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mldrgrl · 4 years

Note

Lately I've been all about reconciliation. For some reason, I want all the Mulder-and-Bill-Scully-finding-some-peace fic I can get. I'd love to see your take on this, maybe in the IWTB era? Or even revival era.

One Sorry Sonofabitch

By: mldrgrl Rating: PG Summary: See above - but be advised Mulder and Scully aren’t in this story a whole lot. Please send all complaints to @perplexistan and I’ll be filing a lawsuit shortly for pain and suffering for having to turn Bill Scully into a sympathetic character. (Set post-IWtB)

He holds his tongue to spare his mother what he really thinks when she tells him that Dana and Mr. Mulder will be joining them for Thanksgiving this year. He can’t believe the audacity that man has to show up at a family event. And his sister isn’t much better for what she’s put their mother through over the years. He can’t even remember the last time he saw her. He thinks it might be ten years ago, just before his second son, Michael, was born. Tara squeezes his knee under the table and he musters up a smile and a brief nod.

Now that he’s stationed in North Carolina, it’s a lot easier for him to travel with his family instead of having his mother fly out for the holidays. It’s their first Thanksgiving on the east coast and he’s annoyed at having the happy occasion intruded upon by his selfish sister and her ne’er do well friend. He really can’t believe she still keeps that jackass around.

He loves his sister. He truly does. He just can’t understand the foolish choices she’s made. Starting with joining the FBI, but giving away her child and going on the run with her fugitive partner instead of putting her patriotic duty to uphold the law as her priority is just beyond him. He would never. He had hoped that whatever spell Mr. Mulder had put on her would’ve worn off by now, but alas. And now they’re coming to Thanksgiving.

Tara gives him a look when they hear the car pull up. One that implores him to please behave. His wife has no business being so compassionate, but that’s just the kind of person she is. He hasn’t forgotten how his sister nearly ruined the Christmas that Matthew was born with that strange little girl and her impossible claim to her. It should have been a time of great joy and instead Dana had made it sorrowful and awkward.

“Fox and Dana just drove up,” his mother says, coming out of the kitchen and wiping her hands on a dish rag.

His sons jump up from the game they’re playing in the family room, excited to meet their mythical aunt they’ve heard tales about.

“Don’t run in the house,” he barks at the kids.

“Yes Sir,” they say, stopping short and taking slower steps to reach the door.

Tara is the one that greets them and his mother is just behind her. Bill is the last one to the door and waits for the hugs and excited chatter to die down before he gives his sister a stiff embrace and Mr. Mulder a requisite handshake.

“Mr. Mulder,” Bill says.

“Just Mulder,” Mr. Mulder says.

“Matthew had a growth spurt this year,” Tara prattles, laying a hand on their son’s shoulder. He’s taller than her by an inch, thin and reedy. “As you can see. Can you believe he’ll be thirteen next month!? And we’ve got Michael turning ten in February.”

Matthew’s cheeks darken. He embarrasses easily and his fair skin gets blotchy at the drop of a hat. Both his boys are soft, like their mother. He’d like to toughen them up, but Tara is fiercely protective of them. A regular mother lion. He doesn’t get it. When he was a kid, he idolized his father. Those few weeks or months a year when his dad came home were the best. He was interested in everything his father did and how he did it. His sons don’t express any interest in him and he barely hears more than a ‘yes, sir’ or a ‘no, sir’ out of them on a good day.

“Maureen is napping,” Tara says. “You’ll meet her later.”

His daughter, Maureen, well she’s a different story. She’s only a toddler, but she reminds him of his sister Melissa. She’s headstrong and unafraid, particularly when it comes to her father. She sasses. She rolls her eyes already. She ignores his orders and does what she wants when she wants. She’s also cute as a button and has her brothers wrapped around their little fingers. Tara calls her their little threenager.

“We’ve still got time before dinner,” his mother says. “Why don’t we head to the family room.”

“We brought pies,” Dana says.

“I’ll get them,” Mr. Mulder says. He has his hands on Dana’s shoulders and gives them a squeeze when she looks back up at him. They seem to hold some silent conversation. To Bill, it looks like his sister is begging her friend to please don’t leave him alone in this house. He doesn’t know why she’s here.

They gather in the family room and make small talk. Tara finds the scrapbooks she puts together for his mother every year and shows off all the photos of the kids from their school activities and family vacations. Dana nods and smiles through most of it. Mr. Mulder is more talkative and asks all the questions.

A half hour slips by and finally he hears a cry from upstairs indicating that his daughter is up from her nap. Tara is on her feet in an instant.

“That’ll be the little princess,” Tara says. “I’ll go grab her and get her ready to come down.”

“I’ll help you,” Bill says. Tara looks at him strangely as he follows.

Maureen is jumping up and down in the playpen in their room when they walk in. She smiles brightly and holds her arms up to Tara.

“How’s my girl,” Tara coos. “Let’s get you into the dress Grandma bought you for dinner and then you can meet your Auntie Dana and Uncle Fox.”

“Don’t call him that,” Bill says.

“Oh, Bill.” Tara sighs and stands Maureen on the bed to start undressing her. “You’re going to have to accept him sometime.”

“I most certainly don’t.”

“You know, one of the things I loved the most about you when we were dating was that you always said that family was very important to you.”

“It still is. You know that.”

“I’m just saying that sometimes your actions don’t say a lot about what I know is in your heart. Will you grab me one of the Pull-Ups from her bag?”

“I’ve been cordial. Hell, I shook his hand.”

“Hell is a bad word,” Maureen says. She scrunches her face and shakes her head as Tara tries to pull her red curls into a ponytail. “No hair up, Mama.”

“Listen to your mother, Maureen.”

“No.”

“Hair up or it’ll get washed tonight in the bath,” Tara bargains.

“Okay, hair up.”

“She’s the one that abandoned everything, you know. Not giving a damn about how it would affect our mother. Tara, she gave her own child away for that man.”

“Damn damn damn!” Maureen shouts, jumping up and down on the bed.

Tara gives Bill a weary look. “William Scully Junior, you know better than to use that kind of language.”

Maureen laughs and bounces. “Daddy in trouble. Daddy in trouble.”

“Yes, Daddy was being very naughty. And so are you. Get down.” Tara holds her hands out and helps Maureen off the bed. “Billy, Dana had her reasons, I’m sure. Have you ever even asked her what happened back then?”

“No. Why do you always take the other side of the argument?”

“I don’t know, Billy, why do you like to argue so much?” She smiles and pats him on the chest as she leads Maureen past him out the door. “I’m just putting myself in her shoes and I know that if I were to have to do what she did, there would have to be a very good reason. You saw how attached to she was to that little Emily and how devastated she was. Think about that.”

“Hmph.”

Downstairs, his mother oohs and aahs over Maureen’s green velvet dress and Maureen twirls appropriately, delighted to be the center of attention. His sister smiles warmly and kneels down to introduce herself to her niece and tell her how big she is and how pretty.

“Thank you, I know,” Maureen says.

The women laugh.

“Where are the boys?” Bill asks. “And Mr. Mulder?”

“Outside playing basketball,” his mother answers.

Basketball. They should be playing a real sport like football. The last time he’d tried to teach them how to punt and tackle it had ended in tears. Matthew complained that the roughness might hurt his chances of moving up in his piano lessons and Michael said he preferred to work on his model cars.

Bill lingers in the mudroom, watching surreptitiously and listening to boys play with Mr. Mulder through the open window. There are a lot of high fives and hair tousling. They don’t even seem to be competing, just taking turns with the ball, which seems a little ridiculous.

“Good job, Matt,” Mr. Mulder says, even when Matthew misses a shot that should have been easy. “Loosen that wrist and hold that follow-through.” He takes the boys’ hand and guides it with his own. “That’s it. Let’s try it again.”

Matthew shoots again and they all cheer when the ball makes it in the basket.

“Nice!” Mr. Mulder yells. “Nothing but net.”

Both boys whoop and laugh and jump up and down like monkeys and grab onto Mr. Mulder. He laughs with them and they have another round of high fives and hair tousling.

“How do you know so much about basketball, Uncle Mulder?” Michael asks. Bill cringes.

“I played in high school and I used to be part of a team at my gym.”

“Did you like being part of a team?” Matthew asks.

“Yeah, it was great.”

“I think I want to join the debate team at school next year.” This is news to Bill and he’s surprised. Matthew is notoriously soft-spoken.

“Your Aunt Dana used to be on a debate team when she was in school. You should ask her for some tips.”

“Dad said that you guys used to be FBI agents,” Michael says. “He said it’s like being a glory fried policeman”

“Glorified,” Matthew corrects. “Not glory fried.”

“Glorified, whatever that means. He told Mom before that Aunt Dana should’ve kept being a doctor so she’d be more normal.”

Bill grits his teeth. He doesn’t recall ever saying something like that in front of the boys, but he’s sure he’s said it. He wonders what else they’ve overheard through the years.

“Well, that’s probably true,” Mr. Mulder says. “She’s a great doctor. But, you know what? Your Aunt Dana was the best agent the FBI ever had.”

“How come she quit?” Matthew asks.

“Have you ever done something that made you really happy for awhile and then it just stopped making you happy?”

“I used to like playing MarioKart,” Michael says. “But, now I think it’s boring.”

“It’s kind of like that.”

“My favorite is SimCity. Have you ever played that?”

“No, I can’t say I have.”

“Do you like Guitar Hero?” Matthew asks.

“Yeah, do you like Guitar Hero?” Michael echoes. “We brought our Playstation and we can play.”

“I’m not much of a musician,” Mr. Mulder says. “But I’ll give it a shot.”

“Cool!” Both boys yell.

Bill chooses that moment to emerge from the mudroom and steps out onto the porch. Both boys go instantly quiet and Michael starts dribbling the basketball he’s holding.

“You boys should run and get your jackets on,” Bill says. “It’s getting cold.”

“I’m not cold,” Michael replies.

“Yes, Sir,” Matthew answers and takes Michael’s arm. “Thanks for the lessons, Uncle Mulder.”

“You can keep playing,” Bill says. “I just think you need to get your jackets on.”

