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theladyofdeath · 3 years

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The Return 2 {The Arrival, Part 2}

Summary: Back at the lake house, ten years later… Collaboration with @snelbz - part 2 to the sequel!

Word Count: 7136

The Arrival Series Masterlist

Shelby’s Masterlist

Tara’s Masterlist

Even ten years later, Elain was still the first one awake whenever they took family vacations. She had woken up with the sun, tried — and failed, miserably — to rouse Azriel from sleep, read her devotions, gotten in some yoga, and started on breakfast, all before she heard the first footstep from anywhere in the house. But soon enough, she heard slow, sleepy steps on the stairs, though they headed towards the back of the house rather than towards the kitchen.

Ruling out Lannan and his voracious appetite, along with Thorn, Bennett, and John, Elain waited, mixing up the pancake batter after she put a large pan of bacon into the oven.

A few minutes later, Scarlett appeared, dragging a still half-asleep Cassian by the hand. He was yawning and had a hair brush, comb and two hair ties in his hand.

“Good morning, you two,” she laughed, pouring Cassian a cup of coffee, which he looked like he desperately needed.

He mumbled something that sounded like a typical morning greeting, while Scarlett gave her a sleepy smile after climbing up onto one of the barstools. “G’morning, Aunt Lainey. Are we having pancakes for breakfast?”

“And bacon,” she replied, smiling at her youngest niece. Layla and Scarlett had sleepovers all the time, being the two youngest and close in age.

Scarlett grinned and turned to Cassian. “Remember, I want two braids, daddy, not just one.”

He nodded, still drinking his coffee, but handed her the brush to start detangling her long, waist-length hair.

“Nesta not up yet?” Elain chuckled, pouring some of the batter into the hot pan.

“I like it better when daddy braids my hair. Mommy makes it too fancy,” Scarlett replied, scrunching up her nose.

“That’s right,” Cassian mumbled, running his fingers through his youngest’s hair. “Dad keeps the braids messy.”

Elain laughed quietly as she continued to make breakfast. “Well, if you have the magic touch, I may make you braid Layla’s hair. She always complains when I do it, and the art of braiding isn’t exactly one of Azriel’s many talents.”

“We don’t need to hear about Azriel’s many talents,” Cassian warned.

Elain jabbed him in the ribs, which only made Cassian laugh as he began to braid his daughter's hair.

“Is Thorn going back to jail today?” Scarlett asked.

Cassian sighed, Scarlett wincing as he made sure his braid was tight. “No, Thorn’s not going back to jail, ever.”

The ten-year-old rolled her eyes. “Never say never, daddy.”

Elain chuckled as she set a giant mountain of pancakes on the island. “Give your brother a break. He’s a good boy.”

“No, he’s not,” Scarlett said, earning a snap from Cassian for her to stay still while he worked. “He swears too much and he smells yucky.”

“All teenage boys swear too much and smell yucky,” Cassian promised. “Just wait until you’re a teenager and you like those yucky boys.”

“I’m not ever going to like boys,” Scarlett promised. “I’m going to stay single and awesome forever.”

Elain shook her head, humored, as she watched her niece.

“That would make daddy very happy and I’m holding you to it,” he replied, tying the elastic around the end of the braid and starting on the second.

“Aunt Lainey, does Luna like smelly teenage boys?” Scarlett asked, looking up at her.

Luna was Scarlett’s idol. Everything the girl did, the younger one was right behind, whether it was a trend, style or even just following her around. And Luna handled it well, for a sixteen-year-old girl. She never complained, even when her own baby sister was in tow. Cassian was sure that because she was a carbon-copy of Elain, right down to the soft, caramel colored eyes.

Elain smirked as she set a plate down in front of Scarlett, a small stack of pancakes on top of it. She pulled the bacon out of the oven before replying. “Oh, she does. And Uncle Az is not happy about it.”

“Isn’t happy about what?” The man in question asked as he rounded the corner, heading straight for the coffee pot. He paused to kiss Elain’s cheek. “Morning, beautiful.”

“Luna Bug’s boyfriend,” Cassian smirked, watching as Azriel’s good mood deflated.

“We don’t talk about him,” Azriel said, quietly, as he filled his mug. “And definitely not this early in the morning.”

“He has a name,” Elain said, simply. “And you should call him by it.”

“The name I have for him shouldn’t be said around Scar,” Azriel said, pausing as he passed her to kiss the top of his niece’s head.

“He’s a good kid,” Elain said, rolling her eyes. “And I think Luna and Lachlan are good for each other.”

“Lachlan,” Scarlett repeated. “I like that name.”

Cassian’s grin only widened as he looked up at Azriel, who sat at the table, sipping from his mug.

“Just wait until she thinks she’s old enough to date,” Azriel said, gesturing to Scarlett.

“Oh no,” Cassian said, shaking his head. “She’s already informed me that she’s staying single and awesome forever, so.”

Azriel snorted as the twins came into the room, followed by John, whose hair was sticking up in every which direction.

“Mom says she’s taking a shower then she’ll be out to help make breakfast,” John said, yawning as he flicked Olive on the back of the ear. She flipped him off, which earned a gasp from Scarlett and a laugh from Cassian.

“No need, your Aunt has been up since the crack of dawn,” Azriel said, nodding toward the food. “Eat up.”

John didn’t need to be told twice. At fourteen, he was eating more than nearly everyone else - followed closely by his older boy cousins, who were, no doubt, still sound asleep.

Lily was still mortified by her new haircut, but thanks to a French braid of some sort, it could barely be noticed. She and Olive got a couple of pancakes each and talked to each other quietly.

Once Scarlett’s hair was finished, Cassian got his own breakfast, splashing a bit of whiskey into Azriel’s coffee and his own when he thought no one was looking, and sat down at the table. Mid bite, his chewing slowed down as he looked at Olive. “Liv, I think you still have makeup from yesterday on. You’ll probably want to get that off before we go on the boat.”

She rolled her dark, lined eyes. “It’s Olive, Uncle Cass, and it’s waterproof eyeliner. I’ll be fine.”

Lily, fresh faced, shook her head. “She’s too cool to be seen without her makeup anymore.”

Elain was chuckling at the stove as the two girls quietly bickered and Cassian was immediately grateful he only had one daughter.

“What’re we doing today?” John asked, his mouth full.

“Ask when your mouth isn’t full and I’ll tell you,” Cassian said, sitting next to his middle child.

“Yeah, John, have some manners.” Thorn entered the room, grumpy as hell, the first thing out of his mouth directed at his younger brother.

“Says the asshole that spent yesterday in jail,” John muttered, mouth still full.

“Watch your mouth,” Cassian snapped, his mouth also full.

Azriel just shook his head, watching the three of them. He looked at Scarlett. “How do you and your mom handle those three?”

Scarlett shrugged as she hopped off her stool. With a piece of bacon in each hand, she said, “We stick together. Girl power.”

Elain laughed, winking at her niece as she fled from the room.

Layla appeared a minute later, on Rhysand’s back, wide-eyed and chipper. Bennett was soon behind, and Cassian snorted.

“How is it that the kids from your side are the ones still asleep when Elain is one of the first ones up?” he asked, looking at Azriel.

“Luna’s probably awake and talking to-.”

“If you say his name again, I’ll lose my appetite, then my mood will be destroyed for the rest of the day,” Azriel said, holding up his hand and looking at his wife.

“Lachlan is so sweet though,” Lily said, sighing, and Olive nodded, which earned them a look from both Rhys and Azriel.

“Teenage boys aren’t sweet,” Rhys told his daughters. “They’re crafty, lying, disgusting creatures.”

Lily and Olive looked at Thorn and Bennett, both shoveling food into their mouths. Their brother responded. “What?”

“Aren’t you going to say he’s wrong?” Olive asked, looking between them.

“No, because then I’d be lying and proving him right,” Bennett replied.

“And we’re pretty disgusting,” Thorn added, shoving an entire piece of bacon into his mouth in two bites. Bennett nodded and was getting up for seconds when Rhys stopped him.

“Save some food for your mothers, please,” he said. “After mom and Aunt Nesta eat, you can get more.”

Layla quietly approached Cassian and tapped on his shoulder, asking if he could braid her hair, too. He gave Elain a knowing look, but picked Layla up and set her in Scarlett’s vacated seat. “Only cause you’re the cutest one here,” he whispered, so only she could hear. She giggled and nodded, sitting still as he went to work.

Nesta and Feyre made their way into the kitchen soon after, with Azriel going to retrieve Lannan, who was still sleeping like the dead. Luna was the last to arrive, claiming she’d slept in, too.

“Y’all wanna make some sandwiches for the boat while we get everything ready to go?”

Cassian asked Nesta and his sister-in-laws.

“You don’t want to come back for lunch?” Nesta asked. “You want to keep nine kids on a boat all day?”

He shrugged. “They'll be swimming and wakeboarding and tubing. They’ll be busy. Plus Thorn and Bennett are taking out the jet skis.”

Thorn raised his hand.

Bennett gave him a high-five.

John frowned. “Why can’t I take one of the jet skis?”

“Because we’re older,” Thorn said, simply.

“That’s not fair,” John argued. “What kind of argument is that?”

“Thorn and Bennett are taking the jet-skis,” Cassian said, his voice holding no room for argument. “You can take one tomorrow.”

“Ooooh, me too,” Luna said. “I call one for tomorrow.”

Thorn rolled his eyes, the only sign that he was annoyed.

The second that Nesta and Feyre sat down with their breakfasts, Thorn, Bennett, and John were on their feet, fighting for what was left.

“Animals,” Lily scoffed, taking Olive by the elbow and leading her down the hall to their room to get ready.

Thirty minutes and almost just as many sandwiches later, everyone was loading onto the boat, save for Thorn and Bennett who took off towards the jet-skis as soon as they were given the okay. After strict instructions to stay within sight of the parents, they were firing them up and taking off, Cassian starting the boat and following behind.

Elain fell into the seat at the front with her oldest daughter, wrapping an arm around her as the wind whipped back their hair. “What’s Lachlan doing this weekend?”

Her knees were tucked under her chin and she looked out over the passing water. “He and his parents went to Orynth. They’re touring a college there, but he doesn’t want to be that far from home.”

“Far from home or far from you?” Elain asked, nudging her slightly.

Luna blushed. “Both.”

Lachlan was a year older than Luna, so college was much more prevalent on his mind, as a senior. Or it should have been, had Luna not already had her five-year-plan made, starting with attending the University of Velaris and ending with a degree in business and communications, an internship under her belt and an entry-level position in a company she could grow at.

“Sounds serious,” Elain said.

“Too serious,” Azriel muttered, and both of them turned around, unaware that Azriel was just on the other side. Elain lifted a brow. “What? She’s sixteen.”

“Exactly,” Luna said, crossing her arms. “I’m not a child anymore, dad.”

Azriel didn’t respond. He simply walked to the cooler, opened a beer, and sat next to Rhysand.

“Ignore him,” Elain said, her arm around Luna. “He’ll come around.”

“Doubtful,” Luna muttered.

“You’re the oldest girl in the family,” Feyre said, as she took the seat on her other side. “You finding a boyfriend is uncharted territory.”

“It’s just not fair,” she said, simply. “Thorn and Ben have had tons of girlfriends, since middle school, and no one has ever batted an eye. I get my first serious boyfriend, and dad…” She shook her head as she glanced at Azriel, who was sipping his beer with a rigid jaw. “It’s like I’m a criminal or something.”

“And you weren’t even the one in jail,” John muttered, gazing out over the water.

Cassian hit him upside the back of the head.

“Dad will come around,” Elain promised again.

“Maybe we should keep the boyfriend talk to a minimum,” Luna muttered. “At least for this weekend.”

“Why?” Feyre asked, propping her feet up in the empty second chair and giving her niece a comforting smile. “He’s going to have to get used to you dating eventually. And Lachlan is very sweet. You could’ve ended up with someone like your Uncle Cassian. He’ll get used to you having a boyfriend. I promise.”

Cassian brought the boat to a stop, effectively ending the conversation and started unloading the wakeboarding equipment.

“Can we ride tubes first, Uncle Cass?” Lily asked. “Tubing always gets saved for last and we never have much time thanks to you guys wakeboarding for hours.”

He was about to protest, even though he knew she was right, even with the unnecessary eye rolling, but Nesta said, “I think starting with tubing is a good idea. Let those two expend some of their energy before they board and try to do tricks they can’t accomplish. No trips to the hospital this year.”

The year before, there had been two trips to the hospital. One for Bennett, who’d gotten a concussion, and one for Cassian…who had thrown out his back, thanks to thinking he was still youthful enough to complete some of the tricks he had attempted.

He wasn’t.

This year, they were having none of that.

“Fine,” Cassian sighed. “Get out the tubes.”

The kids let out a round of excited yells, and up ahead, Bennett and Thorn were riding circles around each other.

Cassian, Rhysand, and Azriel took turns driving, seeing which of the kids they could throw off their tubes. Even Luna almost let out a curse - almost, but not quite.

Once they were done, everyone grabbed a sandwich as the wakeboarding began. Thorn was the first to go, which meant that John got his jetski, so everyone was happy.

At least until Thorn wiped out, then he was just pissed.

When everyone was worn out, Cassian brought the boat back to the dock, and one by one, everyone got off to slowly make their way back up to the house.

Rhysand was the last to get off, carrying a sleeping Layla up the hill. He laid his niece down in her bed before fighting everyone for one of the two showers.

“So what’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?” He asked as he stepped into the kitchen, fighting off a yawn.

Nesta was doing the same and Elain chuckled. “Seems like everyone could use some downtime. Why don’t we let the kids do their thing, take naps if they want, and we’ll start dinner around five-thirty?”

“A nap sounds awesome,” Nesta said, wrapping her arms around Cassian’s waist and laying her head on his chest. From the look on his face, he didn’t think she meant it literally. From the look on hers, she did.

And so everyone went their separate ways. Most of the kids ended up in the bonus room, either playing Xbox or entertaining themselves in someway. Ironically, only Luna and Lannan decided to lay down for naps, and Nesta, of course.

Elain’s alarm on her phone went off, letting her know it was five-thirty. She and Azriel had taken advantage of their alone time and were now just laying in bed together, although Azriel it seemed was half-asleep now that it was time to get up.

She looked up at him, eyes closed and lips parted and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He responded by rolling his head to the side, looking for her lips without opening his eyes. She kissed him again, but pulled away when his tongue brushed against her bottom lip.

Laughing softly, she got out of bed and started getting dressed. Azriel watched her with sleepy eyes. “I’m going to get Feyre so we can start making tacos. Will you get the kids up around six?”

He nodded, tucking an arm behind his head and closing his eyes again. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to the end of his nose. “Don’t fall asleep.”

“That’s asking a lot,” he replied, catching her before she could stand up, twining his fingers into her hair. “You wore me out.”

“Hush,” she said, blushing, and kissed him again before slipping out the door.

He heard a knock on a door down the hall and then Feyre’s voice joined Elain’s. The word daddy was unmistakable as they walked away and he couldn’t help but chuckle even as he blushed and covered his face with Elain’s pillow.

Once the smell of delicious food cooking started wagging towards their room, he decided it was time to get up, get dressed, and wake up his kids, knowing it’d be time to eat soon.

He stopped off in the boy’s room first, knowing Lannan would be the easiest to rouse. All he had to say was tacos, and his son was up and hurrying downstairs to help in any way he could, if it meant he could eat quicker.

Layla was still fast asleep in the room she and Scarlett shared, her braid messy from sleep. Getting her up was easy enough. She didn’t require bribery or any tricks, she liked to do as she was told. He just had to tell her that mama needed help in the kitchen and she slipped off to do what she could.

Luna’s room was at the end of the hall. She shared a room with the twins, but they were upstairs and already being told to go to the kitchen, which meant she surely was sound asleep.

Azriel didn’t bother knocking before he opened the door. “Hey, dinner’s-.”

“Fuck, Luna-.”

Luna dropped her phone and looked over her shoulder. Her eyes went wide in horror. “Dad!”

Azriel quickly shut the door, his hand remaining on the knob for a moment before he dropped it, and slowly walked down the hall, toward the kitchen.

He had not seen much, considering Luna had been under the blankets, but he knew enough about technology and the teenage mind to know exactly what had been going on.

Azriel was going to be sick.

He hadn’t even noticed the chatter going on in the kitchen as he entered.

Rhysand was in the middle of a sentence, even though Azriel had no idea what he had been saying, when Azriel said, “Elain, a word.”

The tone of his voice must’ve created alarm, because the room went quiet. Without noticing if Elain was following, Azriel walked into the living room.

He sat back on the couch, nausea brewing in the pit of his stomach.

Elain timidly entered a moment later. “You okay, babe? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Worse,” he said, without any hesitation. “So much worse.”

He quickly and concisely explained what he’d seen, which thankfully wasn’t much, but he knew. Oh, gods, he knew.

He heard the male voice on the other side of the video call, recognized it and hated it all the same, especially the way that voice had said his daughter’s name.

“Why didn’t you knock?” Elain asked, shaking her head as she rubbed at a spot between her eyes.

“I thought she’d be asleep!” He defended, throwing his hands up.

“She’s a teenage girl, Az,” she sighed. “Regardless, you should have knocked. She could have been changing.”

“I wish she would’ve been!” His cheeks were on fire. “That would’ve been better than…that.”

Elain stood. “I’ll go get her. Why don’t you and the boys go eat on the deck? Some fresh air might help.”

He nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“Do not be mad at her,” she added before leaving the room. “It’s not her fault you didn’t knock.”

“She shouldn’t be having video sex with her boyfriend while we’re on a family vacation,” he whispered, shooting to his feet.

“At least she didn’t get arrested having sex in the back of a truck. So this isn’t the worst thing that could have happened on this vacation,” Elain replied.

“No,” he said, heading towards the kitchen to get a plate of food. “It’s the worst thing that could have happened to me, period.”

Elain rolled her eyes, watching as Azriel stormed into the kitchen and out of sight.

Calmly, she walked down to the end of the hall and knocked on the last door.

She could hear Luna sniffling. “Yeah?”

“It’s mom,” Elain said, leaning against the door. “Can I come in?”

A second passed. “Yes.”

Elain opened the door to find Luna sitting up on her bed, wearing a hoodie and wrapped in a blanket, as if she couldn’t get enough clothes onto her body. Her eyes were red and puffy.

Elain sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her daughter. “Care to tell me your side of the story?”

Luna shook her head, then looked at her hands as she said, “We were just facetime-ing. It got...slightly intimate, nothing was even really going on, and then dad walked in.” Her face fell into her hands. “Too much was going on for him to walk in on, though, I’ll tell you that. I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life. I just hung up. Lachlan probably thinks that I just lost connection.”

Elain huffed through her nose. “Look, I don’t know exactly what your father saw, he couldn’t exactly get the words out-.”

“Me, topless, showing my boyfriend my boobs,” Luna supplied, her face still in her hands. “I mean, I was mostly under the blankets, but… I think he got the point.”

Elain had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. Usually, she wouldn’t find things so funny, but this was Luna. Luna, who never did anything wrong. The fact that she was just like every other teenage girl, that she was just like Elain and her sisters at sixteen, was…almost refreshing.

She scooted closer and wrapped her arms around her daughter. “Your dad is having a hard time processing that his little girl isn’t so little anymore.”

“That’s an understatement,” she scoffed. “This is worse than my first period, first bra and first date combined.”

Elain couldn’t stop her chuckle again. “I think we’re probably gonna spend the rest of the evening separated. We’re gonna do our thing and the boys will do theirs. Are you hungry?”

Luna shrugged, fiddling with her phone case.

“You sure? Aunt Feyre and I made tacos.”

Looking up at her, eyes still puffy and blush still on her cheeks, Luna said, “I guess I could eat.”

“Good,” Elain said, kissing her forehead and taking her daughter’s face in her hands. “I know you’re a smart girl, and I know you care about Lachlan. But if and when things move past just showing him your boobs on FaceTime, promise me you’ll be careful.”

Luna’s cheeks were blood red again and she shook her head. “I haven’t… we haven’t… I’m still a virgin, mom.”

Elain stifled her laughter again. “I know you are, sweetie. All I’m asking is that whenever the time comes, promise me you’ll use that beautiful brain of yours and don’t let hormones get in the way. And when we get home, we can talk about birth control if you want to.”

Luna’s eyes went wide. “You’d…let me get on the pill? What about dad? He’d lose it if he found out.”

“If it means you’re being smart and safe, yes.” Elain smiled, and took her daughter’s hand. “And don’t worry about your father. I can handle him.”

“He’s awfully dramatic,” Luna mumbled. “He’s just passionate,” Elain said, correcting her. “Which means he loves as fiercely as he loses it.”

Luna chuckled, and nodded. “Let me text Lachlan about why I hung up so suddenly, then I’ll be out.”

Elain kissed Luna’s forehead before hopping off of the bed. “I’ll make you a plate of tacos.”

“Thanks, mom,” Luna said, as Elain walked out, and Elain knew it was for much more than the food.

As she walked back into the kitchen, all of the boys were out on the back porch, leaving the girls inside.

“We’re thinking about having a girls night,” Feyre said, as Elain approached. “Chick flicks, painting our nails, and mud masks?”

“I’m here for it,” Elain said. “Luna will be, too.”

Quietly, Feyre asked, “Is everything okay?”

“I’ll fill you in later,” Elain promised, and went to making Luna her plate of food. She came out a minute later, and cleared her entire plate in under five minutes.

When they were done, Legally Blonde was being set up in the living room, and Nesta was carrying out a basket of nail polish.

“Looks like the boys are going for a boat ride,” Nesta said, rolling her eyes. “Hopefully Cass isn’t driving. He can’t drive in the dark. I swear he needs glasses but he’s too stubborn to go get his eyes checked.”

“He’s in denial about getting old, Rhys was the same way,” Feyre sighed, searching through the basket for a color she liked. “But I finally convinced him to go a couple months back.

Now it’s like I have a sexy Clark Kent walking around my house in the evenings.”

“How’d you do that?” Elain asking, carrying wine glasses and a chilled bottle into the room.

The girls were all focused on the huge box of makeup Lily and Olive had brought down from the bonus room, sitting around it and begging Luna to do their makeup. Even Olive was willing to remove her thick eyeliner if it meant Luna would work her magic on her eyebrows.

“I can be very…persuasive,” she replied, filling her glass and taking a sip.

Nesta reached for the remote and turned the movie up to give their conversation a semblance of privacy, turning her attention to her sister. She whispered, “Spill.”

Feyre was blushing, clearly not expecting her sisters to jump on this particular topic. She settled back into the couch cushions and took a much larger drink of her wine. “I…let him go where no man has gone before.”

“What, like, Victoria’s Secret?” Elain asked, brow furrowed in confusion, but from the smirk on Nesta’s face, she knew exactly what Feyre meant.

“No, Lainey, not like Victoria’s Secret,” Nesta said, voice low enough that the kids couldn’t hear them over the movie. “She let him get in her ass.”

Elain blinked once and said, “Oh,” before going back to looking through the nail polish basket.

Feyre and Nesta looked at each other, before looking back at Elain.

Nesta whispered, “That was a very casual Oh.”

Shrugging, Elain glanced up at them, still looking through the basket. “That’s nothing new for us.”

Feyre’s brows shot up as Nesta leaned forward. “Okay, for the two quietest and most private in this family…you two have one hell of a sex life.”

Elain laughed, quietly, as she picked out a soft lavender nail polish. “What? We’ve always liked to keep each other…intrigued…in the bedroom.”

“And was daddy the one to introduce this…act?” Feyre asked, still dumbfounded.

Elain shrugged, falling back on the couch. “We thought we’d give it a try one day, and it was…nice.”

“Nice?” Nesta repeated.

“It’s not for everyone, but…yeah, it was nice,” Elain said. “Anyway, someone paint my right hand, please. My left is too shaky.”

Nesta did as her sister asked, even though Feyre was still staring at her, minutes later. It wasn’t until halfway through the movie, when Luna excused herself to walk into the kitchen, that Nesta excused herself to follow after.

When she walked into the kitchen, Luna was staring out the back door to where the boys were tossing a football around the campfire.

“You okay, Lunabug?” Nesta asked, referring to that old nickname from her childhood that they all still used.

Luna nodded. “Yeah, just…tired, I guess. I think I may head to bed early tonight.”

“I get that, it was a big day,” Nesta smiled, and hugged her eldest niece. “Don’t worry about your dad. I’m sure Uncle Cass and Uncle Rhys have been calming him down all night.”

“I know, I know,” Luna sighed, burying her face in her aunt’s shoulder. “How am I supposed to ever look him in the eye again though? He didn’t see anything, but he knew what was happening. It’s not hard to figure out.”

“You’re almost an adult, sweet girl,” Nesta said, tipping her chin back so she kept her head high. “Sooner or later, your dad is going to have to accept that.”

Luna nodded and hugged her aunt again. Nesta hugged her tighter and said, “How do you think I feel right now? My adult son got caught having sex in public yesterday.” She felt Luna laugh and pulled back to rest her hand against her cheek. “It could be worse. I’m sure you’re embarrassed, but this will pass, okay? Your dad is overbearing because he loves you.”

Luna’s smile was small, but Nesta could tell it was genuine. “I know. Thank you, Aunt Nes.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiled. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

With a goodnight, Luna was off to the room, Layla and Scarlett only a few minutes behind her. The twins, stubborn as always, said they weren’t tired, yet were asleep on the floor within ten minutes.

“Another drink, ladies?” Feyre asked, bringing out a new wine glass as she fell on the couch between her sisters.

“Please,” Elain begged, holding out her glass.

Nesta didn’t protest either as the three sisters finished the movie, drinking the night away.

“Fuck, the twins are only two years younger.”

Rhysand, Cassian, and Azriel were lying in the grass, a beer in their hands, staring up at the stars as their boys swam in the water, the firelight the only thing allowing them any guidance.

“I just… I knew this day was coming,” Azriel said, his words slightly slurred. “I just… I don’t know. I wasn’t ready for it.”

“Can we ever be ready for it?” Cassian asked. “Boys…they’re easy. But, girls…” Cassian shook his head. “We’re never going to be ready for anything they put us through.”

“I want to find this kid… And-.”

“And what?” Rhysand asked, laughing as he cut off Azriel. “You act like you weren’t a teenager once.”

“I was,” Azriel confessed, then sighed. “But…that was me…this is…my daughter.”

“Have you met his parents yet?” Cassian asked, sitting up and bracing his elbows on his knees. “Once we met Marion’s parents, we felt way better. Mostly because we know Lorcan Salvaterre has the capability to kick Thorn’s ass, and Thorn does, too. But it also showed us Marion is a good girl. She comes from a good family, who loves and cares for her just as much as we do Thorn.”

“We’ve met his mom,” Azriel admitted, staring at stars still. “Or Lainey has, I haven’t. But she said she was sweet. Granted, she says Lachlan is sweet, too. She thinks everyone is sweet, cause she’s sweet.”

“You guys should try to all go to dinner when we get back to Velaris,” Cass suggested, finishing his beer. He tossed his empty can into the pile by the fire. “Meet his parents, get a vibe for them, shake the kid’s hand hard enough to leave an impression. I’m sure they love Luna, just like we love Marion.”

“Them loving Luna isn’t the point,” Azriel began, quietly. “Everyone loves Luna. The problem is…is that I was a teenage boy once, and I know exactly what this kid wants.”

“You also met Elain when you were a teenager,” Rhysand pointed out. “And, you started dating when you were teenagers. You’re telling me that the only reason you wanted to be with Elain was for sex?”

Azriel paused. Then answered, shortly, “No.”

“Then maybe this kid wants more than that, too,” Cassian said.

“But he wants the other thing, too,” Azriel protested, then groaned, flipping over until his face was buried in the grass.

“You can’t make her a nun,” Cassian said, Rhysand grinning on Azriel’s other side. “You can’t keep it from happening. Teach her to be safe, and she’ll be fine.”

Azriel’s voice was muffled by the ground. “Why are you being the reasonable one right now?”

“Because I’ve also been a teenage boy who loved a girl. Because I currently have a teenage boy who loves a girl, even if he makes stupid decisions with her sometimes,” he replied. “But I have to let him make those decisions on his own so he can learn. Luna is smart, Az. She’ll make good choices, you just have to let her make them.”

He grumbled something into the grass that his brothers couldn’t hear and Rhysand ruffled the back of his hair before standing.

“It’s getting late, the kids need to get to bed.”

They called the boys out of the water, handing out towels and dousing the fire as they headed up towards the house.

“Bennett and I can carry the beers out to the garage,” Thorn said, and Cassian’s eyes immediately met Rhysand’s amused state.

“Good try,” he chuckled.

Rhys added, “You can leave them on the kitchen counter.”

The boys mumbled something under their breath, but did as they were told and they all went off to get changed and get in bed.

They found their wives on the couch, wine drunk and giggly, with the twins asleep on the floor.

“Everyone else in bed?” Cassian asked, sitting on the arm of the couch by Nesta. She laid her head against his thigh and nodded.

Feyre inclined her head to her daughters on the floor in front of them. “These two insisted they weren’t tired.”

Rhysand snorted. “I see that.”

Azriel fell onto the couch by Elain while Rhys gently woke the twins and sent them to bed.

Elain looked up at him and chuckled, quietly, as she ran her fingers through his messy hair. “You’re drunk.”

“I am not,” he lied.

“Your eyes are glazed,” she whispered, “and I could barely make sense of the three words that just came out of your mouth.”

“He only had…” Cassian cocked his head to the side, counting on his fingers. “Yeah, I lost count. How many beers you have there, Az?”

Azriel mumbled something incomprehensible and sighed.

Cassian chuckled as he stood, and gathered Nesta in his arms before walking down the hall, toward their bedroom.

Feyre followed, carrying the empty wine glasses into the kitchen.

Elain shook her head as Azriel’s eyes fluttered shut, thanks to her fingertips gently rubbing at his head. A moment later, she thought he may have fallen asleep, but then he said, “I’m scared for her.”

