#this boy has been babysitting this teens who are older than him for months now

[fresh-buttered-bread]

15 questions untagged

Were you named after anyone?: Simon from popular work The Bible. I liked the story of him being a fisherman, he had worked all day and not caught anything, then Christ asked him to put down his net one more time and though he complained, he did it, and then caught a whole net load of fish. It reminds me that no matter how bleak things seem or how much hard work and how long it can take to reach abundance, keep trying, keep believing. My birth name was not after anyone and was one of the most popular names in my generation

When was the last time you cried?: damn like every day over something heartwarming or something. but I had a biiig cry when my trans tape didn't work and hurt

Do you have kids?: no, I may adopt someday if I get married which I might like to, or raise their children if they have any. But I would prefer a partner who did not want to get pregnant, I just have strong feelings about adoption. However raising kids is probably not right for me so I'd like to work as a volunteer 'big brother' or babysit for members of a church a lot or something like that

Do you use sarcasm a lot?: Sure, not constantly but maybe a little more than average or that I'm comfortable with

What’s the first thing you notice about people?: If their fit is good

What’s your eye color?: hazel. mid-forest green with a strong gold ring around the center

Scary movies or happy endings?: Most scary movies have pretty happy endings, all things considered. I do like scary movies and used to be a HUGE fan of them, but I like heartwarming stuff too. But I do think I prefer a movie that leaves me feeling disturbed, concerned, sad, etc

Any special talents?: Digital and traditional painting and illustration, physical non-digital sculpting, sewing, fashion design, video game making, essay writing/research, I used to do poetry and lyric writing, I practice singing but I would not classify that as a talent I am "good at", used to play piano a bit and viola more before that - my sight reading is pretty damn good, video editing, cooking is decent but more so my sandwich prep is excellent

Where were you born?: in the same town I live in now. the hospital was closed after my birth and was semi famous for being haunted and has since been torn down and turned into apartments

What are your hobbies?: of stuff not listed in my talents: model kits and puzzle building, gaming I suppose, watching supergreatfriend, Jerma, and the Watcher Boys; praying, meditating, and studying religions; walking and scootering outside, collecting hot wheels/toys

Have any pets?: nope. waiting to hear back from a rescue if they'll let be get their beautiful cat. if not I will get a bird in a few months or so

What sports do you play/have you played?: gymnastics and figure skating as a kid, and I loved swimming, then I wanted to get into soccer but couldn't. Played DDR. I roller bladed and biked, biked quite a bit and am planning to get into it again. I got into body building a bit as a teen and am back into that now. I occasionally try tricks with my scooter but I am not into breaking my limbs again so I don't do it much

How tall are you?: 5'2"

Favorite subject in school?: art *fart noises*. But really everything, I even loved math until I got older and the dyscalculia and difficulty with abstract math started hittin. Biology was my fav science course.

Dream job?: In a communist world where you get paid for low tier jobs and everything isn't managed like shit and I have accessibility for my disability - no shot, a grocery store worker. I love answering questions and helping people, I love organizing things, and sometimes you're like.. the only person that some people will see that week, especially elderly people. You can be really helpful if you know a lot about all the different products. It's not just an underappreciated job in the typical 'fuck low wagers' sense but also I feel like people don't get how unlike a specalist store you may only visit every now and then unless its for your job or a very active hobby, a corner/drug/grocery store is a really important part of your neighborhood! And I'm really good at it!

[kjmsupremacist]

thorns just for spite alternate ending (johnny/taeyong)

thorns alternate ending where everything goes wrong.

you MUST read thorns (linked above) through chapter 13 before proceeding! chapter 14 is almost identical between the two versions to help orient you, but small changes have been made for tone.

Epilogue - chamaecyparis   |   Chapter 14   Chapter 15   Chapter 16   Chapter 17   Masterlist

Characters: Johnny, Taeyong, the rest of ot21 intermittently

Genre: florist!au, bakery!au, hanahaki disease!au, angst, hurt/no comfort, pining, tragedy

Warnings: major character death, suicide, loss & grief, cursing, blood, violence, heavy/dark themes

Rating: Teen & Up

Length: 1.5k

(a/n): just an extra note that this does contain graphic depictions of suicide. I’d like to add that I do not, obviously, want to glorify suicide. if you need help, please reach out to a trusted loved one or a medical professional.

 Years pass; they turn to decades. Doyoung was the last to leave. The rest of Johnny’s friends ended up staying in the little town. The two farmhands Jaehyun took on years and years ago ended up staying, too, but Johnny poached the smaller one, Shotaro, to start training at the bakery as his parents were getting ready to retire.

 Those who did leave still come back to visit. Doyoung lets Johnny know when he and Taeil are planning a return trip home so that they can visit Taeyong’s grave together. He and Taeil are married now; turns out he didn’t just go for a career change and to help out a friend. Johnny’s friends paired off ages ago, too—Mark and Yuta, Jaemin and Jeno; Kun ended up marrying Sicheng. Kunhang married a local girl; Jaehyun married someone from the town over. Chenle’s parents paired him with another rich young boy. Renjun married a college classmate; so did Jisung. Eventually, Shotaro and Sungchan tie the knot, too. Only Johnny and Yukhei remain alone. And in this way, their little world falls into a pattern as they settle into their adult lives. Even in his loneliness, Johnny is soothed by it.

 His friends start having children, and Johnny finds small pockets of joy whenever it’s his turn to babysit. Jaehyun’s daughter is his favorite, though he’d never tell anyone that. She’s sweet and earnest like her father and hardworking and intelligent like her mother. She says Uncle Johnny braids hair the best out of all her uncles and even her dad, who used to show horses. It’s wonderful, but Johnny can’t help the pangs of sadness that hit him out of nowhere. This could have been his life with Taeyong, if things had gone differently. He knows there’s no use regretting it, but he can’t let it go.

 He still dreams of Taeyong. They never speak, but Taeyong is always reaching out to him. Even in his dreams, it’s always Taeyong taking the first step; it’s always Taeyong doing what Johnny can’t, what Johnny won’t. It breaks his heart.

 His father passes away in his sleep a few months after Johnny’s forty-third birthday. His health declined quickly and suddenly, so at least Johnny knows he didn’t suffer. His friends help him with the funeral so that his mother doesn’t have to worry about it. She only cries in front of Johnny once. When Johnny asks her later if she’s alright, she smiles.

 “I’m getting to the age where these things are expected,” she says, patting his hand. “And your father was older than me. I knew it would always be him first, then me. It has always been that way—him hurrying into things and me, following behind and picking up all the pieces he’s dropped along the way.”

 Johnny knows it’s unfair of him, but he asks anyway. “How about this time you don’t follow him so quickly?”

 Her smile grows wider, fonder. “I’m not sure how much of a choice I have,” she admits. “Even though I have you.” She reaches out to brush some hair from his eyes. “I’m glad that I have you,” she adds.

 Johnny’s glad that he has her, too. He doesn’t know what he’ll do when he’s finally, truly alone.

 Shotaro is more than ready to take over the bakery—in fact, Johnny already put him in his will. Though he’s only five years younger than Johnny, the world hasn’t weighed him down in the same way. His life is full and warm with Sungchan, and his eyes are still bright. It brings great comfort to Johnny. If anything happens, the bakery will be well cared for.

 A couple years after the death of Johnny’s father, his mother has a stroke. She survives but is shaken from it. After, she’s mostly bedridden. Johnny puts her in a care facility just because he doesn’t have time to run the bakery and give her the attention she needs, but he visits her every day after he and Shotaro close up. Her mind is going with the rest of her body, but on some nights, like tonight, her eyes are clear. She holds Johnny’s hands with surprising strength and gazes at him intently.

 “I am so proud of you,” she whispers. “You’ve done so well with the bakery. You’ve overcome so many hardships. You took good care of your father, and you’re taking good care of me.” She strokes her thumb over the back of his hand. “I’m happy because of you. Do you know that?”

 “Good,” Johnny replies. “I’m glad.”

 Her brow furrows. “Are you happy?”

 Johnny affords her a wan smile. “I don’t want to lie to you, Eomma,” he says softly. “I’m alright, though. I’m satisfied that I’ve done what I can with what I have.” Her eyes turn sad, and Johnny shakes his head. “All I wanted was to make sure you and Appa lived well. And I think I’ve done that. So I’m satisfied.”

 “You have done that,” she confirms. “You’ve always been the best son I could’ve asked for.”

 “Only because you raised me,” he points out, and she laughs.

 She passes away in the night one weekend. Johnny is forty-seven. It’s spring, and he’s grateful that she at least got to see all the flowers before she went. His friends comfort him; Mark stays the night with him just so he won’t have to be alone, but as sad as Johnny is, he’s mostly just relieved that he’s been able to give his parents a good and fulfilling life. He knows his mother spent the last few years missing his father anyway, and that she only held on for as long as she did because of how much she loved Johnny.

 The funeral arrangements don’t take long; Johnny knows how it goes now. His friends are there to help him with that, too; Kun picks out colors, Yuta helps with the flowers, Doyoung flies in and helps him book the venue. It’s a collective effort, just like everything is in their little town. It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village, too, to bury the dead.

 = = =

 The night following his mother’s burial, Johnny gets some things together at the bakery, gathers a few items into a bag, and drives down to the beach to watch the sun set. He left a note on the counter of the bakery for Shotaro to find in the morning. He hopes he understands. He hopes they all understand.

 The sand is still lukewarm, even though the late-spring sun still isn’t very strong. He walks a little ways down so he can get close to the water. There are a few families still lingering, but they’re packing up, and as the sun dips below the horizon, Johnny finds himself alone. The waves lap gently, and the bugs begin to hum as the sky turns from orange to a purple sort of blue. Johnny looks out over the ocean.

 He remembers that summer, and the beach trips he made with Taeyong, the sweet hibiscus lemonade that they washed off in the sea, the way the sun made them drunk and dizzy. He remembers the last trip they made, when Taeyong vomited up so much blood that he passed out. Johnny carried him to the car. He wanted to take him straight to the hospital. He wanted to reach into his chest and uproot the flowers himself. He wanted to kiss his forehead.

 He didn’t do any of those things. He doesn’t know what part he regrets the most.

 Though he knows he’s the last person on the beach, he waits until the moon is fully risen just to be sure. He reaches one hand to his phone, the other into the bag he bought with, searching around until he closes his fist around the handle of his pistol. He doesn’t want a family to find his body in the morning, so he calls the police, fiddling with his gun while the line drones, waiting for someone to pick up.

 “Police.”

 “There’s a body on the beach,” Johnny says quietly. He hears the person on the other end draw a sharp breath. “On the north side, kind of. About a five minute walk from the entrance to the parking lot. A man is dead.”

 “Sir, can you—” Johnny hangs up before they can ask. He knows they’ll come; nothing happens in this little town of theirs, so they’ll have people and time to spare.

 He sets his phone aside and pulls his gun into his lap, clicking the safety off. He takes a deep breath, shifting his gaze back to the water. It’ll be okay, he thinks. The world will keep turning. And I will be resting somewhere.  

 He hopes, wherever he goes, that it doesn’t hurt. He hopes if he sees Taeyong in the afterlife that he doesn’t forgive him.

 In his dreams, Taeyong forgives him, and it breaks his heart.

 He presses the cool metal barrel of the gun to his temple, takes another deep breath, and closes his eyes. Everything is quiet; even the bugs and the wind and the crash of the waves fade from his mind. Instead, he hears Taeyong’s laughter.

 Actually, Eomma, he thinks, I am happy. I’m happy now. A faint smile tugs at his lips as he pulls the trigger.

 Even the gunshot hardly makes a sound.

#works #johnny #nct #nct fanfic #nct fanfiction #johnny fanfic #johnny fanfiction #nct johnny fanfic #johnny suh #johnny seo #johnny seo fanfic #johnny seo fanfiction #johnny suh fanfic #nct johnny #nct johnny fanfiction

[blouisparadise]

Upon request, here is a rec list of bottom Louis fics where Louis is soft and sweet. We hope you enjoy these fics. Happy reading!

1) Leave This House and i’ll Burn It Down Along With Myself | Mature | 6845 words

“So I’m simply your guest, am I?” Louis asks, before leaning up and kissing Harry.

“Nope. You’re not,” Harry mumbles into his mouth, and he tries to ignore how Louis’ body arches against his, “you’re not even my living partner. You’re the princess I captured and now I’m going to keep you here, in the forest, all for myself.”

2) Infinitely All for Me | Explicit | 10630 words

The Alpha Louis' been betrothed to since he was 14 has finally come of age and Louis' been delivered to his home.

3) Sweeter Still When We're Alone | Explicit | 20006 words

Nobody ever tells you that love potions taste like cherries.

4) Force of Nature | Mature |  25672 words

Louis is a shy, young musician who doesn’t want to go to Harvard. Harry is a confident, second year athlete who likes to have a good time.

When their paths cross while their families are vacationing at the same lake resort, what begins as a summer of fun becomes a defining journey that might just change everything.

5) Eventide Intrigue | Explicit | 40275 words

Perrie casually asks to paint Louis’ nails one night when she, Louis, Harry, and Zayn are all hanging out together. Louis is unsure about but finds himself going along with it.

Louis soon realizes he really loves the way the nail polish looks on him. It makes him feel pretty and delicate. He can’t stop running his thumbs over the smooth glossy surface of his nails.

But these feeling don’t come without a flood of insecurity and anxiety. Harry of course is as supportive as ever, but Louis soon finds himself needing more.

6) Sweet Creature | Mature | 66753 words

It’s not that Harry expected high school to be easy. He heard all the stories from his sister and he knew that he was in for four years of hell. However, he didn’t exactly expect that hell to also be populated by Angels.        

7) His Submission | Mature | 74448 words | Sequel

Louis Tomlinson lives in a world where Domination and Submission is a norm. When you are born you are either branded Sub or Dom. Subs get a little pink or blue, depending on gender, series of swirls on the back of their neck. Doms get Red or Black, depending on gender, series of swirls on the back of their neck.

Louis Tomlinson was branded with a Blue tattoo and his day has finally come. The day of his 18th birthday where he will be randomly assigned a Dom. This dom could range from younger to older, poorer to richer, and male to female. You never knew what you were going to get. Some Doms were more harsher and stricter than others. Louis didn't want a harsh Dom to submit to.

Harry Styles was branded with a Black tattoo and he just recieved in the mail that he was finally getting a submissive. Harry was a 32 year old man, settled in, and very very rich. He's been waiting for an assigned submissive to be chosen for him for a very long time. His Dom friend, Zayn, has gotten his submissive two years prior, a little spit fire irish boy, Niall.

8) Dominus. | Explicit | 107885 words

Note: This fic was deleted, so we’ve linked here to a PDF.

Harry is of a superior species, rare and genetically untameable. He meets his missing piece in the form of Louis and they begin to share a life that came to them too soon.

9) To Be Loved To Be In Love | Explicit | 129407 words

At 18, every Sub must take a Match Test to find their Dom.

Poor, Farm kid Louis Tomlinson is matched with Rich, Businessman Harry Styles.

10) Cold Little Heart | Teen & Up | 194584 words

Louis is a soft omega with an abusive past and an alpha child. A few months after getting a divorce, Louis meets Harry, an ex-military alpha wolf that offers him something odd.

In exchange for teaching him how to cook, Harry will babysit his son, Abraham. Louis really could use the help.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

#fic recs #larry #blp #blp fic recs #bottom louis #top harry

[seven-oomen]

DILF club for the ultimate ship meme?

Consider I got two DILF club requests for this meme, I’ll do The way I tend to be Universe for this one, since it’s the more canon universe. (More canon than OUAT anyway.)

Send in two (or more) names and I’ll fill all this out about the ship!

General:

Rate the Ship -   Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OT3 to rule all other OT3s

How long will they last? For as long as they can stand one another I’d imagine.

How quickly did/will they fall in love? I think very slowly, it’s a slow descend into love for all of them. More one of those, we’ve been sleeping together, fucking each other, and spending time with each other for months now, and oh shit, I think I might love you both... 

How was their first kiss? Passionate, heated, and in the middle of fucking each other to keep warm.

Wedding:

Who proposed? I like to think the three of them all had something planned on the same night and looped their prospective kids into their proposal, but didn’t clue the other kids or their partners in. And only when the kids talk to one another do they discover that all three of their dads are trying to propose to each other. So naturally, the kids band together and ‘ruin’ their fathers’ proposals but only because they have one giant one planned at lookout point where they get all three men together and reveal the jig. Naturally, all three of them accept.

Who is the best man/men? Derek is the best man, Melissa is their best ma’am. 

Who are the groom’s maid(s)/men? Malia, Jackson, Allison, Isaac, Stiles, and Mike are the groom’s maids/men. Liam is the ring bearer. Cora is their flower girl. Jordan is holding the little ones.

Who did the most planning? Peter did, he choose all the fashion, the venue, paid for the wedding, got the caterer and the florist. (though Chris tried to pay for things as did Noah, but Peter wouldn’t have it. They bought the rings and Peter’s suit for him as ‘retaliation’.)

Who stressed the most? Noah is the most nervous. The last time he walked down the aisle was over 30 years ago. What if he forgets his lines? Is this the right call? Is he doing right by his sons? By his daughter? Did he forget his ring? Oh god, what if the others realize what a fuck up he is?

How fancy was the ceremony? - Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big. (They rented a place, invited closest friends and family but kept it on the down-low.)

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? Kate, Gerard, Elias.

Sex:

Who is on top? They switch, all of them like to top and bottom and they’re not picky on who gets to be on top/bottom. Things just happen.

Who is the one to instigate things? Usually Peter, but Chris or Noah (especially when they team up) can be real degenerates as well.

How healthy is their sex life? - Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now (They’re not shy about their sex life and very much enjoy each other’s bodies and closeness. It’s a great way for them to strengthen their relationship.)

How kinky are they? - Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head (They’re into toys, bondage, breeding kinks, biting/marking, dom/sub play, public sex, and some other milder kinks, nothing too crazy but also not too vanilla.)

How long do they normally last? Depends, if they’re fired up and excited they might not last long, 5-10 min, but if they go slow and steady they might also last for 20-30 min.

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? They try to, usually, Chris has a few more than the other two, but that’s more due to Noah’s age (once he comes he can’t it up for a while. He may still be fit, but he’s not superhuman like Peter.) and Peter’s sensory overload after an orgasm. Chris is the only one of the three that can quickly come multiple times

How rough are they in bed? - Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it. (It really depends on their mood)

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? Between the three of them? Peter has two (Malia with Corinne, Jackson with Margaret (Betty)) Noah has three (Identical twins Stiles and Mike;  Mieczyslaw &  Michał and Liam; Milian), Chris has one (Allison). So they have 6 children already, Chris gets pregnant with twins after their night in the cabin. That would put the tally at 8.

How many children will they adopt? Chris adopted Isaac officially in this universe. Erica and Boyd are more or less adopted as well as Danny.

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? Peter, and he doesn’t mind it one bit. He didn’t get to change any diapers for Jackson or Malia. And since Chris carried the twins and gave birth it only seems fair he gets stuck with diaper duty. Noah and Chris teach him the ropes. He gets surprisingly good at juggling two babies, a diaper bag, and a set of keys/other items while keeping everything under control.

Who is the stricter parent? Chris. Noah tries but is too soft most of the time or too chaotic, and Peter just can’t say no once one of the kids pulls puppy eyes. 

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? Chris is best at stopping them, Noah tries to but due to his job can’t always keep an eye on them. Peter comes with them to let them explore but safely. He protects them while they do stupid shit.

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? Chris. He’s got the whole routine down to pat and is a streamlined machine in the mornings. Noah still can’t wrap his head around it. Peter’s still not used to having the kids with him 24/7 since both of his were adopted by other people, so he’s still learning the whole stick.

Who is the more loved parent? They love them all equally. Noah is the parent they go to when they need to talk about their feelings or need hugs, Chris is the parent they go to for advice and cuddling, and Peter is the fun parent who they go to when someone is bothering them. Peter also comes up with the best revenge schemes.

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? Peter, he loves to hear how his kids are doing in school and doesn’t mind to absolutely obliterate their teachers if he knows a teacher is picking on his kids. He lives for shit like this as the rich house husband to his two working husbands. Also, the opportunity to brag to Karen about the kids is too good an opportunity to pass up.

Who cried the most at graduation? Noah, he’s just so proud of his boys up there.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? Let’s face it, it’s Noah. He technically has to make sure that the law is upheld, but when it comes to his own kids, he’s not above giving them a pass. Though he’s more lenient towards kids in general. But yeah, Noah will most likely try and bail his kids out. Peter would let them steam for a few hours in a “You got caught, you deal with it.” Kinda way and then bail them out after a few hours. Chris would let them steam for a bit too and then determine how big the offense was before bailing them out.

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? Chris, he’s the most practiced and most efficient. Though Noah loves to cook Polish food and bread. Peter does it when both of his mates have to work or are too tired to cook. He’s getting better at it.

Who is the most picky in their food choice? Peter. Werewolf senses mean he has a fussy pallette. He hates most vegetables for one. Though he has competition in Jackson, the little shit is a regular Gordon Ramsey.

Who does the grocery shopping? Peter, since Noah and Chris, tend to work during the day and he’s more of a stay-at-home house husband and dad. Chris gives him the lists. That doesn’t stop him from sneaking in snacks and candy for himself, Noah, and the kids. If possible, Chris likes to do the grocery shopping so there are no secret snacks.

How often do they bake desserts? At least once a week. Whether it’s for bake sales, PTO meetings, birthdays, weekends, a tryout, there’s always a baked good on the kitchen counter.

Are they more of a meat-lover or a salad eater? Peter and Noah are more Meat lovers. Chris is a mix between the two. He likes salads and meat but doesn’t have a preference over either. Unlike the other two.

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? Peter, he takes them out to a grill restaurant. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but the quality has to be outstanding. They get their older kids to babysit and let them order anything they want as a reward.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? Once again, Peter, I feel like Noah or Chris would be more likely to be home dwellers and Peter’s the one that takes them to bars, musicals, restaurants, malls, etc.

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidentally while cooking? Noah, he’s not a bad cook, but he gets distracted by everything else and forgets he has pots/pans on the furnace.

Chores:

Who cleans the room? Chris or Peter. Noah tends to leave things everywhere and though he tries his best to clean up, the other two usually beat him to it.

