> ask me anything <

I’m going to answer kinda out of order as I think about things lol

So Odette gets into her apartment building and walks to their flat in kind of a haze, like she’s not quite sure anything after dinner actually happened. A part of her thinks she fell asleep at work and made up the whole evening anyway. She makes as little noise as possible padding through the apartment. None of her friends are in the common areas and she’s glad for that. She goes to her room and leans against the shut door with a small unbelievable sigh she didn’t know she was holding in. And then suddenly she shoots up to attention and fumbles trying to fist her phone out of her clutch. She calls Ethan - he’s still in the cab, it’s only been about 4 minutes since he dropped her off. “I am so sorry” she says when she hears his receiver pick up. Ethan couldn’t help but expel a chuckle, then says “I was worried for a second there”.

They talk things through a bit that night. When they see one another at work two days later they are a bit.. quieter with one another? A few members on the DT and nursing staff on their floor notice a shift but don’t think anything further into it. It doesn’t last long and when people see Ethan driving her home like he usually does they assume it must’ve been the caseload getting to them.

Their first date after the kiss and them talking things through is to the opera. Its an event she agreed to go with him weeks ago - before they were more than friends. Nothing seemed different except now she didn’t feel the need to make sure there was some space between them as she draped her arm through his. She didn’t need to stand straighter or be on the defensive - to prove that she belonged on his arm. She was here with her boyfriend enjoying one of their shared passions.

Her friends are not surprised at all that they’re together. They really just make fun of her and comment about how long it’s taken Ethan and Ode to get together. Especially since the gang concocted a short-sighted plan at her birthday party to push the two in the right direction.

Naveen isn’t surprised either. Ethan’s favorite topic of conversation is Odette. The two could not have a get together or lunch without him bringing up how she’s been handling the DT, cases, studying for boards, or something she’s done to upset or wow him. Naveen’s first comment is “So when’s the wedding?” which makes Ethan blush and turn right back around and leave the old Chief chuckling.

Alan was the last to find out. Ethan kinda forget to tell his father he’s dating his best friend -- the woman who’s gotten under his skin one too many times. It wouldn’t be the first time Alan turned up unannounced at Ethan’s apartment when his son hadn’t answered his calls for a while. It also wouldn’t be the first time he found Ode and Ethan having dinner together one evening. After the three enjoyed their meal and E and O were clearing the table, Alan caught Ethan placing a kiss to Ode’s temple. Alan never brought it up to them, but he always knew they’d make a great match.

Their first date after everyone finding out was on a trip to Providence. Alan invited them over for the day. They had a lovely family day and on the road home they stopped at the good Friendly’s for food, and a $5 film. The cinema across the street from Friendly’s was playing Singing In The Rain, and they figured why not. They’re here - what the hell!

There first time was meticulously planned on Ode’s part, Ethan knew about her rule and figured there’d still be two months until they crossed that bridge. They’ve had a few sleepovers throughout their friendship/relationship with Ode taking the second bedroom. Only in the last few weeks has she started to like staying over more... and in bed with him. She psyched herself up for about two weeks, subtlety bringing candles and spare clothes and necessary toiletries. Upgrading the small amount of things she’d keep in a cupboard in the spare bathroom. So when they get home from dinner, while he’s making a nightcap, she says she’s going to get more comfortable. Ethan’s used to her immediately shedding her day attire for some yoga pants and tank now. But she comes out in a baby pink satin robe - a color she does not wear in all the years he’s known her - and he’s speechless. He raises a questioning brow. And all Ode does is give him a sultry smile. He follows her lead and tries very hard like a good boy not to get too over zealous and jump the gun.

It’s all very slow and sensual - beautifully slow. They’ve kissed many times before but never like this. And every single touch felt like the first time - fingers grazing skin, eliciting goosebumps and tingles of electricity. Their hands always on the other, but no heady grabbing or bruises for tomorrow. Just swollen lips and love-filled eyes.

It lasted well over an hour; neither sated nor wanting it to end.

She’s conflicted when it does though, in regards of where to sleep. She knows it’s important to put space between them - doesn’t want to settle into comfort too early. But the way he’s holding her she doesn’t ever want to leave his embrace. All too soon she does. Because she has to pee and certainly needs a shower.

“I’m going to shower.”

“Okay.” He says as he gets up as well. He’s told her she could use his many times, there’s no point in arguing.

Ten minutes after he hears the shower stop, he knocks on the bedroom door.

“Yeah, come in!”

He stops in the doorway and just admires her as she braids her long hair.

She turns and smiles at him. The admiration between them is ridiculously palpable.

“Will you be staying in here?” he asks as he moves to close the distance.

Her smile broadens. “Miss me already?”

He takes her now idle hands, “Always. Since the moment you took a chance on me.”

She leans up to delicately kiss the edge of his mouth.

and the two make their way back to Ethan’s room.

They get a house, eventually. The condo - which they also bought the adjoining apartment next door and combined into one big penthouse - is their main residency because it’s so close to work. They get a beach house outside the city with a grand piano and bi folding doors overlooking the water. All her most important scores are framed and they have music and books lined the walls floor to ceiling. She plays for as he reads from his chair close by, or she’ll treat him to one of his favorite pieces. Sometimes he’ll play the small bits he knows -- he’s forever trying to find the piece she played for him on her 30th birthday. Ode will never tell him.

And in a weird way, in all his trials, he seems to be writing an ode to her.

---

This was so long and I don’t care! Thank you so much, anon, please never stop 💞

#odette hall #open heart #ethan x mc #ethan ramsey #Anonymous #asked #gosh thank you for asking all these and letting me think out loud about these guys #i really really appreciate it and will answer whatever you'd like!

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kaimelia · 3 years

Note

scout learning an instrument?

instrument

a/n: an old prompt...but a random burst of inspiration and here it is!

also, my computer is like SUPER GLITCHING and so I posted this like an hour ago and then it disappeared so uh if it’s there twice that’s why

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

"I thought you were dead set on starting him on guitar," Amelia muttered, running her hands over the shelves of music books. "Why the sudden change?"

"If we start him on piano, it'll give him more time to understand music before guitar. Then he'll be able to make sense of the chords, read different clefs," his voice trailed off as he picked up a beginner's piano book.

"I have no idea what that means." She stood up on her tiptoes, resting her head on Link's shoulder and glancing at the book. "You're sure he's not too young?"

"My mom shoved me in front of a piano when I was six, and I was behind everyone. He's four; kids start super young now." He set the book back on the shelf. "I haven't had a piano since high school," he grazed his fingers over the keys on a display instrument, fiddling with the electronic settings. "I'm excited to set it up."

"Mm, maybe you should teach me. Because otherwise, I'll be the only one who doesn't play." He smiled, taking his wife's hand and tugging her towards the counter.

"You can let Scout teach you. He'd love that."

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

"Okay, push it a bit more my way." Amelia watched as Link moved the couch to the side, making space for the keyboard they'd purchased. "And we just plug it in, and it works?" He nodded, bending down towards the mess of cords on the floor.

"How long did Meredith say she would take him?"

"We've got another hour, so don't stress. You've got plenty of time." She sat down on the arm of the couch, watching Link change settings on the keyboard. He stood back up, lowering himself onto the bench and placing his fingers on the keys, a satisfied smile on his face. "Scout's gonna have a hard time playing this if you're always here," she grinned, listening to Link slowly play his way up a scale.

"Am I teaching you something right now?"

"Nah, I just wanna listen to you play." She leaned back on the couch, resting her head on her hand and watching him figure through a simple melody.

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

"Momma!" Amelia grinned, kneeling down to embrace her son as he ran through the kitchen door.

"Hey, how was your day with Auntie Mer?" The boy grinned, walking over to hug his father's legs.

"Bailey said that he would come over to play baseball with us tomorrow!" Link rustled his hair. "For my birthday!"

"We got you an early present, bud." The boy's face perked in curiosity, grabbing the hand Link was holding out for him.

"An early present?" Amelia beamed at her son's enthusiasm, following them into the living room. "A piano?"

"Mhm," she placed her hand on his shoulder. "You're gonna start taking lessons at the music school, just like Ellis, and learn to play. And someday, you can start guitar like Daddy." Scout ran over to the piano, lifting himself onto the bench and sitting up straight. He pressed his finger down on a key, his mouth dropping open as it made a sound. The parents laughed as he proceeded to slam his hands, creating an odd mash of dissonant noise.

"Okay, let's start with some basics, shall we?" Link rolled up his sleeves, sitting on the bench next to his son. "This," he pressed a key, "is an A." Scout copied the motion. "And this is a B. It's just like the alphabet. A, B, C, D, E, F, G."

"H!"

"Nope. The notes only go to G. Then, it starts again at A." Amelia crossed her arms over her chest and slumped down on the couch, listening to her husband throw around musical terms she couldn't make sense of, their son eagerly repeating everything and slamming his fingers on the keyboard.

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

By the end of the night, Amelia practically had to carry Scout away from the keyboard for his bath, silently swearing that if she heard 'Ode to Joy' one more time, her ears would start bleeding.

She returned downstairs once Scout had fallen asleep, wrapping her arms around Link from behind and kissing his neck. "So, who really likes the piano more, you or Scout?" He laughed, taking his hands off of the keys.

"He's a natural; he's got a good ear."

"Definitely gets that from you. I thought you were speaking another language earlier," she muttered, glancing down at the keys. "He seems to like it, though." Link nodded, placing his hand over hers.

"He's asking for a dog, now."

"This house is noisy enough, now. Just keep saying that we'll think about it; he'll forget as soon as he gets in front of this keyboard again." Link laughed, scooching over and patting the space beside him.

"Come sit." She did so, raising her eyebrows as he lifted her hands to the keys.

"I can't play anything." Link nodded, placing his hand over hers and pressing his finger down.

"Shh," he whispered, guiding her hands up the keys.

"Yeah, I don't get it." She lifted her hands defensively, pursing her lips.

"Come on; we were having a moment," he groaned, watching as she stood.

"I like listening to you play; I just can't do it." She returned to her newly frequented position on the couch, leaning against the arm in a relaxed stance. "Play something for me," she whispered, seeing his attention turn back to the keyboard in front of his as he began to play a soft, slow melody. "I like that one," she yawned quickly, pulling a throw blanket over her body. "It's pretty."

"Just like you." Link smirked, clearly pleased with his comment.

"You're absolutely ridiculous."

#amelia shepherd #amelink #amelia x link #amelink fanfiction #atticus lincoln #grey's anatomy #amelink fanfic #greys abc #greys fanfic #scout lincoln #my fics

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gothpanda · 3 years

Text

A Little Bit of Attitude Ch. 35: I Love Him

WORD COUNT: 7.7k

A/N: Hey! I’m not dead! I just have shitty mental health! But I’m good!

WARNINGS: drugs, OD, death(kinda), angst

TAGS: @madamsixx @emariehorror @nosebleedblitz

Previous/Next

Read on Ao3

October 13th, 1987

Los Angeles, California

Home. The only place Sammi wanted to be was home with her parents. It was the perfect time to drive 7 hours with no Motley Crue anywhere close to Los Angeles. While this seemed essential to Sammi to come down, Mr. & Mrs. Bass were heavily confused by the visit. Of course, they loved having their youngest daughter back in the same city, but when they knew ahead of time. Sammi always planned her visits for the weekend after a busy school week, not a random Tuesday. As parents, Mr. & Mrs. Bass kept their questions to zero with happiness in the air to help combat Sammi's melancholic demeanor. A perfect way to help had ice cream for dessert after dinner. Sitting together at the breakfast table, Mrs. Bass placed a bowl of rocky road ice cream in front of Sammi, knowing it was her favorite. Sammi smiled happily for a second to her mother, remaining silent as she ate. Mr. Bass took this as his way to attempt to break through his daughter's walls.

"I talked to Tommy the other day," said Mr. Bass, glancing over to Sammi as he ate a spoonful of cookies & cream ice cream. "Have you gotten a chance to speak to him, Sunny?"

"Nope," bluntly said Sammi, looking down at her ice cream.

Mr. and Mrs. Bass only exchanged looks with each other. "Well what did Tommy get to tell you, David?" asked Mrs. Bass.

"Things are starting to feel overwhelming for him and the boys. Tommy mostly wanted to speak about home and how everyone's been," said Mr. Bass. "He said he missed us and the girls,"

"I hope he doesn't stress himself out too much. Tommy does push the limits with everything especially when Nikki's by his side," said Mrs. Bass. Sammi let out a dry chuckle, making her parents turn their gaze towards her. Sammi glanced up but only remained silent once again when Mr. and Mrs. Bass stared. "Is everything alright, Lovebug?"

"Yeah, I'm good," lied Sammi.

"Is everything alright between you and guys?" asked Mr. Bass, leaning forward onto the table. Sammi only shrugged her shoulders.

"Did Tommy and you get into an argument recently?" asked Mrs. Bass.

"No, we didn't"

"Well then how are you with the boys?" asked Mrs. Bass again.

"Are you alright with Nikki, Sammi?" asked Mr. Bass. Sammi took a deep breath, dropping her spoon into her half-empty bowl. She leaned back against the wooden chair, pushing any fallen hair out of her hair.

"No. I'm not alright with Nikki. I haven't been for a while," finally admitted Sammi.

"Well, what happened? You had told me Nikki wanted to work out, even invited you out to a show on your birthday," asked Mr. Bass.

Sammi hugged herself almost tight, not wanting to look her parents in the eye. "He fell off the wagon… turned back to drugs. I found out when I saw him and said I didn't want anything to do with him," said Sammi. Mr. and Mrs. Bass couldn't help but appear shocked for Sammi's reason, staying silent. Sammi didn't add anything else, only continued to finish her ice cream.

"Can you tell what drugs he's back on?" asked Mrs. Bass.

"I don't want to say it out loud. Just know it's too hard for me to let it go," said Sammi.

"Well, I hope Nikki learns from his actions. He's too smart of a man to throw everything away just for a fix," said Mr. Bass, studying Sammi's facial expressions.

"I doubt that…" mumbled Sammi, standing up to drop her bowl into the sink, leaving the kitchen to head upstairs for the night. Mr. Bass held Mrs. Bass's hand, trying his best to think of a solution to Sammi's sadness.

"You really do like Nikki, huh?" asked Mrs. Bass.

Mr. Bass sighed out. "Yeah, I do. He's a good kid and I know how much Sammi cares about him. I mean it when I say I hope he learns from all of this and gets help,"

"But he hurt our daughter, David," pointed out Mrs. Bass.

"Because he's sick, Vi. When I say I know, I just know. I know he cares about our daughter, just like our daughter cares about him," said Mr. Bass, standing up and kissing his wife on her forehead.

December 13th, 1987

The air was crispy and chilly for winter being so close, even if it was rare for an authentic cold in Los Angeles. Even with the chilly air, it didn't stop Sammi from lighting a cigarette and taking in tobacco into her system. She blew smoke into the air and leaned against the balcony of Emm and Sabrina's apartment. Sammi listened to the sirens go across the city, staring out into the lights. She then heard the sliding door open behind her, seeing Emma appear over her shoulder.

"You're not cold?" asked Emma, leaning against the railing next to Sammi.

Sammi took another drag before answering. "No, I'm pretty good even with this thin long sleeve," said Sammi as she held her pack of smokes between her and Emma. "Want one?"

"Nah I'm trying to quiet," sighed Emma, Sammi raising a brow. "My coach saw my pack in my duffle, gave me a lecture. So now I'm trying to quit," said Emma.

Sammi chuckled with a smirk. "Better than me. I think I'm addicted to these at this point," said Sammi, blowing another puff of smoke.

"Wouldn't doubt it with you being around Nikki so much," said Emma without thinking until realizing. "I'm sorry I didn't-" said Emma with wide eyes.

"It's fine," uttered Sammi, looking straight ahead, biting her lip. The two girls stayed in silence, sirens continuing to make noise all around. Emma couldn't handle it anymore.

"The boy's have been back for a while," said Emma. Sammi nodded. "They're gonna go to Tokyo soon," Sammi stayed quiet. "Have you heard anything from Tommy?" Sammi shook her head. "Have you heard anything about Nikki?" asked Emma, turning to see Sammi's expressions.

Sammi only kept a gaze ahead of her, taking another drag of her tiny cigarette. "When I said I was done with him, I meant it, Emma. I don't want to hear anything about him or from," said Sammi, smashing the bud against the black iron and flicking it down to the ground.

"It's his birthday," Sammi stayed silent, looking down at the ground, two floors down. "I'm on your side in all of this. And you know if you need to talk it out some more, I'm right here," said Emma, squeezing Sammi's shoulder as she walked back inside. All Sammi could do was stay outside and smoke another cigarette. She also could only play with the black stone around her neck.

December 23rd, 1987

Covina, California

3:30 am

The television light danced around the dark living room, the sound almost at a mute. On both of the sofas, Sammi and Athena dozed off with blankets and pillows cuddling them. They wanted a night that reminded them of their teen years, watching movies with popcorn late into the night. The girls could've easily slept into the bright and early morning until a loud ring echoed in the house. Athena rustled on her sofa, groaning from the continued ringing of the doorbell, rubbing away the sleep from her eyes. She looked across to Sammi, seeing her still fast asleep. Athena sighed out as they lazily stood up from the sofa, walking over to the front door. She looked through the peephole, confused to see Tommy visibly worried outside. Athena opened the door, almost tumbled down as Tommy rushed into the house, gripping onto the wall for balance.

"What the hell, Tommy?" whispered Athena, scrunching her eyebrows together into deep 11's. She finally saw a good look at her brother's face, noting his glossy red eyes. "Woah. Are you okay?" asked Athena, locking the front door.

Tommy shook his head. "Where's Sammi? I- I need to talk to her," uttered Tommy, his voice sounding raspy.

"Um… she's asleep in the living room over here," said Athena, walking a few feet to the doorway of their parents' living room. Athena halted in her steps when seeing two empty sofas and no one in the living room. Athena looked to Tommy, who was still on edge and scanned around the hallway. The sound of feet coming down almost made the brother and sister jump, seeing their parents come down the stairs in robes.

"What's going on?" asked Mrs. Bass, having the same face as Athena. "Sweetie, what's wrong?" Mrs. Bass asked Tommy, walking over and cradling his face in her hands.

"Why did you ring the doorbell so many times, Tommy?" asked Mr. Bass, fixing his glasses from slipping off his face.

"I-I-I need to talk to Sammi. It's urgent. I called Emma and Sabrina's and they said she was here," stuttered Tommy, eye darting all over the place.

"What's everyone talking about?" said Sammi, walking down the hall with a glass of water in her hands. She frowned at everyone around her, confused by the scared and worried faces, especially Tommy's. "Dude, have you been crying?" asked Sammi, standing right in front of her brother. Tommy only looked down at her with a painful sadness, biting his lip. "What's wrong?" Sammi asked again with a stern voice.

"Nikki's dead." croaked Tommy, swallowing the knot in his throat.

The room stood utterly still. Athena's eyes grew wide in a panic, turning to see Mr. and Mrs. Bass's mouths ajar from shock. Sammi didn't move an inch, just gripping tighter onto her glass of water. Tommy stepped an inch to hug Sammi, but this only made her take a step back. Everyone stared at Sammi, waiting for the smallest amount of something of a reaction.

Sammi shook her head. "It isn't true. Someone's lying. They have to be," said Sammi, feeling her heartbeat out of her chest and palms sweat. "Nikki isn't dead,"

"Sam, Slash called me. Slash's been calling everyone," said Tommy with a frown.

"Well, then he's lying! Slash and Nikki play shitty jokes on everyone! You know that!" yelled Sammi.

"He overdosed!"

"No!"

'Love-"

"No, mama!" said Sammi, pushing her mother's arm away from her. "He said he was going to get clean! Nikki wanted to get clean!" yelled out Sammi again, still managing to keep a tight grip on the glass. "He can't be dead!" cracked Sammi's voice, eyes turning into a sad pink.

"I'm tired of this," uttered Athena, walking over to the coffee table in the living room. Everyone followed her, gathering in the middle of the room. She swiftly grabbed the clicker, changing the channel from a MASH rerun to MTV.

Blasted right on the new television screen was a video of Nikki playing at their last American show. "It's a sad night in the rock n' roll scene as Nikki Sixx, bassist for the successful band Motley Crue, has died today in Hollywood due to a heroin overdose. He was only 29 years old," said the MTV news anchor. An image of Nikki appeared on screen, showing 1958-1987. This is what cracked Sammi finally.

Everything felt as if it was moving in slow motion. The glass in Sammi's hand finally fell free, smashing into a million pieces on the hardwood floor, water spilling everywhere. The sound of it breaking didn't register into Sammi's ears, but it didn't matter. Sammi felt numb all around her body as if she was weak. Soon when Sammi felt her knees hit the floor, it was back to 'normal.'

"No!" howled Sammi, tears running down her face. "No! No! No!" Sammi screamed, hunching forward and hiding in the palms of her hands. The air in Sammi's lungs felt almost gone, as if someone punched her in the gut because it was. Hearing the facts for herself of Nikki dying was a punch in the gut that Nikki caused her. Yet sadness was the only thing Sammi felt.