Elain’s fingers slowed, but she nodded. “Luna’s smart-.”

“But teenage boys aren’t,” Azriel said, opening his eyes to meet his wife’s. “I know that Luna’s smart. And everyone can keep telling me how smart she is, but it doesn’t make me trust any guy that she’ll ever be with any more. Men are idiots. And the last thing I want is for my baby to be heartbroken, crying over some dick that didn’t deserve her in the first place.” Elain’s eyes softened, but Azriel went on, “And the fact that they’re getting more….intimate, only means that Luna’s starting to trust him and like him more. And that scares me.”

“I know,” Elain said, quietly, crawling onto his lap and straddling his waist. Her forehead fell against his as his eyes fell shut, once again. “She spent the entire night thinking she’d disappointed you.”

“She didn’t disappoint me,” Azriel said, quietly, and Elain knew that he meant it. And as she pulled back, she recognized the look that was creeping into his hazel eyes: guilt.

“She’s probably still awake if you want to go talk to her,” Elain said.

Azriel hesitated, then nodded. After Elain crawled off of him, he waited a moment before pushing himself up and began to amble his way down the hall, until he reached the last door on the left.

This time, he knocked.

He waited, and when there was no response, he knocked again, only to find no response. He cracked open the door and peeked inside. The lights were off, and Luna was sound asleep, the hood of her hoodie pulled over her dark hair, and the fan across the room on high, pointed right at her.

He laughed quietly at the sight.

Yeah, she was growing up, but sound asleep, she looked like she always had: mouth hanging open, one hand tossed behind her head. She used to fall asleep on him like that, and he’d have to carry her to bed and tuck her in. That’s how she would always be to him: that little girl whose only man in her life was her daddy.

Except that’s not how it was, not anymore.

Azriel walked to her bedside and leaned down to kiss her forehead before pulling her blanket up higher around her. “Night, Lunabug.”

As he headed back for her door, he heard, “Dad?”

He spun around, that alcohol catching up with him and nearly knocking himself over, thanks to the quick motion. He grabbed the doorframe to steady himself. “I…knocked this time.”

Luna rolled over and looked at him. Thanks to the light in the hallway streaming in, he could see the hurt in her light brown eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Azriel’s shoulders sagged as he made his way back into the room and sat down on the edge of her bed. He ran a hand through his hair before saying, “You don’t need to be sorry. I’m sorry. You’re growing up, and that’s exactly what you’re supposed to do, but I’m still figuring out how to raise a young woman and not a little girl.”

Luna nodded, but said nothing.

“It’s hard, though,” he began, honestly. “When I was seventeen, Luna, I had no idea how to treat girls. I went on a lot of dates, and…did a lot of things on those dates…and, if I’m being honest with you, not a lot of those things meant anything to me other than what I got out of them at that moment.” He looked at Luna. “It wasn’t until I started dating your mom that I got some sense knocked into me.”

She chuckled at that.

“But, I also know that Lachlan is not me,” Azriel continued. “I also know that I don’t know a lot about him. So, maybe next week we can have him and his parents over for dinner, and I can start to get to know him, if he means that much to you.”

He didn’t need any light in the room to see the tears lining her eyes. “I would like that.”

“Then you talk to him, I’ll talk to mom, and we’ll make it happen, okay?” She nodded, and he leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. “Goodnight, Lunabug. I love you.”

Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and he was glad for what little balance he still had, so he didn’t topple over on her. “I love you, too, daddy.”

Wrapping an arm around her, he held her close, not letting her go until he felt her arms getting heavier. Until he carefully settled her back into the bed, tucking the covers around her, but not too tight, because she hated feeling constricted, and pushed the hoodie back just a bit to see her sleeping face.

She looked so much like her mother while she was asleep.

Quietly, carefully, he slipped out the door and closed it behind him.

He could tell the television and lights had been shut off in the living room, so he aimed for their bedroom instead, and found Elain sleepily beneath the covers herself. He stripped off his shirt and shorts, wearing just a pair of boxer-briefs and slid into bed beside her, aware that he probably smelled like a bar. Elain didn’t complain though, she just laid her head on his chest and slung an arm and leg over his body.

“How’d it go?” She asked into the darkness.

“Good. She was asleep, and I accidentally woke her up, but it’s okay. We needed to talk,” he admitted. He paused for a second before asking,

“Do you have Lachlan’s parents numbers?”

Lifting her head, Elain looked at him in the moonlight. “We are not talking to them about this at midnight, Azriel.”

“No, no,” he chuckled, rubbing a calming hand up and down her arm. “I was thinking it might be nice to have them over for dinner one night next week, all of them. Lachlan, Aelin and Rowan.”

Elain lifted a brow. “You’re serious.”

Azriel blinked. “Why wouldn’t I be serious?”

“Because you’re drunk and you just spent the entire day throwing a hissy fit,” Elain mumbled, nuzzling into his neck.

Azriel laughed, quietly. “Damn, you’re mean.”

Elain huffed then propped herself up on an elbow. “I’m serious. If they come over, you need to be nice.”

Azriel scoffed, his hand sliding down her back then up her shirt. “I’m always nice.”

“No mean-mugging the kid,” Elain went on. “You will ask him about his likes and dislikes, and you will not scare him shitless.”

Azriel sighed. “Yeah, yeah. I promise.”

“And you will offer Rowan some of your good whiskey,” Elain said.

Azriel looked pointedly at his wife. “There’s no need to get carried away.”

Elain grinned as she leaned down and pressed her mouth softly against his. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he whispered, and closed his eyes.

He was sound asleep before Elain could even lay back down, and snuggle up to him beneath the covers.

He was over-dramatic, and surely a pain in her ass, but by the gods, she loved that man. He had given her three beautiful, perfect children, and although, sixteen years after their first was born, they were still figuring this whole parenting ordeal out….Azriel was doing a pretty damn good job.

Which only made her love him even more.

#the return #the arrival #nessian #feysand #elriel #2nd gen #modern au #sequel #fanfic #fanfiction #sjm #acotar #acomaf #acowar #acofas #acosf

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omiscurls · 3 years

Text

Lady and The Tramp - sakusa kiyoomi x reader

well hi! It’s been a while since I wrote one of those, huh?

so obviously the volleyball player you’re gonna fall for today is sakusa kiyoomi

the word count: around 2K

summary: your boyfriend and you go for a winter walk with his dog, and he gets a bit nostalgic.

and let’s go!

The sun shines a little bit different every season of the year. The winter sun is a tad bit more harsh and refreshing that the slow, dripping summer mornings. And as you look at the white, glistening snow, and the cold sun rays shining directly at it, you just have the urge to go out and do something with yourself, don’t you?

Same struggles happened in Sakusa Kiyoomi’s head that very morning when he woke up to a cold apartament drowning in sun rays, causing him to put a hand over his eyes, to cover them from the merciless light.

“Did I forget to turn the heaters on again?” He whined, and cursed his need to open windows before going to sleep each night. Now it was almost impossible for him to get out of the sheets, considering the temperature in his room was way below zero.

He managed to get one arm outside the warm bed and reached for his phone, charging on the side table. A sight of you in his MSBY shirt, sat on a kitchen counter and showing something you just baked, with a proud grin on your face on his wallpaper greeted him, and the widget above your head told him that it was six in the morning.

So he woke up before his alarm? Impressive, given that it was a Saturday and no practice was planned. He had exactly thirty two minutes before his phone would tell him to “get his ass out of bed” and go for a run.

Sighing, he threw the phone away on the mattrace, and wrapping his blanket around him, he went over to the window.

It snowed last night.

Wait, it snowed last night?

Suddenly, he was a little kid inside, because oh gosh, it never snowed these days! It was all looking so nice, everything covered in a white layer, as if it wasn’t the outside of his apartment, but a picture taken from a children’s book.

After he almost jumped from excitement, the adult side of his has taken over. If it snowed, it meant the temperature went below zero. If it went below zero, the sidewalk would be so slippery that running would be almost impossible.

Well, screw it. He wasn’t going to let a tad little detail like that ruin his good mood. And so he went over to each radiator he had and turned it on, then going to bed again and scrolling through his social media until the temperature around was warm enough for him to leave the sheets.

And so it took a couple of hours for him to finally get himself up and going, but it was still fairly early when you knocked on the door of his apartment, and heard some shuffling inside.

“Sit already, would you? Fine, okay, I know you’re excited, but-“ your boyfriend’s voice was cut off by a bark, and he was silent for a second, while on the other side of the door, you were barely holding in your laugh.

“Hey! Behave! No!” he raised his voice ever so slightly, but apparently it worked on the poor dog, because soon enough you saw him, leant against the doorframe with both his hands in his pockets, his pet sitting beside him, although almost jumping from excitement upon seeing someone else.

“Oh, didn’t expect you here today” he said nonchalantly, a smirk forming on his lips, as he knew well that he invited you here himself. You rolled your eyes, and passed him by, leading yourself to his bathroom. “Not even a hello?” he whined jokingly, as you shook your head.

“I was in a public bus, let me go wash my hands” you explained, and he nodded, mentally trying to convince himself that’s just something people do. You’re not doing it just for him.

He followed you to the bathroom and once again stood in the door, looking at you with a happy spark in his eyes.

You looked so in place while just casually standing anywhere in his apartament. Like you belonged there. And he was almost certain you indeed, did belong there. He wouldn’t have you any other place, rather than by his side.

“You should really get a license already” he said, quickly looking down at his nails, so you wouldn’t see him stare.

“Mhm” you agreed silently, wiping your hands “I know” you slowly approached him, firstly playing with the material of his shirt, and after a while, curling his hair on your finger. It required staying on your tippy toes, which he found endearing. “And you, sir, are due for a haircut”

“Am I?” he said, touching his curls himself, but not leaving you to check in the mirror. “Can you do it?”

You giggled.

That was kinda part of the plan, since he absolutely loved hearing you laugh. He wasn’t the most funny person on earth, yet he was motivated to become a full comedian just to hear that genuine chuckle you gave his finest jokes.

„I cant cut your hair, silly” you said, rubbing his temple with one finger as you were still playing with the pitch black curls. “You have to go to a salon”

He shivered theatrically, rolling his eyes at you and walking away towards the kitchen. “And here I thought you loved me” he huffed, making you smile in disbelief.

“You’re being a baby!”

“I’ll ask my sister to do it”

“Your sister lives kinda away, you’re aware of that, right?” you continued, following his steps to the bigger room, where he was sitting on the floor and tying his shoes.

“So? She loves me, she’ll do it”

“She has her own kid to take care of, she doesn’t need a twenty two year old one” you shoot back, remembering the last family reunion you attended with your boyfriend. It was a complete mess, but meeting his parents explained... a whole lot of things about his character.

He really did look like a little kid, reaching for another one of his sneakers, scarf already put half on around his neck, smiling softly, having to pause the process of tying his shoes every time his dog tried to lick his face in excitement. The poorly named Swiss Setter never left your boyfriend’s side whenever he was home, so used to his their very own slow lifestyle.

You knew damn well she was emotionally attached to her owner, and loved him dearly, as you were the one to babysit her whenever Kiyoomi had an out of town game, and the first couple of times she didn’t sleep at all, and neither did you. It required him staying overnight at your place together with the dog for her to understand it’s a safe place.

“Now now, calm down, Lady, at least let me tie my shoes!” he giggled childishly. The first time you ever saw him snuggled up on the couch with the dog, watching some crappy Netflix show, you couldn’t believe your eyes.

THE Kiyoomi Sakusa. On the couch. With a dog.

You soon found out that Lady, because that’s the crappy name the dog so proudly got by, had been one of your boyfriend’s only friends until the time he graduated. She wasn’t exactly a rescue dog, but his older brother brought her home from his former friend’s house, where she didn’t exactly had the best start in life.

Kiyoomi didn’t fall in love at first sight, he needed time to adjust to having a dog in the house, but Lady seemed very fond of him, and weirdly enough, only listened to his commands. (The trainer said it’s about his voice, as it is deep and raspy, when he says something loudly enough, she feels respect towards him).

He was soon in charge of training the dog to be a good pet for a household such as the Sakusas place, a huge, always so elegant and spotless house, where no one is around too often, but frankly, “family friends” came back every other night to drink rosé with his mother, or whisky with his father.

It was to no one’s surprise, that when Kiyoomi moved away and went to college, his porcelain doll of a mother and distant father couldn’t get a hold of the Swiss Setter, who’s manners weren’t so ladylike. The deal was simple, either kiyoomi takes her to his place, or she ends up in a shelter.

And as he loved dogs, and secretly had a heart of a four-year-old, he took her in with himself, and, frankly, let her rule over his at-home life all the time.

She was very well behaved when in public, knew what was on her owner’s mind by the look in his eyes and reacted on the snaps of his fingers, but inside the four walls of his apartment, she could walk all over him, which you found amusing.

Kiyoomi put her on her leash, and rose his eyebrow at you.

“Coming?” he asked, having the door opened for you already. You nodded and left, waiting for him to lock the door behind the three of you.

It was cold outside, but not too cold, and the air was refreshing, even in such a city as Osaka is. Kiyoomi mindlessly tied his pinky with yours, a bit of a hard thing to do in leather gloves, but he was all about the details.

After two years of your relationship, he was perfectly capable of holding your hand just fine, but sentimentally enough opted to hold your pinky instead, as if your romance was fresh once again.

You smiled at the feeling and squeezed his pinky back with yours, You glanced over at him staring at his feet, as you walked towards the park in comfortable silence.

“When do you have the next match, Omi?” you started a casual conversation, and he looked as if you took him out of a trans of sorts.

“Oh, uhm, next Friday” he answered upsentmindedly. You caught him sparing loving glances in Lady’s direction, an indescribable nostalgy painting his face in cold colors.

When you reached the entrance to the huge park, where dogs were allowed off leash, you bent over and made a snowball, the throwing it at his back. He turned around to face you and gave you a look of betrayal.

“You didn’t” he whispered.

“I think I did” you giggled, covering your mouth with your hands, waiting for his next move.

He bit back a smirk, trying to remain stoic as he kneeled down to release Lady off her leash, hiding it in the pocket of his black coat, then picking up snow in his hands and forming a round snowball, directing it right at you.

Lady kept running around the two of you, jumping in excitement, not fully understanding what you’re doing, but happy to be a part of it.

“Hey, ouch!” you laughed, theatrically covering the shoulder it reached. “You didn’t need to spike it!”

There weren’t many people at the park that day, considering the fact that it was first snow, and parents don’t usually bring kids, who want to build snowmen, to a park where dogs are allowed off leash.

“Oh, you wanna see a spike?” a little smile covered his lips, exposing his blushing cheeks, contrasting with the rest of his pale face, and dark curls.

“Try me, pretty boy”

“Aight” he put his hands up in an agreeing gesture “Just don’t whine about the bruises later”

“Same goes to you”

He huffed, getting back as he gathered snow in his hands and rolled it a bit before aiming at you, jumping in place as you tried to “become a harder target to hit”. He shook his head in disbelief.

God, I love that dork, he thought, purposely frowning and posing as if he was about to serve.

Lady kept jumping around him, noticing a round object in his hand.

“This is not for you, dummy” he laughed, but noticing her excitement, excitement that he didn’t get to see a lot recently, since she was visibly getting older, and more tired, a warm feeling flooded over his chest. He sighed. “Alright, you want it? You want it?” he kept teasing, making her jump around, before breaking the ball and rubbing the snow in her fur.

She layed down on her back, showing her tummy for pets, which he did obviously provide, tickling that one spot that made her move her leg uncontrollably.

He got up, and formed another snowball, showing it to her.

“Watch out, I’m throwing it!” he said to her, before aiming at some free space far from him, throwing the ball from behind his back, watching with a heartwarming smile as she ran after it.

He seemed to have forgotten about defeating you, watching as his dog kept digging for the “ball” that already disappeared in the snow, so you walked back up to him.

“You okay?” you asked softly, and he looked at you in surprise.

“Yeah, obviously” he responded, but something seemed off. You tangled your arms around his shoulder, smushing your cheek against it, and looking at Lady sniffing around the place the snowball landed. “You know, if it weren’t for her, I’d still be too anxious to pet dogs I like when I’m on walks” he started, his mind some place else.

“Well, many things wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for her. We probably wouldn’t have met!” you smiled against the fabric of the thick coat, both of you remembering that sunny afternoon when you sat by the river in the park, reading some sort of upsetting news on your phone, frowning, tears forming in the corners of your eyes, when suddenly, you flinched, seeing a snoot between your arms, and when you parted it, you saw a panting, big dog staring back at you. You heard a distressed “Oh my god, Lady! Come back here!” in the distance, and you lifted your eyes to see a tall like a tower twenty-year old, black curls swept away from his face with hairgel, but getting a bit in the way due to the wind, the guy wearing black t-shirt, with a golden logo, of what appeared to be a... fox? You then thought, only later discovering it’s actually a Jackal, and the letters B and J on the sides of it, and sporty shorts. Apparently, they were on a run.

“I’m so, so sorry, she never does that. Please don’t get too mad at her, she means no harm! Oh, my god, Lady, come back here!” he hissed, putting the dog back on a leash. “I’m sorry! Hey, I can buy you a coffee, if that’ll make up for her? I’m choosing the coffee shop though, there’s a little one nearby and there’re not too many people in it, the popular ones are a rip off anyway, wait— are you crying?” he panted out, staring directly at your face, with a deadpan look.

“It’s alright, I like dogs. But I like coffee, too”

You smiled upon remembering that afternoon, as the completely different sun shined on you two in that moment, not the exhausting, August-ish one, that makes you want to never leave the nearest pool, but a cool and refreshing February one. Two years passed, and the both of you weren’t just strangers in the park, you were one of these cheesy couples teenage girls look at and get upset because they think they’re never going to be like that with anyone. Although, the bonding dog stayed the same.

Speaking of Lady, she ran up to Kiyoomi, who was lost in his thoughts and memories, proudly showing off a stick she must’ve found under the snow at some point.

“Look what you got there!” he kneeled down, trying to get it away from her to throw it. “My good girl” he giggled.

Some February afternoons could just last forever.

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razzle-zazzle · 3 years

Text

Five times others noticed something off about Cole + one time it was explained

3083 Words; Coleverlord

Something was wrong with her son.

Lilly couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment she realized it, but something had changed since that disaster of a boating trip. Cole had been more quiet, lately, had been listless and almost eerily pensive at times.

Lilly didn’t like it. It was unnerving.

They never should have gone. It was supposed to be a fun outing for the three of them, a four-hour tour off the west coast alongside some other passengers.

It ended up being a ten-day stay on an uncharted island. It ended up being Lilly in charge of a group of people not quite accustomed to wilderness survival as they waited for rescue to stumble upon them. It ended up being exhausting, and draining, and the exact opposite of a fun outing.

And then they’d finally been found, and finally arrived home—

And now something was wrong with Cole.

It wasn’t what one would expect in this situation, either. Cole wasn’t sick, wasn’t running a fever, nor was he injured—no, it was none of that.

But there had been a drastic change in his behavior, and Lilly didn’t like it. It felt like there was something in her home, something that never should have been let in but had come in anyway, and that something was pitter-patting down the halls with steps eerily similar to her son but just so slightly off.

“Mama?”

Lilly jumped at her son's voice, caught off guard. She was in the kitchen getting herself water and trying to sort through this awful feeling she had. Her seven year old son was standing in the doorway, hand gripping the frame.

Despite the moonlight streaming in through the window onto his face—or maybe because of it—he didn’t seem quite real. Something about the way Cole was holding himself was just… off.

“Yeah?” Lilly shifted uncomfortably under her son’s stare. Something was definitely wrong with this child. Just him standing there in the doorway had the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.

Cole took a step forward. “Had a bad dream.” He murmured.

Lilly set her water on the counter and crossed the kitchen, wrapping her arms around her son despite her instincts telling her to be wary. “Oh, baby, it’s okay,” she lifted him up, bracing him against her hip to hold him more easily. “Do you wanna tell me about it?”

Cole buried his face in Lilly’s shoulder. “Don’t remember.” He mumbled.

Lilly hated that her first instinct here was to set Cole back down again. Hated that, for all that her son was right here and seeking comfort, part of her was convinced it wasn’t him.

Cole was still clinging to her, though, so she returned to the counter to finish her water, holding him close the entire time.

She’d have to tell Wu about all of this, about this unsettled feeling she had, but—

That could wait until the morning.

+=+=+=+=+

Cole had a really weird presence.

Jay didn’t really mind that Cole could sometimes be a little… off. Cole was Cole. Besides, Zane was also weird, but he was no less their brother; the same applied to Cole.

But for how sweet Cole could be, there was still something… unsettling about him. Something that had Jay’s arms erupt into goosebumps whenever Cole was around. And that was after several months of knowing the guy—when they’d first met, Jay couldn’t even look at Cole without his stomach tying up in knots.

It probably wasn’t really anything to worry about, but Jay couldn’t help but wonder why Cole had such disconcerting vibes. And it wasn’t the same as Zane’s uncanniness, because at least when Zane acted uncanny it didn’t put Jay on edge the way Cole sometimes did.

Jay knew Cole… or maybe he only thought he knew Cole. He was probably just being paranoid, but he couldn’t help but wonder sometimes.

He really hoped he was just being paranoid.

+=+=+=+=+

Cole was certainly… odd.

But that was fine. Zane was odd, too. They were both a little odd, but their family still loved them for it.

Sure, Cole’s tendency to occasionally stare westward was unusual, but Cole was Cole. It was when Zane started keeping track of it that things got… interesting.

As they traveled around searching for the Fang Blades, Zane noticed that Cole didn’t stare exactly westward. Rather, it seemed that the angle changed depending on the latitude, as though Cole was looking towards a certain location in particular rather than just out west in general.

So Zane conducted an experiment. Whenever he noticed Cole zoning out to stare west, he tracked the location and angle as best as he could.

Zane collected this data over the course of several days. When he was finally satisfied and had the free time to do so, he found himself a map, a ruler, a marker, and a compass.

It was time to record the data.

“Hey, Zane,” Jay greeted as he came into the room, “Watcha doing?”

“Recording data.” Zane responded, another crisp line appearing under his steady hand.

Jay came over to look at the map over Zane’s shoulder. “Kinda looks like you’re just drawing lines on a map, buddy.”

“That is what I am doing, yes.” Zane drew another line, extending it out until it intersected with the first. Since Jay was still watching, Zane elaborated, “I am marking down the directions of Cole’s… ‘trances’, as it were.”

Jay hummed consideringly. “Looks like they all converge at a certain point.”

Zane nodded. “Yes, it seems they do.” He added the final line, then capped the marker and set it and the ruler aside to survey his work.

Ten lines, crisp and neat, from ten different starting positions. Ten lines that all converged on the same point off the west coast.

There was nothing at those coordinates other than ocean, at least, there was nothing on the map. It was very puzzling.

“Wait.” Jay pointed at a small island just a few degrees north of the intersection. “What’s that?”

It was the only charted island for miles. Small, nondescript, and uninhabited. But it was also the closest thing to the intersection, and probably their best bet for answers outside of directly asking Cole.

“I’ll have to look into it.” Zane made a mental note to do just that as he stood up and began to fold the map.

Jay grabbed everything else. “Here, I’ll help.”

Zane nodded. “Thank you.”

+=+=+=+=+

Nya liked to think she was good at noticing the little details.

And she was! Whether it be the small details of her mech’s innards or the little things her brother did when he was stressed, Nya was really good at noticing small details.

Which was probably why she had noticed so many odd things about Cole. To be fair, a lot of things Cole did or said were just plain odd—and there was nothing wrong with that—but there were some things he did that just… felt off, sometimes.

So yeah. Nya noticed the small things, paid close attention to the boys and their habits and their moods. Paid attention to the small details of their faces, like the way Jay’d stick out his tongue when he was concentrating, or how Zane’s brow would furrow when he was deep in thought; how Kai’s eyes crinkled when he smiled—

And how Cole’s eyes seemingly changed color every so often, for seemingly no reason. How that dusty, tawny brown that looked so much like the sunbaked earth around the shop could suddenly shift into a deep violet. How sometimes it almost looked like his eyes were glowing in certain lighting. How it definitely wasn’t a trick of the light, no, his eyes definitely changed color.

Which was probably not normal.

Then again, their sensei was technically part dragon and had slitted pupils, so maybe Cole’s magical color-changing eyes weren’t that out there.

It was just a little unnerving, to look at Cole expecting those gentle eyes and see foreboding violet. Almost like there was something else there, something lurking behind those eyes. Something that shouldn’t be trusted.

But Nya didn’t like to think that way about Cole, so she just noted that his eyes changed color sometimes and moved on with her day.

She had more important things to stress about.

+=+=+=+=+

Kai didn’t like this.

There were a lot of things about this island that Kai didn’t like, but the way Cole had been acting since it rose was most definitely on the top of the list.

Cole was always pretty weird. And that was fine! What was unsettling was that he was acting differently from how he usually did.

First, they sail out to this random little island in the middle of the ocean because Garmadon somehow managed to get himself marooned out here, and was demanding they come and pick him up. Then, Cole disappears into the jungle with Jay and they trigger something that makes the island rise, revealing it to be some big evil mega island from Misako’s old texts. It didn’t help that Cole didn’t seem at all bothered by this.

Ever since then, Misako and Wu and Garmadon had been furiously discussing whether to stay and explore or leave immediately, and Kai was pretty sure Misako still had her weird grudge against Cole because he’d overheard her calling him a “problem” again, so Kai was staying away from that argument.

And so the ninja were cautiously poking around the edges of the jungle after having moved the Bounty back out to the new coast, and Cole—

He wasn’t acting like Cole.

He’d been muttering, too quiet to make out any of the words, and he’d go silent if you came closer. He stared into the jungle a lot, sometimes zoning out so bad that not even Jay’s bad jokes could snap him out of it.

All in all, Kai was very unnerved. And an unnerved Kai was an angry one, snapping at anyone who came near.

His stress levels weren’t helped by the fact that last he’d seen Cole, he and Lloyd had been wandering into the jungle. Kai had followed, but he’d lost track of them what seemed like hours ago.

So now the whole group was on an island Misako didn’t want to be anywhere near, Cole was acting like he was possessed and had disappeared with Lloyd for unknown reasons, and Kai was lost in the jungle.

“Amazing! Incredible!” Kai kicked at the dirt at his feet, “Oh, this is just perfect!” He had no idea how to get back. Great. Fucking wonderful.

The jungle had no response for his tantrum, just a few faint bird calls and wind rustling the leaves.

Kai huffed. He wasn’t going to be finding Cole and Lloyd anytime soon, so he should probably try to get back to the beach and tell everyone else what he knew. Of course, being lost would put a damper on it, but Kai was reasonably sure he could figure out where he was.

He looked at the trees surrounding him.

He just needed a little more height.

+=+=+=+=+

Lloyd was pretty sure they were lost.

When he voiced this concern, however, Cole just replied with a chipper “oh no, we’re definitely getting closer!” that wasn’t reassuring in the least. So Lloyd continued to trudge through the jungle after Cole, hoping he’d at least get an explanation for why Cole felt the need to drag him along to… wherever they were heading.

Another leaf smacked Lloyd in the face. “Are you certain we’re not lost?” He asked once more. “Because I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the same tree more than four times already.”

Cole didn’t say anything, just took Lloyd’s hand to help him up a small ledge. They continued their little trek, the jungle slowly thinning out and becoming a mountain.

“It’s just up here.” Cole said. He’d been unusually quiet up until this point.

Lloyd looked up at the rock face that Cole was suggesting he climb and groaned. But Cole was already ascending, so Lloyd swallowed his complaints and got to climbing. It was strenuous and sweaty and exhausting and if Cole was only dragging him up here to show him a killer view or some shit then Lloyd was going to scream, but he’d let himself be led out this far so he was going to climb all the way to the top, dammit.

Gasping and aching in ways that shouldn’t be possible, Lloyd hauled himself up onto the top, flopping over onto his back to catch his breath. Why did killer views have to be so hard to get to?

Cole was already moving, striding towards whatever he’d wanted to show Lloyd. Lloyd blearily turned his head towards Cole, not prepared to see anything in particular—

Oh.

That was definitely… something.

A big metal… thing sat proudly atop the stone, with a whole bunch of gears and rings and big metal balls on the end of rods like some mad scientist’s evil machine or something.

Lloyd pushed himself up into a sitting position while Cole approached the metal abomination. “Am I gonna get an explanation, or… ?”

Cole stopped, still facing towards the Big Metal Thing. “It’s the Celestial Clock.” He said quietly. “It’s supposed to count down to the final battle.” Now that he said it, Lloyd could see something that looked vaguely clock-like near the center of the rings.

Lloyd frowned. “It doesn’t seem to be doing a whole lot of counting down.” Which was a relief. Lloyd would like the final battle to maybe just not happen, please and thanks.

“Yeah.” Cole stepped forwards, tracing his hand gently along one of the rings as he moved towards the center of it. “Because it hasn’t been activated yet.” He stopped at the center and put his hands on a helmet Lloyd hadn’t noticed before. “But if you remove the Helmet of Shadows…”

Lloyd stood up very fast. “Uh, Cole, what—”

“Do you trust me?” Cole’s voice cut through the air like a knife. Lloyd stopped where he stood.

“Lloyd.” Cole still didn’t turn around, “Do you trust me?”

“I—” What was the right answer here? What was Lloyd supposed to do?

“Yeah, I—I trust you.”

Cole picked up the helmet and stepped back, his back still to Lloyd. With a grind and a groan, the clock started moving. “Then you won’t worry about this.”

“But the final battle—”

“Isn’t happening.” Cole snarled. “The clock is going to run down and nothing will happen because there isn’t going to be a final battle. We are not fighting.”

Lloyd took a step back. Okay, this was definitely starting to cross the line into Not Okay. “Cole?”

