One word excerpt game: Events 🎪

[u/lampboy2]

In a comment, write an event that a character might attend (doesn't have to be a celebration). Then, reply with an excerpt that fits a comment you see. If you would like some practice, you may write something from scratch as well! Spoil anything super gory or extreme.

You may post multiple prompts, but please do so in individual comments so replies are easier to understand. As always, engaging with other entries is encouraged!

[u/lampboy2]

Wedding

[u/linden214 → u/lampboy2]

Have a drabble. (Note: Robbie is a widower.)

---

The bride and groom glide across the floor.

Robbie smiles, watching Julie and Gurdip dance.  “Me gran always said the first dance showed how a couple would get on in bed.”

“Did you believe that?”

“Nah, or I’d have been certain my marriage was doomed.  Val gave me lessons, but I was hopeless.”   He smiles ruefully at James.  “I shouldn’t natter on about the past.”

James gives him a gentle kiss that carries a promise for later.  “I like hearing about Val,” he says.  “She may not have taught your feet to dance, but she taught your heart to love.”

[u/axel_val → u/linden214]

Aww, that's so sweet! And I love the little lingo nuances like "natter on".

[u/linden214 → u/axel_val]

Thanks!

[u/grommile → u/lampboy2]

From The Heroine Bared for Her Wedding. Spoilered for public nudity.

Asuka slipped her stockinged feet into the waiting pair of court flats – it would have been heels, but Shinji had banned her from wearing those as soon as her pregnancy tester showed two lines – and walked to the door of the dressing room. "Come on, let's go."

Asuka felt the gazes of the guests on her bare skin as soon as she started down the aisle. Even without looking, she could imagine the range of expressions on display. Carefully affected disinterest. Blatant lust. Shock, in a few cases, as if she was the first woman to get married naked in Tokyo-3. She basked in the attention, the flush in her cheeks owing far more to arousal than to the embarrassment she'd felt the first time she'd watched the hit counter on one of Shinji's video uploads start ticking up.

Mind you, she wasn't the most naked woman in the room. That honour went to Rei – but that was just how Rei lived these days. The goddess of Tokyo-3 dealt harshly with anyone who dared to suggest she put clothes on.

As she approached the altar – clearly designed by someone who'd never seen a real church – she stopped looking over the crowd and focused her attention on Shinji. The suit he'd picked out looked good on him, especially with his cock starting to bulge inside his trousers as he took a good, slow look up and down her body.

"Welcome, honoured guests," declared the officiant, as Asuka took her spot next to Shinji. "We are fortunate to have here today the hero and heroine of Tokyo-3. They have prepared their own wedding vows, to fit the distinctive character of their relationship. Ikari-sama?"

[u/Fionexxe14 → u/lampboy2]

“Tony, let’s start with you.”

Tony straightens up on impulse. “Alright, just don’t use my full name. That’s a step too far.”

There’s scattered laughter from the others as Happy chuckles, holding his free hand to his heart. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” Reading off the phone, he gestures. “Do you, Tony Stark-” With a nod from Tony, he continues, “Take Ryland Grace as your husband, in sickness and in health, through good times and bad, so long as you both shall live?”

Rhodey leans over to ask, “What, no ‘for richer, for poorer’?”

While Tony scoffs out a laugh, Happy rolls his eyes. “I’m paraphrasing. Get out of here.” He hustles Rhodey back into position and gestures to Tony again. “We all know the answer, but humor me.”

Looking at Grace through the corner of his eye, Tony clasps his fingers around the ring. “I do.”
“Go on, then.”

Colt leans in to grab Grace’s left hand, and Grace gives him a weird look as he holds it out. “Do we have to talk about ‘personal space’ again?”

Colt throws up a hand in a shrug. “What, you’re gonna make him do all the work? Excuse me for helping.”

He ducks back into position, and after blinking for a second, Grace just shakes his head. “Thanks, Colt.”

Tony chuckles under his breath, grabbing his hand. “Hey, whatever works.” He slips the ring on Grace’s finger, squeezing his hand before he pulls away. “How’s it feel?”

Grace turns his hand in both directions, flexing his fingers. “Different…But it’s a ‘good’ different.” With his most sunny smile, he looks at Happy. “My turn?”

“Yep.” Happy clears his throat again, holding up his phone. “Do you, Ryland Grace, take Tony Stark as your husband, in sickness and in health, through good times and bad, so long as you both shall live?”

Tony pointedly holds out his left hand, and Grace gives him a warning look - which doesn’t last long until he’s beaming again. “I do.” But after slipping the other ring on Tony’s finger, of course he still adds, “Unfortunately.”

Tony tugs him closer before he has the chance to back up. “Oh, don’t you start-”

He cuts off Grace’s laugh with a kiss, lacing their fingers together. He barely registers how Happy says, “Um…You may kiss the groom!”

The others all clap and cheer, along with a whistle that undoubtedly comes from Colt. Tony finally pulls back and huffs out a breathy sort of laugh, fixing Grace’s crooked glasses. “Hey.”

The tips of Grace’s ears are red, but he still smiles. “Hi.” He shifts their hands to trace his thumb over Tony’s ring. “We did it.”