Who is really against chores? Noah forgets to do them sometimes, but I feel like none of them is actually against them. Peter doesn’t like to do them but he likes a clean house, so.

Who cleans up after the pets? They have eight kids, a bunch of werewolves, a banshee, a kitsune, a hellhound, a Seelie, and god knows what else running around on the full moon. You think they have room for a pet???

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? If we’re talking a literal rug, it’s Noah. Out of sight, out of mind. He also tends to stuff clutter in random drawers or closets.

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? Chris. It’s his training and a bit of an OCD thing. “No, you don't get it Noah my love, EVERYTHING has to be spotless...” Cue Chris running around with a vacuum cleaner and a mop. “It’s just Melissa & Derek for wine night...”

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? Chris, and he puts them in the fun jar that they use to reward the kids. Once the jar is full, they go shopping or do another fun activity with the kids. Bad behavior/swearing gets money removed from the jar and into the dad jar. That money is used to give Chris/Peter/Noah an extra outing if the kids were particularly difficult.

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? Noah is a slut for long showers/baths. It’s his moment of relaxation.

Who takes the dog out for a walk? Noah occasionally walks Peter in his wolf form. At some point, people think Peter is a K9 unit, and Noah rolls with it. Which opens up opportunities for Peter to stay with Noah at work.

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? Every year they decorate for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween.

What are their goals for the relationship? To love and support one another through anything and to keep a fun and raging sex life well into old age. But mostly to love and cherish one another and build each other up just the way they are.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? Chris if you let him, training and habit have him up early, but his natural sleep cycle is to sleep like a log and to Noon.

Who plays the most pranks? Noah, he’s a mischievous little shit that loves to pull pranks on people and very sassy to boot. Where do you think Stiles, Mike, and Liam have that from?

#ben says stuff #teen wolf ask meme #chris argent #noah stilinski #sheriff stilinski #peter hale #chris/peter/noah #the DILF club #The way I tend to be #Anonymous

[brywrites]

Omg you made me so happy with that story of Eliza, now I know this is a stretch but can we get a update on Halloween where you left off with them going trick or treating with everyone🥺🙈 ?

Ask and you shall receive, anon! I really never get tired of writing Spencer and Bianca, and I really didn’t give myself the space to explore what their lives as parents would look like so it was fun to to take that a little further with this one! Here’s just some pure domestic Halloween fluff.

----

They arrived at JJ’s house just as the sun was beginning to paint the autumn sky golden. Before the door had even opened, they could hear Henry shout, “Mom! They’re here!” Seconds later it swung open, and Henry, dressed in red, white, and blue, greeted them with a grin. “Hi Uncle Spence! Hi Aunt Bianca!” He gave each of them a quick hug. “Wow, you brought a tiger!”

“It’s me!” Eliza said, giggling. Henry pretended to be shocked as she threw her arms around them.

“Let me guess… Captain America, right?” Spencer asked as they stepped inside.

“Yeah, he’s my favorite superhero!” Henry’s excitement faltered for a moment and he straightened up a little taller. “I mean, I know I’m kind of old to go trick-or-treating, but I promised Michael I’d come.”

“Henry, if I have taught you anything you should know by now that you’re never too old for Halloween,” Spencer replied.

His words brought a smile back to Henry’s face and he said, “Wait till you see my shield! I painted it all by myself!”

The inside of the LaMontagne-Jareau househould was already bustling. JJ, dressed as Black Widow, was finishing Michael’s Hulk-green face paint. Hotch and Jack had moved back to the DC area two years earlier, and Garcia was excitedly talking to Jack and his girlfriend Mabel. The two teens had donned the costumes of Ben Solo and Rey from Star Wars, while the BAU’s former tech wizard wore a bright pink dress and golden crown as Princess Peach. Hotch and Beth, masquerading as Han Solo and Princess Leia, were being regaled by one of Rossi’s stories while Krystall laughed. Rossi’s suit and tie didn’t quite make sense as a costume until Bianca realized that Krystall’s white dress and curled hair made her Marilyn Monroe, and Rossi must have been JFK.

“It’s about time you showed up Pretty Boy!” Morgan quickly cut through the room to make his way to them, ruffling Spencer’s hair. “And my favorite little lady,” he said, embracing Bianca. Then squatting down to Eliza’s height, “And littlest lady, too, Miss Eliza Lou!”

He lifted Elizabeth up into his arms. “Why do you have hair Uncle Derek?” she asked, pointing to Morgan’s head.

“Because zombie Michael Jackson has hair in the “Thriller” music video,” he replied, as though that context meant anything to a five year old. “And that’s who I’m dressed as for Halloween.”

“You look funny with hair,” the little girl replied.

Morgan put his free hand over his chest, and feigned melodramatic offense. “Oh, ouch! You wound me, Eliza Lou!” Eliza giggled as her godfather set her back on the ground. “Now what exactly are you two supposed to be?” he asked, gesturing between Spencer and Bianca.

Spencer wore a red zippered sweater with a tie and blue Converse, while Bianca had on a floral pink 70’s style prairie dress. “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood,” Spencer replied.

When Morgan just raised an eyebrow, Bianca said, “Mr. Rogers and Lady Aberlin, from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood!”

“You see,” Reid explained, “Elizabeth had her heart set on being a tiger, so we tried to come up with costumes that could go along with it. And Fred Rogers used a number of puppets on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood to help act out situations of learning and vulnerability in healthy ways, one of which was Daniel Striped Tiger who was the most recognizable from the show. It’s actually funny, the tiger puppet was a gift to Mr. Rogers the night before the very first episode was s-”

“I get it,” Morgan said, holding up a hand. “I’ll read the Wikipedia article later, I promise.”

“Oh come on now, babe, I think it’s cute.” Savannah appeared beside her husband, linking her arm with his. “It’s good to see you two.” She still wore nurse’s scrubs and had a stethoscope around her neck.

“Did you just come from work?” Bianca asked. Savannah and Morgan’s daughter, Ainslie, had just turned one and Savannah had gone back to full-time shifts at the hospital.

Savannah laughed, shaking her head. “Thank god, no. Hank wanted to be a zombie, so Derek came up with the idea of going as “Thriller” MJ to match. I figured if it’s the zombie apocalypse in our household, I might as well be the nurse on the frontlines trying to fight them off.”

“Uh oh,” Morgan said. “I don’t know how long you’ll last out there. The zombies are pretty handsome, I hear.” He kissed her cheek as she rolled her eyes. Turning back to the Reids, he asked, “So are we ready to take on trick or treating?”

Bianca winked. “Well Spencer here was born ready, and I think that after seven Halloweens together I’ve learned a thing or two.” The four of them had been chosen as the designated chaperones for the kid’s festivities while the rest of the adults finished up a Halloween feast at the house. Once all the kids were accounted for and everyone had a pillowcase in hand, they set out into the DC streets in search of spooks and sweets.

Spencer’s boundless enthusiasm was contagious, spreading even to Jack who seemed torn between being excited about Halloween and trying to look cool in front of Mabel. But once it became clear Mabel was into the scary stories Spencer told while they walked, Hotch’s son visibly relaxed. It was a good group of kids – at every house Henry, Jack, and Mabel made sure that Michael, Hank, and Eliza got candy first, and a chorus of thank you!s followed them from doorstep to doorstep.

Spencer’s delight for the present was carrying over to the future. “When she’s a little older,” he was saying, “we can go to a haunted house or two. Maybe even a haunted corn maze. And we can watch a midnight scary movie screening and she’ll be able to carve her own pumpkins!” Bianca laughed and he glanced her way, bashful. “What?”

“I just love seeing you excited about this,” she said. His eyes always lit up in a way that made her heart skip a beat after all this time. “And thinking about all the holidays we’re going to have together and how we’ll get to make all these new traditions as she grows up.”

Spencer stopped suddenly on the sidewalk and before she could react he was hugging her close. The fabric of his sweater was soft against her cheek. “What was that for?” she asked him, looking up, her arms still wrapped around his waist.

“I wouldn’t be doing any of this without you,” he said. “I would probably still be at the BAU. I wouldn’t have anything worth leaving for. I wouldn’t have someone I get excited about growing old with. But I have a home because I have you. I have a home and someone who will plan obscure Halloween costumes with me and I have a daughter and it’s all because I fell in love with you. Because you loved me.”

“And because you loved me,” she echoed. She wouldn’t have wanted it with anyone else. He was the only person who made her feel safe enough to trust him with every part of her. He made her feel brave enough to take on the world and to start a family. When nothing else made sense, he was there to anchor her with a warm embrace and all the words she needed to hear and promises to stay. He knew her better than she knew herself. Bianca stood on her toes to kiss him sweetly, not caring that there were people all around them.

“When you two are done being all lovey-dovey,” Morgan called, “we’ve still got one more block to hit.”

“Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey!” Eliza sang, skipping beside them. Spencer smiled and kissed Bianca’s forehead as he interlaced his fingers through hers with one hand and reached down to hold their daughter’s hand with the other. When the final houses had been visited, they descended upon the LaMontagne-Jareau household once more, with pillowcases full of candy.

During their absence, more familiar faces had appeared at the house. Prentiss and Mendoza were drinking wine with Rossi in the living room and Luke, dressed as Mario, had his arm around Penelope while they talked with three of the newer BAU members.

“Aunt Alex!” Eliza’s bag of candy was temporarily forgotten as she ran to hug Alex Blake who was at the kitchen table with JJ, Will, and her husband James.

“Why Elizabeth,” she said, “aren’t you the most ferocious tiger I’ve ever seen?”

“I’ve been practicing!” Eliza replied. She furrowed her eyebrows and held her hands up by her face like claws. “Rarr!” Her godmother gave her around of applause for her performance, happily doting on her while everyone gathered around the table for dinner.

It was warm and inviting in the living room, feeling every bit like a cheerful Thanksgiving dinner except for the costumes and the spooky decorations. There was plenty to be discussed, whether it was Emily’s new position as Director of the Bureau or the book Rossi and Matt had just published. The Simmons clan were the only ones absent, their children having made plans already to spend Halloween with their friends in their own neighborhood. Bianca felt right at home among the people who had come to feel as much her family as they were Spencer’s. She swapped stories of international travels with Alex and James and was delighted to talk to Tara and her girlfriend, Elena. The two women were dressed as Cinderella and Prince Charming, and she had to admit that Tara could certainly pull off a suit. When Penelope begged Morgan for a chance to babysit Hank and Ainslie soon and Rossi said, “You know you could just have some of your own,” she and Luke both turned red.

“Hey now,” Luke said. “We’re just trying to get through the wedding first, okay?”

“Yeah, you never know, I could still change my mind,” Garcia teased, elbowing her fiancé.

“You say that at least once a month,” Luke laughed. “But I don’t think we can get our deposit back on the venue at this point, so it looks like you’re stuck with me.”

There was enough food and to go around, and a generous amount of libations courtesy of David Rossi. Bianca’s contribution was an array of desserts – pumpkin cheesecake, salted caramel brownies, and chocolate cupcakes with vampire fangs and raspberry filling – that were immediate hits, and Spencer’s contribution was agreeing not to consume them before the party. After dinner the kids went down to the basement to watch Hocus Pocus, Jack and Henry promising they’d look after everyone, while the adults settled into the living room.

“Eliza,” Bianca called. “How about you pick out a few pieces of candy for now, and we’ll keep the rest up here so you can have some later, okay?” The little girl was about to follow her cousins downstairs with her whole bag of sugary treasures. “If you eat too much candy at once you’ll get a bellyache.”

Eliza considered this, then nodded. “Okay, mama.” She dug through the pillowcase, choosing a few treats, then handed the bag back to her mother asking, “But how come daddy gets to?” She pointed to Spencer who sat on the floor of the living room, gorging himself on a plate of sweets. He looked up sheepishly, caught red-handed about to take a bite of oversized brownie.

“It’s because I’m old enough to anticipate the consequences of my actions,” he said. “I know when to stop before I feel sick.”

“You go have fun with your cousins, okay?” Bianca said, giving her daughter a quick hug before watching the tail of the tiger costume vanish the stairs. She sat down next to Spencer, shaking her head. “You’re such a bad liar,” she laughed. “You’ll be complaining all night that you feel awful.”

He shrugged. “What can I say? I just can’t help myself around something sweet.” Spencer put his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap, leaning in to kiss her. “See?”

She smiled. “You’re lucky, Mr. Rogers, that I like you just the way you are. Insatiable sweet tooth and all.”

Spencer grinned. “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.” Mimicking the song from the old children’s show, he sang, “Would you be mine? Could you be mine?”

“You know what my answer is,” she said. She let her head fall against his shoulder. Nestled close in his embrace, she sat listening to the BAU recount stories of the glory days and valiant acts of the past. Spencer traced circles on the back of her hand, resting his cheek against the top of her head with a sigh of contentment, and she knew he was thinking the same thing she was – that there was a relief in knowing that the monsters were in only in their yesterdays and nightmares. That there was no danger waiting around the corner for him anymore. Nothing to steal him away too soon. There were endless tomorrows stretching out ahead of them, but for now they could reminisce with the family that had been built by that shared past. And Bianca could think of few sweeter treats than that.

#tkow #the keeping of words

[im-a-goner-foryou]

For the anon who requested Peter seducing uncle! Tony, I'm very sorry I deleted your prompt and took eons only to post something that belongs in the TRASH

Warnings: incest

“I can’t believe you aren’t subscribed to Netflix,” whined the squeaky, undeniably prepubescent voice that has been tormenting him all evening, prompting yet another roll of his eyes that goes unseen by the teenager reclining on his couch. “I mean, c’mon-- what d’you do for entertainment ‘round here?”

“Hate to break it to you, but some of us have better things to do other than lounge before the TV all day," Tony grumbles, peering around the doorway of his kitchen just in time to catch the little brat sticking his tongue out at him. “Real mature, kid.”

It’s almost endearing how quickly Peter’s head whips up from the cushions, eyes narrowing into slits. “Quit calling me that."

“What, kid?” Tony huffs, deliberately drawling out the offending word and unable to hide a grin at the indignant squawk he receives for his efforts. “Just calling it like it is— Mary wouldn’t exactly have asked me to babysit otherwise, would she?” Shutting the freezer behind him, he goes over to the couch, handing over the popsicle his darling nephew had requested- demanded for; Peter still grumbling ‘I’m not a kid’ under his breath as he takes it, the childish pout of his lips not exactly helping in his argument.

Taking mercy on him, Tony decides to drop the teasing, nudging gangly legs out of the way to settle into the cushions beside Peter, who makes no effort to move out of the way to make room— rather squirming closer until their arms are flush, meeting the elder’s incredulous stare head-on even as he swings his legs up to drape his bottom half over Tony’s lap, all while grinning cheekily around the popsicle in his mouth.

The momentary lapse of stunned silence between them is interrupted by Tony’s exasperated groan— which doesn’t sound strangled in the slightest, not at all — of “Peter.”

“Uncle Tony,” the boy mimics his tone in mocking response, chin raised slightly and chestnut eyes glinting with a steely challenge that stirs awake something dark and forbidden deep in his chest.

He ignores it in favour of tearing his eyes away and snatching the remote from Peter's hands, determinedly directing his gaze towards the television screen instead; fighting down the heated flush crawling up his neck under Peter’s heavy stare. “Anything interesting on here?” he asks, injecting a casual air in his tone that sounds somehow forced to his own ears and surely gives away the sudden change in atmosphere. Peter only hums in dissent.

‘Don’t look at him,’ Tony reminds himself. ‘He’s just trying to provoke a reaction of some sort, dammit, don’t give the brat that satisfaction.’ And so he resumes flipping through the channels, staring blankly ahead at the unfocused movement of bright colours flashing on screen; out of the corner of his eye he watches warily as Peter leans further back into the cushions, sucking obnoxiously on his popsicle, shimmying his hips this way and that to get into a comfortable position.

The realisation that the thin material of his sweatpants is the only thing keeping his upper thigh from being in skin-to-skin contact with Peter’s bare legs hits him out of nowhere like a goddamn freight train, almost knocking the breath out of him.

Which then somehow leads him to noticing just how smooth Peter’s legs are, soft skin unmarred from where those tiny sleep shorts ride up his creamy thighs all the way to his sock-clad feet— perfect like the rest of him, really, a porcelain pale that Tony just knows will bruise like a peach and leaves him wondering if the boy tastes just as sweet.

Tony’s aware of how flagrantly pretty Peter Parker is, has been ever since his sister had brought him along to visit after the month-long isolation following his divorce; perhaps even earlier, the nagging voice in his head pipes up unhelpfully. Either way, he hasn’t yet quite gotten over the certain guilt such inappropriate thoughts entailed— specifically, thoughts of the ‘throwing your mouthy nephew over the island table and fucking the disobedience out of him’ variety.

“Will you just turn the damn thing off already? All your cable channels suck anyways,” Peter grouches in the whiny way only teenagers somehow manage to do, though effectively jarring Tony out of that particularly visual fantasy. "What am I supposed to do to pass the time?"

"You've got a phone. Play some games, text your girlfriend, whatever," Tony grumbles in exasperation, though he does switch off the TV; there’s no way he’ll be able to focus on the programme anyways, not with the little devil’s incessant slurping and squirming atop his lap that does nothing to help the tent beginning to form in his boxers. “And will you stop moving around so much?"

Peter, of course, ignores the request. "My phone's charging-" He pauses mid-reply, focusing on a stray droplet of popsicle juice dripping down the side; Tony isn't able to suppress the wounded noise he makes as Peter leans forward to lick the sticky mess off his fingers, pink tongue tracing along the length of the popsicle from base to tip.

Jesus Christ. Fuck. Tony's certain his brain shuts down for a solid minute at the blatantly lewd display, arousal punching him squarely in the gut.

"Besides, I don't have a girlfriend." Peter begins sucking on the now rapidly melting ice with a renewed vigor, mouth wrapped around the tip so cherry flavoured syrup coats his plump lips, dribbles down his chin; try as hard as he might, Tony simply can't tear his eyes away.

"What?" he croaks dumbly, too deep in his imagination of filling that greedy little mouth with something else entirely to catch Peter's words.

"You said I could text my girlfriend. I don't have one, or a boyfriend neither. I don't date, actually."

"Oh yeah?" The teen's practically deepthroating the popsicle now, big bambi eyes peering up at him-- Tony struggles to get the words out around his strangled throat, barely internalizes this apparent new revelation of his nephew's sexuality. "Why is that?"

"I just don't wanna waste my time with someone who doesn't know how to please me, y'know?" Peter pulls off the popsicle with an obscene slurp, cheeks tinged slightly pink with cold. The smile he shoots Tony is absolutely angelic, which only makes his next words all the more filthy. "It has to be someone older-- strong enough to pin me down and experienced enough to take control. Fuck me so good I forget my own name."

Tony truly does choke on his own spit then, the whiplash from Peter's confession enough to send him reeling for several long moments-- when he finally regains his bearings enough to stand on wobbly legs it's to head straight to his bedroom, not even bothering to come up with an excuse; he catches the barest glimpse of a smug grin on Peter's lips before slamming the door shut behind him.

That night, Tony strips his cock raw with his fist, mind filled with images of chestnut doe eyes and cherry red lips, coming so hard to the thought of giving Peter what they both so desperately want his vision turns white; biting down on the flesh of his arm to muffle his shout of his nephew's name.

#I'll try to work on more prompts but no promises unfortunately #starker #Peter x tony #prompt #uncle tony #family unfriendly

[1980s-robin]

steve harrington x reader

pairing: steve harrington x fem!reader | jonathan byers  x friend reader

fandom: stranger things

requested: yes

summary: y/n has been friends with dustin and the gang for a while, because once she reached high school she was tasked with watching dustin when he was home alone. when steve joined that friend group, she was instantly drawn to not only someone her age, but someone who she always thought was too good for her. their relationship develops quickly, and before long they’re romantic, but y/n starts hanging out a lot with jonathan and steve begins to get rather jealous.

a/n: so- i wrote another female reader i’m sorry i didn’t mean to it just happened i didn’t realize what i did until it was halfway done..

warnings: angst. fluffy ending. mentions of feeling low, mentions of sexism.

word count: 2.3k

The moment Steve joined the friend group between you and the kids was interesting, to say the least. You’d been in the same grade in school as Steve for years, and you’d seen him go from girl to girl, seducing and leaving. Forgetting everyone and everything around him, forgetting you. Hell, one time you had agreed to go on a date with him, in Freshman year just hoping to gain popularity, and he forgot the next day and was hitting on another girl. 

It was that same year that Dustin’s mom asked you to watch him while he’s away, she called it babysitting but Dustin was only a few years younger than you so you wouldn’t call him a baby. A child, yes, but truthfully you thought he was a little too old to have a babysitter since you didn’t have one at his age. Either way, as you both became older, Dustin became more normal and you really only stuck around to watch him because you thought he was an interesting kid.

But, then everything changed. You weren’t the only person your age hanging out with the group of young teens, because Steve soon joined. From then on, you noticed a change in the boy that you once thought to be nothing more than a douchebag, and the boys noticed too. A lot of the time when people see a male and a female together they assume things, and truth be told you and Steve were the only people around each other’s age in the friend group, so it was easy for them to assume something was going on as you two grew closer. By the time you both nearly died together, and you had to do your best to tend to his wounds after Billy beat him, you’d grown closer than either of you thought possible, and struck up a romantic relationship. 

And that’s how you got here, Starcourt Mall was just in the earlier stages of being built but you and Steve decided that you would wait until it was built and try to get a job together. For the time being, you spent most of your time babysitting some younger kids since you both were pretty good at that, or just hanging out. You’d both graduated, but decided to stick around Hawkins. Steve, because he didn’t really get a job or an internship, and you because you wanted to stay with your family, and because you had a feeling the things you’d encountered from the Demogorgons and things would stick with you forever even if you left, so it would be better to stay. 

The thing that you didn’t realize when you decided to stay in town was that you were going to have a lot of free time, and it’s not like there was much that you can Steve could do. You could hang out together as much as you wanted, but no one wants to hang out with the same person all day, every day, no matter how much they loved each other. So, in your free time, you found out that Nancy and Jonathan got a job at the paper, and you asked if they needed any help. Nancy didn’t need any help but she told you that Jonathan might, that he was always looking for a second opinion on the photos that he was taking. 