As Sammi gasped for air, Athena and Mrs. Bass lifted her off the ground to lay on the sofa. Sammi rested her head on Mrs. Bass's lap, continuing to cry. Mrs. Bass ran her fingers through Sammi's hair, frowning at her daughter's misfortune. Athena kneeled on the floor, soothing Sammi with soft rubs on her back. Athena soon felt her own tears begin to form, regarding the most miniature form of sadness than Sammi. It's strange what death can lead others to think at the moment. For this moment, Athena felt horrible for her history with Nikki. Never giving him a chance when she knew Nikki made Sammi happy. Never saying kind things about him to Sammi. And now never getting to say sorry. Athena felt even worse seeing Sammi break down for her person.

"Sammi, I'm so sorry," uttered Athena.

"I should've helped him. I should've stayed," outcried Sammi, tears falling down harder as she gasped.

"Don't say that. This isn't your fault," reassured Athena. "Nikki knew how much you cared about him,"

Athena turned to see Tommy sitting by their father, rubbing away the tears from his eyes. "Do you… do you know how Vince and Mick are, Tommy?"

Tommy shook his head. "I don't want to talk to them right now. I can't," mumbled Tommy. "It's late anyway,"

"Tommy's right. I think it's best we take Sammi up to bed," said Mr. Bass, squeezing Tommy's shoulder before standing up and walking over to his daughters. Mrs. Bass wiped away the dry cheeks on Sammi's face before slowly sitting her up. "Sammi. Sammi, come on, we have to take you to bed," Mr. Bass said softly.

Sammi only shook her head and cried harder, unable to have the strength to move. Mr. Bass and Athena gently laid hands on Sammi's arms and shoulders, bringing on her feet. Before they could help guide Sammi, Tommy moved past Athena and Mr. Bass as he decided to be the protective older brother he always was. He wrapped Sammi's arm around his neck, lifting her petite figure in his arms bridal style. In almost complete silence, except for Sammi's soft whimpers, Tommy carried Sammi up to her childhood bedroom. The rest of the family followed behind.

"He wanted to get better," wept Sammi into Tommy's chest.

"I know he did, Sammi," consoled Tommy. To his luck, Sammi's bedroom door was ajar, only needing the push on his foot to open it wide to walk right in. Tommy gently laid Sammi down on the bed, lifting the blankets to cover her body. Mr. and Mrs. Bass stayed in the door frame while Athena stood right next to Tommy. Athena delicately hopped over Sammi, squeezing herself in the rest of the bed space. She wrapped her arms behind Sammi for a hug, knowing her sister shouldn't be alone. Mrs. Bass came into the room for a quick moment, kissing on her forehead, then retreated back to Mr. Bass, going to their rooms. Tommy and Athena gave a knowing look to each other, nodding as if they could communicate telepathically. Tommy left the room without another word. The cry had stopped for Sammi, but now it was only numbness, physically able to feel her heartbreak. Sammi closed her eyes, praying for something to end this.

"You promise everything will be good from now on?"

Nikki smiles at Sammi, brushing away her dark locks from her face. "I promise. I meant it when I said I missed you and don't want to lose this,"

Sammi cuddled up to Nikki's chest, almost hugging him. "I believe you,"

6:00 am

In a stir, Sammi snapped open her eyes, dismayed to find herself in her childhood bedroom. It took a couple seconds before Sammi could remember what had happened only 3 hours ago. Sammi peeked over her shoulder to see Athena lightly snoring, lying straight on her back. She quietly snuck out of bed, knowing she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. The sun was barely making its way up into the sky for the new day. This new day wasn't what Sammi wanted, but she had to accept and begin to grieve, even if she didn't want to.

Sammi quietly went downstairs, seeing Tommy asleep on one of the sofas, continuing her walking down the hall. Sammi stopped when seeing the wall phone in front of her. It was a habit she grew to have, dialing Nikki only to hang up soon after. It was tempting at this moment to do it. Grieving has different stages, right?

Like clockwork, Sammi grabbed the phone with a shaky hand, pressing Nikki's home phone number from memory. Sammi leaned her head against the wall, closing her eyes as the tone began dialing, just waiting for his voicemail. Expect this time it wasn't the original.

"Hey it's Nikki I'm not home cause I'm dead…" said Nikki with a rough voice that has gone through the wringer. The beep of the answering machine made Sammi come back to earth. She gasped and slammed the phone shut, feeling her hands begin to shake. Sammi hastily walked back to the living room, dropping herself next to Tommy.

"T-Tommy. Tommy, wake up," shakily uttered Sammi, tapping Tommy's shoulder.

Tommy groaned, turning on his side to give his back. "What," annoyed Tommy said.

"It's Nikki. He-"

"Is dead. We already went through this, Sammi. I'm sorry for your loss," groaned Tommy.

"Tommy, he isn't dead," said Sammi. Tommy sat up in a flash, getting a dizzy spell from the quick motion.

"What are you talking about?"

Sammi didn't say another word, jumping on her feet as she tugged Tommy onto his. She pulled him all the way to the wall phone, passing it to him as she punched the buttons. Tommy's face went from confused to shock, eyes widening when hearing Nikki's answering machine message. In almost a freight, Tommy slammed the phone back on the receiver.

"I'm gonna kill him," said Tommy, nostrils flaring. "I'm gonna kill for making us worry like this,"

"Tommy as much as I would agree on any other given day, I want Nikki alive. We need to go check up on him," said Sammi.

"What if he doesn't want to see us? Why should we after he scared us?" asked Tommy. In a rash decision, Sammi punched Tommy in the shoulder with all her strength. "Ow! The hell was that for?"

"Your best friend, who you see as a brother, and my ex-boyfriend, who I still have feelings for, died last night and is alive again. You really don't want to see him after that?" asked Sammi, trying not to raise her voice. Tommy huffed, looking back and forth from Sammi to the floor, finally nodding in agreement. "Great. Let's tell Athena before we split," said Sammi, running up the stairs, Tommy in tow.

Athena was still fast asleep in Sammi's bed, moving over right into the middle. Sammi and Tommy shook her gently, repeating her name until hearing her groggy voice.

Athena opened her eyes, scrunching her face when seeing Sammi and Tommy standing over her. "Why are you two up so early?"

"I just called Nikki's house. He's alive, Athena," said Sammi.

"Oh thank god," sighed Athena, hands falling on her face. "Did you talk to him?"

"No, he just left a shitty answering message. Tom and I are going to go check up on him," said Sammi.

"Wait, I'm coming too!" said Athena, ripping the covers off her and jumping off the bed. "Someone needs to be stable between the two of you,"

"Okay great. Now change and let's get the hell out of here before mama and dad wake up," said Tommy, leaving the bedroom to head downstairs.

"I'll leave a note. Let's just hurry," said Sammi grabbing a random piece of paper and pen.

7:45 am

The ride was a quiet one driving through the California valley. Tommy didn't feel the need to race; wanting to be at ease, they grew closer to Nikki's house. It had seemed no one else got the news of Nikki being alive, flowers already beginning to gather outside his gate. Sammi swallowed hard at the thought, trying to prepare herself for what was to come. Tommy lowered the window, staring at the gate code box.

"Do you know his gate code?" asked Tommy to Sammi.

"Uh yeah it's 0882," answered Sammi, Tommy raising a brow. "Don't make fun of him, it's when we first met,"

"Damn Nikki being a softy was not what I imagined," teased Athena, Tommy giggling as he punched in the code. Nothing. Tommy looked back at Sammi.

"You sure it's that?" asked Tommy.

"Yeah! He never changed his code when he got this place," said Sammi, unbuckling her seatbelt and stepping out of the car. She tried the code herself, only to get nothing again, making her groan in annoyance. "Why would he change it?"

"Maybe to keep Veronica out," suggested Tommy, putting the car in park and getting out along with Athena. "I don't think we can climb this," Tommy pointed out. Nikki's gate was close to 7 feet tall of steel with surrounding brick walls in the front.

"Nope, but I do know where we can climb," said Sammi, walking to a nearby corner. Athena and Tommy glanced at each other with scrunched eyebrows, following Sammi around the corner to more brick walls only with more trees. Sammi stood in what appeared to be the end of Nikki's property.

"What are you doing? Again, I don't think we can climb that," asked Tommy, pointing to the wall.

"If you give me a lift, I'll prove how wrong you are," said Sammi with a slight smirk. This shut Tommy up, even with confusion and questions still on his mind. Nevertheless, he listened to Sammi and lifted her up as safely as he could. Sammi extended one foot against the wall, pushing herself up to graze the ledge.

"Sammi!" both Athena and Tommy said.

"Shut up! Tommy, lift me up higher," ordered Sammi. Tommy didn't argue, extending his arms high as he held Sammi's right leg. This gave his sister the chance to climb and sit on the ledge. "See! I proved you wrong!" exclaimed Sammi with a smile. "Now lift Athena and I'll pull her up!"

It didn't take long for Athena to be sitting next to Sammi, looking on the other side. "Oh hey there's a little hill on this corner, How did you remember about this?"

"Because this isn't the first I've had to jump the wall thanks to Nikki," joked Sammi, as the sisters lifted Tommy up by his arms to join them.

"You've had to sneak into Nikki's house before?" asked Tommy.

"His lovely ass forgot his keys at a party making us do this drunk," said Sammi, jumping off the ledge, landing on the grass perfectly. After the siblings all joined together, they walked through the backyard and straight to the sliding door. "Thank god," whispered Sammi as she found it unlocked, quietly sliding it.

The house was dark and cold as if no one cared to live in it. Dishes and stains piled up in the kitchen. It almost reminded Tommy of the Motley House, just waiting for the sight of a cockroach or rat to crawl by them.

"I don't hear anything," said Athena as the siblings walked to the front of the house.

"Maybe he's catching up on a few zzz's after his fiasco," said Tommy, taking one step to the stairs. After trying not to for the entire time, Sammi looked up the staircase as she bit her nails, nerves, and fear all in one. "What are you guys waiting for? Let's go see him," said Tommy, taking a few more steps. Athena held Sammi's hand for reassurance, walking up the gothic flight of stairs, Tommy leading.

The second floor wasn't as of a mess as the downstairs, but doors to other rooms were all open. Sammi could feel her heart pound out of her chest again once walking into Nikki's room. It was more of a mess from the last time Sammi spent the night, clothes and empty alcohol bottles thrown around. With no sight of Nikki, Sammi glanced over to the closed closet doors, swallowing away the lump in her throat. Sammi let go of Athena's hand, stepping closer to the closet, opening it with a shaky hand. A loud gasp turned Tommy's head.

"Oh my god," gasped Sammi, stumbling back into Tommy's chest, covering her mouth as she almost sobbed. Athena and Tommy could only stare with wide eyes, finding Nikki in an unfortunate way. In the middle of the closet sat Nikki, almost naked with only his underwear on, passed out. Beside him, his special wooden box of everything and a bloody arm with a needle lodged into a vein. Nikki looked scary to Sammi, his body completely pale and covered in sweat. "He cannot be alive after that!" shouted Sammi. Athena pulled her into an embrace, covering her eyes.

Tommy carefully stepped inside, kneeling beside Nikki. He took one deep breath before beginning to shake him awake. "Nikki," uttered Tommy. Nothing. Tommy looked back to see a scared Sammi, settling into his nerves. "Nikki!" shouted Tommy, shaking Nikki viciously. Finally.

Almost jumping out of his skin, Nikki shut his eyes up and let out a gasp. His blurred vision soon focused, looking around to find the siblings watching over him. Scared. Nikki's eyes locked with Sammi's, seeing the fear he caused. This made him want to just run away and be small, but he couldn't do that. Tommy didn't need to ask Nikki and carefully took out the needle of heroin.

"It's going to be alright, Nik. We got you," whispered Tommy. He tossed the dirty needle in Nikki's box. "Athena, come help me," Tommy told his sister, swinging Nikki's arm around his neck. Athena rushed over, kneeling by Nikki and grabbing him to support his weight. "Okay. One, two, three. Lift," said Tommy. The brother and sister lifted Nikki's weak body off the floor, trying not to stumble over their feet. Sammi could only watch, tears welling up as Athena and Tommy took Nikki to his bathroom. She still followed slowly, seeing how exhausted Nikki was. Tommy sighed out as he sat Nikki on the bathtub's edge, looking at Athena and Sammi. Nikki only stayed silent, staring down at the floor.

"Get out," said Sammi; Athena and Tommy whipped their heads to her. "Nikki needs a bath. I'll do it,"

"But-"

"Athena, it's fine. Tommy, can you please find some clean clothes for Nikki, something comfortable?" asked Sammi. Tommy nodded, stepping out of the bathroom.

"I guess I can make some breakfast for us," said Athena.

"There isn't any food in the house," uttered Nikki, finally looking someone in the eye.

"Um fine then I can just pick up from breakfast somewhere," said Athena, beginning to make her way out of the bathroom but turned on her heels. "By the way, what's the gate code? We couldn't get it the first try,"

Nikki looked away from Athena. "It's Sammi's birthday…"

Athena nodded with a smile that wasn't for happiness. "Of course it is. I won't be long," said Athena, kissing Sammi on the cheek before closing the door behind her.

The room fell silent, neither Sammi nor Nikki looking at each other even as Sammi got close to run the bath. Sammi began looking for a towel and even soap to wash Nikki, opening every drawer in the master bathroom. She almost gave up until opening the bottom sink cabinet. Right in front was a never-opened bottle of fancy scented liquid soap Sammi bought a long time ago with the two towels she used as her own. Sammi only scoffed, grabbing the three items to keep next to her. Tommy knocked for a second and dropped Nikki's folded clothes on the counter.

Sammi felt the warm water, adding a bit of her soap to the bath, turning off the water. "Okay, get undressed," said Sammi, turning her back on Nikki.

Nikki looked up, staring at Sammi's back for a moment, the feeling of regret coming up. Slowly standing up, Nikki took off his boxers and carefully lowered himself in the bathtub. Nikki didn't need to tell Sammi he was ready, seeing her kneel down in a flash beside him. Sammi soaked the smaller towel in the soapy water, adding more as she began the washing. Silence still followed, which only made Nikki want to scream on the top of his lungs. Feeling the towel draw across his chest didn't give any happy effect. It just made Nikki angry at himself.

"I'm sorry," whispered Nikki. Sammi remained silent. Nikki only dropped his head against the granite, looking up at the ceiling. "I could've done this myself,"

"I don't trust you,"

Nikki huffed. "Fair enough. I don't blame you. I wouldn't trust me either,"

When Sammi reached Nikki's arm, she grazed the bloody wound carefully, causing her to finally break.

"Why?" asked Sammi, finally looking up at Nikki.

Nikki looked at Sammi with deep elevens between his brows. "Huh?"

"Why would you go back after dying?" whispered Sammi, a tear rolling down her face. "You died and you still wanted to shoot up again… why?"

Nikki sighed. "Because I'm an addict. I never thought it would get like this though. I mean it when I say I'm sorry,"

"Yeah where have I heard that before?" mumbled Sammi. "I thought you were gone. Doesn't that matter to you?"

"It does..."

Sammi didn't need to say anything else, moving on to wash Nikki's hair.

8:50 am

"Um thanks for the food, Athena," uttered Nikki with a mouth full of diner chocolate chip pancakes. Thanks to Tommy, the siblings and Nikki ate on the kitchen island in awkward silence in the now somewhat clean kitchen. Sammi didn't look at anyone but the plate of her as she sat beside Nikki.

"You're welcome, Nikki. It's the least I can do. Just from guessing, you seem to be enjoying your pancakes," said Athena with a small smile. Nikki only nodded as he continued to eat.

"So I don't know if this is a great time to ask but, what happened, Nik? And please tell us the truth," asked Tommy. Nikki swallowed his food and wiped his mouth with a napkin. He glanced over at Sammi before speaking.

"Well, I was with Slash at his and Duff's hotel room. It was just us and a couple of random guys. I was pretty out of it already from bar hopping, so I don't remember everything. Next thing I know my dealer is next to me and I ask him to help…" As Nikki paused, he caught the glaring anger from Sammi's eyes. He only looked away. "You get the idea. Then I pass out only to hit with two adrenaline shots by an EMT who happened to be a huge fan,"

"Well aren't you so lucky" mumbled Sammi.

"Sammi…" said Athena.

"What? I can't say anything?"

"Yeah but don't be mad at him," whispered Athena.

"It's okay Athena," said Nikki

"I'm not mad at Nikki, I'm just mad at this day," said Sammi, going back to her food, feeling Nikki keep a close eye on her.

"Tommy, you're going to have to tell everyone that Nikki is okay. I think the last thing anyone wants is flowers flooding the front gate," said Athena.

"You're right. I'll call Doc after this,"

"I think what we need to do after this is clean the house for drugs, especially Nik's room," said Sammi.

"I can help," said Nikki.

"No. You need to sleep. We can handle this," said Sammi, resting her hand on his. The simple act of touch tugged at Nikki's heartstrings. Nikki nodded. "Athena, let's get the guest room ready for Nik," said Sammi getting up from her seat.

"Yes, ma'am," said Athena, following her sister up the stairs. "Are you sure you want to clean up this place?"

Sammi didn't answer right away, only opened a closet door that she knew had all the linens and blankets organized. She led Athena to the closet guest room, opening the door to find it surprisingly clean. She stripped the bed of its sheets, handing Athena one side of the new ones.

"Do I want to, no. Do I think it's necessary, yes. Again, I'm mad at this day but we've got to do things for Nikki right now," said Sammi, fluffing one of the pillows. Athena remained silent, helping Sammi finish the bed. Nikki shuffled his way into the room in perfect timing, surprised to see a clean bed with Tommy right behind him.

"Wow, thanks," said Nikki, sitting at the foot of the bed. Tommy and Athena waited for their sister in the hallway. Sammi squeezed his shoulder, stepping back to the door. The amount of no talking between the two was rare. Nikki hated every second of it.

"If you need anything just yell for me, okay?" said Sammi, leaning against the doorframe, hands hidden in her back pockets. Nikki nodded, laying down in a bed the first time all day. Sammi quietly closed the door behind her with a yawn. "Gosh,

I'm sleepy,"

"You'll take a nap after this. Where should we start?" asked Tommy.

"Athena and I will look through up here, and you can take the downstairs. I'm sure most of it is in his room anyway," said Sammi.

"Perfect! Let's get this over with and maybe go to sleep!" said Athena, latching onto Sammi's shoulder as Tommy dashed downstairs to the next guestroom. All three of the siblings were just trying to mentally prepare themselves for even more to come.

"Jesus this is so gross," groaned Sammi throwing dirty needles covered in napkins onto a pile on the floor. Sammi was right, as most of the drugs Nikki consumed were either scattered in his room or in his closet. This didn't stop the girls from looking through every corner of Nikki's room or bathroom.

"Why does Nikki have so many girl clothes? There's bras, shirts, and freaking underwear," said Athena kneeling in front of the bottom drawer of the black dresser. Sammi walked over to Athena for a peek.

"Because it's all mine," said Sammi, kneeling beside Athena. Sammi smiled as she looked through the drawer, finding articles of clothing she thought were lost. "Damn I didn't think he'd keep all this crap. Hey, my first Motley shirt!" exclaimed Sammi, pulling out a cropped black t-shirt from her first tour with the boys.

Athena could see the smile on Sammi's face, the first one all day. "You two really care about each other,"

"I guess we do," uttered Sammi, folding the shirt back in the drawer.

Before Athena could say another word, Tommy walked with a trash bag in his hand. "I called Doc. Told him Nikki was okay," said Tommy picking up the filthy pile for the trash bag. He dropped it down in the corner, sitting on Nikki's bed with a huff. "The guys and he are going to come. We need to have a meeting. You two included,"

"Why us?" asked Athena.

"My sister for moral support," said Tommy pointing at Athena. "My sister and Nikki's whatever," Tommy said, pointing at Sammi. "I just need the both of you there,"

"Fine but I'm taking a nap," said Sammi, jumping on Nikki's bed.

"Ew Sam, you don't know if it's clean or not," said Athena, curling her lip.

"Out of every bed I've slept on, I like Nikki's. Now shut up and let me sleep,"

Tommy chuckled at Sammi with a shake of his head, guiding Athena out of the room. It was something Sammi deserved.

1:30 pm

"Okay, I'm glad we can all make it today after these rough past 12 hours," announced Doc, standing front and center of Nikki's sitting room. On one sofa sat the Bass siblings while Mick and Vince sat across from them, Nikki still asleep upstairs. The tension between everyone felt gross to Sammi almost, wishing for an ounce of happiness like always.

"I hope that the misfortune of last night comes as a wake-up call for all of you men," said Doc. Sammi rolled her eyes without hiding it. "Now we need to discuss the question, where do we go from here?"

"Simple," spoke Vince. "We kick Nikki out of the band,"

"What?!" everyone but Doc shouted in unison.

"You can't kick Nikki out of the band!" said Sammi.

"And why not? Clearly, he isn't stable enough to be playing in a band,"

"No one in the entire rock scene is stable enough to be playing in a band!" explained Sammi.