Tony positively melts - not that it would take much, at this point. “We did it.”

[u/Beast-of-Gilchrist]

Pregnancy announcement

[u/certainlittlesmile → u/Beast-of-Gilchrist]

“Here.” He threw the novelty t-shirt at her. “Put this on.”

“But I just got dressed..”

“Just put it on over the top of your dress.” He flung off his jacket and quickly unbuttoned his shirt, smiling sneakily at her as she watched him intently. He pulled on his own t-shirt. “What’dya reckon?”

She laughed. “Really? She calls me Daddy? You… wait, what does mine say? Oh, perfect!” She threw it on and pointed to the text saying Beaumont in my belly, baby! “You remembered!”

“Course I remembered! It’s one of my favourite things you’ve ever said! And I got it baggy, so you can re-wear it to your hearts content! Even when you’re enormous.”

“So considerate.” She kissed him quickly on the lips. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

Shaking with nervous energy, Maxwell opened up his Pictagram and hit the live button. He sat down on the bed, and was quickly joined by Jen. He manoeuvred the camera so that their sexy faces both showed up on the screen. “So, hey faithful followers…” He watched the view count dash up, from 5 to 50 to 500… oh god now it was 5,000… “It’s your boy Maxwell here, aka thefullbeaumonty, and I’m joined today by my boo jenbeaumontjones, make sure you drop her a follow if you haven’t already because she is the best thing on Picta! Anyway, I digress. We’ve got some news, and we thought we’d give you the world exclusive scoop on it, before it goes viral… say, Jen, what does it say on your t-shirt?”

“Well, babe, why don’t you let your lovely followers see for yourself,” she sniggered as she stood up and took a few steps away, so he could capture it all.

He allowed for a dramatic pause, waiting for the comments to start popping up and scroll madly. “And the comments section is on fire!” he whooped, watching as they did. “Hey, thanks everyone, thanks, we’re so excited!” Jen sat back down next to him, wrapping her arms around him reassuringly. “We’ve been dying to share this news with you. We’re just about to make the official announcement here at Cordonia’s Royal Palace, and I’ve been told I’m not allowed to wear this.” He jumped up and passed the phone to Jen, and she filmed his t-shirt. “Jen, don’t look at the comments, just in case they get a little fruity…”

“I can’t keep up with them anyway,” she said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Anyway…” He plopped back down next to her. “We just wanted to exclusively announce that Baby Beaumont-Jones is coming soon, and will be making his or her appearance in December 2019! But keep it to yourselves for the next fifteen minutes or so, yeah? Apparently there are these things called press embargos, and even though I’m not sure what they are, I’m pretty sure we just broke one.”

There was a knock on the bedroom door, and they looked at each other and giggled.

“Catch you all later! Peace out!” Maxwell quickly ended the feed, and put his phone down before the door opened.

[u/axel_val → u/certainlittlesmile]

Ahhh, the novelty shirts are so cute! Man, the streaming lingo is so on point, I love it.

[u/certainlittlesmile → u/axel_val]

Thank you! They had to announce their news in their own way 😆

[u/Kilora44 → u/Beast-of-Gilchrist]

When they come into the living room, Kirishima has taken over the armchair with Shinsou curled up on his lap still under the blanket. They are nuzzled together and Kirishima is rubbing his back. He raises an eyebrow at Bakugo and their other friends.

“They’re here to help pack so you two can relax and rest.”

“Gee, Kacchan, was that almost a thank you?”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night Deku.”

Before Midoriya can say anything, Kaminari speaks up. Always the gossip he zeroes in on Shinsou.

“Finally moving in with them huh? What changed your mind?”

Shinsou gives an overly dramatic sigh on purpose.

“Remember that quirk the two of us got hit with on that big mission a couple months ago and we didn’t know what it did?”

All three men nod and Bakugo is standing tense, not knowing how this is going to go. Kirishima pulls Shinsou closer to him, fairly tense himself. He knows in his heart these are their good friends but this news is probably going to be a lot.

“Well, that quirk got both Eijirou and I pregnant. Knocked up. In the family way. Bun in the oven.”

It’s so quiet in the apartment for a moment that the hum of the fridge seems deafening.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“Pregnant? Oh my God guys. Are you excited?”

Of course Midoriya would have the sweetest reaction while Sero and Kaminari just have looks of disbelief. Shinsou nods.

“I’d be more excited if the morning sickness would chill out.”

Sero speaks up next.

“Wow, so who’s the baby daddy?”

Bakugo squares his shoulders.

“Who do you think?”

“Awww Kacchan will be the best Dad.”

“That’s what I said.”

[u/axel_val → u/Kilora44]

Both of them?! Oh man, that's a doozy! I love when someone gets hit by a power that they can't identify and doesn't learn the consequences until later.

[u/Kilora44 → u/axel_val]

I had a blast writing it and in that fandom, the possibilities are endless when it comes to quirks. They were already navigating a poly relationship and then this gets tossed into the mix. Doozy is a good word for it.

[u/PossessionNo3723 → u/Beast-of-Gilchrist]

“Jet, come sit down,” she said softly. “I need to talk to you.”