All the tenseness in Cole’s shoulders dissolved. “I’m sorry.” He murmured. “You’re not talking to Cole right now.”

At that, Cole—or rather, Not-Cole?—turned around, helmet still cradled in his hands. His eyes were a brilliant, glowing violet—no iris, no pupil, just pure, deep violet that had Lloyd’s instincts screaming at him to flee from.

Immediately, Lloyd assumed a defensive stance. “What are you? What did you do to Cole?” He demanded, green lighting in his hands.

Not-Cole laughed, an eerie, broken sound. “Relax, Lloyd, I don’t intend to hurt you.” It took a step forward, but stopped when Lloyd stepped back. “Or did you not hear me when I declared that there would be no final battle?”

“You better start explaining,” Lloyd snarled, “Right now.”

Not-Cole nodded. “That is why I brought you up here, yes.” He sat down, helmet still in his lap, and gestured for Lloyd to do the same.

Lloyd dropped the stance, but stayed standing.

Not-Cole sighed. “Alright, let’s start with an introduction. I am the being known as the Overlord. I came about not long after the First Master created Ninjago, as a counterbalance to his light and order.”

Lloyd processed this, turning it over in his head. “Okay.”

The Overlord nodded, then continued. “The First Master and I engaged in a battle for control of Ninjago. What was going to be a stalemate turned in my favor when I created the Stone Army, so the First Master split Ninjago in half and sunk my half, leaving me bound to it.” It traced Cole’s hands along the edges of the helmet, gaze fixed on Lloyd.

Lloyd frowned. “So, what, you possessed Cole when we got here? Is that it?”

It chuckled. “You’re correct, but your timing is off. My vessel first arrived on this island years and years ago, when a freak stroke of luck resulted in a ship washing up here.” Cole—no, the Overlord—sighed wistfully. “I wanted off this island. My vessel was sympathetic enough to let me in.”

Lloyd tensed. “So you’ve been controlling Cole for years, then.”

“No.” Cole said, eyes suddenly back to their normal brown. “We share this body.”

“Cole.” Lloyd put his hands on Cole’s shoulders. “Are you really, truly okay with this?”

Cole nodded, sincerity in his eyes. “Made It promise not to fight you.” He muttered.

And then his eyes were violet, though not the fully obvious, solid violet of moments before. Just the irises.

“There won’t be a final battle.” It said, “That clock will count down to nothing.” It stood up, still holding the helmet. “And nothing will happen.”

Lloyd walked over, standing beside It. “How can you be so sure?”

“My vessel was never supposed to end up on this island. I was never supposed to leave it. And look at us now, sharing a single body.” It strode forwards, Cole’s arms spreading out to the sides in an sweeping gesture as It stared out into the landscape below them. “Destiny has been defied once.” It turned towards Lloyd, extending a hand. “So why bow to such a shitty destiny if you don’t have to? Why submit yourself to a fight none of us want when it’s not even necessary?”

It gestured towards the clock, which was still ticking down. “Just wait. Nothing will happen when the clock hits zero, because there won’t be a final battle. Destiny has no power over us.”

Lloyd watched the clock tick down for a moment, processing what the Overlord was telling him. Could he really trust it?

But then he remembered his father telling him that he was proud of Lloyd, as well as all the things his dad tried in order to stop the prophecy from coming true.

“Alright.” Lloyd made his decision.

“Let’s defy destiny.”

#ninjago #lego ninjago #coleverlord #zaz writes #lilly ninjago #cole ninjago #jay walker #zane julien #nya ninjago #kai ninjago #lloyd garmadon #and then #sensei wu #lord garmadon #and #misako #are all mentioned #the overlord #also the reason cole's eyes were a solid purble when the overlord revealed itself to lloyd is bc the overlord didn't wanna be too subtle #the irises changing color when It's at the forefront is inevitable tho #also no i did not forget about the helmet of shadows #cole/the overlord just did a lil sleight of hand with it when lloyd wasn't looking #it's now the bracelets of shadows #also no lilly does not get to talk to wu about her concerns regarding cole #things keep coming up until she just. forgets to #also take the overlord's words w/ a grain of salt #this is so much longer than i expected #also zane's part is 420 words exactly and i think that's really neat #jay's bit is kinda weak but i didn't have anything better soooooo #aight i'm gonna go shower and eat now thank

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electrictoes · 3 years

Text

People Like Sunlight

For @dailysvu’s Sonny Carisi Appreciation Week

Day 7: Secrets (AKA another excuse for a “how the squad find out” fic)

Read on AO3

The Saturday morning trip to the zoo is long belated - Noah and Jesse have been asking to go for months but with one thing and another - Elliot Stabler crashing back into Liv’s life, Amanda’s father stumbling back into hers - they’re only now finding a day when they are both free from both professional and social obligations.

They meet at the entrance to the zoo, Noah calling out when he sees them approaching. Amanda’s got Jesse’s hand held tight in hers to keep her close by; Sonny has Billie on his shoulders already, and Amanda’s sure he’s going to regret telling Amanda not to bother with the stroller, that he’d carry Billie when she got tired, but Billie’s having the time of her life, shouting Noah’s name when she spots him from her vantage point above the heads of the crowd.

Liv greets Amanda first; a hug for Jesse and a wave to Billie, “I didn’t know you were joining us, Carisi.”

“Is that okay?” Sonny asks.

Liv smiles at him, “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I don’t mean to crash your day, I’ve just been spendin’ a lot of time with Jesse an’ those animal books Noah gave her. I just wanted to-”

“I thought it’d be nice for the girls to have both their godparents here,” Amanda cut in when she spotted a question in Liv’s expression - most likely focusing on a lot of time. “And he’s carrying Billie, so I don’t have to.”

Liv nods, “It’s fine, Noah was already feeling a bit outnumbered.”

“I wasn’t,” Noah protests, but he’s grinning, “Hi Uncle Sonny!”

Sonny lets go of Billie’s right leg to give Noah a high five, then ducks his knees so that Billie can do the same - it’s endearing; Amanda loves the way Sonny is with the girls, but he’s been this way with Noah for just as long, and it’s always brought a warm feeling to her stomach, one she didn’t have a name for until recently.

By early afternoon Noah and Jesse are grumbling about their legs hurting - Billie is yet to walk anywhere so she’s doing just fine, although Sonny definitely looks like he could do with a break even if he won’t admit it - so they stop for a picnic. Jesse and Noah chase each other around the grass once they’d finished eating, Billie has dozed off with her head on Amanda’s leg and Amanda strokes a hand gently through her hair as she sleeps.

They chat quietly about their plans for the rest of the weekend, about their day so far, about the weather; it’s nice, spending time just relaxing together, the sounds of the children’s laughter making its way back to them.

After about fifteen minutes of chasing each other, Noah and Jesse return to their picnic blanket, Jesse crashing into Sonny and reaching for her water bottle while Noah sits next to Liv. Once they’ve caught their breath Noah looks over at Sonny, “Hey Uncle Sonny?”

Sonny turns to Noah, his hand on Jesse’s back, steading her as she takes a huge gulp of water, “Yeah?”

“Can you come to our house and make pancakes for my breakfast tomorrow?”

Sonny’s eyebrows knit together in confusion as Liv shakes her head at her son, “Noah, that’s not really something you can expect Uncle Sonny to do.”

“But he went over and made pancakes for Jesse this morning,” Noah protests.

Sonny resists the urge to look at Amanda as he stumbles out an excuse, “Well, only because we were-”

“He didn’t come over for pancakes, Noah,” Jesse says, turning onto her back and leaning against Sonny, feet digging into the picnic blanket.

“You said he made real pancakes not from a box.”

“He did!” Jesse yells, sitting upright and ignoring Amanda’s reminder that Billie is sleeping, “But Mommy and Uncle Sonny had a sleepover first,” she adds.

Noah’s eyes go wide and he turns to look at his mother, but Liv isn’t giving anything away.

“Hey,” Amanda says, “Why don’t you guys go over and see the sea lions again - let Billie finish up her nap.”

Jesse, who has no idea what she’s just revealed, jumps happily to her feet, but Noah - who at nine years old realises that this is kind of a big deal without understanding why - is reluctant. He wants to watch how this unfolds.

“Go on, Noah,” Liv says, “Jesse’s too little to go by herself.”

The three of them sit in silence as Jesse tugs Noah down the bank towards the sea lions - three pairs of eyes on the children and none of them on each other.

“I think spending time with Jesse and Billie is good for him,” Liv says, and then she turns to look at them both, “So, a sleepover?”

“Well, it got late an’-” Sonny starts, but Liv fixes him with a look.

“Don’t lie to me, Carisi,” she says, taking a sip from her bottle of water, her eyes drifting between the two of them.

“It’s still new,” Amanda admits, reaching over to place a hand on Sonny’s knee. “It’s not a secret, we’re just-”

“Not advertising it?” Liv nods, “Well, whatever the two of you do in private is your own business,” she says, “But if it gets serious, then-”

“It is,” Sonny interjects, resting his hand on top of Amanda’s, “It’s serious. And we will do whatever we need to, work-wise.”

“I’m really happy for you both,” Liv tells them.

Sunday morning is more chaotic than usual this week. They’re going out to Staten Island for their first official Carisi family gathering and Amanda is nervous enough without her children running rings around them both. The girls had chosen this morning to sleep until a reasonable hour for the first time in their lives - meaning that Amanda’s assertion they didn’t need to set an alarm was proved wrong - and she already feels like she’s two steps behind. Jesse has changed her outfit twice, and Amanda has given up trying to brush her hair; she leaves her in the girls’ bedroom choosing which jacket she’d like to take and seeks out her youngest who had slipped out of sight while Amanda was persuading Jesse not to select a third t-shirt - Sonny’s escaped the chaos by taking Frannie for her morning walk; no little shadows accompanying him today because no one is ready to leave the house.

She finds Billie in the living room, crouched down behind the couch and looking very suspicious.

“Billie? What are you- is that Uncle Sonny’s phone?” Billie has Sonny’s phone gripped in her sticky hands, she’s grinning down at and doesn’t look away until Amanda tries to take it from her.

“Billie’s,” she says, gripping the phone tighter.

“Give it to Momma, please,” Amanda tells her, a firm look on her face which actually works for once; Billie releases her hold on the phone just as Amanda sees the video filling the screen, “Oh- Chief, I-”

“Good morning Detective Rollins,” Garland says, smiling at her, seemingly unconcerned by having a conversation with her two-year-old at 10am on a Sunday.

“I’m so sorry,” Amanda said, “Did Billie call you? I don’t know where she-”

Before Amanda can finish her sentence, she hears a key in the lock, the sound of Frannie’s paws on the wooden floor, and Sonny’s voice sailing down the hallway towards her, “Hey, Rollins - do you remember me puttin’ my phone down last night?”

“It’s here,” she says, but before she can warn him that she’s got Garland on a video call right in front of them he’s pressing a kiss to her cheek as he reaches for the phone, his eyes going wide when he realises.

“Chief - I didn’t- everythin’ okay?” Amanda ducks away, leaving him with the phone in his hands; she picks up Billie before she can cause anymore chaos and carries her towards the bathroom to try and rid her of the sticky residue on her hands and face.

Sonny joins her in the girls’ bedroom a few minutes later; she’s brushing Jesse’s hair back while Billie runs in a circle around them. He gives her a reassuring smile, “He just wanted to check on somethin’ for the Dyer case, Billie must’ve answered it, probably didn’t even mean to,” he tells her. “And he, uh- he said not to worry about Billie, Abby used to be grabbin’ at phones and stuff all the time. He gets it.”

Amanda finishes tying Jesse’s hair back and turns to look at him, “And?”

“He didn’t say anything outright about, uh, us. He didn’t ask and I-” Sonny stops, looking down at the phone still in his hand, “Oh.”

“What?” Amanda asks, standing up and walking towards him, avoiding Billie’s invisible running track.

“Email from Garland,” he says, turning his phone towards her once he’s opened the email - the subject line is Disclosure Paperwork and there’s one file attached.

It has been the worst Friday night Amanda has worked in a long time - she had been ready to clock off at midnight; head home and slip into bed next to Sonny; he’d let her lie in a little in the morning, tell her to get some more sleep while he got up with the girls. But a call came it at 11:25 about a missing foster kid, and now it was nearing 3am, she was exhausted down to the bone and emotionally drained - and that was pretty good shape compared to Kat; equally worn down, but with a split lip, a black eye and shaking hands to go with it. Amanda had been two steps behind her walking into that room, and she’d been quick to take down the perp, but the shock of the violence combined with the sight that greeted them when they looked up - it was enough to bring the most seasoned detective to their knees.

As they grabbed their things at the precinct, Amanda found herself watching Kat, her stiff movements, her quiet, lost gaze. She knew that look, and she knew what came with it, “Where are you going now?” she asked.

“Home.”

Amanda frowned, “Is Celine still out of town?”

“Yeah,” Kat nodded as they walked towards the elevator together, “She’ll be back on Sunday night.”

“I don’t think you should be alone,” Amanda said, protectiveness coming over her.

“It’s fine,” Kat shrugged, “I’m not going to show up at my parents’ house in the middle of the night.”

“Come back to mine,” Amanda said - it wasn’t an offer. She’d worry about letting Kat into the spaces of her life, her relationship, that she’d been keeping quiet another time; her priority right now was keeping her partner, her friend safe - she hadn’t been quick enough to prevent the physical injuries, but she’d definitely sleep a little better knowing that Kat wasn’t at home on her own.

“You’ve got kids to worry about, I’m fine.”

“You’re not,” Amanda said firmly, her hand gently on Kat’s arm stopping her from walking away, “Look, we’ve got to look out for each other. You know how many times I made Carisi sleep on my couch when we were partners?”

Kat smiles at that; probably picturing Amanda forcing Carisi into her apartment after a tough shift. It was never that difficult with Carisi though - suggest dinner, time with the girls, and he’d always say yes.

“Alright, okay,” Kat gives in as the elevator arrives.

“It’ll be loud in the morning,” Amanda warns her, “But it’s better than being alone with your thoughts.”

She slips into bed later than planned; she’s set Kat up on the couch, told her to knock if she needs anything during the night. Sonny rolls over almost immediately when she touches a hand to his bare arm, and he gives her a sleepily smile, “You’re back.”

“Hey,” she whispers, “Keep you voice down; Kat’s here.”

He frowns in confusion, “Everythin’ okay?”

“Tough day - night,” Amanda tells him, and his arm comes around her in comfort, “Better she’s not alone.”

“Course,” Sonny says, pulling her little closer; he knows what that’s like. He glances up towards the door, “Do you want me to-”

“What? Sneak out the fire escape?” she shakes her head, smiling at his ridiculousness, “No, we’ve got a few hours before the girls are up, we can figure it out then.”

Amanda has slept maybe three hours when Jesse comes hurtling into the bedroom without knocking - they’re working on that - and rushes over to the bed, speaking at a volume far higher than necessary, “Mommy, Kat’s on our couch!”

“I know, baby,” Amanda says, reluctantly opening her eyes to see her five-year-old leaning in inches from her face, “She slept over. Don’t wake her up.”

“I wanna watch cartoons,” she protests. Sonny reaches for his phone on the nightstand and leans over Amanda, waving it sleepily at Jesse.

“You can watch on here,” he offers.

Jesse grins, “Can I get in bed with you?” She doesn’t wait for an answer, clambering over Amanda’s body to wiggle into the small space between her and Sonny.

“Just don’t call anyone,” Amanda says as Jesse takes Sonny’s phone.

Amanda doesn’t go back to sleep - the cheery cartoon sounds coming through the phone speaker keep her on the edge of wakefulness, but some time passes before she hears Sonny and Jesse whispering to each other.

“But the sun has been up for forever,” Jesse is saying, her negotiation head on. Too bad she’s trying to out manoeuvre a prosecutor.

“That’s because it’s summer,” Sonny tells her, “Mommy and Kat got back very late last night so we’ll let them sleep a little more first.”

“But I don’t wanna stay in bed.”

“Okay,” he says, and Amanda smiles to herself, knowing Jesse definitely thinks she’s winning this argument. “You can stay here and watch cartoons on my phone, or you can come with me to walk Frannie.”

The bed shifts beside her and Amanda opens one eye to see Jesse wrapping her arms around Sonny’s neck pleadingly, “But I want to watch TV in the-”

“Nice try,” Sonny says, tickling her sides until she lets go. “That wasn’t one of the choices.”

“Fine,” Jesse says, with no small amount of drama, “Let’s go for a stupid walk.”

“Jesse-”

“We don’t say stupid,” Jesse sighs, “Sorry Uncle Sonny.” She climbs over Amanda to get out of the bed, creeping out of the door in a way she probably thinks is quiet.

Sonny presses his lips to Amanda’s shoulder as he climbs out of bed, “I’ll make it a long walk. Want me to take Billie too?”

“If she’s awake,” Amanda says gratefully, leaning up for a proper kiss before he gets dressed.

The apartment is quiet, but Amanda still can’t get back to sleep - she heard the door go, Sonny and the girls leaving as quietly as he could get them to, but sunlight is streaming in through the curtains and she’s too awake now to drift off. She gives up after ten minutes and goes to take a shower. On her way back down the hall she hears the sound of her old coffeemaker coming to life, and walks into the kitchen to see that Kat’s awake; the bruise on her eye is purpling but her lip looks less swollen than the night before, “Good morning.”

“Hi I was just making a coffee-” Kat gestures to the machine, she looks a little uncertain, or maybe that’s just the tiredness seeping in.

“It’s fine, make yourself at home.”

“Thanks for letting me stay, it was good not to wake up in an empty apartment,” Kat says, taking a second coffee mug and holding it up to Amanda who nods.

“Any time,” Amanda assures her.

Once they’re both sat in the living room with their coffee mugs in their hands, Kat looks over at Amanda, a smile on her face, “So, I saw something interesting this morning.”

Amanda bites her lip, preparing for what comes next, “What was that?”

“Counsellor Carisi… creeping out of your bedroom,” Kat looks very pleased with herself as she takes a long sip of her coffee, waiting for Amanda’s response.

Amanda doesn’t see any sense in denying it, “Yeah, you probably did.”

“Don’t worry,” Kat says reassuringly, “I’m not going to say anything to the captain.”

“It’s fine,” Amanda waves Kat off, “She already knows - we disclosed two weeks ago, we’re just not advertising it.”

Kat’s eyes go wide at that, “Wait, what? I never- well, you two have always been kind of,” she shrugs, “At least since I’ve known you.”

“Yeah,” Amanda smiles, “We kind of have.”

Amanda knocks once on Sonny’s office door before pushing it open, “Hey Counsellor,” she says, a smile just for him as she slips into the office.

“Hey Detective Rollins,” Sonny says, a smirk on his own lips.

She crosses the room and perches on the end of his desk, “Work call,” she tells him, but she isn’t in any hurry to rush him along.

He leans back in his chair, closing the case file he has open and looking up at her, “What do you need?”

“A warrant for Delugo’s phone records,” Amanda tells him - it is the primary reason for her visit, although she probably could have asked him over the phone, waited until he dropped the warrant off to see him. She likes finding excuses to come over here though, to see him in Counsellor Carisi mode in his own office, even with the mismatched paint and dented filing cabinets. That isn’t new with the change of their relationship - she’s been looking for reasons to swing by the DA’s office ever since he left SVU.

Sonny knows that, knows full well that if it were any other ADA she’d have just phoned, “Alright,” he nods, leaning forward, his face much closer to hers, “but it’ll cost you.”

“Oh, is that so?” Amanda asks, fingers tracing up the tie she’d watched him put on earlier that day, “What’s the fee?”

“Hmm, I think we can negotiate something-” he says, leaning in until his lips are hair’s breadth from her own. She closes the gap without hesitating, taking his bottom lip between hers as she draws him close.

They’re interrupted by the door opening, and a familiar voice groaning at them, “Oh no. Not today.”

Amanda pulls back from the kiss, turning to look at her sergeant over her shoulder. “Fin,” she grumbles, “Don’t you knock?”

“Door’s open,” Fin says, “Didn’t realise it was getting all R-rated in here.”

Sonny rolls his eyes, leaning back into his chair, “It was just a kiss, Fin.”

“I didn’t see anything,” Fin says, hands up, “I don’t know anything.”

“Everyone else already knows,” Amanda says, enjoying the way his expression changes. She is kind of touched that he would have been willing to deny all knowledge if she and Sonny were carrying on a secret relationship though.

Fin frowns at being the last to know. “Since when?”

“Your wedding,” Amanda smiles, “Not wedding.”

“Damn,” Fin shakes his head, “You’re welcome.” He steps fully into the room, holding out a manila folder for Sonny to take. “Liv asked me to drop that off on my way to the courthouse.”

“Thanks Fin,” Sonny says with a nod.

As Fin backs out of the office Amanda stands up, moving around Sonny’s desk, “I better get back. I forgot Fin was in court today.”

“I’ll let you know once I’ve got that warrant,” Sonny says; he’s not keen to see her go but they’re balancing this personal/professional life thing pretty well on the whole - and it’s easier saying goodbye when you know you’re going to be going home together.

“I’ll owe you that fee,” Amanda says, enjoying the way his expression changes as she glances back at him over her shoulder. She knows he’s watching her go; he’ll keep his eyes on her until she’s out of sight and then he’ll pick up his pen and get back to work - a smile still lingering on his face.

Summer’s drawing to a close - afternoons like this one will fade away, replaced with the dim light and cool breeze of the Fall. It’s been the best summer Amanda has had in a long time - for a lot of reasons, but chief amongst them has been letting herself have something she’s longed for since she was a child - the genuine love of a man who she loves right back, her children’s laughter filling their daily lives, friends who have become family around them and there for them.

Before summer ends and Jesse, Noah and Abby go back to school, Garland and his wife have invited them all over for a backyard barbecue, and it’s the first time they’ve all been together outside of work since the not-wedding - the first time she gets to walk into a space filled with their friends, her fingers slotted neatly between Sonny’s.

Jesse and Billie raced ahead of them through the house and into the backyard, chasing the sound of Noah’s excited yells; Amanda and Sonny follow Lamai out to join them; the sun is warm, the scent of good food wafts across the yard, music’s playing softly in the background. The children are huddled together at the bottom of the yard, and from the looks of Billie’s face they’ve already managed to sneak some cake from somewhere.

Sonny releases her hand, a kiss to her cheek before moving to where Fin and Stabler are standing near the grill. Amanda takes an empty seat next to Liv, turning to greet her friends - they’ve all got stupid smiles on their faces and she laughs, shaking her head, “What?”

“Nothing,” Liv says, “It’s nice. Seeing you two like this.”

Amanda bites back a comment about Stabler’s presence - she knows Liv is genuine and she wants to embrace it - so she just nods, leaning back in her chair as the conversation returns to its earlier topics, her gaze moving between Sonny and the children - and then to Sonny and the children when he abandons his spot by the grill to check up on them; within seconds he’s on the floor, a pile of kids on top of him as he dramatically begs for mercy and Amanda has never been more in love with this ridiculous, wonderful man.

He catches her eye across the yard and gives her a wink; yeah, she’s definitely in love.

#carisi week #sonny carisi #rollisi #svu #rollisi fic #amanda rollins #svu fic #my fic

28 notes · View notes

this-is-my-procrastination · 4 years

Note

hi !!! can i get headcanons on how the brothers would react to mc who had rly long hair but decided to cut it rly short one day?? like pixie cut short? lol i think that’d be fun to watch, also if all brothers is too much can u just do mammon, beel, and asmo pls ty!

Demon brothers w/ MC who cut off their long hair

This was super interesting and fun to write! I kinda assumed the MC cut their own hair so I’m really sorry if this wasn’t what you were expecting, but I hope you like them anyway! Thank you for requesting :))

Lucifer:

“What did you do-”

Coming home to you after a long, tiring day, he did not expect to see half your hair on the ground and you, scissors in hand, trying to chop off the rest of it

He thought you were just messing with him, or maybe trying a new prank

But then you tell him you were serious

Cue a resigned, long-suffering sigh, and then, “you always find a way to surprise me, love”

It’ll take him some time to get used to your short hair, but he comes to an appreciation for it eventually

He also discovers several perks to your hair length

One of those being that it exposes more of your skin to him ;)

His new favorite thing is to come up from behind you and greet you by placing a sweet kiss on the bare back of your neck

Lucifer also looks forward to coming home, where he’ll sit you on his lap and stroke your hair gently as you talk

He’ll offer to trim your hair for you, saying he doesn’t trust you to do it yourself

But we all know he’s just making excuses to run his fingers through your soft hair more and to take care of you

Mammon:

Screamed when he first saw you

Like a completely flabbergasted, not-so-manly, shook scream

Thought you were going through some kind of midlife crisis or something

But he gets used to it quickly, and Mammon is very impressed that you cut so much of your hair without ruining your entire head

Mammon will still call you dumb for cutting it by yourself though

“You could’ve hurt yourself! N-not that I care or anything, but you should definitely ask for my help next time!”

Even though both of you know he’s got absolutely no hair-cutting experience

Low-key amazed, and he’s very impressed

He thought you looked beautiful with long hair, but damn, you look downright stunning with short hair

Of course he’d never tell you that, or at least not without heaps of stuttering and blushing

He loves to ruffle your hair affectionately, both to touch it and to get a reaction out of you

Head pats galore

Every time you rub his head, he’ll pat yours as “revenge”

The other brothers will tease him for being soft, but he doesn’t care

These head pat exchanges always end with Mammon blushing up a storm though

Leviathan:

“UWAAHHH! WHO ARE YOU??”

Levi acts super dramatic, but when he finally realizes it’s you, he’s both shocked and excited

The thought hits him that you look really cute - not even a second later, he’s desperately covering his face to hide the blush that’s quickly overtaking his cheeks

After he calms down, he’s very excited to cosplay with you

There’s just so many new possibilities; he’s gotta start planning immediately

Levi isn’t straightforward enough to say this aloud, but he adores you and thinks you look like a goddess no matter what hair length you have

You could honestly cut the most jagged bangs, like it was admittedly a complete mistake, and he’d still think you’re the most beautiful person he’s ever laid eyes on

Ruri-chan and all the other characters can’t even hold a candle to you

After a long night of video games and anime marathons, he’ll tease you about your messy hair

“Woahh, MC! You look kinda like a hedgehog!”

Slapp that boy

After getting him back, he never makes fun of your messy bedhead again

Satan:

When he saw you, he was speechless (very rare for him)

He’s frozen for a couple seconds, but when he snaps out of it, he’s smiling and complimenting your hair-cutting skills

“Wow! This is a big change, huh?”

He gives you nicknames at first, calling you things like Pixie or Fluffy playfully

Even with the teasing, though, Satan supports you through the entire transition

He’s read a lot of books, some of them on human hair care, so he’ll share any info he has with you

“Oh, did you know that short hair should be washed daily? Here, let me help you.”

If you ever doubt your decision, Satan immediately reassures you that he loves you no matter what

Although he does think your short hair looks amazing

Short hair might even be better because it’s easier for him to read over your shoulder when y’all are cuddling

Also likes that when you lean your head on his shoulder, there’s not as much hair covering your face from his view

Satan just really wants to see all the cute expressions you make for him

Asmodeus:

“Why didn’t you call me, MC?!”

Wishes he could’ve cut your hair himself, but he loves what you did with it

He’s also kinda mad that you didn’t tell him about your hair-cutting skills?!

Asmo will insist that you cut his hair one day

He gets super excited about it too, kinda like a puppy

It takes a lot of trust, but he’s got faith in you!

The minute he sees your new hair, he’s already thinking about all the cool hairstyles he wants to see on you

If you ever miss your long hair, you can just braid his since Asmo has longer hair

All he wants in return is your consent to be pampered as you have your hair experimented on

His nimble fingers are constantly teasing through your locks, tousling and smoothing

Asmo would also buy so many hair products and hair accessories for you

You’re gonna have more hair clips than you know what to do with

His favorite part of your sleepovers is definitely helping you wash your hair

It’s just really calming and intimate, a nice tranquil moment between you

Well, it’s his favorite besides the other nighttime "activity” that y’all get up to ;)

Very caring; if you have any regrets about cutting your hair, he’ll be quick to lay them to rest

Although he won’t hesitate to be your knight in shining armor on bad hair days!

Beel:

He doesn’t really care about your hair length

Beel is just a soft boy who adores you no matter what

“You look beautiful as always, but I’m happy if you’re happy, MC.”

And he’ll say that without even a hint of a blush

This mans is just straightforward af and will say whatever comes to his mind

He adores pulling you into his lap and resting his head on top of yours

That’s his default position when y’all are cuddling, and he’ll just bask in the feeling of your fluffy hair tickling his chin

Beel is also the king of head kisses

Like the top of your head, forehead, cheek, anywhere on your head is fair game

It’s convenient because it’s the body part closest to him (since he’s basically a tree), and he also gets a good look at your cute flustered facial expression

You’ll pout, but he just thinks it’s cute and continues to do it lol

“Mmm, your hair smells good... Ah, are you blushing? You’re cute, MC.”

Belphegor:

Saw you cutting your hair and walked the other way

He didn’t dislike it or anything, he was just surprised and confused

When you show him the finished product, he just laughs and pulls you under the blankets

“You look good as always, so come here already and let me sleep. Is it okay if I hold you like this...?”

Belphie pouts at first, but it’s honestly nothing to do with your hair, he just missed you and is annoyed that he lost out on time you could’ve spent napping with him

He eventually realizes that your short hair is even softer than your long hair

Which then causes him to nuzzle into your hair every time he falls asleep next to you

“comfy...”