"You do realize Nikki is the reason you're in Motley Crue right?" asked Athena, narrowing her eye at him.

"It was actually your brother," said Vince with a smirk

"Because Nikki made a fucking band and wanted me as a drummer. We all have jobs because Nikki fucking made Motley Crue. He does everything!" said Tommy.

"Do you even know how to write a song?" asked Mick.

"Enough! This kind of fighting isn't going to solve anything," said Doc. "We need to come up with a plan to move forward,"

"I don't know why you're acting like you don't know anything?" said Athena, crossing her arms. "Rehab! Rehab should already be in your head!" Athena said with a sharp finger pointing at Doc. Doc was almost taken aback by this.

"You're right, Athena. Nikki needs rehab and maybe this time-"

"No, not just Nikki. All of the guys" said Athena, looking at the rest of the guys turn confused into anger. "You all need to go to rehab,"

"What the hell, Athena. I don't need rehab!" said Tommy, jumping up from the sofa.

"You don't? So you popping pills, drinking until you blackout almost every night, and only two steps behind Nikki is healthy?" asked Athena, standing up to Tommy.

"It's not that bad! We aren't as bad as Nikki!"

"I can quit drinking whenever I goddamn please," said Mick, fixing himself to stay comfortable.

"Mick, since Sammi and I have known you, you pretend to be drinking water when it's vodka. You told me you were drunk recording Girls," said Athena.

"This is bullshit. I already did the whole rehab drama once, I'm good,"

"Now that sounds like bullshit," whispered Sammi, looking down at the floor with her arms crossed.

Vince cocked his head at Sammi. "Is there anything you want to say, Sammi?"

Sammi sucked the front of her teether, looking directly at Vince. "Yes, there is. For someone who went to rehab by force you sure couldn't do anything, they told you to do the first time. You still do drugs and drink exactly like the rest, and you're the one that went to jail because of drinking!" exclaimed Sammi, jumping on her feet. This quickly silenced Vince. "And Tommy, you cannot say you don't need rehab when mama and dad have been worried about you for years . I'm surprised Heather hasn't told you anything about stopping the drinking," Tommy only looked away from his sisters. "Mick you're supposed to keep in shape and stay healthy. Drinking your liver away isn't going to do anything!"

"Sammi's right. You guys-"

"Do not get me started with you," said Sammi, turning on her heels to face Doc. Doc's eyes grew frightened. "You're their manager. You are supposed to be the one to help them when needed but you didn't. Instead, you kept Nikki on the road just so you can get a paycheck. And don't tell me it's not true when I worked at Elektra. You fucked up too,"

"I helped as much as I could! I didn't realize how bad the rest were because I was concerned for Nikki!" objected Doc.

"Says the man who said he needed to cancel Europe because he was scared of the guy's wellbeing!"

"Oh, Sammi shut up! If you cared enough about any of us, you wouldn't have ditched us to San Francisco," said Vince.

"So you're blaming me?!"

"Vince, that's so unfair to accuse Sammi of that," said Athena.

"Sammi moved for school. She's not our babysitter!" said Tommy.

"Just quit it, Vince you know you're wrong," said Mick.

"No, I'm not! She only gives a shit about Nikki and Nikki alone. Why would she even be here right now?"

"Maybe because she-"

"Guys!" said Sammi, looking at the sitting-room door frame. Nikki decided to walk downstairs for the meeting due to the yelling, looking a little better than this morning. Nikki shuffled into the area, almost awkward at the feeling of everyone staring at him. "Is everything okay, Nikki?" asked Sammi.

Nikki nodded. "I just… I heard what you all were talking about and I agree with Athena. I think we should all go to rehab," uttered Nikki, pressing his lips together. Motley found this shocking, the three looking at Nikki as if he had a second head. Vince's anger at Sammi disappearing when seeing Nikki almost scared of everything.

Nikki walked closer to the sisters, giving them a smile that took the energy out of him. "Athena, Sammi, thank you for everything. I know you and I haven't always been great but I really appreciate it, Athena. You already know how I feel, Sammi," said Nikki, still keeping a distance.

"When's the earliest we can all check-in? It doesn't have to be here in California, we just need help," asked Nikki.

"I'll start calling today to check you guys in at the beginning of January," said Doc.

"No, we- I need to go sooner,"

"We should check-in before the new year. In case one of us chickens out," said Tommy, glaring at Vince.

"I'm on board, I know I just complained but if it helps the band, then it's worth it," said Mick.

"Alright then. I'll get on that right now," said Doc, walking out of the sitting room to find Nikki's phone. The sudden silence was unbearable to Motley. Mick followed Doc, wanting to help out in any way he could. Vince reaching for the pack in his jeans, heading out in the backyard for a smoke. Tommy sat down on the sofa, dropping his head against the back as he sighed out, Athena next to him. Nikki turned to Sammi, gently grasping her hand.

"I think you should start heading home," said Nikki, squeezing Sammi's hand.

Sammi scrunched her brows together. "What? No! Who's gonna stay here with you? I need to know you're safe,"

"And I appreciate that and everything but it's only gonna get uglier from here. Heroin withdrawals are no joke and I don't want you to see me go through that,"

"Nikki, I get it. Please I know how to help," begged Sammi.

Nikki shook his head, frowning. "I need to be away from you. I have to do this and be alone for god knows how long. We can't be like this anymore,"

Sammi winced at the words, staring up at Nikki in disbelief. It was now her turn to feel what it was like to be pushed away, and she hated it. Sammi let go of Nikki's hand, stepping away from him slowly.

"Alright. If that's what you need. I won't be here," said Sammi, swallowing away the lump in her throat. "Tommy, do you think someone can give you a ride home?" Tommy nodded. He passed the keys to Athena, remaining mute. Athena only gave Tommy a tight-lipped smile, then wrapped an arm around Sammi, escorting her away from Nikki. Nikki stared at Sammi until she disappeared out the front door, dropping himself next to Tommy. Tommy only wrapped an arm around Nikki's shoulders, bringing him into his side.

3:30 pm

Walking into their parents' home felt like a sigh of relief for the girls, wanting to collapse on a sofa. They were lucky to find their dad in the living room watching tv. Sammi fell beside her dad; Mr. Bass was still looking at the tv. Athena decided to give her sister some space and head up to her childhood bedroom until dinner.

"Where's mama?" asked Sammi.

"She went to pick up your wrapped presents from the store. Kept her mind busy from all of this,"

Sammi dryly chuckled. "Wish I could keep my mind busy from this day,"

"You and your siblings have been gone most of the day. I'm going to guess things went well with Nikki?" Sammi shrugged her shoulders, tears wilting up. Mr. Bass looked beside him to see Sammi's blotchy pink face and pouty lip on the cusp of crying. "Sweetheart, what's wrong,"

"I'm so tired from all of this," said Sammi, breaking down and crying on her father's shoulder. It wasn't like crying from last time, but just soft tears. "I was so tired of worrying about Nikki. And now when I want to be with him, he doesn't want anything to do with me!"

"Sweetheart, I don't think it's like that,"

"He said it himself, dad. I'm so tired and now he's going to rehab. I just want him to be okay,"

Mr. Bass sighed out. "Sammi, listen to me and listen to me good. Do you love Nikki?" Sammi sniffled her tears away, wiping the fallen ones away, and nodded. "You have to say it out loud,"

"I love Nikki,"

"Okay then. Now I believe Nikki loves you too. He just wants to protect you even more from himself by pushing you away at this moment. You have to accept that and be away from him,"

"But I don't want to," pouted Sammi.

"This may be cheesy but like they always say if you love something set it free. If it doesn't come back, you never had it. If it comes back to you, it was meant to be . I think you just need to set Nikki free for a moment so you two can come back to each other stronger. Do you understand?"

Sammi nodded but still let out a few more tears. Oh, to feel all of this in just one day.

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calligraphist-artemisia · 4 years

Text

Glittering Green

Written for the 2020 Kidgezine: Kaleidoscope!

Thanks to coronavirus, this year’s zine is a free-to-read PDF. You can find the link to it here: https://kidgezine.tumblr.com/post/628198963429998592/after-a-rough-year-it-is-complete-thank-you-to

(Due to tumblr hiding posts with hyperlinks in the original post, I’ll be reblogging this post and putting the hyperlinks to the kidgezine and to AO3 there. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

Summary: Keith had felt drawn to the ocean since he was a child. He grew up on the shore. It was where he made his first friend. And years later, it would be where he found freedom.

Also posted to AO3 under the username Kishirokitsune.

- - - - -

Glittering Green

Keith didn’t get along with many people. He was too quiet, too shy, too odd. He lived on the beach with his single father, who worked for the coast guard. It was just the two of them in their massive family home, and they never had any company over, which made them look strange in the eyes of the townsfolk.

Neither of them let that get to them.

Keith loved that it was just the two of them. His dad never called his interests weird and never pressed when he was in one of his quiet moods, except to check in and see if he wanted anything. Some days the only thing he wanted was to sit down on the beach and look out over the ocean, and his dad rarely said no to that.

He was drawn to the ocean in a way he couldn’t explain. He always had been.

That was where he met her.

She was hidden from view behind the boulder, mostly submerged in the water as she relaxed and picked through a handful of shells. Chestnut hair tumbled over her shoulders, covering part of her bare chest, and parts of it were braided and decorated with what looked like colorful beads.

Keith nearly fell off of the rock in surprise but righted himself in time. “Wh-who are you?”

She twisted around to peer up at him with wide, light brown eyes, her mouth parting soundlessly, and then she slid beneath the surface of the water and vanished from view.

Panic laced through Keith’s veins and he fought between the urge to jump in to help her or staying put where it was safe. The undertow was dangerous there - the push and pull of the waves as the current broke against the rough ocean floor was deadly to even experienced divers. He couldn’t go in.

He peered into the water, searching for any sign of movement. If she resurfaced, he may be able to reach down and pull her up.

“Please be okay,” he whispered. “Where are you?”

He decided to wait another minute and then he would go get help. His dad would know what to do.

Time ticked away and still he saw nothing.

With a heavy heart, Keith moved back into a sitting position and prepared to go back to the house, and that was when he saw a flicker of green breach the surface, followed by her face, peering back at him from a distance away.

Keith laid flat on the rock and stretched out his hand. “Can you swim this way? I’ll pull you out!”

She stared back, unmoving except to bob in the waves.

Why wasn’t she moving? Didn’t she want to get out? Why was she even out there by herself?

The girl tilted her head and then began to swim closer, reaching out to touch his hand once she was close enough. She didn’t grab on so he could pull her in. Instead, she pressed her hand to his so they were resting palm-to-palm, finger-to-finger.

“Who are you?” Keith blurted out, the question overpowering all of the others he had. He blanched at his rudeness and hurried to correct himself. “My name’s Keith. What’s yours?”

Still, she said nothing, and Keith began to wonder if she could talk at all. Her hands were gentle against his, and if he looked closely, it almost appeared as though her skin was covered in glitter, the way it sparkled under the sunlight.

“You are… human?”

Her voice was soft and confused as she rose a little more out of the water. She continued to press her hand to his, though her focus was on his face.

Keith didn’t know how to respond. What was he supposed to say to that? Obviously he was human! There was nothing else he could be.

But why would she ask something like that?

“I thought you’d look different,” remarked the girl. She continued to study him as though he was something fascinating. “You look just like I do, except with... Um, what are those called again? Foots?”

“Feet,” Keith corrected without thinking about it. “Hang on, what are you talking about? You’re just as human as I am!”

She shook her head, releasing his hand at long last as she moved further away once again. “Excuse me, but I am fully mer.”

The ability to speak left Keith as he witnessed her roll over and dive into the water. Where it should have been legs rising out of the water, he instead saw a dark green tail, not unlike that of a fish. He gaped at her as she resurfaced.

Mermaids were real and one was right in front of him.

- - - - -

For the first time in ten years, Keith would get to see the ocean again.

He didn’t know how to feel, except grateful to Shiro and Curtis. Originally, it was only meant to be the two of them, but after Keith found himself once again jobless, the pair took pity on him and asked him along on their vacation.

“Are you sure you don’t mind me tagging along?” Keith asked in an undertone as he helped Curtis load up the trunk.

Curtis slid his suitcase in place and then looked over at the younger man. “You know we love having you along, and I think it makes our parents worry less too. We have to be the mature, responsible ones and set a good example, after all,” he joked with a wink.

As intended, his words got an amused chuckle from Keith.

“Seriously, though, we’ve both been looking forward to you coming with us this year. You’re not intruding on our time or whatever else it is you’re worried about. Though it is a shame I can’t carry on my tradition of making out with Shiro in every room of the house, but that’s one sacrifice I’m willing to make for you.” Curtis laughed as he caught the next bag thrown his way. “Kidding! Kidding!”

“Is it too late to change my mind?” Keith asked as Shiro came around to join them.

“Definitely,” Shiro said, stepping in to press a quick kiss to Curtis’s cheek. “All ready to go?”

Keith shoved one final bag into the trunk and then moved back. “Now we are.”

Curtis stole the keys from Shiro, skipping away with a laugh as he tried to retrieve them. Keith rolled his eyes, but there was a fond smile on his face as he shut the trunk door and made sure it was properly locked.

Soon enough, the three of them were all in the car, with Curtis driving and Shiro serving as the navigator in the passenger seat, while Keith got the backseat all to himself. He had a few activities to stay busy during their five-hour drive but planned on sleeping through most of it.

“Who’s up for road trip games?” Shiro asked, too cheerful.

Keith groaned and leaned against the car door, staring out of the window and resolutely ignoring his brother. Maybe he’d just sleep the entire time to avoid whatever games Shiro had in mind.

He closed his eyes and didn’t respond when Shiro repeated his question.

“Keith, I know you’re not really asleep,” he said.

Curtis reached over and patted Shiro’s leg. “Leave him be, Takashi. Want to pick our music instead?”

There was a sigh, followed by Shiro’s subdued agreement. It took a few minutes and then classic rock began to play from the speakers, aiding Keith in his quest for a nap.

When he woke, his neck and shoulders felt stiff from the awkward position he was resting in. He groaned softly and stretched out the best he could in the cramped space, which caught Shiro’s attention.

“Welcome back, sleeping beauty. We’re about twenty minutes out,” Shiro said.

“I slept for that long?” Keith asked, leaning forward for a better look at the time. “Did you guys stop at all?”

“We made a pit stop for gas and food an hour ago, but we didn’t want to wake you. I think Shiro saved you some fries if you’re hungry,” Curtis said.

“Yay, cold fries,” Keith muttered sarcastically. He yelped as Shiro tossed a bag of fast food at his face, raising his hand just in time to block the assault. Along with the mentioned cold fries were a few leftover chicken nuggets, which he picked out first and began to eat.

He leaned back in his seat and looked out the window to get a better look at their surroundings. The land had flattened out enough that, when the trees and buildings weren’t blocking his view, he could spot the ocean, glimmering under the sun in the distance. Keith took a moment to admire it, drinking it all in. He could imagine the sea breeze blowing through his hair again, the scent of the ocean heavy in the air.

It felt like coming home.

Keith swallowed around the lump in his throat, stuffing a few fries into his mouth as a distraction.

“So, Keith, has Shiro told you much about the house?” Curtis asked.

He tore his gaze away from the window before answering. “Just that it’s on the beach and, uh, there are cliffs nearby?”

“Right next to the house, actually. We have stairs leading down to the beach because it’s too steep to get down there otherwise. And it’s a rocky beach with tide pools, so if you want to do any wading, you’ll have to walk about ten minutes along the shore to a safer place,” Curtis explained. “Or you can just use the indoor pool for swimming. My parents use it for marine studies when they’re here, so it’s full of saltwater, but as long as we’re careful about maintaining it, they don’t mind us using it.”

Keith frowned, not at the pool, but at the way Curtis described the house. He could almost picture it; a faded, once-blue house at the top of a steep hill, protected by sheer cliffs on one side and trees on the other. Well-worn wooden stairs led down to the pebble beach, which became solid, smooth rock at the water with perfect little pools where seawater accumulated. Jutting out of the water was a massive, boulder-like protrusion, perfect for basking in the sun.

He shook his head. It couldn’t be. Really, what were the odds that he already knew the place they would be staying? It was likely that Shiro had described it better than he remembered, and that was why it sounded so familiar.

Except…

Except the description wasn’t the only thing familiar.

As Keith watched the passing scenery, he began to recognize more and more. The old general store on the corner. The elementary school with the massive oak tree planted out front. Up ahead, there was a road on the left that would incline up to a residential area. There were only a few houses along the road, and at the very end would be a two-story beach house and garage, both faded blue.

They took a left.

Keith had a hard time breathing as they drove down to the end of the road. Curtis barely had time to pull into the driveway and park before Keith unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door to jump out, stumbling slightly after sitting for so long. He stopped and stared up at the house, unresponsive until a hand landed on his shoulder.

“Keith, what’s going on?” Shiro asked, sounding concerned. “Is something wrong?”

Keith shook his head, struggling to find his voice. “I… I’m home, Shiro. This is where I grew up.”

- - - - -

Keith slowly walked through the halls, taking everything in, while Curtis and Shiro began to unpack in the kitchen and gave him time to get acquainted with his childhood home.

So much was the same. The color of the walls. The dent in the wooden floor where he once dropped his dad’s bowling ball. The one post on the staircase to the second floor that was slightly off-color from the rest.

Keith ran his hand over the banister as he walked upstairs, taking his time to take in all of the memories that were seeped into every part of the house. At the top, if he went right he would see the master bedroom where his dad once slept. To the left were a spare room, a bathroom, and the door up to the attic, which was a converted bedroom.

He turned to the left, not ready to face the memories on the right. He would, in time, but for the moment the longing to see his old room was stronger. Keith reached out and placed his hand on the doorknob, pausing for a moment to close his eyes and steady his breathing.

It twisted easily beneath his hand and he pushed open the door and was greeted by a rush of warm air. The stairs creaked under his feet and it wasn’t long before he was in the small, single-window room at the top. There was still a twin bed tucked away in the corner and a dresser along the wall across from it, eerily similar to his own set-up.

Keith crossed the room to the window, which gave him a perfect view of the ocean and the cliffside to the left of the house. He stood there for a moment, taking it all in.

How many times had he stood there and watched the waves lapping against the shore or crashing into the cliffs? His eyes were drawn to the tide pools, where the large rock still jutted up from the ocean. It had once been his favorite place, where he could go and relax away from the rest of the world. And it was there that he saw a flicker of bright green against gray.

Keith leaned forward, as though it would help him see more clearly, but no matter how hard he looked, nothing changed. He dismissed the change in color as a trick of the light and turned away from the window to walk around the room, lost in thought.

He couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that there was something he’d forgotten.

Something important.

A board shifted under his feet. Keith stopped and stooped down, moving his foot away so he could freely examine the floor. He felt around until his fingertips brushed against a raised edge and he was able to pry it free and see what was hidden beneath. A faded red journal was there, covered by a fine layer of dust, and Keith gently lifted it and brushed it off.

More pieces of memory slotted themselves into place in his mind.

His old journal, hidden away to keep something safe. He couldn’t remember why, but he knew he had a good reason for leaving it behind. Like that important thing, tickling the back of his mind.

No, not a thing. A person.

The journal opened easily, with only a few pages crinkling and sticking together, and from between two of them, a thin object slid out. Keith caught it reflexively.

Sitting in the palm of his hand was a scale, slightly smaller than the nail on his thumb and dark green. It was warm to the touch, despite being left there for so long.

All at once, Keith remembered.

There was a girl - his first friend - who he spent so many hours talking to and playing games with, but he had such a hard time recalling details about her the older he got. There was a reason for that too.

“Pidge,” he murmured, testing the name.

Keith moved back to the window, lost in thought as he stared at the scale. He set the journal down on the accent table next to the bed and then lifted his eyes to look at the shore. He stood there for a few long minutes.

And then he swore and bolted for the stairs, clutching the scale tightly as he raced down through the house and blew past Shiro and Curtis. He could hear them calling after him, but didn’t slow down. He turned a corner and took the final set of stairs in the house, which led down to the basement level where there was a large, indoor pool. From there it was out onto the deck and down even more steps until he was on the beach.

He ran until he reached the water-soaked rock, where he slowed down so he wouldn’t slip and fall. His dad’s words of caution rang in his ears, even after so long.

Keith climbed the rock and settled on top, where he sat and waited.

His mind drifted to the memory of their first meeting. He’d been so clueless. So completely unprepared for the truth. But Pidge didn’t care and stuck around to give him a chance. He suspected she was driven by her curiosity and that was why she stayed, at least at first.

He held up the scale, marveling over the way sunlight brought out faint ribbons of brighter green. Her final gift to him was all the proof he needed to know she counted him as a friend and someone she trusted. It was one of her own scales, chosen specifically for him and given with the promise that they would see each other again one day, even if it meant she had to swim out to wait for him every day.

“Keith?”

Keith hid the scale away and twisted around to face Shiro. “Hey.”

“Is everything alright? You ran out of there in a hurry,” Shiro said. “Keith, if this is too much, we can stay somewhere else for the night.”