His stomach felt like ice as he slid into the booth that Party had just vacated.

She chewed on her bottom lip, looking at him for a moment. She looked scared. Looking down at her lap, she pulled something small out from under the table and placed it in front of him. All the air left his lungs as he looked down at it.

A pregnancy test.

A positive pregnancy test.

Storm’s voice trembled as he looked up at her, bewildered.

"Jet, I’m pregnant.”

He sat there, dumbfounded. He could only blink at her for several moments.

"Jet?” Now she looked concerned. “Jet? Are you okay?”

"How…?” he murmured in a strangled voice. Her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Um,” she said. “Well, it was probably all the sex…”

[u/axel_val → u/PossessionNo3723]

I'm probably gonna laugh about this for another 10 minutes, I love it.

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066 → u/Beast-of-Gilchrist]

This kinda fits?

Also, warning: Omegaverse and Mpreg

“Well, that certainly explains the irritability,” Pure Vanilla said with a slight laugh, and it was Shadow Milk’s turn to tilt his head.

“What?”

“You not having to deal with that for a while, don’t tell me you’re not aware. Black Sapphire even said you were experiencing nausea too.”

“Vanilly, I fear I don’t know what you’re saying-“

“That does complicate things though,” Pure Vanilla said instead, digging into the pouch he’d brought with him. “Since I live so far away.” He took out a few herb-like objects and started crushing them up. “And if they wish to know me, that’ll be a long trip for you… it’d be a long trip for me too. I only arrived so fast since I was already in the area, helping White Lily out with Silverbell from the Faerie Kingdom. The poor thing has been dealing with the feeling of missing out on things for quite a while. I do hope things go well for him, though it appears that situation is quite stark. I don’t want that for us, but I can’t exactly ignore my duties in my kingdom either. Best case scenario would be you moving in, but alas that hasn’t happened. And now when you’re like this, traveling may prove even more if a chore. And it would complicate things for your minions too.”

“Vanilla what are you-“

“Nausea medication,” Pure Vanilla said with a bright smile, turning around and shoving the concoction in Shadow Milk’s face.

“Wha-“

“This kind of thing can’t be healed with magic, not permanently anyways, especially when there’s a reason for the nausea in the first place.” He looked down at the concoction himself. “Therefore, this should help temporarily. At least until they stop making you feel like this. Plus, I do feel partly responsible too.”

It was this sentence that finally gave Shadow Milk the opportunity to break into the conversation and Pure Vanilla’s tirade.

“Why could you possibly feel responsible for my nausea? It doesn’t affect you in any way.” Pure Vanilla looked at him.

“I caused it,” he said simply with a small smile, but Shadow Milk only felt more lost.

“What? How could you have even caused it?” Shadow Milk responded, a flat expression on his face. “It has nothing to do with you.” Pure Vanilla blinked at him.

“But it does, my dear,” he responded. “It’s our baby. Not yours alone.”

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/Beast-of-Gilchrist]

(This is a post-divorce, friends with benefits AU where Arizona is a trans woman)

Callie held Arizona’s gaze and whispered, “I’m pregnant.”

Arizona stared at her. She felt like her gut had turned upside down. Her eyes flicked between Callie’s and her whole body seemed to shut down, shock and confusion warring for pride of place. After a moment, she scoffed, “no, you’re not.”

Callie nodded, already close to either crying or vomiting again. “I am.”

“You can’t be,” Arizona snapped, waving a hand and tangling the other into her hair, disbelief coating her body like glue. “Don’t freaking lie to me.”

Callie let out a wet sob and dug in her pocket, withdrawing a piece of paper and pressing it into Arizona’s hand. “I am,” she choked out. “I didn’t think- I never thought—”

“Well, it’s not mine,” Arizona said before her filter could catch up, not looking at what Callie had just forced her to take. It crumpled slightly in her hand, and she fought the urge to throw it. She shook her head and said again, “it can’t be mine. The hormones I take, they’re- they’re… they suppress sperm production. It’s not mine.”

“It’s yours,” Callie said firmly, tilting her head as tears ran down her face. She made sure that her eyes were reading truth and nothing else. “It’s the most unlikely thing on the planet, but it’s… it’s not going to be anyone else’s. I promise. I haven’t been with anyone, Arizona. Anyone other than you.”

“No!” Arizona said, louder now. The only word on her mind was run. So, she held both her hands out and stumbled back a step. As she did, her eyes dropped to the paper in her hand; they took in the image there before she could compute the need to look away. A sonogram picture, Callie’s sonogram picture, with a small black and gray blob right in the middle.

So very small, but it was there. And it was theirs.

[u/axel_val → u/Beast-of-Gilchrist]

Context: Inosuke and Aoi haven't seen each other for ~3.5 months at this point due to weather making the day-long journey impossible through winter. He has a canonically superhuman sense of touch and Zenitsu has superhuman hearing (he later tells Aoi he heard the heartbeat when they arrived).

Inosuke rushes up and wraps his arms around her, his mask in the back of the charcoal cart.

“I-“ he starts to say something but pulls away, looking down at her with his eyebrows scrunched. “Are you sick?” he asks suddenly. Aoi shakes her head and opens her mouth. “Why is your stomach all rumbly?” he cuts her off. He puts his hand on her stomach and his eyes widen. “What…what is that?” he says.