You want to Jonathan and asked him if he needed help and agreed to let you help him whenever you were free. Because you were helping Jonathan, and you really thought it was nice to feel like you were contributing to something as important as the paper, you spent a lot of your time helping Jonathan choose pictures that he liked. Some of the men at the paper found out that you had been helping, and asked if you wanted to be an intern like Nancy since they thought you were just sort of an assistant to Jonathan but you turned them down because Nancy told you how rude and sexist the men who worked there were to her, and you didn’t want to get involved with them just because you were helping a new friend with his work.

There was nothing going on between you and Jonathan, you liked helping him because it gave you something to do and because the two of you were never really friends in high school. But you ended up spending more and more time with him, ever learning how to take pictures with the camera yourself so you could help take photographs that you thought he would want for the paper. It was fun, and it made you feel good. But you spent less time with Steve, you spent more time with a new friend than your boyfriend and you were so wrapped up in your new hobby and your new friendship that you didn’t even realize it. 

You didn’t really know how Steve was feeling, you didn’t know that he was feeling bad about the fact that he didn’t get accepted into colleges. You didn’t know that he was feeling bad because he was once the top of the game in the town of Hawkins, and now people were forgetting that he even existed. You didn’t know because he didn’t open up about that kind of stuff with anyone, and you didn’t know because you were beginning to ignore the person that he was relying on to spend time with him. With the new school year in swing for the kids, Dustin and the others were away and you and Steve had graduated.

It was only a summer internship, so Jonathan wasn’t going to be with the paper for another ten months, but you had become friends with him, and truth be told you really enjoyed photography. It wasn’t as though you wanted to do it professionally, but you thought it was fun and you thought it was nice to have a new friend that you hadn’t really talked to before. That’s how the day that everything happened started. 

“Jesus Christ, Jonathan. Stand still.” You said jokingly. For the past 20 minutes, you had been trying to take a picture of the sight where Starcourt was being built for a project, but he just couldn’t stop moving around and bumping the tripod you were using for the camera. “Sorry, sorry. I was looking through my own lens.” He said before he lowered his camera so you would have time to take the picture. At long last, you had a decent picture. So far, it was only the outside structure of the building, there was nothing else besides that, nothing inside and really nothing to define that it was a mall. 

“What time is it?” You asked him, knowing that he had his watch on him. “7:30, why?” He asked but your eyes widened. “Shit. Shit. I have to go.” You said. You had a date with Steve at 7:40, you hadn’t even gone home to get dressed let alone started driving the twenty-minute drive that it was going to take to get there. “I have a date with Steve, shit I’m going to be late.” You said, before you grabbed the tripod and folded it up, bringing the camera with you to the car. “Come on.” You said, nearly breaking into a sprint as you slid into the passenger seat.

“Stop it, don’t freak out okay.” Jonathan said as he got in the seat next to you, sliding the keys into the ignition and putting on his belt before he pulled out of the new parking lot. “Don’t freak out? I missed my last date with Steve because Nancy wanted to go over the pictures. He’s going to be so upset.” You said, finally putting the camera and tripod into the back seat. “Okay, well you’ll be a little late but Nancy’s house is on the way. You said it was that new Italian place earlier right?” asked and you nodded. “Right, we can stop and see if Nancy or her mom has something for you to wear, that way you don’t have to go home.” He said and you sighed and nodded. “Fine, but I’ll still be late.” 

It was a long five minutes making your way to the Wheelers house in a panic, but thankfully Karen had just the outfit from when she was younger that fit you perfectly. It was a dark red dress that cut off about an inch before your knee, it flowed at the bottom and was slim at the top. She also gave you a pair of dark red heels to match and did your hair and makeup as quickly as she could. “Thank you Mrs. Weeler, I’ll bring the dress and shoes back tomorrow.” You reassured and she waved her hand. “You can keep it, I don’t need that stuff anymore.” She responded and you smiled gratefully, waving goodbye to Nancy before Jonathan drove you to the restaurant. 

“Thanks, uh… you can keep the camera until next time we go to Starcourt right?” You asked him and he nodded, “Yeah, they’re supposed to make some progress again in a few days.” He said before letting you make your way into the restaurant. “How may I help you?” Asked the woman at the counter, a kind smile on her face as she greeted you. “I’m with the Harrington party?” You tried to say it as a statement, but it came out as more of a question. “Right this way.” She said as she grabbed a menu and a set of silverware and led you to the table with Steve.

You said down and just decided to stick with water. You were afraid to look at Steve, but when you did you knew you had made a mistake. “You’re late.” He said simply, he seemed annoyed. “I’m sorry, I loved track of time. Jonathan-” “You were with Jonathan?” He asked you, cutting you off. “Yes, he wanted to do a project and take pictures of Starcourt as it’s growing for the paper.” You answered him, and he nodded. But you could tell he wasn’t satisfied. 

You sighed as you picked out and ordered your food, but throughout that time Steve hadn’t said anything to you. The whole dinner was mainly silent, the only spoken words being ‘Pass the salt’ or something else. By the end of the date, you wanted to cry. As you made your way out you glanced at Steve. “I need a ride home.” You said, rather meekly as he led you to his car. “Steve? Can we talk please?” You asked him, just wanting to know why he was so annoyed. “Wouldn’t you rather talk to Jonathan?” He asked you, causing you to raise your eyebrows. “Excuse me?” You questioned, as you sat down in the car.

“Well you’ve been spending all of your time with him, I figured you’ve finally decided that you’d rather move on from me. And maybe that’s for the best.” Your heart dropped. “S-Steve?” You stuttered out, tears welling up in your eyes. “What? You’ve come to terms just like Nancy did. Jonathan is smart, he has an internship, he’s going places with his life and he has friends who aren’t children. And he was never a douchebag, like I was.” Steve said, but he wasn’t stopping.

“You’ve spent all of your time with him, you ditched our last date you- you stopped coming to see me during the day and you even come over less at night-” “Steve-” “But I can’t blame you. I didn’t get into any colleges or accepted for any internships, and my only job is babysitting. Steve has things I don’t have, I’m a failure.” “Steve please listen to me.” You tried, but it was to no avail. “Just like Nancy, making me fall in love with you only to leave me for Jonathan Byers. Is this what my life is meant to be?” He asked. He finally stopped, but he realized what he did.

Neither of you had told each other that you loved each other yet. “Steve. I’m not interested in Jonathan I- I didn’t realize you felt this way.” You started, you really didn’t know what to say. “I love you, I’ve loved you for a while and I got distracted because I feel so good being able to contribute to the paper because Nancy said that the men who own it don’t really encourage women to be creative it… feels nice to do something that people don’t want me to do but Steve-” You cut yourself off again.

“Steve I can’t be without you, I don’t care if I have Dustin or Jonathan or Nancy, they’re not you. I need you, I love you more than anything. I’m so sorry. I just see you as so perfect I didn’t think you could see yourself as anything else. And if you never want to see me again, I understand. I hurt-” You were cut off by Steve’s lips crashing onto yours, his hand moving to hold onto your neck and yours grabbing onto that hair of his. By the time you both pulled back from the passionate kiss, he rested his forehead on yours. “I want to see you, I never want to stop seeing you.” He muttered and you grinned, kissing him again lightly before you both decided to start going home. 

“Steve? Can I stay with you tonight?” You asked him, and he nodded before deciding to just drive to his house. You changed into one of his shirts and slid into bed with him as he turned the light off. “I’m sorry the first time we said I love you was like that.” He mumbled into your hair and you laughed. “It’s fine, it was my fault.” You replied and he raised an eyebrow, “You know you can still see Jonathan, you just can’t… ignore me too.” You raised your head so you could meet his eyes. “I’d never stop seeing you. Besides, once Starcourt is built we can work together and see each other every day.” Steve smiled widely and kissed you very lightly before you rested your head in the crook of his neck and you both fell asleep.

#stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things imagine #stranger things imagines #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfic #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x fem reader #steve harrington x female reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington imagines #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington fanfic #imagines #imagine #fanfiction #fanfic #reader insert #female reader insert #steve harringtonxfemale!reader #female!reader

[in-tua-deep]

are y’all ready for a showerthoughts au?? a little brain wiggle that decided to invade my brain once water hit by body?? well buckle up kids bc here we have a bizarre au where five both is and isn’t the main character

SO we start with the premise that, when Five worked for the Commission, he had health checks and doctors visits and all that. In the comics he was genetically experimented on and his aging is halted, but I don’t think they’re going that way in the TV show bc young actors age

but my whole point is: they probably have samples of Five’s genetic materials

(disclaimer: i am not a scientist and don’t know how any of this stuff works)

and wouldn’t it be so useful to have trained and loyal soldiers with the same ability to jump in space and time who are completely molded to your will? Isn’t that a brilliant idea? In this au, the Handler definitely thought so (and if she had grand plans to eventually sick her new assassins on Five and give him the shock of his life, well that’s too bad isn’t it)

except it doesn’t entirely work. Five’s DNA is actually kind of unstable? From his space jumps and time jumps, every time they attempt to clone him it fails and they end up with nothing. They keep tweaking things, but they have a limited supply of usable genetic material and they rack up failures. They almost give up when one child finally, finally, succeeds and makes it through the fetal stages and takes his very first breath surrounded by breathless scientists who are whooping and hollering in joy

They don’t name him. He’s a weapon. But they refer to him as ‘The Boy’ and the Handler is so tickled pink by the comparison with Five’s hero name that she refuses to name him anything else, even a project name or experiment number.

The Boy grows up. He’s trained. He goes through grueling training to become the perfect assassin, with the Handler standing over his shoulder and smiling the whole while - likely imagining the day he would be old enough to take down her original nemesis. 

And Boy doesn’t know anything else. He grows up, and he ends up getting sent with other agents on missions. Sometimes as a prop, a child helping them blend in and get closer to a target, and sometimes as the assassin. 

The theory is that raising him in isolated Commission environment, without siblings to care about, without a world to care about, he will be perfect.

(They shouldn’t have sent him on missions.)

He knows something isn’t right. He knows something is missing. He gets check ups every week until he’s six and then it becomes every month. And scientists talk. They marvel at his stability where ‘the others’ failed. He knows he isn’t the first child they tried to make.

And for whatever reason, the idea that at some point he wasn’t alone is an important one. And he’s curious. He wants to know about the other children who failed, the ones who didn’t make it, the ones who were his siblings. It’s an idle curiosity, of a child who went on missions and saw families and recognized something that he didn’t have.

He’s perfect. He was raised in the Commission. There’s no reason to believe he’ll defect, because there’s nothing for him to defect to. His entire life is the Commission. 

(Sometimes, the Handler takes his face in her hands. Her nails dig into his cheeks in he tries to look away and so he doesn’t, standing perfectly still with a thousand yard stare. Sometimes, she calls him ‘five point two’ with a delighted smile and he doesn’t know what that means.)

No one expects him to rebel even a little bit, and really picking the locks on the record room and reading old logs barely counts. 

(He can’t jump, not in the building. The first thing that the Commission did is figure out a way to sense when he jumps. They can’t figure out where he goes, but they know when it happens. If he jumps unauthorized, his punishments are severe. Hence: the lock picking.)

He wants to find records of his siblings, of the experiments and the failures. He wants to know how many came before him.

Instead, he finds a photo of himself. Except not quite. It’s him but older, obviously taken from a security camera and cropped. It’s an incident report, which shouldn’t be filed here. Something that slipped through the cracks. He reads the report, and his eye catches on the name. Five. Status: Unknown, the report proclaims, but it’s an old report.

The Boy’s first thought is not that Five is the original. Because the Boy has been around long enough to know what normal names are like, and as an experiment it would make sense for them to be named numbers, experiment numbers. The Boy doesn’t look at the picture and think that’s where I came from.

Instead, he looks at it and he thinks - brother. 

He thinks that he wasn’t the first success that the Commission had with jumping kids. He looks at the teen in the photo and thinks that Five is another Commission experiment. And the Boy is so lonely. He tucks the picture up his shirt with care.

He scours through the rest of the piles for any information on this Five, but comes up empty handed. The report with the original mention was filed incorrectly, he wasn’t supposed to see it at all. But the report didn’t say deceased, didn’t say mission closed or objective complete or anything like that. It said that Five’s status was unknown. Which meant he escaped. Which meant he might still be out there.

The Boy might have family that was alive. 

He keeps his knowledge close to his heart. He breaks into every records room he can get his hands on. But the Handler was thorough in her classifying of Five’s existence (until the time was right to kill him, of course) and the Boy doesn’t find another hint for a long time.

And then, like magic, he does. He’d been looking through old reports and, on a whim, decided to look at the newer ones. There was a mission to kill someone in a city in 2019, and there was a special note to be careful and extra covert because former agent Five was known to be hostile to Commission Agents.

Which meant that Five was alive. And that he was in that city. In 2019. The Boy had a time and a place and a date and, for the first time, hope. 

In the end, it’s a crime of opportunity. He’s sent on a mission with an older agent who is mean. The older man is unimpressed with being assigned to, in his words, babysit a child. So it’s maybe a tiny bit vindictive when the Boy grabs the suitcase and jumps, leaving the man behind and stumbling out into an alley in a city he’s never seen before. 

He destroys the suitcase, knowing it can be used to track him. And maybe he was a bit impulsive - because it’s a big city and there’s only one of him and he has no idea where to start looking. 

But luck is on his side, because the Boy has been living homeless for weeks trying desperately to keep under the Commission’s radar (it helps that they tread carefully as well, unwilling to draw attention to themselves) while also looking for his one family connection. And he’s squatting illegally in a building, and he gets busted.

And he’s tired, and exhausted, and hungry, and jumping right now is a terrible idea. He could kill the officer with ease, but that would draw even more attention to him and just. Ugh.

But he’s taken to the station, and there’s a woman there who blinks at him and says - “Five? What are you doing here?”

And all the Boy can do is blink stupidly at her. 

The woman, Detective Patch her desk says, sighs deeply at him and shakes her head. She waves off the officer who brought the Boy in, “I’ll call Diego. What they hell were you doing in that abandoned building?”

“Uh - ” The Boy tries, because she asked him a question, but words are escaping him right now. This woman thinks he is Five. This woman knows Five. His brain is running at a million miles a minute and this is the best lead he’s had since he landed here and somehow he can do nothing but stare at her with wide eyes. 

“Never mind.” Detective Patch says, pinching the bridge of her nose, “I’m sure I don’t want to know. Just sit tight a minute, okay?”

His body moves on autopilot to sit down, used to obeying orders and never questioning them. Even so, he’s almost vibrating in place in excitement.

The detective is on the phone. The detective nods. The detective hangs up.

“Someone will be by to pick you up in a minute.” She informs him, “Don’t go traumatizing my coworkers in the meantime, you hear? You know where the bathroom is if you need it.”

The Boy does not, but it’s easy enough to figure out. He ends up staring at himself in the mirror, and quite frankly he looks like hell. He’s been homeless for weeks, and while he’s better off than many due to his skills as a thief it’s still not great. And he’s about to meet Five, his family. He has to look presentable! He runs the faucet and scrubs at the dirt on his face and runs his hands through his hair to try and look presentable. It doesn’t really work, but it’s the best he’s going to get.

By the time he comes out, there’s a man standing at Detective Patch’s desk. He’s wearing all black and has - knives? The sight automatically makes the Boy wary. But surely a Commission agent wouldn’t be so obvious? The Detective sees him, and the man turns to follow her eyes.

He has a scar on the side of his head, the Boy observes. He wonders where he got it. 

“I don’t have time to be bailing your ass out, Five!” The man barks, and he sounds angry. The Boy can’t help the flinch - it’s never good when adults are angry with him. It always leads to more pain. The man tracks the small movement and frowns.

But he does soften just a little bit. “C’mon.” He says, still gruff. “Klaus is waiting in the car.”

The Boy doesn’t know who Klaus is, but if following the man will get him closer to Five then he’s going to do it regardless of personal discomfort. The scarred man goes around to the drivers side, and the Boy is left hovering uncomfortably between the passenger and backseat door.

He hasn’t been told where he’s allowed to sit.

“Don’t worry!” The man in the back, presumably the Klaus that was mentioned, hollers through the door, “Ben’s good wherever!”

And yeah, that makes even less sense and the Boy still doesn’t know what to do.

Thankfully the scarred man rolls his eyes, “Just get in the back.” 

The Boy does so, sitting gingerly on the leather seat and trying not to stare at either of the two strangers who now have him inside an enclosed space. The glittery man, Klaus, looks towards the empty passenger seat with a confused crease to his eyes.

“What happened, Five?” The scarred man asks bluntly as he pulls out.

The Boy... doesn’t know how to answer that either. He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out even though he was asked a direct questions. 

“You have... an episode?” The man asks almost gently, tiptoeing around his phrasing like a man afraid of setting off a live grenade. The Boy is sure it would have been helpful, if he knew what the fuck the man was talking about to begin with. As it is, he’s even more confused. 

Klaus coos softly, looking concerned from what the boy can see of his reflection in the window. Not knowing how to respond, he stays silent. Clearly though, that means something to both of the men because the scarred one nods and they both drop it. 

They pull up outside a big house. Both men get out of the car, and look confused when the Boy stays in place. He hasn’t been given permission to exit the vehicle yet though, so he’s not sure why they look concerned. These two aren’t very good Handlers, he hopes they’re not the ones in charge of Five. 

“Uh,” The scarred one clears his throat, “We’re home dude. C’mon.”

That’s about as much of an order as he’s going to get around here, probably. And if the scarred man says that we’re home, including who he assumes is Five in that sentence, then that means - his search is over?

Suddenly eager, he jumps in a flash of blue over to the door. It’s not allowed, and immediately icy shock goes down his spine and his brain is alight with anxiety, but nothing happens. He’s not in the Commission. They can’t track his jumps outside of it. 

Before he can spiral further into panic, the door is opened and he’s being swept inside. It’s big. It’s really big. 

“Is that you, Diego?” Someone calls from within the house, “Dinner’s almost ready! Five said he’s gonna be late - ”

A woman emerges from a room, a towel in her hands. She’s tall, is the first thing the Boy notices about her. Her hair is curly - he likes it. 

“Patch called me.” The scarred man - Diego? - informs the woman, who immediately frowns at the Boy. He hunches his shoulders in a little. “I think he had an episode or something, I dunno. He’s acting weird.”

Somehow or another he’s ushered into the kitchen. There’s even more people in there. There’s a lot of people in this house. There’s another woman, who is short and mousy. She gives him a small smile when he enters. There’s a man as well, tall and broad and scary looking. The Boy tries not to look him in the eyes.

There’s fussing and suddenly everyone is sitting down at the table except for the Boy. 

He shuffles his feet, and all eyes are on him, and he has to speak he has to. He’s here. It’s important. He hasn’t been asked a question, but the other homeless people didn’t hurt him for talking, so. It’s a risk he’s going to have to take.

“Uh,” He says, voice small and eyes darting around the room, “Where’s - I mean. Where’s Five?”

“What do you mean where’s Five?” Klaus exclaims, looking confused. Everyone is looking confused. 

“I want - uh, I’d like to meet him. If he’s here.” The Boy stumbles, and he knows it’s a misstep to says words like want and like but it’s the truth.

The scarred man has slowly put his hand to the knives still strapped to his body, looking especially alert. It kind of makes the Boy want to run in the opposite direction, “Are you saying you aren’t Five?”

“He jumped from the car!” Klaus protests, looking from a single point in thin air to the Boy and back again. Which means that Five can also jump? The idea that someone else has the exhilarating and terrifying ability to jump is somehow an incredible relief to the Boy. He’s not alone. Klaus looks the Boy directly in the eye with an intensity that has the Boy’s eyes darting away, “Are you having an episode right now?”

A few people at the table nod their heads as if agreeing but that’s not what the Boy wants. He’s so close. He shuffles his feet again. 

“I’m - I’m sorry. For not telling you at the station.” He finally offers, “Detective Patch called me Five, and then she called you, and just - please.” The sorry made them look alarmed but it’s the please that really gets everyone attention and Diego has drawn a knife that he holds loosely in his hand. 

There’s a flash of blue off to the side and suddenly the Boy is looking in a mirror and his mirror image stiffens in alarm. Another small flash and his doppelganger has a knife in his hand as well, face twisted into a snarl.

“Who the hell are you?” The boy who must be Five bites out.

The Boy’s eyes dart around the room. Everyone’s standing now, moving automatically to stand behind Five, recognizing him as the real deal. 

“I’m - I’m the Boy.” The Boy says, and the fact that all of the faces react in a weird way make the Boy wonder what that’s all about. “I think - I think you’re my brother?”

Well that sets the cat among the chickens.

It takes a while, but eventually they all gather in the living room and the Boy is sat on one of the comfortable couches and Five is across from him peppering him with questions.

“You - you came from the Commission, too, right?” The Boy interrupts hesitantly.

Five frowns, “Sort of. Not in the way you did, I imagine. I worked for the Commission.”

The Boy nods, and pulls out the picture that he kept. The one with security footage and the very first inkling that he might not be so terribly alone in the world. Five plucks the picture out of his hands, and the Boy pretends it doesn’t give him anxiety. 

“The report said status: unknown.” The Boy tells Five as if he doesn’t already know, but the nerves keep the words coming. “Which means - which meant you didn’t die. They always told me I was the only one that survived but - but they lied! You’re here! You’re like me!”

“I don’t understand.” The big man - Luther, apparently - says, crossing his arms. The Boy almost forgot he was there for a moment (stupid) and flinches. “Where did the new Five come from?”

Five shrugs, “Alternate timeline, maybe? Steal me as a baby and raise me as a Commission weapon?”

The Boy blinks. Does Five not know? Not know they were grown in a lab? Maybe Five never knew about the possibility of siblings?

“The Scientists grew us.” He tells the man, because if he has more information then he has to share it. “The - The DNA was uh, unstable though. ‘Cause of the jumping. So they kept failing. Except then they succeeded! They said I was the only success but they lied.”

There’s a heavy silence in the room.

It’s broken by Five, who looks at the Boy with a sort of softness that the Boy gets the feeling isn’t all that common. 

“They didn’t lie.” He tells the boy softly, as if he isn’t dismantling the Boy’s entire world view. “You said they had DNA, right? That DNA had to come from somewhere, right?”

The Boy processes that, and suddenly he can’t believe he was so stupid. Of course he had to come from somewhere. There had to be an original. And the Handler’s comments about five point two make a stupid amount of sense.