Keith shook his head. “No, I’ll be okay. I just remembered something and wanted to see if I could find it, that’s all.”

Shiro visibly relaxed. “Did you have any luck finding it?”

“None today,” Keith said, casting one last long look over the water. It was likely that Pidge was already gone for the day if she’d been by at all. He’d have to be sure to get out there bright and early to look for her again.

He climbed down from the rock and made his way to Shiro’s side. “Sorry about making you guys worry.”

Shiro’s gaze softened and he reached out to wrap an arm around Keith’s shoulders. “As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters. This is your vacation too and we just want you to have a good time.”

“Yeah, I know.” Keith let his brother lead him back to the house and told himself that he’d find a way to make it up to both of them. He hadn’t meant to make them worry.

Keith spent the rest of the evening with Shiro and Curtis, first helping them finish unloading the car, and then with dinner preparations. He even agreed to play a board game of Shiro’s choice, which brought a big smile to his brother’s face.

When the sun rose the next morning, Keith was already awake. He quickly dressed and went downstairs to grab a snack, bidding Curtis good morning when he found the man standing blearily over the coffee pot.

“Tell Shiro I’m going down to the beach?” Keith requested as he unwrapped a breakfast bar and tossed the plastic into the trash.

“So early?” Curtis asked, sounding confused.

“It’s the best time to look for shells,” Keith said.

While it wasn’t the reason he was going down to the shore so early, it wasn’t a lie. The morning was one of the best times to search for shells, as high tide was receding and leaving all kinds of treasures to find.

Keith stuffed his breakfast bar into his mouth and left Curtis to wait for the coffee to finish brewing on his own as he headed out onto the deck and began the slow walk down all of the stairs. He took his time so he wouldn’t choke on his food.

It wasn’t long before he was sitting back on his rock in the most comfortable position he could manage.

And there he waited.

The sun crept higher and higher in the sky, but Keith remained where he was. Around noon, Shiro came down with a plate of sandwiches and wordlessly climbed up to sit next to him. They ate lunch together, just the two of them and the sound of waves rushed against the shore.

“Curtis and I are going to make a run into town for more food. If there’s anything specific you want, I’ll pick it up for you. Unless you’d like to go with us?” Shiro asked.

Keith shook his head. “You know what I like.”

“Alright, I’m sure I can find something,” Shiro said. He hesitated for a moment, looking out at the horizon. “I can see why you like it here so much. It’s beautiful.”

“I used to come here every day. There’s something about it that’s calming,” Keith explained.

Shiro smiled and patted Keith on the shoulder before climbing down, taking the plate with him. “Text me if you need anything. We shouldn’t be gone longer than an hour.”

Keith watched his brother walk back up to the house and go inside before turning his attention to the water once more, sure that he would see her soon.

Time ticked away.

Doubt crept into Keith’s mind and he began to wonder if he’d dreamed the whole thing up. He was so sure Pidge was real, but maybe she was just a normal human girl who loved mermaids so much that he automatically associated her with them.

He sighed as he pulled his legs up against his chest. He could stay for a while longer, at least until Shiro or Curtis made another venture to check on him. After that…

Well, it wouldn’t really hurt to keep an eye out, would it? He didn’t have to sit out under the hot sun his whole vacation, but now and then would be okay. He hadn’t been lying when he told Shiro he found it calming.

“I wish you were here, Pidge. Or that I had some clue that you’re still around. That I didn’t imagine everything,” he said to himself. He fought the urge to take the scale out of his pocket and lost, rolling it around in his palm as he continued talking to himself, his voice largely drowned out by the waves. “All I have is this. This and my memory. But what if I’m wrong about everything?”

The ocean didn’t respond.

But there was another voice that did.

“You’re not wrong, Keith. I’m here.”

He gasped, rapidly scanning the water until he found her, shyly peering up at him from around a much smaller rock a few feet away. “Pidge!”

“It’s really you! You came back!” she exclaimed, beaming at him in joy as she swam closer. She held out her hand once she reached where he was sitting and he met her halfway, pressing his palm to hers.

“I’m sorry it took me so long,” Keith apologized.

He took a moment to get a good look at her and see the differences ten years brought, knowing she was doing the same to him.

Parts of her hair were woven into more intricate braids than before. A few tiny shells joined the colorful beads, dyed a vibrant blue-violet that stood out against her brown hair. Keith had to quickly avert his gaze and focus on her face when he remembered that mermaids didn’t wear any kind of clothing or even decorations to cover themselves. Her hair was long enough to hide most of her chest when it was pulled forward, but he wasn’t about to make her uncomfortable by staring.

“You’re bigger than I remember,” Pidge remarked, seemingly mesmerized by how much larger his hand was from her own.

“So are you,” he responded, though he understood what she meant. They’d been relatively close in size when they were young if he didn’t count her extra length thanks to her tail.

Pidge hummed and lowered her hand before swimming in even closer to settle at the base of the rock in a way that prevented anyone at the house from seeing her. Keith remained where he was, in plain sight but facing the ocean so no one could see him talking. It was how their friendship went undiscovered for so long.

“There’s so much to tell you, that I don’t know where to start!” Pidge said excitedly. “Do you want to hear about my training? Oh! Or should I tell you how Matt got in trouble two movements ago? No, no, I have it! Two decaphoebs ago, Lance and Hunk found the cutest octopus for me. I named him Rover.”

Keith grinned at her enthusiasm. “Why don’t we pick one thing at a time and take turns? Like, you can tell me if you ever managed to beat your brother in a race and I’ll tell you about how I met Shiro for the first time.”

“Shiro? Who’s that?” Pidge asked, her curiosity overwhelming her desire to babble.

Keith took his turn first, glossing over his time in the orphanage and the way other kids treated him at school, moving on as quickly as he could to the kindness of the Shirogane family, in particular their eighteen-year-old son who took one look at him and pronounced him brother.

In return, Pidge spoke of the day she discovered her Inheritance, and how she struggled to keep her newfound electrical abilities in check and use them to her advantage without injuring anyone. She had to pause briefly to explain mer Inheritance to him.

“All mer have magic,” she reminded him. “But we don’t all have the same magic. I can generate electricity, just like my dad and brother, but mom’s gift is the ability to manipulate plant life. My friend Hunk can mold earth into whatever shape he wants, including solid rock. It’s incredible to watch.”

They talked for hours, going back and forth to catch each other up, but they barely made a dent in it by the time Shiro called Keith up for dinner.

“I should go,” Keith said reluctantly.

Pidge looked disappointed but nodded in acceptance. “Will you be back tomorrow? I have a few things I have to do before midsun, but I can come back.”

“I’ll be here,” Keith promised. He held out his hand so they could press them together in their personal version of a hug goodbye, and then he watched Pidge disappear beneath the waves before he climbed down from the rock and made his way to the house.

- - - - -

Keith felt like the luckiest person in the world.

Not only was he back in his childhood home, but he also had the opportunity to reunite with his best friend. It was tricky to keep her hidden from other “surface dwellers”, as Pidge liked to say, but getting to sit and talk with her was well worth it.

Naturally, Keith made it his goal to spend every possible moment with Pidge over the next few days, sometimes ignoring the growl of his stomach out of excitement. Once it’d been so loud that Pidge sent him up to retrieve food for both of them. She said it was so he wouldn’t starve, but her clear fascination over the food he returned with told him otherwise.

He knew he needed to be more careful.

He wasn’t blind to the looks he received from Shiro and Curtis whenever he made an appearance and he knew he needed to come up with a better explanation than simply: “I find the water calming.”

He trusted his brother but keeping the existence of merpeople a secret was too important to risk it.

Even if that meant lying to Shiro.

Keith tried to slow down in the mornings and spend extra time with them. It took all of his willpower to focus on what they were saying instead of daydreaming about what he and Pidge would talk about next, and he thought he was doing pretty well.

“Keith? Museum?” Curtis asked, waving his hand in front of his face. “Do you want to go with us? It’s only a thirty-minute drive.”

“No thanks. I’m just going to stay here today,” Keith said.

Curtis looked like he wanted to say something, but Shiro spoke up before he could.

“If that’s what you want to do, then we won’t stop you,” he said. “The whole point of a vacation is to relax and have fun and everyone has a different way of doing that.”

Keith smiled at his brother. “Thanks. I’m just not up for going out anywhere right now.” He hoped that would be it, but as he helped clean up after breakfast, Shiro approached him and silently began drying dishes as Keith washed them.

“You’re worried,” Keith stated after a moment.

Shiro hummed. “I will admit, I was worried when we first arrived and you told us this was the house you grew up in, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look this happy.”

“The strange thing is, being here doesn’t make me sad. Remembering my dad doesn’t make me sad,” Keith said. “There’s only good memories here. If anything, I feel closer to him than I did before.”

“I’m glad,” Shiro said sincerely.

There was nothing more that needed to be said as they finished cleaning up. Keith stuck around to see off Shiro and Curtis, once again turning down their offer to tag along, and the moment they were through the front door, he made a beeline for the shore, rushing more than he needed to.

He beat Pidge there, as he did every day, but he wasn’t waiting for long before she arrived and settled at the base of the rock he sat on. As always, they pressed their palms together in greeting.

“You look happy,” she remarked.

“Shiro and Curtis went to a museum for the day, so we should have the whole day to ourselves. Shiro loves museums,” Keith said.

Pidge tilted her head to one side, causing the beads in her long hair to shift. “Why didn’t you go with them? You could’ve left a message. I wouldn’t mind.”

“It’s not really for me,” Keith said with a shrug. “Shiro will literally spend hours in one area if you let him, and it gets frustrating after a while. Curtis has the patience for it, but I don’t.”

Pidge let the subject drop and instead worked on heaving herself out of the water and higher onto the rock. Keith helped her out, figuring there was no reason to worry about being spotted.

Out of the water, her scales glittered green under the sunlight, refracting green light across the rock and his dark pants. Keith found himself captivated by the color for a moment before redirecting his gaze to her face. Pidge promptly ducked her head and twisted a lock of hair around her finger as though she was embarrassed by something.

Keith cleared his throat. “Today’s our question day, right? Do you have anything you want to ask first?”

Pidge let go of her hair and nodded eagerly. “What’s a museum?”

Keith did his best to explain the function of museums, aided by a few more questions from Pidge that helped him clarify a few details that he forgot. He could tell she had more things she wanted to ask once he was done, but it was his turn.

“You said the other day that Arus is a long way from here, so how do you get here so quickly every day? Do mer swim that fast? Or do you get a ride from a whale or something?” he asked.

“That’s an easy one!” Pidge said. “I just use the teludav. The Alteans set up easy access points all over the world to make travel safer, and one of those points is nearby.”

“What’s a teludav?”

Pidge’s eyes lit up. “It’s this incredible piece of tech the Alteans invented ages ago. Okay, so there’s this terrifying creature called a Weblum that lives in the deep, deep oceans. It’s not aggressive or anything like that, and not really dangerous unless you get in its way because there’s no way of stopping it or making it change its path. Sorry, I’m getting carried away again. Anyway, the primary component that makes the teludav work is a mineral called scaultrite, which is only produced in the Weblum’s stomach. Pretty gross, right?” (Keith didn’t have a chance to agree.) “We use the scaultrite to create special lenses for amplifying and directing Altean magic, and when you put that with the other correct parts, you get a teludav!”

None of that fully answered Keith’s question, so he rephrased it to make it clear what he was really asking. Pidge laughed and told him it was a transportation portal. All she had to do was enter the one in Arus and she would exit in a nearby underwater cave, strategically chosen for the lack of divers in the area.

Pidge happily switched topics so she could take her turn.

They passed the day like that, bouncing questions off of each other and getting answers to things they were curious about. Every now and then, Keith would catch Pidge staring at him, though she was always quick to look away once she saw him looking.

He brushed it off, figuring there was something she wanted to ask and was puzzling out the best way to phrase it.

“Do mer have pets?” Keith asked curiously. He recalled that she briefly mentioned an octopus named Rover sometime before, but she never went into detail about it. “Or any kind of creature that you take care of just because you think they’re cute?”

“Actually, yeah. Loads of mer have giant seahorses or some kind of ray as a pet. My parents have a ray named Bae Bae and I’ve got Rover, but there are also these super cute nudibranchs that I found when I was exploring a shipwreck and I may have taken a few of them home with me,” Pidge said, sounding pleased with herself.

Keith wasn’t sure which part he was more curious about: Pidge’s apparent love for colorful sea slugs or the fact that there were giant seahorses. It didn’t take him too long to decide. “Exactly how big are these seahorses?”

“Kind of like this?” Pidge held out her arms to indicate a size around three feet tall. “The Nalquodians have been breeding them for ages to get them to that size. They’re pretty cool, but you have to keep a close eye on them because they like to flutter around and steal food the moment you stop looking. And I can see the look on your face. It’s my turn for a question and then I’ll tell you about Nalquod.”

“That’s fair,” Keith agreed.

“What kind of pets do surface dwellers own? And can you describe them?” Pidge asked.

“Well, there are birds, which you already know about. They come in a lot of different colors and sizes, and some people like to keep them as pets. The big two are dogs and cats.”

Trying to describe land-based creatures was harder than expected, and Keith was pretty sure he was doing an awful job. If he’d remembered to bring his phone down with him, he could’ve shown her pictures, but naturally he left it up at the house where it was safe from water damage.

Pidge took pity on him when he awkwardly tried to explain the sounds they each make, briefly pressing her finger to his lips to get him to stop talking.

“Nalquod is one of the five major mer cities. You already know about Altea and Daibazaal,” she said. “The others are Rygnirath and the Dalterion Belt. There are so many different kinds of mer all around the world, but they are the oldest of us, and have the most influence.”

“And their tails are different from yours,” Keith said, remembering something she mentioned the day before.

Pidge beamed. “That’s right! That’s one of the biggest differences between the five clans, aside from the places where each one lives. Alteans have scales just like I do, but the Galra have a thick, rough skin that covers their tails, sort of like sharks.”

The more he learned about her world, the more he wished he could see it for himself.

Keith couldn’t think like that. It would only leave him feeling disappointed. “I know it’s your turn to ask a question, but do you want me to tell you the story about the first time I met Curtis?”

“That’s the name of your brother’s boyfriend, right? I’d love to hear more about him,” Pidge said, leaning in close.

Keith shifted a little to get more comfortable and then told her all about his first meeting with Curtis, and how, in a fit of purely accidental clumsiness, he dropped an entire plate of spaghetti on his lap. He thought Shiro would never forgive him.

His story spawned a new line of questions into one another’s lives.

Pidge shared a delightful story about Matt introducing his girlfriend to their family for the first time, and how Rover spent the entire time camouflaging himself in different spots to try and scare her. (Luckily, she thought he was hilarious.)

Keith struggled to figure out a way to explain driving a car to her so that he could tell her the tale of Shiro’s driving lessons, and the time he was so sure they were about to get arrested for driving around in circles in a parking lot.

After a few hours, Pidge called it an early day and then took another fifteen minutes to explain her newest project before actually leaving. Keith watched her disappear with a fond smile on his face and then headed up to the house.

With his newfound free time, he began dinner preparations as a surprise for Shiro and Curtis. Keith hummed a wordless tune as he worked, setting out everything he needed for the main dish. None of the sides would take long and could go in once the others returned, and Keith knew from experience that it was best if he focused on one thing at a time.

Shiro and Curtis were delighted to return to the scent of food. They told him all about their trip to the museum as they ate, and Keith found himself wondering if any of it was something Pidge would be interested in. From there, his mind wandered to what they could do the next day.

Maybe he could take some paper down and they could try and draw things for one another? She was likely to make fun of his stick figure drawings, but it would be worth it to see her excitement over new surface items.

Keith spent most of his evening lost in thoughts, completely oblivious to the concerned looks he got from Shiro and Curtis.

He slept well that night, and after breakfast the next morning, he took his time gathering up a few sheets of paper and a handful of crayons he found stashed away in the floorboards of his old room. He took them all down to the beach and passed time by doing some practice drawings and trying to make improvements.

The morning stretched on and transitioned into noon, which was when Keith started to worry. He set aside his art supplies to keep a careful eye on the water around him. He mentally reviewed their last conversation, trying to remember if she said anything about needing to postpone their meet-up, but she agreed to the same time as always.

He was sure she was fine.

Pidge was just running a little late. Soon, she would show up with some wild story to tell him and they’d spend another day laughing and hanging out. He was sure of it.

She never arrived.

Keith spent the entire day waiting for her, only giving up once heavy clouds rolled in and covered the sun. He was extra cautious as he made his way across the slick rocks, but he still slipped once when the wind knocked him off balance. He recovered before he could fall and was soon safe inside the house.

“There’s a storm coming in,” Shiro said as Keith reached the top of the basement stairs. “Curtis is checking to see how bad it is. We may need to… Are you alright?”

Keith didn’t trust himself to speak and nodded instead. He hoped it was just a passing storm rather than anything big, though either way he was wasn’t going to sleep well.

Curtis returned with news that they didn’t have to worry, but he set them to find flashlights and candles just in case the power went out.

Once the emergency supplies were collected, the three of them gathered in the living room to eat their dinner of leftovers and listen to the local weather report. Shiro tried to lighten the atmosphere when they learned they were in for a windy night and wouldn’t have to worry about rain until some time the next day, but stopped when it became clear that nothing could lift Keith’s mood.

Keith couldn’t even find the energy to feel guilty about worrying Shiro. He was too busy wondering what happened to Pidge. Had she gotten wrapped up in a project and lost track of time? Did her family make her stay home to keep her safe from the storm? Or was it something worse?

He dismissed himself for an early bedtime, hoping he could manage a few hours of sleep, but between the howling wind and his overactive imagination, he spent most of the night tossing and turning. Keith got a few solid hours in the early hours of the morning and counted that as a win, even though it wasn’t nearly enough rest.

The news station gave a similar storm report as the night before; the wind was still blowing and the heavy rain would begin sometime around midmorning. Keith decided it was the most opportune moment he had to sneak down to the shore and check for Pidge one last time.

Keith dragged himself downstairs to wait for sunrise, and the moment there was enough light to properly see, he went outside. From the upper balcony, he could see a splash of bright green against the gray rock.

He was sure he made a sound, but it was drowned out by the pounding of his heart as it lodged itself in his throat. He flew down the stairs and raced across the beach to where she lay.

“Pidge!” Keith gasped as he rushed to her side. He carefully turned her over, searching for any obvious injuries, but didn’t find anything.

She groaned as she began to stir. “Keith?”

“I’m here, Pidge,” he quickly reassured her. His worry intensified as she mumbled sleepily and passed out again.

Keith took a moment to weigh his options, though really it wasn’t a hard choice to make. He couldn’t leave her there with the weather turning so rough, especially when it looked like she’d already hurt herself trying to swim through it. He’d have to take her to the house. Once she woke up and the storm passed, he’d be able to talk to her and figure out what they were going to do next, but for the time being he had to decide on his own.

“Okay, I can do this,” he said to himself, stooping down so he could get a good grip on her. He slid one arm around her back and the other under her tale, pausing to take a deep breath and brace himself for her weight, and then he lifted her up as he stood, grunting from the effort.

Pidge whined softly and Keith quickly soothed her.

“It’s alright. I’ve got you, Pidge. I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you.” He kept talking to her as he carried her across the beach and then slowly started up the stairs. The wind buffeted against him, whipping his hair into his eyes, and rapidly drying Pidge’s shorn locks.

He needed to hurry before her tail dried out too much. He wasn’t sure what would happen if it did, but he was willing to bet it wouldn’t be comfortable for Pidge. The sooner he could get her into the pool, the better.

“Almost there,” he said as he reached the bottom deck.

There was only one more obstacle he had to face, and that was getting the door open. Which was not going to be an easy task with an armful of an unconscious mermaid.

To make matters worse, he heard the door on the upper deck fly open and footsteps rapidly making their way across the floor.

“Keith!” Shiro shouted, sounding panicked.

Keith groaned softly and rolled his eyes. Did Shiro really think he was so irresponsible that he would go down there when there was a storm blowing in? (He resolutely ignored the tiny voice reminding him that was exactly what he did - it was an emergency situation! He had to go down there!)

It was far from an ideal situation all around, but Keith was adaptable. First he’d reassure Shiro so he wouldn’t go into full-blown panic, and then he’d get the door open. Easy.

Praying that Pidge would forgive him for what he was about to do, Keith cleared his throat and said: “I’m down here, Shiro!”

Keith braced himself for the round of questions that were sure to be heading his way, but when Shiro reached the lower deck, the surprised Keith with only one: “What happened to her?”

“I don’t know,” Keith responded. “I found her like this and I couldn’t leave her down there. Not with the storm coming in. Could you open the door?”

Shiro nodded, striding quickly to the door and opening it to allow Keith through. He said nothing else and stood back as Keith walked down into the pool, not caring at all that his clothes were getting even more soaked. He gently eased Pidge into the water until she rested on the bottom and then backed away, keeping his eyes on her to make sure she was still okay, and then sat down on the top step.

Part of him wasn’t the least bit surprised when Shiro rolled up his pants leg and joined him at the poolside, struggling to compose himself as he took in everything he was seeing.