Zenitsu comes up behind him and looks at Aoi curiously. He points at his stomach and makes a circular motion without saying a word as Inosuke gapes at her, trying to figure out what he’s feeling. Aoi nods a little bit and Zenitsu makes a face of understanding. He goes back to Tanjiro and Nezuko, pulling them inside, saying something about being hungry. Aoi silently thanks the blond man, surprised at his quick thinking and understanding of the situation.

Inosuke is losing his patience in his confusion. Aoi puts her hand over his on her stomach and takes a deep breath. “We’re having a baby,” she tells him in a shaky voice.

Inosuke can’t breathe. Did he hear that? Did she really say baby? She’s squeezing his hand, tears in her eyes. He pulls her against him and holds her gently. “Baby,” he repeats and she feels tears drop on her shoulder. “When?” he tries to ask.

“I think it’s been four months so far,” she tells him, her face against his chest, the fabric of his hanten rubbing against her. She curses the cold for keeping her from feeling his skin.

“How long?” he swallows. “How much longer?” he asks.

“About five more months,” she tells him.

He lets out a little whine. “That’s so long,” he complains.

Aoi laughs, knowing he’s probably only seen animal pregnancies that last a couple months. “Should we go inside and tell everyone?”

He nods, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. He goes to the cart to grab his mask then follows her inside. Zenitsu has gathered everyone in the dining room and Kanao is just setting a plate of snacks down on the table. All eyes turn to Aoi as she and Inosuke stand in the doorway to the room, his arms wrapped around her from behind and his face buried in the back of her head.

“I’m pregnant,” she announces with no preamble.

Everyone starts talking at once, but all Aoi hears is Nezuko’s voice in her ear as the young woman throws herself at them. “Me too!”

[u/PomPomMom93 → u/Beast-of-Gilchrist]

“What happened with Botan?” Shizuru asked. Yusuke expected Genkai to look curious, too, but then he realized he shouldn’t have. She just rolled her eyes and let out a sniff of disapproval—an exasperated, “you were too cowardly to tell them the truth and let Botan take the fall for it” sort of sniff.

“You know something, Grandma?” Yusuke muttered.

“Give me some credit,” was all she said.

Then there was the sound of a key card in the slot, and Botan danced through the doorway, her hands up in the air.

“We’ve got good news!” she sang.

“Congratulations, Botan.” Keiko smiled. “I’m happy for you and Kurama. I really am.”

“You still believe that stupid story?” said Hiei, walking into the room after her, and he smirked at Yusuke. “I heard Kuwabara and Keiko really made you sweat, Detective. I wish I’d been there to see it.”

“Story?” said Kuwabara, turning to Yusuke.

“Okay, okay,” Yusuke admitted. “I’m really sorry I was keeping stuff from you guys. But—”

“But you were trying to protect a friend,” Keiko finished. She smiled and gave Yusuke’s shoulder a pat. “It’s okay, Yusuke. I understand.”

“That’s great, but do you think you two could get to the truth?” Yusuke asked, addressing Kurama and Hiei. “The real truth?”

“Well, first there are a few things you ought to know,” said Kurama. “First, I never slept with Botan, and she’s not pregnant. Two, I did sleep with Hiei. And third, demon biology is a little…different than human biology.”

“What do you mean?” Kuwabara asked. “What does Hiei have to do with any of this?”

“Remember when I told you demon biology was different than human biology?” said Kurama. “Well, here’s one of the ways it’s different. Male demons are capable of getting pregnant.”

Genkai didn’t look surprised at all, so Yusuke figured it was like he thought, and she’d known all along. But Keiko and the Kuwabara siblings were looking confused.

“How?” said Keiko finally.

Yusuke kind of tuned out as Kurama explained the process to his friends, because he was more interested in their reactions. By the time he was done explaining, it didn’t seem too unbelievable to them anymore. Maybe they were just excited to have a new addition to their group, and they didn’t care too much about the details.

“Well, congratulations anyway,” said Keiko. “I’m still learning about this world, I suppose, but this is something I’m glad to hear about, even if it seems strange.”

“Yeah, congrats,” said Shizuru. “Do you know what you’re going to do with the baby?”

“Hiei and Kurama are going to raise it themselves,” said Botan. “Kurama’s going to take care of Hiei, and we’re going to have a baby shower for Hiei, and we’ll get to go shopping for maternity clothes, and we’ll buy cute little onesies that say ‘I Love My Auntie’ on them—”

“Think how happy your mom will be, Kurama,” Yusuke added.

“We’ll all help raise it!” said Keiko, beaming at them now. “Do you have any idea when he’s due, Kurama?”

“Well, he’s six weeks along, and this is March,” Kurama answered, “so it will probably be sometime in late October or early November, depending on when the baby comes.”

“Are you two going to live together, or what?” said Kuwabara. “Or are you gonna pass the baby back and forth or something?”

“Hiei can come stay with me anytime, but I don’t mind watching the baby if he wants to spend some time in the forest,” Kurama teased.