“But - ” The Boy stutters, shoulders hunching, “But your name is Five? That’s an experiment name.”

There’s some kind of reaction going on in the background, but the Boy only has eyes for Five, his - his original?

Five just nods, “I wasn’t a Commission experiment, but the man who took me and raised me - he didn’t think of me as a person, either. And when I worked for the Commission, they were - interested in my abilities.”

So the Commission stole an experiment. Tried to recreate an experiment they didn’t own. The Boy was a copy of something that wasn’t supposed to belong to the Commission in the first place.

“I came from you.” The Boy says, slowly, looking at his feet as he turns the thought around in his head. “Does - does that make us... still family?”

There’s a heavy silence.

It makes the Boy nervous enough to just blurt out his thoughts. “I don’t - I don’t want to go back! They’re scared of you. Please, I won’t bother anybody - you won’t even know I’m here, I promise.”

Because that report had told the agents to be wary, to be careful, to not cross Number Five. The Commission didn’t mess with Five, and if the Boy stayed close then that meant they probably wouldn’t try get him back, right?

Suddenly there’s a weight next to him and an arm slung over his shoulder and he’s still as a board as he whips his head to look around at - Klaus?

“Aw kid,” Klaus coos at him, and even though the proximity is weird it’s also kind of nice? Klaus squeezes his arm and for some reason it doesn’t feel like a threat. “We’re not gonna make you go back, right guys?” Everyone mumbles their agreement, though Five stays silent.

“You’re Five-o’s clone, right? And if Five’s family that automatically gives you a free pass as family as well!” Klaus grins, “I know you only expected one sibling, but mi familia es su familia, ey?”

And somehow, that’s that. It’s agreed that the Boy gets to stay and there’s a flurry of activity and somehow throughout it all Five sticks around just enough to ease a little bit of the Boy’s anxiety. 

It’s not going to solve the Commission problem, and every time the Boy brings up something about his life at the Commission or is confused about something mundane the family’s heart break a little bit more, but honestly their entire family existence has been a wild roller coaster of a ride so this might as well happen

and if Five is furious enough at the highkey violation of getting an unauthorized clone and decided that maybe it’s time once and for all to get rid of the Commission well. Dismantling a shady government organization is practically what passes for family bonding to them all, right?

#for some reason my shower brain was stuck on the thought of a clone of five #maybe bc of the robot five au where i mentioned about him hiding his robot-ness bc a Commission with a fleet of Five's is terrifying #so here's an au about a clone five #who is raised by the Commission to be the perfect weapon #who eventually defects because trying to find family is basically written in his DNA #just a whole baby who just wanted one family member and ended up with seven #Klaus: does this mean five's a dad #Five: technically we have the same genetic material. he's my twin. #Allison: regardless of anything he needs a PROPER NAME #i feel like the boy ends up being close to Klaus #bc Klaus provides hugs #and the Boy doesn't really know what hugs are per se but they feel really nice #Klaus: lmao y'all have fun wrecking the commission i'm gonna sit on the couch and eat cheetos #the boy: i don't know what a hug is #klaus: actually you know what it's time to take the commission the fuck DOWN let's DO THIS i have DYNAMITE #tbh the family probably do end up putting the boy on a more claire level of family #'smol child related to us: to be protected and loved' #tua #the umbrella academy #tua au #five hargreeves #number five #klaus hargreeves #diego hargeeves #the handler #the commission #the commission boy au

[howdoyoudothedew]

Another long SPN post

This time it’s notes from my WIPs. I never actually really wrote any of these, but tags and titles are included. Anyone can use these as starting points for a fanfic, have fun

Henry/Balthazar Summary: When Henry’s mentor, Benny, doesn’t return from the war Henry is saddened. He refuses to believe Benny died. Won’t even entertain it. On the way to find his missing mentor/father figure, he meets Balthazar. A strange man with a british accent and a habit of flirting with everyone, especially him. He finds Benny. He finds love. THen Balthazar tells him he’s from another time period and has to go. The last chapter is Balthazar saving Henry from Abaddon. Side note: Henry has blue eyes that Balthy apparently likes to wax poetic about Chapter One The day’s circled on his calendar. ‘Benny comes home’. That would be today. Or, it would’ve been. He had gotten the letter a week ago. ‘Benjamin Lafitte died in the war. We send our condolences.’ The letter, of course, wasn’t actually as cold and unfeeling as that. But it didn’t matter. Because it felt like that. It felt like someone had taken him and shoved him in an ice bath. He couldn’t believe the letter. He wouldn’t believe the letter. Benny had promised he’d live through this war. And if he had to find him, then by golly he’d find him. Even if he had to do it on his own. Henry snuck out of the bunker that night. A pack of food was the only thing he brought with him. That, and a picture of him and Benny. No one caught him on the way out. He knew the passages too well. He stole a bike from the garage, and left. There would be no note left in his absence. No trace of where he’d gone. Because if he’d left one, he worried that they’d try to find him. Find him and drag him back. But he couldn’t go back. Not now. Not without Benny. New section He’d been on the hunt for four days now. Had traveled from Lebanon, Kansas to Chattanooga, Tennessee and was slowly making his way to the Georgia coastline. His plan was to check coastal cities first. Then he’d work inwards till he covered all of the US. He only hoped Benny would return here and not go to another country. This is where he runs into Balthazar It’s when he’s asking a bartender if he’d ever seen Benny, while showing his picture Balthy comes up to him and says “Are you from around here, because you’re a perfect ten.”

----

Don't Make Bets With Love Goddesses Five chapters Alternative meeting, canon divergent, Gabriel is Loki, Aphro has her son arrow multiple people, but Gabe bypasses them all “You cheated!” “That never seemed to matter to you before, now how did I cheat?” “Eros shot Sam with an arrow!” “My son’s arrow never touched the Winchester.” Everyone has what the humans would call a ‘soulmate’, not everyone finds them and they're not always romantic. It looks like Gabe found his, though.

Chapter One Explains how Loki has messed around, yet has never fallen in love “I will never fall in love” the Norse god boasted. He was talking out of his ass, and Aphrodite knew it. Loki bets Aphrodite that he will never fall in love She accepts with a wicked twinkle in her eye Aphro has never been able to pass up bets, especially when they deal with love He was close once, with Kali, but it ultimately fell flat It didn’t even actually fall flat with Gabe, but with Kali who could sense his growing attachment and cut off their involvement before it could happen. They had made a promise to each other that their thing would remain ‘no strings attached’. Then years where nothing happens

Chapter Two Sam enters the scene He’s tall and handsome; funny, sarcastic, witty. And he’s one of the only people Gabe has ever met that won’t take his crap. That will see right through it. Gabriel vows right then and there that he won’t fall in love with Sam.

----

Different Circumstances Summary: Where the first meeting isn't of a boy with demon blood and an archangel, hidden as a trickster god, disguised as a janitor. Nor is the second meeting, or the third, or even the fifth. Until suddenly it is and the world seems just that much more messed up. Six chapters Tags: Canon divergent, Canon universe, 5 + 1 format, fluff, angst

Chapter One High school Gabe is the ‘bad kid’ They bond over pranks, and Gabe teaches Sam a few tricks

Chapter Six Sam connects all the dots and realizes the few people he had met in his life, the ones other than Jess that he had clicked with on automatic, were all the same person. Where all the trickster, Loki the god of mischief, and Gabriel the messenger of God. He hadn’t even clicked with Jess as quickly as he had seemed to click with each and every version of Gabe he had met. And now he was gone.

----

To Heal A Soul Summary: Castiel isn't the only angel who tried to save Sam Winchester from the Cage. But while Castiel got a body, the other found only a soul. Tiny and broken, frayed at the edges, yet still somehow alive curled up in the corner of the Cage. Gabe keeps and heals Sam’s soul until he feels that it could be replaced with minimum consequences, when he does replace it there is still a battle. Gabe can’t help him with this battle, none of Team Free Will can. Gabe's dog is Max Chapter One Gabe gets Sam’s soul, just his soul, from the Cage because he knows what’ll happen if he puts his soul back in his body after Lucifer had ripped it out Sam gets a different… form type thing. Like, I don’t know Gabe uses pagan magic to give Sam a body like his own Explains to Sam the situation

----

Stacy’s Dad (Lafittz) Tags: help me for i know not what im doing, i love this song and had to do this though, babysitter!garth, single father!benny, female teen oc, benny is older than garth by a few years, dilf!Benny, Notes: I'm sorry for the dilf tag, but I thought of it and it was too funny to me to not include it. Garth’s turned twenty a day ago, and is babysitting Benny’s kid (she’s twelve, so it’s not exactly babysitting) Benny’s thirty (his wife and him had Stacy when they were eighteen, they married right out of high school) Garth asks Benny out, saying that he promised him when he was eleven he’d go out with him when he turned twenty Stacy and Garth go to the pool, where Benny may work as a lifeguard Or, Stacy met Garth during her freshman year and they hit it off immediately as friends But Stacy liked Garth, and when he met Stacy’s dad it was practically love at first sight. (Because he's mushy like that) Or Benny and Andrea had her at sixteen, and Benny was estatic. Sure, it was early and he wasn't sure if he was ready, but he'd be damned if he didn't try to be a good father.

----

Scarecrow Summary: Remake where Cas is a “hunter” who Dean picks up on the way to ----, he's working the same case and they decide to pretend to be a couple to solve it. Also, instead of Meg, Sam runs into Gabriel because he picks him up on the road before he got to Meg. Sam’s part is inspired in part by the honeythief amv. Tags: s01e11 Scarecrow, rewrite, i tried, canon divergent, canon hopping, beginning unchanged, fake/pretend relationship, bonding(????) Dean picks up Cas either along the road (a parallel of their brothers) or at the food place he and Sammy split A man slid into the seat Sam had vacated, black hair Dean could only describe as bedroom hair, piercing blue eyes, and a trenchcoat. “So you're going after the missing couples, too?” The other couple isn't there, instead the people there immediately assume they're a couple Cas immediately goes with it and when Dean asks about it later he simply shrugs and explains that this job seemed to require some falsehood

---- Short ficlet where they find Narnia. “I thought you'd already been to Narnia given how deep inside the closet you are,” Gabriel joked.

----

Sabriel Anniversary Sam: Gabriel, I figured we could go where I first fell in love with you. Gabriel: Sam, I'd rather not… Sam: Why not? Gabriel: I have bad memories there. Sam, in surprise: Bad memories? I mean , sure we tried to kill you Gabriel: Lucifer killed me. Sam: Oh… Oh! You were thinking Elysian Fields? I meant Crawford Hall! Gabriel: What? Sam nervously rubs the back of his neck while looking away: Yeah… Could never really get you out of my head after that. *looks back at him* Even when I really wanted to. ----

Everytime they find Gabriel again, Sam wants to ask Gabriel to help. He wants him to stay. Though he tells himself it's not for him, but the world. But then they leave him behind in that ring of holy fire. And he… dies. At the hands of Lucifer. Sam thinks that's it. But then he shows up again, only to save him and leave him. (But it wasn't just him- it was Castiel as well, he has to remind himself for the next few weeks till it sticks.) So this time Sam swallows everything down, and he tells himself it's okay. Gabriel would've never stayed. And that's fine. Then Gabriel's back again, and he finally agrees to be on their team. He finally agrees to simply stay, even if it isn't for him. So of course he has to die all over again. ----

A rebound. Gabriel knows that's exactly what this is. After knowing Sam for all these years, he can read him. Read him easier than he can read himself. Heck, he knew Jess and Sam’d date the second he saw them together. And just as he knew, a month later they were dating. So yeah, Gabriel knew how to read Sam and how he felt about others. Romantic feelings just weren't there for him. Sure, Sam sounded sincere. He truly believed he liked Gabriel, and Gabriel knew that. But he knew his best friend and he knew the feelings were just his body’s half-assed attempt at fixing whatever hole Jess had left him with that he refused to recognize.

“I'm not ready.” It's not a lie. Gabriel isn't ready to date anyone, even if he loves Sam with all his heart. But he refused to be a rebound. He told the girlfriend Sam has before Jess- Ruby- as much when she gave him her twisted blessing after Sam broke up with her. If Sam knew that's what he was looking for in Gabriel, it would crush him. The poor kid would feel terrible, and Gabriel knows it. That is something he won't allow. Sam deserved happiness, but it couldn't be with him. Not now. Maybe not ever.

---- Crime Cleaners crime scene cleaners sam and dean who get roped into something well above their paygrade by two particular Novaks, possible villain being Luci and Lilith, who is his 'queen' they definitely get help from their friend Bobby and the Novak's friends Charlie, Rowena, and Rowena's girlfriend, the coroner Billie Or, serial killers God and his Righteous Man, who are secretly Dean and Cas. Gabe and Sam are the ones trying to find them.

----

John Winchester and Chuck Shurley meet the parents thing. John first meets Cas, and Dean explains that Cas is his husband. Then he meets Gabriel, Sam’s bondmate-husband- and an archangel. When he mentions how weird this is, Gabriel is the one who points out that “If you think it's weird that your son in laws are angels, just remember that their father in law is literally God.”

----

Normal au, Gabriel shows up out of nowhere because he has to do a blood sugar test to check for diabetes or some shit and he just grabs Sam: “I need your blood.”

#supernatural #sabriel #destiel #laffitz #henthazar #spn prompts #spn fic ideas

[irondad-defensesquad]

Familiar

Fandom: MCU

Rating: T

Relationships: Tony & Peter, Tony & Jarvis

Characters: Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Edwin Jarvis (flashbacks), Pepper Potts (minor role); other characters are only mentioned

Summary: When Tony comforts Peter, his brain suddenly clicks, as if it’s remembering something that’s been lost inside him for years. Or, Tony realizes how much his relationship with Peter reminds him of Jarvis.

(AU where Thanos is defeated only a few months after Infinity War and nobody dies - except for the purple prick, of course. Tony and Pepper get married and expect Morgan. May didn’t dust and neither has everyone in Peter’s class, only a few people.)

Word count: around 6,529

Also on AO3! (separated in two chapters)

–

A/N: Heya! This MCU sideblog is kinda new, so I posted the full work here, too. I hope you guys enjoy it!

WARNINGS - mentioned child abuse, alcoholism and character death.

Tony knows something is up with the kid.

Having known Peter for a couple of years now, the teenager is prone to bottling things up. It started off with wounds, which were easily detected by his suit. Following that, Tony would find out he had the same coping mechanism when it came to things that deeply, mentally affected him; and that is harder when you’re unable to get reports on someone’s emotional well-being.

Peter hasn’t been out as Spider-Man as often. Tony has somewhat expected it after bringing the kid and everyone back, but it doesn’t help that the kid rarely answers his calls now. When he does, Peter comes with excuses not to come visit him, arguing he has his own life to get through, which Tony understands at first, but then Peter straight up ignores him, and the man becomes skeptical and worried. He even goes to the point of calling May, who only tells him that her nephew has grown a bit distant overall.

It takes two or three months for Peter to come visit at all, and it’s pretty much thanks to his aunt, who finally convinced him to sleep over there since she would have to work on helping the people affected by the Snap. Happy picks him up, almost bringing Tony to the good old days when Peter used to come by the compound… he can’t help the reminiscent feeling.

Pepper snaps him out of it with her sweet, concerned voice. Her hand is carefully placed on his knee, caressing it with the most gentleness.

“He’s coming now, Tony,” She reassures him, as if reading him like he’s an open book. “You don’t have to be worried.”

Tony sighs. “I couldn’t even get him to come here by himself, Pep… what can I do?”

“You have to be patient with him, honey. Peter has been through a lot… he’ll tell you once you make it clear that it’s okay.”

He doesn’t reply then, as she gives him a supportive smile. Tony tries to believe that’s how it’s going to work out, so he returns the gesture and holds her hand. His eyes gaze at Pepper with adoration and sheer joy of expecting their child.

(He won’t admit out loud that there’s fear somewhere inside him, too, despite having literally dreamed about it and becoming so enthusiastic after. Not only was his father the worst role model, there was… also the guilt of Peter dying in his arms, as Tony couldn’t do anything. Nightmares would still haunt him to no end.)

It takes Tony another moment to return to reality when Happy arrives with Peter. The head of security has a rather uneasy and concerned expression on his face, silently telling Tony that the kid is acting off. The older man doesn’t have to take another minute to confirm it as Peter barely looks at him and Pepper in the eye when they greet the teenager.

Being the great people he could’ve asked for, Pepper and Happy make up the excuse they needed to get something heavy inside the house. They disappear quickly before Peter can protest. It’s probably the first time they’re alone in such a long time.

“So, uh, wanna get inside?” Tony proposes. “Or do you want to sit out here for a bit?” He presents the chairs standing in the porch.

Peter simply shrugs and sits in one of them, refusing to look at the man as the stubborn boy that he is.

“How have you been, kiddo? Has school been tough?” He asks nonchalantly, only to get no response.

Tony really wants to be patient with him like Pepper suggested, but he’s had it. The kid hasn’t talked to him properly in freaking months, has only ignored him. It’s obvious that something is wrong, and all Tony did was give it time. He’s given enough time, more than enough.

“Kid,” The man stands on his knees in front of him. “Pete?”

Peter turns his head away, only the dead silence replies.

“Peter, you’ve been away for months now and you’re not going to tell me anything?” Tony insists.

“No.” The kid’s voice is the quietest he’s heard, beating it to when Peter said I’m sorry before he faded away with the wind.

“And why is that?”

Nothing. Tony sighs, almost groans.

“I know there’s something wrong, Peter. You don’t have to hide it from me. You’ve been ignoring my calls and texts all over. Your aunt noticed you’ve been quiet, too,” Tony explains. Having no reply, his voice lowers, “Jesus, kid, I’m- I’m really worried about you. Why won’t you talk to me?”

The question makes Peter shift to anxious and guilty, yet it doesn’t convince him to talk. No, it makes the kid more stressed, as his hands are visibly shaking.

“You know you can trust me, right? I… Kid, I care about you, so much. You’re so important to me.” Tony almost feels hurt that Peter seems to not believe it. Has he not made it clear before?

The man reaches the boy’s hand, grabs it gently. “Pete. Please look at me.” At Tony’s pleading tone, Peter hesitantly raises his head, revealing unshed, repressed tears. “You can tell me anything – anything that’s hurting you. I won’t think any less of you.”

Tony doesn’t take the eyes off the kid, who’s unable to contain the following sniffs that escape. The older absolutely hates seeing Peter in this state, but it’s worse when he thinks just for how long he’s been bottling it up.

“I-I don’t- I c-can’t fit in, Mister Stark,” Peter whispers.

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t fit in! I-It’s only been months and- and everything feels so different, Mister Stark! I don’t- I don’t know how to explain and it’s frustrating, like—” Peter sobs. “E-Everyone is just acting like n-nothing happened. And I’m here, still remembering every single detail. Still feeling myself disappear. I can feel everything, and I c-can’t forget.”

Tony’s heart breaks. “Peter…” He holds his hand tighter.

“May’s found someone, my classmates aren’t always there… Ned and MJ were dusted, too, but they have their own lives, too. A-And you, you got married… you’re gonna have a kid…” Peter’s eyes are fully red, tears falling nonstop. “Everyone is moving on but I’m still here… fearing I’m gonna disappear again.”

He takes a while to reply. Tony blinks his own tears again, as his hand reaches Peter’s cheek.

“Oh, Pete…”

“I just- I get it, y’know. I’ve never been a normal kid. Now it’s pretty much worse and I’m trying to accept that, too. That I’ll never fit in. I want everyone to be happy. I w-want…” Peter sniffs. “I want you to be happy, too. You have your own family. Y-You don’t have to babysit me anymore.”

“No, Peter—”

“It’s okay, Mister Stark. I-I’ve always been different- I’ve always been a freak—”

“For fuck’s sake, kid, that’s not true,” Tony snaps for once, immediately toning down as he feels Peter flinching. His own dark eyes are burning now. “You’re not a freak, you’re- you’re my family, too.”

He places both hands on Peter’s shoulders firmly and doesn’t look away, ever.

“Peter, you’ll always fit in my life. And in May’s life, and your friends’. I want you to be here. You’re my kid, you’ve- you’ve always been my kid, and nothing will ever change that, okay? Nothing.”

“But—”

“I mean it, Pete. Do you have any idea how much I missed you? Do you know how fucking horrifying it was to watch you die in my arms? It was hell without you, all those months…” Tony’s own tears start falling. “It was killing me, Peter. May couldn’t handle it, either.”

The teen grows quiet again. Tony starts drying some of his tears with one of his hands.

“You don’t… you don’t get it, everyone’s just acting like things are fine and I just c-can’t forget what happened.”

“It’s okay if you don’t feel okay. You’ve been through so much, Pete… everyone copes differently, you’re not forced to act like everyone else does. You shouldn’t bottle it up.”

There’s silence between them for a couple of minutes before Peter hesitantly speaks up again.

“B-But what if… what if everyone gives up on me?” He wonders, absolutely frightened, despite his whispering tone. Just those words manage to destroy Tony inside more.

“That’s never going to happen, not in a million years. We love you, kid. I love you so much you have no idea.”

Peter only cries more, and Tony finally hugs him. The teen sobs in his shoulder, breaks down hard as the man holds him, putting one of his hands in the kid’s brown curls while the other soothes his back. Tony can’t help letting out shaky breaths in the meantime, but he’s still firm in his grip, grounding the kid, reminding him of the unconditional love he has for him.

Knowing Peter, the teenager will need the reassurances over and over again, and Tony is going to do that every single day if necessary.

When the boy’s sobs start quieting down, the man plants a kiss against his cheek and squeezes him, unable to contain his tears. Tony pulls him away only slightly, still holding him by his arms and keeping him close.

“We’ll get through this, okay? I’m never giving up on you, kid,” He reassures, sighing deeply while Peter is able to breathe slowly. “I will always stand by your side.”

Peter, teary-eyed, looks at him with certain doubt. “Always?”

“Always.”

The teen jumps in his arms again, only for… for something to catch Tony off guard. There’s something like… like a click. In Tony’s mind, that is.

He freezes for a moment, but he cannot refuse to comfort Peter again. The mechanic mumbles soothing nonsense, only for him to become silent as his attention shifts… to somewhere else.

This moment, he realizes… it feels like a deja vú. Except it’s not actually a deja vú. If that makes sense.