“That’s alright, we’ll go help Mom and Grandma in the kitchen. Come on, Mikey.”

Michael reluctantly hands the basketball over to Mr. Mulder. “Thanks, Uncle Mulder,” he says.

Mr. Mulder nods and then it’s just him and Bill outside. Mr. Mulder turns and dribbles the ball a few times before he sinks a basket. He picks it up again and holds it one-handed in Bill’s direction.

“You play?” Mr. Mulder asks.

“I’m more of a football guy,” Bill answers.

“USNA is on a great streak in the Army v Navy games. Think they can keep it up?”

“Wouldn’t be much of a Navy man if I thought otherwise.”

“Were you on the team?”

“No. We won all four years I was there though. Tied one year, actually.”

“I think Scully mentioned that you dad had played one year.”

Bill can’t believe Mr. Mulder is still calling his sister, Scully. It makes no goddamn sense. “1957,” he answers. “14-0, Navy.”

Mr. Mulder nods. The conversation stalls. Mr. Mulder rubs the back of his head for a few moments and then he looks at the door and straightens. Bill turns and sees his sister in the window. She comes outside, pulling her sweater tighter across her waist and crossing her arms as she steps off the porch.

“Mom says there’s about an hour left until the turkey is ready,” she says. “Everything alright?”

“Talking sports,” Mr. Mulder says. Dana stands close to him. He puts a hand on her back.

“It’s good to see you, Dana.”

“You too, Bill.”

The three of them stand in awkward silence. A wind picks up and blows dead leaves across their feet. Bill shoves his hands in his pockets. Dana turns to Mr. Mulder and lays a hand very lightly on his chest.

“Can you give us a minute?” Dana asks.

“Of course,” Mr. Mulder answers. He kisses the corner of Dana’s mouth and Bill’s cheek twitches irritably. He spins the basketball on one finger as he walks away and then tucks it snugly into the corner of the porch before he goes inside.

“I can tell you don’t want us here,” Dana says. Straight to the point. His sister has never been subtle.

“I think it’s you that doesn’t want to be here. You know, every holiday Mom would always bring up the fact that it would be so nice to have all her children at the table. I have to say I agree with her.”

Dana stares at him with a cool gaze. “Are you trying to make me feel guilty?”

“No, I’m just telling you how it’s been.”

“All her children?”

“Alright, we don’t need to fight.”

“I’m not fighting. I’m just wondering if she includes Charlie in that, when she yearns for all her children.”

Bill shifts uncomfortably. “That’s between them. Charles is…”

“Charlie is married. His husband’s name is-”

“Patrick. I know. I do speak with him on occasion.”

Dana gives a brief nod. “Were they invited to Thanksgiving?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry that we didn’t turn out how you wanted.”

“What does that mean?”

“You always wanted to follow in our parents footsteps. Be just like Dad. Have the doting wife, the Navy career, a house full of kids. Everything in ship-shape order. They made it look ideal when we were kids, but it was never ideal.”

“What kind of nonsense has that man been filling your head with?”

Dana snorts. “The irony is, Mulder is a lot like you, Bill. He values the sanctity of family even more than you.”

“Oh yeah, so much so he forced you to give up your only child.”

“Mulder wasn’t even there when I had to give William up.”

“Exactly. Where was he? Not with his family. You can be sure I would-”

“You would, what? Step away from the Navy? Reject a deployment order? What would you do, Bill?”

“It’s my job,” he says, curtly. “It’s what I do to make sure not just my family, but every family in our country is protected. Tara understood that when she married me. The kids understand.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Do you know what losing her grandchild did to Mom? Dad’s namesake, Dana. My namesake. How could you?”

“You sanctimonious sonofabitch,” she hisses. “My son’s name is William Fox Mulder. Named after Mulder’s father. Not you, and not Dad. And you have no idea how difficult it was for me to make that choice. None at all.”

“Then why did you do it? If it was so goddamn hard, why isn’t he here with us now playing with his cousins instead of with strangers?”

Dana looks away and licks the corner of her mouth. She used to do that when she was a kid before letting loose with a temper tantrum. He remembers her red-faced and stomping her feet, licking her lip before she exploded.

“Did you know that my life was in danger for all of my pregnancy?” she asks. “Did you know William was kidnapped twice before he was eight months old? Did you know that I had friends that were almost killed trying to protect him? Did you know that I killed people in order to protect him? Did you know that I made the biggest mistake in my life when I asked Mulder to leave us because I thought he was the one endangering our son? Did you know that my heart felt like it was ripped out of my chest when I thought I had lost both of them forever? Do you know that it took years for me to trust in the fact that Mulder forgave me for what I did?”

Bill feels uncomfortable and clammy. He’s never seen his sister like this, as a child or as an adult. She’s like fire. Hot and terrifying.

“No,” he says. “How could I? Why didn’t you come to me?”

Dana raises her brow at him like he’s said something completely incredulous. “We’re family, Bill, not friends.”

“Do you even have any friend, Dana? Aside from Mr. Mulder?”

“I don’t need or want anyone else in my life except for Mulder.”

“Including your family?”

“Mulder is my family. A fact I don’t ever think you’ll accept.”

“That man has poisoned you against your family.”

“That man is the reason I’m here today. You’re right. It is me that doesn’t want to be here.” She turns and walks away.

“Dana.”

She doesn’t turn back though, just walks up the porch and into the house and Bill is left alone. He doesn’t understand how he could have grown up in the same house as each of his siblings, but how they all turned out so different. He seems to be the only one that appreciates the values his parents instilled in them and not blatantly reject the status quo.

When Bill comes back into the house, he sees Dana and Mr. Mulder in the dining room, having a very low and animated conversation. Her hands are in his and his head is bent towards her. She’s shaking her head and pulling one of her arms free to gesticulate with, but he catches it and clasps their hands gently to his chest.

Bill turns away and heads back to the family room. The boys are on the floor with Maureen, helping her arrange her dolls to her satisfaction. Tara and his mother are on the couch in conversation. He sits down, feeling glum and perturbed. Dana comes into the room, Mr. Mulder behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

“I’m not feeling very well,” she says. “Mulder is going to take me home.”

Tara glances at Bill and he shifts his gaze away from her.

“What is it?” his mother asks. “Do you need to lie down? You can use the spare room.”

“No, I wouldn’t want to disrupt dinner. I think I have a migraine coming on and I have medication at home.”

“But, Dana, it’s been so long since we’ve all been together. Can’t you just…”

“Let Dana do what she wants to do, Mom,” Bill says. “If she wants to go home, let her go home.”

His mother wrings her hands together. He can’t stand the disappointment in her eyes and he doesn’t know how Dana can either. The hugs goodbye are awkward. The kids are confused.

“Uncle Mulder was supposed to play Guitar Hero with us,” Michael says, after they leave.

“Some other time,” Tara tells him. “Go wash up for dinner.”

Dinner is somber. His mother looks like she’s on the verge of tears. Tara tries to compensate by engaging the children in conversation, but the boys unhappily push food around on their plates and Maureen whines to be let loose. Before they’re even done, his mother starts gathering up the dishes and bringing them into the kitchen.

“What happened?” Tara mouths at him from across the table.

Bill shrugs. “Mom, stop. Tara and I will take care of the dishes. Boys, take your sister and...show your grandmother that guitar game.”

The boys looked relieved. Matthew takes Maureen’s hand and they head to the family room. After the leave, the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hall sounds immense in the silence.

“Bill…”

Bill raises his hands in surrender. “Dana and I had a talk,” he admits. “It didn’t go well.”

“Is that why she left?”

“She left because she didn’t want to show up at all.”

“This really meant a lot to Mom.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Maybe the only thing you can do is just accept the fact that this is all there is.” Tara gets up, collecting dishes before she makes her way to the kitchen. It takes Bill some time to follow, but he gathers up plates and silverware and goes in after her. She’s got Tupperware spread out on the counter and is trying to match lids.

“I don’t want to accept it, Tara. I can’t. She’s my sister.”

“Then what do you want to do?”

He scratches the back of his head and thinks, watching Tara empty dishes into plastic bowls. “Pack me up enough of those leftovers for two. I’m...going to go out there.”

“You should take the boys with you.”

“Why?”

“It’s unlikely they’d turn the kids away.”

That hurts because it’s probably true. He finishes clearing the dishes for Tara and she neatly packs up leftovers and stacks them on the counter. He grabs a sweatshirt and then goes into the family room. The boys aren’t playing the video game, they look like they’re playing Go Fish with their grandmother and sister.

“Boys, we’re going to take a drive.”

They look at each other and then look at their father. “Are we in trouble?” Michael asks.

“No, son. We’re just going to take a drive.”

He can tell they’re reluctant to get up, but they do. Tara brings them their jackets and loads their arms with the Tupperware and walks them to the car.

“Where are we going?” Matthew asks, buckling his seatbelt.

“We’re going to go see your Aunt Dana and...Uncle Mulder.”

“Really?” Michael asks.

It’s an hour-long drive. Bill can’t think of a time he’s been alone in a car with his sons for that long. They don’t talk and the radio isn’t offering anything decent.

“You know, Matthew, your Aunt Dana was there when you were born?”

“She was?”

“She and your grandma had come out for Christmas that year. They visited you in the hospital and you were only a few hours old. And...your...Uncle Mulder was there too.” Bill shifts a little in his seat and adjusts his grip on the steering wheel. He was a little disgruntled at the time that Mr. Mulder had shown up with Dana at the hospital, but even more so when Tara insisted he have a chance to hold the baby. He knows photos were taken that day, but he’s never seen them.

“Did Aunt Dana and Uncle Mulder visit me too, Dad?” Michael asks.

“No, they were...they weren’t in town at that time.”

“Oh.”

“Have I ever told you the story of when your Aunt Dana won a shooting contest when she was eight?”

“Um, I don’t think we know any stories about Aunt Dana,” Matthew answers. “Except a couple Grandma has told us.”

“I see.”

“I want to hear it,” Michael says. “I want to know the story.”

“Me too,” Matthew adds.