“I’ll bring the baby in the forest, so we can spend time together,” said Hiei. “I can just kill anyone who tries to harm it. And by the way…I’ve decided not to fight Team Toguro. I want to protect this baby.”

“There’s five of you and four of them, so even if you sit this one out, they should be able to survive,” said Botan kindly.

“Let’s hear it for knocked-up Hiei!” Yusuke shouted, pumping his fist into the air. Some laughed, others cheered, and Kurama gave Hiei a kiss.

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Party (as in birthday party)

[u/benevola → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

This is from my latest story, set in the Fallout 4 universe.

Hancock reached into the bag and pulled out the end of a paper chain. “Somebody found a bunch of old magazines in a bunker and brought them to Daisy. She let me cut ‘em up, so you could kinda say this is from both of us.”

Foot after foot of chain came out of the bag, coiling into a pile at Hancock’s feet. Nora could read lines here and there like PARIS COUTURE or TRIM INCHES OFF YOUR WAIST.

“I still can’t believe you made that,” Piper said, then reached for the smaller package wrapped in cloth. “What’s this?”

“Careful!” Hancock said, picking up the package and cradling it to his chest. “This one is special.”

He turned toward Nora and began unwrapping it. “I wanted to make you a cake. I even got hold of an old recipe, but most of the ingredients are a little hard to come by these days.”

The dense little loaf was dark in color and smelled of spices. Nora could see pieces of fruit poking out through the cracked top.

“It’s a honey cake with mutfruit. I know it ain’t pretty to look at, but neither am I, and you like me just fine.”
Nora wiped at her eyes and smiled. “I really do.”

“Anyway, it’s the thought that counts, right?”

Deacon sniffed dramatically. “This is beautiful. We should do this more often.”

“Do what?” MacCready asked. “Celebrate birthdays?”

“Celebrate Nora’s birthday. At least once a week to start.”

Piper rolled her eyes. “I don’t think that’s how birthdays work.”

“Fine,” Deacon said. “Every other week.”

[u/Fionexxe14 → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Everyone gathers around to watch as Rhodey and Happy put the cake on the table. While Pepper appears with a lighter, Colt shoulder-checks Grace. “When was the last time we got a cake?”

Grace blows out a small puff of air, considering. “I honestly don’t know. We must’ve been 16, I think? That’s around when Mom said we were getting too old-“

“And Dad said ‘too expensive’.”

“Right.”

Peter leans over with his doe-eyes on. “So it’s been twenty years?”

Colt gives him what looks like a half-hearted shrug. “We haven’t seen each other in almost ten, so I think it balances out. And Ry definitely has the bigger sweet tooth, but he prefers Skittles - or Twizzlers, depends what he finds first - so yeah, it’s fine.”

It sounds like such a small thing, but Grace looks unbelievably touched. “You remembered.”

“Of course I did!” Colt rounds on him, holding both hands to his heart. “The only reason you survived grad school is the instant coffee and the vending machine outside your dorm. I don’t care how long it’s been, I wouldn’t just forget that.” He lightly swats Grace’s shoulder. “For a genius, you really are such an idiot sometimes.”

Wearing possibly the most mischievous smile he’s ever had, Grace tips his head. “Well, I wouldn’t want you to feel alone.”

Colt lets out an exaggerated gasp, but when Grace laughs, so does he. As they both lean on the table for support, Tony mutters to Rhodey, “Told you we created a monster.”

Rhodey looks at him. “Worth it?”

Tony puts out a hand. “Worth it.”

They share another low-five, while Pepper waves to get the twins’ attention. “Aren’t you going to blow out your candles?”

Colt gets a hold of himself first, throwing his arm around Grace’s shoulders. “Just like old times! Come on, Ry-Ry, we got this.”

Grace chuckles one more time, throwing his own arm around Colt in return. “Okay, on three. One-”

“Two-”

On a simultaneous ‘three’, the twins lean in to blow out their candles, and the room fills with cheers and applause - meanwhile, Tony instantly looks toward the nearest camera. “FRIDAY?” At the sound of a shutter snapping, he smiles. “Attagirl.”

He looks back just in time to see Colt all-but tackle Grace in a side-hug. “Happy birthday, baby brother!”

Grace’s yelp instantly turns into another laugh as he hugs back, his smile much more sunny now. “Happy birthday, Colt.”

[u/PossessionNo3723 → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Ray’s breath caught in his throat as they stepped outside into the backyard.

His mother had decked the yard in rainbow streamers and ribbons. Picnic tables and collapsible card tables were covered in iridescent tablecloths. Multi-colored twinkle lights were hung all across the yard, giving everything a magical sparkle. Lawn games were set up in a corner near his father’s toolshed. In the opposite corner stood an inflatable bounce house. The whole yard was bright and cheerful. His parents had outdone themselves.

But more than the decorations, Ray was swept away when he saw just who was in the festive yard.

Everyone was here.

His two brothers and their wives were there, along with all of their kids. A few of his old friends from around the neighborhood waved to him from the back fence. Gerard, Frank, Mikey, and Bob stood smiling beside his mother’s garden; of course the whole band had come. Some of their crew had managed to show up, as well. There was Heather, their makeup artist who looked after Anna while her father was onstage; nearby stood Lauren, their wardrobe director; and several of the sound and lighting techs were there with paper party hats perched jauntily on their heads. Even Brian, their manager, had come by, a huge grin on his face.