It doesn’t help that Peter notices when they finally face one another – or at least when the kid looks at him, since Tony is facing the nature around them, not quite focusing on the trees themselves.

“Are you okay?” Peter asks, taking him out of the trance.

“Wh- of course, kiddo. You shouldn’t worry about me.”

He doesn’t look convinced. Tony almost feels hypocritical now, not wanting to worry the kid with some weird impression he has. But how can he explain when it doesn’t even make sense to himself?

Before Peter can question him again, Pepper and Happy are back there. The latter tells them he should get back to the city and the former offers them to come inside and get themselves something to eat. Peter finally looks a little excited, maybe because he might be hungry, so he no longer focuses on Tony, or so he hopes. The kid isn’t stupid.

Pepper and Peter get to the kitchen first, especially as the teen offers to help her. Tony doesn’t follow them immediately, facing the wooden walls of the house. Words fly around and replay in his brain, somehow in different voices other than Peter’s and Tony’s.

It’s almost like Tony has actually heard them. Somewhere, a long time ago…

It might be a lost memory. It sounds so familiar. Why is it?

He doesn’t think about it now as Pepper calls for him. Tony shakes his head and is able to put on a mask for the meantime.

(Yet not for a moment does he try to stop struggling to remember.)

 It comes to him at night. If anything, it’s nothing more than a mere glimpse.

Everything is mostly blurry. He can recognize old colors, that remind him of a distant past. Of a familiar face. One so important and meaningful that has craved a place in his heart. He can’t put his finger on it, however.

He hears silent crying. Feels warmth wrapping around his body. Arms that feel like… like home.

I will always stand by your side. The voice says, in a memorable accent.

A-Always? It’s a tiny, young one that asks.

Always, Tony.

Tony wakes up with actual tears in his eyes. He’s not scared, but… it’s something strong regardless.

It was an actual memory. If it weren’t, he wouldn’t have gotten so shaken.

He… He wants to understand. He wants to remember.

As a result, he doesn’t fall asleep again. No, he ends up going downstairs. Tony doesn’t think too straight, so next thing he knows, he’s somehow inside the garage. To find answers.

B.A.R.F was created to recount traumatic experiences, change them, give him some comfort. It was his own therapy method for quite some time after he’d developed it. Tony hasn’t used it in a long time, though, but he still remembered to implement it in his E.D.I.T.H glasses (… which might have its name changed now that the big battle is over).

Today, he doesn’t mean to use it to change something in his past. This time, he wants… he wants to activate his brain, somehow. He’s still trying to make sense of the flashback he had. More and more words fly here and there, and he knows there’s something meaningful about them, about the memory he’s striving so hard to clear it up. It’s too bad that he can’t rationalize.

He keeps feeling the same pain and warmth from that moment. He remembers his frustration. He knows it’s from his distant past, long before Tony was known as the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist persona. It’s a part of his life that the Stark has forced himself to repress, to the point where it’s still affecting him now.

Now that he has the glasses, parts of the memory are coming to life, right there in his garage. There are the same colors he’s seen. Dark red that reminds him of blood, of violent words and remarks. The sunset outside, a rather beautiful and tear-jerking sight. Frustrated yelling, except Tony can’t understand any of it. In contrast, there’s another calm voice that tries to reason with it.

Tony knows he’s going to feel even more fucked up. Almost nothing about his past leaves him at peace. It always comes back to haunt him with the same questionings about himself. He partly blames the media for getting literally anything from his life and making a huge deal about it, despite having become familiar with being such a recognizable figure.

He doesn’t want it to matter now. He wants to understand what happened. There are memories that may never come to the surface, thanks to the long-term trauma. A mechanism his body has developed all those years, long before the occupational hazard that is to be a hero.

Tony is sure he’s on the verge of breaking down as he tries to force it to come out. No, it’s not working. He shouldn’t do it this way. Shouldn’t yell at his oppressed, younger self that’s never been truly gone. That’s been quiet, in an inner coma, suffering all at same.

He should be… patient. Suddenly, Pepper’s words come to him again.

You have to be patient with him, honey. Peter has been through a lot… he’ll tell you once you make it clear that it’s okay.

He takes comfort in them. He should… give himself time.

It’s okay, he tells himself. It’s okay. You don’t have to come out now, but you don’t have to be afraid. You’re… You’re safe.

In response, Tony is able to breathe again. He tries not to focus on what B.A.R.F is up to.

You’re safe, he repeats again, and again. He closes his eyes and relaxes, at last.

He… lets it flow.

(Distantly, it kind of reminds him of that movie with the cartoon panda achieving inner peace. He must have seen it with Peter one time. It feels like decades ago.)

In. Out.

In. Out.

In. Out…

When he opens his eyes, he’s no longer in the garage.

Rather than the cozy wood, it’s a wide room with dark red walls. Tony recognizes it to be the living room of the Stark mansion. He’s been so used to the lake house that he forgot just how big (and empty) everything was. Sunshine rays enter the residence, it’s a rather beautiful day.

In contrast, there’s the yelling again. Fighting. The bright blue pixel figures slowly come to surface. One he acknowledges to be himself. Young Tony seems to be at least 15, as he’s already wearing one of his old MIT hoodies. The other person turns out to be Jarvis, who still has his fancy, black suit.

The two are arguing. A very rare occasion to happen. They never got into a bad argument, not like Tony and Howard constantly did. Though, if anything, Tony is the one yelling. Jarvis calmly tries to get to him, which makes the teenager behave worse.

“You don’t GET IT, Jarvis!” The boy screams. “I don’t fit in anywhere! Not in MIT and certainly not in my own home! My parents send me away whenever they have the fucking chance!”

“Master, they only… they only mean to do the best—”

“DON’T YOU DARE DEFEND THEM! You hear them say that yourself! They don’t want me around, n-nobody wants me around.” Tony’s voice is angry, furious, yet it’s dangerously close to break in tears that threaten to fall. When he was young and more emotionally unstable, he’s not yet learned to keep on a mask. That would happen after MIT. “Nobody gets it, Jarvis. I’m… I’m never going to be normal. I’m a Stark. I’m supposed to be great, but I’m… not.”

Present Tony feels the words stinging in his heart. The look on Jarvis’ face only makes it harder to watch, to listen. He doesn’t repress it again, though. It’s too late to go back.

“Mom and Dad gave up on me when I was fucking six, Jarvis,” Young Tony hisses, words poisoned with disgust. “They barely let me get home now. And when I am here, they never want to see me. They’re ashamed of me.”

The boy’s eyes only grow deeper as he continues, “I w-want to believe you, Jarvis… I want to believe Mom, that she and Dad… that they love me, but it’s- I’m not that fucking stupid, okay? No matter how hard I try to be better, I’ll never be good enough. No matter how many stupid robots and engines I build, that’s never going to change.”

(Present Tony feels it. The shame. The disappointment in himself. It was never truly gone, was it?)

“I don’t… I don’t blame people for feeling ashamed of me. For thinking so little of me.” The teenager’s voice breaks in sobs. “I-I know I’m a fucking freak. Okay? I get it. I’ll never be normal. And… you know what? You don’t- you don’t have to keep babysitting me anymore, Jarvis, you can- you can just leave me, too. Y-You have your family to get back, you should be with them. I’m not worth it.”

Jarvis is silent. He’s completely torn, heartbroken.

(Tony almost wishes he could never remember the look on the man’s face.)

“Maybe Howard was right,” Young Tony says bitterly. “I’ll never be someone anyone can be proud of.”

The teenager weeps and falls to his knees. Present Tony only stands there, unable to see the look on Jarvis’ face as he stares at his younger self. Tears creep in his own eyes, the speech getting through his heart, ripping it to a million pieces again.

(He hates that he still feels like Young Tony to this day. Feeling useless at the battle against Thanos. Helpless as he watched Peter die. Failing to save half of the universe. Watching the world still falling apart, despite everyone getting back. Expecting his child, Morgan, to arrive and fearing he’ll fuck her up, too.)

Present Tony doesn’t say a thing. The silence that follows in the scene almost drowns, suffocates him.

It’s a long time before he hears slow footsteps coming to him. His teenage self, that is. It’s then that Jarvis wraps his arms around the young boy. The Present Stark can feel its affection from there.

(He faintly feels what teenage Tony must be feeling right now. Having always wondering how a hug from Jarvis felt like. It’s something he never admitted to himself until maybe that moment and right now, years later. Tony can even smell the butler’s cologne and it’s so much like home.)

Young Tony freezes; stiffens his body while Jarvis welcomes him in his embrace. The butler places a hand behind his head, touches his dark hair so caringly that Tony finally gives in – he downright melts.

“I’m… I’m very sorry. For making you believe all of this.” Jarvis sighs. “I will not defend them – and not him ever again, because he is wrong. For a so-called genius, he knows nothing about you. I have not known a boy as intelligent and as good-hearted as yourself.”

The younger makes no noises nor moves while the older continues, “You have already changed the world… and you will make it much better, because you are going to be greater than he could ever be.”

“Jarvis…” He whispers. “I…”

Present Tony can tell he wants to say I love you. But he doesn’t. He’s too shocked, too broken to say it; but Jarvis seems to hear it anyway. The butler soothes him as he leans his chin against the top of Tony’s head.

“I am very proud of you.” The man speaks, with the most sincerity he’s heard. It might be the most genuine and positive thing anyone told the fifteen-year-old in more than a decade.

Jarvis gently pulls him away, faces still close and he gazes at him with unconditional love.

“I will always stand by your side.”

“A-Always?”

He doesn’t hesitate. God, Jarvis smiles fondly at the hurt boy. “Always, Tony.”

It’s the first time Jarvis calls him that. He’s not Master Tony. From the sound of it, he has never been just Master Tony to the man. He’s always… been family. Just like that, the teenager sobs even harder, only to be protected by Jarvis’ arms again. The crying echoes in the living room, and so the sun illuminates them both.

“M-Mister Stark?”

Tony doesn’t startle up, even though he was entirely integrated. He partly turns around, finding Peter, his curly hair the biggest mess he’s seen. Were it not for the situation the teen finds him, Tony would have squished the kid for how freaking adorable he is.

“I-I’m sorry, I uh- I heard you wake up and you- you just rushed out here and I got w-worried, so I followed you and… I kinda saw some of that. Sorry,” Peter rambles. “Are you okay, though?”

Despite the tear that rolls down Tony’s face, the man nods. “I’m fine, Pete. Sorry for scaring ya… there was something that wouldn’t leave me be. Not the first time that happens,” He shrugs, which doesn’t really soothe Peter. Tony then admits, “But it was… different this time.”

The boy’s puppy eyes shyly glance at the projection of B.A.R.F, which hasn’t faded away. It’s paused like a Youtube video, so it has stopped by Tony having a full crying attack while Jarvis holds him.

“Who’s… W-Who’s Jarvis?” Peter asks.

Tony is almost shocked to realize that he’s… he’s never talked about the butler before. Well, he never opened up much about his past, but the kid is already aware that Howard wasn’t the best father in the world. The billionaire would have, maybe, if he had the A.I., but much like its inspirational muse, it was… gone, for good. Remembering what happened to Vision makes Tony’s heart drop more.

“He was… like a father to me. When my old man couldn’t be.” He swallows a lump in his throat. Tony ends up gazing at the projection of his own father figure. His real one. “You know I wasn’t in a good place before… but Jarvis was always there to take care of me. He never stopped, not for once, until he passed away.”

From the corner of his eye, Peter nods in silence. Tony doesn’t mind that he hasn’t stopped crying quietly himself. He just lets it all go. As he gazes at the image in front of them, guilt fills Tony’s heart. Certain… fear of letting people down. It’s a feeling he honestly only felt when he was a kid. Maybe, it’s there whenever he remembers Yinsen, whose advice Tony never once forgot. But now that he truly remembers this argument with Jarvis, it makes him feel worse. Makes him feel like he’s been… ungrateful to his father figure – forgetting him.

Part of Tony remarks that he couldn’t remember this, it is his coping mechanism, whether he likes it or not. Still… he can’t help feeling terrible about it. He hates that he ever developed that method.

“What’s wrong?” Peter isn’t dumb to ignore the look on his face. This kid… he’s too good.

Tony sighs in fondness, looking at Peter briefly with a sad smile before resuming to Jarvis. How sweet of a man the butler was… to the freaking mess that younger Tony was.

“Just feeling nostalgic is all.”

It’s true; B.A.R.F reacts to what his brain is currently thinking. The scenario changes to what was Tony’s bedroom, as huge as the rest of the mansion was. An even younger Tony Stark, probably seven or eight, fixing a little electronic car toy that he built. Jarvis is standing next to him, watching with clear interest.

“Look, Jarvis! I think I got it!” Little Tony claims, very proud of himself.

“I knew you could repair it, Master Tony.” Jarvis smiles. “Let’s put it in action, shall we?”

Following that, they test the car, that runs at full speed while the child controls it. Tony is having the time of his life and the other is satisfied.

“Look at it go,” Jarvis says in his same tone, not taking the smile off his face.

Another memory replaces it. Little Tony hesitantly enters a room, crying and hugging himself. There are plenty of bruises in his arms, from what they can gather from the rare lighting from the night outside.

“J-Jarvis?” He calls, vulnerable.

The butler wastes no time to get there.

“H-H-He got m-mad that I w-was- was p-playing with the…” Tony tries to explain it but is interrupted.

“Shhh… you don’t need to explain it.” The man carefully holds his hands. “I will take care of this, alright?”

Tony nods. “I-I don’t like it when he drinks… h-he gets really worse.”

Jarvis sighs. “Neither do I. But you are safe now. Once I get you cleaned up, I could tell you a story. What do you think?”

“I like stories. C-Could I… have some some chocolate milk, too?”

“Of course.”

There are others to come. Jarvis greeting a younger Tony whenever he gets home. Jarvis comforting him after a nightmare. Tony shyly giving him a hand-made Happy Butler’s Day card one time when he found out that day existed, since he… he never had the courage to do the same when it was Father’s Day. Not even when it was just Jarvis and Tony after Howard and Maria died.

The unpleasant memories of that time are projected by B.A.R.F, too. A nineteen or twenty-year-old Tony Stark coming home drunk with some random lady. Jarvis isn’t looking pleased, but he could never be angry. He’s just worried.

“Ah, beat it, Jarvis,” Tony groans. “Don’t need to baby me anymore. See?” He smirks at the lady that playfully threatens to bite him.

“Sir, this is getting too far.”

“Sheesh, can’t I have some fun? C’mon. You would like that too, old man. Next time, I’m gonna bring you a lil’ friend.”

Jarvis can only sigh. Tony scoffs, “Alright, whatever, we’re going to bed. See ya.”

“Let me assist you—”

“Hey- Hey! Leave it, okay?” He almost slaps the other’s hands away. “Ugh, Jarvis. I can handle stuff on my own. Don’t need any diapers. See?” Tony kisses the girl passionately. When he finishes, he says, breathlessly, “I’m a big man now.”

The butler doesn’t protest, if not for a pained look. “Of course.”

The drunk young man stumbles to his room with the girl, leaving Jarvis on his own. The man was old, nearing the end of his life and yet he still insisted to take care of Tony, even if he was nothing more than some stupid piece of shit that always disappeared in parties, coming back with random girls every night he came back.

Current Tony is silent when the last memory comes. He’s at some other event, some party at Stark Industries. Obadiah brought him to meet some of his co-workers and stuff. Tony is having the time of his life when someone rushes to him; one… one of the housekeepers that sometimes helped Jarvis at home.

“Mister Stark,” She tries to get to him.

“Marisa! What’re you doing here? You’ve come to join us?” Tony laughs with the others, but she looks serious.

“Tony, this is no time for partying.” When she calls him Tony, that’s when something is wrong. His face almost falls.

“Shit, you’re scaring me; what happened?”

“It’s… It’s Jarvis, he’s…”

What she says next isn’t heard, as Tony doesn’t remember. The look on the twenty-one-year-old says otherwise. Next, he’s at the hospital. Awaiting with Obadiah by his side, he’s insisted to come.

When the nurse comes out, she has a heartbroken look on her face.

“How is he? Is he okay?” Tony already throws a bunch of questions, even though her expression… it tells him everything. He can’t accept it.

“No. No, c-c’mon. Jarvis is the strongest person I know, he can’t… he can’t just…!”

He doesn’t finish the sentence. The nurse lowers her head. “I’m very sorry. We tried everything we could. I’m sure he tried, too.”

Tony doesn’t cry; he straight up faints. The alcohol must have worsened it. When he awakes, they’re alone at the corridor and he begs Obadiah to assure him that Jarvis is fine. He hopes his butler rushes to see him, so they could go home, watch the genius build something, play a game, do anything.

He couldn’t be more wrong. The now older Stark almost feels disgusted as his younger self craves Obadiah’s comfort, but well. He couldn’t have known.

“He can’t die, Obie,” Projection Tony whispers, only to raise his voice. “H-He can’t die. He can’t leave me, too!”

Finally, the man removes the E.D.I.T.H glasses. The whole hospital ambience disappears and they’re both back at the same old garage. Everything feels so small now. So crushing, all this knowledge.

He almost forgets Peter is there at all. The teen saw everything… all the details. Tony didn’t want to hide anything from him, not anymore. On the other hand, he also regrets it when he sees Peter’s sorrowful gaze. Shit, it’s too much for him.

Tony looks away in shame and regret. “Yeah. Now you get why I don’t talk about that past stuff with anyone,” He jokes darkly. He sighs and tries again. “I’m sorry you had to see all that.”

Peter looks a minute away from crying with him, but he takes a deep breath and replies, quietly, “It’s okay.”

The mechanic holds the glasses like they’re going to break at one touch. He puts them away where they were, by the desk with everything else he kept there. Tony resumes to the same spot he was, no longer seeing the projections, just his adapted workshop. Everything is very quiet now, not even the crickets outside can be heard.

(It felt like his house after Jarvis was gone. Tony would barely be there, drowning himself in every drink he found at bars.)

“He died before I could say I was sorry.” Tony whispers. “I… I forgot what he told me. That he believed in me. And after my parents died… I just stopped caring, for good. But he didn’t stop caring about me and…” His lips are quivering. “He was gone before I could realize it. Before I could b-be better.”

Peter takes one step. “Tony…”

Tony now stares at his own feet, the tears making it to the wooden floor. He realizes he doesn’t have any socks warming the former. “He… never gave up on me. But he knew I was ruining my life. I… I let him down. Really bad.”

He can hear Peter stopping. He knows the kid is closer, but he doesn’t have the courage to approach. Maybe it’s the right thing to do. Tony feels like the worst person in the world now. God, he’s fucked up so many damn times.

The broken man is silent for dreadful and long minutes, Peter not getting any closer, nor saying a thing, either. Tony’s hands are shaking.

“I just… I wonder if…” His breath trembles. “I-If he could come back and see me one last time… wh- what would he think of me now?”

He doesn’t expect an answer. Or, he might know it. It might not be too pretty.

Tony embraces the dead silence. At least, before he’s embraced by two arms from behind.

“I-I… I think you’re pretty great, Tony,” Peter gulps, clearly crying. “You grew so much, you became a hero. You saved the universe, you… you saved me.”

Tony’s mouth opens but nothing comes out. Especially not when the boy hugging him, desperate to reassure him, continues with a whisper full of intensity, “You changed the world, just like he said. He would be so proud of you, Tony. We all are.”

That’s enough to break the elder. Tony sobs, his own hands reaching Peter’s arms and squeezing them. For once, he turns around and hugs his kid tightly again. They stand there for an eternity, ugly crying, repeating reassuring words.

“I love you. I love you.” Peter repeats, each time with more sincerity than the last.

“God, I love you too, kiddo.”

(He hopes he can feel Jarvis’ presence there, too. Even if that’s technically impossible. Jarvis never left his heart, after all. Tony promises he will stop hiding it. He’ll make sure to tell Morgan about the man, too. He was his hero. He just wishes he could have actually realized it sooner.)

Finally, Tony leaves one last breath before pulling away from the crushing hug. He still holds Peter’s arms affectionately.

“Thanks, Pete. I needed that in this moment of catharsis,” He tries to joke, getting a little smile out of the kid.

“Are you okay now?”

“Never been better.”

Peter nods. Tony wonders what they can do, seeing as it it’s so late in the night. They both have terrible sleeping habits, he’s afraid.

“Let’s get outta here, yeah?” The older suggests. “How about we see a movie? I miss late movie night.” He puts an arm around Peter’s shoulder, guiding them both out of the garage and closing the door behind them with his spare hand. “Remember we used to put on Star Wars for the hundredth time when you couldn’t sleep?”

Peter snorts. “Y-Yeah, that would be cool. Any suggestions? Would be nice to pick something different.”

Tony hums and thinks for a while… then he has it. “I remembered this one… you know that, uh, that panda that learned to gain some inner peace or something? And he did those moves with the water?”

“You mean Kung Fu Panda?”

“Yeah, that’s the one! I suddenly remembered it today. Thought of refreshing my memory.”

“Oh, cool. That’s the second Kung Fu Panda movie, by the way. The best one in the series, to be fair.”

“Of course.” Tony smiles as they reach the house and get to the living room. The lights are dimly on, thanks to his instructions to F.R.I.D.A.Y.

They both stay awake until the movie ends. Doesn’t take long for the two to fall asleep right there and warm themselves up with the blanket Tony grabbed. They snuggle against one another, safe with each other’s company.

He missed this.

When he falls asleep, though, he remembers Jarvis tucking him in to bed one night. Like every other night, Maria is at a business trip and Howard just isolated himself somewhere in the mansion.

“Tell me that story, Jarvis! You promised!!” The enthusiastic, small Tony demands.

“Very well. Once upon a time, a very stubborn little man went to bed… the end.”

Tony groans. “That’s a horrible story!”

Jarvis openly laughs that time. He is usually contained, being affectionate in his own way, and much better than his father, that’s for sure. Still… it’s nice to hear it.

“Do not worry, Master, I have many other ones like that. You will learn to appreciate true art.”

“Noooo, I know you have better ones, Jarvis!”

“Oh no, you have discovered my secret.”

“Tell meeee,” Tony whines.