“She learned to shoot pretty young. My Dad had taught us. She was the best out of all of us, even Dad. She just never missed. Some kids in the neighborhood caught wind of it and said there was no way a little girl could beat them. They were older than us, maybe your age, Matthew. Dana said she could beat the pants off of them, just come out to the woods and name the target. She whipped those boys good. Six older boys against one little girl.”

“Did she win a prize?” Michael asks.

Bill thinks back on that day. He’d felt a mixture of pride and anger. He wanted Dana to win, but he also looked up to those boys. Their pride had been injured and therefore he’d tried to convince Dana to throw the competition at one point, pulling her aside and telling her she was hurting their feelings and should let them win. She looked him straight in the eye and told him no way in hell would she lose to a stupid boy just ‘cause. He’d been afraid the boys would retaliate in some way, maybe hurt Dana or even start a fight with him, but they hadn’t.

“Respect,” Bill says. “She won a lot of respect.”

“Sounds like something Maureen would do,” Matthew says. He and Michael chuckle together.

“Maureen is more like your Aunt Melissa. Dana was a real tomboy. She had to do everything me and your Uncle Charles did.”

“How come…?” Matthew starts, and then clams up.

“How come what?”

“I know Aunt Melissa died a long time ago. But, how come we’ve never met Aunt Dana before now? Or Uncle Charles?”

“Is it because Uncle Charles married another boy?” Michael asks.

“Who told you that?” Bill asks.

“Mom said that’s why Grandma doesn’t like to talk about him and we should try to understand that Grandma comes from another time where that wasn’t ok, but that doesn’t mean it’s not ok.”

“She said that?”

“Mmhm. She said that if anyone at church or other kids say it’s not ok, we just don’t listen to them because God doesn’t make mistakes and love is love and God wants us to love each other.”

Bill is quiet. He can’t believe his devout and traditional wife has said something so progressive and even went so far as to instruct his children to go against the church. Good for her, he thinks. Maybe if his mother had thought for herself once in awhile they wouldn’t have such a fractured family. He can’t believe that thought just crosses his mind.

“You boys listen to your mother,” Bill says. “She’s a good woman and I’m glad you’re both more like her than like me.”

“You’re good too, Dad,” Matthew says.

“You think so?”

“Yeah, you do a really hard job and it’s important and you’re in charge of it.”

“And Mom says that’s why we shouldn’t bother you with trivial things,” Michael says. “So you can relax when you’re home.”

Bill is quiet for a few moments and he glances at both boys in the rear view mirror. “I want you boys to know that you’re never a bother to me. Not ever, alright? You can come to me with anything. You understand?”

“Yes, Sir,” they both say.

“And to answer your question, you haven’t met your Aunt Dana or Uncle Charles before because I think...I think it’s hard for them to feel welcome. That’s why I’m taking you out to Dana and Mulder’s house right now so I can make sure they know they’re welcome.”

“Will we get to meet Uncle Charles one day, too?” Michael asks.

“I promise that when we get home I’ll call him and ask him if he wants to come for a visit.”

“Cool,” Matthew says. “Three new uncles and an aunt.”

The roads start to become more rural and desolate. It’s only twilight, but it feels even darker without any streetlamps or other passing cars. Bill turns off onto a dirt road and slowly bumps along the unpaved path.

“I think this is it,” Bill says, pulling up to a gate.

“Do they live on a farm?” Michael asks. “It looks like a farm.”

“I don’t think so.”

Bill is about to call Dana’s phone when he sees Mr. Mulder step out onto the porch, holding what looks like a long-barreled shotgun. He turns on the cab light of the car and then lowers the window and leans out, raising a hand in greeting. Mr. Mulder looks like he’s squinting and then he goes back inside and turns on the porch light. When he comes back out, he’s no longer holding the gun and he jogs down from the porch and down the path behind the gate. Bill sees his sister come out onto the porch a few moments later.

“Bill?” Mr. Mulder asks once he’s close enough to be heard. “What’re you doing out here? Everything alright?”

“The boys and I brought leftovers,” Bill says.

“Uh. Okay. Let me just unlock the gate, just a second.” Mr. Mulder begins to unlock some chains around the gate. “Scully’s been nagging me to put this on a remote, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Drive on up, I’ll be right behind you.”

Bill drives slowly down the lane and Mr. Mulder stays in the shadow of his taillight. He parks behind the car in front of the porch and the boys are quick to unlock their belts and scramble out of the car.

“Is this a farm?” Michael asks, running up to Mr. Mulder and taking his hand. “Do you have cows?”

“Sorry, buddy, no cows,” Mr. Mulder answers. “I think there might have been horses here at one time. There are some stalls out in the field behind the house.”

Bill gathers the Tupperware from the floorboards of the passenger seat and Matthew is right behind him to help him get everything out. Dana stands on the porch in a defensive pose, guarding her territory.

“Come in,” Mr. Mulder says. He guides Michael up the stairs ahead of him. Dana gives Mr. Mulder a look, but then smiles at Michael. Tara was a genius to tell him to take the boys.

The interior surprises Bill. It’s cozy, almost cabin-like. There are afghans on the couch and a well-used recliner. They’ve got a wood burning stove and a fire going. His sister is wearing slippers.

Mr. Mulder leads them all to the kitchen and takes the Tupperware from Matthew and from Bill. “Be sure to thank Maggie for us,” he says.

“I will.” There’s a few beats of silence and Bill eyes his sister. “Dana, would you mind if we talked for a few minutes?”

She hesitates and glances at the boys.

“You guys can go on the porch,” Mr. Mulder offers. “Maybe...these guys might like some ice cream?”

“Can we?” Michael asks, turning to Bill.

Bill nods. Never in his life did he expect to feel gratitude towards Mr. Mulder for anything, but he does in this moment. The boys cheer. Dana doesn’t look happy, but she takes her brother out to the porch.

“I’m not here to fight,” Bill says. “I just want you to know that up front.”

“Why are you here?” she asks.

“Because I don’t like the way we left things. I want to start by apologizing for...not giving you the benefit of the doubt. Or supporting you when you needed it.”

Dana looks surprised and a little chagrined. Her eyes water a bit. She wraps her arms across her middle and looks at her feet. “Thank you,” she says. “That means a lot.”

“I was telling the boys on the way over about that time you won the shooting contest when you were a kid.”

She snorts softly. “You were so mad at me.”

“No, I was proud of you. I didn’t tell you that back then, but I probably should have. Maybe it’s because of things like that that you felt you couldn’t talk to me when you were going through a hard time.”

“Maybe.”

“What I’m not going to apologize for, though, is my life or my family.” He pauses while she looks up and opens her mouth, but then she closes it again and nods a little. “I don’t think I’m wrong for wanting to live in the example our parents set for us. They were happily married for almost forty years and, God willing, I’d like to make it to my fiftieth anniversary and still be just as happy.”

“You probably will.”

“I think you might too.”

Dana raises her brow. Bill rubs the back of his neck and exhales, deeply.

“The kids were telling me earlier that love is love,” he says. “And, now that I’ve seen the two of you together, I think that he kind of seems like a decent guy.”

“I wouldn’t be with him if he wasn’t.”

“No, I don’t suppose you would.”

Dana looks at her feet again and rocks back and forth on her heels for a moment. “I would also like to apologize for keeping you in the dark about so many things for so long. I’ve been so accustomed to needing to keep things private, I forget that I can rely on other people. Mulder has to remind me of it at times when I start to shut him out.”

“You were like that as a kid. Tough as nails, wouldn’t show a weakness to save your life.”

“And a quick temper.”

“Yeah, that too.” Bill chuckles. Dana smiles slightly.

“I’m sorry I left like that. I hope Mom wasn’t too upset.”

“I think it might be salvaged if you thought about maybe coming by tomorrow? The boys really seemed to take to...their Uncle Mulder.”

“He’s really great with kids,” Dana whispers and two tears fall down her cheeks. She dips her head once more and puts a hand over her eyes.

Bill steps closer and pulls her in against his chest. She puts her arms around him and he rubs her shoulder a little. “I can’t imagine, Dana. What you must feel.”

“Some days are harder than others.”

“Does he help you through it?”

“Always.”

“Okay.”

After a few moments of silence, Dana sighs and then pulls away and wipes her eyes. Bill stops her before they go back inside.

“One more thing,” he says. “It’s important to me that you know that I don’t agree with Mom on everything. Just because I believe that her issues with Charles are her business, doesn’t mean I think she’s right.”

“You don’t?”

“Hell no. That’s her son. I would never. The thing is, Charles has told me he chooses to limit his contact with both of us so that it won’t cause problems between us and Mom, if she knows that we speak with him.”

“I know.”

“And, thinking about what you said and just...thinking about it in general, tonight, I’ve decided that if Mom can’t handle the fact that I have a relationship with my brother, that’s also her problem. I’m going to invite Charles and Patrick out to North Carolina for Christmas. I want to extend the same invitation to you and Mr. Mulder as well.”

“It’s just Mulder.”

“You guys are so weird about your names.”

“That’s how we like it.”

Bill puts his hands up in surrender. Dana opens the door and he follows. The boys are laughing at something. Mulder gets up from the table when he sees them and Dana walks into his arms. He rubs her back and nods at Bill.

“Can I get you a bowl of ice cream?” Mulder asks.

“Sure.”

“Dad, did you know that Aunt Dana and Uncle Mulder once arrested a man that was half-worm and lived in a sewer?!” Michael exclaims.

“Tried to arrest,” Mulder amends. “We only caught half of him. The tail end, unfortunately.”

“Gross!” the boys cry.

“Really, Mulder?” Bill asks.

Mulder shrugs. Bill sighs.

The End

#i wrote this #xf fanfic #bill scully #I never imagined I would have to get into this dudes head #perplexistan

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odinsonsobsessed · 5 years

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Forever With You Part 2

Sebastian has finally made it. You'll be walking down that aisle any moment now and he anxiously awaits his chance to exchange your vows and wedding rings so that he can call you his.