Belphie also loves to run his fingers through your hair, even if it gets messed up

He thinks you look cutest with that messed up hair because he knows it was caused by him (kinda like him leaving marks on you)

As you two fall asleep, cuddled close to each other, he’ll stroke your head absentmindedly and lean into you, his mind at peace and body fully relaxed

279 notes · View notes

kyuuppi · 4 years

Text

(Un)planned (requested)

Pairing: Orihara Izaya x Pregnant!Reader

Genre: fluff, a lil crack-y

Word Count: 4.9k

As you walk out of the hospital you can’t help but to feel as if you’re in a dream, as if nothing is real. The only thing tying you to reality are the freshly printed documents verifying your pregnancy that feel unnaturally heavy in your purse. The reality of the situation was easier to accept than you expected, really. You have been married for a while and you can recall several instances in which you two hadn’t been exactly safe with your escapades. Being pregnant is not something that bothers you either—you have always wanted to have children at some point in your life. The only problem, the only thing keeping you from feeling properly excited by the news is the father of the child itself—Orihara Izaya. It is not something the two of you had ever discussed and, knowing first hand just how dangerous his field of work as one of Japan’s best information brokers...well, you aren’t sure if you two could create a healthy environment for a child to grow up in. Providing love and food on the table was one thing, providing safety and security was another.

At the thought of food your stomach involuntarily grumbles. You didn’t realize just how hungry you are until now. You hadn’t eaten all day, the nervousness about the doctor’s visit having ruined your appetite. It is by sheer coincidence that you notice a familiar face only a few meters ahead entering the infamous sushi bar. You follow after him without hesitation.

“Welcome to Russia Sushi,” Simon greets with a grin.

You smile in return before sidling into the booth next to the blond man you had followed in.

“Hi, Shizuo,” you greet shyly. The man nods in acknowledgement, already looking over the menu.“Y/n,” he returns coolly, “how have you been?” His gaze suddenly darkens as his grip on the laminated menu tightens and you can already tell what he’s about to ask next.

“Has...the flea been treating you well?”

You have no doubt one word of complaint about Izaya would have Shizuo tearing the city apart to kill him. Shizuo was one of the first people in Ikebukuro you had met who you could call a “friend.” Although he wasn’t the type to frequent brunch dates and sleepovers to watch anime and gossip, he always made sure to greet you with a small smile, regardless of how his day was going, and had promised to protect you if you ever needed it.

It was already several months into your friendship when you had started dating Izaya and at first Shizuo had...not been happy, to say the least. To the blond, Izaya was incapable of genuinely caring about anyone but himself. There was always an interior motive and the people around him would always be in danger. After several long, long months of persuasive speaking on your part (naturally Izaya just got a kick out of teasing the man about your relationship rather than seeking approval), an official marriage to the man, and Shizuo seeing you still remaining unharmed through it all, Shizuo finally seems to accept your relationship—or at least tolerate it. However, you know one bad word about Izaya and Shizuo would be ready to kick his ass to Hong Kong on your behalf.

‘I wonder what he’d think about me not telling Izaya about the pregnancy.’ You mentally sour at the thought and physically shake your head to get rid of it.

“He’s been an angel,” you joke. Shizuo scoffs and you end up giggling as well. Regardless of disagreeing on just how bad Izaya is, you both know he’s far from an angel.

He had always been more curved horns and pointy tail than halo and wings...but you love him all the same.

Before Shizuo can verbally respond (likely with an insult about ‘the flea’), Simon appears behind the bar before you two, ready to take your orders. As usual, Shizuo places his order first so that you have a little longer to decide.

“I’ll take the natto sushi—” you can’t help but to shiver in disgust at the sound. “—and today’s special.”

You perk up at that.

“Special?”

Simon grins at your interest.

“Yes, today’s special is yummy drink, tastes just like Russian seaweed farms! Special is very good.”

The idea of a Rusian seaweed farm drink is moderately concerning but between Simon’s excitement and Shizuo’s unbothered look you decide to order it against your better judgement, along with some fatty tuna.

Izaya must really be rubbing off on you.

You and Shizuo share a few minutes of idle talk while you wait for your orders. He tells you of the most ridiculous people he has had to collect debts or protect Tom Tanaka from this month and your laughter has you forgetting about all of your pregnancy worries. You’ve completely relaxed by the time drinks arrive and you take a sip without hesitation.

“Mmm,” your eyes widen as you regard Shizuo, “this is actually really good!”

Shizuo offers a rare boyish grin before he sips his own pale green drink, watching you go in for more.

“Right? You can hardly even tell there’s any vodka in it.”

‘Vodka!?’

You gasp, accidentally inhaling extra liquid before you begin spluttering in panic. Shizuo quickly jumps into action, harshly patting your back but careful not to use too much strength. Half of the restaurant is looking your way in concern and even Simon looks like he’s just about to catapult himself over the bar to help you when you finally calm down and your choking is reduced to harsh pants while you try to catch your breath. You think most of the drink had been expelled in your coughing fit but you still feel queasy and anxious. What if it hurts the baby?

“Y/n, are you okay?’ Shizuo asks, hand awkwardly rubbing your back in an attempt to be comforting. “Are you allergic or something.”

“N-no, it’s not that I’m allergic but...I can’t have alcohol for a while.”

Shizuo raises a brow at that and you feel grateful that everyone seems to have returned to their own work by now, no longer staring at you. Simon has left the bar to attend to a customer in one of the private dining rooms, leaving you and Shizuo essentially alone in your corner of the sushi restaurant.

“Why can’t you have alcohol for a while? You used to love sake.”

He sends a teasing smirk with the last part, referring to an embarrassingly drunken moment you’d had a few weeks into living in the city. Shizuo had sworn to never bring it up again but clearly he paid that particular oath no mind.

“Well, um…”

You begin to fidget nervously. Originally you had no intentions of telling anyone about the baby but...Shizuo was a good friend, maybe your closest friend in Ikebukuro aside from Celty. You have no doubts he would be nothing but supportive and kind to you in a time when you need it most—that is, after he gets over the idea of another person sharing Izaya’s DNA being brought into the world, of course.

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone—not even Izaya. Especially not Izaya.”

Shizuo perks up at that, seeming interested in the prospect of you having something not even Izaya, your husband and the greatest information broker in all of Japan, knows about. Perhaps a small part of him would even relish in having something to keep from Izaya, some sort of “one-up” on the man.

“Of course,” he replies immediately, nodding.

You take a deep breath, bracing yourself.

“I’m pregnant.”

Everything seems to pause at your confession. Shizuo sits stock still and as the silence stretches on you begin to fear he didn’t hear and you’ll have to repeat it. However, before you can open your mouth to repeat those incriminating words, you’re startled by a sharp snap and look down to find the wooden chopsticks in Shizuo’s right hand broken in half. You trust him and know he would never hurt you but your heart rate still spikes and you tense in your seat, hand subconsciously resting over your stomach protectively. Shizuo's wide eyes follow the movement.

“Y-you're…" He finally stutters out. "...whose is it?"

You gawk, suddenly offended.

"Wh-who!? It’s Izaya's, you dumbass, who else!"

"I didn't want to make any assumptions!"

Your anger quickly dissolves into giggles at Shizuo's panicked expression and he visibly relaxes at the sound. There are a few moments of moderately comfortable silence between the two of you before Shizuo sighs and speaks again.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised, you've been married for a while now." His expression sours once he mentions marriage and you can tell he's internally reliving some of his worst encounters with your husband.

"I just can't believe there's going to be two of them now," he pouts. "That annoying piece of—"

"Hey," you interrupt, a teasing smirk on your face. "That's my baby daddy you're talking about."

Shizuo’s pales, looking like he'll throw up in disgust at any moment and you can't help but to laugh.

Maybe this whole pregnancy thing isn’t so bad.

. . .

You had been wrong—very wrong.

After your impromptu lunch with Shizuo, as you were walking out with your extra bag of fatty tuna to-go, it suddenly hit that you were about to go to the home you shared with Orihara Izaya pregnant with the unplanned child he knows nothing about. You nearly had a panic attack several times on the walk there as you mentally played through a multitude of scenarios of how to tell him and what his reaction might be. Izaya is involved in dangerous, illegal work—you can’t imagine a family and kids fits anywhere in that. You were lucky enough to have been asked to marry the man—there’s no way he would be ready for children as well.

‘Would he tell me to get rid of it?’

You had worked yourself so much on the way that by the time you arrived to the apartment you were mentally exhausted and barely managed to place the sushi in the fridge before you collapsed on the couch and turned on the television to zone out until Izaya came home.

A few hours later a sound at the front door jolted you to attention.

“I’m home~!” a man’s voice cheerfully booms from the entrance.

You silently pray to every god in existence that you can pull an Oscar-worthy act before plastering a smile on your face and standing to greet your husband.

“Welcome home, Izaya! I bought fatty tuna, it’s in the fridge.”

Izaya’s vermillion eyes seem to sparkle at that and he immediately makes his way to the kitchen after shedding his trademark faux fur-trimmed coat. That buys you enough time to contemplate your next course of action and how you will break the news to him. You know that, despite the fact he enjoys games and toying with others for as long as he deems entertaining, he expects direct answers from the people who work for him like Namie or Celty. But how could you possibly just outright say you’re pregnant right now? The man is humming to himself while stuffing his face with sushi right now for god’s sake—the mood is totally off!

“—Y/n?”

Your own name startles you out of your thoughts and as you blink to tune back into the outside world you find Izaya learning against the counter directly across from you, eying you with mirth as he holds the plastic container of sushi, nearly half empty by now.

“My, my. Someone seems a bit distracted today,” he taunts lowly. You tense at that, fearing he’s about to ask you what you’re thinking about.

Luckily, he seems to be feeling merciful today as he simply repeats what he was saying while you were zoned out, his tone back to almost childish glee.

“I was saying I met with Goto-chan today—y’know the one who was on ‘vacation’ for while—” he uses air quotes with the free hand not holding up the sushi and you can’t help but to smile at that, unhealthily endeared by this odd, dangerous man.

“—well turns out he has a kid now. He even brought her to our meeting with his gang; what terrible parenting~! Right, Y/n-chan?”

You gulp before barely managing a nod of agreement, suddenly extremely uncomfortable with the topic of conversation.

“I would never take my own young offspring to a place like that. Sometimes meetings end very badly, y’know~,” he continues on. You’re suddenly aware of the sweat collecting at your brow despite the moderate temperature in the apartment and you wonder if the panic is showing on your face.

‘He...he doesn’t know anything yet...right?’

There’s a beat of silence in which you two just stare at each other. Your face feels clammy and hot but you try your best to maintain a neutral expression while Izaya’s lips are curved into their usual smirk with a playful glint in his deep red eyes—along with something else you can’t quite read but somehow evokes a ball of dread to form deep within your gut.

A few seconds later and the moment is gone as Izaya turns away to dispose of the empty sushi contained and is rambling on about something else you don’t have the energy to even pretend to listen to as relief washes over your body.

The rest of the night is spent curled up on the couch watching cartoons while Izaya works, not bringing up the topic of children again for the rest of the night. You decide waiting a little longer to tell him wouldn’t hurt—you just need some time to gather your thoughts and plan exactly how to tell him.

. . .

Somehow “a little longer” becomes “a lot longer” as every time you approach Izaya with a speech already planned, you look into his eyes and immediately chicken out. To make matters worse, you aren’t sure if you’re just being hyper-aware of all things related to children now or if the whole world is really out to get you but it seems babies are everywhere. A few days after that night you turned on the TV to watch something with Izaya only to find a pregnancy documentary of all things on which Izaya insisted you two watch because he wanted to “learn more about the development of his precious humans.” Another few days after that the two of you were on a rare evening walk together when a small, crying child approached the two of you claiming to have lost his mother while chasing a dog. Izaya unexpectedly took over the situation and handled it exceptionally well, diligently looking for the boy’s mother with you while keeping him entertained to the point he didn’t even want to say goodbye to Izaya when you two finally found his mother.

External factors like that made things a little more difficult for you as you attempted not to let your secret slip out but other factors were a lot more difficult to hide—such as your slowly but steadily growing belly and strange new mood swings. The former was easily remedied by electing to wear your looser more comfortable clothing. Izaya had never been a physically affectionate partner so you didn’t have to worry about him noticing your stomach in a hug or anything like that and he never pushed when you turned down his occasional sexual advances at night citing that you were too tired or had a stomach ache. Your mood swings and other hormonal changes, however, were not so avoidable.

The first time you had raised your voice at him—and over something so small as coming home half an hour later than he said he would—came as a surprise to both of you. After a moment of wide eyed staring from both sides he seemed to recover quickly though and teased you about missing him too much. A few times you had also spontaneously burst into tears for no apparent reason, to which he simply pulled you into his side and started telling you a random funny story about his adventures at work until your tears stopped.

But even with Izaya being so unintentionally helpful in keeping your secret, the pressure and guilt of constantly lying to your own husband and the man famed for knowing everything gradually eats at you day-by-day, hour-by-hour, and minute-by-minute until you are constantly seeking a relief from the stress. Sometimes that comes in form of finishing a whole box of chocolates, sometimes via napping for six hours straight, and sometimes through social media and chatrooms.

One Thursday afternoon you log in to the chat for the first time since finding out you’re pregnant, pleasantly surprised to see your two favorite members already online.

▶▶ [USER01] has entered the chat.

[Tarō Tanaka] Hello, User-san. Long time no see.

[Setton] we missed u User-chan.

You smile, instantly feeling better with the online presence of your friends.

[USER01] hey, guys. whats up?

[Setton] Tanaka-san was just talking about volunteering at the daycare.

[Tarō Tanaka] Ah, I just had some freetime…

[Setton] don’t be modest. ur really amazing Tanaka-san.

[Tarō Tanaka] Ahaha, really it’s nothing! I just played with some babies for a few hours...

[Setton] nonsense. don’t u think Tanaka-san is cool, User-chan?

You take a second too long to answer, suddenly feeling anxious by the reminder of daycares and babies. You wonder if you and Izaya will leave your own child at a daycare some day...if he even accepts the child.

[USER01] ah, yeah..very cool

[Tarō Tanaka] User-san are you alright? You seem a little off today, you’re usually more talkative...

[Setton] u know u can tell us anything. we’re friends.

You hesitate to type, your trembling hands hovering over the keyboard as you consider your options. On one hand, you feel guilty at the prospect of telling more people who are not your husband before actually telling Izaya himself. As the father, regardless of his reaction, he deserved to be the first to know. On the other hand, keeping these overwhelming feelings to yourself makes you feel as if you’ll burst at the seams. So much stress can’t be good for the baby.

[USER01] well, to be honest I’m….

▶▶ [Kanra] has entered the chat.

[Kanra] Yahoo~! (≧∇≦)/

[Kanra] What is everyone talking about today?? owo

[USER01] nothing much!! just the weather..it has been so hot lately!

[Tarō Tanaka] But it’s September…

[Setton] ???

[Setton] ah yeah, nothing much i guess...how are u Kanra?

[Kanra] Ehh~ What’s with this weird atmosphere!? I feel like everyone is keeping secrets from Kanra-chan! (●´^｀●)

[USER01] no way!! not at all! ah, its already this late? I have to get dinner soon, bye-bye!!

[Tarō Tanaka] It’s only 2 o’clock though...

▶▶ [USER01] has left the chat.

Your laptop closes with a resounding tap and you release the breath you didn’t realize you were holding. Izaya seems to have impeccably awful timing. You hate to think you were moments away from confessing your secret right in front of him and two mutual friends in a public chat room. You’re fairly certain that must be among the top ten worst ways to announce a pregnancy.

Frazzled, you head to the kitchen to make a snack.

After shuffling through the refrigerator for a few minutes, pushing aside suddenly unappetizing leftovers of Chinese take-out and pizza, you settle on sliced pineapple, kimchi, and a pack of microwaveable rice from the cabinet. Even you knew the combination was abhorrent in normal circumstances, but for the past few weeks you found yourself craving obscure combinations of food from ice cream drizzled with honey mustard to canned tuna and chocolate.

You are only a few bites in when you hear the familiar sounds of the front door opening and your husband announcing his arrival. The lanky man immediately slips into the kitchen to greet you with a small peck on the top of your head.

“I see my favorite little human is enjoying one of her...creations again,” Izaya comments.

When you look up you catch the split second of disgust on his features as he eyes your bowl before he quickly schools his expression back into something more neutral. You almost laugh.

“Do you want me to make you some?” You can’t help but to tease, trying your best to feign a serious expression as you ask.

Izaya looks mildly horrified before playing it off with a dismissive laugh.

“No thanks, I already ate.”

He gracefully breezes past you to make his way through the living room and to his personal office in the back where he make quick work of logging into his desktop. It is a usual occurrence—despite being home his work is never truly finished. He has to be flexible in his field, ready to gather new intel the moment it becomes available. It is strange to compare Izaya to anyone with a regular job but you often find yourself thinking he must really love his career if he invests so much of himself into it. You’re sure that by now he has done enough odd jobs to no longer need the money to live the rest of his life worry-free and yet he continues to work relentlessly, never taking a vacation day once in the years you’ve known him.

“By the way,” Izaya calls out, interrupting your thoughts.

“I have some things to take care of in Ōsaka this weekend. I’ll be back Sunday night.”

He glances up from his computer to send you a teasing smirk.

“Try not to get too lonely without me~”

You nearly choke on a piece of pineapple as you fluster, immediately denying his claim despite his obnoxious laughter drowning out your protests.

It is not until you lie in bed that night, trying to fall asleep, that you recognize this could be the moment you’ve been waiting for.

. . .

The next morning, after seeing Izaya off for the weekend, you grab your laptop and log into your nearly forgotten Pinterest account to look for cute pregnancy announcement ideas. With Izaya physically out of the house for more than 24 hours you feel the pressure of constantly hiding all clues lifted off your shoulders and you feel free to properly put something together that you hope will result in a more positive reaction from him than just blurting it out of the blue. You have to periodically remind yourself that this is his child as much as it is yours and he is just as responsible for creating it so that you don’t psych yourself out imagining him blaming you for potentially ruining his life.

A majority of the pins you scroll through are immediate no’s. They’re either way too corny or tacky and you highly doubt Izaya would appreciate the humor in a “thx for knocking me up!” sticker.

...Okay well maybe he would but you certainly wouldn’t.

By the twelfth page you feel exasperated. You’re almost tempted to just send him an “I’m pregnant” text right now to get it over with—at least you won’t be there to see his expression in realtime. That’s when you stumble upon the pin. You immediately click the little square before it loads into an image that takes up your full screen. On the image is a white marble background, likely a kitchen countertop, with a round white cake in the center with the words “we’re having a baby!” sprawled on top in purple icing.

It is simple, to the point, cute, and most importantly—cake.

Who doesn’t love cake?

‘Well, Izaya doesn’t really like sweet things that much…’

You mentally tell your self-conscious to shut up. A cake would be perfect.

With your mind made up, slam your laptop shut and get dressed to go to your nearest bakery and place your order.

. . .

On Sunday afternoon you pick up your cake from the bakery, only mildly embarrassed by the amount of times the owner bids you a “congratulations” and “your husband is lucky man!” When you make it back to the apartment and open up the blue pastry box on the counter everything suddenly feels very real. The cake itself is perfect—exactly like the picture you saw that day on Pinterest. A white buttercream base with beautiful purple letters spelling out “we’re having a baby!” in cursive. There are even small yellow flowers surrounding the edges, as suggested by the shop owner.

It looks absolutely delicious but you feel like you’re going to throw up.

According to Izaya’s text that morning he’ll be back within three hours from now and that’s when you’ll have to wordlessly hand him this cake and watch as his expression morphs into something you’ve likely never seen before.

‘What if he just abandons us?’

Your right hand unconsciously wraps over the now noticeable little bulge on your stomach. It’s too late to have second-thoughts, you reason with yourself, the longer you draw this out the worse it will be. You decide a quick nap would do some good to ease your nerves. You’ll set your alarm for half an hour from now then clean the apartment and put on some soothing cartoons until Izaya gets home. After gingerly placing the cake box in the refrigerator you shuffle up the stairs to the bedroom. You’re unconscious almost as soon as your head hits the pillow.

. . .

When you peel your eyelids open you find yourself feeling more calm than you remember feeling after a nap. You stretch each of your limbs and wriggle your toes as you allow your foggy brain to properly wake up.The rays of light streaming through the blinds seem to radiate a comforting warmth to fight of the chill of the bedroom.

‘Wait...light!?’

A rush of panic overtakes your system and you scramble to find your phone on the bedside table, nearly screaming when you read the blaring white digits on the screen.

9:07AM

You didn’t just take a nap, you slept through the night.

Your head whips around to find the other side of the bed neatly made, just as it was when you climbed in bed yesterday. Maybe you still had a chance—maybe some unforeseen thing happened and Izaya had to spend an extra night in Ōsaka. You nearly trip and faceplant several times in your haste to rush downstairs and into the kitchen where you’d hid the cake.

Placing the cold box on the counter, your hands tremble lightly as they slowly lift the lid.

You heart skips a beat.

One perfectly sized slice was missing, leaving only a few crumbs in its wake.

You don’t even have time to have a proper mental breakdown before a door slams shut. “Ah, I see you’re finally awake~!”

Almost in slow motion your eyes slide from the cake to the tall black haired man holding a bag of what some distant part of your brain recognizes as breakfast from your favorite café. Izaya looks unbothered, irritatingly so, as if he had no idea of the inner turmoil you are currently experiencing.

“You must have been exhausted—you didn’t even stir when I came in last night.”

He has the audacity to exaggerate a pout as he whines, “it made me feel unwelcome, y’know~”

“Th-the...cake...” you barely manage to stutter out, struggling to make sense of the current situation.

“Hmm?” he hums, the smirk of his lips making it apparent he knows exactly what you’re thinking.

“Ah, yes, thank you for the treat~ I don't usually like sweets but this one was surprisingly delicious~!”

He begins to casually place his bags on the counter across from you and pull out the breakfast items, explaining nothing more and even humming a bit to himself as he works to sort the food.

God you want to punch him.

You swallow thickly to steady yourself before trying again.

“S-so what do you think about...it” you ask, awkwardly gesturing to your stomach..

"Hmm? Ah, the vanilla was good but there was a little too much icing—"

"NO DUMBASS, I WAS TALKING ABOUT THE BABY!” You finally snap, face bright red in anger.

Izaya only guffaws, laughing as if you had just cracked the joke of the century. You’re only split seconds from throwing the whole cake at him when his laughter finally dies down and he slides around the counter and to your side. He wraps his arms around your waist, hands gently resting on either side of your belly and you feel your heart flutter unexpectedly at the tenderness of the action.

“You’re so cute when you think you’re hiding something from me.”

Your breath hitches.

“Wh-what? What do you mean by that—” you desperately attempt to turn to face him but his hold keeps you firmly in place.

“I’ve known since day one~” he sing-songs, sounding annoyingly proud of himself. “I’m surprised you finally decided to tell me though. I was starting to think you’d wait until you went into labor and needed a ride to the hospital,” Izaya jokes. “No way,” you protest, “that’s literally impossible—there’s no way you could have known already.”

He moves one arm from your body to swipe at some frosting on the forgotten cake, bringing it over to your lips in an offering you accept without thinking, taste buds tingling at the sweetness.

“Silly Y/n—I’m an expert at planning, y’know? All those times we ‘forgot’ to use protection weren’t an accident~”

Your whole body seems to erupt in flames as a blush takes over your face. This time, you really do hit him.

“I-idiot!!”

#durarara #orihara izaya #izaya x reader #reader insert #durarara fic #drrr x reader #durarara scenario #durarara imagine #izaya imagine #izaya fic #unplanned

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arknights-imagines · 4 years

Note

I would kindly request for a Broca imagine.🥺

Hiya anons! 💕 Ty for sending in requests 🥺 I actually know the first anon well, so from now on they're gonna be called bird anon 🤣 anywho, I was a little unsure on how to capture Broca but I actually really enjoyed writing this! 😭🎉 I hope I did him justice 🌸 please enjoy 🍡

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Growing Closer with Broca overtime

Headcanon format; From the perspective of the reader/Doctor for the most part

Contains: Broca, reader as Doctor, relationship development overtime, a few time skips and lots of fluff 🥺

Word count: about 2.4k!

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･ Rhodes Island was quite the expansive company, but you had always made an effort to get to know every Operator you commanded to at least some extent. Some you only knew the names of, while others you considered very close to you beyond business and Operations. You felt it was only right that you made an effort to understand those who were ready to give their lives for the cause Rhodes Island stood for; it was the least you could do, in your eyes.

･ Though there was one particular Operator among one of the groups of newer recruits who captured your curiosity; he had attended post and pre-operation meetings, but he always wore the same callous scowl and stood in a far corner of the room, not saying a word.

･ When you had asked Amiya, she replied with a slight tilt of her head, “Ah, the Guard Operator off to the side? His name is Broca, I don't think you’ve met him personally yet, Doctor. He's not very talkative, but he's a talented Operator.” Broca - the name wasn't too familiar, but that only brought more curiosity upon you.

･ You had read his file, but documents never properly represented how a person actually felt or behaved. So, you took it upon yourself to talk to Broca; maybe even help the Feline feel a little more comfortable around you and others at Rhodes Island.

･ Whilst taking attendance for an upcoming Operation, you took your time when the next name on your list was his; “Codename Broca?” He raised a hand for a moment, muttering out a small, “Here.” You could tell that he was expecting you to move on, but you stopped to face him with a small smile, “Welcome, I’m sorry I didn't introduce myself sooner.”

･ Just when you mentioned your name, Broca stepped back, looking off to the side as a small ‘tch’ left his lips, “I don’t have any reason to start a conversation with you. Your name doesn't matter to me.”

･ With that, he headed off in a different direction; you stood there for a few moments, blinking and face written with surprise, before a small sigh left you.

･ It looked like getting closer to Broca was going to be anything but easy.

･ You had heard what the other Operators would say about Broca; they always mentioned how unpleasant he was to be around. In fact, some even told you trying to get closer to him was a battle you would lose very sorely. While you understood where they were coming from, you were sure that his bitterness came from somewhere amd had an explanation, and you wanted to understand him better.

･ However, understanding Broca better was a lot easier said than done.

･ From his file, you gathered that he was previously involved with the Siracusan mafia and that he only seemed to be open around the two Operators he had been with when he arrived at Rhodes Island, though you didn't know either of them personally. You knew he was Infected, but you weren't his medical doctor, nor was that any of your business.

･ So, unfortunately, the list of things you could’ve potentially talked to Broca about thinned very quickly.

･ Even so, you didn't want to give up on trying to get closer to him just yet.

･ A few days later, you had approached Amiya while walking around the Rhodes Island Arc, once again asking about Broca; “Amiya, have you seen Broca anywhere today?”

･ The young woman looked down for a second, eyes thoughtful before she lifted her head with a small nod, “Yes, I saw him heading toward the kitchen down the hall a little while ago.” The Chimera explained, “Will you try talking to him again?” When you replied in affirmation, Amiya smiled a little, “I see. He doesn't show it, but I’m certain he appreciates your effort.” Her words paired with her kind grin imbued you with motivation, and you couldn't help but smile a little back.

･ As you thanked her for her help, the Chimera waved you goodbye, “I hope it goes well for you, Doctor.” And with that, you were off to go find Broca.

･ In all honesty, you weren't expecting the Feline to still be where Amiya had seen him, but sure enough, he was in the small kitchens adjacent to one of the meeting rooms nearby; it seemed like he had just finished attending a briefing.

･ “Broca, hello again.” You figured there was no better approach than a forthcoming one, so you headed further into the room to stand a little closer to him. He didn't seem very happy to see you; in fact, he hadn't really spared you as much as a glance, and continued to rummage around in the cabinets as if you weren't there. The only real indication that he had even really noticed you was that his Feline ears flattened just slightly in displeasure, and that wasn't exactly the greatest sign either.

･ You weren’t that easy to get rid of, however.

･ “Are you looking for something to eat?” You asked, looking around the kitchen for a second before opening one of the nearby fridges and peering in.

･ A little hesitantly, Broca stared at you from the corner of his eye, watching as you pulled out a tray of various wrapped sandwiches. “You can take one of these. Matterhorn made them this morning.” You took two sandwiches off the tray then returned it to its original spot as the Feline nearby finally turned to face you.

“...Who’re all of those for?” He asked, and you smiled a little, happy that he was speaking to you - even if it was only a few words.

･ “They’re for everyone. You can take what you like.” Heart hopeful, you extended your arm and offered one of the sandwiches to him, “If you’re not going to eat it now, just take it for later.”

･ Broca stared at you for a few moments; eyes shifted between your kind expression and the wrapped sandwich you held in your outstretched hand. Conflict flicked in his eyes for but a second, then, with a small “tch”, he moved his hand, accepting the food.

･ His fingertips brushed yours as he did, and to your surprise, he lingered for a few seconds longer. But when you blinked, he was already leaving the room, unwrapping the sandwich on the way.

･ Before the door closed behind him, the Feline glanced over his shoulder; his expression was softer than usual, and he spared you a small thankful nod before taking his leave.

･ As the door closed, you smiled to yourself. Maybe there was a chance that Broca would let you in after all.

･ These small interactions continued, and each time you two spoke, Broca became just a little warmer.

･ You would greet him in the hallways, wish him good luck as he left for Operations and praise him for his good work after an Operation would finish. As the days passed, he began acknowledging you more and more; the Feline spared you a simple “Morning.” or “Afternoon.” whenever he passed you by happenstance, he would give you verbal reports about missions upon returning and whenever you applauded him for his good work on the battlefield, he’d stop to give you a curt word of thanks.

･ You didn't move too fast; you let him come to you at his own pace. Everytime you two spoke, you felt like you began to understand him better; the Feline was tough, but behind his walls, he wasn't the heartless person everything thought him to be.

･ Broca became very important to you, and so was every moment you two shared. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, but you didn't have to be able to read minds in order to understand that he was trying his best to allow you in.

･ However, the real point of progress between you two was one weekend afternoon a long time later, just before dawn.

･ Work had kept you up late, so you didn't see the point in sleeping. To keep yourself occupied, you figured you’d prepare for the Operation briefing you were supposed to present later that day to save yourself some time.