“So, uh, surprise, I guess,” Keith muttered, breaking the silence and startling a laugh from Shiro.

“I can’t believe this is what you’ve been hiding from us. Not that I blame you for keeping it a secret; I’m not sure I would have believed you if you had told us. It just seems so surreal…” Shiro said, keeping his voice down. “Does she have a name?”

Keith nodded. “It’s Pidge. Well, that’s what I’ve always called her. She didn’t want to give me her real name when we first met, so I had to come up with a nickname. There was this pigeon nearby that she was really interested in, so I sort of named her after it. Don’t laugh! I was eight!”

Shiro covered his mouth with his hand, gray eyes glittering with amusement. “You named her after a bird?”

“Shut up,” Keith said with very little bite to his voice. “You’re being really cool about this. I was expecting more questions. More… I don’t know.”

“Honestly? I think I’m still trying to process it all. Mermaids - merpeople?” He glanced at Keith for confirmation. “Merpeople are real. They’re not just a myth or a story, they actually exist. There’s so much I want to ask, but all I can think about is what else is real that most people think is fake?”

“I know magic is real too,” Keith said with a shrug. “Pidge told me that all mer have some form of magic and it sounds like it’s usually elemental. So I guess it’s not magic spells like most humans would think. And… and there whole underwater cities where mer live that are protected by magic and their own form of technology. She says that’s why we’ve never found them. And all of their cities are connected by something called the teludav? Which I think is some kind of portal they use to teleport.” He stopped for a moment, hoping he was relaying things correctly.

It felt so good to share it all with Shiro. He hated keeping secrets from his brother, but there was no longer a need to do so.

He glanced at Pidge and hoped he wasn’t breaking an important rule by being the one to tell Shiro about the mer. There had to be rules against it, right? To prevent everyone from finding out about them? But they could trust Shiro, and Curtis as well.

“Whole cities,” Shiro breathed in amazement. “Like Atlantis?”

Keith remembered asking that very same question as a child, just as he recalled the way Pidge crinkled up her nose as she corrected him. “Actually, that’s just a mistranslation. It’s called Altea, not Atlantis, and I wouldn’t say it around Pidge. I did that recently, more to tease her than anything, and she went on this whole long rant about the history of humans mistranslating various mer-languages and it’s not as interesting as you might think.”

“I’m guessing that’s where she’s from?”

Keith shook his head. “She’s from a small city called Arus. It’s on the border of Altea and Daibazaal - those are kingdoms, not cities - and she said something about it being divided between the two of them? I don’t really know how to explain it, except it belongs to both kingdoms. Pidge would explain it better.”

Shiro asked a few more general questions after that. How did they meet? How did she stay hidden for so long? Why didn’t Keith try to come back sooner?

“I… don’t know.” Keith furrowed his brow in thought. “It was like something was blocking my memory, right up until I found my old journal and the scale… Her scale. There must have been some kind of magic to it that was meant to help me remember, but I was afraid someone else would find it and take it from me, so I hid it in the safest place I knew. I never thought… Shiro, if you and Curtis hadn’t invited me this year… If Curtis’s parents never bought this house…”

He never would have been able to keep his promise.

“Maybe Fate wanted the two of you to meet again,” Shiro suggested. “Speaking of Curtis, I should get upstairs before he comes looking. It might be best if I tell him what’s going on instead of letting him find out on his own. If that’s alright.”

“Yeah,” Keith agreed, not hesitating for a second.

Shiro stood up and began to head for the stairs. “I’ll bring you down a change of clothes. You can’t be comfortable like that.”

Keith plucked at his sleeve. “It’s not so bad.”

“Uh-huh,” Shiro said in a tone that conveyed his disbelief. He didn’t say another word, leaving Keith alone with his unconscious friend.

Keith sat and waited, listening to the sound of the wind howling outside and the thunder booming in the distance. He hoped it wouldn’t be a bad one. They had a backup generator if they lost power, but he wasn’t sure if the pool was a high-priority in terms of things that needed to stay running.

He could hear Shiro and Curtis talking upstairs, a moment of silence, and then the sound of Curtis undeniably freaking out over there being a real-life mer in the basement pool.

Keith tuned them out. Shiro could handle that on his own and he was much more interesting watching Pidge as she began to come to. Her tail swayed, slowly at first, and then with one powerful flick, she rocketed to the surface to look around wildly, settling once she saw him sitting nearby.

“There’s a storm, so I brought you inside,” Keith quickly told her. “I can take you back once it passes, but it’s too dangerous right now.”

Pidge nodded and then began to look around, taking a moment to examine her new surroundings with a puzzled expression on her face. “What is this?”

“It’s a pool. We use them for swimming, or most people do. Curtis and his family turned it into a tank so they can look after fish,” Keith said, going with the simplest answer he could. “How do you feel?”

Pidge lifted her hand up and watched as the water trickled down her arm. “It’s very strange.”

“I guess it is different than seawater, but that’s not… Pidge, what happened to you?” Keith asked.

She lowered her hand and dove deeper into the pool, making a few laps before popping up next to Keith. She carefully draped her tail over the steps, using them as a bench as she settled with her back against the edge. She reached up, touching the ends of her hair with a frown. “It’s complicated and I don’t want to talk about it right now. I’m okay. I promise.”

Keith wanted so badly to press and hear what happened. She obviously wasn’t okay. How could she be after literally passing out in his arms? People who were okay didn’t do that!

“I know you have questions, but I can’t talk about it right now. I will later, but not now.” Pidge’s words turned pleading as she finally looked up at him.

Keith breathed out to release the tension he felt. “Fine.”

“Thank you, Keith,” Pidge said, and the relief in her voice made his heart ache. “How did you get me up here? It always looked so far away.”

He explained how he carried her away from the shore and up the stairs, where he had to get Shiro’s help to get inside. When she didn’t react poorly to knowing Shiro knew about her, he filled her in on the conversation they had.

“Ugh, Altantis,” Pidge grumbled, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I told him not to mention it around you. Hopefully, he’ll pass the warning along to Curtis,” Keith said.

Pidge tilted her head to the side. “Do I get to meet them? There’s no harm in it now since they both know.”

“Only if you’re up for it,” Keith told her. “They’ll have a lot of questions. I don’t think I did a good job explaining Arus to Shiro.”

“You did fine, but I’ll be happy to answer whatever questions they have, as long as I get to ask them stuff too. I want at least three embarrassing stories about you in exchange,” Pidge said teasingly.

“What? No way!”

Pidge laughed merrily and Keith couldn’t help but crack a grin as he tried to talk her down to one story, and only if she shared one of her own.

She pretended to think about it and then shook her head. “No deal. I will, however, give you one about Matt.”

“How is that fair?” Keith asked.

Pidge shrugged. “That’s my offer.”

Keith narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think I want to introduce you anymore.”

“Too late!” Shiro called down the stairs.

Keith groaned good-naturedly and prepared for a day of stories that he’d rather not re-live. He’d have to work in some of his own about Shiro, as few as they were, and hopefully, Curtis would take pity on him and keep Shiro from telling too many.

- - - - -

The storm passed without causing any trouble for them, and by the next morning, the waves were calm enough that Keith felt comfortable carrying Pidge back down. There was only one roadblock with that, and it was Pidge herself.

“You don’t want to go back?” Keith asked with a frown.

“I like it here.”

Keith opened his mouth to ask why she didn’t want to go back, but Shiro cut in before he could get out more than a syllable.

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like. We enjoy having you here,” he said sincerely.

Pidge beamed, and that was the end of that conversation.

Keith did his best to shrug off his unease. He knew he needed to wait until Pidge was ready to talk, and every time he thought his patience was beginning to wane, he remembered the relief in her voice when he gave that promise, but it wasn’t easy. The more time that went by without her bringing it up on her own, the more he worried.

What happened to make her so disinterested in going home? She always spoke so fondly of her friends and family, of the work she was doing, how could she be okay with sitting in a pool all day with only a few humans for company? He was hesitant to call it fear that was holding her back, but what if that was exactly what it was? But what did Pidge have to be afraid of? Was it because of him? Because of their friendship? Was she breaking a law by meeting up with him again?

He wouldn’t get any answers so long as she refused to talk about it.

After two days of stressing over it, Keith left her to her conversation with Curtis about the varieties of sea slug and made the trek down to his favorite spot to relax on the beach.

Keith closed his eyes and let the sound and feel of the ocean surround him, casting away everything else. He steadied his breathing and relaxed.

He loved having Pidge around. Loved getting to talk to her whenever he wanted, sometimes late into the night. They were able to swap so many stories or just sit in comfortable silence together. And the smile on her face when he would bring her a piece of human technology to examine left him feeling warm for hours afterward.

He just wished it was happening under better circumstances.

Keith sighed and opened his eyes, only to scream and flail backward at the sight of a freckled face directly in front of his own. The other person grabbed onto his shirt to prevent him from pitching back into the water and hauled him back upright.

“Who are you?” Keith asked, swatting the hand away once he regained his balance.

“Where’s Katie?”

Keith stared blankly at the other man. “What?”

What was happening? Who was the crazy person intruding in his space?

“Okay, I know firsthand that humans are not this dumb. Did you hit your head or something?” asked the man. “Oh no, wait, she did say something about a nickname. What was it again? Something like pigeon?”

“Pidge?” Keith asked, bewildered.

“That’s the one! You are Keith, right? She should have mentioned the mullet. Looks ridiculous, by the way.”

“No one asked you!” Keith snapped, already fed up. “Who the hell are you anyway?”

“The name’s Lance! And since we’ve established that you’re Keith, you are going to take me to Katie now. You’ve gotta know where she is. There’s no other place she would’ve gone,” he said.

Lance.

Keith knew that name from Pidge’s stories. He was one of her friends - the loudmouth one with a blue tail. Except Keith didn’t see a single scale or a tail. There was nothing about him to indicate that he was a mer and he definitely remembered Pidge saying that he was. But there he was with two human legs.

He was also very, very naked.

“I’m not taking you to anyone until you put on pants,” Keith told him, already feeling a headache coming on.

“Right, let me pull out a pair from thin air,” Lance said sarcastically. “Obviously I don’t have any. I was in a rush. Just give me your shirt or something and I’ll figure it out.”

Keith was not going to do that. How would that help anything?! If anything, it would make the situation worse.

He stripped out of his pants instead and thrust them in Lance’s direction. He could go around in boxers for a while, but he wasn’t letting Pidge’s crazy friend go without wearing something. “Here, just put these on and I’ll take you to see her. I’m warning you, if you’re lying about knowing her, you will regret it.”

“Fair enough,” Lance said with a shrug. He took the pants and put them on, making a face at how short the legs were on him. He didn’t comment on it, which was lucky for him because Keith was prepared to shove him off of the rock if he did, screw the consequences.

Keith very reluctantly took Lance up to the basement, planning out what he’d do if he was lying or, even worse, that he was the reason Pidge didn’t want to go home.

When he opened the door, he found Pidge and Curtis right where he left them, though Shiro had also joined the conversation. They all looked up and Shiro raised an eyebrow when he saw that Keith had stripped down to his boxers, but all of Pidge’s attention was on Lance.

And she was smiling.

Lance tripped over his own feet as he hurried forward, his hands working to unbutton the pants and shove them down his skinny legs. He kicked them off before diving headfirst into the pool.

Bubbles covered his body as he swam to meet Pidge halfway, and when it cleared away, his legs had been replaced by a magnificent blue tail. It was scaled like hers was, but his fins were shaped more like a fan, and he had a few more than she did, positioned closer to his hips on either side. His freckles turned blue and lit up faintly across his skin. They were mimicked in his tail as well, with swirls of spots glowing a shade brighter than his scales.

He and Pidge met in a hug, catching each other in a way that made them spin together. A tightness built up in Keith’s chest at the sight of their closeness, dissipating only once the two separated. They spent a minute talking underwater before Pidge gestured to the surface.

“Is anyone going to explain what’s going on?” Keith asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “How did you do that? You had legs two minutes ago.”

“I did. Thanks for lending me your pants, by the way,” Lance said blithely.

“Lance is half mer.” Pidge took it upon herself to explain what was happening. “Because he’s half-human, he has the ability to shift forms whenever he wants, kind of like Alteans.”

“Altean? Is that like Atlantian?” Curtis asked.

Keith snorted as both Pidge and Lance answered with the most deadpan “no” he’d heard yet.

“I’m sure Katie would love to explain everything that’s wrong with that mistranslation, but she can do it later. Basically, Alteans are one of five major mer clans and are regarded as one of the oldest. They have the unique ability to shapeshift, and not just between mer and human, but to blend in with the locals, wherever they travel. See they used to-”

“Lance, we don’t have time for a full history lesson,” Pidge interrupted. “Nice to know you’re taking your training as a future adviser seriously. Coran would be proud.”

Lance looked delighted by the praise. “Think you can tell that to him? He’s convinced that I’m too distracted by, uh, other things.”

“Not a chance.”

“Rude.”

Pidge stuck out her tongue and blew, making a face when it didn’t generate the same effect as it would underwater.

“So you can shapeshift, Lance?” Shiro asked, trying to get them back on topic.

“Just between mer and human,” Lance said. “It’s not nearly as cool as what Alteans can do and is leagues lamer than what Royal Alteans are capable of. They have magic that lets a human turn mer or a mer turn human, but the effects are permanent. That’s how my mom went to live on the surface with my dad.” He paused as he took a good long look at Pidge. “But Katie’s right when she says we don’t have time for this. I’m not here for a social visit, I’m here to bring her home.”

Pidge turned away from him and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

Lance swam around her and grasped her shoulders, preventing her from moving again. “If I let you, you’ll never talk about this. Listen, you went missing for two days and your family is worried sick! If Lotor hadn’t gone to your house to look for you and apologize, we never would have known what happened!”

An emotion Keith couldn’t read flickered over Pidge’s face.

“Katie, what those guards did, it wasn’t right. Lotor was mad about-” (Lance cut himself off and his gaze briefly landed on Keith before he refocused on Pidge.) “- stuff, but he wasn’t going to banish you for it. He wants you to know that they’ve been punished and will be sent back to Daibazaal for final judgment from his father. He says he’s sorry for the way he overreacted.”

“He really said that?” Pidge asked, sounding surprised.

“Yeah, once your mom was done yelling at him for it. I am so glad I was there to witness that,” Lance said. “So what do you say? Ready to come home?”

Pidge hesitated, drawing back into herself as she considered her options. Then she shook her head. “Not yet.”

A spike of relief flooded Keith’s body, followed by guilt for feeling that way. He didn’t have to say goodbye yet, but it was because Pidge still didn’t feel comfortable going home.

Lance’s shoulders dropped at her response. “Alright, if you’re sure. I can take messages back to everyone for now.”

Shiro caught Keith’s eyes and gestured towards the stairs. Keith stared at him for a moment, unsure of what he wanted, until it suddenly clicked in his mind that he was suggesting they give them some space. He nodded and slowly moved away, walking upstairs with him and Curtis and settling in the kitchen, where they began to quietly talk.

Or Shiro and Curtis did.

Keith was too busy trying to piece together what happened to Pidge from the limited details Lance gave them, but all he really had was even more questions.

Who was Lotor? The name was unfamiliar to him, but clearly, he meant something to Pidge. Why had she never mentioned him? All of the other names were familiar to him. Coran was an adviser to Altean royalty - an eccentric source of knowledge and always ready with some kind of story or odd phrase. Lance, of course, was one of her best friends, and probably why she knew more about humans than he expected. Her family, of course, was her mom, dad, and her older brother, Matt.

He’d never heard of Lotor before.

Keith scowled.

“Alright, Keith?” Shiro asked as he changed seats to sit next to him.

He wanted to say that he was fine and not talk about it, but stopped and thought about it before the words slipped out. If he did that, then he’d be doing to Shiro the same thing Pidge was doing to him.

Keith folded his arms over the table and laid his head down. “I just wish she’d talk to me, you know? There’s so much she’s keeping bottled up and hidden from everyone, even Lance. I want to help her, but I don’t know how.”

He looked helplessly at Shiro, hoping his brother had a good piece of advice to give him. He usually did.

“I think the best thing you can do is be there for her. Let her come to you in her own time, just like you’ve been doing,” Shiro said. “You can’t force this.”

Keith should have known that’s what he’d say. Normally, it wouldn’t be so bad, but he didn’t have time to wait patiently. They were already halfway through their vacation and it wouldn’t be long before people started to wonder when they’d return.

He turned his head so he was staring straight down at the table. “Patience yields focus, right?”

Shiro chuckled.

Someone knocked on the wall near the stairs and then Lance stuck his head around the corner. “Hey, just wanted to say I’m headed out. I’ll be back tomorrow if I can get away. If not, then as soon as I can. Oh yeah, and I’m going to keep your pants down on the beach if you don’t mind. I figure that will be less traumatizing to you.”

That was fine.

Shiro raised an eyebrow as Lance left without another word. “He’s… interesting. You’re really okay with giving him your pants?”

“Would you rather he walked around naked?” Keith asked.

Shiro swiftly replied with a negative.

Keith continued to sit with his head and arms on the table, mulling things over as Curtis came down after his phone call with his parents and got started on lunch for all of them. Soon, the smell of baking fish filled the air and his stomach began to rumble in response, distracting him from working out a plan. He turned his head to watch his brother quietly flirt with Curtis.

Before long, the food was finished and Keith was being handed two plates, one of which was unseasoned for Pidge. Keith thanked him and then made the trip downstairs, where he found Pidge making quick laps around the pool, her tail rippling in color from dark emerald to luminous yellow-green.

Keith took up his usual place on the pool steps, letting his feet rest in the water. He set Pidge’s plate off to one side for her to eat once she was ready and then dug into his own, using his fork to cut off individual bites.

Pidge quietly surfaced near him, carefully lifting the plate so she could examine the fish prepared for her, checking it over for any spices or unusual coloring. They’d quickly learned after the first time that while mer did have ways of cooking their food with heat vents, their methods of flavoring food was vastly different if they were able to add any at all. The herbs and spices they used on the surface were too much for her to handle, and from that point on they made a point to cook hers without.

She picked up her fork and speared a small piece, nibbling on it to check the taste. When she found it was cooked to her satisfaction, she began cutting off larger pieces.

“So Lance is interesting,” Keith unintentionally echoed Shiro’s earlier words. “You never mentioned he was half-human.”

“It never came up,” Pidge responded with a short shrug. She scraped her fork along her plate, trying to pick up every last little piece. “Lance has lived in Arus for so long, I don’t really think about it anymore.”

“Do you want more food?” Keith asked.

Pidge shook her head and set her plate and fork down. “I’m full.”

Silence once again fell over them as Keith finished eating. He was sure at any moment she’d choose to go back underwater, but to his surprise, she stayed right where she was.

Keith sat on the edge with his plate resting in his lap, trying to decide the best way to begin. He had to get something off of his chest before more time passed.

“Pidge, I know I said before that I would wait until you’re ready to talk, and I meant it. I’m not going to pressure you into it. And I know that me saying this makes it sound insincere and I probably should have phrased it better, but I’m here for you whenever you’re ready to talk. It doesn’t have to be all at once. You can do it in pieces if that makes it easier, but it’s all up to you.”

“Keith…”

He looked over at her. “All I want is to help you, in whatever way I can.”

Pidge reached out and took his plate away, putting it on top of her own before taking his hands in her own. “You deserve to know, and I want to tell you, but…”

“You’re not ready.”

Pidge looked at their hands and was silent for a long moment. “Lotor is the prince of Daibazaal. He came to Arus five years ago as part of his training, and we sort of… hit it off, I guess.” She crinkled her nose in thought. “He recognized my skill in mer-tech and gave me resources and a place in Sincline Castle to continue my work. In repayment, he gets the first look at my projects and a safe haven from his more persistent suitors. I know you probably think the worst of him after what Lance said, but he’s not like that. It’s complicated, I guess.”

“He lost his temper with you, Pidge, and it was bad enough that someone thought he was ordering your banishment. It’s not that complicated,” Keith said, a little more waspishly than he intended.

Pidge didn’t flinch away or scowl or otherwise indicate that she was bothered by Keith’s words. Instead, she stroked her thumb over the back of his hand. “Lotor has every reason to be upset with me. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him where I was going, because I know how he feels about humans. I should have told him. He should have heard it from me and not someone else.”

“That’s no excuse.”

“I know,” Pidge said, smiling sadly as she finally looked up at him. “Lotor lost his temper, and for that, I expect an apology, but I owe him one for not being truthful. He’s my friend and I lied to him. It put him in a difficult position, especially considering the way many mer view our relationship.”

Something ice-cold dropped into Keith’s chest at the implication that anything was going on between Pidge and some tantrum-throwing prince. He quickly reminded himself that she said they were only friends, but the feeling lingered uncomfortably for the rest of the night, intruding on his sleep and making him wake in a cold sweat. The image of Pidge being held by a faceless mer haunted him every time he closed his eyes.

When morning came, he was right there with Curtis, waiting for the coffee pot to complete its brewing cycle.