Pairing: Sebastian Stan/Reader || Word Count: 1.2k || Rated T

A/N: This comes to you because of an indirect request sent anonymously! I started imagining their cute little wedding and I just had to at least write the ceremony out! Enjoy the fluff!

Part 1

[[MORE]]

Sebastian checks his watch for what seems to be the hundredth time.

Two minutes more and you'll be walking down that aisle. Why does that seem longer than the twenty five minutes he spent waiting after you'd left his dressing room?

He taps his foot and looks around the garden at all the family and friends the two of you invited to witness your special day. Both sides are filled with people who love the two of you and he can hear them; the chattering and whispers of how excited they are for you and how gorgeous everything looks and of course there are comments about how anxious he looks. If only they knew.

If only they knew how knotted his stomach feels or how close he is to going back into that building and dragging you up that aisle himself. As he politely smiles into the crowd, Sebastian imagines how disappointed your father would be if he were to rob him of his duty of escorting his precious daughter down the aisle and giving her away. Definitely not a good idea.

He begins chuckling to himself, but immediately sobers up when his best man nudges him. "Here she comes." He whispers as the music changes. When the violins begin their sweet melody of the traditional Wedding March tune, Sebastian straightens up and he looks for you at the end of the aisleway. He was so deep in thought about you that he hadn't realized your two groomsmen and bridesmaids made it down the aisle and had joined him in waiting for you.

The moment he sees you coming, any thoughts of moving quickly escape him. He's rooted to that spot and he refuses to move until the two of you say 'I do.' Any thought or image he'd had of how you would look today are in vain. He never could have predicted how much you would take his breath away.

"Holy shit babe…" He utters under his breath as he watches you gracefully strut down the aisle with your father, your eyes never leaving his. You're smiling widely and visibly shaking with excitement, and it makes him laugh softly.

Excitement bubbles in his chest as you get closer and closer, you're nearly to him now and he wishes the two of you would hurry.

"Who gives this woman to be married to this man?" The officiant speaks beside him and Sebastian realizes he had forgotten he was even there. To be honest, the moment he saw you walking down the aisle, he forgot about everyone else and only saw you.

"Her mother and I." Your father extends his hand toward Sebastian and shakes his hand firmly, before he turns and kisses your cheek. He then hands you off to Sebastian and you settle into your places in front of the officiant. Your maid of honor takes the bouquet from your hands and stands back off to the side.

"Hi." Is all he knows what to say.

"Hi." Your eyes are glossy and your hands are trembling. "Ready?"

"I've been ready." He whispers back and the two of you laugh.

"Dear friends and family, we are gathered here today…" Sebastian doesn't mean to tune him out, but it's as if you two are the only ones in the garden. His eyes roam your appearance, from your hairstyle to the details of your dress and he can't believe how lucky he is.

"You're stunning." He mouths and loves the way your cheeks tint pink.

"Not so bad yourself." You mouth back, giving his hands a light squeeze.

As the officiant speaks about what true marriage is, Sebastian gets lost in your eyes and your smile warms his heart. There is no doubt in his mind that you want this as much as he does. The trance only breaks when he hears his name followed by, "Will you please begin with your vows?"

Sebastian clears his throat, taking a deep breath before starting. "I pledge to you, darling little love of mine," He chuckles, unable to hold down his giddy urges that bubble up inside of him, "to give you an endless love that will defy time and space. A love that will continue to exist through any sickness and any obstacle we may come across. I promise to always listen to what you have to say and to confide in you always so that we may never stray from our open and honest communication. Through this vow, I promise to always support you and to be the best partner that I can through this beautiful journey we take together. Forever and always, babe."

By the time he's done, the tears he'd held back were dripping down his cheeks. You reach up and wipe them away with your thumbs, your eyes are glossy and you're smiling wider than he ever thought possible.

"That was beautiful, Seb." You whisper and the two of you laugh at his tears.

Now it's your turn and the two of you regroup; Sebastian making sure his face is dry and re-grasping your hands when he's finished. "Okay, I'm good." He assures you as he rolls his shoulders back and sniffs, making the audience laugh.

"Sebastian…" You start and then sigh happily. "My best friend, my soulmate. I promise from the bottom of my heart to love and cherish you with every fiber of my being. To take care of you when you're sick and lift you up when you're down.” He notices you take a shaky breath, laced with heavy emotion and rubs your hands with his thumbs encouragingly, “I vow to always stand by you no matter what life throws at us and to always put your needs before mine. This... is my eternal promise to you.”

Now it's his turn to be the grinning fool. He loves you so much and thinks the vows you both came up with were beautiful. His heart is warm and full as the two of you exchange your rings. The rest of the ceremony is a blur as you perform the sand portion of it and the officiant continues on with the ending announcement.

"By the power vested in me, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife." He takes a brief pause. "You may now kiss the bride."

Sebastian cups your face between his hands and kisses you passionately before you have a chance to react. The crowd goes wild, and he hears some of his friends yelling whoop whoop!

He breaks apart from you, laughing as you do and turn to face the crowd with joint hands. His eyes survey the audience with the intention of creating a mental picture of this moment. He glances down at you, meeting your eyes and leans down to kiss your cheek. "I love you." He whispers and you repeat it back to him.

"Now let's go get cake!" You squeeze his hand and he grins.

"I'm getting my cake in the backseat of that limo."

He revels in your gasp and when you hit him in the chest with a surprised laugh, he can't help but laugh himself. "Sebastian!"

The music has changed to something more upbeat and he escorts you back down the aisle like a proud husband. He watches you smile and wave your bouquet at certain people and mouth things that he doesn’t catch rather than do the same, because he just can’t take his eyes off of you.

You’re finally his.

@silverink-goldenlies @igotloki @mrshiddleston-uk @nikkalia @manager-of-mischief @spidey-bites @dangertoozmanykids101 @xxloki81xx @devilbat @furstinnajoelle @exbandragirl @joyofbebbanburg @sabine-leo @officiallyunofficialperson @littlefrogstuff @wolfsmom1 @drakesfiance @awkwardfangirl2014 @fire-in-her-veinz

#sebastian stan/reader #sebastian stan x reader #wedding day #fluff #wedding ceremony #wedding vows

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blazingtheway · 3 years

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Through the Looking Glass – Storyline 8 – Together - Part Five

Continuing on from...

↬Embry Call ↫ Since Mom got sick whatever free time I had, was pretty much spent with the pack and the imprints. I had almost forgotten how norms reacted to us eating... and especially Leah. People expected girls that looked like Leah to eat rabbit food, drink fat-free protein shakes and spend every spare second in the gym. She did look like she could have stepped out of the pages of a fitness magazine, but she wasn’t afraid to eat or drink what she wanted, when she wanted. She wasn’t one to put on airs for others. "Yeah." I nodded. "Never use Touch ID if you plan on falling asleep." 'You actually spent the night?' #Seth almost choked. "No, I made the mistake of taking her home... She had roommates. It won't happen again." I smirked at Leah. "I've instated a new rule." I smiled at her when she was talking about my undeniable talents. "I think I can get the crowd psyched up." I shook my head at #Mac and laughed. "Hey... You gotta give the people what they want. I can't promise it won't happen… It wouldn't be the first time I took my shirt off in this place or the last." #Tony almost choked on his food he laughed so hard. When we were all done laughing at #Seth getting slapped and finished eating, we got back to work. There wasn't all that much left to do on the stage, so #Tony asked me to set up the sound system with him. I couldn't stop myself from eyeing the keyboard. I had played an identical one in the store in Port Angeles, not that. 'How old were you when you stopped playing?' #Tony asked when he caught me. 'Your mom is something else when she plays... She still does, right?' "Mom?" I grinned and focused on the last part of the question. I always hated lying around Leah, she was honest to a fault and now that she knew all my dark secrets; I really didn’t want to start lying around her again. I didn’t really know why it was becoming so important to me. "Yeah, when she has a good day there's no stopping her. She’s never happier than when she's playing." ↬ Leah Clearwater ↫ I smirked, recalling him telling me about that chick, and the smell of her cheap perfume had seeped into his skin and his clothes to the point I could still smell her off him after he’d showered. My eyebrow raised at the ‘𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚’ comment. But before I could say anything #Seth jumped in. ‘New Rule? What are you taking pages from Sis’s book of life now? Rules and regulations to follow?’ I knew #Seth only meant it as a joke, but it earnt an eye roll from me. “There’s nothing wrong with setting rules to live your life by Kid, it keeps everything and everybody in their right place. The world knows what to expect from you and you know how much you are willing to give.” He gave me an apologetic half smile and I waved it off. Wiping my hands, I pushed myself up from the table. With my stomach full now at least I knew I could go a few hours without the need to stop. “Okay, so what is next?” I ask moving back over to the far side of the bar. The guys had all done really well while I was out grabbing the food, and there wasn’t much of the stage left to pull together. ‘Let’s finish off the stage, then we can check the lights and place the instruments too?’ #Mac called out from the table as he was cleaning up with #Seth. I stood looking down to the stage, trying my upmost not to eavesdrop on #Tony and Call. It wasn’t hard for me to block people out, but sometimes when there was no background noise it was a little more difficult. But when I heard #Tony asks if Call and Ms. C still played I fought myself not to listen. Keeping my eyes down on the stage, I stood there pulling my hair up into a messy bun over the top of my head, before getting back to work on completing the stage. But it did occur to me then, that #Tony knew that Embry Call played the piano? ↬ Embry Call ↫ I smirked at #Seth when he made his comment about me taking a leaf out of Leah’s book. But everyone here knew me well enough to know that I was not good at following rules, mine or anyone else’s. Not for long anyway. I winked at #Seth.