“Very well. Can’t say no to that face.” Jarvis dramatically sounds defeated, making Tony giggle. He then sounds serious again. “Once upon a time, there was a very smart boy who created amazing inventions. He had a room full of them, but he had to hide; for his intelligence was misjudged by the mean people of the village. His father would not give much support, either; but the boy was fearless.” Tony’s eyes brightened up as the man continued, “He went outside and helped everyone with their problems. Built stronger homes, vehicles, all constructions you could imagine… and one day…”

Jarvis grabs the little metal man Tony built when he was six, which sitting on his bedside table.

“… He discovered how to fly. He created magnificent wings and flew by his village. The people saw him as their hero… and they had hopes. For the little boy, now a grown man, changed their world and would continue to change every other place he went, making the whole world a better place. The end.”

Tony blinks in awe. “Woah…”

“Did you like it? I personally prefer the one of the boy going to bed, though,” Jarvis teases, the boy rolling his eyes as a response.

“I loved it,” Tony answers, clearly flustered.

Jarvis smiled at him for a couple of minutes. Then, he would stand up and say, “Very well. It is time to sleep, Master Tony.”

“Okay.” The boy yawned, feeling the exhaustion coming to him. A gentle hand is placed by his leg. “Good night, Jarvis.”

“Good night. You can call me if you need anything.”

Once Jarvis turned off the lamp, Tony closed his eyes, faintly hearing the butler close the door in the distance.

When Tony opens his eyes again, he’s flying in the blue sky. Flying to the horizon ahead of him. Knowing the people down there are counting on him. They are proud of him. They’re their hero.

Somewhere down there, he knows his family is there rooting for him. Peter, Pepper, his little Morgan, Rhodey… and Jarvis is there, too, smiling with pride.

#fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #tony stark #peter parker #edwin jarvis #pepper potts #writing #fics #my fics #irondad #butler dad is here too #flashbacks #alcoholism tw #abuse tw #child abuse tw #death tw #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #for the love of thor #this is NOT st*rker you sickos

[cadday]

Collateral Damage Chapter 8

For a while everything just returns to routine. He gets up, goes on guard duty or assists infrequently in the labs, which really translates to picking at Even. Some days he trains with Dilan and Aeleus, some days he just trains the brat Lea, who is okay to have hang around when he isn’t mooning over the Isa. He sometimes asks his other heart resident questions and she answers kinda vaguely but from what he can tell she’s older than him somehow, and knows Luxu at least by name. She is also a key bearer who isn’t keen on Luxu doing whatever it is Luxu is doing. So makes her an ally. Which is good. What’s not good is her heart not getting much stronger and she sleeps most of the time more out of necessity then anything else. He worries she’s going to just vanish one of these days and there won’t be much else to be done about it.

Besides he concerns Radiant Garden remains, well, radiant. It shows no signs of falling to darkness as it is, and the few heartless interlopers they dispatch are few and weak. Braig still gets fidgety for days when they appear and he lurks in the courtyard until he catches sight of the little redhead girl on days where he thinks there are too many. She doesn’t ever seem to be in danger or missing from action so he tries to relax and stay some semblance of positive.

It’s freaking storming when things go wrong, because of course it is. It’s been more than a month since he’d been restored to just Braig and he should have known not to let his guard down.

At first Braig is loitering around the library, Ienzo was reading and Braig, with some assistance from Lea and Isa after he egged them on enough, had built a book fort around the other boy. They were trying to figure out the best way to make a doorway that didn’t collapse immediately when Aeleus came in the room, soaking wet and a little worse for wear.

“Braig something’s happened…” He’s up and running out of the library before Aeleus gets much more out. The man is hot on his heels though and quickly catches up to him to keep pace.

“Master Ansem, Even, and Dilan went ahead. They sent me back to get you, some little girl showed up in the storm and said that monsters had attacked them.” They ran out the door and into the storm and Braig cringed at the lack of visibility. Aeleus steered them off towards the residential districts and they slowed down when they were greeted by several people loitering around their doorways looking on concerned. They spotted Master Ansem, and Even at a smaller house down the street. The little girl was their clinging with Even’s labcoat wrapped around her awkwardly. They were all soaked from the rain and Even was kneeling next to the girl talking about something with a serious expression. Master Ansem looked less than happy.

“What happened?” They skidded to a stop and Braig noticed the house's windows were all shattered. He cringed before looking back at Ansem.

“The heartless returned and…” He glanced at the girl before frowning and stopping his thought. Braig could only guess that there was a reason the kid’s grandma wasn’t around. Dilan came out of the house then looking grim, he shook his head and Braig tried not to wonder if he could have prevented this. He felt something hit his leg and he stumbled a bit startled. Looking down he was greeted by the girl clinging to him for dear life. Master Ansem sighed.

“Now Kairi, it is going to be okay,” Ansem looked back at the house and shook his head. “She will have to return with us until other arrangements are made, we should at least get out of the rain before we all catch a cold.” Braig watched the rest of the apprentices watch the girl, Kairi, unsure of how to proceed and he sighed before picking her up.

“Well let’s go then. It’s freaking cold out here and I don’t fancy getting struck by lightning.”

The trek back to the castle was mostly quiet and Braig tried not to think about how young Kairi was and how she wasn’t much older in the time he had already lived through. Back in the castle Isa, Lea, and Ienzo were loitering around the entrance trying to not look concerned when they came back soaking wet with another kid. Master Ansem waved them off though, which only meant they kept lingering in doorways as they all took turns getting dried off and keeping an eye on Kairi. She was really quiet and Even said it was most likely shock. At some point Ienzo, Lea, and Isa had begun dragging in pillows and blankets, and a very ridiculous teddy bear to pile around her and eventually they all took to laying around the sitting room he was holed up in waiting to see what happened. Dilan and Aeleus had gone back to the street to see if anything else had been attacked or anyone for that matter. Even was falling into the role of fussing Dad again as he kept checking Kairi’s temperature and fussing around the sitting room until Braig got so frustrated with his fidgeting around he tripped him into the seat next to him. Braig was just sitting. Master Ansem had commented about Kairi seeming to recognize him and Braig mentioned meeting her on patrol, which apparently meant he wanted to help babysit. Honestly he preferred this to returning to the street, for one the rain sucked, but mainly he was having a hard time coping with, well this failure. Heartless taking hearts could mean Radiant Garden could still fall, albeit slower. Without the machine it could give them more time to stop it.

He would have to teach Kairi how to summon the keyblade. Braig didn’t really have much choice. The heart sent a feeling of agreement and he frowned slightly. Not right now though. The kid needed time to cope and Braig needed to figure out how he was going to explain any of this to the other’s if and probably when they found out what he was up to. Sure he would be able to explain training the kid as concern for her well being but well when the keyblade shows up there will probably be some questions. Eventually Dilan and Aeleus return with less than stellar news. Two families were missing from nearby houses as well as an older gentleman who lived alone next door. Broken windows and in one house the dining room looked like it had been splintered into a hundred pieces.

Braig wanted to hit his head on the wall. Instead he helped send the brat’s to their rooms for the night and helped Even as he set Kairi up in a guest room. She still wasn’t talking but their was not much else they could do tonight. Braig hoped the sunrise would bring a positive light back to the world.

“Kid my rooms two halls away okay, a left into the big hall and then another left. I’m the first door on the right. You need anything feel free to wake me up. If you can’t find me feel free to just yell until someone finds you. Lea yells when he's lost all the time as well so everyones used to it.” Kairi didn’t even look at him so he sighed, “Good night kid.” He shut the door and headed to his room to turn in.

The next week Master Ansem sets about trying to find a place for Kairi, and after exhausting family and friends as being unable or otherwise not around anymore, Kairi becomes a fixture in the castle. Which is convenient for Braig but makes Even get dramatically aggravated for a while even as he personally makes her and Ienzo chocolate chip waffles for breakfast that morning and then takes them shopping to get Kairi some things for her new room. Kairi is so little and it takes her some time to adjust as much as it does them.

She has nightmares. Screaming, crying terrors, in the middle of the night. They take turns based on who gets to her first really to calm her down. Aeleus buys her a night light shaped like a star. It changes colors and seems to help a bit.

Lea and Kairi get along remarkably well. He carries her everywhere and Isa indulges her just as much because it makes Lea light up like the freaking sun when he does.

Ienzo shows Kairi books and stories, and reads to her a lot. She likes stories of worlds, and different places. Stuff with happy endings and magical creatures. Her favorites have dragons, and her least favorites have princesses locked away or sleeping. The kids though are okay and Braig feels a little hopeful again. Seeing Kairi with the other kids though reminds him this kid is way too little to be fighting anything.

‘not safe if she can’t fight.’ And his weird heart friend is right but it still doesn’t make it suck any less. So Braig out of spite and because frisbees are not weapons, buys Isa and Lea real weapons. He gets a lecture for it about safety, sights christmas presents only to be told it’s the middle of summer but who cares, they were training them to fight anyway. Isa is not really thrilled at being given a weapon, he gets a sword because braig figures it’s close enough to what he used later and giving a teen a claymore seemed like the road to injury. Lea gets chakrams, because he can’t think of anything else to get the kid, but they're plain compared to the memories warring in his head and little more than bladed circles. The little turd actually complains they lack style and he tells him he can have nicer ones when he can use those properly.

Ienzo gets a book on magic because he feels guilty buying the other twerps things and not the younger boy. Ienzo seems at least happy with it and Even is just happy he didn’t get Ienzo a sharp thing he thinks.

Training Lea and Isa is equal parts awful and hilarious. They tend to alternate between being motivated and lazy and he finds while Lea’s style he get’s, kids bendy and fast and he can work with that, Isa kinda fights like he’s trying to break everything into a million pieces, for being so calm Isa has a temper just as much as Lea in a fight. So he starts dragging Dilan and Aeleus into training, and then pushing the little berserker in their direction.

This is fine for a while and he feels better when they all can defend themselves adequately. Heartless still came and went, they kept an eye on darker days and there were casualties but few and far between.

As time moves on Braig feels a little better about the changes, and starts to think less of what hasn’t happened. Aqua never does return, and he assumes the worst and adds it to his growing list of failures. Years pass and he teaches Kairi to summon the keyblade, with the guidance of the other heart, under the guise of meditation or some bologna. She proceeds to run around the castle showing everyone her giant flowery key. He pushes Even in the right direction into understanding what it’s for and not before long Kairi under strict supervision is riding Radiant Garden of heartless. They take turns going on jobs with her and the kid turns out to be a scrappy little thing in a fight. She’s all quick movements and dancing away from attacks. Lea likes sparring with her the most and they spend hours in complicated spars trying to wear the other out.

Braig still feel’s tense though and as he watches the kids grow up they get closer to another major point in his time that hasn’t happened. Ansem Seeker of Darkness might not even exist in this world, no Xehanort Terra meant no Xemnas so really they shouldn’t have anything to worry about...

#braig #xigbar #luxu #xehanort #kingdom hearts #fix it #kairi #lea #isa #aeleus #even #dilan #ansem the wise #axel #saix #lexaeus #vexen #xaldin #kairi deserved better #au #time travel

[bungoustraydogsbigbang]

We’ve come to the end of the Soukoku Big Bang 2019! Before we move on to the master post for 2019, we would like to express our sincerest thanks to all of you. It has been a wild ride and us mods couldn’t thank our participants enough for being such lovely people to work with. There’ll also be a feedback form the participants can fill in! The link will be distributed through email and shared in our discord server. We would like to know how you think about us and how you would like us to improve through our feedback form!

If you missed your chance this year, don’t worry, we’ll be back again in 2020! Do stay tuned for some exciting information on where this event will be going next year! We have some “big news” waiting for you!

Without further ado, here’s the masterpost for all entries of Soukoku Big Bang 2019! 

M A S T E R P O S T

It Was Worth Trying by MidnightLightHowlite | Art by Misa

Rating: General Audiences

Seeing Dazai float face down in a river was not all that unusual. True, it hadn't happened in four years, but the view was not exactly a foreign one. No, what was foreign was the fact that Dazai seemed to be shorter. And younger. And didn't remember him. In retrospect, Chuuya probably shouldn't have let the boy call Mori because that allowed his boss to put him on babysitting duty.

(Or Dazai gets deaged. No romance will happen till they are both the same age again.)

Bandaged Sheep by MidnightLightHowlite | Art by Abel

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

There had been something very weird, very off about the new recruit. He had popped up out of thin air a few months ago, wrapped from head to toe in bandages. Not a word of what he did before, saying he wanted to join the sheep. He wasn't strong or skilled, and truly, there was no logical reason for Chuuya to pay him any mind.

But then the Port Mafia put a huge bounty on his head and things started to get interesting

these days, you’re fine by AquarianTwin | Art by Nella

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Fifth-grade classmates Q and Aya are convinced that their older brothers would make a perfect pair if they’d just stop fighting for five minutes. Dazai and Chuuya, who have been dating for over a year, find this too funny to correct them.

Dazai takes in his younger sibling, Q, after they’re removed from their father’s home. Overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising of a child when he can barely keep himself alive some days, Dazai leans on his partner, Chuuya, to help lead him through. It’s a good thing Q gets along so well with Chuuya’s younger sister, but Dazai thinks he might die of laughter if the pair try to “secretly” set him up on another date with his own boyfriend.

Project Pinocchio by EKmisao | Art by Ginny

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

What kept the youngest mafia executive alive enough was a new file, on a newly-acquired powerful cyborg. It started as a project to keep a cyborg a boy. It became more than he expected.

Outrunning Fate by RocketJams | Art by Nanamin

Rating: Not Rated

Chuuya laid in the hospital bed, his consciousness slipping away slowly as he patiently awaited his demise. The doctors had assured him he wouldn't feel a thing but for some reason he couldn't shake this feeling his chest. An subtle pain which at this point had coaxed his stomach into a frenzy. Something was wrong but there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

In Isolation He Thrived by Maddy | Art by Leo

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

All his life Dazai felt like a tool, a pawn that was just tossed aside when not needed. He was looked down on and felt useless, so slowly a fire ignited within him and turned him into a merciless person also well known as a "Soulless Demon".

He always believed he was destined to do wrong until one day when he finds Chuuya who proves him wrong.

S8 (TBA)

i step from here without you by fatimé | Art by eva

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

“I used Corruption because I trusted you,” Chuuya gasps out, and the words leave a hole the size of Yokohama in his chest. He punches Dazai right where that hole is and hopes it hurts him just as much as it hurts Chuuya.

Dazai smiles. He catches him when his vision finally goes dark and the next thing Chuuya wakes to is emptiness in his heart and a stack of neatly folded clothes.

In one universe, they’re partners-turned enemies, the former Double Black, the most fearsome duo in Port Mafia history. They’re Soukoku and they’re spiteful and they’re tangled up in one another more than they’d care to admit.

In another, they’re—

S10 (TBA)

In Blood we are Sealed by Chaosia | Art by RedZeverin

Dazai stared at his subordinate and the white tiger passed out on the ground, dismayed. It almost worked. This was the fourth person they've went to. There was one more person Dazai could take Atsushi to but he had enough reason to guess that it wouldn't work.

Dazai made a face.

There was one person Dazai knew who could do the job. He'd successfully commit suicide though before that gremlin ever found out he had such thoughts. The taste of metallic filled his mouth. He held in the urge to spit it out.

His ears rang as he imagined a shrieking voice yelling his name like it was the worst insult one could come up with and the mirage of fire that surrounded those blue eyes and foul mouth. Ugh, he was so annoying even in his imagination...and short.

Sticking a pinky into his ear to clear out the haunting voice, Dazai went about gathering up his apprentice and the tiger. Maybe fate would take pity on him and this next trip would solve their problem...

He could feel the cursed blood laughing at him all the way back to their hotel room.

Or a magical AU where Dazai inadvertently gets Atsushi cursed and they have to go to Chuuya, a powerful witch in his own right, to break it.

S14 (TBA)

Quatervois by TheWanderingTanteiThief | Art by King

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Quatervois (n.) a crossroads; a critical decision or turning point in one's life

Chuuya didn't expect to see a man hanging from a tree.

Chuuya didn't expect to meet the man again.

Chuuya certainly didn't expect the man to be the crown prince of the kingdom.

...or cardverse au where Dazai is an asshole and Chuuya just wants to have a peaceful life. Is that too much to ask?

flaws and all by alli | Art by phryn

The transition Dazai and Chuuya routinely make between their heated arguing and completely seamless teamwork is being disrupted by their changing relationship. Which is an issue, because the two of them have been assigned to what could possibly be the most important undercover mission of their careers. Will they be able to strengthen their partnership for the better, or will it crack under the ever growing pressure?

-

As much as he craved that, as easy as it would be to do, it terrified him.

So, he didn’t.

Mirror Mirror In My Eye by MidnightLightHowlite | Art by cchibikko

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Dazai didn't have much hope for the next few years of Hogwarts, but would have liked to wait at least a few till Arahabaki noticed him.

Never such luck for the resident mummy.

School year was already shitty as it was, but now he has a fiery angry redhead demanding answers he's not ready to give

School year was already shitty as it was, but now he has a fiery angry redhead demanding answers he's not ready to give

Fuck.

thy kingdom come by chubsthehamster | Art by Stella Rasu

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

In a bid to save their continent from destruction, the kingdoms of Ada and the Port Mafia must put aside their years of tension to form an uneasy alliance. An act of holy matrimony unites Princes Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya, marking the beginning of an infamous partnership.

The affair is strictly political, and perhaps for the better. The two hate each other from the beginning.

should we never meet again by setosdarkness | Art by phryn

Rating: Mature

Sixteen women have been killed by a vicious serial killer haunting Yokohama’s streets.

Dazai has been chosen to become a part of the elite Bloody Valentine Task Force, even if he personally thinks that it’d be a lot more fun to stay at home with his boyfriend. Especially since it took years to convince Chuuya to finally move in with him.

It’s just a coincidence that Chuuya’s agreed to move in with him the moment he’s been chosen to become a part of the Task Force, right?

Resolving the Matter in Spirit by ASentientSlug | Art by Tomomorey

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Dazai's boring, everyday life ends in an accidental double suicide, but instead of facing the sweet release of endless sleep, Dazai finds himself in the Spirit World, where nothing is familiar and dangerous, soul-eating spirits lurk behind every corner. To get out, Dazai must confront the ghosts of his past and the ghosts of his present when one very familiar and yet very dangerous spirit takes Dazai under his wing.

If We Ever Meet Again by Luc | Art by Saiel

Rating: Mature

It all started with diamonds.

Chuuya thinks he would've been just as attracted to it if it wasn't for the equally shiny police badge in his pocket.

It all ends with a silver bullet.

For someone as talented in the dance of crime, Dazai has developed quite a bias about the jewels that would catch anybody's fancy.

Diamonds? They're overrated. Old. Boring.

Rubies? Sapphires?

Now those—

—those are worth getting caught for.

keep your windows open by Maristella | Art by Einjjjj

Rating: General Audiences

Usually, whenever Chuuya jumped, he flew.

This was not one of those times.

(Or, alternatively, where Chuuya breaks into Dazai's mansion as a thief, and comes out as a kidnapper. Even though he's also sort of a kid. And it's also not kidnapping.)

(Not when the victim bribed the kidnapper to take him.)

“You do know that the treasure doesn’t exist, right?”

“The what?”

“The treasure. You know, the one in the rumours. It doesn’t exist.”

“…are you screwing with me?”

“No?”

“I’m not an idiot. If there’s no treasure, why else are you here then?”

“Um…this is my house?”

(Also featuring: Chuuya and the different types of falling.)

half of my half by keptein | Art by manwe.russingon

Rating: Mature

No one understands why Dazai’s dæmon looks like a boy more often than not.

Book One: Fire by chuuzuke | Art by wandiwoo

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Avatar The Last Airbender/Korra AU: The world has changed. Technology can meet nearly every need, to the point where bending is considered a relic of the past, and with it, the Avatar. In fact, no one has seen the Avatar for nearly 100 years, and most people prefer to keep it that way.

Nakahara Chuuya, Prince of the Fire Nation, more than understands what it's like to be considered a relic. After the Fire nation moved to a parliamentary system, the title of Fire Lord is a largely ceremonial one, and Chuuya struggles under the burden of an office that restricts his every move without giving him any actual power to enact change.

When he runs away, intent on finding his own path, it seems like fate when he runs into Dazai Osamu, a mysterious man who claims he has a way to cure the unexplained illness Chuuya has suffered from his whole life.

peace lily by intimatopia | Art by phryn

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

They say you don’t truly know a person until you live with them. Dazai and Chuuya would argue that they know more about each other than one ought to know about anyone else.

Or: Mori forces 15 year old Dazai and Chuuya to share a flat because he doesn’t trust them to be on their own, and he thinks it’ll be a good way for them to bond.

Dazai and Chuuya think he's a sadist.

Two rambunctious teen boys, left to their own devices in a multi-million dollar penthouse. What could possibly go wrong?

of flowers and verses by lua & lanipalmer | Art by Yahuri

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

For years, Nakahara Chuuya has been pining over the ex-mafioso himself, Dazai Osamu. So what better to vent than through poetry? Combined with his (frankly, alarming) knowledge of flower languages, this is a story about Chuuya and his frustrations and desires.

Still Worth Fighting For by Maru | Art by ewe

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

"In which Chuuya never joins the port mafia, stops using his ability for fighting out of guilt, and later becomes a hacker.

His life had been relatively peaceful until one day, Dazai appears again at his doorstep asking for his help to find information on ‘The Rats.’"

The Necromancer by Ru | Art by etsuki_haru

Rating: Mature

If you venture into the slums of Suribachi City, you’ll find the witch Dazai Osamu, known as the Necromancer, and his barely tamed beast, Arahabaki. If you bring to him the bones of someone, he will bring that person back to life - in exchange for some of your lifespan. But bringing a soul back from the dead turn a heart twisted. Did you get your wish, or dig your own grave? These are the grim tales of a witch and a creature, trying to figure out their humanity, overseeing the consequences of taking death too lightly.

S34 (TBA)

fire and calamity by Jasmine | Art by Zen

Arahabaki has left its vessel, leaving Chuuya in a comatose state. Dazai and the rest of the ADA now have to track the god down and capture it for two reasons. One, because Chuuya knows the whereabouts of the Book. Two, because if they don't, they lose him forever. (ADA!Chuuya, established!SKK)

S38 (TBA)

fight our way to heaven by kiwi | Art by chicchii

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

The redhead had a fire in him that made Dazai want to poke and prod until he could see the limits. Chuuya was so alive and for the first time since Dazai could remember, he wanted to taste and feel that fire.