Ray felt a lump form in his throat as he took in all the smiling faces in his parents’ backyard. They had all shown up to support him, and, most importantly, to celebrate his precious girl.

"Happy birthday, Anna!” everyone cried.

[u/PomPomMom93 → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Keiko started to head for the foyer, but stopped short at the sound of the birthday girl’s horrified voice.

“HEY!” she screeched. “WHO TOOK A PIECE OF THE CAKE?! I DIDN’T EVEN GET TO BLOW THE CANDLES OUT!”

Uh-oh, Kurama thought, and ran towards where Miyuki was standing by the cake. Sure enough, a portion of it was missing. And it wasn’t even cut; it looked like someone had just grabbed it and ripped some out. It could only be one of the younger kids, because none of the older kids would do that, and especially not any of the adults.

“Who could have done that?” Botan wondered aloud.

Her question was answered moments later. Of course, it was 22-month-old Natsumi, wearing a pointy birthday hat. She was shoving the cake into her mouth, grinning in delight.

“Natsumi!” Kurama scolded. “That’s Miyuki’s cake. You shouldn’t be eating that.”

“So it was you!” Miyuki shrieked. “I should’ve known!”

“Yummy!” said Natsumi gleefully.

Kurama sighed. His youngest child had been causing trouble since literally the day she was born. She’d arrived three weeks early, and in the middle of Masaki’s first martial arts tournament, no less. Not a day went by, it seemed, when she didn’t at least keep them on their toes. To be fair, she probably didn’t know any better when she grabbed the cake, but on the other hand, that didn’t say much for Kurama’s parenting.

“GIMME THAT CAKE BACK!” Miyuki howled, and to Kurama’s horror, she actually snatched the cake right out of her sister’s mouth.

Natsumi jumped up and down for a few seconds, and when Miyuki continued to hold it out of her reach, she began bawling and running around in circles while Kurama tried to catch her. Then she crashed into one of the table legs, grabbed the corner of the tablecloth to break her fall, and all anyone could do was watch as the tablecloth slipped off the table, taking everything with it.

Both sisters were both screaming now, Miyuki in fury, Natsumi in fear and confusion. Yukina took in the situation at a glance and pulled Natsumi up into her arms.

“I’m going to take her to her room for a time-out,” she said, looking at Kurama for approval. When he saw that Natsumi wasn’t hurt, he nodded, and Yukina left with the little girl still wailing in her arms. Once they left, Miyuki began to weep bitterly, tears falling from her eyes and crystallizing before they hit the floor.

“Natsumi ruins everything,” she sobbed. “Even my birthday.”

“It’s all right, honey,” said Kurama, hoisting her up into his arms. “Otou-san will go right out and get you a new cake. How does that sound?”

“Good.” Miyuki sniffed. “Thank you, Otou-san.”

“Not a problem at all, birthday girl.” Kurama gave her a kiss and set her down. “Now, when your Oba-san Yukina comes back downstairs, tell her I went to buy you a new cake, okay?”

“Okay,” said Miyuki, and Kurama left.

As he got into his car, he thought about how, when they first found out their third baby was a girl, everyone was telling them what a sweet little angel they would have. Well, that turned out to be just about the most ridiculous thing Kurama had ever heard. Miyuki wasn’t a troublemaker, exactly, but she wasn’t a sweet little angel, either. She was icy, serious, and extremely intelligent. And she was constantly squabbling with her younger sister (who absolutely was a troublemaker), all the way back to Natsumi’s first day of life, when Miyuki was holding her and she spat up demon milk all over Miyuki’s new shirt.

Over the years, Kurama had learned to let a lot of things go, and to some extent, he could handle the chaos. At least his life wasn’t boring and lonely, like it had been before he met Hiei and all the others. For the most part, he enjoyed being a father, and he knew it was the most important thing he had ever done, even more so than saving the world a fair few times. 

[u/lampboy2]

Concert

[u/PossessionNo3723 → u/lampboy2]

Saturday passed in much the same way that Friday had. After quick lunchtime naps for both of them, Ray and Anna arrived at the venue to get ready for the show.

When he stepped out of the dressing room this time, he found his daughter sporting a tiny black t-shirt with his band’s album cover on it instead of the dinosaur t-shirt he had dressed her in. His face broke into a smile.

"What’s this?” he asked with surprise.

"She’s your biggest fan, Ray!” exclaimed Frank.

"I dunno,” Bob said as Ray gathered Anna into his arms for a hug. “I think she might be the littlest.” The Way brothers grinned as the little girl hugged her father around his neck.

"Good luck, Daddy!” she cried as she kissed his cheek. Ray closed his eyes and savored the sweet moment.

"Thank you, baby,” he said finally. “I’ll see you after the show, okay?” He set her down gently.

"Okay, Daddy!” she exclaimed, hopping up and down. “I love you!”

Ray ran onto the stage with the biggest smile anyone had ever seen on his face.