“Would that be a bad thing?” I smirked. ‘No… because it’s never gonna happen!” #Seth teased. I shook my head at Leah and laughed, #Seth gave me a pointed look, as if to say ‘Told you so!!’ and he was right… The idea of one rule in my book shattered all around me at the mention of ‘𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚.’ “Your sister makes a good point.” I was teasing Leah but talking to #Seth. “New rule is scrapped.” ‘That lasted all of five minutes!’ #Tony mocked. Once the other started on the lights #Tony and I began moving the speakers to the stage. We were debating the complexity of the set up he’s brought. “Do we really need monitors for an open mic night?” I asked. “Seems like a lot when it will mostly be solo singers or musicians.” This, of course, completely horrified #Tony. ‘Uh! Yeah! Of course, we do.’ He insisted. #Seth started looking between the two of us. ‘What are you talking about? I don’t see any monitors?’ His brow furrowed. I had already surrendered the argument and was running the cables from the back to the front of the stage, keeping them along the edge so the main part of the stage was clear. I laughed at #Seth. “No, we mean the speakers.” I chuckled and pointed to the smaller ones; shaped like large doorstops. “You turn them away from the crowd so the artist can hear themselves.” #Seth’s mouth made a little O shape, and then he pressed his lips together. He dismissed us both with a wave of his hand and muttered something about musicians being weird. ‘Yeah… We’ll leave that up to you guys. Whatever you think will sound good.’ #Seth smiled and headed back to work. ‘He seems like a nice guy.’ #Tony said quietly; if only he knew that even a whisper wasn’t quiet enough in this room. ‘Bit of a joker.’ “#Seth?” I chuckled. “Yeah, he is. Too nice for his own good sometimes. He’s been like that his whole life. He’s more like his sister than you’d think, too.” ‘Really? They seem like polar opposites.’ #Tony glanced at Leah again and I smirked. “They are...” I laughed. “Polar opposites and exactly alike in different aspects. Both of them are honest to a fault. They look after everyone around them just in 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 different ways. They work harder than anyone I know. The Clearwater’s are good people.” I had forgotten the pair were still in the room listening. ↬ Leah Clearwater ↫ ‘To the left a little Lee.’ #Mac called out, we’d given up on #Seth helping as he disappeared off to speak with Call and #Tony. So, I climbed up on the ladder and was helping to attach the lights and then adjust them. I was always trying my hardest never to listen into the conversation around me. I was always somebody who liked to stay in my own head as it was a safer place to be. But I found myself mumbling about why they don’t just call the speakers 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙨. ‘Did you say something Lee?’ #Mac called from in front of the stage. “Do you need this one to my left or yours?” I asked. And then adjusted it as he guided me to do so. By the time I was screwing in the last couple of the lights, #Seth was stood below me with the outlet, he reached up to hand it to me. The both of us were intensely listening to Call talking to #Tony. I cleared my throat really loud so to remind Call that he could be heard from this side of the room. It felt like for a moment he’d forgotten that #Seth and I were in the same room as him, and we could hear everything as clear as if he were shouting it off the top of the cliffs. ‘That is high praise coming from Embry there sis.’ #Seth muttered to me with a slight chuckle, but then when I looked down to him, his gaze was on Call with something amiss in it. I had to wonder if Call knew me or my brother at all. #Seth was nothing like me. He was kind, and sweet. Smiling from the moment his eyes opened in the morning, until the moment they closed for sleep again. My brother is always there for everybody and he never would kick arse if messed with. Instead, he would explain the mistake in a calm and caring way.

Taking the path of words than physical action. Me? Well, the 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙨comment was at least correct. ‘He sees a lot more than you would like him to Leah.’ My wolf was sitting up a little amused as she watched from her hide away. ‘Perfect Lee! Right there!’ #Mac called out and I tightened the attachment and waited for both #Mac and #Seth to give me the go ahead before I came down. Looking at the time, I dusted my hands off. “Right, if you need me, I’m going to head behind the bar and get start up going.” Giving the work a once over I stepped away from them all leaving the guys to play with all their new toys. But Calls words got me to thinking. ‘𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨’ What had he seen that he wasn’t supposed to? Had I let something slip when it should have been locked down? ‘You aren’t the same Leah, remember the lessons. Remember that Embry Call is on a journey of his own to discover himself and the world around him. If he is aware or unaware as it happens that’s one thing. But he is seeing a lot more than he did before.’ The tail of Truhoki, Kluskap and Skagedi was still fresh in my mind as I bought out the lemons, limes and oranges from the fridge under the bar out to slice and prepare for the night ahead. ↬ Embry Call ↫ ‘I can’t believe she can lift those lights… she’s not even struggling.’ #Tony chuckled, glancing up at her on the ladder. I had heard Leah clear her throat for my benefit, but I hadn’t said anything that would get my arse whooped and I was never one to filter my thoughts. So, I shrugged it off. “Yeah, she's tough.” I chuckled and could help glancing up. I knew Leah hated when people downplayed her strength, but sometimes we all had to, or claim that we worked out a lot more than we did… although few of us actually worked out. I did… because in my job staying in shape was kind of essential, and it would be hard to explain how I could take a guy down with ease and not needing to throw a punch without showing up to work out with them every once and a while. Plus, a liked burning off the steam. I was a lanky, skinny kid even after I phased; shooting up six inches in three months would do that to a guy. Working out in my human form is what got me the build I had today. Of course, the wolf in me meant I could lift heavier and go longer in the gym than any human could; so, it had been easy. I couldn’t help but chuckle at #Seth’s comment. I knew Leah was on top of that ladder now; reeling in her head that she was nothing like her brother. He was unfailingly kind and caring. He would hug a stranger to make them smile; go above and beyond to help someone. But, isn’t that exactly what Leah had done for me and Mom? Maybe she hadn’t done it with a smile… but there was no way that would have worked on the council, even if Mom was Quileute. And as much as I loved #Seth… like he was my brother, there was no way he could have done that. He didn’t have that type of determination in him; this wasn’t something that you could reason them into with kindness. But he would give his life if it would save Mom’s, I knew that. As would Leah. Leah’s way of caring for the people she loved was different, unrelenting and unstoppable. Especially when she knew she was right. Leah moved behind the bar and at my urging Tony started directing the guys on where to put what instruments. He was the one that knew what he was talking about; he set up a full stage a few times a month, probably more since they started the hire service. I couldn’t help but bite my lip as I coveted the keyboard; my finger ran over the buttons at the top with notations of different sounds and settings; I was already planning to YouTube keyboard tutorials when I went home, even though the button marked 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙥𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙤was the one that appealed to me most. ↬ Leah Clearwater ↫ “Tough? Tough my arse” I muttered, slicing the lemons I knew that Call didn’t mean anything by using the word 𝙏𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝... We had to play down on

our strength in front of all those who didn’t know about the Spirit Warriors. But it still grinded on my nerves a little. ‘Relax will you, before you cut through the lemons and the chopping board too.’ My wolf was amused by all that was taking place today at the bar. I huffed at her. I was the woman who kicked more arses around this town than anybody in the packs. I told her. ‘Yes, and that has something to do with the fact that others used their words where as you choose to use your fists.’ My eyebrows pulled together. Telling her how I’d not hit another person in over….. ( Fine I had to think about it but not for long ). Well.. Since Seattle. ‘That was different, I’ve told you this before. One knew he was stepping into a ring with a woman and was looking for a payday. It’s his own fault he underestimated you when he saw you as a piece of meat, and not as the fighter you are. And the other… He is lucky to be alive.’ She was the one with the anger in her voice. But she’d helped to remind me that I’d been putting something off. I took out my phone and shot off a quick message to #Lucky. ( #Lucky was my underground fight Promoter and Organiser. The one person who’d helped me to become a name in the under-world fighting seen. Which in turn meant that I could help my Ma, #Seth and some of the members of the tribe with financial support. ) 𝚃𝚘 𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢: 𝙰𝚗𝚢 𝙽𝚎𝚠𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚃𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢? -𝙻 As I stood hitting send, my wolf growled and then turned her back on me. ‘You are better than me on this one.’ She said, and I knew her anger was towards the mistakes I had made. The clues I’d missed. But she was taking it out on the memories burned into our mind for the rest of our life. I walked over to the music system turning it on. The sounds wouldn’t block out all of the conversations or the memoires flashing in my mind right now that I needed to push away. I wasn’t ready to face this mess here and now. But it would help if I turned my attention to other things. Singing in my own head was a good cheat to keep the voices of others out. https://youtube.com/watch?v=lnEU_dy7sW4&feature=share As the song started to play out of the speakers around the bar, I started to hum along low so that nobody would notice. “𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦” Other than #Seth that was, even when he wasn’t a wolf, his hearing was better than all of us put together. His head jerked towards me and he was smirking. He liked it when I let the music wash over me, he knew it was the only time in my life that I was myself. Even if it was for a flittering moment or two. #Mac called for #Seths attention, ‘Need some help there Seth?’ Mac asked and Seth nodded pretending he needed help lift the drum set into place #Tony had pointed out to them. As I moved my attention back, I did a double take. My gaze lingering on Call, watching his fingers moving on the keyboard. He had that look in his eyes, the same as the one he had when I witnessed him playing his mom’s piano, and then again at the hotel in Seattle. Biting the inside of my cheek as I began to think. (Music: Walls – Walking on Cars )