What he didn’t account for was that the decision to follow Chuuya would lead him to discovering memories he didn’t know he had and it would make them a target for all ability organizations in Yokohama.

Or the one where we have teen skk against the world.

Everything Comes Back To You by Catsby | Art by Mai

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

In the period after the war for the Book, the Port Mafia finds itself in need of a Boss. The logical choice for that position would be Chuuya - except Chuuya has gone missing.

Après Un Rêve by manwe.russingon | Art by Sebby

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

"I wandered long, methought, alone

to the deep shadow where the dead dwell,

but ever a voice that I knew well,

like bells, like viols, like harps, like birds,

like music moving without words,

called me, called me through the night,

enchanted drew me back to the light!"

Nakahara Chuuya, the elven lord commander of the kingsguard of kingdom of Mirkwood, singing in the woods. With a sudden intervention from Dazai Osamu, a mysterious being that was caught in between his tunes, they became best friends afterwards. Or perhaps it is more than that?

Time to time, one story comes with another. The truth finally unveils, and the clock is ticking faster. What exactly is Dazai? Why does he act so familiarly to Chuuya? And perhaps the biggest question we need the answer is: What makes them always connected, even for thousands of years?

S42 by chuuzuke | Art by willofjokerXIX

Lost All Judgement by todxrxki | Art by Yahuri

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

“Uh, sorry, but unfortunately I already have a date to the dance.”

“Oh, really?” Tachihara says, sounding disappointed. He pauses for a second, clearly processing what Chuuya’s just told him, and then says, “Who is it?”

Chuuya certainly hadn’t budgeted for this.

Panicking, he tries to think of the people that he knows that are single, and before he knows it, the first name that comes to mind is slipping out of his mouth. “With Dazai.” / After a momentary lapse in judgment, high school student Chuuya ends up having to pretend to date his enemy Dazai to get Tachihara off of his back - and quickly finds it's nowhere as bad as he'd imagined.

Of Boxers and Bachelors by writingfromtheshadows | Art (1 & 2 & 3) by Angella

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

When Dazai Osamu gets cut off from the family's coffers in an attempt to regulate his behavior, he decides to find a way around his father's ultimatum. Faking an engagement with an underground boxer sounds like the perfect scandal...

Crimson Memoirs by Luneath & Abel | Art by lefterstein

Rating: Mature

By the power of great ancient magic, supernatural beings are aptly hidden just behind the eyelids of humans. Vampires, witches, weres, faeries – all of them live and exist out of the fairy tales books.

Humans' eyes are just shielded into not comprehending their true nature, their magic, and their trickery. To protect them, the Gods say. But Dazai has always known that he’s no ordinary human. From the gift of seeing beyond the magic veil to the peculiar dreams to the aching, hollow feeling hugging his chest in a tight embrace – he knows he’s different.

What Dazai doesn’t know is that this isn’t the start of his story and the stranger with glowing blue eyes that have always been the center of his recurring dreams. What Dazai doesn’t know is that this is not exactly his first life. Dazai doesn't know a lot of things. But with time, he will come to know that he doesn't mind dying the second time for Chuuya.

entanglement by Shinkirou | Art by Zevy

Rating: Mature

Not everyone has a destined partner. Theoretically, even Dazai and Chuuya aren't supposed to. Are being programmed not to, even.

But whether they're "meant" to be together or not is irrelevant. Dazai wants Chuuya to be his, and so Chuuya will be his.

... If only it were actually that simple.

pointless by Lua | Art by Behax

Rating: Explicit

It was an annoyance after everything that happened, and yet, Chuuya found himself on the doorsteps of a man that he had more than enough reasons to kill. He could come up with excuses, but he was not in the habit of lying to himself. At times, Chuuya would describe their relationship as an addiction he couldn't get rid of. This was ridiculous. Dazai was now a traitor and a coward; what did that make of Chuuya himself to know where to find him and keep that a secret?

Latent Identities by RocketJams | Art by Seiran

Rating: Explicit

He could deny it however many times he wanted to, but Dazai could see through it every time. The lies over his lips, the false smiles and misleading words. He could fool anyone else into believing he was who he said he was. Though whenever he smiled, Dazai could feel it. Something was wrong, he wasn't Chuuya.

N6 (TBA)

Before I Fall by hellosweetie17 | Art by Nanamin

Rating: Explicit

Chuuya’s oblivious to the circumstances surrounding their fragile world; Dazai’s made sure of it.

Mighty Long Fall by quinnlocke | Art by Xoinks

Rating: Mature

When Dazai betrays the ADA for the Port Mafia, he’s greeted as the prodigal son. That doesn’t mean he’s trusted, however, and now that he’s betrayed the Port Mafia and ADA alike, he has far more enemies than friends. As Dazai works to survive the heart of the viper’s nest, it quickly becomes clear that Chuuya will save him - or be the reason he fails.

Chuuya, meanwhile, knows Dazai too well to trust that his cards are on the table. But as he finds himself at Dazai’s mercy, and caught between loyalties, he realizes there’s no other option but to master the god that lives beneath his skin and hope he survives long enough to protect the organization to whom he’s sworn his life.

But first they both must realize that a mighty long fall awaits.

moonshine voyage by setosdarkness | Art by Behax

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Dazai's plan to stop Fyodor involves sacrificing his life. He should have known that even the best-made plans are useless when there’s someone like Chuuya out there, who just won’t stop saving him.

A journey of growing and growing old together.

[or: chuuya saves dazai's life by linking their souls & lifespans together]

Lifeline by Abel | Art (1 & 2 & 3) by phryn

Rating: Explicit

Nakahara Chuuya is a normal kid. He has two parents who loves him very much even though he's not really their son. He's a good student even though he's not on top. He's popular and has a lot of friends. Everything in his life is fine-- perfectly fine.

Until he bumps into another kid his age, bandages wrapped all over him. Dazai Osamu-- he said his name was, with a tone of amusement and yet tinged with longing.

Little did he know, that fated meeting will change his life forever.

Can’t Be Tamed by stargazerlilith | Art by Abel

Rating: Explicit

The boss of the Port Mafia is merciless against those who oppose him.

Well he was, until he resigned himself to the fate of the notorious dating app known as Tinder.

We hope you enjoy the masterpieces made by our talented participants! See you again next year!

#soukoku #soukokubigbang2019 #bungou stray dogs #Dazai Osamu #Nakahara Chuuya #fanfiction #fanart #bsd

[veroticker]

Boy toy - Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby

You can buy the book on Amazon.

Summary (from Tanya Eby’s website)

Liam

The moment Sadie Matthews walks through the daycare center door, I feel my world tilt in her direction. Again. I fell for her when I was fourteen, and I’m still not over her. Problem: she still thinks of me as a teen she used to babysit. But I’ve learned a few things about pleasing a woman in the last fifteen years. I can’t wait to show her how good it could be. I need to move quickly before I lose her again. This is more than a game to me, but I still plan to win.

Sadie

I’ve just survived the worst year of my life. As a single mom of twin toddlers, I don’t have time for a man. I barely have time to finish a thought. Who knew that Liam McAllister would grow up to be so devastating? He’s everything my husband was not: tall, built, and willing to have a tea party with my girls.

I can’t possibly get involved with him. He’s too young for me. Too handsome. But he’s so persuasive...

Blurb

““No,” Kate says when I hold up the tiny jeans. “No pants. No.”

Of course she refuses them. She’s two. Two-year-olds are made of No. But I have to be at work in forty minutes, it’s a fifteen-minute drive, and I need some time built into the schedule for me to have a complete and total breakdown.

Today will be the girls’ first time at daycare, even though I swore this day would never come. I didn’t want my girls to be marched out of their own home every morning like tiny nine-to-fivers. I wanted them to enjoy the comforts of home through those formative early years, so I could control their environment. You know, for optimal brain development and health.

Yet here we are. Daycare. If motherhood has taught me anything, it’s that nothing is truly in my control.

And it’s all because this family has had a spot of trouble with nannies. When I say a “spot of trouble” I’m underplaying things just a little bit. The first nanny decided that boinking my ex-husband was a good idea. And yes, I know the nanny and Decker were equally culpable.

But that was only the beginning of the Great Nanny Hell Spiral. Nannies number two, three, and four quit within weeks. They were poached by other playgroup mothers who didn’t have twins. And nanny number five lasted four months, until I realized she’d been stealing from me the entire time.

The fates have decided that employing nannies was not for me. After I discovered three grand in unauthorized credit card charges, daycare suddenly sounded like a reasonable option, and my kiddos’ developing personalities might even benefit from more social interaction.

Kate’s pants are now the only obstacle to this new plan.

I take a deep breath and pray for patience. Then I let it out again. I am a trained therapist. An expert in psychology. Insight into the human mind is my specialty. Yet my years of education are no match for negotiating with my toddlers. “You can’t go to school without pants on,” I point out. “It’s a rule.”

“No pants,” she repeats, just in case I didn’t get it the first time. “No no no.”

“Fine,” I lie. “Leggings instead. Gotcha.” I open up her dresser drawer and grab a pair of purple leggings. They’ll look ridiculous with her green T-shirt, but it’s better than a meltdown.

Anything is better than a meltdown. My meltdown this time, not hers.

She regards the leggings with round-cheeked suspicion.

“Please put these on,” I whisper. “We can’t have waffles until they’re on.” I hate bribing my child with food, but there’s no denying its effectiveness. Faster than you can say organic maple syrup she toddles over and offers a chubby little leg for the cladding.

“Well done!” I say with false cheer. Scooping her into the leggings and then onto my hip, I lift both of us off the floor and look around for her sister. Amy is sitting beside the baby gate, waiting for us, ever-present pacifier in her mouth and Piggypoo clutched in her chubby hand.

She’s my cooperative child. And I tremble at the thought of trying to leave her to the chaos of daycare.”

(review under the cut)

Review

(audiobook) What a nice romcom! It was funny and sexy, and read by two very talented narrators who gave life to the characters.

Can I have a Liam too? He’s hot, smart, rich (by proxy), great with kids, and a gentleman. That makes Sadie--a single mother with lots of insecurities due to a shitty ex-husband--a very lucky woman. Especially since she’s a bit older than him.

How to raise children is one of the main themes of the story. How their brain works, what they can understand and what they can’t, how to manage their feelings... I especially enjoyed the fact that Sadie and Liam know what they have to do to be perfect parents, but they accept that sometimes, they can’t, and give up the pretense--there will be TV and disgusting snacks sometimes, and it doesn’t matter. The best way to be a great parent is to be there for the children and to care for them.

Not a very original situation, but what makes it a must-read is the characters’ quirks--Kate’s propensity to headbutt everything, Liam’s teenaged voice in his head, and so much more. All those characters are likeable.

Well, except for Dexter. He’s a dick.

You laugh, you cry, you get hot under the collar... Highly recommended!

Quickie

Series: Man hands #3 (but they can be read as a standalone)

Hashtags: #romcom #older woman-younger man #single mother

Main couple: Sadie Mathews & Liam McAllister

Hotness: 4/5

Romance: 5/5

+ narration was top quality

- what a shitty husband Sadie had, maybe too much?

  Stalker mode

You can suscribe to Sarina Bowen’s newsletter on her website, same for Tanya Eby on her website.

You can also follow Sarina on Facebook, Tany Eby too here.

#Sarina Bowen #Tanya Eby #Boy toy #contemporary romance #romcom

[faveficarchive]

The Babysitter

By WordWarior

Pairing: Xena & Gabrielle

Rating: PG

Synopsis: Teen Xena has to babysit kid Gabrielle right before the fall festival, and she’s not at all pleased. 

Dear Diary,

It isn't fair. I'm supposed to be helping get ready for the harvest festival with all the other kids (not that I'm exactly Miss Popular, but I thought maybe this time I could do things differently and not have everyone hate me afterwards. Not like the Festival of the Moon when I had to punch out Bureous because he said that stuff to Mala. (And although the other kids said they understood, still, they all treated me weird for days after that), but instead I'm stuck here, taking care of some five-winters-old brat who's visiting the inn. I swear it's punishment for what I did to Lyceus last week, even though Mom told me that cleaning the barn was enough.

"Xena! Get down here -- now! They're leaving."

"In a second!" shouted Xena, her mother's commanding voice having little effect on the strong-willed teenager.

"I said now. I meant now. That means now!"

"Hades," Swore Xena, hastily hiding her diary beneath her mattress. "All right already! I'm coming."

Taking the stairs two at a time, the thirteen-winters-old girl jumped the last five steps landing lightly on her feet. Sullenly, she sauntered into the tavern where the visitors stood talking to Cyrene while their five-winters-old daughter played with a set of blocks. It was early, long before customers would fill the bar. Xena sighed, the weight of the known world on her shoulders.

"Here she is," Cyrene said brightly. "Xena, these nice people have a table to set up at the festival, so they need to leave their daughter here for a bit. I told them you were delighted at the chance to watch her while they're busy."

"Yeah, delighted," said Xena with a saccharine smile, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Cyrene pinched her daughter's arm, the action hidden from her guests' view, but Xena kept her smile in place, pushing the small stab of pain deep down. She had always been good at hiding what she felt and it drove her mother crazy.

"Well that's just wonderful! I can't tell you how much we appreciate this, Cyrene," said the woman with a genuine smile.

"Not at all. She loves doing this sort of thing. Why Xena is a natural with children."

A thousand scenarios for revenge flashed through the teen's mind as she stood quietly by her mother's side. She was already several inches taller than her mom and didn't look like she would stop growing soon. It had been quite a summer. Breasts had exploded from her chest garnering her undue attention from the local boys. Hair grew in the most bizarre places and once a month she had to deal with the infernal Wound of Artemis. Being a female sucked, she had decided.

"I promised the gang I'd help with decorations this afternoon. How long will I need to watch the kid?" asked Xena, sullenly glaring at the child who sported large green eyes and a splash of blonde hair.

"Oh not long, Sweetie," said the woman, already on her way out the door. "Just for a few candlemarks."

"Motheeeerrr!" whined Xena once the couple had closed the door behind them. "What am I supposed to do with her for candlemarks!!!"

"You'll think of something. Just stick close to home. With this many strangers in town for the festival it isn't safe to wander."

"Oh yeah, right," scoffed Xena. "Like some warlord is gonna say 'Ah perfect! A little blonde kid! Now I can rule the world.'"

"You have no idea how a warlord thinks," admonished Cyrene. "Now get to it. I have a lot of work to do to get ready for the traffic of a festival day. I don't want to have to worry about you or that little girl."

"Yeah, of course not," said Xena beneath her breath as her mother slipped into the back. "Why should you worry about me? You never have before." Ever since her father had disappeared, Xena had found herself more and more independent. Cyrene simply didn't have the time to run a tavern and keep a close eye on three children. So Xena had taken the responsibility of watching out for both herself and Lyceus, while Toris helped their mother with the business.

"If Lyceus were here I could make him watch you," Xena said as she approached the happy child. "But that weasel is off with Uncle Kortheer, probably having the time of his life. Boys get all the fun, don't they?" The girl looked up at Xena, her eyes shining. "Yeah, so, um... what's your name, kid?"

"Ella."

"Ella, huh? Weird name."

"S'not weird! Really it's Gabrielle, but Mommy calls me Ella. It's a nice name."

"Whatever. Okay, Gabrielle, let's--"

"Ella!"

"I don't do nicknames, okay?" said Xena, deciding to torture the kid in harmless ways to get out her frustration. Besides, she rather liked the name Gabrielle. It suited the girl. "Now, let's figure out what to do with you for a couple hours."

"Tell me a story."

"Huh? What story?"

"Any story! Tell me a hero story."

"I don't know any hero stories."

"Sure you do! Everyone knows hero stories!"

"Not me. C'mon, let's go see how the decorations are coming."

"Your mom said to stay here."

"Yeah? Well, I'm your boss, got it? And you don't question me. What I say goes," said Xena, one eyebrow raised and her most fierce expression on her face.

"You don't scare me," said Gabrielle, looking frightened.

Xena relented, realizing that she was acting out her frustrations on a little kid. "Yeah, well, good. I'm not really trying to scare you. I just want to see how my friends are doing."

"Okay," said Gabrielle, standing up and dusting off her dress.

"C'mon," said Xena motioning the child through the front door. Gabrielle smiled at the teenager and reached up to take her hand.

"Awww geez," Xena muttered, relenting as she took the little girl's hand in hers and walked her out the door.

Dear Diary,

The kid is driving me nuts. She's so curious about everything. It's her first trip outside of Potidaea and she thinks every stupid thing that's different is interesting. Man, she'd drive me insane if I had to spend more than one day with her. As it is, I can barely keep an eye on her. I was trying to talk to Maphius about the dance decorations and I hear this huge crash and there she is, covered in flour. Seems she got into the kitchen stores, saw a bug or something and was trying to catch it as a 'present' for me. Like I want a bug! Anyway, I figured I'd better take her home before she wrecked anything else.

I can't figure it out but she's decided I'm like some kind of hero. She just stares at me with those big eyes and thinks everything I do is amazing. The stupidest stuff and she thinks it's all so cool. Okay, so I sorta like that. But still, it's not enough to make up for the fact that everyone else is working on the hall for tonight's dance and I'm stuck babysitting.

"Xena!"

Now what? Xena asked herself as she put away her diary. "You're supposed to be napping."

The young girl was lying on Xena's bed, not the least bit sleepy, pointing at Xena's bedroom wall. "Look!"

"Look at what, Gabrielle?"

"You got a sword!" the child said, gesturing emphatically to the sword mounted behind the bed.

"Yeah? What of it?"

"Is it a real sword?"

"It's real. But don't touch it. Swords are dangerous."

"Do you get to touch it?"

"Of course! But I'm older. It's different."

"'Kay..." Gabrielle pouted, staring at the weapon.

Sighing, Xena said, "Tell you what. We'll go find you a nice stick and you can pretend it's a sword, okay?"

"Okay!" Bounding off the bed, the little blonde beamed in the direction of her hero. "You're really pretty," she said, out of the blue.

Xena laughed. "You think? Ah, what would you know."

"I know. You're pretty. I bet you're the prettiest girl in Amphipolis, huh?"

"Doubtful."

"Who's prettier?"

"Althea."

"Nah ah."

"You don't even know her!" said Xena, exasperated, yet oddly pleased by the compliment.

"Do so! She was at the place where the flour was. She's not near so pretty as you."

"Yeah, well, she's sure more popular," muttered Xena. Then, at the worshipful gaze of her newest fan, she said, "C'mon, let's go get you a fighting stick." Tucking her diary into her pocket, Xena stood up.

"Neato!" Gabrielle grabbed Xena's hand and yanked her toward the door. The teenager shook her head, smiling, and allowed herself to be pulled along. Hard to beat that enthusiasm, she decided.

Dear Diary,

Man, that kid loves that stupid stick. I mean, it's just a stick, but she's been playing with it forever. I tried to show her how to use it like a sword, but she keeps whipping it around like it's a staff or something. Oh well, she'd probably put out her eye otherwise. She was kind of awkward when she tried to thrust and parry and stuff.

"Careful!" said Xena, looking up from her diary and spotting Gabrielle banging away at a tree trunk with her stick. "You don't want to get bark chips in your eyes or something."

Immediately, Gabrielle pulled away from the tree. "I'm sorry, Xena," she said. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Oh for-- look, you didn't do anything wrong. I just want you to be careful, that's all."

"How come?"

"What do you mean, how come?" asked Xena, exasperated.

Gabrielle inched closer to the teenager, her glistening eyes fixed on the older girl's face. "How come? You don't care 'bout me..."

"What makes you say that?"

"Cuz you won't tell me stories and you act like you don't want me around, that's how come."

"C'mere," said Xena, motioning the girl closer. Gabrielle came within arms' length and Xena pulled her into her lap. "Look, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad. It's just that I've really been looking forward to today and I hadn't expected to have to babysit. I kinda wanted to hang out with my friends."

"I'm sorry, Xena..." said Gabrielle, sniffing loudly.

The teen looked into the little girl's face and saw abject sorrow there. "Awww, c'mon, I said that's what I had planned. Doesn't mean I'm not having fun with you. And sure doesn't mean I don't like you. For a little kid, you're pretty cool."

"For real?" asked Gabrielle, light pouring from her eyes.

"Yeah. I mean, other than messing up the flour you've been pretty good."

"Xena?"

"Hmmm?"

"When I get old like you, will I be pretty too?"

Xena leaned back and seriously assessed the young girl's features. "Well... you won't look like me, that's for sure. We're very different. But I don't think you should worry. You're cute now, so you'll probably look fine when you get older." Twisting suddenly, Gabrielle lunged into a deep hug, surprising the teen with the strength in her small arms. "Hey!" said Xena, laughing. "Cut it out, huh? It's no big deal."

Gabrielle relaxed her grip but remained snuggled against her babysitter. "You make me feel safe," she said.

"Safe from what?"

"From monsters and warlords and stuff. I bet you could kill them all with your sword. I bet you're that good. I bet you're like a hero or something, right?"

"Hardly. I'm just a kid. Kids aren't heroes."

"What do you wanna be when you grow up?"

"I don't know. Maybe a warrior or a healer or something. How about you?"

"A Hestian Virgin. They have pretty dresses."

Laughing, Xena said, "Okay, that's one reason, all right. But I think you should be a bard."

"How come?" asked Gabrielle, pulling away so she could look into the teen's bright blue eyes.

"You like stories so much. And heroes and junk. Bards love that kind of thing."

"A bard? Huh," said the child, an almost adult expression of contemplation on her features. "Can bards be Hestian Virgins too?"

"I dunno. But bards can wear pretty dresses. No reason why not."

Brightening, the child grinned. "Okay! That's what I'll be then."

"Good. Glad to have that settled. Shouldn't leave those decisions until too late," quipped Xena with a lopsided grin. "Hey, you tired?" she asked as the child snuggled back into the teen's arms. Xena was very glad no one was in the small forest glade, watching her. Too much mush, she decided.

"Nah ah," whispered Gabrielle, as her eyes closed.

"Right," chuckled Xena, pulling out her diary.

Dear Diary,

I never really thought about having kids. Always figured they were a big pain. Mom says it often enough. But just between you and me, this Gabrielle kid is kinda sweet. Talky. And too curious. And she says silly things, but still...