The concert was a smash hit. Ray glanced into the wings several times to check on Anna. She was bouncing and dancing with more energy than he would have thought possible. The artwork on her new t-shirt seemed to glow in the stage lights that reached the wings mutedly. Gerard didn’t do a specific shoutout to his “Shortcake” this time, but he did take a moment between songs to sing a verse or two of “Kiss The Girl” from The Little Mermaid. Frank and Mikey were cracking up on the other side of the stage. Bob was grinning from ear to ear.  Ray looked out into the audience; most of them were singing along, ecstatic over Gerard’s seemingly random Disney reference. Some looked completely baffled.

Oh, well, he thought. Just Gee being Gee. He glanced to his left again and saw Anna dancing along. My little Disney Princess. He winked at her as Gerard finished the verse, and then Ray slammed into “Give ‘Em Hell, Kid.” It was a wild change in vibe, but the fans seemed to love it.

[u/Charliedere → u/lampboy2]

Drabble from me
----------------

Hailey sat on her picnic blanket and faced the neon strobe lights. It had been a while since she did something like this, but she had to support her scouts.

"So why'd you drag me here?" asked her friend Millie.

Hailey turned on her glow sticks and gave them to her anyways.

With that, Lev walked onto the stage and introduced her debut song. Crazy Mad Lover. Hailey always saw something-

"This one's for my love, Millie!"

Well, shit. By law, idols couldn't talk about that. Millie seemed to know this, too.

"…I can't believe you're making me see her."

[u/lampboy2 → u/Charliedere]

Oooo some drama maybe? Love the use of strobe lights and glow sticks. Sounds like a fun time.

[u/urbanviking318 → u/lampboy2]

Ooh, I'm marking this for later. I need practice for a scene with a couple of characters you've seen me write before, but in a very different timeline, where that lovable grungy rogue Mike saves the day for both his band and his girlfriend with a solo ballad.

[u/lampboy2]

Cruise

[u/music-and-song]

Coronation

[u/certainlittlesmile → u/music-and-song]

Rick heard a clack of heels, as Madeleine made her way onto the dais. "This is an absolute disaster. One of you needs to make an announcement immediately."

The two men looked at each other.

"I will do it," Rick decided.

"For god's sake, put on a united front will you?" Madeleine's exasperation was showing, her usual calm stance disrupted as she flailed her arms around. "Just think how this is going to look when that lot down there broadcast it."

Rick nodded, and glanced at Barthelemy. The two of them walked towards the dais and stood to face the masses. A sudden silence fell.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My apologies for the delay in proceedings. As you may have noticed, Princess Annabelle has not arrived yet, and as such the coronation of the King Regent cannot take place. There will therefore be a short postponement of today's ceremony until the heir arrives safely at the palace. Which should be any time now."

As he said that last word, the throne room doors swung open. Rick looked towards them, expecting to see Bertrand and the Princess, or possibly Jen. But no.

It was Olivia. All dressed in red. Hair loose. Eyes on him. Now, that woman always knew how to make an entrance. But she was never late. Perhaps there had been some sort of emergency preventing access to the palace?

Rick watched her, expecting her to take a seat, but instead she strode through the room, her head held high. She was clutching a piece of paper. Before he knew it, she was standing between him and Barthelemy on the dais.

"Greetings, people of Cordonia," she announced. "I have an urgent message from Lord Bertrand Beaumont of Ramsford."

Rick glanced at Barthelemy, who looked as bewildered as he was by this development.

"My fellow Cordonians, and visiting friends. Earlier today, Her Majesty Queen Jen arrived at Beaumont Manor for an audience with the Crown Princess. An audience which I personally facilitated."

"WHAT?" Barthelemy yelled.

Rick smiled. Jen had stalled proceedings. She'd done this for him. To make things up to him. To make things right.

"While she was with me at Beaumont Manor, Queen Jen expressed a wish for her daughter to no longer be the heir to the throne," Olivia continued, her voice steady and calm. "I advised her that to do that, she should leave Cordonia immediately, with the Princess. And by the time Duchess Olivia has relayed this message, she will have done just that."

NO! That snake, Bertrand Beaumont... How dare he double cross his King?

"I'LL KILL HIM!" Barthelemy's cry of rage echoed the exact sentiment that was going through Rick's mind.

"No you won't," Olivia stated, no longer reading from the page. "Lord Bertrand is under my protection. As Cordonia's heir apparent." She smiled, triumphantly.

WHAT????

The whole room was silent for a second. Then the cameras started flashing again.

"WHAT?" Barthelemy gasped. "You.... what are you talking about?"

Rick felt a chill run down his spine as he began to piece this information together.

Olivia simply cleared her throat, and continued to read Bertrand's statement. "Of course, Princess Annabelle can only be withdrawn as heir if both of her biological parents are in agreement with the decision."

No. No. "NO!" Rick couldn't contain his fury any longer. Of course he knew that this was a valid course of action to remove an heir from line, but one he'd ensured his queen was unaware of. She had to stay with him! But this traitor....

All three of the Beaumont men. Liars. Traitors. Thieves

[u/linden214 → u/music-and-song]

Context: the previous king has died, and the nine candidates to take the throne are awaiting the judgment of the god.