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↬ Embry Call ↫ I had to bite back the chuckle when I heard Leah mutter about my comment on her being tough. There was a chance I get a punch in the arm for that one next time I was within arm’s reach of her. I heard the knife hitting the chopping board harder and harder each time. I was definitely getting a punch when she could reach me. I couldn't help but grin at the song she put on, was this shuffle or was she a Walking on Cars fan? It was still shocking that we liked so much of the same music. I had crossovers with almost everyone I met; because I grew up listening to every kind of music imaginable. I

shared an artist or genre in common with most people. My fingers pressed down a few keys, they weren't un-piano-like, and they were much more polished, or at least newer, than the old ones on my mother's. Even having it tuned and cleaned professionally every year it still aged over time, I liked the slight roughness of the keys. But these glossy, polished ones weren't unpleasant but a long shot. But I felt a slight twitch work its way up my neck because, of course, nothing happened when I pressed the random keys... it was an electronic instrument, and nothing was powered up. That was irksome, if you press on a piano key it made a sound, even an out of tune one, sometimes even an unsettling sound at an unskilled hand... but it always made a sound. I was being ridiculous, though. There was nothing at all wrong with the keyboard as an instrument. If it wasn't for the fact my Grandfather gave us his piano after I was born; I probably would have learnt to play on one. The keyboard made it possible for a lot of people that never would have had a chance to learn, to play the piano in the first place. I cleared my throat and headed over to take a seat at the bar. If I was going to help out with this thing I needed to talk to the mastermind of the #HWH. "Have you decided when you want to do this?" I grinned. "We'll need the signup sheets and a little promotion online to get the word out." ↬ Leah Clearwater ↫ The garnishes were ready, and the metal containers filled, I washed and packed away the knife and the board. Having a knife laying around a bar where stupid people came to get drunk was never a good idea. And I hated to think it, but it was a known fact that one in ten people were without common sense. So, in my eyes these were the people who were classed as stupid. These were the fools who thought it was okay to feel up a girl when her back was turned, or to shout out some obscene comment, which would end with me kicking their arse out the door. These were the people who if they saw something they could use as a weapon, would take the opportunity to do so. Which also ended up with me or the guys kicking their arses out of the bar. Which meant that something as simple as leaving tools you needed ( a knife ) to do your job, had to be packed away. I moved onto refilling the mixed juices, taking half of them and enthused them with the fresh herbs that had arrived with today’s delivery. There wasn’t much call for them with the local crowds, but it was the townies who had gotten a taste from coming down to #HWH who always ordered the cocktails now. An idea that had been the brain child of #Mac and #Seth, but when they realised it wasn’t as simple as throwing fruit juice over a spirit, they started to back away from the drinks. Now it had become my bug to bare, not that I minded it. It was kind of like becoming a mad scientist, thinking up ways to infuse drinks and make them taste good. My back turned to the main floor, I gathered a few bottles and started to think what I could create with them as a special, and this was also a good way to sell the product that wasn’t flying out of the door as fast as we needed it to. My phone buzzed as I set the bottles and mixers on the bar, and I looked to see who it was. My eyebrow raised as I read the message and bit the inside of my cheek. 𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢: 𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍. 𝙴𝚛𝚒𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔? I knew that #Lucky would take care of things in Seattle, but it was the unknown of if he’d follow my request on how I wanted this issue to be dealt with. Which was the right way and not the way he managed his other businesses. Shooting him a reply: 𝚃𝚘 𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢: 𝙸 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚜, 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝. 𝙺𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚙𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍…. 𝙽𝚘 𝙿𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 – 𝙻 I set my phone to the side, I heard ↬Embry Call ↫clearing his throat, and then felt him coming

towards me. Combing my fingers through my hair as he took a seat, I motioned for him to come in closer. Reaching over the bar I smacked him up the side of his head. With no explanation as to why, then went to work on the test drink for the night. “Hmm… I was thinking the sooner the better.” My eyes on the cocktail shaker as I filled it with crushed ice. “Like I said Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are the days we need to bring in more of the younger crowds. So, do you think this coming Monday is too soon?” Licking my lips my eyes still down as I started to mix the spirits in. “With the promotional stuff, I know Seth had got an Insta set up for #HWH, only the Spirits know what he posts on it. With the signup sheets, are you talking in the bar, or can we do that online too? And—” Stopping I looked around finding the flyer #Tony had handed to me. “—Tony was saying we should get something like these printed and some posters to… What do you think we need to do?” I knew word of mouth would work on the normal crowds, but we needed to pull the attention of some new faces. And I wasn’t past hearing the opinions of others. Mixing up the drink I poured it out into a glass. It was a layer of Blue, green and a lighter green at the top. Setting a lemon garnish on it and slid it over the bar. “And tell me what you think about that.” I stood with my arms crossed over the bar, my eyes darting to my phone before looking back to him. ↬ Embry Call ↫ Leah was mixing up all the things she used to make the cocktails the townies liked so much. They were mostly fruit juice… but it still seemed to get them pretty wasted. I watched her run her fingers through her hair, I’d never noticed how often she did that before… Not that she did it a lot when I thought about it… but, why was I thinking about it? Before I could dwell on the thought, she slapped it clear out of my head. “Hey!!” I chuckled and rubbed the side of my head, mostly for the benefit of the humans and partly to fix my hair. I didn’t ask why… I knew. I had been expecting this…. Why couldn’t I dodge it? “Most of the open mics I’ve been to were on Monday’s, so I think that’s the best move. And I’m always free Monday.” I knew Leah had something to do with that. The rare occasions I patrolled on Monday’s it was early hours of the morning; then I had the day and night to myself, always. It let me get Mom to and from her appointments, get her shopping and do whatever she needed doing around the house. Not that it was ever much. #Sue kept the place immaculate. I took a look at the flyer she passed to me. “Yeah, something like this locally and in Forks… #Tony could pass a few out in the store. But online is really the best way to go. And if you make it monthly, you’ll get a steady stream of regulars.” I turned my attention back up to her when she handed me the drink, pulling my brows together I gave her a smirk. “It looks like antifreeze.” I teased but I lifted the glass and tasted it, it was sweet. Of course, the alcohol content was a lot lower than my preference, but it was more than high enough to get a townie drunk on two. “It tastes good for sure.” I couldn’t help but be curious about what was in it. I swirled the glass around and watched the denser blue liquid mix upwards, then slowly settle back down at the bottom. “What’s it called?” I took another drink and looked at it again. The colour would definitely appeal to the bunnies… I could imagine the duck face selfies with the cocktail in the frame flooding Instagram and Snapchat. “Hashtag #MermaidSpunk.” I grinned at Leah and laughed hard. #Seth cracked up across the bar; when he really shouldn’t have let on, he heard me. ↬ Leah Clearwater ↫ Rolling my eyes at him. “Your hair is fine, a little too much product. But fine!” Smirking at my own joke because only the pack knew that 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩meant the forest and all she had to offer the running protectors. Resting my elbows on the bar now I listened to him. He knew more than he ever let on with all this music thing, and of course I knew that it was in

his blood. His grandfather loved to play the guitar and piano, and his grandmother loved to sing. From my recollection of his grandparents visits here to La Push, I recalled the sound of music always coming from the Call house. And then there was his mother. Tiffany Call. She took peoples breath away. She sang and played and was beautiful in every sense of the word. Ms. C and my Ma were two ladies all the girls in town wanted to take after. My sight was set on the guys working in the background, they were laughing and joking. #Mac trying to be the grown up and failing with #Seth and #Tony cracking up at his dance moves. “The Spirits” I muttered, looking down at the flyer too. “Okay, Mondays and Monthly, flyers and get something going online. Signup sheets and finding bands..” I nod my head the check list getting a tick beside it in my mind. “I’ll take on your runs on the Mondays you are here.” Lowering my voice as I said this part. It would mean I doubled up on my own time out in the woods, but if I were to ask him to help our business this was the least, I could offer in return. Also, at the thought of more time in the forest made my wolf stir a little and smile. “If we have the bands come and do their thing once a month too, but alternating the two things, it will keep the crowds coming for one reason or the other.” The clogs in my head were turning, until he took the drink. About to tell him to hush up and just drink the damn thing but he was on it before I could. He was paying a lot more interest in the glass than any of the others had done when I asked them to test something I made. Like he was actually going to rate the thing out of ten. My eyebrows raised at the fact that he liked it, and there was no smart-arse comment, and then I thought too soon. Dropping my head as his laughter filled the bar. Call’s laugh was one nobody could mistake for another. I looked back up at him. I wanted to punch him, to tell him to grow up, to stop talking crap and then… I just burst out laughing. A full belly, rolling laugh that I couldn’t stop. Dropping my head, I pushed back off the bar and leant on the counter in the back. ““Hashtag #MermaidSpunk? Really Call?” The words coming in between the laughs. The guys were looking in our direction as I spoke. “I don’t know what I should worry about more right now… The fact that you liked a cocktail.. or the fact that you know what Mermaid Spunk looks and tastes like?” I dropped my head; my hair fell forward covering my face as my shoulders rotated with my laughter. Brushing my hair back I finally looked up to him. “I am so putting that on the specials board Call.”

↬Embry Call ↫ I rolled my eyes and then settled them on hers, I was starting to notice eye contact made her squirm, especially when she was in public. Now that she drew attention to the 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩 in my hair; I was highly aware that I needed a shower. Being a Spirit Warrior made most days a two-shower minimum. When she leaned on the bar, I was a little shocked, it wasn’t like her to stop working when she was listening to someone. Not that it was a bad thing; she was more than capable of doing both at the same time. I supposed it was her way of keeping a little distance; it was just how she always was. My brows pulled together a little when she offered to take my runs. “Leah, I hardly ever run-on Monday.” I said quietly “And not in the evening. Besides… Where else would I be on a Monday? Especially with live music; I’d be here regardless. You know that.” “If Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are the nights you want more people, I’d go with Wednesday. Bands have a hard time booking mid-week slots and you can get them to talk down their fees if you throw in a few free drinks.” I said this very quiet because I knew it happened to #Tony a lot. “Once the turn over goes up on those nights, you can start offering a little more for the gig.” I knew low-balling artists wasn’t something Leah would like to do, but it was a big expense. Was I actually giving Leah solid business advice? How the hell did that happen? I leaned back in the bar stool. “You cannot put that on the specials board, Leah! No one will order a drink called Mermaid Spunk. Seriously!” ‘Do it!!’ #Seth called out from across the bar. I was talking loud enough now that his hearing me was believable to the human. “#Mac! Back me up with this… You can’t advertise that name!” I was still laughing, highly amused as I watched Leah start to write on the board. #Mac was moving closer to hear us better. ‘I don’t know… a lot of cocktails have… you know, suggestive names: Sex on the Beach, slippery nipple.’ He shrugged, #Mac was not backing me up. “If you call it that, I bet cold hard cash that you will not sell a single one!” I grinned. “Or I would if I wasn’t broke as fuck.” ‘What else you got to offer Call? I’ll take that bet! What fun is it betting with cash anyway?’ #Seth’s brows shot up. And I realise I still had the glass of Mermaid spunk in my hand. ↬ Leah Clearwater ↫ Still standing back, the laughter had subsided a little. But there was still the aftermath of it playing on my lips. My eyes met his and I froze in place. He was doing it again, that look he’d given me that felt like he could see past the walls I had spent years building. And yet I knew it wasn’t the case. Nobody got past those walls, not even my Ma or #Seth. ‘Are you sure about that? He saw the real you in Seattle Leah. There was no hiding from what he stepped into there.’ My wolf whispered. Rubbing the side of my neck I pulled my gaze from his dark brown eyes. Clearing my throat, I wanted to tell him that the offer to do his run on the Mondays he was here in the evening was my way to pay him back. It was hard for me to ask for help, let alone accepting it. And of late it seems all I was doing with Call was taking help. I let it slide for now, knowing myself and knowing that I’d find a way to pay him back. ‘To grow is to accept help when it is needed.’ Again, my wolf reminded me of lessons I’d been learning. This was a harder one to formulate and action. I wasn’t just independent; I was the Beta of my Pack. I was the one to hold my family together. ( pushing the thought away that I was also the one who broke my family apart. ) I was the one who had the answers, so to be stood here. Now. like this. It was a big step; a step I wasn’t even sure I knew how to take. “Okay, Wednesday sounds like a plan I could work with.” In my mind I was trying to work out if the night were a hit how I’d need to move the staffing around to make sure we were covered. “Hmm..” I frowned a little. “Yeah, Tony offered to do the first gig for a few drinks. But it doesn’t feel right to me. I