Curtis raised an eyebrow. “Rough night?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Keith muttered as he dumped large spoonfuls of sugar into his cup to try and cover up the bitterness of the coffee. He took a sip, made a face, and added another spoonful before fetching the milk from the fridge and adding that as well.

“Want to talk about it?” Curtis asked curiously.

Keith shrugged, setting his cup down on the table before dropping into an empty chair. “Dunno.”

He honestly wasn’t sure that there was any point in talking about it. He couldn’t say anything without betraying Pidge’s trust and while he liked Curtis, it wasn’t the same as talking to Shiro. Unfortunately, Shiro was using their vacation as an excuse to stay in bed for as long as possible every day and Keith wasn’t going to intrude on that.

Maybe he could phrase things in a way that wouldn’t betray Pidge’s confidence.

“Pidge was telling me more about her home and said something about everyone else thinking she and another mer are in a relationship, and it bothers me, I guess. It has to suck, being friends with someone and facing the expectation of there being more between you when there isn’t,” Keith said.

Curtis was silent for a moment as he sipped his black coffee. “Which part bothers you? The thought of Pidge being with this person? Or is it sympathy toward Pidge for being put into that situation?”

The image of Pidge and the faceless mer flashed through his mind.

Keith swallowed. “The first one. Though, I mean, the second part too. I don’t know, Curtis. The whole thing sucks.”

Curtis smiled at him. “You must really like her. Shiro and I had our suspicions, but we didn’t want to say anything. And we still won’t, because this is your journey, Keith. This is something you have to figure out on your own.”

He liked Pidge.

Well, obviously he liked Pidge! She was his friend and always had been, even if he’d forgotten for a while.

But that wasn’t what Curtis was saying, and Keith wasn’t sure he was comfortable with the direction his mind was taking him. To think of Pidge in a way that went beyond friendship…

Heat rushed to his cheeks as his mind played out a scene replacing him with the faceless mer, holding Pidge lovingly in his arms. It was ridiculous and he felt guilty thinking of her that way, but he couldn’t help himself. Once the thought was there, it only blossomed and grew stronger, and all at once, Keith fully understood why the thought of Pidge being with Lotor bothered him so much.

“I like Pidge,” Keith said softly.

Shiro was never going to let him live it down. Not after the way Keith teased him about his crushes in the past.

“If you want a little extra advice: take your time with this. You don’t need to go rushing in,” Curtis said.

Keith nodded, though he wasn’t really listening anymore. He thanked Curtis for his help and continued to sit at the table and drink his coffee, finishing up just as Shiro shuffled into the kitchen in his pajamas.

Shiro looked pointedly at Keith’s cup. “Rough night?”

“Curtis will tell you about it,” Keith said, standing up to put his cup in the dishwasher. He ignored the overly dramatic way Curtis swooned as he declared “Keith’s in love”, and instead walked right by him without a word.

The last thing Keith heard as he started down the stairs was Shiro asking: “What’s really going on?”

He took his time, still trying to decide the best way to talk to Pidge.

It was no secret that he wasn’t the best at vocalizing his feelings, and that was especially true when he was still trying to figure them out for himself. He knew that there were some jealousy issues to work out and Shiro always said that the best way to counter potential misunderstandings was by talking it out, so that was what he was going to do.

Even if he had no idea how to do that.

Maybe he should wait until he had proper time to digest, but it was a little late for that, as he reached the bottom of the stairs and automatically gravitated toward the pool. He smiled at Pidge as she popped her head out of the water, waiting patiently for him to sit down before she swam forward and held out her hand. He reached out to meet her halfway, letting their fingertips touch first before pressing their palms together.

‘I really like her.’

Pidge looked up at him curiously. “Are you alright?”

His eyes flickered to her face. “I, uh… I was thinking…”

Thinking what? He wasn’t sure that there was a single solid thought running through his head between the cacophony of sirens ringing in his ears. His mind was a mess. He was overthinking everything. Underthinking everything. Staying upstairs to face Shiro’s teasing would be far better than the meltdown he was currently experiencing.

“We’ve never hugged,” he blurted out.

“Well, no, but that’s because you always said it was too dangerous for you to go into the water. That’s why we do our own thing, remember?” Pidge sounded confused.

He was already screwing things up. His cheeks burned as she looked away from her and he knew he needed to stop talking, but more words spilled out anyway. “Sorry, I’m being stupid. You’re right. We have our own thing.”

Pidge responded by threading her fingers through his own. “It should be safe enough for you in here, so why don’t we try?” She tugged gently, enticing him to follow her deeper into the pool, and smiled softly when he went along with her without complaint. She stopped once they reached the deep end, where she let go of her hand and turned around to face him. “Hold your breath.”

Keith followed her directions just in time, as she looped her arms around his neck and her tail around his legs at the same time. He instinctively placed his hands where her skin blended into scales, his mind barely having time to process how closely she was pressed against him before they sank underwater.

He didn’t panic, even as his heart began to race. Part of his mind noted that the way she hugged him was entirely different from the way she hugged Lance the day before, but that information wouldn’t hit him until later, once he had time to revisit the new memory. He could feel her sigh against him as she tucked her head into the crook of his neck.

Disappointment washed over him when she moved a few seconds later, lifting herself up so they were face-to-face, but that feeling didn’t last for long.

Pidge lightly brushed her lips against his and his brain short-circuited.

Keith exhaled in shock, blowing bubbles directly into Pidge’s face. She began laughing and unwound her tail, helping him back to the surface so he could catch his breath. He was sure his face was bright red as he voiced his apologies.

“It’s really not a big deal,” Pidge said, unable to keep herself from grinning. There was a pink hue spreading across her face - a blush, perhaps? (Did mer blush like humans?) “I, uh, I’m sorry too. I should have warned you or asked permission or something. It seemed like the perfect moment, but all I’ve done is made a mess instead.”

“You haven’t,” Keith was quick to reassure her. “I was surprised that time, but we can try again.”

They should probably talk about what was happening. Keith knew that. Pidge likely knew that as well, but both of them were too elated by what was happening, the thrill of their friendship possibly shifting into something more overriding any logical thought.

Keith held his breath again as Pidge pulled him back underwater.

- - - - -

Later, once Keith’s head began to swim from repeated lack of oxygen, the two finally settled down to talk. They retreated to the steps, where Keith remained submerged in the water so Pidge could recline against him.

“I really like you,” he told her.

“That’s good,” Pidge said. “Because I like you too. A lot.”

After that, it was as though a wall toppled down between them. Pidge took the lead at first, delving into the joy she felt at seeing him again, the way she nearly spilled everything to him the day she caught herself admiring the way the sunlight brought out a shade of violet in his hair, and her fear as she began to wonder if her feelings were born of a ten-year wait to see him again.

“Do you still think that?” Keith asked.

“Not anymore. Actually, Matt caught me moping about it and we talked, so that helped me a bit. It was right before Lotor…” Pidge trailed off and shook her head. “It was the night before Lotor found out that I was seeing you, which made everything worse, I think. Here I was, worrying about my feelings for you, and suddenly I have an even bigger mess to figure out, but before I have a chance to do anything, those guards get it in their heads that I deserve banishment or whatever!” She stopped to breathe, electricity crackling harmlessly over her scales. It tingled against Keith’s skin where they touched.

“Is that what happened to your hair?” he asked.

Pidge lifted her hand to touch the ends of it. “Yeah, that’s a typical method of punishment for the Galra. The loss of braids, and especially adornments, is a big deal to them. It was upsetting at first, but I can grow it back. Mostly, I was just afraid. Coming to you was the only thing that made sense.”

Her show of trust made his head swell, just as much as the sadness in her eyes made it clench in pain. He wanted to say something comforting, but everything he could think of sounded so hollow.

“I’m sorry you had to go through all of that,” he said.

Pidge gave him a soft smile. “I do wish it all went differently, but it gave us all of this extra time to spend together, so I feel oddly… thankful?”

Ten years ago, he would have argued with her on that point. Five years ago, he would have started a fight about it, not intentionally, but out of misplaced anger. Luckily, living with Shiro as his brother for eight years had helped quell that fire that raged inside of him at all of the injustices of the world.

Patience yields focus.

Keith breathed out. “You might have a good point. It would have taken me longer to figure out my feelings for you. Probably not until I got home…” His throat tightened.

He would’ve gotten home and been so listless, so lost, and not known why. How long would it have taken him to figure it out? Shiro would have to step in, he knew that much. But would it have been too late by then?

“That doesn’t make what happened to you a good thing,” Keith said fiercely, kicking himself for thinking that way. He blinked in surprise when he felt Pidge tug him down by the sleeve of his soaked shirt so she could stretch herself up and kiss his cheek.

“Thank you, Keith. Now, enough about this. It’s your turn for an emotional confession about all of the things you like about me,” Pidge said, her eyes glittering playfully.

Where could he start?

He loved listening to her ramble on or get caught up in long-winded tangents, before abruptly leaping back to her original topic, even if it meant he struggled to follow her stories. He loves the passion she held for her work. Her mischievous grin when she was about to make a pun. The cute way she tilted her head when she was puzzled by something.

Most of all, he loved how comfortable he felt with her.

The two of them talked for some time, lost in their own private world, right up until a knock at the door jolted them back to reality. They both looked to the glass door, where Lance stood in his borrowed jeans.

Keith lifted his hand in greeting, giving Lance silent permission to come inside.

“Hunk sent me with some food,” he said as he walked over to the side of the pool. He raised an eyebrow at their closeness but didn’t comment on it. “He also says that he’s jealous that you get to try surface cuisine and he wants to hear all about it once you get back, nevermind the number of times I’ve offered to bring food from mom.” Lance rolled his eyes.

Pidge laughed as she moved away to accept the bundle of food. “Sounds like Hunk’s doing just fine. How are Matt and my parents?”

“Still upset that you left without saying anything, but glad that you’re safe. Matt says if you don’t come home soon, he’s going to go through your stuff and color code it to his own specifications,” Lance said.

Pidge gasped in mock outrage. “He wouldn’t!”

“He might,” Lance said with a shrug. He glanced over at Keith, who wondered if it was a good time to make an excuse to go upstairs and leave them to talk. “Speaking of you going home, any idea when you’re going to?”

“Not yet.”

“Pidge-”

“I’m not ready yet,” she said stubbornly.

And yeah, that was Keith’s cue to go. He murmured an excuse to go check on Shiro and Curtis before getting out of the pool. He toweled off to the best of his ability on his way upstairs, where he found Curtis talking on the phone. He took one look at the expression on Keith’s face and pointed to the door leading out to the upper deck, where Shiro was leaning against the rail and enjoying the hot summer sun.

He turned to look at Keith when he heard the door slide open.

“Did Lance chase you off already?” Shiro asked.

Keith shrugged as he joined his brother. “It seemed like they have some things to talk about without me around. Mer stuff or whatever.” He vaguely waved his hand and then fell still, staring out over the ocean.

For a few minutes, neither of them spoke.

“I’ve been thinking about what Lance said, about the Royal Alteans and their magic.”

That wasn’t at all what Keith expected to hear. He looked up at Shiro with a frown. “What’s this about?”

“You’re happy here. Happier than I’ve ever seen you, and I can’t help but think that it’s more than just Pidge influencing that. This house, the ocean… this is where you belong.”

It didn’t take Keith long to figure out what Shiro was saying.

“I’m not leaving you,” Keith said, panic seeping into his voice. “Shiro, I can’t!”

“You could,” Shiro gently disagreed. “Keith, look at me. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, you will always be my brother. No matter what choice you make, I will be there to support you. And this is your choice to make. I’m just pointing out one of the possibilities to you.” He held his arms open and let Keith hide his tears in the fabric of his t-shirt.

“Why do you always have to be like this? You’re the older one. Shouldn’t you be telling me not to go running off to live in the ocean with the girl I like?” Keith grumbled.

“Probably,” Shiro acknowledged.

Keith pulled back and wiped his eyes. “It’s ridiculous. I don’t… I couldn’t. What about your - our parents? What will you tell everyone?”

“We’d figure it out somehow. Lance should have a good idea of how this sort of thing works. You should ask him about it, if it’s something you’re genuinely considering,” Shiro said.

There was something about asking Lance for help that grated on his nerves, but that would be his best option. Far better than getting Pidge’s hopes up.

Though that raised another question: Did Pidge want him to go with her? What if their relationship wasn’t meant to last? The transformation was permanent, according to Lance, so would he be okay living in the ocean if he and Pidge had a fight and ended their relationship?

Keith had a lot to think about. A lot of pros and cons to weight before he came close to deciding. And somewhere in there, a talk with Lance to figure out how any of it would work.

“How many days do we have left?” Keith asked.

“Maybe a week more?” Shiro responded though he didn’t sound sure. “You don’t have to decide by then, but I’d talk to Lance for sure. This is a life-changing choice and I don’t want you to think of it as now or never just because we leave soon. We can always come back. The house isn’t going anywhere.”

“Yeah,” Keith murmured, his eyes drawn back to the ocean as he pondered the possibilities laid before him.

- - - - -

Talking to Lance sucked.

They needled each other in all the wrong ways, which led to more bickering than coherent discussion, but eventually, they managed to (mostly) set aside their differences to have a civil conversation.

Keith had to admit, Lance had a wealth of information about the process, thanks to his half-mer lineage. Apparently, he and his older sister were the only two who chose to live in Arus, while the rest of his family lived on the surface and helped serve as liaisons between the two worlds. Anything Lance didn’t know, one of them could help with.

“You’d be surprised by how many people around here know the truth about mer. Loads of people around here are descendants, whether they know it or not, and it’s become a tradition to embrace stories about mer as part of the town tourism. It helps throw off people who really want to do us harm, I guess. Anyway, my family helps out a lot with any issues that crop up and my brother has a boat, which will be useful if you decide to go through with this.”

Keith looked at him in confusion. “Why would that be useful?”

“It’ll get us away from prying eyes, for one. And the spellwork will be easier away from the shore, especially the one here. Unless you want to get cut up by rocks?”

He had a good point, so Keith let it drop and agreed that a boat would be useful. Lance had a few more things to tell him before he left for the day, including a word of warning.

If Keith chose to live the rest of his life in the ocean, it couldn’t be solely because of Pidge. He had to be sure it was what he wanted for himself because once he chose, there would be no going back.

Keith knew that, but hearing it from someone else put it into sharper perspective.

Any time he didn’t spend agonizing over what he would do, he spent with Pidge. Not much had changed between them since their make-out session, aside from a newfound closeness and Pidge’s habit of finding ways to drape herself over him. They still sat around and talked. One day Keith brought a tv downstairs and watched a few movies with her, doing his best to explain “movie magic” to her until Shiro or Curtis took pity on him and lent a hand.

The days flew by, every second ticking away at an alarming rate. Keith knew their time was coming to an end when he saw Pidge gazing at the door with more and more frequency.

“I should go back tomorrow,” she said quietly.

“Already?” The word slipped out without Keith meaning for it to happen and he grimaced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that. You’ve been away from your home for a while now and I know you miss it.”

“I do miss it. I’ve been trying to convince myself that I haven’t, but I really do. I miss my family, my work, everything about Arus,” Pidge said. “It’s time I stopped hiding. And anyway, you have to leave soon too, don’t you? I heard Curtis say something about packing.”

Keith swallowed. “About that… I don’t think I’m going with them.”

Pidge tilted her head to the side. “Why not?”

“I’ve been talking to Lance about something and figuring out a few things, and now I’ve decided.” Keith paused to steady his breathing. “I’ve decided that I’m going back with you. To Arus.”

For a brief moment, Keith thought she might tell him no, but then a delighted trill filled the air. That was his only warning before she hauled him down by his shirt and kissed him fully on the mouth. It was only a quick kiss, but it conveyed her happiness perfectly well.

“You’re going to love Arus!” she said as they separated. “I can’t wait to show you everything! Oh, I wonder what your coloring will be? That’s always the interesting part about this. The way Altean magic works, it should look similar to mine, just a different color.” Pidge stopped and took a hard look at Keith. “You’re sure about this, right? Lance told you that it’s a one-way transformation?”

“I know, and this is what I want,” Keith said.

Her pensive expression was swept away by a bright smile as she again began to talk about all of the things she could show him. He could only grin at her enthusiasm, though he was still slightly confused about what a klanmuirl was and how it was relevant to what she was talking about.

The more they talked, the more certain Keith was of his choice, and with Shiro’s unwavering support, he found that he was only slightly nervous when the day arrived.

Lance took care of everything. He roped his human family into helping them get to the right place, on top of convincing someone named Allura to meet them near the surface so she could perform the necessary spell. All Keith had to do was follow his instructions and everything would work out the way it was meant to.

Pidge threw a wrench in their planning when she decided at the last minute that she didn’t want to swim out to meet them, but travel by boat along with Keith. Once again, Lance and his family came to the rescue with a specially designed wheelchair that was equipped with a water tank and a blanket to hide her tail from view.

Keith stayed by her side the whole time, easing his nerves by quietly answering her questions as he pushed her through town. It worked until they reached the boat owned by Lance’s oldest brother, Luis, and were introduced to him and his mom, who insisted on being called Alita rather than Ms. McClain.

“Thanks for doing this for us,” Shiro said as he helped move a plank into place. Making a bridge was the only way they would be able to get Pidge onto the boat without taking her out of the wheelchair.

“It’s no problem. We love helping out where we can, and Pidge is a family friend,” Luis said. He bent down to make sure the board was stable and then gestured for Keith to push her across. Once they were safely on the boat, he and Shiro moved the plank back onto the dock for anyone else to use.

“Let’s get this party started!” Lance enthusiastically said as he jogged up behind them.

Keith jumped in surprise at the mer’s unexpected arrival. “I thought you were meeting us out there.”

“Huh? Nah, I’m the only one able to signal Allura once it’s safe for her to find us, and that’ll be way easier if I’m with you guys,” Lance said. He hopped the gap onto the boat, beating his brother and Shiro. “Alright there, Katie?”

Pidge nodded. “This is so cool! I never thought I’d actually be able to ride in one of these!”

Lance shrugged, apparently not seeing what the big deal was, and stepped out of the way to greet his mom, who opened her arms wide and hugged him tightly, as though it had been years since she last saw him rather than a few hours.

As everyone else got settled on the boat, Luis worked on untying them from the dock. It wasn’t long before they were ready to set sail for a point on the ocean that only the McClain family knew about.

While Shiro and Curtis made small talk and Pidge stared in awe at the rapidly shrinking shoreline, Keith closed his eyes and tipped back his head, lost in thought.

What would his dad say, if he were still around? Would he try and talk Keith out of it? Would he be supportive?

He thought about him a lot throughout his vacation. How could he not when he was home after so long? His dad loved that house and living so close to the ocean. Maybe he wasn’t drawn to it in the same way that Keith was, but he loved it all the same.

Keith had the fleeting thought of his dad insisting on joining him undersea and tried not to grin. That was absolutely something he would do, if he was still around.

A hand on Keith’s shoulder brought him out of his thoughts, and as he opened his eyes he realized they had stopped. The boat was unnaturally still on the water, not even rocking as the motor cut off.

“It’s time,” Pidge said, smiling at him. She took her hand away as Keith stood and walked in front of her, bending down so she could wrap her arms around his neck. He lifted her with ease and completely missed the looks of surprise from Luis and Alita, and carried her to the back of the boat, where Lance stood with his arms out.

Keith sucked in a breath as he took in the reason the boat wasn’t shifting in the waves. There were none. The water was flattened around them in a perfect sphere, held back by some sort of magic.

“Pretty awesome, right? I can do way better in my other form, but this is good enough for now,” Lance bragged.

“Show off,” Pidge teased, wriggling in anticipation. She took a moment to compose herself and then asked Keith to turn around so she could properly say goodbye to Shiro and Curtis.

Once she was done, Keith let her slide from his arms and watched as she splashed into the water below, disappearing from view. The ripples evened out before she breached the surface and waved up at him. “Allura and Hunk are here, so I’m going to go say hi! Come on in once you’re ready.”

“I guess this is it,” Keith said. He looked at Shiro, thankful that no more words needed to be spoken as they embraced, holding on tightly for as long as they could. When they separated, it wasn’t with dry eyes.

Curtis opened his arms and pulled Keith in for a brief hug. “We’ll see you next summer. Earlier, if we can manage it.”

Keith nodded and then stepped back up to the edge, preparing to jump in. He saw that two other mer had joined Pidge on the surface; one had dark hair and what looked like a yellow-orange cloth wrapped across his forehead, and the other mer had white hair and bright pink marks on each cheek.

“You might want to strip out of your clothes before you jump in,” Lance warned him. “Transforming is uncomfortable enough without those getting in the way.”

Before Keith could start to look around for a solution to preserve his modesty, Shiro tossed him a towel patterned with crabs for him to wrap around his waist. He shot Lance an irritated look before he began to strip, neatly folding his clothes and setting them aside, piece by piece.

Lance rolled his eyes.

Keith made sure he had a good grip on the towel, held his breath, and then jumped, plunging feet-first into the water. He resurfaced quickly, aided by Pidge to stay afloat, though it wasn’t too difficult to do on his own thanks to Lance’s iron control over the surface of the water.