･ However, when you had walked into the meeting room reserved for the briefing, you were surprised to see someone already there, looking over the battle formation diagrams you had drawn earlier that day during the small meeting you had held in preparation for the upcoming Operation. “Broca?”

･ The Feline looked up, looking a little surprised to see you. “Morning.” He looked off to the side as you stepped into the room, “It's early for you to be here.”

･ You briefly explained why you were there at such an early hour, before sitting on the meeting desk, facing him, “What are you doing here?” He nodded his head at the meeting board and battle formation diagrams on the table, “Preparing.”

･ You nodded, making a small noise of affirmation. Broca stared at you for a moment more, before returning to his previous task of reviewing the battle plans for the Operation.

･ The silence wasn’t awkward, but you still felt the need to fill it; “Broca, do you hate working here with me at Rhodes Island?” He clearly wasn't expecting that; the question was direct, and the Feline grew a bit tense at hearing it. He was quiet for a few moments, but then he huffed. “You’re rather rude.” He gave you a glance, before crossing his arms and then choosing to shake his head slowly, “I don’t hate you, I just…..find it difficult to completely trust you.” A little hesitantly, he looked you in the eye, seeming to struggle to keep his gaze sharp, “But….you’ve shown me that….you’re not half bad.”

･ His tone was softer than it typically was and his words brought you serenity. Broca wasn't partially eloquent in the slightest, but whenever he spoke with you, a warm and safe feeling washed over you.

･ You opened your mouth to reply effusively, but when your eyes returned to his face, colour had risen to his face, cheeks dusted with blush. His eyes seemed to look anywhere but you, and his arms were crossed. Broca didn't seem to regret what he had said, but he looked uncomfortable, maybe a little embarrassed. His Feline ears twitched subtly and his tail seemed to fidget; it was the first time he truly let his walls fall since joining Rhodes Island, and you were the only one there to see it.

･ You were thankful that he was giving you a chance, but you decided to express that outwardly some other time; a day where he would be more ready to be vulnerable around you.

･ “Broca, I....” So instead, you yawned, propping your elbow on your knee in order to rest your chin in your palm, “I’ll stay a little while, if that's okay with you.” The Feline kept his eyes on you for a moment, then, he huffed a bit again while glaring at you just a little, “Good grief, there isn't any getting rid of you.” He looked off to the side, “But if you want to stay….tch, fine.”

･ Amiya would definitely scold you for getting little to no sleep, but you wanted to stay in the moment just a little while longer; you wanted to stay with Broca for just a little while longer.

･ And so, it was back to silence. Soon, hues of orange and violet split into the room, blanketing you two with warm from the just risen sun. Broca didn't speak to you, but you didn't mind; for you, him simply allowing you to stay in the same room as him was enough.

･ It was obvious something must've happened to cause him to be so distrusting of others - but you were more than fine with letting him come to you at his own pace; you didn't need him to completely open up to you all at once. You weren't going anywhere, and you hoped that neither was he.

･ The sound of the announcement system going off followed by a voice from the speakers overhead cut into the silence in the room, starling both of you a little, “Doctor, please report to the Rhodes Island main deck as soon as possible.”

･ You frowned a little; duty called, unfortunately. As you pushed yourself off the desk, Broca hummed a little, turning back to you, “Well then, you should get going.” A nod came from you, followed by a small look of apology, “I’ll see you this afternoon for the Operation briefing.” The Feline replied in affirmation, before turning to return to the meeting board.

･ However, before you took your leave, you looked toward him, looking at his back that was turned to you, "Broca?" He tilted his head to look over his shoulder, his eyes meeting your form from the corner of his eye, “Do you need something-”

･ A little suddenly, you stepped forward, catching his wrist gently and prompting him to turn to you in surprise; you practically felt a frisson of shock go through him. The Feline tensed, sputtering while his face flushed with colour, “O-Oy…?!” Even so, you didn't pull away and neither did he. Taking your chance, you took his hand in both your own and squeezed gently, touch tender.

･ Bringing his hand close to your heart and holding it tightly, you smiled at him, eyes filled with an unbelievable gratefulness; “Thank you for accepting me.”

･ At first, Broca gaped at you like you had three heads, but then, ever so slowly, he let his tense shoulders relax, speaking in a quiet tone, “Tch...good grief.” His eyes met yours, a little embarrassed but soft and honest.

･ Thoughts were chasing each other around in his head, but when he looked at how warm your gaze looked, his mind calmed; he still wasn't sure about Rhodes Island, but you? You two weren't quite there yet, but his heart told him that you were someone he would be able to place his complete trust in someday. And so, a little shyly, he squeezed your hand back, expression relaxed - “....You're welcome.”

･ Yes; your effort to get to know Broca better hadn’t gone to waste at all.

#broca appreciation 🥺👉👈#arknights #arknights broca #arknights doctor #arknights imagines #arknights writing #arknights fanfics #broca arknights #doctor arknights #arknights imagine #arknights fanfic #imagine #writing

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aloesarchives · 4 years

Text

Gaolang Headcanons

(A/N):Sorry this took so long, I recently had a writer's block that made me really unmotivated to write. Another reason that it took so long was because I made the reader have a background that would’ve made it oc like, which I usually tend to stay away from. But after so pep talk with a friend and remembering this is my blog, I decided to say fuck it and write to self-indulge in my writing more and write this headcanon(what I mean is appearance is up to you but things like job occupation would be up to me. And also literally after eating ice cream, the thought of writing came back and here I am. Plus, who wouldn’t dream of being able to fight(doesn’t mean fighter) and kick ass in the Kengan series? If you said no, you lying.

(Edit July 1 2020 2:44am: Okay so Tumblr glitched again where my posts having been showing up on me blog and just disappeared from the search so I had to repost them again, I apologize for any inconveniences)

Word count:4257 words

But now, what many of you have been waiting for,

The Man, the myth, the legend himself,

Gaolang Fucking Daddy Wongsawat

I’ma write so much for this man you have no idea

Let’s gets two things out of the way first about this absolute unit of a man right here: Gaolang Wongsawat

First things first, Gaolang is literally a man of few words. He’s not mute, of course, it’s just he’s more of a man that speaks when spoken to. However, it doesn’t mean you start and carry every conversation the two of you have. Gaolang is always listening to you when you speak even though he’s not looking at you. He just gives you a short reply or answer when you ask him certain things, not a a tired or agitated response but more of them not pushing an agenda into the conversation unless needed so.

But when it’s just the two of you and a silent falls in between, it’s unsurprisingly serene and pleasant. Like the silence and energy that Gaolang gives off doesn’t make you uncomfortable or awkward, which is ideal when you both don’t want to talk because you’re either tired and lean on Gaolang, or when words aren’t needed in the moment and you silently enjoy each other company. He’s one of the few people to be able to not talk much and make the air not feel unbearable.

Second, Gaolang is a man of honor. With his status in Thailand and being the bodyguard of King Rama XII, Gaolang doesn’t use his status to prey on others/ those who are weaker than him. He deems that as cowardice and dishonorable so he doesn’t really want to cause trouble for King Rama and you.

Now with that out of the way, let’s got on it with this man, shall we?

TBH, you could’ve met Gaolang anywhere so it’s up in the air how you guys met.

The apartment is always clean and nice since Gaolang cleans up the place once or twice a week. You do you part around the house, of course, to keep it clean when Gaolang isn’t home, especially when he’s out for his boxing matches and championships for heavyweight. But Gaolang has a particular way of keeping the apartment clean and gets kinda of passive aggressive when something isn’t cleaned properly.

You two mostly split doing the chores in the house, like you vacuum and he does the dishes for the week and it would switch every other week. The only chore Gaolang just leaves solely up to you is the laundry. This is due to him not wanting to mess up any of your clothing when he’s washing them so you do both of your guys’s laundry. Plus, Gaolang doesn’t have that much of a diverse closet so washing his clothes isn’t much of a hassle.

Cooking wise, you mostly leave it up to Gaolang b/c face it, Gaolang is the better cook between the two of you, no offense mate. But Gaolang’s cooking smacks so hard you don’t eat out/get takeout anymore unless you’re craving some of that Thailand street food, which he doesn’t mind as long as it’s not frequent. But fam, why go out when Gaolang’s cooking is so good?

Domestic life with Gaolang is honestly lovely, holy shit. Like it’s pure bliss and wonderful. Usually it goes like this:

Every morning, Gaolang usually wakes up earlier than you which you don’t mind. He gets dress but doesn’t put on his dress shirt on until he has to leave for work. While you get ready for the day and freshen up, he already made coffee(if you drink it) and is cooking breakfast. When you’re done and walk out of the bed room, you already greet him good morning where you either hug him from behind or give him a good morning kiss( but the second one is always your go to). The tv is on in the background and you sip your drink as you watch what’s currently on. Gaolang calls out saying breakfast is ready and you two eat at the table. Once down, dishes are put into the sink and after a few minutes, Gaolang has to leave for work. He puts on his dress shirt, grabs his blazer, and while he’s tying his tie you’re at the door to bid him a good day at work. Once he’s finish and has put on his shoes on, you wish him a good day along with a kiss as you wave him off. Once you hear the door click, you knew it would be awhile until he comes back home. Your job allows you do work at home so you’re always in the apartment. Once done, you would clean the place, do the laundry, run a couple of errands, or relax. For lunch you have leftovers that Gaolang cooked the day before in the fridge. Afterwards, you do stuff to let the time pass whether it be productive or not. You know Gaolang is home by the clicking of the door and his voice saying “I’m home”. You give him a welcome back kiss and asked him about his day while holding onto his blazer to be later stemmed. He just said it was normal and nothing of the sort. However, there was one time he told you fought someone who tried to claim he’s spot as his majesty’s bodyguard but by the look of things you can assume Gaolang won. While you put away his blazer, he ask you about your day which you reply with the usual that you say. Right away, you and Gaolang start making dinner for the evening. Gaolang is at the stove while you cut up the meat and vegetables and handing it to them when you’re done. Washing your hands, you set up the table and waited until he was done. Dinner mostly has minimal talking because it’s eating time but Gaolang will answer you if you ask him something. The aftermath of dinner is mostly compromise of cleaning the dishes, the table, counter tops, and putting away the left overs in the fridge. Then it’s off to the bedroom where the two of you get ready for bed. You always let Gaolang go first into the bathroom to do what need to do since he’s quick. Once done with both of your nightly routines, you two head off for bed. You always give him a good night kiss before sleeping and Gaolang has an arm around you as the two of you sleep.

There are very few times where you wake up first: when he gets the day off, just got back to Thailand from weeks abroad for championships and matches, or from a hefty training session. However, this is mostly uncommon to happen as Gaolang is a early bird.

Sleepwise, Gaolang doesn’t really snore. He’s a quiet sleeper, however, he leans in more of moderate- lighter sleeper where heavy stirring and noise can bring him out of sleep. But it does take some minimal effort to wake him up. Gaolang is the type of person to face away you the two of you would fall asleep but when you wake up his body is facing you and his arms are caging you in. I can see him also being the type of spouse to carry you into your bed if you fell asleep on the couch or while working, Gaolang is more than welcome to carry off to bed, hell he’ll tuck you in and give you a forehead kiss.

This man will HOLD you in your sleep, fucking on cloud 9, sis. And you never felt more safe and comfortable in your life.

Gaolang doesn’t talk a lot when eating, but again he won’t shy away when you’re talking/asking him something.

Straight up, Gaolang loves to watch those soap operas/Asian dramas, it’s sort of his guilty pleasure. When you found out about it, you didn’t really judge him for it because you actually liked the series he was watching. He was a little bit anxious when you didn’t say anything but relaxed when the only words you said to him was “Gao, scoot over this is getting interesting.” Like he’s motionless and his face barely contorts when the plot begins to thicken but you can tell he is enjoying the show.

It would be untrue if you didn’t at least have some encounter with Saw Paing. God, I can imagine as soon Gaolang leaves for work and you have the apartment to yourself, then the next thing you know there’s a Burmese man in his 30′s outside of your window and he’s screaming at the top of his lungs what seem to be your beloved names. Two thoughts are running through your head as you’re just staring on at this man: #1- Who the hell is this man and how does he know Gaolang? and #2- How in the hell was he able to climb up to you and Gaolang’s high rise apartment? After you let him in through one of your windows, the man was quite surprise because he hasn’t seen you before, or more rather in the apartment. He asked you who were you, when you said you’re Gaolang’s wife, he was shock and kind of ecstatic to know that Gaolang has gotten himself a spouse. The first thing you took note was his loud and constant yelling; however, when you’re talking to him in the apartment, he dies down his voice and doesn’t yell. He somehow manages to leave the apartment and miss Gaolang arrival from work. And when Gaolang comes home and asked about your day, he’s slightly intrigued when you said you made a new friend. As soon as you mention Saw Paing, you see Gaolang’s face slightly grimace as he let out an annoyed sigh. He apologizes for his behavior and for you not to say sorry for causing it. After he explains his history with Saw Paing, you now understand his reaction. Gaolang is kind of happy for you to be friends with Saw Paing because at least Saw Paing gets to hang out with you and not bother him whiles he’s trying to live his life with you. Surprisingly, when you became friends with Saw Paing, he won’t barge into your guys’s apartment or yell anymore, most of the time that is. But it’s all good with Saw Paing being and Gaolang doesn’t mind as long as he is minimal involvement in it.

Saw Paing is your buddy, fam. It’s bound to happen.

You do fight but it’s more on the side and a hobby you do. Unlike Gaolang, who does this as a profession, you do this as more for fitness and self defense. You’re not as powerful as Gaolang, but you can handle yourself enough where Gaolang doesn’t have to worry about you going out without him. The two of you spar and train together when given the time but during the small sparring Gaolang goes easy on you because he doesn’t want to hurt you.

King Rama every now and then would ask Gaolang about you. Rama is pretty much Gucci with Gaolang so it doesn’t really bug him. King Rama is one of the few people that knew about you being with Gaolang, so yeah. He was intrigued by the fact that Gaolang subtle mentions you the first time he asked him. Over time, Rama listen to his royal subject and bodyguard as Gaolang talks about you, he just wants Gaolang to spill the tea. Although it’s very hard for many people notice, King Rama notice a slight soften in Gaolang during those moments. The fact that you were able to make a dent in the stoic Thai God of War was more than enough for Rama to have a reason to meet you. He was curious on who you were to able to do that to Gaolang. Then queue the day you were invited by the King of Thailand himself to have a simple small meeting. You had no idea why the King wanted audience with you, but you knew you had to go b/c it would be rude if you didn’t. You told Gaolang that you had to leave early to go somewhere and he thought nothing of it. You also didn’t tell Gaolang about it cause you assumed he knew about it. For some reason, King Rama keep things simple and asked you to walk around the palace’s garden, contrasting his extravagant behavior. Being the charismatic person he is, you’re not intimidated by him and answer his questions truthfully. After listening to your replies and responses, especially ones about Gaolang, he now understands why Gaolang took interest to you, you’re unique in the sense that you’re a blue diamond. Matchless, rare, and unlike any other, not in the way you shiny above everyone since you blended into the crowd, but once they have stumble upon and get to know you there’s no turning back from there. Just the imagine the shock on Gaolang’s face when he gets to work and sees you talking to his majesty. He was curious and a bit scared that you were talking to Rama but after a short exchange of laughter it disappeared. After you spotted Gaolang and the two of you walked towards him, Rama stated the two of you had a little chat and that you were heading on your way. Once Gaolang responded with a head nod, you bow to the King and wave bye to Gaolang as you go for the rest of the day. Soon as you’re out of sight, King Rama comments to Gaolang that you’re a hidden gem and told him to take good care of you. And Gaolang being Gaolang, smiles and fulfills his duties given by his king.

King Rama, low key, wants Gaolang to settle down because, I’m gonna be honest, he deserves it. Like Rama is vigile and gives Gaolang days off so he can spend time with you, this includes when Gaolang has boxing matches and championships too. He just wants Gaolang to slow down in life and spends his life with you without stress or worry.

King Rama implicitly ships you and Gaolang but you didn't hear it from me.

You definitely have run into King Rama during Gaolang’s boxing matches. Speaking of which, you always watch his matches. Whether it be at home or in the actually stadium. you make sure you were watching every single one of his fights. It’s enthralling to watch him fight, like his infamous Flash of 13 jabs is something that never cease to amaze you. Having won 4 heavyweight championship, you’ve never really doubted him and his abilities one bit. During one of his championship, King Rama was actually present and invited you to join him in the VIP lounge to watch Gaolang. The fight was intense but Gaolang came out victorious and won with a knock out. It was one of the most amazing things you have every seen as the crowd roared at the win and King Rama allowed Gaolang to take a 5 day rest as his fruitful victory.

There are times where you’re either at the entrance of the ring or inside the locker room to wish him luck. The most he’ll accept is a hug and a kiss on the cheek, that’s it. But he does flash you a smile before going out there.

Without a doubt, Gaolang is a very private person, except to you of course. Like Gaolang doesn’t reveal much of his home life to the public to keep the paparazzi away. He likes to keep the his work life and home life extremely separate. Your relationship with him and even your own existence is unknown to the public, THAT’S how private Gaolang is. And a little bit of help from King Rama as well.

Gaolang is not much of a confrontation man, but will confront and be straightforward with you when something is wrong with/bothering you.

He’s also is an observant person, you could tell by the way he analyzes opponents so he at least can read you and situations at home.

Due to this, he is very good a giving compliments. Not the super cheesy one, it’s usually the simple ones, and those are the one that get you all the time.

He has a chill personality, calm and collected, he’s not the type to jump the gun on assumptions. The man trusts you, fam.

It’s really hard to make Gaolang mad. He gets annoyed and aggravated, yeah, but it’ll never escalates to him being furious. Gaolang knows how to manage his emotions and has never really been irrational or lashed out before. The only time you ever saw Gaolang lose his composure was when he yelled at Saw Paing. And that moment, right there, was terrifying to you because you never seen Gaolang lash out before. So you do your best to not push his buttons too much.

Gaolang lets you do your own thing because he understands that you have your own life and do things on your own accord. Not much of a controlling person, far from you. But Gaolang doesn’t understand why you have a job when he makes a reasonable salary for the both of you to live off on. When you told him that you wanted to contribute to society and not rely on him for everything, and you also said you like to have save pocket money. Gaolang respects your answer and kinda likes that you take accountability for yourself.

Jealousy is something that Gaolang knows about and doesn’t really feel, but more rather avoid. Gaolang is comfortable in his own skin and abilities to know that you will not betray him and leave him for someone else. And it’s obvious when you’re not interested in anyone other than Gaolang and tell people off when they hit on you. But what really aggravates him is when the person can’t take a goddamn hint when you tell them off or deny any of their advances on you. Especially if it’s a scumbag of a guy. But Gaolang can’t be irrational due to him having a public image to uphold so he has to logical and clear minded. So Gaolang rational annoyance is rising in level, like his stare goes hard, his aura becomes daunting, anyone who’s near him fear like they would shit in their pants if they ever had to face Gaolang in such a state. You kept telling the guy that your husband/boyfriend wouldn’t be happy if he keep up his behavior with you. Then the man mocks about your lover and asks who is the lucky guy. Then queue my man Gaolang standing behind him and saying it was him and Gaolang was with you. After commenting that Gaolang was your boyfriend/lover, you were humored by the guy’s reaction. The man went pale, apologized to the Thai God of War and was out of sight from then. I don’t know who said it, but I think it was @bokutosbiceps (follow them, they have really good Kengan writing pieces.) that Gaolang goes into a state of grumpiness, which I can totally see. He be like this for what, like a week at max, and this is where everyone just stands clear of Gaolang and try to not get on his bad side. Like even Saw Paing doesn’t come over when he encountered Gaolang’s grumpiness, it’s that bad. Again, he knows that you won’t really leave him because he trust you won’t be that disloyal to him. But the only way to pull him out of that slump is excessive amount of words of affirmation from you and a simple promise that you’ll never leave him. But even after pulling him out of his grumpy pants state, Gaolang acts more of a bodyguard just in case a similar case happens again. If the person/people/guy tries their luck with you then it’s over for them and they will really die, literally Gaolang goes into Thai God of War mode and it ain’t pretty. But overtime, when incidents happen like that, his reaction is less elevated every time due to your unwavering loyalty to him. Jealousy is not foreign feeling to Gaolang but he tends to stay away from it as much as possible.

Seriously, imagine leaving Gaolang for someone else. Sis/fam not only are you a damn circus act, that’s a literal downgrade on so many levels. Like why? I’ll personally find you, smack your forehead, and lecture you why that was a bad move.

I mean, everyone does stay clear on bothering you in general. But after that incident where Gaolang reveal your relationship with him, then people really know to actually stay on your good side. You don’t use Gaolang’s status to abuse power, of course, to get your way with things. But you do make it clear that you’re with/married to him.

However, it’s safe to say that no one messes with you when your boyfriend/husband is literally the best Muay Thai fighter, undisputed heavyweight boxing champion, and bodyguard of the King of Thailand. They’re about of clowns that really want to be humiliated. I’ll also beat them up for you fam, i gotchu

One flaw Gaolang probably has is him having basic logic/common sense but he can be easily swayed and convinced on things he doesn’t have prior knowledge on. The man’s open up to new things, it’s more of him acting like a dumbass for a bit.

God, the horror of seeing Gaolang with wrong Japanese etiquette hurts your eyes and soul. You had to reteach him a lot on these types of things. He’s a little bit embarrassed but grateful that you’re have enough patience to teach him the proper etiquette.

POWER COUPLE OF THAILAND, I’LL FIGHT ANYONE THAT DISAGREES WITH ME. YOU DESERVE TO BE WITH THIS MAN, THAT’S FINAL.

I’ma tell you something sis so you better open them ears: Gaolang isn’t the type to have multiple flings or be in many relationship. He has better things to do with his time than waste on short term infatuation. So if he chooses you, that’s speaking VOLUMES.

In other words, if you’re the one, YOU ARE THE ONE! Like Gaolang could’ve been a playboy and have anyone in the world but the man chose you. YOU’RE THE FUCKING CHOSEN ONE!!!!

Gaolang is not one to push things but he does have conversations with you that marriage and kids can be apart of the equation if you want.

Besides, who wouldn’t marry a man like Gaolang? You be missing out on so much.

Time with Gaolang is always productive no matter what since he knows how to use his time efficiently. You two go to the grocery store together and sometimes you divide and conquer in the store to save time. Being with Gaolang helps you manage your time effectively which helps you a lot.

Bruh, Gaolang’s hair is SOFT. You play with it when the two of you are laying down together and you can tell that he takes good care of his hair. Gaolang lets you do his hair, combing through it and add the bead at the end of his hair. He likes it when you do it.

I like to headcanon that the jewel on his forehead was a gift you gave him and every since you gave it to him he’s been wearing all day everyday.

Gaolang’s kisses are like angel feathers. They’re light and pure. He doesn’t really have any ulterior motive other than missing you on some work days. These are *chef kiss some of the most bless things you’ll ever have.

His hugs, fucking god send. Firm where you’re flush against him but not too tight. Gaolang’s hugs were just right. Those things make you feel safe, and all warm on the inside. There are some days where work is slow, where Gaolang just comes home and holds you in his arms while swaying back and forth. It helps him wine down and relax, transitioning into his home life with you. But hey, free hugs from Gaolang.

Another thing we need to talk about is his smile. I...god... seeing Gaolang smile is when you’ve achieved paradise. You do note that Gaolang doesn’t really smile that often. But if you ask him the right things, have a way with words and play your cards correctly, you can get him to smile and hell even a small chuckle out of him. And there’s no denying that you get butterflies in your stomach and feel warm, fuzzy, and so many positive emotions that you got to witness Gaolang smile.

His smile kills you, heart squeezes

Y’ALL can’t tell me that Gaolang’s smile right here gave you goose bumps or a shiver up your back. If you deny it, you’re lying to yourself, fam.

The man is CANONICALLY husband material, which mean the high possibility of him being a family man.

Literally best Husband, CHANGE MY MIND, I DARE YOU.

Gaolang is super soft to you, he is soft spoken to you, smiles more often around you, became more emotionally open, etc. He really does love and care about you, like a lot.

He is stoic teddy bear for you.

Thai Jesus, Done with everyone’s shit except yours and King Rama.

The most cursed images you have ever seen is that signature shocked express he has, it’s something you never really want ever.

Just living a good, satisfying, and tranquil life with Gaolang. A wholesome man of honor and loyalty, being with Gaolang is a goddamn dream you never want to wake up on.

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God this took way too long. Sorry for being gone for some time, I hit a writer’s block but it’s gone now. I finished on June 30th but stayed up until 12am to edit it. I’ma switch up the order and do Cosmo’s headcanon next. I’ll put the Gaolang oneshot on hold and actually finish my Chapter 2 for my series. This is my longest headcanon yet, and I’m tired.

Stay safe and beautiful, fam!

#kengan ashura #kengan omega #gaolang wongsawat #kengan ashura headcanons

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calligraphist-artemisia · 3 years

Text

The Butterfly Dome

Written for Kidgeweek 2021!

I won’t be doing all of Kidgeweek this year (though I am writing something for each day of the Kidge Spring Event), but I do have three one-shots written, including this one. (The others will be on the 19th and 22nd.)

This one is the prompt for April 17 - Botanical Gardens/Lake Time. I chose to go with Botanical Gardens.

Also posted on AO3 under the username Kishirokitsune.

❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀

The Butterfly Dome

As part of a deal with her mom, Pidge agreed to work at the Plaht Botanical Garden for one month in their volunteer program. In return, she would be allowed to spend her final month before college on a lengthy road trip with her friends. She thought it was a pretty great deal.

Pidge would be primarily working in the greenhouse to help care for seedlings and saplings alike, as well as to help quarantine everything new that came in until they were sure they weren't carrying unwanted pests or disease. It was hot and humid and Pidge didn't really care for that, but she didn't hate working in the greenhouse and that was all that mattered.

At the end of her first week, she was given a new task: deliver flowering plants to the caretakers of the Butterfly Dome, which was basically an even bigger greenhouse meant to do exactly as it sounded.

“Ask for Keith,” her mother advised as she finished loading up the cart. “He's in charge of accepting new arrivals. And also make sure he reads this-” (Colleen held up a folded letter) “-and don't go anywhere until he does.”

Pidge took the letter and stuck it into the pocket of her apron. “Is it a list of all the plants?”

Colleen shook her head. “No, it's instructions to take you under his wing for the day. We don't have much going on in here this weekend, but the Dome could use the extra hand and I promised them one of our volunteers.”

“Does this happen a lot? Just moving people around without asking if they're okay with it?” Pidge asked, disgruntled by the sudden shift in her routine.

“On occasion,” Colleen replied. “Most of our volunteers are here because they want to do a little bit of everything. I wouldn't send you to the Dome if I thought you would hate it. And just think of how good your experiences will look on your resume!”

“Yeah, I'm sure tech companies will be super impressed with my knowledge of flowers and butterflies,” Pidge said dryly.

Colleen gave her daughter a look. “You know what I mean, Katie.”

She did but she wasn't about to get into that conversation with her mom again. Instead, Pidge just sort of shrugged and grabbed onto the handle of the cart, waiting for the go-ahead to leave. She took it easy as she pushed the cart out of the greenhouse. It seemed pretty sturdy, but she didn't want to go too fast and end up with all of the plants on the floor.

Pidge passed a few people in the halls and offered up simple greetings to most of them until she finally arrived at the Dome. She carefully rolled the cart into the entry chamber and had to wait until the door shut behind her before she was able to enter the main room. Standing near that entrance was the Head of the Department, Takashi Shirogane. He had been a friend of the family for many years and was affectionately nicknamed “Shiro” because of all of the times he started to introduce himself by his surname first, only to correct himself partway through.

“Ah, those are the flowers Colleen was telling me about!” he said, smiling at her.

“I'm supposed to take them to Keith,” Pidge said. “Except, uh, who's Keith?”

Shiro gestured farther into the Dome at another man with black hair who was crouched over one of the flower beds with a hand pruner, carefully removing dead branches or flowers. “My Assistant Head, over there. I'm surprised the two of you haven't met yet. Do you want me to introduce you?”

Pidge shrugged. “Mom sent me with a note. And I'm a big girl, Shiro. I can handle talking to strangers.”

Shiro looked amused by that for some reason, but he nodded and told her that he'd be around if she needed anything before moving aside so she could roll the cart along the path. She made enough noise as she approached for Keith to hear and he stood up when he noticed her coming his way.

And it was then that Pidge wondered if she was in trouble.

Keith was far younger than she expected. She imagined someone a little older – closer to Shiro's age. (Not that Shiro was old.) If she had to guess, Keith was near her own age and also happened to be rather attractive.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“I'm Pidge from the Greenhouse,” she said, startled into an introduction. “I, um, have your plants? And a note from Director Holt.”

Keith held out his hand and Pidge placed the note into it. She continued to stand by the cart while he read the message just like her mother instructed, waiting for him to finish and tell her what she would be doing to help out. (And if she happened to take a moment to check him out, then that was her little secret.)

“Looks like you'll be with me for the day,” he said, tucking the note into his back pocket. “I assume you already know the rules around here, but I'll remind you anyway: watch your step and don't touch the butterflies. They'll probably come pretty close to us while we're doing our planting, so keep that in mind.”

Pidge nodded.

Keith regarded her for a moment, his intense blue-gray eyes meeting her own. “We're replanting the Main Feature bed today. The pipes sprang a leak and ruined everything last month before we could get in and replace them, but that's all fixed now and we just got in the new soil. The locations for the plants have been marked with stakes, however, we will consult the planner before we do any digging. Sound simple enough?”

“So, basically don't do anything until you tell me to,” Pidge summarized, earning herself what was likely a rare smile. It was gone quickly as Keith nodded and gestured for her to follow. She pushed the cart along behind him and, as she promised, kept an eye out for any errant butterflies in her path.