can’t help feeling like that is taking advantage of his friendship with Mac.. And you now too... I don’t know. I’ll see what I can do for him.” I kept my voice low as I said it, my eyes moved over to see the guy’s stepping towards us, so I set out some sodas for them all. Shaking my head at the banter that was taking place, I saw the lost look in #Tony’s eyes. “Don’t worry Tony keep coming here and you will get to witness a lot more of this madness.” I winked at him and smirked and then laughed at the way his cheeks blushed a deep red. ‘By the Spirits, that’s twice now!’ #Mac grabbed a can and opened it. my questioning look gave him the go ahead. ‘Twice now I’ve heard you laugh your real laughter. One I’ve not heard in a long time Lee.’ He took a sip, and I threw a lime wedge at his head, hitting him between his eyes. “I laugh!” is all I said moving around the back of the bar again, looking for the chalk pen I knew we had laying around. “Found it.” I mused. My gaze moving between the guys. “Oh, Call I hear a challenge there in your voice. Seth, Mac, Tony? Did you three hear that in his voice too?” Walking up to the black board I stretched up and started to write with my back to them all. ‘I hear it Sis, Bry saying your cocktail making skills aren’t up to it.’ The Kid was flaming the fire of competition, knowing that I wouldn’t let it go without a bet. ‘I don’t know Call, I kind of heard it too dude.’ #Tony was stepping up too. ‘I’m staying out of this one, I can see I could end up paying in one way or another.’ #Mac chimed in. “Chicken!” I smirked and stepped back looking up at the sign, reading it out. ˜”*°•.˜”*°• 𝓢𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓝𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽•°*”˜.•°*”˜

𝑀𝑒𝓇𝓂𝒶𝒾𝒹 𝒮𝓅𝓊𝓃𝓀 $𝟙𝟘.𝟘𝟘 My lips curled up as I now turned my attention to the guys. “So, ↬ Embry Call ↫ , this is what I heard.. You don’t believe I can sell a single one of these #MermaidSpunk cocktails tonight? I also heard you don’t have the money to put where your big mouth is. So.. Like the kid said.. What have you got up for offer if I sell one?” My eyes narrowed, daring him to back out of what he started. I felt at ease now, a glint of mischief in my eyes. I’d not had somebody challenge me in a few days. ↬ Embry Call ↫ She was doing that internal conversation thing again, but she didn’t pull her eyes away as fast as normal this time. I tried not to smirk and earn myself another swat across the back of my head. “I wouldn’t feel bad about taking that offer. When it comes to the store; Tony is a great salesman. But with the band… he knows his self-confidence is a weak spot, but once a venue sees them on stage… he knows he’ll get called back. They are that good. Seriously, take the offer; he is really popular in Port… the place will be packed.” I watched #Tony’s whole face turn pink, then crimson when Leah winked at him. I rubbed my forehead… This guy’s game was beyond tragic. What the hell was I going to do with him? I laughed, but the sound of Leah’s was catching my ear. #Mac brought it to my attention how little she laughed like this. I mean she laughed… sure. But it was normally sarcastic. “#Mac actually makes a good point, Clearwater. You should laugh more.” I smirked; I couldn’t stop myself biting the corner of my lip when she stretched up to reach the board. It took less than a split second for #Seth to clock it and crack me across the back so hard the sound made #Mac and #Tony cringe. It stung a bit… but #Seth never hurt anyone in his life, at least not anyone that was alive. They burst out laughing and I just smirked. It wasn’t the first time I’d been caught checking her out… and probably not the last either. “Hey, I never said it wasn’t good… I mean it’s good for a glass of blue fruit juice with a splash of booze. But calling it Mermaid Spunk is the problem.” I shook my head laughing at the board, looking between all the guys. They were all challenging me. I wasn’t massively competitive but there were certain things that would get under my skin and this, apparently, was one of them. I think it

was mostly the way Leah was looking at me. “Okay… If you do 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡one of those, I will open the show on Monday.” I offered. “And no cheating, passing out freebies doesn’t count!” I pointed to the three that served the drinks. “And if you don’t… Leah closes the show with a song. I’ll even play as your back up.” I grinned at her. ↬ Leah Clearwater ↫ “Oh, I most definitely plan on taking Tony here up on his offer. And the beers will flow once their set is completed.” I was a business woman after all, but the not paying them part I knew was what I found a hard pill to swallow. We did it with the pups all the time. If they were drinking in the bar and the bottles and glasses needed collecting, we didn’t even need to ask it was done. And Rachel. If she saw the bar was busy and she was in, she never thought about it, she would get up off her stool at the bar and walk around to serve. But the Pack and the Imprints were different to this guy. #Tony didn’t even know us, however I knew at the same time this would opened him and his band up to another gig, and more people who would follow their music My eyes were on #Tony and his blush, it was that of a teenage girl. It was kind of cute seeing a man react in such an innocent way when a woman winked at him. With every passing moment with him in the bar I got a little glimpse into him, and it made me smirk to myself at the first impression he had given when he pulled up. ‘And you were going to kick his arse? Look at him. Just a smile and a wink from you and the boy is a puddle on the floor.’ My wolf was teasing now. There was a time that she would have told me to calm down, to give people time to show us what they were made of. There would have been a joke about my #HotHead getting the better of me. but right now, she was on guard with any man who approached that we didn’t know. “Mac actually doesn’t make a good point Call. I laugh just enough.” Staying put I throw a lime slice at #Mac’s head and hit him. Smirking I slowly turned my head a little just enough for him to see my smugness; “Golagi nigesvna” ( Idiot ). Then I turned my attention in between Seth and Call again with a raised eyebrow with #Mac and #Tony laughing I could guess what had happened. The Kid was fast at picking up behaviour in the pack towards me. ‘Wow Leah do you sing?’ #Tony was leaning on the bar now with his elbows on top and his chin resting in his hands. ‘Oh, this is getting interesting’ #Mac mimicked #Tony leaning on the bar, in turn making me straighten up and step back from it and cross my arms over my chest. #Seth stiffened looking between Call and me. The kid knew this secret of mine and was about to speak. But I raised my hand to stop him. Call was trying to get me to back out, and it would be a great plan if I were somebody to jump first in the game of Chicken. I knew myself and my selling skills. That grin of his was back and the Spirits I wanted to reach across the bar and hit him again. “You know what, I’ll make it interesting for you.” I told Call, “Forget about one. I will up it to ten. And you will need to up you’re offering to kick start Monday with a big musical number.” I narrowed my eyes, the tip of my tongue passing between my lips. Turning back to the board, I picked up the pen and made ten straight line marks on it. “For each one I sell, I will mark it off.” Pushing the cap back on the pen I set it down on the bar between us. “So, Call. Are you game?” I reached my hand out towards him, smirking ready to take him down. All eyes moving between the two of us. I had no plans to lose this one.

TBC...

#LeahClearwater #Leah #HotHeadSheWolf #SpiritsHotHead #EmbryCall #Embry #BADBOYEMBRYCALL #Twilight #TwilightRP #TwiRP #AUStories #Youtube

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sevi007 · 7 years

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Hi I saw you did a headcanon about Toshinori and how he was ticklish and I was wondering if you had a fic of Toshinori being chased by his students and tickled by them? Something like that would really make my day as I've been having a bad week

Anon, first of all - I don’t know if you will even see my answer, but let me just tell you that I’m so, so sorry for not answering this sooner. I’ve been stuck in a really bad writer’s block lately and just couldn’t come up with anything for this request. I’m so sorry for not being there to make your week a bit better! I hope you will still be able to enjoy this now, though (and also that you’re feeling much better by now):

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It could have been such a nice andrelaxing afternoon, Izuku mused half-heartedly as he watched the happy mess infront of him unfold. Such a nice, quiet afternoon, with Bakugou taking a nap,his classmates engrossed in different – quiet – activities and no homework todisturb them.

He had wanted to watch a bit of TV, thatwas all. Had wanted to catch up on a view hero talk shows he liked to watch.

Now, however, Izuku, just like the rest ofhis classmates, found himself captivated by the sight of Mina lurking around inthe kitchen, the girl watching All Might closely as he went around the kitchento prepare some drinks and snacks for everyone.

Based on the stiff set of Toshinori’sshoulders, Izuku could interpret that the man was on high alert, knowing whatthe girl behind his back was aiming for.

It had started out all too innocent.Toshinori had been rummaging through the fridge, bent over quite a bit, as Minahad squeezed herself into the little space between her teacher and the openfridge-door, darting forward to grab something from the cold depths. Completelyby accident, the girl’s finger had scrambled over the man’s side all the while,digging deep into the white material of his shirt as Mina tried to gently shovehim aside.

The reaction had been immediate, asToshinori had jumped with a yelping sound, head hitting the fridge’s ceilingwith a loud Thunk as he splutteredout a weird, high sound.