Awww geez, I'm talking a lot of nonsense, now. There's no place for someone like Gabrielle in my life. Not the life I want. Adventures, that's for me. Just me and Lyceus and our swords. We're gonna escape Amphipolis and just travel the known world, hanging out with Kings and other warriors. And I'm gonna have jewels and stuff and give them to my mother so she can stop running the tavern and just sit in a big house ordering around lots of slaves. (She always says she doesn't need slaves, cuz she has us. Ha. Ha.)

Mom keeps telling me I'm silly for saying things like that. She says I should worry about who I'm gonna marry and that's it. That's a woman's lot. Well, that and I'm supposed to learn to cook a whole lot better than I do. I suck at that. It's so unfair. Why should I worry about cooking -- something I suck at -- when I'm so good with a sword? Seems to me I should concentrate on stuff I do good, not stuff I'm supposed to do good just cuz I'm a girl.

"Well, well, well... what have we here?" said a gruff voice just behind Xena's shoulder.

Quickly, the teen slid from Gabrielle's sleeping form and hopped to her feet, the child's fighting stick in her hands. "Who are you?" she asked, glaring at the lone man. He was disgusting -- covered with grime, his clothes stained and the stench of stale liquor and unwashed male hanging on him like a noxious cloud.

"I'm the man of your dreams, Hot Stuff."

Xena knew she looked older than thirteen. People were always surprised when they found out her age. It was all that growth over the summer. Once again, she hated the fact that she was too tall, had too much chest and wasn't normal like all the other girls her age. But somehow she had the feeling that her age wouldn't matter at all to a guy like this. Her mom had been right -- she should have stayed close to home. "Get out of here," she said coldly, pushing away her fear and trying to act as tough as the warriors who passed through her mother's tavern. It was all attitude, she had decided at an early age. Act tough and people will see you as tough.

The man laughed. "Ooooh, a feisty one, huh? Good, I like it rough." Before Xena could respond, he spotted Gabrielle, who was just blinking open her eyes. "You gonna let your daughter watch, or do you wanna slip over into the woods a bit? Not that I mind, but some folks is sensitive about that kinda thing."

"You're disgusting," said Xena. "And I'm warning you for the last time -- get out of here or I'll make you wish you'd never found us."

"Xena? I'm scared," said Gabrielle, grabbing onto the teenager's leg.

"Shhh, it's okay, Gabrielle. Everything is going to be fine. This man was just leaving," she said, stroking the child's hair.

The man walked up to Xena and stared at her, eye to eye. He was only about an inch or two taller and the teenager was already mentally figuring out how to use his strength against him. She had spent her youth conning lessons out of the warriors who passed through Amphipolis. Discovering at an early age that she had a natural aptitude for the fighting arts, she had soaked up every piece of knowledge she could, using her younger brother as a sparring partner.

"Let me put it this way, Girlie. You give me what I want and I spare the kid. You even think about trying to fight me and she becomes my target. Got it?"

Gabrielle's grip tightened, tears flowing freely. "All right," Xena said with a feral smile, surprisingly menacing in a face so young. "Now you've got me mad. You're not going to like me mad." With eye-blurring speed, she brought the stick up to his groin, connecting with a resounding thud. As he bent over she elbowed his nose then slammed the stick onto his head, breaking the wood in two with the fierceness of the blow. The man fell to the ground in a groaning heap. "C'mon, Gabrielle," said Xena, urgently, gathering the child in her arms. She ran from the glade as quickly as she could with her awkward burden, overjoyed when she burst through the trees onto the streets of Amphipolis.

Dear Diary,

She's finally asleep. Took three stories and I had to make up half of them because I never paid attention to all that god stuff, but she closed her eyes at last. I wasn't sure what to do about the man, so I went to Thomasus, the smith, and told him there was a highwayman in the woods. He came back and said no one was there. I guess the guy ran away or something. Thomasus said that most likely he wouldn't be bothering anyone around here for awhile, cuz there was blood in the clearing. I suppose it was from his nose. I cracked him pretty good.

I'm mostly worried about Gabrielle. She's just a little kid. I don't like the idea of her seeing that crap. Such an innocent little thing.

"We're home!" wafted Cyrene's voice.

Xena bolted from her room, leaping down the stairs with a finger over her lips. "Shhh! I just got her to sleep!"

Gabrielle's mother had followed Cyrene into the tavern and smiled at Xena. "How was she? Did she behave? She didn't make you tell her any stories, did she?"

"A couple. But I didn't mind. She's a good kid," said Xena, her eyes downcast.

"You didn't have any trouble, did you?" asked Cyrene, examining her daughter's expression suspiciously.

Innocently, Xena met her Mom's eyes. "Of course not."

"Sorry you couldn't be with your friends, Dear," said her mom, her eyes softening.

"No biggie. Gabrielle and I went down there to check on stuff and it was all pretty boring anyway."

"I heard some highwayman attacked a woman and her daughter in the woods outside of town," said Gabrielle's mother.

"You're kidding? What happened?" asked Cyrene, the gossip lighting her eyes.

"Your smithy went out and bloodied his nose. Sent him running with his tail between his legs."

"Did you hear anything about this, Xena? I saw you talking to Thomasus earlier," observed Cyrene.

"Nah, I was talking about armor and junk."

"You and your swords and armor. What's going to become of you?"

"I dunno. Maybe I'll be a hero, like Achilles," said Xena, embarrassed.

"Well if so, Gabrielle will want to hear all about it. She's absolutely obsessed with tales of heroes," said the child's mother, laughing indulgently.

"Yeah, well, maybe I will tell her some day," said Xena, backing away from the two women. While they continued to gossip, Xena slowly walked back up the stairs to her small room. She sat on the edge of her bed, looking down at the sweet-faced blonde child as she slept. "Hey, kid, your mom is here," she whispered gently.

Gabrielle opened her eyes, yawning. It took a moment for her to focus but when she saw Xena she grinned. "Hi, Xena."

"Hi. Your mom is downstairs. You don't have to hang around me anymore, lucky you."

The girl sat up, rubbing her eyes then smiled. She hugged Xena, saying, "I liked hanging around with you. You're a hero. You beat up the bad man and everything."

"Let's not tell anyone about that, okay? We were sorta not supposed to be out in the woods." At Gabrielle's confused expression, Xena said, "Not that you should lie. Just don't, you know, tell anyone unless they ask you. Okay? It'll be our secret."

"A secret? Okay!"

"Good. Thanks, Gabrielle."

"I like how you say my name."

Xena smiled crookedly and picked up the child, carrying her weight easily. "Let's get you back to your mom."

"Will I ever see you again, Xena?"

"I dunno. Maybe. Maybe I'll come to hear you when you're a famous bard."

"And I'll tell stories about Xena, the Warrior Hero."

"It's a deal," said Xena, not quite understanding why the trust of this small child hit her heart in such a deep place.

The End

#xena #xena warrior princess #xena/gabrielle #xena/gabrielle fanfiction #author: wordwarior #fanfiction #femslash

[georgipopovich-voiceblog]

If you’re looking for prompts can you do one with Georgi babysitting and realizing he wants kids

“Fatima,”Georgi begins, smiling to her as she readjusts the diaper bag on his shoulder,while he holds a sleeping six month old baby against his chest in one arm, andholds the hand of a six year old with his other, “You’re panicking overnothing. You haven’t been on a vacation in seven years, and you deserve one.”

“I know…” Theold skater sighs, “I know, I just…. I worry. I’ve never left them for longerthan a few hours with someone, I’ve never done this overnight before, let alonethree days.”

“It’ll flyby, and we’ll call you every night to update you on why I am, and always willbe, their favorite uncle. Now go. You’ve got a plane to catch, and I don’tthink they’ll excuse motherhood worries as an excuse….”

Mohammed, herhusband, sighs, as he wraps his arm around her. “Fatima….. we have to go, we’vekissed them goodbye eight times already, we have to.”

“Oohhhh…..fine. Fine. You call me the moment something happens, please.” She sighs, walkingover to give a grateful pat on the arm to her friend, and turning back towardsthe door. “Numbers are on the fridge!”

“Bye Mama!”Little Peza calls, triumphant in his farewell to his parents; out of thisentire situation, he was the most excited to get to have the house to himself,even if there was a babysitter involved. He was a strange young boy, but Georgiloved babysitting, especially now that his little sister, Koshki, was a littleolder and babysit-able. “Georgi, Georgi, Georgi, we gotta watch a movie and eatall the snacks.”

“Like I wouldallow that…” He smiles. “Movie, yes, snack stealing? No. I’ve already beeninformed that you had Mcdonalds for lunch, and you ate an extra large fry.”

The young boyfrowns, shoulders rising around his neck, as though a turtle trying to get backinto its shell for protection. “….. Only one.”

“Only one,right…. Come on, go pick a movie, and if you’re lucky, we’ll make popcorn inthe middle of it.”

Georgi wasexcited to babysit with Koshki, the little one was bundled up like a Russiandoll, and makes little cooing noises in her sleep, as though she were dreaming.It warms his heart to see those chubby cheeks, resembling her mother’s, as he’dknown her from her younger age, all the way up to adulthood. She was a lateteen by the time he started skating, but she still had such a baby face to thisday.

As he walksback into the living room, he pulls up Koshki onto his lap, watching as shewriggles in her tiny onesie. “Ooohhh, little Koshki, sweet little Kishka, areyou awake?”

“Brrrbbbbbt…..”She coos, stretching.

“Ooohhh, sucha big stretch, big stretch for Uncle Gosha….. What a big girl, you’re going tobe so strong someday!”

“Blech.” Pezaglares over, pulling out a Disney movie from the cabinet. “Why does everybodyalways make stupid voices at her? She’s a person.”

“Well… a littleone.” Georgi chuckles. “You know, I used to do the same stuff to you when youwere a baby, and you would laugh so hard!”

The young boyharumphs, shoving a disc into the player, and walking over with his armscrossed. “Well, yeah. But I’m all grown up now.”

“Right. Allgrown up.” Georgi smirks, raising a brow to him. “Koshki is going to be as tallas you someday, maybe a little bigger. Right now, though, she has to go througha few things before she gets there…. First, there’s the squishy baby potatophase….” Peza giggles at that, plopping onto the large sectional couch besideGeorgi. “Next, is the cute little round baby phase that everybody loves…. Then isthe sitting up cute baby phase… then she’ll learn to talk, and never stop…. Andthen there comes the walking, and when she goes, she’ll never stop! You have tohelp her with those things, you know. That’s what big brothers are supposed todo.”

“Yeah, right.I don’t have to do nothing. I didn’t ask for a sister. I wanted a brother.”

Of course, he’sa little shithead, he knew this phase was coming. He wasn’t the neighborhood’sbest babysitter for nothing. “Well, it would be nice for you to.”

“Did you have to help any of your siblings?”

“Well… no, wedidn’t grow up with each other. I was an only child.” He mentions, getting agentle eyeroll from Peza. “Now, don’t give me that look….” Hoisting the baby upagain, he pats at her back softly. “I always wanted a little brother or sister,though. I wanted to be their helper.”

“….Well, getone now. You can have mine.”

“Hah, hah….”Georgi fake laughs, “You’re hilarious….. No, I couldn’t just get one….. You kind of need certainpeople for that.”

“Well…. Then havea kid of your own.” Georgi couldn’t help but laugh at that.”

“Pez, kiddo,I need another person for that.”

“Well, why?”He asks. “You like my sister, you like me, and every time you babysit, we havethe most fun night in the history of forever and ever, and ever, and ever, andever! You could get that all day for the rest of your life! Endless babysit!” Heplops back, looking up to his sitter.

Georgi findshis smile lowering somewhat, not into a saddened expression, but thoughtful,shrugging as he looks to the bundle against his chest. “…. I just…. I mean, Isuppose I don’t need someone’s help for it, I could always adopt…. Or findsomeone to help. I don’t know.” He never really considered it, hell, did hewant kids?

Did Georgireally want to do that? It sounded great, but of course, anything sounds great froma six-year-old. And who was he to do that? He would hate to just let that bethe basis for life, of I don’t dislikeit, so let’s do it. But, was that a bad thing?

Looking downat this baby, he takes a deep breath. “…. I don’t know, champ. I’ll figure outwhat I’m doing….”

[im-a-goner-foryou]

Babysitter! Peter / Married dad! Tony au, as per an anon's request several months overdue because I'm a piece of shit. Let me know if anyone's interested in a continuation!

It's only the first day of his new job, and already Peter's having second thoughts about the whole thing.

It's not like Harley's a problem child, or anything like that. On the contrary, the bubbly three-year-old has to be the sweetest boy Peter's had the chance of babysitting, something he's incredibly grateful for-- he shudders to think about Mrs Stark's reaction upon finding out her son broke a million-dollar house ornament while under Peter's care-- no, the issue was that the Stark residence is the most opulent estate Peter's ever seen, luxurious enough to make the glossy pictures in those modish home design magazines look frumpy in comparison. To say that Peter had been surprised to walk into the fully marbled, high ceiling, lavish parlour was an understatement; his knees actually wobbled, and he would have sunk down onto one of the many couches if they weren't clearly designer and made of pristine white leather.

Glancing down at the address on his phone screen in a panic, he entertained for the first time the idea that maybe this was all a huge mistake. "Uhm, Mrs--"

"It's just Pepper, I don't really do the whole 'Mrs Stark' thing. What is it?" Pepper interrupted, sounding more than a little tired; still, she certainly made a picture perfect image against the backdrop of the pristine mansion standing tall in a gorgeous sapphire blue dress, the boy resting on her cocked hip gazing at Peter curiously with his huge brown eyes while tugging on strands of his mother's blond hair.

"Miss Pepper," Peter immediately rushed to correct himself, feeling the tips of his ears burn at the mild eye roll this garners him. "I was just-- Uh." Wondering if this is just one big screw up, because there's no way a family this affluent will pick a mere high schooler off a babysitting website rather than a professional caretaker. "Hoping to go over the whole arrangement again, just to be sure?" he finished lamely.

"Oh. It's fairly simple, I thought I was clear enough on the phone earlier." Frowning down at her wristwatch as though thinking about the other more productive errands she'd rather be doing than talk to some daft teenager, Pepper sighed, "you'll look after Harley five days a week, provide the basic babysitting service, drop him off and pick him up from daycare; I'll text you all of the info you need about his feeding schedule and nap times later. Tony comes home every day around eight-- of course, if he'll just take more time off work we wouldn't have to deal with hiring a caretaker in the first place," the last sentence venomous under her breath.

Peter had blinked nervously, unsure how or if he's supposed to respond but before he could decide, an armful of toddler is thrusted upon him. Gathering up her purse, Pepper then instructed primly, "well, I'm going to be busy tonight, so if you have any questions just message Tony."

And just like that she turnt and left with a flick of her ponytail, heels clicking sharply against the across the sparkling linoleum-- and before Peter could point out that he didn't have her husband's number.

Mind still reeling from this turn of events, it was only Harley's vigorous squirming in his arms that snapped him out of his daze. Looking down a little helplessly at the wiggling boy he mused, "so, Harles. You like cupcakes?"

............

...Which turnt out to be another one of Peter's bad ideas, as evident by the sticky situation- literally- he's now in, vanilla icing smeared all over the beautiful marble countertops along with flour and powdered sugar and god knows what else; Peter nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste to tidy the kitchen up to its once spotless state-- which was not an easy feat (who knew a single three year old could cause this extent of damage in those very few seconds Peter had taken his eyes off him to go preheat the oven?)

He was just bending over the island table to scrub at a particularly stubborn stain when he hears the distinct clearing of a throat right behind him, and the high pitched shriek that slips past his lips is something he'll vehemently deny later on.

"Woah there," a voice speaks up, unmistakably male from the deep intonation of his words. "Did I scare you? I'm sorry," the man adds, and for some absurd reason Peter feels liquid heat pool in his belly at just that silky low baritone alone, tinged slightly with amusement--

It's only then does the teen finally register the compromising position he's currently in, standing on his tiptoes and leaning over the counter so his ass is arched high in the air... right in front of his employer.

This first day is not turning out in his favour.

Feeling himself blush to the tips of his ears, Peter scrambles to stand upright once more, whirling around while holding his breath in anticipation of the annoyed expression he'll surely be greeted with-- but what he didn't expect to see is a devilishly handsome man, dressed in a three-button suit that fits so perfectly snug around those broad shoulders and firm chest it should be illegal; and for the second time in just a few hours Peter actually feels himself go weak at the knees once more, because holy shit this fine specimen of a man was not in his job description when he very well should be; if he had known how fucking hot Harley's dad is he would have brought his inhaler, or something.

"Hey, you okay?" the man- Tony, a dazed part of Peter's mind helpfully supplies- asks, chocolate dark eyes examining him in a way that leaves him in serious danger of swooning. "You look a little pale... Peter, isn't it?" The boy only nods dumbly in affirmation, but Tony smiles warmly. "I'm Harley's father. Nice to meet you."

Brain finally catching up, Peter blurts, "I know," before realising just how bad that sounds and backpedalling quickly. "Wait-- no, I just meant I already knew-- that you're Harley's dad, I mean... Uh, Mrs Stark told me earlier... I-I'm Peter by the way, shit you already knew that," he babbles, cheeks flushing hotter with every squeaky word that leaves his mouth until he's sure that he's a cherry red by the time Tony raises a hand to stop him.

"Okay, okay! Slow down there, kiddo," he chuckles, and fuck even his laugh sounds so incredibly sexy it's unfair, Peter's just a teenaged boy with daddy issues; he doesn't stand a chance. "Give your old man here some time to catch up, will ya?"

"Sorry," Peter instinctively says, or squeaks, more like; tucking his chin into his chest his shoulders fold forward in mortification, painfully aware of how ridiculous he must seem to the older man. Get it together, Parker. You're being pathetic.

His mental beration abruptly cuts off, however, as Tony begins to shrug off his suit jacket, dress shirt underneath stretching thin over his biceps as he drapes it over the back of a chair and holy shit, holy shit the urge to just reach out and trace over those defined muscles with his fingers is so overwhelming Peter has to grab at the edge of the countertop. "You don't mind, do you? I've had a long day at work is all," Tony says apologetically.

Nope. He does not mind at all, not one bit. "It-- it's okay, Mr Stark."

That earns him another warm smile, hardened lines across the man's face deepening along with the crinkling at the edges of his eyes. "Oh, you're sweet." --Peter actually feels his legs threaten to buckle underneath him at that-- then Tony's eyes drag almost lazily over his body, and his lips curve into a roguish grin as he adds, "...and that cute little apron you've got on there certainly helps your image."

Fuck. Oh, god, until then he'd forgotten the apron he had found and hastily thrown on earlier-- and not just any apron, but a frilly soft pink one complete with a lacy hem-- not unlike the ones housewives donned back in the nineties or something. Peter actually buries his face in his hands with a groan then, so overcome with humiliation. "I'm sorry, I just found it in one of the drawers..."

"It's alright, Pep never uses it anyways," Tony says dismissively, his next words pitching lower into one of a drawl that makes Peter shiver. "...Plus it looks much better on you, sweetheart."

Peter peeks out shyly from behind his fingers then, only to gasp; for the look on Tony's face that greets him can only be described as hungry, dark with unmistakable lust and something else he can't quite decipher but leaves him breathless for more-- the combination of both that gaze pinned heavy on him and the use of that pet name is enough to draw something akin to a keening whine from the back of his throat that he quickly tries to smoother into a cough. "Really?" he mumbles, hiding his pleased flush as best as he can.

Tony grins knowingly. "Oh, for sure. I've never seen anyone look prettier in an apron than you, sweetheart," he purrs, closing up whatever remaining distance between them in two confident strides; Peter gasps, automatically backing up until his back hits the edge of the island table, the older man effectively pinning him there. Staring up into darkening eyes through fluttering lashes, Peter draws his bottom lip in between his teeth- nervous habit- and hopes that Tony won't catch the wild thudding of his hear against his ribcage at their close proximity; the man's expensive cologne fills his senses, makes his head spin with pure want and has him subconsciously licking at his lips.

Tony's next words come out more gravelly and deeper than before. "You've got a little bit of icing on your face," he grunts, and before Peter has the chance to respond he's reaching forward to swipe at his flushed skin with a calloused thumb. Breath hitching at the tender touch, Peter sways on his feet as the huge palm cradles his cheek for a split second-- then just like that it's over and Tony's stepping back, the loss of him enough to make the younger teen whimper pitifully.

"All clean now," Tony mutters, sounding decidedly more strained than a few moments ago; Peter's no better with his raggedly falling breaths, and the tent rapidly forming at the front of his skinny jeans-- maybe wearing the apron's not such a bad decision, after all.

"Thanks, Mr Stark," he squeaks, and he swears the older man's eyes darkened at that; gaze darting away from the intensity of that stare, Peter focuses instead on the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. Pepper should be home soon--

Shit. A fresh wave of guilt crashes over Peter for the first time that night at the thought of Pepper-- Tony's wife. How could he be so stupid? Mr Stark's a married man, for Christ's sake-- not to mention a father as well, to a child Peter's supposed to be looking after. He's here to babysit, not be swept off his feet by a rich older man, as appealing as the second option sounds.

And yet-- the way Mr Stark had looked at him earlier, gaze almost predatory as he crowded him in...

Shaking his head as though that would get rid of his thoughts, Peter hurriedly unties the apron and stammers, "I, uh, I should go--"

"Wait. You don't have my number, do you?" Tony frowns, grabbing his forearm lightly to stop him from reaching for his backpack. When Peter shakes his head no, the man reaches into the breast pocket of his discarded suit to pull out a business card. "Here. Just in case... you know," he shrugs. "You have questions about Harley, or whatever."

"Yeah, about-- Harley," Peter echoes, taking the card; their fingers brush against each other as he does so, and he can't help but shiver at the contact; he thinks he catches a small grin out of the corner of his eye. "It was nice meeting you, Mr Stark."

And there's another one of those smiles; Peter feels his stomach flutter again. Stupid. "Pleasure's all mine. I'll see you soon, Parker," Tony says smoothly, shooting him a quick wink as he releases his hold. Peter practically flies out of the front door on trembling legs-- taking care not to crash into any glass ornaments on the way, of course.

This new turn of events definitely add another compliation to his job, that's for sure; and yet Peter walks home that day with his heart hammering in his chest, cheeks still tinged pink... and with a giddy smile on his lips.

#starker #peter x tony #drabble #au #babysitter! peter #married dad! tony #anon request