It wasn't hard to tell when they arrived at the Main Feature bed. Not only was the soil smoothed out on top and staked with plant labels, but there was also a magnificent metal butterfly sculpture in the very center. A closer look showed that there were also tiny hoses winding their way throughout the bed, which she assumed was the sprinkler system. Pidge parked her cart where Keith indicated and then walked over to his side to view the planner he picked up from a nearby portable work table. She listened intently as he explained that they would start in the center near the sculpture and work their way out, carefully measuring the width and depth of each hole before placing any plants.

“All of the tools you need are here,” Keith said, gesturing to the top of the table, where there were several trowels, gloves, and measuring devices. “I recommend picking an apron so you can keep everything together. If you want a kneeling pad, we have those too.”

Pidge picked one of the green aprons and slid it over her head before tying it around her waist. She quickly grabbed a pair of matching green gloves and put those on, before sticking one of the trowels and two of the rulers (one wooden and one flexible) into the pockets on the apron. She didn't figure she needed a kneeling pad, though it was nice to know they had them on hand.

Keith briefly quizzed her on everything he'd just said and then they got to work.

It was pleasant to work alongside Keith. He didn't feel the need to constantly talk about whatever came to mind, saving his words for checking in on how her digging was coming along. It allowed plenty of time for Pidge's mind to wander without interruption.

All things considered, she enjoyed her time in the Dome and found herself disappointed when they finished planting everything on the cart.

“Not bad,” Keith remarked as he checked the time. “Really good, actually. We're ahead of schedule for once.” He lifted his gaze to eye her for a long moment. “Director Holt should have the next batch loaded up for us by now.”

“There's more?” Pidge blurted out.

Keith raised an eyebrow. “We'll keep going until the bed is full. Unless you hate being here that much.”

Pidge quickly shook her head. “No! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I've only been here for a week but it seems like everyone else tries to take things slow, so I was surprised that we're going to keep going.”

“Ah,” was all Keith said as he turned his back to her and began removing his apron and tools, setting them all back onto the counter.

Pidge followed suit, hoping he wasn't disappointed in her. Neither of them spoke as Keith grabbed the cart and began to wheel it back to the Greenhouse and it was only when she heard her mother's voice that Pidge realized she'd let her slip into despairing thoughts.

“You're back sooner than I thought,” laughed Colleen, a pleased smile gracing her lips. “I have your next two carts loaded up and ready if you want to take them. At the pace you two are going, we'll have it all cleared out by the end of the day.”

“That's my hope,” Keith said, turning the empty cart over to her. “Thanks for sending Pidge to help, Director Holt. It would take me more than double the amount of time on my own.”

Pidge couldn't stop herself from jerking her head to look at him in surprise.

And there it was again – that soft, fleeting smile, and it was directed towards her. She could feel her cheeks heating up, but she didn't, couldn't, look away. Instead, she offered a small smile of her own and allowed herself to hope that once her weekend in the Dome was over, she would still get to spend time with him.

#voltron #kidge #kidgeweek 2021 #fanfiction #kidgemas

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faithfully-writing · 4 years

Text

Servant! Nagito Komaeda X female reader [NF NSFW]

~Your point of view~ [very ooc]

It was another day, and another morning. I could already hear the servants up and about getting breakfast ready. I roll over and grab my phone, turning it on and checking the time. It was only seven, too early to be waking up. Not even the maid has came to wake me up.

Knock! Knock!

Maybe that's her? But it can't be as it's far too early. Loud knocks enter my ears, nobody disturbed me this early unless there was trouble. I groan and sit up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes before calling out, "Yea, come in." Surprise, I wasn't grumpy at all.

"Miss (l/n)." A voice states pushing the door open softly "How have you slept? Are you feeling well?"

I could feel his concern from across the room, and smile softly at him, thinking he was more my friend than butler, "I had a very nice sleep, now what can I do for you Hajime?" I ask tilting my head, not a all bothered by the fact I was still in my (f/c) shirt and black shorts.

"It's Komaeda again." He states, "He's lost it again, and I'm worried as the chiefs are trying to work around him."

"Not again, okay take me to him." I stand up stretching.

I follow after Hajime who takes me all the way to the kitchen where a lot of chaos and noise could be heard. "I think I may just stay out here. Good luck."

I take a breath and push the double swinging doors with all my might to be greeted by chaos. I could see the chiefs having a hard time while others tried to move Nagito out of the kitchen so he couldn't cause anymore trouble. "Nagito!" I shout, putting as much power as I could in my voice, telling him to stop. But he just hugged himself and was visibly shaking from excitement. I sigh, annoyed at how many times this has happened. When I first hired him, it wasn't just because I thought he was cute but because he seemed good at the job, but than I found out about his quirks which made him seem all the more cuter yet it also caused trouble for the other servants. "Nagito this is the last time!" I storm over to him and grip his faded green hoodie. "Time for a lesson." I mumble half to myself, trying to figure out what would be good. He didn't even stop talking until I started to drag him out of the kitchen, down the stars and into the basement. I knew from past experiences that there was a room down here for this sort of thing as my father had shown me.

He stayed silent as he allowed me to drag him, almost as if he wanted this to happen. He started to giggle as we reached a door and I opened it, unsure what was going through his head. We enter and I push him down on the chair in the middle of the room, not noticing that there was in fact another door within the room.

"Now?" I mumble trying to come up with a way so that it didn't happen again.

I was still still lost in thought when it happened. Nagito had stood up and gripped my wrist tightly, dragging me to the back of the room. He shoves open the door I didn't know existed and pulls me roughly inside. Locking the door.

"This room is soundproof." He whispers huskily, the Nagito I knew was long replaced with the Nagito now. "This room was kept hidden and I stumbled across it. Now I can prove how far my love goes for you." His grip tightens, leaving red fingerprints like bracelets.

I do a quick glance around the room. Wanting to look anywhere but into his glowing eyes. The room was darkly coloured with a red quilted bed in the middle on the furthest side. Along the walls held items in which I had no idea were but they were all differently shaped and coloured. "What is this room?" I question, unable to hide my confusion as I tilt my head slightly right.

"It's nothing special." He let's go and stalks closer. Each step closer he got, I took a step back. The back of my legs touched the bed in no time and he gently pushed me back against it. Bouncing slightly with the bed until I stopped. "Do you not realise..." He questions, hovering above me, his nose just touching my own. "The whole two years in which I've served you for? The reason why I continue to serve you?" He once again takes my wrists in one hand and brings them above my head. I shake my head at Nagito, my body trembling in fear and something else. "The reason why I continued to serve someone two years younger than myself?"

"N-no." I stutter out.

"Tell me..." He pauses, glancing at my (l/p) lips as he licks his own."(y/n), what do you think the reasons are?"

"F-for mon-money?" I mutter, stuttering again as the fear is unable to be controlled.

"No my dearest (y/n)." He whispers reaching to the small side table I had overlooked and grabbing something metal. "Try again." He whispers huskily, clicking something cold in place of his hand around my wrists.

"Uh..." I trail off as he backs away, walking towards one of the walls holding shelves of things. I sit up and bring my hands down in front of me. I watch as he grabs something brown as he continues searching, a quick glance down at my hands tells me that they had been bound with actual handcuffs. Not those cuffs lined with the fluffy stuff that were soft, no he used the real things. The tight, silver hand cuffs which with enough struggling I knew would leave my wrists bloody and sore.

He walks back to the bed and pushes me back down gently onto my back. "No need to be scared. I won't hurt you." He whispers, tying a piece of rope onto the cuffs before tying the other end to the headboard. I couldn't more my arms now. I couldn't believe what was happening to me. Nagito was tying me up! "(Y/n)~" He whispers lustfully, looking down at me with bright, lust filled eyes. I just watch him, studying his every move. His eyes turn kind at seeing that my own were watching him. He leans over and gives me a slight peck on the lips, bringing a soft blush to my cheeks at the sudden kindness.

But that seemed to of flipped a switch. He sits on my legs, making sure they wouldn't move. He kisses my lips more forcefully, slipping his tongue in to dance with my own. His and my lips move together, perfectly melding together as they move.

A soft moan leaves my lips only to be swallowed by his as I grip the rope above me unable to grip his clothes. He trails a finger down my clothed chest, through the valley between my (c/s) breasts to the hem of my shirt. He leans away and looks down at me lovingly, a smirk graces his lips as he watches my chest rise and fall quickly from the lack of air. My soft gasps are heard as he attaches his soft lips to my neck, leaving butterfly kiss and nipping every now and again, in search for my soft spot.

"Nagito~" I softly moan in a gasp like way, I feel his lips curve up in a smirk before he bites down harder and sucks against the sore piece of skin. I grip onto the rope, wanting to run my hands through his hair. Wanting to feel him under my fingers. But the cuffs and ropes are stopping me. "Nagito~" I moan and plead. "Please, release me."

He unlocks his lips from my red and hickeyed neck. "Call me master. Than maybe I will." He teases, letting one of his hands climb under my shirt. Tickling and swirling circles along my stomach, making me squirm.

"M-master~" I groan, unable to handle the tickling and the hot feeling growing in my lower regions.

"That's it (y/n), moan for me." He huskily whispers, reaching behind him again. He brings out a pair of long sharp scissors and starts to cut my shirt as of being unable to of get it over my hands.

"Nagito? Why are you cutting my shirt?" I ask, "Stop! You can't cut my shirt."

"I'll get you another don't worry." He finishes with one last snip before ripping the useless cloth away, uncovering my bare stomach and bra clad breasts. He licks his lips. He was making this antagonising slow for his own enjoyment. "Now time for punishment for not calling me Master like I asked."

He picks up the riding crop and sharply brings it down on my stomach, making me pull my stomach in at the sudden flare of sharp pain. A bright red strip comes into light about a few seconds later and he leans down and kisses the mark. He moves back and snaps it down on me again, resulting in the same thing. A few tears spring into my eyes and the hot feeling grows. I was actually enjoy his dominance and orders.

"Shh, no need to cry my love." He kisses the mark again before using his tongue and licking up the few tears which fell before meeting my lips with his own once again. He drops the riding crop and trails both his hands up my sides, poking them every know and again for my reaction. His hands reach my breasts and kneads them through the bra, making me moan into the kiss. He was being gentle for someone who had just showed me his power. “When you're more comfortable I'll start with the pain but for now I'll take this slow.” Nagito whispers sensationally. He picks up the scissors and cuts through the straps and the front part, throwing the broken bra away and releasing my (c/s) breasts. He was being very gentle as to not cut me with the scissors. He places the scissors besides the bed on the side table and disconnects our lips leaving a trail of saliva. He kisses down my neck and along my collar bone, paying attention to my soft spot again to make the hickey larger while his hands knead and pinch my nipples.

His lips trail down further and replaces his hand on my left breast. His warm mouth meets my nipple which grew cold and softly bit down on it earning a gasp from me at the sudden feeling of pleasure. He hadn't even touched my most weaken point and I was already moaning and gasping. He sucked and softly bit on the nipple until it was perky and hurt while attending to the other one with his hand. He swirled his tongue around it one last time before sitting up straight and staring down stairs the moaning mess he had made.

"M-master~ please~" I moan, rubbing my thighs together for friction and jerking my hips against his, wanting the heat to be attended to. I could feel he was already hard and getting impatient but he ignored it. He trails a finger down to the edge of my shorts. He stood up and pulled my shorts off quickly and roughly, wanting to free himself but not. He was growing impatient like me but held himself back. He rubbed soft small, circles with his thumbs against the inside of my thighs close to my opening but not touching it yet.

"Do you wish me to untie you my little servant?" He asks leaning back over me, trailing his hands back up my body to my wrists. I nod my head wanting to be able to touch him with my hands. He quickly unties the rope and unlocks the cuffs. I lean up and run my fingers through his seemly soft hair, before gripping his hair and pulling him down to me as I smash our lips together. Passion, love and lust mix and fizz together creating an unbearable heat in both of us as we grind our clothed lower bodies together. I quickly take his hoodie and undershirt off, and run my hands down his chest having him jump a little to my touch. Now it was my turn to make him feel what I felt when tied up. I move my hands down to his pants and tug at the hem pulling them off, leaving the boxers with the large noticeable tent on. I bit my lip and blush thinking of having him inside me.

I quickly flip us over and sit on his crotch, grinding my own against his hard clothed member. He groans into the kiss, thrust his hips a little wanting the friction as much as I do. I kiss down his neck and along his chest leavings little love bites as I go to mark him as mine. I move down along his body until I reach the hem of his boxers. I slowly and tantalizing pull them off and throw them over with the rest if our clothing. His hard cock springs to life, throbbing as it stands tall and proud.

I lick my lips and give it a quick lick along the underside of his shaft, feeling him throb on my tongue. I give the head a small kiss and lick the tip as a shudder runs through his whole body and he groans. I take the head in my mouth and swirl my tongue around it. He moans and moves a hand into my hair, gripping tighter he pushes me further on his shaft, but I stop myself with pushing against his hips. I knew that I wouldn't be able to take him all in on the first bob and so I was going to work my way to it. I push my tongue firmly against him as I come back up, sucking on the tip and swirling my tongue around it before letting go of it. He pushes my head down, having enough with my teasing. I lick the bottom as I go and hollow my cheeks. I feel him hit the back if my throat and I wrap my hand around what I couldn't fit. I start to bob up and down, licking as I went. He moaned and groaned while pushing my head back and forth forcing me to go faster.

I took more and more of him in and soon enough I was at the hilt. He groaned louder feeling my whole moist mouth around his painfully throbbing cock. He pushed and pulled my head up and down as he thrusted his hips along, groaning while doing so. Soon enough his creamy cum filled my mouth with a loud grunt as he pulled out of my mouth. "Swallow." Was all he said and so I swallowed the salty yet sweet mixture. "Good girl~" He cooed before pushing me back against the bed. "Now stay and you'll get your reward."

He leaves for a moment and heads over to the wall again choosing two objects I can't see. "Now what one would you prefer?" He asks, showing me something that looks like an egg with a tail like handle coming off it which is white and another thing that looks thick and long which is black.

"Um what are they?" I ask, unsure what they even were.

"Okay well let's use them both than." He moves over to me. "But first." He places them down next to the scissors and once again leans over me kissing me. He lets his fingers trail down my body and takes my underwear off, leaving my body bare for him to see. I blush a bright red as he glances down at me before reattaching his lips. His fingers rub circles above my clit and sometimes even trailing along it. He all of a sudden pushes a finger in, leaving me gasping at the foreign feeling and I squirm around trying to get use to his finger. He starts to push his finger in and out as soft moans leaves my lips and get swallowed up by his. He moves it around searching for a certain spot and as soon as his finger grazes over it I see stars and I moan louder. He rubs his thumb on my clit, making my back arch and my legs feel weak. The pleasure was building and he knew exactly what to do to get me to the edge.

He smirks and adds another finger, stretching me out. He pumps his two fingers in, scissoring them sometimes and making sure to touch my g-spot at least every thrust of his fingers. The stops thrusting them and starts to rub my g-spot, giving it as much attention as he can. The hot feeling grows and feels like a coil winding ever tighter. The pleasure grows as I get wetter and wetter, making his fingers slick and he starts to thrust them every once bad again, my wetness making it easier for him. He adds a third and stretches me out more. The pleasure over comes the pain of a third and soon enough the coil is getting tighter and tighter feeling it like would snap or explode.

"M-ma-master!" I call out loudly as the coil snaps and I climax leaving me dazed and on cloud nine as the pleasure overrides my senses. I don't even realise him removing his fingers and leaning down and licking away at my juices. He leans back once the feeling of pleasure dims and slips the egg inside me, it felt weird and rubbery. He once again picks up the rope and grabs my hands which were still clinging to the bed sheets.

He hums at how tense I was. “Relax my little bundle of hope. I'll make you feel far better. Then maybe I'll no longer be trash.” He bring my hands up to the headboard once again and ties them with the rope. It was tight against my skin and I could feel rope burns coming on but for some reason it added to the pleasure. “It seems Mr (l/n) has raised a masochist of a daughter. I wonder how the world will respond to this.” He teases as he picks something up from the side table. “Now just lay back and enjoy.” He presses on the thing he picked up, and within seconds I could feel the egg vibrating inside me. I groan at the small vibrations and wiggle my hips trying to get more friction. I strained my arms in the ropes,and wanting to move and provide more of the delicious friction. “I'll start of simple for you since your new but over time you'll soon be doing everything I want and enjoying the pain. Maybe I'll train you to cum with a simple click of my fingers. The options are endless now.” He rambles on as I strain to hear him. There was too little and it was making me frustrated.

Nagito softly trailed his fingers along my arms, creating a tickle sensation. I squirm to escape his touch but I'm unable to do so as he continues his touches. His fingers reach my shoulders where they clasp around my neck. My hips moving against the bed to try and gain friction, I panic as he pressed against my neck. He pauses seeing the panic in my eyes and releases my neck. “Hey, it's okay my little hope. It's okay. I won't hurt you without it feeling good. Trust me.” He soothes, I wonder if this was his first time doing something like this because from how he's going it seemed that it wasn't. “Now, is there anything you want?”

I take this chance to try and get more pleasure as I wanted more. "Nagito please."

"Please what my little one?" His eyes soften as he continues to trail his fingers, lighting my skin on fire.

I moan at the feeling and the gentle vibrations. "Please can I more?"

Nagito chuckles, "Aren't you a greedy thing. I already let you cum once, what makes you think I'll let you a second time?"

I close my eyes,my body balancing precariously on feeling all too much but all too little. "Please." I beg.

He doesn't say another word as he presses another button on the remote. The vibrations getting stronger and giving me more pleasure. It was getting too much and the coil soon came back. I start to clamp my legs together and rub them sending the vibrator further into my vagina while Nagito turns up the power even more. I close my eyes in bliss and cling to the bed, moaning as the coil tightens more than it did before.

Nagito moves his hand to his hard cock and starts to pump it while watching my face contort with pleasure and hearing the sexy moans leaving my very kissable lips. I cling even tighter to the bed as my moans rose but before the coil could snap again he turns the vibrator off. I look up at him with half lidded eyes as he reaches in with his fingers and removes the now soaked vibrator. I whimpered as his fingers enter than leave my now overly sensitive clitoris. I wanted him to finish me.

He grabs the black one and pushes it up there instead. Since it was much larger and bigger it filled more space. It didn't hurt but it was very uncomfortable. I moaned as it slipped in thanks to my juices which I had already spilled. He does the same thing and turns it on. But it doesn't just vibrate, the tip also spins and rubs against my walls.

I moan as he pushes the power up and pushes the vibrator further up. He grips it and starts to thrust the toy, enjoy seeing my face twist with pleasure as well as dominating me so much seems to be a huge turn on for him. His cock was throbbing painful now and seemed to be thicker than it was before. He groaned when he brushed his hips against the bed, as he trusted the vibrator deeper and harder into me, as he turned the power higher. I was close. I was so close to climaxing but just as I was about to fall off the edge again from all the pleasure and fall into a deeper pit of it, he turned it off and pulls sit out, throwing it across the room where it surely smashed against the wall.

"I can't stand it any longer. I need to be in you now." He groans and pulls me closer to him by my hips. He spreads my legs wide and quickly as possible he roughly thrusts into me, stretching me even more than before and going in even deeper. I let out a deep throated moan as he grunts at feeling and seeing me swallow his thick long cock in one go.

"Nagito~" I moan.

"Shit (y/n) my love. You're so tight and warm. You just swallow me up completely." He groans. He gives a few test thrusts groaning as our skin hits and rubs. At the onslaught of pleasure he quickened his pace and thrusts harder, going in deeper and deeper each thrust. His hips were snapping into my own at a fast pace and his grip on my hips was enough to bruise. We both moan and grunt at the pleasure and I start to thrust my hips to meet his.

His penis gets pushed into me deeper and I moan louder. All that echoed in the room was the sounds of our skin slapping, a wet sound as he thrusted and our moans. I wrap my legs around him pushing him even deeper. We couldn't get enough of the pleasure. I lean up and rake my hands down his back leaving scratches as he kisses me forcibly unable to get enough. He quickly flips us over so I was riding him and pushes me up and down on his cock as he thrusts upwards to meet my hips.

Our groans and moans grow louder the more we continue and my coil snaps sending me tightening my walls around him and climaxing. I roll my head to the side as he places us in doggy style and slams into me harder. "Nagito!!!" I scream as he abuses my sensitive body, reaching his end within moments with a shout of my name as he cums inside.

We both collapse onto the bed side by side panting wildly. He draws out as my juices and his spill out a little as well on the bed. The air feels cold on our hot and sweaty skin. "I love you (y/n)." He whispers into my ear, tired from the actions from before, leaving a small peck on my sore lips.

"I love you too Nagito." I whisper tiredly back, drowsy from all the used energy.

"We better get cleaned up otherwise the others will worry." He gets up and grabs a couple of towels and cloths from one of the racks. "There's still plenty of other things in here we should try out." He points out, walking back over with the towels and cloths. "Like the maid outfit, the clamps, and also there's things here in which you can do to me. But we have plenty of time later on to try everything out."

He sits back on the bed and helps me sit up. My body heavy and tired. He wipes me down with the towel and cleans up my lower regions before cleaning and drying himself. He puts his clothes back on before handing me my underwear and shorts. The only two things that weren't cut up.

He smirks and kisses me heatedly again, "You know you look sexy dressed like that." He whispers before moving away.

"So I should dress like this more often for you?" I tease standing up on sore and shaky legs.

He chuckles and shakes his head, "Bad idea my love, or I won't be able to hold myself back. And plus I would suggest taking a pregnancy test in two days time incase I got you pregnant." He admits smiling properly this time.

I smile back and cling to his arm making sure not to fall over, "Sure. And could you get me a bra and shirt so I can return to the house?" I ask.

"I wouldn't mind keeping you down here where I could be with you whenever but sure." He sits me back on the bed and leaves the room, closing the door behind him. I don't wait long before he's back with a bra and shirt in which I quickly get changed into, "Meet me here every night since the rest of the house and your parents can't know of this." He says and holds my hand.

I just smile and hug him. He tugs my hand and he leads me out of the room and back upstairs to the ground floor where the rest of the servants are running around doing what they usually did every day. Nagito takes me to my rooms and leaves after kissing my forehead goodbye. I go take a shower before my parents are due home and go to meet them when they arrive, smiling at Nagito when I see him.

#ooc #lemon #smut #danganronpa #nagito komaeda #x fem!reader #x female reader #x reader #nagito komaeda x reader #commission #commisionwork #servant nagito #servant x reader #servant au

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thetriggeredhappy · 4 years

Note

Hi!! I love your work sm dude! QwQ Your Running Blind series is legitmately incredible! (It had me crying hadhs) I always get super excited whenever you talk about it or update it, Taking Shots is so creative and funny and sweet just AAGH I love it so much- It is probably my favourite fanfic in this entire fandom. If you are at all taking requests, I would like to ask if you could do an EngieSpy fic with Spy knowing exactly how to get Engie all flustered cus I think that would be cute -w- Ty!

ahgfdsj don’t mind that this took forever,,,, here’s some cheesy cheesy romance ft. a cheesy romantic

(no warnings)

Dell Conagher was a 45 year old man. He had more degrees than fingers (including the false ones) and a considerable amount of respect and acclaim in the wide majority of academic communities. And besides that, he made himself a formidable opponent in combat, taking no prisoners and becoming a tactical nightmare to deal with, able to push and direct in a way that others couldn’t do so effectively single-handedly.

So you’d think that there wasn’t much that would leave him flustered, but figures—there were people who could fluster bigshots like him just as much as there were people to fluster your average Joe. Maybe he should consider it a humbling experience, but he was plenty humble already.

What he hated was that it was so predictable of him, the things that made him blush. Nothing unusual—some of the other members of the team had initially assumed from his accent and general demeanor that surely he would balk and blush at more risqué jokes and shenanigans, but he could swear and chuckle just as much as the rest of them. And while he occasionally got fired up over things, he didn’t tend to get hot when he got angry so much as stern and then very much cold.

No, what got him to stammer and make a damn fool of himself was just the thing that not many people had the guts to do to him over the course of his life—goopy, sappy, extremely romantic displays.

Just his luck that he’d fall for a Frenchman.

Part of what got him so flustered—and therefore more frustrated with himself—was the fact that he was smart enough to figure out that it probably took an awful lot of work to do the things Spy did for him. He didn’t know of a good florist in a hundred mile radius of their base, and Spy had ranted about it enough that he’d also gathered there were no particularly good wineries around either. And you probably had to take a class to get as good as Spy at decoration and whatnot, surely, and cooking too. Setting a whole table and room and making a romantic dinner with wine older than his grandad with a whole bouquet as a centerpiece, well, it must’ve taken Spy all day, or, or maybe even weeks of planning and plotting and scheming—

And he tried to dissuade Spy from going to all that trouble, every time he pulled off some stunt like that. Shook his head and called him a sentimental old fool. But it never made Spy’s grin budge, maybe because Spy could tell the comment reflected right back onto the Engineer too. And he didn’t let up.

Instead he walked straight up to the Engineer and took his right hand, bending at the waist and lifting his hand to lay a brief but meaningful kiss on his knuckles, and already Dell was flushing, even before Spy got to the verbal part of his greeting. “Hello, mon cher Monsieur Conagher,” he said, smirking a little.

“I can’t feel that, you know,” he reminded, keeping his voice level and glancing between his gloved hand and Spy’s face.

“Oh? I’d disagree,” Spy purred, and guided him a half step forward before kissing each knuckle in turn one more time in succession. “I’d say you must be feeling something, at least.”

“What makes you say that?” he asked, brows furrowing just a touch.

“Why else would you be so red?” Spy teased, the slightest further uptick at the corner of his mouth, and the Engineer huffed, pulling back his hand and looking away.

“Hush, you,” he muttered, flustered, moreso as that just made Spy laugh.

“Mon cher, don’t tell me this makes you embarrassed,” Spy said, looking well amused by the idea.

“Well, you’re the one making a damn fool of the both of us, right where anyone on the team could see,” Dell pointed out.

Spy raised an eyebrow. “Is this your way of asking me to stop?” he asked.

“Well—yes! It is!” he said, even though a significant portion of him immediately protested.

“Understood,” Spy said, and the word was tailed by a little grin that told him he’d just gotten himself waist-deep in some new kind of trouble.

He waited for the kicker, when Spy did immediately stop with the showy displays of affection and admiration. The punchline ended up showing up relatively quickly in the form of a bouquet in a vase there on a workbench right in the middle of his workshop, unannounced and unprompted, without even a note. But he knew who it was from, even if he had no idea when Spy snuck past his security—or how long Spy had known how to sneak past his security.

And after that first gift, he found others cropping up in similar fashions for a while—most often flowers, and occasionally wine, chocolate, other luxury goods he’d never buy for himself but couldn’t help but be delighted by when he received them as a gift, especially from his lover. They appeared occasionally in his workshop, or sometimes beside the coffee maker (presumably because he tended to be the first one there, the first one awake in the morning). And the one thing he could count himself being lucky about was the fact that Spy didn’t seem to be there to catch how it made him blush, every single time.

He tried to bring it up, when he and Spy were together, and Spy perfectly feigned ignorance and misunderstanding, as well as confusion and amusement. He stopped bringing it up, knowing it wouldn’t get him anywhere.

And then one day, for reasons he didn’t understand, the gifts shifted. He still got roses and flowers, usually just in time to replace the previous bouquet in the vase that had made a home in his workshop (although moved somewhere they would be less of a fire hazard). But less often did he get the wine and chocolates and similar classic romantic fare. Instead he found, occasionally, that he would glance up from his work in the workshop at the clock on the wall, and he would realize he’d worked straight through dinner again, and he’d curse his iron-clad focus for a moment before his eyes fell to the counter below the clock to land on a plate containing a full and well-rounded meal, covered in plastic so as to protect it from sawdust or similar mess.

He found that, suddenly and for reasons he couldn’t immediately explain, he tended to have leftovers waiting, labeled with his name, in the fridge despite him not having put them there. He found the shirt he’d discarded as a lost cause after a bad tear washed and stitched cleanly and sitting on top of his pile of clean laundry. He found a spare set of new laces just when he started to wonder if the ones in his boots needed replacing, and his supply of water bottles he kept near his station to stave off dehydration mysteriously never getting any emptier.

And for some reason that flustered him all the more, because flowers and wine and kisses on the back of the hand were nice, were a lovely display to think of and accomplish. But to be thinking of him so often, to notice such tiny details and to keep on top of them and to fix them—without even saying anything, at that! To notice those things meant that Spy was thinking of him so much more than he expected, than he’d ever feel right expecting, was more than he could ever ask from any partner and it just...

He found himself bringing it up one day, chest filled to the bursting and needing somewhere for it to go. He and Spy were sitting together in the smoking room, and Spy had some album playing—worn enough by then that Dell could just barely understand it well enough to parse out that it wasn’t English. Whatever it was, it was low and soothing and non-distracting and filled the room just as much as the warmth of the fire and the lingering smell of exotic spices from some point in the past.

Stronger was the smell of Spy’s cologne, though, there sat next to him, warm against his shoulder. He couldn’t tell much about what it was that Spy was reading, just that it looked to be a play of some kind based on the spacing of phrases, and that it was in Russian. He was sure his own reading was probably significantly less interesting, just being the order form for the next month’s shipment of parts that he needed to parse through.

Easy to get distracted from, was a way he could refer to it. Easy to stop thinking about it and to instead think about the man leaning against him.

“Spy?” he asked softly.

“Hm?” Spy hummed, looking up from his book.

“Why do you keep doing things for me?”

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Spy smirked.

“I’m being serious,” Dell said, voice still quiet.

Spy’s expression didn’t so much fall as it did relax. “Are you?” he asked. “Isn’t it obvious?”

When Dell just frowned, Spy deigned to elaborate.

“I do these things because I care about you, mon cher,” he said simply. “To make you happy, because I want you to be happy, because I care about you and you deserve to be happy. If I’m not doing a good job, correct me so I can do better.”