And if that hadn’t been enough, Mina’shorrified shriek certainly had been enough to draw everyone’s attention to theboth of them.

“Sensei, are you okay?! Did I hurt you?!”

“N-No, really, I’m… I’m quite alright, mygirl…”

“Did I hit your scar?! I’m so, so sorry…oh no, wait, your scar is on the left side… but still!”

“Mina!” Toshinori had tried as the girlhad tried to lift his shirt to see where the damage lay, “I assure you, mygirl, I’m more than al-…”

Mina’s soft touch had connected with hisside and the man had let out a far too high sound, somewhere between acut-short laugh and a yelp.

That had been the moment when it hadclicked for Mina. “Sensei, are you tickli-…?”

And Toshinori, honest to a fault as hewas, had probably not made the best choice by interrupting the girl, sayingsomething about having to get started on the snacks, and turned away from her.Him making sure that he stayed out of her reach all the while had been quitesuspicious, too.

Really not the best choice, Izuku mused,attention once again drawn away from the TV and over to where Mina was sneakingup on Toshinori.

Perhaps they should have warned him –there were almost ten pairs of eyes directed to Mina and their teacher – butsaying that the other children weren’t interested in the spectacle would havebeen a blatant lie. So it was probably no surprise that nobody, not even Izuku,called out warning as Mina used a short moment of distraction.

The girl ducked slightly, stealthilygetting closer until Toshinori – still with his back to her – was in her reach.

The moment Mina’s fingers wiggled up theretired hero’s side, Toshinori all but jumped,throwing one hand up to steady himself on the kitchen counter while asharp, surprised bout of laughter left him. It didn’t matter that he slappedhis free hand over his mouth only a second later, it was already too late.

Mina was beaming, smile wide and shiningand excited all at once. “You are ticklish!”

“A bit,” Toshinori relented, leaning awayfrom her and out of her reach. “A little bit, perhaps.”

They looked at each other for a moment,Mina thoughtfully and Toshinori warily, both clearly assessing what they shoulddo next.

Then, everything happened in the blink ofan eye. Mina darted forward, expression determined and hands outstretched,aiming straight for her teacher’s sides. In the same moment, Toshinori’s handsdarted upwards and caught the girl’s wrists, stopping her from touching him.Still, Mina had so much momentum that she slammed against Toshinori, making himstumble backwards.

“Nonono, we’re not doing this!”

“But, Sensei!”

“No buts, my girl…”

“I just want to hear you laugh somemore!”

“As much as I would like to indulge you,tickling is not the right wayyy…!”Toshinori’s words became rushed and drawn-out as he bend and twisted to getaway from the fingers trying to poke him. He didn’t dare to use his fullstrength on the girl, fearing that he could hurt her, but holy, if Mina wasn’tsurprisingly strong. More than once, she almost managed to slip from his grasp.

And as if that weren’t bad enough, Minawhined, “Guys! Help me!”

There was a moment were the othersexchanged quick glances, a bit taken aback by the sudden request.

“Uuuuh…” Kouda mumbled, ducking his head.“Should we really…?”

“Well, it would be funny,” Kirishima’sexpression turned from thoughtful to excited.

“Wouldn’t he get angry, though?”

“Nah – Sensei never gets angry with us!”

“Let’s try this, guys!”

Izuku had long since forgotten about hisTV-show by now, trying his hardest not to laugh as he turned around and lookedover the back of the couch.

Toshinori had almost managed to freehimself of Mina when Kirishima slammed into his back, latching onto his rightarm tightly.

“Young Kirishima…!” the blond warned,half-heartedly, slight panic flickering over his expression.

“Sorry, Sensei!”

“Yeah,” Kaminari chimed in, apologeticsmile on his face as he grabbed his teacher’s other arm. “Please don’t getangry at us, okay?”

Mina whooped in triumph as her classmatescame to her aid one after the other – holding onto Toshinori’s arms or climbingup his back – and the second she was free and there were no defensive hands inher way, she dived right in, taking great delight in poking and tickling to herheart’s content.

It didn’t take more than a few seconds forToshinori to go down, knees buckling and not able to hold up the combinedweight of him and his students. By the time he landed – or more, was let down –onto the ground, he was already howling in laughter, coughing in between as hesquirmed and writhed, trying to get away from the deft fingers tormenting him.

The laughter of the children joined in asthey cheered. Even Izuku was laughing at the sight of a delighted Mina, notgiving up in her tickling, and flushed and laughing Toshinori, rolling over theground in a heap.

Izuku’s smile dropped, though, when thecoughing suddenly overtook the laughter.

“St-Stop…!” Toshinori wheezed out, smilesuddenly turning into a grimace, “Stop, please!”

Mina’s laughter trailed off as well andshe pulled back, but too late – while the children were still retreating,helping their teacher to sit up rather than holding him down, Toshinori alreadydoubled over, coughing hard, blood splattering over the hand he covered hismouth with.

Izuku was up from the couch and dashedover at top speed, falling onto his knees next to his mentor as everyonecrowded around them. “Toshinori-san!”

“Sensei!”

“I’m sorry!” Mina’s eyes were already fillingwith tears as she gestured around, reaching for Toshinori and yet not daring totouch him again. “I’m sorry, I should have stopped, I should have listened…!”

She trailed off, sniffling, as Toshinorireached over with his free hand, gently ruffling her hair. The coughinglessened gradually as Toshinori shook his head, smiling slightly. “No need toapologize at all, my girl.”

“Whoa, Sensei,” Kirishima’s laugh wasstrained as he handed the man a tissue. “You really startled us there!”

“Are you okay?!” Kouda asked, eyes widewith concern.

“Do you want to lie down for a moment?”Uraraka offered.

“Nonsense – thank you, my boy,” Toshinorismiled at Izuku as the boy helped him to his feet. Stretching carefully,patting his chest to make sure that the coughing was over, the former herogrinned brightly. “I’m more than alright, honestly.”

Relieved smiles were exchanged as everyonerelaxed again.

“And now that that is settled…”

Sudden silence fell over the room as thechildren stopped mid-motion, going pale at the pure power crushing down on them.

Quirk or not, Toshinori still had thecommanding aura of All Might if he wanted to.

“I dare believe,” the blond rumbled, eyesblazing with mischievousness. “It’s my turn now.”

Mina was the first to react, squeaking loudlyin a mixture of mock-angst and delight as she made for a mad dash towards thedoor. Kirishima followed suit, laughing and hollering for “everyone to takecover, he’s after us!”

It didn’t take too long for the others tocatch on, and quickly, the living room was near empty as everyone run for it,laughing and screaming all the while.

Shouto looked from Toshinori to hisfleeing classmates and back, slightly confused. “I… don’t think he would reallyhurt us?”

“It’s not about hurting, man,” Sero laughed,pulling the other after him out of the room. “It’s part of the game, you know?”

“Ah. I see,” nodding thoughtfully, Shoutolet himself be dragged away.

Huffing in amusement, Toshinori leveledIzuku with a questioning gaze, running a hand through his ruffled hair. “You’renot going to run, my boy?“

“You have no reason to take revenge onme,” Izuku said after considering the question for a moment, lips quirking intoa smile. “So, no.”

Blue eyes flashed as the man smiledwidely, softly. “Fair enough.”

They shared a grin before Toshinori cockedhis head, listening.

Izuku did the same. Training had honed hisawareness and senses enough that he could hear the shuffling and hushedwhispers in the hallway in front of the living room, the snickering andrustling of clothes.

His classmates hadn’t fled very far,obviously hoping that their teacher would chase them to continue the fun.

And if Izuku could hear them, then AllMight surely could, too.

The wide grin stretching the blond’sfeatures said that he could hear it indeed. Waving vaguely towards the hallway,the hero started, “Mind if I…?”

“No, no, go ahead,” Izuku shrugged, makinghis way over to the couch again. “I’m occupied anyway.”

“Right,” Toshinori didn’t sound convinced,but he didn’t protest.

Settling down again, Izuku tried toremember what had happened last in the show. And, oh dear – he couldn’tremember.

So much for watching his favorites showsthis quiet afternoon. That was probably completely impossible around hisclassmates…

The sudden feeling of gentle and searchingfingers gliding over the sensitive spots where neck met shoulders made Izukuyelp aloud, jerking forwards on the couch to escape the tickling sensation.

Chuckling resounded right behind him,making Izuku blush and splutter as he whirled around, scandalized, “Hey!”

Toshinori’s eyes were alight withamusement as he held up his hands in surrender, even though he was stilllaughing. “Sorry, sorry. I just had totry it.”

“You don’t look sorry at all,” Izukumumbled, covering the sensitive spot with one hand while he scooted away fromthe mischievous man.

Izuku didn’t take his eyes off Toshinoriagain until the man had left the room, pretending to “chase” his waitingstudents. Only when he heard loud shouting, cheering and laughter resoundedfrom the hallway, indicating that their teacher had joined his classmates, did Izukudare to relax again.

For, like, two seconds. Before his fingersstarted drumming impatiently, and his gaze shifted more than once away from thescreen and strayed over to the door.

It sounded like everyone was having fun…

Izuku was dimly aware that he had no ideawhat was happening on screen because he was too busy listening to his classgoofing around.

With a sigh and a smile, he relented,turned off the TV and threw the remote to the side.

There were better things to do, he thoughtas he jumped up and rushed out of the room, running into the direction of shoutsand shrieks and happy laughter, grinning widely as he noticed that Toshinorihappened to stand with his back towards him. Much better things.

The moment Izuku leaped forward, landingon his mentor’s back and reaching for the sensitive sides under the loose whiteshirt – hearing the way Toshinori shouted in surprise and laughter and how hisfriends cheered for him – he was laughing aloud himself, feeling warm andhappy.

This was so much better than watching TV.

#anon #*bows* so sorry for the late answer!#headcanon #fanfiction #my writing #dad might #all might #midoriya izuku #mina ashido #kirishima eijirou #kouji kouda #toshinori yagi #1 a class #kaminari denki #uraraka ochako #bnha #boku no hero academia

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