“Keith, I’d like to meet Hunk and Allura,” Pidge said, gesturing first to the dark-haired mer and then to the one with pink markings.

Hunk surprised him by swimming in for a hug. “It’s good to finally meet you.”

“Uh yeah. You too?” Keith said, taken aback by the friendliness Hunk immediately showed him. He looked at Allura, wondering if she was about to do the same, but she simply smiled warmly and then got straight to business.

“Lance has already informed you of how this process goes, but I’d like to go over it one last time,” she said.

Keith was momentarily surprised by her accent, but brushed it aside and nodded, willing to do whatever he needed to.

“It’s very important that I complete the spell uninterrupted. If not, you will revert to purely human and we will not be able to try again. You must remain calm and that will not be an easy task.” Allura’s gaze softened, though her voice remained firm. “You will feel discomfort as your body changes, but it should not escalate to terrible pain. For some, that discomfort is too much and they lose sight of what is happening. Should you forget to hold your breath and start to drown, I will stop.”

Keith nodded. Lance had gone through everything with him a number of times, in greater detail. “I’m ready.”

Pidge kissed his cheek and then swam over to Hunk, remaining a safe distance away.

Allura glanced up at Lance. “How are you holding up?”

“I could do this all day, beautiful,” he responded with a wink.

Allura rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. She lifted her hands out of the water and held them out towards Keith. “Take my hands and hold your breath so we may begin.”

Keith did so, closing his eyes as well as Allura pulled him under the water. He expected a feeling of panic or alarm to set in as all sound became muffled and he sank deeper, but he felt perfectly at ease.

If he were to open his eyes, he would see the crescent marks on Allura’s cheeks begin to glow, and soon after the matching patterns on her upper arms and sides. Her magic went to work, slowly transferring into him, seeking out what needed to be changed, and then it picked up speed.

Keith felt the warmth first, settling in his chest and legs. And then came the prickling feeling, like he sat the wrong way for too long and his legs were going numb. It intensified and Keith wondered if he’d been lied to about the pain, but it eased up after a few seconds.

Allura let go of his hands, and soon after his ears popped and he could hear clearly. He opened his eyes in shock, fearing for a moment that he’d floated back up to the surface, ruining the whole spell and his chance at being with Pidge.

He found himself staring at Allura, who looked back at him with a shocked expression. Hunk and Pidge were a respectful distance away, but he found that he could see them clearly through the water.

Hunk and Allura were as different from one another as they were from Pidge and Lance. He remembered Pidge saying something about different types of tails, but it was only by seeing it for himself that he understood what she meant.

Hunk had a magnificent tail, banded with stripes of golden-yellow and brown. His fins fanned around him in great spikes, making him appear even larger than he was.

Allura was his opposite. She was slender and fluid, with fins that danced like sheer curtains caught in a breeze. Her scales were dazzling in color and were primarily white, with splotches of pinks and a hint of blue.

“You should be able to breathe now,” Allura said.

He released the air he’d been holding in the form of a few tiny bubbles, and then, going against his innate instinct to rush to the surface, he breathed in.

“It worked,” he said in wonder, raising his hands to see if there was anything different. There was slightly more webbing between his fingers to aid in swimming, but no other visual difference. As he looked down his body, however, he started to see the reason for the shock on Allura’s face.

At his waist, his skin faded smoothly into a purple color, which remained light across what was once the tops of his legs, while at his sides it began transitioning to a darker shade. Dots of red splashed through that transitional area, spaced so closely together that it looked like a splotchy ribbon winding down each side of his tail.

His tail which was not scaled, but instead resembled shark skin. Keith reached down to check and found that it was rough to the touch.

Keith looked back at Pidge, who swam in closer with an expression of awe on her face. She reached out, touching his lower jaw and tracing something up onto his cheek. “It worked,” he giddily repeated to her and then turned his attention back to Allura. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Keith, but all you needed was a bit of a nudge in the right direction. Your own magic handled the rest on its own,” Allura said.

“My… my own magic?” Keith asked with a frown.

Allura nodded. “Perhaps we should take this above water. I’m sure everyone would like to hear this.”

Pidge helped Keith rise gently back up to the surface, whispering to him how to move in a way that wouldn’t have him spinning in circles or moving too fast.

“That was fast,” Lance remarked as they all popped their heads up. He continued to keep the water still. “There wasn’t a complication, was there?”

“No, it worked flawlessly. Even better than I expected, to be honest, but that is all thanks to Keith’s lineage,” Allura said.

His lineage. Keith was still trying to work his brain around his own magic working to help Allura’s, and she had to throw that into the mix? There was something about his bloodline that helped him become a mer?

Alita stepped forward, her expression kind as she addressed Keith. “You’re Travis Hawkins’ boy, aren’t you? I always suspected he had knowledge of mer-folk, but I never knew how. Now I suppose we finally know, it was thanks to your mother.”

“My mother?”

All Keith felt was confusion. What did his mom have to do with anything? He never had the chance to meet her, and his dad never talked about her.

“Keith, you have Galra markings,” Pidge said. “That sort of thing is only passed down from parent to child. If both of your parents were born human, even if one of your grandparents was mer, then you wouldn’t inherit that magic. This means your mom was Galra.”

He was half-mer.

Shock settled over him.

Shiro seemed to realize the same thing, but his surprise quickly gave way to joy. “Keith, do you know what this means? You’re half-mer, like Lance! You can come back and visit whenever you’d like! That is what that means, right?” He looked to Lance for confirmation.

“It’ll take some practice to shift correctly, but yeah. Pretty much,” Lance said.

He could come back.

He wouldn’t spend the rest of his life separated from his brother.

Keith still wanted to go live with Pidge, but the relief he felt at having the option to return soothed him in a way he hadn’t expected. Slowly, his shock began to wear off. He could see Shiro again. Could go for walks along the shore. And at the end of the day, he could go home to Pidge.

“I could come back to see you off,” he said, ignoring Lance’s quiet admonishment that he needed practice first and it wasn’t easy. He’d master it in hours just to spite the blue-tailed mer.

“Then we’ll see you in two days and you can tell us all about your new home before we leave,” Shiro said.

Hunk swam up next to them. “Speaking of home, we should get back before everyone starts to wonder where you’ve gone, princess.”

Allura nodded. “Yes, of course. Lance, are you ready?”

Lance looked relieved by the news but continued to work his magic over the area despite the slight tremor in his arms. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Goodbyes were exchanged and Keith smiled at his brother one more time before inexpertly diving underwater to follow Pidge and the others to the teludav that would take him to his new home.

#voltron #kidge #kidgemas #kidgezine #mermaid au #kidgezine: kaleidoscope #fantasy au #minor shiro/curtis #lance has zero shame #merpeople have magic

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the-mandalorian-clone-lover · 4 years

Text

Ok y’all, I have gathered enough nerve or something and here it is :D

This is kind of the description and then I’ll put the reference photos and the first part under the read more thingy.

Roman is a mob boss and is played by Ewan McGregor (he’s 100% a hopeless romantic and wants someone to cherish, when he finds that person he will literally do anything to keep them, not afraid of much), Erica (She wants to be loved despite her Asexuality, she is afraid it’s impossible, and she isn’t willing to do much to make it happen because she’s convinced it’s impossible) is his girlfriend. Butcher is basically Kronk from the Emperor’s new groove (because he’s enormous and adorable and I love him).

Second part here

Ok so top is Butcher, he’s probably 6′5 in my mind or more? Probably has tattoos, I’ll leave that up to your imagination. Second is Roman (who is Ewan obvs but this is about the age I picture him). Third is Erica, I picture her between 26&28 and Roman 30 or 32, so there is an age gap but it isn’t more than 4-6 years. She’s 5′11 and Roman is 5′10, that’s a surprise tool that will help us later, and yeah I think that’s about it. Story below :)

Oh– Warnings?: Talking about coming out, Erica yells a sentence or two but she’s frustrated, silly self-indulgence? Excessive tooth-rotting fluff

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(The song he sings is Your Song from Moulin Rouge)

Roman’s been deep in thought in the back of the car the entire ride and Butch has finally had enough.

“Somethin’ going on boss?”

Roman sighs, “Erica texted that she wanted to talk to me instead of doing dinner tonight.” He pauses before evidently deciding to give Butch the whole story, looking at his feet as he does so. “I asked her at dinner two days ago if she wanted to be official and now, I’m wondering if it was too soon. Did I scare her off?” Roman’s eyes come back to Butch’s as he asks and for a moment he’s at a loss, thankfully Roman continues before he has to answer. “I know I tend to..” his eyes go to the window, eyes searching it as if it holds the right words “..do things a little old fashioned. Commit to each other, take care of each other, do people, not do that anymore?” He asks the question desperately and Butch ponders a moment before responding.

“Maybe not out there, but if anyone would want a little old fashioned, I think it’d be Ms. Erica.” They’ve been dating a month or so now, strictly dinner and walking in the park type dates, she had come to the pent house once, but only so Roman could give her a one month anniversary present; a necklace (it had been simple but elegant, Butch had helped pick it out).

Roman’s eyes make their way back to him, “What do you mean?”

Butch pauses, tilting his head and looking down before answering “She’s got an old soul, and she’s not the kind of woman you could get away with not treating her right.”

Roman had nodded his assent before opening his mouth but the stop of the car cuts him off.

Butch waits till they’re both out of the car before speaking again. “Do you want me to follow you up?”

It’s a matter of protocol, some days Butch sweeps the penthouse before Roman goes in, just to be sure, but at this moment Roman is pretty sure there could be snakes in his house and it wouldn’t be worse than the thought of Erica leaving him. Its early to be so attached, he knows this, but she’s so lovely and wonderful and one-of-a-kind that he hates to see her go so soon, when there’s so much he hasn’t gotten to say to her. He braces himself inwardly though, putting on a brave face for Butch.

“No, I’ll be alright, I’ll let you know if we decide to go for dinner after all.” He tries to smile but knows Butch sees right through it. Butch pulls him in by the shoulders for a hug before holding him at arms-length.

“Don’t go getting all mopey before she’s even talked to ya, maybe she’s already made dinner and that’s why.”

“It’s much too early for that, I hope she doesn’t think she has to—”

Butch is turning him and shoving him towards the door.

“Go on lover boy, face your music and don’t be a wimp!”

Roman drags himself up the stairs, feeling like a glutton for punishment at this moment, straightening himself up before opening the door. He almost regrets forgetting to knock before remembering this is his house and choosing instead to call out.

“Erica? Darling? I’m a little early, didn’t want to startle you.”

She appears in the entryway that leads to the living room, looking a little nervous herself.

“I-“ She takes a deep breath, eyes never leaving him “Thank you for having them let me in, what I wanted to talk to you about is a more personal matter.”

Well. That certainly didn’t sound like a precursor to a break-up.

“Of course” Roman responds, trying to sound as at-ease as possible. “Can I get you anything?” His eyes sweep her figure and upon realizing she’s abandoned her shoes he begins to toe off his own, leaving them next to hers in the doorway.

She’s shaking her head when he looks up. “No, thank you, I brought some cookies I made, they’re in here.” With that she turns back to the sitting room and begins to walk away. He hurries after her but tries to allow her space still. He takes the moment to look at her. She’d looked ill at ease in the foyer, a large OD green sweatshirt (that had probably seen better days) that said ‘Property of Middle Earth’ in worn white letters nearly swallowing her, hair down and falling in her face, she’d pushed it behind her ears twice as they walked. She’s wearing the black jeans she says are her favorites, everything seems to point to her dressing for comfort. She pushes the sweatshirt sleeves up to her elbows before sweeping the container off the coffee table and holding it out to him.

“I remember you said you liked macadamia nut, it’s my first time making them though.”

He nods, taking the box, also taking care to brush his fingers against hers as well as he can without raising suspicion. He takes off the lid, taking a deep breath before looking up to her in awe, “These smell amazing!” He smiles before looking down again, grabbing one to hold it out to her. “Share?”

She smiles thinly, shaking her head again, (Roman doesn’t think he’s ever seen her shake her head this much) before answering “No, I’m alright. Not very hungry anyway.”

Erica knows its not a convincing answer but what can she say? She’s been dreading this conversation ever since she started having feelings for Roman and when he had asked her to think about being officially together, she’d known she couldn’t put it off any longer. She looks at the floor again, remembering that she’s wearing her favorite sweatshirt and that if anyone from Middle Earth were here they’d be encouraging her (maybe not Sauron but he wasn’t really the encouraging type) and probably giving her an awkward thumbs up from behind Roman’s couch. She smiles at the comforting thought and looks back up at him. No matter what his response was, she’d handle it. She’d come this far. She sits down (albeit a little rigidly) on the couch behind her, and Roman follows her lead, sitting in the chair diagonal from the coffee table.

She takes another deep breath, this is it. “I’m just going to come right out and say it—”

“Do you want to break up?”

Roman’s on the edge of his chair, gripping the container and looking at her with, fear? Dread? She isn’t sure but it isn’t a positive emotion that’s etched into his face. He’s not the only one.

“No,” she says it carefully, deliberately, before continuing past what she knows is the point of no return. “But you might”.

It feels like a bomb went off. Roman actually leans back in the chair before blinking rapidly, attempting to process. “Did–“ he supposes ‘cheating’ might be too strong a word if they’re actually not even together but he isn’t sure what else they would split over.

“It isn’t something I did. It’s something I am.” Erica is resisting the urge to cry now, it doesn’t matter how many times she talks about it, it doesn’t seem to get easier when you care what the other person responds with. She’s looking at the floor when she hears shuffling and feels the couch dip next to her. She looks over to find Roman seated on the far end, reaching slowly to hover a hand above her shoulder.

“Whatever it is, we’ll work through it. It’s not as if anything is irreconcilable.” He pauses and Erica really is bracing now, nearly wanting to get up and run from the room in preparation for the inevitable.

“Unless you’re actually an orc. Or you like eating hummus. I have to draw the line somewhere.”

He says it as if it were obvious and she smiles, shaking her head before breathing out shakily. “It’s, well, its neither of those things.” She says, finally looking him in the eye, reaching up to guide his hand down to her shoulder. If nothing else, she’ll enjoy these last few minutes of comfort he offers before it’s all over.

“I’m asexual.”

Its out. And while it does take a weight off her chest, she isn’t sure it’s gone for good.

Roman blinks, tilting his head, “Tell me what that means?”

It’s a request. Not a demand, he didn’t fill the air with his assumptions, he just asked. That’s a new one.

“Well, it um,” Erica takes another deep breath, reaching out to grab his other hand in both of hers and fastening her eyes to them before spitting out the rest in a rush, “It means I don’t experience sexual attraction.”

He’d already started stroking the fingers he could reach when she took his hand hostage and he doesn’t stop when she finishes. She doesn’t move though, she’s waiting for it to sink in. Either he’ll tell her to get out, tell her that that isn’t a thing, or that he can fix her. She’s already got a plan for all three.

“Ok.” He says it as if she’d just told him it was cloudy outside. “How do you want me to respond?”

She brings her eyes back to his slowly, mouth agape. She can’t even be bothered to close it either, somehow, he’s managed to say the one thing she never expected.

“How do I want you to respond?”

“Well, I know that I don’t know exactly what you need or want to hear, so I’m asking.” He says it all so gently, as if he were trying to comfort her, as if he could sense how hard it was to say this, could he? “I want to support you” he says with conviction, “Sometimes you might have to tell me how.”

His gentle tone never fades, if anything it only sounds more genuine as he continues, moving his hand to hover next to her cheek. She leans into it, sniffing softly and closing her eyes against the tears. It’s hardly the time to cry now. Gathering herself she opens her eyes.

“You need to understand sex is something I might not ever be able to give you.” As sweet as he is, she won’t let him commit to something if he doesn’t even understand what it means. “I’ve, had,–“ now her eyes are back in her lap, withdrawing her hands from his, “experiences, but, I didn’t like them. And since I don’t have the desire anyway, it’s possible I’ll be like this forever.” She’s painting it bleakly but what else is there to say? She’s never been supported by any partner or friend and she isn’t sure she’d even know how to handle it if she was. Part of her does want to break up with Roman now, end it all before he can, give herself control of the situation before it gets any more uncomfortable.

“Why do you say it as if you were broken?”

Shock. That’s what she’s feeling, bringing her eyes up to look at Roman as if he’d grown two heads. Opening and closing her mouth twice before finally blurting out

“Isn’t that what you think?” She’s standing now, words falling out of her mouth in a rush of fear and anger, “Isn’t that what everyone thinks?! Isn’t that what you’re supposed to say? That I can’t be anything other than a robot if I don’t want” she gestures fiercely “that!? As if I wasn’t a whole person without it?” Roman is standing now but she can’t stop “As if there was no way two people could be together without doing it??” Her voice has somehow been getting louder all through her rant and everything’s getting blurry as the tears start “As if I were making the whole thing up?” He’s closer now, and she stumbles back, yelling a final, “AS IF I WASN’T A REAL PERSON BECAUSE OF IT??” before she collapses into his arms. She’s sobbing in earnest now, gripping onto him as tightly as she can. This has never happened. Every other time she’s always handled the rejection, the teasing, the downright harassment before calmly leaving and never coming back but, somehow, it’s Roman being kind to her that finally causes her to break. All the frustration, hurt and confusion finally pouring out in her tears. He’s just stroking her back with one hand, the other cradling her head against his shoulder. Between the sobs she can hear his voice, but he doesn’t seem to be saying much other than ‘its alright’ and telling her to let it out, saying that he’s here and he’s not leaving. It helps.

When the sobs subside to hiccups she wraps her arms a little tighter around him and takes a breath before sniffing.

“Can I have a tissue?” She says it as softly as she can, she doesn’t really want him to leave but she’s starting to worry for whoever does the wash. He seems to pick up on her reluctance to separate, instead taking the arm from her back to reach behind and down for the box on the coffee table. He fumbles in the awkward position for a moment, causing them both to huff in good humor before standing straight and holding it up by her face. She takes it.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all those things to you.”

She mumbles it without ever moving, choosing to reach over his shoulder to wipe her face, if he’s willing to keep holding her, she isn’t going to make him stop.

He goes back to petting her hair softly, answering in the same tone, careful to keep his voice low. “Don’t apologize. If someone said those horrible things to me, I’d be upset too.”

She sighs quietly. He must not understand still.

“But everyone thinks they’re true. That’s the problem.” She says it matter-of-factly, her arms loosening a bit to rest on his shoulder blades before he suddenly grips her tighter.

“Not everyone.”

It’s a small thing, and it shouldn’t mean anything to her, but it does. It means the whole world.

They stand there holding each other for heaven only knows how long, Erica not wanting to leave the comforting embrace that Roman is offering, and Roman content to hold her as long as she needs.

More time passes before she hears him humming, well she feels it first but then she hears the soft notes next to her ear and feels him shifting back and forth slowly. Swaying them both. Then he’s singing to her. Quietly, barely above a whisper but his voice is like honey.

“My gift is my song, and this one’s for you” he nuzzles his cheek on the side of her head before going on, still whispering gently to her and swaying softly “and you can tell everybody, this is your song. It may be quite simple but, now that it’s done. I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words,” he gets a little louder then, more confident, “How wonderful life is, now you’re in the world.”

“Elton John?” She asks, voice still a little wobbly, only slightly teasing.

“No, well, yes, but I was thinking of Moulin Rouge.”

She frowns, slowing their swaying slightly, “I thought Elton John wrote that?”

She hears a small ‘ah’ followed by “Moulin Rouge is a film, have you not seen it?”

She shakes her head against his, muttering a ‘huh uh’

“Hmm, well, then let me finish serenading you and then we can watch it, how does that sound?”

She pulls away then, wanting to look him in the face even if she doesn’t necessarily want him to see hers. “You want to stay? With me?”

He nods, brushing his thumbs across where they’ve come to rest on her waist. “I’ll admit I don’t understand it all yet but I can learn. And if you promise to never start liking hummus then we seem to have an agreement.” He finishes with a smile and somehow Erica finds herself smiling with him. Somehow, she has hope again.

“I think I can promise that.” She says, taking another shaky breath in before muttering ‘eskimo kiss’ and leaning forward to brush her nose against his, he bumps their foreheads together and then they’re both giggling. He hasn’t ever kissed her lips yet but it’s moments like this that make her certain he’ll wait till she starts it.

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#asexual #ace #ace stories #ace character #ewan mcgregor #mob boss #how do i tag #*runs and hides*#*hopes for the best #aces in spaces

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banditthewriter · 4 years

Text

Matt Murdock’s Soulmate

Another entry for my two year anniversary.

Trope: Can feel what the other is feeling, share injuries.

Tags are at the bottom. Let me know if you would like to be added to one of my tag lists!

*gif not mine*

Enjoy!

*****

Since you started working nights, your sleep schedule was impossible. It had been another long week of work, work, and more work so you felt you owed it to yourself to do something fun. Fun in this case meant getting dinner with some friends before you made the walk home. The ice cream parlor called your name so you darted in to get a cone before you continued down the streets.