“It’s not that,” he said quickly, and hesitated. “I just, I don’t understand—“

“—What, why I care? Why you deserve to be happy?” he asked outright, and maybe that was it. Maybe that really was all. And maybe it showed on his face. “Laborer, have you considered that your reluctance to accept my gifts and acts of appreciation are because you’re uncomfortable with the idea of someone holding you to such high value in such a real and tangible way?”

“I—I don’t—that’s—“ he stammered, face going red.

“That perhaps others caring about and valuing you has been either a distant dream or something you imagined to be a reality because you needed the morale to get through the day, and now your mind and emotions are significantly freed up and you don’t quite know what to do with yourself, which is something both new and intimidating for you, someone who always tries to be so in control of your own life?”

“Why the sudden psychoanalysis?” he managed, feeling more than a little bit tense.

“Because I have a feeling you intended for this conversation to be your asking me to not do things for you because you feel you don’t deserve them, and quite frankly I’m stubborn enough that you will never change my mind,” Spy said, and leaned in to kiss him, an ice pack on a sucker punch, startling and disorienting and...

And nice.

When Spy pulled back, he seemed to see the disorientation, and he smiled. “It’s alright that you don’t know what to do yet. It’s alright if you never know. I simply enjoy doing these things for you, as often as I can without treading on your toes or making you feel smothered.”

“You never do,” Dell assured with the part of his brain that was still functioning.

Spy kissed him on the cheek gently. “You are very sweet, Dell Conagher,” he said simply.

“Me? You’re the one who—“

“Shush,” Spy laughed, and gave him another peck. “Just accept that making you happy is what makes me happy, oui? Is that such a strange thing to ask?”

“It feels like it,” Dell admitted.

“Well, perhaps the millionth time I say it, it won’t,” Spy teased.

“You’ll say that a million times?” he asked, incredulous.

“I’ll say it as many times as you’ll tolerate. I’ll say it on the hour every day until you get entirely tired of me or die, whichever comes first—or perhaps at the exact same moment. I’ll learn every language on the planet and say it in each and every one until you can repeat it back to me fluently. Because, mon cher, I mean it, and when I mean something, there isn’t a soul on the planet who can stop me from making it absolutely clear that I mean it, not even the person I love most in the world and his ridiculous, skewed lack of ego. Do you understand?”

The Engineer kissed him, and kissed him, and kissed him, and yeah, he understood. He really did. And maybe Spy was right—maybe he would believe it someday. Maybe someone that stubborn was the only type of person who could convince him.

Time would tell.

#tf2 #team fortress 2 #engiespy #napoleon complex #shut up me #my fanfiction #everybody talks #this be some Gay Shit #also thank you!!

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ikemenvampire · 3 years

Text

Let’s Make Christmas Cookies Together (Day 1)

Masterlist AO3

Part of the 2020 Winter Drabble Prompts by @obeywho-meduh Pairing: Solomon x gn!MC Note: Trying to get my writing skills back so it might be a little rough right now. Also my first attempt with a gn!MC. I also have no idea how to format in tumblr. Please note: the stickers they use are in accordance to the stickers in the game. Summary:

"Let's make Christmas cookies together!"

Is what they'd said so excitedly to Solomon a few days ago that they'd completely forgotten one very crucial fact.

Solomon has no skills in the kitchen.

"Let's make Christmas cookies together!"

Is what they'd said so excitedly to Solomon a few days ago that they'd completely forgotten one very crucial fact.

Solomon has no skills in the kitchen.

Unless you of course counted his ability to turn anything he makes inedible to the point that even Beelzebub, the avatar of gluttony, couldn't keep it down a skill.

But they'd already agreed to have Solomon come over to the House of Lamentation tomorrow to bake some cookies together (Luke had texted in their group chat with the angels to please, please not bake in the kitchen in Purgatory Hall when he overheard their conversation while Simeon contributed a scared and shaking sticker in response) and they couldn't exactly back out then. Solomon seemed to think there was nothing wrong with his creations and they didn't want to make the sorcerer feel bad by suddenly cancelling.

With that all said and done, MC had no other choice but to prepare the House for Solomon's arrival to try and mitigate some of the damage they're expecting to come as a result of Solomon's... concoctions.

The first thing they do is head to Lucifer's office, all the while practicing their apology in hopes the eldest brother doesn't get too angry with them. But no matter how much they'd practice their speech, the resounding 'Enter' that they receive after knocking completely causes them to blank out.

"Er, hey Luci," MC greets awkwardly as they shuffle inside, hands fiddling with the hem of their uniform nervously. "Are you busy right now?"

Lucifer simply raises a perfectly arched brow at the human, taking note of the way they fidgeted under his gaze and sighs, setting down the papers he'd been examining. Clasping his fingers together on top of his desk and resting his chin upon them, he asks, "What is it, MC?"

Sheepishly, MC rubs the back of their neck and directs their gaze anywhere, but the demon in front of them as the words tumble out of their lips. "So you know how Christmas is coming in the human world, right?"

Lucifer blinks, but nods in return. For once, he's unsure exactly what about the jolly holiday caused the human so much grief, but he lets them continue speaking.

They take a deep breath and—"ImayhaveinvitedSolomonovertobakeChristmascookieswithmepleasedon'tgetmad."

It takes him a second to parse through the jumble of words, but the moment he does he could feel his wings burst out of his back as his demon form took over before it's gone, tucked again in his human form underneath a very thin layer of patience only brought forth by the human's scared 'Eep!'.

Lucifer pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out an exasperated sigh. Of all troubling things he’s had to deal with recently, not even Mammon had brought him this much grief.

"Pray tell, why?"

"I completely forgot that Solomon's a menace in the kitchen," MC explains, fiddling once more with their sleeves, "I was just so excited to celebrate the holidays with someone who would understand."

Lucifer purses his lips.

Of course, their human would begin to feel homesick. They've been here for a majority of the year, but it still doesn't erase the homesickness they must've felt since the beginning. And this Christmas holiday was usually celebrated with close family, friends, or a significant other so it made sense that those feelings would hit hardest during this time of year.

With a heavy sigh and plans to schedule a time for someone to come in and fix their kitchen afterwards, Lucifer reluctantly agrees to let them use the kitchen. "Just... Make sure you warn the others not to step foot in the kitchen that day. Please. I don't want to have to cart all of them to the hospital afterwards."

The bright, thankful smile MC sends their way is almost enough to make up for the fact that he's willingly letting chaos step foot into their kitchen. Almost.

He waves MC off with a reminder to let the others know as well and returns back to his work.

Suddenly, the weight on his shoulders felt a lot heavier than before MC came in. Though, the heaviness in his heart has lightened up considerably.

~°~°~°~

House of Lamentation (New) (8)

MC: *smiling sticker*

MC: Hey, everyone!

Mammon: *question mark sticker*

Asmodeus: *question mark sticker*

Leviathan: *question mark sticker*

Beelzebub: What's up, MC?

Satan: Did something happen?

MC: Ah, well...

MC: You could say that...

Belphegor: Spit it out.

MC: So, you know the Christmas holiday I was telling you all about a few days ago?

Mammon: The one where you get lots of gifts?

Asmodeus: The one for couples right?

Asmodeus: *hearts sticker*

Beelzebub: The one where you get to eat lots of good food

Beelzebub: *eating sticker*

Belphegor: Beel, you're drooling.

Leviathan: Speaking of, I should get my list of merch to buy when things go on sale after

Leviathan: Thanks for the reminder!

Satan: Yes, MC

Satan: What about it?

MC: You know how I mentioned I liked to bake cookies to give out to friends and family as gifts?

Beelzebub: Are you making some for us?

Mammon: I mean, of course they are. Why wouldn't they?

Asmodeus: A gifted cookie from MC?

Asmodeus: Filled with their hard work and love???

Asmodeus: I look forward to receiving some ;)

Belphegor: Hm.

Belphegor: There's a catch isn't there

MC: Ha...

MC: How did you know, Belphie?

MC: Anyway, yes. I'll be baking some cookies tomorrow afternoon

Beelzebub: *awed sticker*

Mammon: A cookie from MC!

Asmodeus: *hearts sticker*

Mammon: Not that I want one of anything. I'd just feel bad since you’ll probably cry if I don’t eat it, that's all.

MC: The catch is Solomon is helping me

Beelzebub: *scared sticker*

Asmodeus: *scared sticker*

Mammon: *scared sticker*

Leviathan: *scared sticker*

Satan: *scared sticker*

Belphegor: It can't be that bad, can it?

Leviathan: Trust me.. it's that bad.

Satan: Beel won't even eat it

Beelzebub: It makes my stomach hurt

Belphegor: Okay. That's pretty bad

MC: Yeah, so

MC: Do you guys mind staying out of the kitchen while we're in there?

MC: I don't want you guys to get roped in as taste-testers

Asmodeus: Does Lucifer know?

MC: Mhm, yeah. He's the first to find out

MC: I think he was muttering about getting someone to come in afterwards and fix anything Solomon breaks when I left his office

MC: So we should still have our kitchen once we're done with it

MC: And I'll try to make a few good batches to share with you guys, don't worry

Beelzebub: *thank you sticker*

Asmodeus: *thank you sticker*

Satan: Thanks MC :)

Leviathan: Yeah, thanks!

Mammon: *smile sticker*

Belphegor: Good luck tomorrow

--- end ---

MC tucks their phone back into their pocket and eyes the clock wearily.

"I guess I should check and make sure we have everything we'll need for tomorrow. Then," they pause and take out their phone, smiling at the text they just received. "We wait."

~°~°~°~

Solomon

Solomon: Looking forward to tomorrow

Solomon: *Whoo! Sticker*

MC: *dance sticker*

--- end ----

~°~°~°~

The House of Lamentation is quiet. Quiet enough that the eerie creaks some of the doors made rang through the silent house.

Anyone stepping foot inside would think that the house must be empty aside from their host.

But it's not.

No, in fact, MC was 99.9% sure they know exactly where each demon brother had locked themselves up in.

Asmo is no doubt having a long soak in his bathroom, music turned low, candles lit, and flower petals floating in his bathwater. Levi on the other hand is probably having a quiet marathon of one of his shows—he often got loud when he gamed and catching Solomon's attention was just not it for him today.

Lucifer is likely in his study, getting some more work done (though MC has an inkling the eldest is also having a few glasses of demonus to try and deal with the whole 'Solomon is in my kitchen' issue) while Satan has his head buried in a new series in his bedroom.

The twins are likely in the attic; Belphie having a good nap while Beel tries to pace himself with the snacks he and Belphie had brought up with them to tide over his hunger while Solomon was around.

Mammon, MC knows, is out doing a modelling gig as recommended by Lucifer. In the eldest's words: "No matter what, Mammon has no idea how to be quiet so it's best if he leaves the House while Solomon is here" which had been followed by Mammon's offended "Oi! Quit talking about me like I'm not here!"

In conclusion, the House is definitely not empty, but its inhabitants are playing 'away' to try and avoid becoming taste-testers.

It is, after all, finally time for MC and Solomon to bake some holiday cookies.

MC passes Solomon a black apron while they grab their own purple one and tug it on. Reaching behind them, they begin to gather the strings when Solomon's fingers gently brush theirs aside.

"Here, let me," he whispers into their ear as his fingers deftly begin tying the strings into a pretty bow. "There. All finished," he murmurs into their ear once more, causing MC to bite back a shiver at the caress of warm air.

Solomon steps back as MC turns and begins to busy themselves with organizing the ingredients in front of them.

"Thanks," they end up murmuring, bowing their head down in hopes of hiding the flush of their cheeks from their companion.

Solomon simply smiles and doesn't comment on it as he tugs on his own apron. Once done, he turns to them and tilts his head curiously. "You're measuring the ingredients?"

MC's hands freeze mid-pour into the bowl on the scale and their brows furrow in confusion. "Wait, hold on. Why does that sound like a question."

"Because it is?"

Blinking, MC rights the bag of flour and turns to Solomon with a frown. "Do you measure your ingredients?"

"There's no need to. I trust my potions skills."

"But you're not making potions??" To their credit, MC only sounds half-hysterical when all they really want is to grab the man by his shoulders and shake him to try and get some sense into his brain. "You're literally baking. Having measured amounts of stuff is what makes sure it'll turn out good."

"But potion-making and cooking are practically the same. You add ingredients into a heated surface and then you get something out of it."

Nevermind. That half is slowly climbing into full-blown hysterical.

"That's—Okay, that's fair, but you should still measure stuff."

"Whatever I make always ends up fine to eat, but if you say so then I guess we can measure things out based on the recipe." Solomon eyes the recipe for chocolate chip cookies and hums. "I'll go ahead and measure the sugar while you finish with the flour."

MC barely manages to stifle their cry. "But they don't turn out fine. That's the point."

"Did you say something, MC?”

They let out an exasperated sigh, close their eyes, and pinch the bridge of their nose.

'Please, God. Grant me the patience I'll need to deal with this man.'

When they feel their skin warm slowly and a feeling of peace settle within them, MC knows that, had they not just received that blessing, they would be freaking out. After all, the fact God granted their prayer immediately meant even he knew there was nothing else that could be done concerning Solomon’s abilities in the kitchen.

"No, let's just get this done," MC mutters in defeat.

Solomon grins. "We'll make the best cookies, yet."

"Really, I'm just hoping they'll be edible."

"Did you say something again?"

"No, nothing."

"Hm, weird. I must still be feeling the side-effects from one of my spells."

MC simply shakes their head and readies themselves for a long afternoon.

~°~°~°~

When the cookies are taken out of the oven, MC could barely stop themselves from tearing up.

Somehow, someway, the cookies look fine. No, not just fine, they look perfect!

"Let's let them cool and then we can start packing them into bags," MC suggests once the final baking sheet is out of the oven.

"Should we try some first? They look really good and they smell really good," Solomon says as he scans the dozens of cookies. "I wouldn't mind having one right now, actually."

"It might be too hot so be careful," MC warns as Solomon reaches to pick one up. They watch him blow on it to cool it before holding it out to them with a smile.

"Why don't you take the first bite?" Solomon asks. "You did do most of the work, after all."

Hesitantly, MC leans over and takes a bite of the cookie. Eyes widening, they beam happily at Solomon as they chew.

Swallowing, they gesture for Solomon to take a bite excitedly. "It tastes amazing! Have a bite!"

"Don't mind if I do," he responds and, with a sly smile, bites right where MC had bitten, causing red to bloom on their cheeks. He chews thoughtfully, staring up at the ceiling before redirecting his gaze to MC as he swallows.

"Yes, I have to agree with you," MC swallows at the heat in Solomon's eyes as he murmurs, "That particular bite was deliciously sweet that I can't help but want more.”

"Um, go ahead then. Have some more," they gesture at the cookies shyly.

Solomon's lips form a sly smirk as he takes a step closer. "Are you certain you want to say that? I’m not exactly referring to the cookies." The hand holding the cookie falls, treat forgotten as Solomon takes another step, and another until they're so close to each other that they can feel the light puffs of air as Solomon speaks. "Well?"

This wasn't about the cookie anymore. Maybe it hadn't been since the start. Maybe this was a way for them to get to know Solomon even more and find out just what's in that brilliant brain of his. They didn't know, but while they may not know the answer to that question, they certainly knew the answer to this one.

"Kiss me," they whisper.

"With pleasure."

And when their lips meet oh so gently, MC lets out a pleased sigh. They can taste the chocolate on his lips, just as addicting as the rest of him. When he nips at their bottom lip teasingly, MC lets out a quiet sound of pleasure.

They don't know how long the kiss took, but when Solomon pulls away, all they could think of was that it hadn't been long enough.

"Let's put these away and then we can get back to what we really want to do. What do you say?"

And really, with an offer as enticing as that is it any wonder that all they can say is—"Yes."

~°~°~°~

Bonus 1

"Have some cookies!" MC grinned as they passed around bags of the treats they'd made earlier with Solomon.

When all they received were apprehensive looks in return, they rolled their eyes.

"I swear to my soul and to Diavolo that those cookies won't harm you. I've tried them myself and they taste delicious."

The brothers exchanged looks before Lucifer let out a sigh and opened the bag. Immediately, the delicious smell of cookies filled the air, causing Beelzebub's mouth to water.

Taking out a cookie, Lucifer studied it carefully before finally taking a bite. MC and the brothers held their breath as the eldest chewed and swallowed. Then,

"It tastes good. Almost as good as one Barbatos made.”

"That's good enough proof for me," says Beelzebub as he opens the bag and shoves a cookie into his mouth without care. The rest of the brothers take a second of stunned silence before they began to hesitantly open their own bags.

As they snack on the gifted treats, a chorus of thank-yous leaves their giddy lips. Even Belphegor who'd been sleepily clutching his pillow earlier is wide awake, munching quietly on a cookie.

"I'm glad you guys liked it," MC says as they shuffle to sit beside Lucifer. Leaning in, their eyes glitter with mischief as they share a secret. "Honestly, I didn't think they would end up tasting good since Solomon was helping, but he really surprised me today."

Lucifer carefully seals the bag again, planning to save the rest of the cookies for later before turning to face them. "Oh? How so?"

"Mhm, well, for starters he doesn't measure his ingredients, which is probably why his cooking always turns bad. Another thing that he surprised me today was his ability to actually end up producing something that wasn't just edible, but good too."

They hesitate to say their next words long enough that Lucifer picks up on it and, raising a brow, asks, "What's the last thing?"

"He's quite charming," MC says with a light blush.

"Charming," Lucifer repeats, his eye twitching subtly in annoyance. "In what way?"

"Well, in a way that ended up with us kissing for a while afte—Luci, where are you going?" MC quickly pushes themselves off the couch to follow Lucifer as he heads out of the room, a menacing aura following him.

"I need to pay Purgatory Hall a visit. There's a certain pest I need to deal with."

"W-wait, no, Luci—!"

~°~°~°~

Bonus 2

"I don't understand," MC raises their hands in the air in confusion. "You followed the recipe right to the gram. I watched you measure and put things in. How did it end up like this?"

The thing the two humans in Devildom were staring in silence at is a block of gray matter inside the pot that would bubble ominously at times, releasing a gas that smells like fish every time a bubble broke the surface.

"I literally watched you the entire time. What happened?" MC bemoans.

Solomon sighs and covers the pot with its lid, his nose wrinkling when another bubble breaks the surface. "I don't have an answer for that. It seems that the cookies were merely a fluke. Perhaps a once in a lifetime kind of miracle."

MC covers their face in bewilderment. "I don't understand."

Patting their shoulder, Solomon shakes his head quietly. "Some things just aren't meant to be understood."

“MC! What are you cookin—"

The two glance up and spot a frozen Luke at the doorway. The younger boy's face slowly goes from curious to horrified before he's sprinting out of the room.

"Simeon! Simeon! Solomon's in the kitchen again!!"

Solomon and MC hear the clatter of something falling and a yelp before the thudding footsteps resume.

Blinking and simultaneously deciding to ignore what had just happened, they turn back to the pot in concern.

"What should we do about the thing?" MC asks.

Solomon shakes his head. "We have to get rid of it."

"Even the pot?"

"Especially the pot."

#obey me #obey me fanfic #obey me solomon #obey me!#my writing

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onechicago-upsteadrhekker · 4 years

Text

@chilly7188 requested #82 from the prompt list, “what keeps you up at night?” for upstead! I hope you like it! I’m having a lot of fun with these!

Summery: Sometimes you’re reminded of your nightmares even in the daytime, when you least expect it and Jay knows that more than anyone. He knows he’d never survive if it wasn’t for Hailey.

*title taken from ‘Pluto’ by Sleeping at Last*

show me where my armor ends, show me where my skin begins

This morning when Jay woke up, he did not anticipate what the day would bring. He had gone about his usual routine of going for a run, getting in a brief workout and then cooling down with a nice quick shower all before the sun came up.

He was dressed and had coffee made by 6:10, waiting on Hailey to stumble out of their bedroom just after 6:20 when her alarm went off. He greeted her with a kiss like he did every morning and she drank her cup of coffee asking about his run and if he slept okay.

She always did this; sometimes she asked him point blank if he’d had any nightmares and sometimes she just asked how he’d slept and sometimes she didn’t need to ask him at all because she had held him during the night after he’d accidentally woken her up during the throws of reliving his darkest moments.

He knew she was just looking out for his best interests like she’d always done so he would answer as truthfully as he could and she would smile at him like she was pleased and proud and that would make him feel proud too.

She kissed him again as she set her mug in the sink, heading towards the door to go on her own short run to be back in time to get a shower so they could be at work just before 8.

Trudy was there to great them as always as they bounded up the stairs, typing in the password they knew frontwards and backwards before pulling open the gate to continue up the stairs and into the bullpen. Most every one was there; Voight was holed away in his office like usual and Jay always wondered if he’d ever even went home in the first place. Hailey greeted Vanessa and Kim with a brief hug and a quick tease, saying ‘good morning’ to Kevin with a smile. Jay inquired where Adam was just as he came running up the stairs with a lame excuse that he got stuck in traffic but they all knew it was because he slept through his alarm clock again.

They all settled down at their desks, catching up on various paperwork, a light conversation bouncing between him and Jay couldn’t help but think how good his life was right now; he had a job he loved, great friends he worked with and the best fiance who he didn’t deserve.

That should have tipped him off that things were about to go to hell.

“Do you know who I am?”

Jay ignored the question, his eyes quickly scanning the room, resting on the little girl laid out on the floor. Her eyes were closed and her skin was pale.

A slap. “Answer me!”

“Let the little girl go!” Jay looked at the crazed man, his eyes blazing with fury.

“No! Not until you answer my question!” Jay watched as the man brandished his gun and he wondered if he could make a dive for his own gun that had been slid across the room after he had been lured into this trap without getting the little girl or himself killed. He wasn’t even sure if she was still breathing; she was so quiet and still.

Jay knew he needed to play this man’s game to buy him some time. To buy the team some time. To give him time to formulate a plan without the little girl getting shot even if that meant he got shot but he preferred an option where they both avoided getting shot.

But the truth was, Jay had no idea who this guy was or why he seemed to think Jay would know who he was. He was bulky and his hair was graying at the temples so Jay guessed he was in his mid-to-late forty’s but what concerned him most was the half-crazed look in the man’s eyes; desperation, anger and fear all mixed together and Jay had been in enough situations to know that this could go really bad really fast. He knew he had to be extremely careful with what he said and how he moved in order to preserve both his and the little girl’s lives.

“Okay, okay,” Jay spoke calmly his hands still raised, “I don’t recognize you. Do I know you?”

The man laughed to himself, walking around in circles still waving the gun around in his hand and Jay very carefully inched to the right, his eyes never leaving the gun. The man suddenly turned, the gun whipping back to be trained on him, “What do you think you’re doing? You aren’t getting out of here! Not until you know! Not until you pay for what you did!”

Jay froze, his hands still raised, “Okay, okay, I’m not gonna do anything but I don’t understand. What have I done? Can you explain it to me?”

The man laughed again and it sounded more desperate, more maniacal and Jay knew this was starting to get out of hand.

The man almost sobbed, keeping the gun trained on him, “Explain it to you? Explain it to you! I’ll tell you what you did! You killed my little girl and my wife,” The man’s face was beat red as he screamed, “You killed my whole family!”

Jay’s eyebrows furrowed. He had no idea what the hell this guy was talking about but he knew he needed to cooperate to get that little girl out of there so he wracked his brain, trying to remember the guys face.

“You really don’t know, do you? How could you forget what you did! All those lives you’re responsible for! If you hadn’t tried to play hero, that bomb would have never gone off and my family would still be here!” The man’s eyes were bloodshot and he still had the gun trained on him.

Jay felt like he’d been punched in the gut at the man’s words. Of course. Now he understood, now he got it. Of course he hadn’t forgotten one of worst days of his life. A day that he would never forget and would always weigh heavily on his conscious.

He should have figured it out sooner.

“You’re family was in that church, weren’t they? And they didn’t make it,” Jay watched as tears streamed down the man’s face.

Jay snuck a glance at the little girl to his left and she seemed paler than before if that was even possible, “I get why you want me but what has that little girl done? She has nothing to do with this! You need to let her go! This is between you and me!”

The man shook his head, “No. You see, that’s how I knew you would be the one down here. I knew that you wouldn’t be able to resist. Detective Jay Halstead! The great and mighty hero! But guess what? You aren’t going to get to save her either, just how you didn’t save my wife and daughter. You aren’t a hero!” The man’s eyes blazed in fury, “You’re a killer! It’s all your fault!”

Jay’s heart felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. The man’s words cutting deep because it was his fault. He knew that. It was all true. If he hadn’t rushed into that church that day to try and save those people, that bomb wouldn’t have gone off and those people would still be alive.

But that didn’t mean that little girl should die because of his mistakes.

“Okay,” Jay tried to reason, “But I’m down here now. You can let her go.”

The man didn’t seem to hear him, he was mumbling to himself and Jay caught a flash of movement behind the row of shelves that held garden tools. Hailey’s worried eyes met his through a crack in the shelves. A look was shared and Jay understood. They never needed words to communicate.

“Let the little girl go,” Jay tried again, getting the man’s focus back on him.

“No! She’s not going anywhere!” The man heaved.

He stared at Jay, his eye twitching before he suddenly smiled. Calmly, serenely, pleasantly; so different to his previous behavior it was unsettling.

“What keeps you up at night?” Soft and genuine and Jay’s breath caught in his throat.

The man walked towards him, “Is it the sound of the bomb going off? The screams of the dying? The charred faces of the ones you killed?”

He cocked his head, “Maybe it’s the fact that you know you’re responsible. Their ghosts haunting you! The fact that you know deep down that it’s your fault they’re all dead. And now your going to have another little girl, another child on your conscious all because you couldn’t save her. You couldn’t save any of them, could you?”

He raised the gun from his heart to his head, “And now you’re going to join them. You deserve to die and rot in hell for what you did and that’s exactly where I’m going to put you.”

There was a shot.

Jay barely took the time to draw in a deep breath before he was across the room and feeling for the little girl’s pulse.

He could feel Hailey watching him worriedly as she cuffed the guy she’d shot in the shoulder but he didn’t acknowledge her, reaching for his radio to call for an ambulance as he cradled the little girl.

The next few hours were a blur. Full of sirens and adrenaline highs. He watched the doctors work on the little girl and saw her frantic parents rushing through the hospital doors. He drove back to the district, filled out his reports and IPR, going through the motions of tying up a case and Hailey was right by his side. Her eyes had never once left him since they emerged from the basement. He could feel her watching him carefully, not saying anything. She was just there like always.

Until it was finally time to go home, Voight giving him a look saying he had done a good job and a rare pat on the shoulder as he shared a look with Hailey. He let her drive the truck home, neither of them saying anything and he knew she was giving him some time to breathe before she made him talk about it because there was no way she was going to let him not talk about it. Not after a case like this. Not after what happened a few months ago.

As soon as they got into the apartment, Hailey padded over to the kitchen to set out a couple of glasses and his favorite whiskey. She knew him well. Beer wouldn’t cut it tonight. He watched as she poured them some, climbing up on the bar stool and setting his glass in front of the one beside her and he knew she was waiting on him to come sit beside her. He took a breath, reaching for the glass to take a sip as he slid onto the bar stool. They sat there in a comfortable silence.

“Jay,” Her voice was soft and comforting and he never wanted her to stop saying his name like that. He could feel her head turn to look at him fully and she waited until he turned to meet her eyes.

They were compassionate but full of conviction, “Jay,” She said his name again, firmer this time, “This was not your fault. Not today and not the day of the bombing.”

“Hailey-” He could feel tears spring into his eyes, the guy’s words from earlier still bouncing around his head.

This is your fault. You killed those women and children. You need to pay for what you did.

Hailey gave a sharp shake of her head, “No, I don’t care what that guy said or what anyone says! It’s not true, they’re wrong.”

Jay swallowed, looking into his drink, “But he’s right. If I hadn’t went in that church that day, I wouldn’t have set off that bomb and those people wouldn’t be dead. And then that little girl almost died today because of my actions,” He shook his head in disgust, “It is my fault. Maybe I do have a hero complex.”

“Jay,” It was breathed this time and he felt her hand slide up his chest and rest over his heart, “You were doing your job. You didn’t know that there was a bomb and you didn’t know that it was motion censored and you didn’t know that you would trigger it. And today, you saved that little girl Jay because you went in.”

“But she wouldn’t have even been in that situation if I hadn’t of screwed up at the church!”

“Look at me,” Her hands gently cupped his cheeks, turning his head to look at her, “We’ve been over this Jay. Those deaths that day are not on you. They are on the terrorist who set that bomb in the first place. And today is not on you either. Everything worked out because of you and that’s what you need to focus on, okay?”

He knew that logic said she was right but that didn’t negate the fact that deep down, in his heart he felt like he was at fault and he knew that he would always blame himself for that day. Just like he blamed himself for all the other cases he’d been involved with that didn’t turn out so well. Just like he blamed himself for the deaths of his friends he lost overseas.

He’d been pushing all of his guilt over the church bombing to the back of his mind. He’d even been sleeping fairly peacefully through the night but today brought back all of the feelings he’d felt after the bombing as fresh as the day it had happened and with it all of the memories of his past mistakes.

“Oh Jay,” It was her voice and the look in her eyes that broke him. He knew she felt his pain, that she shouldered his burden and that she had since day one. He could see the love and the pain and the comfort in her eyes telling him that he was safe. That she was there for him no matter what and he knew he could take his guard down around her.

So he cried. And she gathered him in her arms as they slid to the kitchen floor and rocked him like she would a child, peppering kisses on his forehead and smoothing his hair back, whispering to him.

She told him she loved him. She told him she would always be there for him no matter what. She whispered about how proud she was of him, that his past didn’t define him and that it wasn’t his fault. She murmured that he was brave and how he had the biggest heart of anyone she knew, about how much she loved his big heart and that it was okay to burden her. She whispered that she would never change anything about him but she wished he didn’t blame himself for things that weren’t his fault because she hated seeing him hurt like this.

And then she told him that she understood, that it was something she would never let him bear alone, that she would never leave him no matter what because she loved him. All of him.

Her heartbeat and comforting arms slowly calmed him down to where he was only sniffling. A few years ago, he would have beat himself up if he’d ever lost control of himself like that in front of her but as he sat there on their kitchen floor with his head on her chest he found that he wasn’t ashamed. He craved the safety of her heart and mind and body. His best friend, his most trusted confidant, his biggest supporter and his greatest love.

He honestly didn’t know how he had ever survived without her.

Jay lifted his head, sitting up beside her. She offered him a comforting smile, reaching out to swipe under his eyes as he rubbed his face, “Feel better?”

He gave her his own small smile, taking her hand to kiss it, “Yeah, yeah I do.”

Her own eyes were teary and that small pang of self-doubt hit him. He hesitated.

She noticed. Of course she did. She knew him better than he knew himself.

Her eyebrows furrowed, “What is it Jay?”

“I don’t deserve you Hailey. I’m so broken, you shouldn’t have to deal with all of this,” He looked up at her through shameful eyes, “How could you ever love a mess like me?”

“Jay Halstead,” She was in front of him in an instant, gripping his bent knees firmly and he forced himself to look into her fierce gaze, “Don’t ever say that. I love you with all of my heart and your so called brokenness, that’s what makes you you.”

She softened her voice, “That’s what makes you the person I fell in love with. The person I am in love with,” He followed her gaze to the ring that rested on her left hand, “The person I wanna marry. I wanna spend life with you Jay. Baggage and all.”

“This ring says I’m in it for long-haul. That I deserve you. And don’t you ever doubt that.”

Jay would go through a hundred wars, fight through a thousand shootouts just to see her looking at him like that and to hear her tell him that. He drew her forward, kissing her ring-the promise of their future before capturing her lips with his.

“I love you Hailey,” He whispered against her lips, rubbing his thumb over her engagement ring, “You’ll never know how much.”

“I love you too,” She leaned back, gazing at him with all the love she felt in her heart.

She pecked his quickly on the cheek before clamoring out of his lap, checking the time on the stove. 1:00 am.

Hailey extended her hand for Jay to grab and she pulled him up. He loosely laced his hands together behind Hailey’s back, resting them on the curve of her butt as he gently held her, leaning down to kiss her again.

She smiled at him, tilting her head in the direction of their bedroom, “We’ve had a long day. Let’s go to bed.”

What keeps you up at night?

The question from earlier popped back into his mind, “Hailey... I’m not going to able to sleep tonight and even if I do, my nightmares...”

“I know Jay,” She cupped his jaw and looked into his eyes, whispering, “I’ll help you chase them away.”

He looked at her and she looked back and he knew in his heart of hearts that no matter what, she would always be by his side to scare his demons away.

#Chicago PD #jay halstead #hailey upton #jay halstead x hailey upton #upstead #prompt

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watanabes-cum-dump · 4 years

Text

Meant for you chapter 13) Lucky me

Amaris sighed as she fitted her horse for the journey, she’d train soldiers over the course of two months, teaching them the art of assassination and espionage.

“Amaris!”

The girl turned to see Kouen getting off his horse and running towards her. He stopped in front of her with a small smile, a bit out of character for the young and usually serious third prince.

“Kouen, hello” she greeted, turning away from her steed for a moment.

“I heard that you’re setting up a training camp in the mountains, so I came to see you off”

Amaris smiled at the young red head “Thank you, Kouen. That’s very kind of you”

Kouen pulled something from his belt “I also wanted to give you this” he opened his palm to reveal a bright red ribbon.

“A... ribbon?” She asked, puzzled.

Kouen looked at her sheepishly “It’s red. Red is the colour of luck here in Kou, and I doubt you can fight with your hair flying around your face”

She laughed “That’s sweet of you Kouen, but I think you might have overlooked the bright red colour. It’s easy to see”

“Ah. I’m sorry, how stupid of me. I forgot you’re an assassin” he sighed. Amaris took his hand, gently taking the ribbon from his hand.

“No, it’s alright. I can just wear it when I’m not on missions” she assured him, tying some of her hair out of her face with the ribbon. “It’s alright” she told him again with a smile. “Thank you. I guess you’re lucky too since you’re hair is red, huh Kouen?”

The prince scratched the back of his head sheepishly “I suppose so, yes”

They were like that for a few moments, tenderly staring into the other’s eyes before Amaris broke it and adjusted her horse’s bridle “I’ll see you in a few months, Kouen” she said before giving him a hug. Kouen returned it.

“Alright. Please be safe, and if it’s not too much, write to me every once in a while”

Amaris shot him a crooked but sincere smile “You don’t need to worry about me, Kouen” she said before getting onto her horse and riding off.

On the journey to the mountains, Amaris’ hand always wandered to the back of her head to the ribbon. It was a bit odd, and yet refreshing having her hair out of her face again. She was so used to it covering most of her face and obscuring some of her view, she had even gotten used to fighting with half of her view obstructed. She also had to admit that she found it a sweet attempt by Kouen. She knew that he liked her, but, she wrote it off as an innocent crush. He’d grow out of it eventually.

Meanwhile back in Rakusho...

"So! Did ya give it to her!?" Hakuren asked excitedly, seeing his cousin enter the garden where him and Hakuyuu were sparring.

Kouen nodded "Uh, do you think she'll like it?"

"Oh please! Of course she will!"

Hakuyuu sighed and put his sword down "I take it you're talking about wooing General Amaris?"

Hakuren nodded and gave his brother a thumbs up "Yup! Kouen here is in the hands of the best ladies man in Kou!"

"I'm curious, what did you give her?"

Hakuren beamed proudly "I told him to give her a ribbon"

Hakuyuu did a double take, trying to process just what in the hell Hakuren had just said "What?"

Hakuren held his hands up "I know it sounds bad-"

"It is"

"But here me out!" Hakuren pleaded "The ribbon is red, it symbolizes good luck! And Kouen here was a smooth criminal and told her that it would also help if she tied up her hair so that he could see her pretty face!"

Hakuyuu sighed "For the second imperial prince, you sure are an idiot"

Kouen paled "D-did I mess up!? Should I not have given her that!?" he asked, clearly worried and on the verge of panic. Hakuyuu had to admit his little crush on the imperial general was rather endearing, he was something of a royal mess in front of her. It was rather cute to see them interact.

Hakuyuu shook his head and put a hand on Kouen's shoulder "No, it's alright. It's a sweet thought, but, maybe something a women would like?"

Hakuren scoffed "That's boring! She's a warrior you should give her a dagger!"

"She's a lady too!" Hakuyuu argued "Kouen, the choice is yours and though a dagger might come in handy to a general, Amaris is also a young noblewoman and you should treat her as such. Some flowers, perhaps"

"Tch, when have you been good with women?" Hakuren asked.

"I know how to treat women like they're women. As sweet as it may seem, you're leading him to treating Amaris as if she were your friend instead of someone you're interested in. Kouen, the choice is yours on who's advice you want to follow"

Kouen bowed his head "I'll think about what you said, both of you. Thank you" he said before bowing rigidly and walking off.

Hakuren scoffed "Flowers? What's she gonna do with those?"

Hakuyuu sighed for the umpteenth time "It's a sign of affection, I'm not surprised you don't know"

"Hey! I've courted plenty of women!"

"Have those courtships ever lead to anywhere?"

Hakuren was quiet but Hakuyuu could see the answer very clearly. No. No they didn't.

Back to Amy...

The ride was rather quiet, and Amaris knew that it was a two day journey and that she'd have to stop at nightfall. The sun was already high in the sky, and as boring as traveling might seem, it was beautiful out here. The path she was taking went through a forest, but she knew that she'd also pass mountains and lush valleys. She wished she could enjoy this with someone, perhaps her dear friend Hakuren. The silence and loneliness was a bit saddening, as she had just come out of a year of loneliness.

"At least I have you" she said, petting her horse, Kuro's, neck. He whinnied and shook his mane a bit.

Amaris sighed and started humming as she rode leisurely, petting Kuro's neck every once in a while or fiddling with the red ribbon tied in her hair. This reminded her of her long road trips in the other world. Place to place with no one there beside her. Just her, and him. Just them. And the car, that damned car. And those roads so long and endless.

'Come on, lighten up' she reminded herself 'You have a home now'

But despite all of that, she knew she was still running. From what she didn't know. She just knew that she was running, but, at least she'd have someone to run to.

"You wanted to meet here miss...?"

The woman chuckled, keeping her hood over her face. "My name isn't important" she said. The assassin crossed his arms. looking at her expectantly while she rummaged through her robes.

She handed him two thick stacks of Huang, he empire's paper currency. He took them and counted them, muttering as he did so. When he was done, the looked up at the woman. "This is quite a lot of money. What do you want?"

She smiled, eyes glowing red under her hood as she spoke in a maniacal voice "I want you to kill general Amaris"

Notes

Who could this mysterious woman be!? *le gasp* lol I hope you'll excuse how short this chapter is. I have a clear direction in which this story is going to go now, and I've written it out. You guys are in for quite a long ride and I hope that you guys wouldn't mind staying here a bit longer and reading all of this. We're already seventeen chapters in with one more in the making! Thanks for all the reads so far! I don't have a clear schedule in mind yet especially since I went back to school recently, but I think I should be able to work on this on Wednesdays since I have online classes those days. Sorry about the short chapter again and have a nice day!

#meant for you is like a combination of little oneshots and a bigger over arching story #just to clear that out #last chapter before the revamp yay!#magi #magi the labyrinth of magic #magi the kingdom of magic #aos #adventures of sinbad #magi adventures of sinbad #kouen #kouen ren x reader #ren kouen #kouen magi

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bluezey · 4 years

Text

Inside Onward: Typical Morning

It’s finally here! It’s just the first chapter, or specifically, the first scene from the film. But with the twist that we get to see what’s going on inside Ian’s head. So, yeah, this is a crossover of sorts between Inside Out and Onward, as we see there was another story going on inside Iandore Lightfoot. There’ll be more chapters to come, I hope, and I haven’t decided if I’m gonna update the story periodically or post when I get the rest of it finished. Until then, read, enjoy, I hope, leave comments, all that stuff.

The familiar chime of the smartphone alarm rang through headquarters. Followed by another familiar wake up call of a chipper voice exclaiming, “It’s morning! It’s morning! Wake up, sleepyheads! It’s the big day!”

Fear was stirring out of his slumber in his bed, rolling onto his back as he rubbed the sleep from one of his eyes. “Oh, do we have to?” he thought to himself in a grumble. His eyes shot wide open as he sat straight up in bed. His mind just woke him up with the instant realization that this is the day, a big important day! Quickly, Fear jumped out of bed and changed into his clothes, buttoning up his red flannel shirt, slipping into his short denim jeans, and tying his blue sneakers on nice and tight. He struggled a bit getting his Willowdale College sweater on, having to tug to get his pointy purple elf ears and long thin nose through the collar, but thankfully succeeded and smoothed the wrinkles out with his hands. He gave his curly blue hair a good brushing before checking his reflection in the mirror. The blue pompadour was resting perfectly, even with his purple nerve popping out at the part on the back of his head.

“Come on guys!” Joy voice echoed through headquarters. “Today’s the day!”

Fear took a double take as he saw the three emotions, Sadness, Disgust and Anger, about ready to leave their shared bedroom. Never wanting to be the last to leave, or the second, Fear quickly placed the digital watch on his wrist and grabbed the notepad and multi-colored pen off his nightstand. He raced for the exit, barely pushing past Sadness, before slowing his pace to a steady yet leading walk down the ramp to the headquarters floor.

“Okay everyone, today is the day,” he began announcing, as he already began scribbling fresh new notes down on paper. “Do we have everyone present? Anger? Disgust? Sadness?”

“Here,” Sadness called out in his quiet, melancholy voice.

“You don’t have to do roll call every day, Fear,” Disgust had to comment in his own snippy way. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“Not like we have a reason to leave, anyway,” Anger added in his grouchy tone as he began crossing the floor towards the console.

“Okay, and Joy? Where’s Joy?” Fear looked up from his notepad and began looking around. “Has anyone seen Joy?”

“Right here!” Joy raced from the console and made a beeline towards Fear, leaving a trail of glittering particles of yellow energy in his wake. He stood straight in front of Fear, grinning ear to ear. Fear couldn’t help but notice Joy, as his perkiness made him jump a bit. He collected himself and continued, “So, how was dream duty?”

“Another perfect dream,” Joy reported, following Fear as they walked towards the console. “It was a classic, wonderfully calm dream of stargazing.”

“Relaxing, I like that,” he commented, writing Joy’s report into his notebook. He stopped right in front of the console and asked, “So, where are we now?”

“Ian’s just finished in the bedroom,” Disgust replied, pointing up at the screen in front of them.

Fear looked up from his notes, he paused a moment as he looked at the image onscreen into the outside world. Onscreen was a reflection in the mirror, and in that reflection was an image of Ian, a sixteen year old elf boy, just finishing putting on his dad’s old Willowdale College sweatshirt as he gave himself a little grin into the mirror. Fear smiled, along with the other emotions, as the vision onscreen turned from the mirror to the corkboard in Ian’s bedroom, where on the calendar listed today as Ian’s sixteenth birthday.

As Ian exited his bedroom and began to head downstairs, Fear turned his attention to the other emotions. “Okay gang, let’s make this sixteenth birthday the best sixteenth birthday Ian’s ever had.”

“Ian only gets one sixteenth birthday, Fear,” Disgust corrected.

Fear gulped as he felt the anxieties run through his body like frantic butterflies. “Don’t remind me…”

“Morning, mom,” Ian called out.

The emotions looked up in unison at the screen. “Oh hey, it’s mom,” Joy pointed out, as Fear could feel a warm glow from behind them. He turned to look out the window, into Ian’s mind world, and a small collection of Islands of Personality standing along the horizon. Fear smiled as he saw Family Island burst to life, showing the yellow core memory of Ian’s family is working.

“Oh, and here comes Blazey!” Joy cheered.

“What?” Fear turned back just in time to see the pet dragon leap into the screen. It was a blur of chaos as Ian fell to the ground, happily laughing as Blazey pinned him down and licked his face. “Evasive maneuver!” Fear called out as he leaped for the controls, only to find Joy was already at the console. Fear stepped back, a nervous smile on his face. “Oh. Uh, nice reaction time, Joy,” he mumbled his comment.

“Why thank you,” Joy chimed back.

Ian climbed back up to his feet as his mom, Laurel, greeted him with a “Happy birthday, my little man,” and covering his cheek with kisses.

“Ew, she’s doing it again!” Disgust gagged before pushing Fear out of the way and taking control.

“Ew, mom,” Ian cried out before breaking free and wiping off his cheek.

Fear pushed himself back by the console. “Disgust, I know we don’t like mom’s kisses, but I need to be…” The emotions looked up silently at the screen as Laurel was looking back at Ian. Fear finally broke the silence with a whisper. “Should we be worried?” he asked, pressing a button on the console.

“What?” Ian asked.

“You’re wearing your dad’s college sweatshirt,” Laurel replied.

Disgust commented as the other emotions breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh, right. The sweatshirt,” she commented as she flicked some switches on the console.

Ian looked down at the Willowdale College sweatshirt he was wearing over his red flannel shirt. “Oh, well, it finally fits,” Ian said as he shrugged it off.

Laurel lit up with such joy as she approached Ian. “Oh, my little chubby cheeks,” she said with such motherly love.

Disgust stepped back. “Ew, she’s coming back.”

“Stop her!” Anger snapped as Fear dove onto the controls.

Ian stepped back before Laurel could hug her. “No, mom. I gotta eat breakfast before school,” he said, adding a chuckle.

Fear looked confused, until he glanced over at Joy on the other side of the console turning a dial or two. “Joy,” Fear spoke up, getting her attention.

“What? It’s mom,” Joy explained with a smirk as she held up her hands.

“There’s nothing to eat?” Sadness asked, overhearing Laurel. “That’s sad.”

“That’s not fair,” Anger grumbled. “How are we supposed to survive school without food?”

“We’re gonna starve,” Sadness sighed.

“Not on my watch,” Fear said as he took over. Ian opened the fridge door and was met with a pan of delicious finger foods for the party.

“Yum, boars in a blanket.” Joy instinctively pressed a few buttons.

Fear panicked. “Joy, what are you doing?”

Laurel playfully smacked Ian’s hand away. “Don’t touch those, mister. Those are for your party tonight.

“Now look what you did,” Fear reprimanded Joy. “You got Ian in trouble!”

“Sorry, they looked so good,” Joy sheepishly excused his actions.

Ian instead grabbed a carton of milk and began to pour himself some cereal.

“How bout inviting those students from the science club to your party?” Laurel suggested to Ian. “You said yourself they were pretty rockin.”

“I didn’t say it like that,” Ian replied, as his Disgust rolled his eyes. “And besides, I haven’t asked them.”

“Well, it’s your birthday, it’s the day to try new things,” Laurel encouraged Ian while prepping a protein shake in the mixer. Just as she turned it in, Laurel asked aloud, “Speaking of new things, have you signed up for your driving lesson today?”

“No!” Ian shouted, before nervously lowering his voice. “No, I haven’t.”

Sadness glanced over at Fear, who was shaking like a frigid leaf, his eyes wide as he thought about the very idea of Ian driving.

“There’s no reason to be scared,” Laurel told Ian.

“I’m not scared,” Ian replied. Joy pressed a few buttons, and Ian changed the subject. “I’m gonna move Barley’s game.”

Joy glanced over at Fear, the frightened purple emotion was stepping back from the console and placing his hands under his arms. “Relax,” Joy told him gently. “Ian’s sixteen now. He needs to drive. He’ll be okay.”

“Okay? Okay? I know he’ll be okay,” Fear stammered. “I just want him to be safe, I mean, okay.”

“Don’t worry, it’s Ian’s big day,” Joy assured Fear. “What could happen?”

“HALT!!”

“NO!!” The emotions were shocked as Ian was suddenly scooped into a big bear hugging arm lock by his older brother Barley.

“Get him out of there! Get him out of there!” Fear ordered as he jumped onto the console, the other emotions scrambling for controls.

“This again?” Anger snapped.

Disgust gagged. “He reeks! Doesn’t he ever shower?”

Ian struggled to escape, but instead kicked over his cereal and watched helplessly as it fell to the floor. “Oh no,” Sadness thought softly as Ian slumped in defeat.

Fear started flailing his hands, darting his head back and forth to all his emotions. “What do we do? What do we do? Why is Barley so strong??”

“Move over!” Anger barked as he punched Fear out of the way, sending him flying away from the console. The angry red emotion was literally steaming from atop his head as he cracked his knuckles.

“You know, Ian,” Barley commented boldly, “men of your age would prove their manhood by taking the rite of passage through the swamps of despair.”

“Oh, I’ll show you despair!” Anger roared as he took control of the console.

“I’m not testing anything,” Ian snapped back, sounding more like a gurgle through Barley’s headlock. “Now let me go!”

“Let him go, Barley,” Laurel called out from the kitchen, more of a comment than a command.

“Okay,” Barley said with a shrug, letting Ian go, as well as letting Ian drop onto the floor in a thud. “I know you’re stronger than that. There’s a warrior inside you, you just have to let him out.”

Fear finally climbed onto his feet, he looked up to see Ian struggling to climb onto his knees as well. The purple emotion’s eyes grew wide, he stepped back slowly, then broke out into a quick, frantic nervous pace across the headquarters floor. “Oh no… no no no no no, this isn’t right, this isn’t right…”

Joy caught the sound of worrying, leaving the console to the other three emotions, as they’re just now helping Ian quietly pick up his spilt cereal as Barley and Laurel broke out into another wrestling match. “Hey, hey,” Joy calmly told Fear in his cheerful tone. “It’s alright. It’s just cereal.”

“It’s not the cereal!” Fear stopped pacing and placed his hands under his arms again. “Okay, it is, but it’s everything! Ian gets only one sixteenth birthday, and it’s chaos before it even started!”

“Relax,” Joy assured him. “It’s just another normal day.”

“But it’s not a normal day,” Fear replied frantically. “It’s a birthday!”

“You’re getting stressed out, and Ian hasn’t eaten yet.” Joy took Fear’s hand and they both sat down on a couch beside them.

“It’s my job to get stressed out,” Fear said, frustrated as well as anxious. “I’m a Fear.”

Joy paused a moment, a thought rolling through her head, causing her smile to grow more melancholy. “Look, I shouldn’t make things worse, but, the guys…” Joy motioned to Sadness, Disgust and Anger at the console. “They’re talking about you again.”

This again. Realizing where this is going, Fear quieted down and sank into his seat, wrapping his hands around his sides.

“Don’t get me wrong, you’re doing great. You’re a great Fear.” Joy paused a moment, trying to sugar coat it. “But lately, you’re being… too good. Again.”

“I can’t- I can’t-“ Fear began calmly. He paused to collect his thoughts, brushing his hands up his face and through his hair. He sighed, almost seethed. “Ian’s life is just so chaotic lately. His school, his driving lessons, his brother. ….. that,” Fear added, pointing to a red light currently dormant on the console.

Joy chuckled, realizing he was pointing at the puberty alarm. “That? Don’t worry bout that. That hasn’t been an issue since sex ed class.”

Fear shuddered so hard, a little flurry of purple particles shook off his body. “Don’t remind me.”

Joy laughed, seeing how that at least broke the tension for one of them. It gradually quieted into a grin when Fear finally gave the tiniest of grins back. Joy placed a comforting hand on Fear’s shoulder. “Look, Ian’s fine for a few minutes. He’s just making some toast,” he commented as they both looked up at the screen. “Nothing bad can happen from that… not even cutting himself with a butter knife.”

Fear chuckled a bit. Yeah, it’s kind of silly to be scared of butter knives… but, they are knives… and they can cut through butter…

“Why don’t you sit back here for a minute? Clear your head. Maybe a quick break is just what you need.” With that, Joy stood up and walked back to the console, leaving Fear on the couch.

Fear closed his eyes, tilting his head back that it hit the back of the couch. It made it so his neck look like it was at a ninety degree angle, thank Alora emotions are made of pure energy and not bones, so it didn’t hurt, maybe pinch a little. He finally opened his tightly shut eyes, starring up at the mural of stars and some planets painted on the headquarters ceiling. Well, most of them, somehow Joy managed to slap a couple of those cheap plastic ones onto the ceiling too. He smiled, Ian sure did like space. He stood up from the couch and walked across the headquarters to the large pane window in the back, overlooking the wide, vast expanse of the mind world. Fear looked at the hardwood floor of headquarters. And the shelves, holding necessities for their job, from idea bulbs to mind manuals, to the newest memories they made that very morning. While built like compartments pocked both organized and disorganized like the old headquarter shelves, they were lined with a strong wood paneling to match Ian’s bookshelves in his bedroom. In fact, headquarters was dressed up a lot like Ian’s room these days. He could still remember when he popped into existence in Ian’s mind, just seconds after Ian was born. Headquarters was an empty canvas, and the emotions were just anew strangers with elf ears and generic business casual clothes. Just a blank canvas. And over time, as they shaped Ian into the teenager he is today, they and their headquarters were changed as well. Well, more like influenced… inspired? Okay, the mind world can be cryptic and confusing. But if it meant being with Ian, helping Ian, Fear wouldn’t have it any other way.

Speaking of cryptic and confusing, Fear looked down as his foot stopped short of stepping on the core memory holder nestled into the floor. It wouldn’t hurt to step on it, but the bright lights beaming through the floor, straight out to the mind world outside, pointing at, fueling every island of personality across the far chasm that separated headquarters from the rest of the mind world. Fear gazed out at each island that fueled what made Ian, Ian. School Island, complete with a stack of textbooks, with a math textbook being very prominent since he won that award. Science Island, glowing with stars and planets to highlight Ian’s fascination with space. Space was his most prominent interest in the sciences. Smartphone Island. That’s a new one. Ian has been glued to his phone lately. Hope that’s a phase. Friendship Island… looking small, as Ian only has one friend. Island upon island, big and small, displaying each important piece of Ian, each fueled by a powerfully important memory that birthed it. And in the center was the largest, grandest island, Family Island, an island fueled and created by Ian’s love for his family. Even his brother, no matter how much of a pain he could be. Definitely highlighted by that statue on Family Island of Barley holding Ian in a headlock and giving him a noogie.

“Hey, it’s Officer Bronco!” Joy cheered, breaking Fear’s walk down his own memory lane. Looks like break’s over. But, Joy may have been right, Fear does feel a little better.

As Fear approached the console, he immediately stopped dead in his tracks as he, the other emotions and Ian saw Colt and Laurel kiss. “Eww,” the emotions grimaced in unison, Ian recoiling as well thanks to Disgust at control.

“Ugh, I’ll never get used to that.” Disgust tried to hold himself back from throwing up. “I’m done. I’m done,” he said, pushing away from the console for a minute.

Ian went back inside the kitchen getting back to making some toast for his breakfast. His ears caught the sound of loud banging of furniture, sounds of a centaur trying to get into the house without breaking things, and failing. Anger growled, “He’s coming in.”

“Relax,” Joy told Anger, patting him on the shoulder. “Officer Bronco’s just trying to be nice.”

“Hey there, birthday boy,” Colt told Ian. “You working hard or hardly working?” Colt gave that braying laugh of his at his own joke.

That was enough to make even Joy groan. “Are you kidding me?” he exclaimed while the other emotions groaned.

“Well, you know just, making some, toast,” Ian replied sheepishly.

“Why is it so hard to get some breakfast around here??” Anger snapped.

Fear pushed Sadness out of the way as Disgust made his way back to the console. “Okay okay okay,” he stammered. “Let’s just get Ian fed and out of here before anything else happens to him.”

“Hey, Ian, you can learn a lot from Quests of Yore,” Barley called out from the dining room. “You want to play?”

Fear froze just from hearing Barley. “Oh no,” he uttered softly, giving Disgust a chance to take over.

“I don’t,” Ian replied.

“You can be a crafty rogue,” Barley continued. “Or, I know! You can be a wizard!” Barley chimed, grabbing Ian in a side hug.

Fear dove onto the console the second he saw Barley’s spiky bracelet brush against Ian’s sweatshirt.

Ian quickly ducked out from Barley’s grasp. “Hey, careful with dad’s sweatshirt.”

Barley smirked. “I don’t even remember dad wearing that sweatshirt.”

“Well, you do only have two memories of him,” Ian told Barley.

“No, I have three,” Barley corrected. “I remember his beard was scratchy, he had a goofy laugh, and I would play the drums-“

“-on his feet,” Ian finished. The emotions at the console chuckled a bit, happy to hear something about dad, even if it was from Barley.

“Yeah, he went,” Barley began as he drummed on Ian’s foot with his hands, but ended up knocking Ian’s toast onto the floor. “Oops, five second rule.” Barley leaned over to pick up the toast, and ended up snagging a loose thread on Ian’s sweatshirt with his bracelet.

The emotions gasped as they heard the fabric rip. “No!” Fear exclaimed in pure horror.

“It’s okay,” Barley told Ian, just as worried as his brother was. “You just have to pull it.”

“No! Stop!!” Fear exclaimed as he slammed his hands onto the console.

“Barley, don’t!” Ian pleaded, just as a hole grew from the popped seam on the sleeve. Laurel finally intervened, snipping the loose string with some scissors.

“You know,” Ian said, backing away, “I’m just going to grab some breakfast on the way to school.”

“I’ll sew that up for you after school, okay Ian?” Laurel said as Ian left the kitchen and headed straight for the front door.

Fear was leading the controls, and was making sure Ian went straight out the door. “Okay guys, let’s just get Ian to school.”

“Wait!” Barley called out, catching up to Ian.

“Seriously?” Fear exclaimed, letting go of the controls in pure shock.

“Why won’t he leave us alone?” Anger shouted, as Disgust and Sadness groaned.

“By the laws of Yore, I must dub thee a man today,” Barley explained as he grabbed a sword, which may or may not have been a toy. “Kneel before me.”

“No, no, that’s okay,” Ian replied. “I gotta get to school.”

“Okay,” Barley said. “I’ll pick you up this afternoon. We’ll do the ritual at school.”

“No! You don’t need to do that! Okay, bye!” Ian quickly grabbed his book bag and slammed the front door. Finally out of the house, he gave a big sigh of relief and began to walk down the sidewalk.

Once he was safe, Fear gave a big sigh of relief himself. He gradually let go of the controls and grasped his sides again. Ian’s sixteenth birthday is already a failure.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright,” Joy said to Fear, placing a calm hand on his shoulder. “The day’s still young. We can fix this.”

Shaking his head, Fear walked away from the console and began to pace back and forth. The other emotions went back to work, including Joy, after glancing over to Fear one more time.

Fear gripped his hands tight against himself, his pace was quickening, his body was shivering with… well, fear. Ian gets one sixteenth birthday, one shot. And already it’s a disaster. It’s all been a disaster since before Ian’s sixteenth birthday. It’s all been a disaster since before his thirteenth birthday. Since before middle school, since before kindergarten, since…

Fear paused. He walked up to the back of Headquarters, placing his hands on the window as he looked out. To the side of the large Family Island was a smaller island. The island displayed photos of a familiar stranger, and an audio cassette tape labeled “Dad.”

… since little child Ian found that tape. Since that memory created Dad Island.

Fear placed a hand on his chest, his fingers resting on stitching that spelled out Lightfoot in cursive. The exact replica of Ian’s Dad’s sweatshirt.

Ian has heard many stories about his dad. How his dad was courageous, and lived every day without worry, without care. If only Ian could be like his dad. If only Fear could.

#Inside Onward #pixar Inside Out #pixar Onward #sir Iandore of Lightfoot #Ian Lightfoot #Barley Lightfoot #Fear #Sadness #Anger #Disgust #Joy

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