There was a dull ache in your wrist that told you that your soulmate had gotten hurt again. You rubbed the spot absently before you caught yourself.

According to your doctors, your soulmate was a very accident prone person. Of course you didn’t believe that, not anymore. The burn in your eyes when you were a kid? That was an accident. The banged knees afterwards? Those were accidents.

The split lips and black eyes? The bruised knuckles and head trauma? The broken ribs and bruised body? None of that was an accident.

Your soulmate was an idiot if nothing else. You had pondered them being into boxing or MMA fighting because you looked up bruises from fights, but it didn’t feel right. Jaw pain, inner ear pain, joints that felt swollen even when you were completely healthy? Those felt personal.

Since a soulmate could be anywhere, you never really gave much thought to finding yours. You had given up after you looked for someone who had suffered trauma to their eyes when they were younger. The number of kids who had suffered that way were too great for you to narrow it down.

Your ice cream was melting, but you didn’t mind. When you got home, you’d soak in your bathtub for as long as possible before you went to sleep. Your soulmate aches would let up with some hot water and wine.

There was a loud noise behind you and some screams. You turned around in time to get knocked to the ground by a man who apparently had just jumped out of a glass door of a nearby building. Or maybe not jumped since he was almost immediately followed by a man dressed in red.

When you moved to the city, you hadn’t realized that you would have vigilantes on every corner. Of course you hadn’t expected aliens to fall from the sky either.

Daredevil grabbed the man that had run into you and slammed him against the brick wall of the building. Then he did it again. You saw him tilt his head as if he was listening to something before he stepped away from the unconscious man.

He turned towards you almost slowly. You were still on the ground, your ice cream smushed against the asphalt. You didn’t even have a moment to be upset about that since you were faced with Daredevil. The one and only devil of Hell’s Kitchen.

The masked man started to hold out his right hand but he stopped and held out his left instead. You frowned at the awkward move but you put your right hand in his and let him pull you up. There was a bit of a tightness in your wrist but you knew it was from your soulmate and not from you.

“Thank you? Should I call the cops?”

Daredevil didn’t even answer. In the distance you could hear sirens. Daredevil released your hand and took off down the street, darting into an alleyway and out of sight. You rotated your wrist and looked at the man that was slumped on the ground with blood on his face.

“Don’t end up in the morgue. I don’t need the extra work,” you said as you continued down the road, keeping out of sight of the cop cars that were on their way.

You didn’t need that kind of trouble. And it wasn’t like you saw anything that would help.

------

Working in the morgue was a strange choice, but it paid alright and it was interesting. It was also boring sometimes.

You rolled back and forth in your chair as you tried to focus on the paperwork that you were supposed to be filling out. There was an elderly woman, an OD, and a guy who had the misfortune of coming home while his house was being robbed. You had finished up early but you still had hours before you could go home.

There were some strange noises in the background but you didn’t pay them any mind. Working in the basement of the hospital meant that you were used to strange noises. Plus this was New York. But when the doors of the morgue burst open and three men fell into your work station, you had to admit that this was weird even for you.

Two of the men were dressed in street clothes, but the other was dressed in red. Daredevil had busted into your morgue as he fought two guys.

You shrieked as something flew in your direction, a metal tray that your tools usually sat on. They were scattered over the ground now.

You were going to have to sterilize all over again.

Just as you started to think about maybe calling for security, you watched one of the guys in street clothes grab a scalpel from the floor. He was holding it all wrong, but that was the least of his offenses. You saw him slash it out towards Daredevil but it simply glanced off of his suit. It happened a second time and then a third time.

Honestly, was the criminal element just idiots?

Then, as the second attacker knocked into Daredevil with one of your rolling tables, the first attacker shot out with the scalpel once more. This time it ran across Daredevil’s face and left a cut across his jaw.

As Daredevil proceeded to smash both of their faces in, you were struck with a completely different feeling. The burning pain across your face almost made you fall over. It was in the exact position where Daredevil’s cut was.

Holy shit. You’re soulmate was Daredevil?

You watched as he got slammed into the ground before he jumped up to continue the fight.

Actually… that made sense.

Your mind was swimming, but you didn’t have time to focus on it. At some point during your freak out, Daredevil had knocked both of the men out. He looked over to you and found you standing with your hands in the air. If he recognized you, you didn’t catch it on his face.

But security was on the way because you had gotten to hit the button before you realized this was your soulmate and not just some vigilante. It meant that security would come down the way that they had entered.

He couldn’t leave the way he came.

“This way,” you said as you gestured for him to follow you. You were halfway across the floor when you noticed that he wasn’t following. “Come on, before the rent-a-cops get down here and see you. There’s an exit this way.”

He followed you after that. Once you got to the door, you typed in your code and pushed it open. Daredevil stared at you for a short moment—at least you assumed he stared at you, but it was hard to tell with those blinders over the eyes.

“Thank you.”

He was gone before you could tell him that he was welcome, but the soft sound of his voice was going to stay with you.

And when the security officer asked what you had a faint line on your face, you told him the truth. Your soulmate must have gotten hurt right around the time of the break in.

You didn’t need to specify that you knew who your soulmate was now.

------

The office of the lawyers representing one of the deceased that you performed the autopsy on was a little run down, but you weren’t one to judge. You paused in front of the door and made sure that you didn’t look as exhausted as you felt.

Since you found out that your soulmate was Daredevil, you hadn’t been sleeping well. You’d bought a police scanner and listened intently for any mention of the man. It wasn’t like you were going to run out into traffic to talk to him, but you liked to make sure he was safe.

He made a habit out of kicking the shit out of criminals in the city. The least you could do is make sure he made it through the night.

It wasn’t necessary for you to come to the office yourself, but you didn’t like what had happened to the girl you had performed the autopsy on. And if you could help the lawyers that represented the family? You were going to do what you could.

Inside of the office, you were greeted by a smiling woman who introduced herself as Page of Nelson, Murdock, and Page. You shook her hand and let her guide you to an office where a blond man was looking over some paperwork.

“You didn’t have to come all this way, but I really appreciate it,” he said as he stood up and held out his hand to you. “I’m Foggy Nelson. This is the beautiful and intrepid PI, Karen Page. And our other half is… ah, there he is. This is Matt Murdock.”

The man in the doorway was wearing a pair of dark red sunglasses inside and you didn’t think it was a fashion statement. As he held his hand out and introduce himself, you could barely move.

He had a bruise on his wrist, just like the pain you’d felt last night. And he had the partially healed cut on his face that mirrored the faint line that had disappeared from your face within hours of the attack in the morgue.

And his voice. Daredevil had only said two words, but you had thought about his voice for days.

“Holy shit,” you breathed as your hand fell to your side.

Something made Daredevil—Matt Murdock, he was a lawyer, his name was Matt—recognize you. His own hand fell to his side in surprise.

“Uh, do you two know each other?”

You weren’t sure how to answer. You didn’t know if his coworkers were aware of his nightly habits. You didn’t want to be the one to spill the beans.

“She’s my soulmate,” he said plainly, as if those weren’t the strangest words you’d heard all day. “She’s the one from the morgue.”

You laughed, unable to help it. So Foggy Nelson and Karen Page were in the know. And now you.

Holy shit.

“And from the street about two weeks before that. You threw a criminal through a glass door. He made me drop my ice cream.”

Matt laughed, stepping closer as he did. You were inappropriately pleased with making him laugh because his smile made your heart stop.

“The least I can do is take you out for an ice cream to repay you for that grave mistake,” he said softly as he reached up to take off his glasses.

His eyes were beautiful. And even though he couldn’t see, you had a feeling he could sense your answering smile.

“It’d be my pleasure Mr Murdock. But maybe leave the horns at home?”

The shocked laughter from the three of them was worth the corny line.

------

Your ankle hurt like hell. You glared at the offending limb and then sighed as you looked around the office you were in.

You might work in the hospital, but you hated being a patient in one. It was just a sprain most likely, but your boss had been with you when you tripped on the broken sidewalk slab and he had forced you to get it looked at.

While you thought about the quickest way to escape, your felt your phone buzz in your pocket. You pulled it out and smiled when you saw Matt’s name.

“Hey. Thought you and Foggy had opening statements today?”

“It’s a recess but my ankle… what happened?”

You sighed as you explained the situation to Matt. He listened intently and didn’t even make fun of you for your dislike of being in the hospital when you were no longer on shift. He also didn’t make fun of you for complaining about the lack of good reading material while you waited for them to come and take you for an x-ray.

“I was worried when I felt the pain. Foggy has been making fun of me for worrying so much.”

You couldn’t help but smile.

“Just remember that this is what I go through with you all the time. Just imagine how I must have felt during any of your injuries.”

Matt laughed at that.

“Payback is a bitch,” he said, quoting something you said often. “Take it easy on the ankle. I’ll come by your place after court lets out and I’ll kiss it better.”

“You’re not getting your lips near my foot Matthew Murdock,” you said in a mock stern voice. “But maybe I’ll pretend to hurt my lips and you can kiss those better.”

His laugh was still the best thing you’d ever heard.

“You have a deal.”

Let me know if you want to be added to my Permanent Tag List @hermioneshandbag @onebatch--twobatch @smiley-celine @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme @starless-skyox @youveseen--thebutcher @citation-is-here @mightymelly @realduckvader @1550kilogramsofsilver @hxbbit @rockintensse @missphanosaur18 @thepuffyeyedpuff @the-three-eyed-ravenclaw @yessy2012 @gingerstarlight @siriusement @marauderskeeper @xinyourdreamsx @wickidlady @sassygirl25 @maraudereestauderelb @rainyboul @cutie-bug @random-quartz @holamor @lea----b @heyitslexy @detectivebourbon @coffeenmoscato @presstocontinue @elisemockingbird @assbuttwithwings @geeksareunique @siriuslovesmarlene @witch-of-letters @delicatelilyflower @l-l-c-m-w-b @whovianayesha @hiddenprincess @yannii04 @brighteststarinthesky @kilyra @gallxntdean @sweetvengeancee @lady1505 @thedarklightwithinus @ateliefloresdaprimavera @siriuslyimmoony @elodieyung @fudgeflyss @madamrogers @thatwrestlingfan91 @teranya @sophiabulbu69 @delusionsofnostalgia @effielumiere @mamaraptor @hot-and-spiceyyy @i-padfootblack-things @aya-fay @starkrobb @raquelbc2003 @iwishyoucouldbekissed @taman-a @newtstarmander @suchatinyinfinity @blushingskywalker @queencocoakimmie @funerals-with-cake @love-dria @arrowswithwifi @swiftyhowlz @cheyfleur @dark-night-sky-99 @margot-black @celestegolden @king4thesirens @beautifuldesastre @ashkuuuu @luminex3 @nerdypinupcrystal @iblogabout-stuff @curlyhairedblueeyedangel @myplaceofheavenorhell @nea90sweetie @traeumerinwitzhelden @lexxierave @binbons-is-theloml @lostinthoughts23 @aikeia @christinawxxx @rhabakoli @leathergreygoddess @j-finco @sweetybuzz25 @supernaturalonice @jeanettexkillian @jigsawlover10 @gollyderek @polireader @cafeconsoya @kryyta @russosprettydiamondnow @dorkybryan @mahalobro @yesixoxo @fcavalerro @jeaolusy

Let me know if you want to be added to my Matt Murdock Tag List @bluebird214 @hownottodie101 @fadetouchedcookies @colddecember-night @katieswinforddiaries @occasionallygiveadamn @glowstick-lesbian @serafae @fireboltrose7559 @a-lizard-beth @marveliskindacool @littledarlinhavefaithinme @murasaki42 @jobean12-blog @omg-i-am-lord-voldemort @lokeystan @krazy-katt-lady @teamfreeavocados @blissfulreaper @figlia--della--luna

#matt murdock #matt murdock x reader #matt murdock imagine #matt murdock fanfic #my writing #soulmate oneshots

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November in the United States is Native American Heritage Month, also referred to as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. It celebrates the rich history and diversity of America’s native peoples and educates the public about historical and current challenges they face. Native American Heritage Month was first declared by presidential proclamation in 1990 which urged the United States to learn more about their first nations.

Join the UCF Libraries as we celebrate diverse voices and subjects with these suggestions. Click on the Keep Reading link below to see the full list, descriptions, and catalog links for the featured Native American Heritage titles suggested by UCF Library employees. These 16 books plus many more are also on display on the 2nd (main) floor of the John C. Hitt Library next to the bank of two elevators.

An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo In the early 1800s, the Mvskoke people were forcibly removed from their original lands east of the Mississippi to Indian Territory, which is now part of Oklahoma. Two hundred years later, Joy Harjo returns to her family’s lands and opens a dialogue with history. In An American Sunrise, Harjo finds blessings in the abundance of her homeland and confronts the site where her people, and other indigenous families, essentially disappeared. From her memory of her mother’s death, to her beginnings in the native rights movement, to the fresh road with her beloved, Harjo’s personal life intertwines with tribal histories to create a space for renewed beginnings. Her poems sing of beauty and survival, illuminating a spirituality that connects her to her ancestors and thrums with the quiet anger of living in the ruins of injustice. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

Bird Songs Don't Lie: writings from the rez by Gordon Lee Johnson In this deeply moving collection of short stories and essays, Gordon Lee Johnson (Cupeño/Cahuilla) cements his voice not only as a wry commentator on American Indian reservation life but also as a master of fiction writing. In Johnson's stories, all of which are set on the fictional San Ignacio reservation in Southern California, we meet unforgettable characters like Plato Pena, the Stanford-bound geek who reads Kahlil Gibran during intertribal softball games; hardboiled investigator Roddy Foo; and Etta, whose motto is “early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise,” as they face down circumstances by turns ordinary and devastating. From the noir-tinged mystery of “Unholy Wine” to the gripping intensity of “Tukwut,” Johnson effortlessly switches genre, perspective, and tense, vividly evoking people and places that are fictional but profoundly true to life. Suggested by Megan Haught, Research & Information Services/Teaching & Engagement

Coming Down from Above: prophecy, resistance, and renewal in Native American religions by Lee Irwin An introduction to an important strand within the rich tapestry of Native religions, this shows the remarkable responsiveness of those beliefs to historical events. It is an unprecedented, encyclopedic sourcebook for anyone interested in the roots of Native theology. From the highly assimilated ideas of the Puget Sound Shakers to such resistance movements as that of the Shawnee Prophet, Irwin tells how the integration of non-Native beliefs with prophetic teachings gave rise to diverse ethnotheologies with unique features. He surveys the beliefs and practices of the nation to which each prophet belonged, then describes his or her life and teachings, the codification of those teachings, and the impact they had on both the community and the history of Native religions. Key hard-to-find primary texts are included in an appendix. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

Fools Crow by Thomas E. Mails; assisted by Dallas Chief Eagle Set in Montana shortly after the Civil War, this novel tells of White Man's Dog (later known as Fools Crow so called after he killed the chief of the Crows during a raid), a young Blackfeet Indian on the verge of manhood, and his band, known as the Lone Eaters. The invasion of white society threatens to change their traditional way of life, and they must choose to fight or assimilate. Suggested by Mary Lee Gladding, Circulation

Four Souls: a novel by Louise Erdrich After taking her mother’s name, Four Souls, for strength, the strange and compelling Fleur Pillager walks from her Ojibwe reservation to the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. She is seeking restitution from and revenge on the lumber baron who has stripped her tribe’s land. But revenge is never simple, and her intentions are complicated by her dangerous compassion for the man who wronged her. Suggested by Jada Reyes, UCF Libraries Student Ambassador

House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday He was a young American Indian named Abel, and he lived in two worlds. One was that of his father, wedding him to the rhythm of the seasons, the harsh beauty of the land, the ecstasy of the drug called peyote. The other was the world of the twentieth century, goading him into a compulsive cycle of sexual exploits, dissipation, and disgust. Home from a foreign war, he was a man being torn apart, a man descending into hell. Suggested by Mary Lee Gladding, Circulation

Keepers of the Morning Star: an anthology of native women's theater edited by Jaye T. Darby and Stephanie Fitzgerald This is the first major anthology of Native women's contemporary theater bringing together works from established and new playwrights. This collection, representing a rich diversity of Native communities, showcases the exciting range of Native women's theater today from the dynamic fusion of storytelling, ceremony, music and dance to the bold experimentation of poetic stream of consciousness and Native agitprop. Suggested by Rich Gause, Research & Information Services

Native Southerners: indigenous history from origins to removal by Gregory D. Smithers Long before the indigenous people of southeastern North America first encountered Europeans and Africans, they established communities with clear social and political hierarchies and rich cultural traditions. Award-winning historian Gregory D. Smithers brings this world to life in Native Southerners, a sweeping narrative of American Indian history in the Southeast from the time before European colonialism to the Trail of Tears and beyond. Suggested by Megan Haught, Research & Information Services/Teaching & Engagement

Nature Poem by Tommy Pico This work follows Teebs―a young, queer, American Indian (or NDN) poet―who can’t bring himself to write a nature poem. For the reservation-born, urban-dwelling hipster, the exercise feels stereotypical, reductive, and boring. He hates nature. He prefers city lights to the night sky. He’d slap a tree across the face. He’d rather write a mountain of hashtag punchlines about death and give head in a pizza-parlor bathroom; he’d rather write odes to Aretha Franklin and Hole. While he’s adamant―bratty, even―about his distaste for the word “natural,” over the course of the book we see him confronting the assimilationist, historical, colonial-white ideas that collude NDN people with nature. The closer his people were identified with the “natural world,” he figures, the easier it was to mow them down like the underbrush. But Teebs gradually learns how to interpret constellations through his own lens, along with human nature, sexuality, language, music, and Twitter. Even while he reckons with manifest destiny and genocide and centuries of disenfranchisement, he learns how to have faith in his own voice. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

On the Rez by Ian Frazier This is a sharp, unflinching account of the modern-day American Indian experience, especially that of the Oglala Sioux, who now live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the plains and badlands of the American West. Crazy Horse, perhaps the greatest Indian war leader of the 1800s, and Black Elk, the holy man whose teachings achieved worldwide renown, were Oglala; in these typically perceptive pages, Frazier seeks out their descendants on Pine Ridge―a/k/a "the rez"―which is one of the poorest places in America today. Suggested by Larry Cooperman, Research & Information Services

Shapes of Native Nonfiction by Elissa Washuta Just as a basket's purpose determines its materials, weave, and shape, so too is the purpose of the essay related to its material, weave, and shape. Editors Elissa Washuta and Theresa Warburton ground this anthology of essays by Native writers in the formal art of basket weaving. Using weaving techniques such as coiling and plaiting as organizing themes, the editors have curated an exciting collection of imaginative, world-making lyric essays by twenty-seven contemporary Native writers from tribal nations across Turtle Island into a well-crafted basket. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

Surviving Genocide: native nations and the United States from the American Revolution to bleeding Kansas by Jeffrey Ostler An authoritative contribution to the history of the United States’ violent path toward building a continental empire, this ambitious and well-researched book deepens our understanding of the seizure of Indigenous lands, including the use of treaties to create the appearance of Native consent to dispossession. Ostler also documents the resilience of Native people, showing how they survived genocide by creating alliances, defending their towns, and rebuilding their communities. Suggested by Megan Haught, Research & Information Services/Teaching & Engagement

The Man to Send Rain Clouds: contemporary stories by American Indians edited by Kenneth Rosen Over a two-year period, Kenneth Rosen traveled from town to town, pueblo to pueblo, to uncover the stories contained in this volume. All reveal the preoccupations of contemporary American Indians. Not surprisingly, many of the stories are infused with the bitterness of a people and a culture long repressed. Several deal with violence and the effort to escape from the pervasive, and so often destructive, white influence and system. In most, the enduring strength of the Indian past is very much in evidence, evoked as a kind of counterpoint to the repression and aimlessness that have marked, and still mark today, the lives of so many American Indians. Suggested by Rich Gause, Research & Information Services

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden … but what they don’t know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.

Suggested by Mary Lee Gladding, Circulation

Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War by Daniel J. Sharfstein Recreating the Nez Perce War through the voices of its survivors, Daniel J. Sharfstein’s visionary history of the West casts Howard’s turn away from civil rights alongside the nation’s rejection of racial equality and embrace of empire. The conflict becomes a pivotal struggle over who gets to claim the American dream: a battle of ideas about the meaning of freedom and equality, the mechanics of American power, and the limits of what the government can and should do for its people. The war that Howard and Joseph fought is one that Americans continue to fight today. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson With his single mother in jail, Sequoyah, a fifteen-year-old Cherokee boy, is placed in foster care with the Troutt family. Literally and figuratively scarred by his mother’s years of substance abuse, Sequoyah keeps mostly to himself, living with his emotions pressed deep below the surface. At least until he meets seventeen-year-old Rosemary, a troubled artist who also lives with the family. Sequoyah and Rosemary bond over their shared Native American background and tumultuous paths through the foster care system, but as Sequoyah’s feelings toward Rosemary deepen, the precariousness of their lives and the scars of their pasts threaten to undo them both. Suggested by Rich Gause, Research & Information Services

#featured bookshelf #ucflibrary #native americans #native american heritage month #booklr #reading #tbr

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