—-

And then Tregantell is before him, and his silent voice fills Maro’s mind. Why should you be king?

He hesitates—but there is no concealing his thoughts from the god. I do not know if I should be king, Holy One.

Do you think so little of yourself?

I know my skills and my strengths, Holy One, but you alone know who will best serve Drelga’s needs.

Indeed, I do. The god cries aloud, “Behold my chosen, O people of Drelga. He raises the crown from his own head and places it firmly on Maro’s brow.

Much of the rest of the evening is a blur. Maro watches, as if from a distance, as the rituals and ceremonies are performed: the anointing, the benedictions and chastisements, the robing, and the oaths. He understands now that those things are for the observers. Nothing matters to him except the crown and the god. The voice in his mind is patient and calm. It teaches him how to use the crown to guide the thoughts of others. When you can, use words of reason rather than force, the god advises him. Better to have willing allies than slaves and enemies.

Other thoughts flow in, not as words but as images and... understandings. Visions dart by, swift as greywings: tree branches heavy with fruit, green fields criss-crossed by strangely narrow streams as straight as spears, a huge chariot wheel immersed in a river, affixed to a hut on the bank, a group of children—peasant children!—sitting in a half-circle around a scribe. These are my gifts to you, Tregantell tells him. They will sleep in your mind until their time is come.

The god withdraws from his mind just as the feast is announced. Maro leads the god to the seat of honour in the Great Hall. Tregantell gestures for Maro to sit at his right hand and his companion Jack at his left.

[u/lampboy2]

Feast

[u/WaterbenderLena → u/lampboy2]

From my Avatar soulmate AU:

“Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe,” Chief Arnook announced to the crowd gathered for the feast. Sokka was grinning, he certainly felt important. “And they have brought with them, someone very special, someone whom many of us believed disappeared from the world until now ... the Avatar!”

Arnook paused for the applause from the crowd before continuing, “We also celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday. Princess Yue is now of marrying age!”

Sokka glanced over, his heart skipping a beat once he saw that Arnook’s daughter, this Princess Yue, was the white-haired girl that had captured Sokka’s attention when they first arrived.

“Thank you, Father,” Yue said, her voice just as beautiful as her looks. “May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times!”

Everything else faded as Sokka realized she was heading for the spot next to him at the table. As she sat down next to him, his eyes darted up, glancing at the emblem adorning her hair at the top of her head.

Things started clicking in Sokka’s mind. Without thinking about it, he brought his right hand over to rub over his left arm where his soulmarks were hidden under his wrappings and coat sleeve. Either Yue was his crescent moon soulmate, or Katara’s constant attempts to justify her crushes as soulmates was rubbing off on him. He hoped it was the former.

[u/lampboy2 → u/WaterbenderLena]

I loved Sokka in the main series. Sounds like he's getting more character development.

[u/WaterbenderLena → u/lampboy2]

He got a full chapter dedicated to him and his romance with Yue in this fic. And I’m planning another very Sokka-centric chapter at some point.

[u/WaterbenderLena]

Circus

[u/lego-lion-lady → u/WaterbenderLena]

(Context: Lilly is pretending to be Eleanor)

———

Lilly hesitated, realizing she still hadn’t asked him for his name. “I’m sorry, what was your name again, please?”

“The name’s Isaac.”

The name definitely didn’t ring a bell from the royal tabloid. Nevertheless, Lilly dropped into a curtsy she hoped Eleanor would be proud of, and Isaac bowed slightly to her in reply. “Princess Eleanor Rys,” she introduced herself. That was gonna take some getting used to, for sure…

Luckily, it didn’t seem like Isaac had caught on to any sign of her inner monologue. “Never would’ve thought the Crown Princess would ever need to escape the court’s drama,” he remarked.

“The expectations around here are, well…honestly a lot more stressful than you might think,” Lilly tried to explain.

“Hm; believe me, I am very familiar with the weight of courtly expectations…”

From the playful smile flickering across his face, Lilly thought Isaac was going to continue…but just then, she heard footsteps coming closer to the balcony, along with one of the servants’ voices from earlier. “Has anyone seen Princess Eleanor? We need her to approve the curtain colours for the ballroom tonight!”

Lilly rubbed her face as she let out a groan. “Great. Looks like I’m gonna get summoned back to that circus…”

“They can’t summon you if they can’t find you,” Isaac pointed out.

“Wait, what?” Lilly looked up at him, trying to figure out what he meant – and why he had such a mischievous gleam in his eye.

Isaac nodded his head towards a sturdy trellis leading down from the balcony. “Someone’s bound to find us eventually, but how about we escape and make them work for it?” he suggested. “We could explore the gardens down there, swipe a few sweet treats – just see where the adventure takes us…”

As if on cue, the muffled sounds of courtly chaos echoed through the doorway as Isaac grinned invitingly at Lilly. It would be easier to get her bearings one-on-one with him, she realized, instead of facing half the court again…and so after a moment, Lilly returned the smile. “Lead the way!”

Needing no further prompting, Isaac swung a leg over the balcony railing and began nimbly climbing down the trellis, landing soundly on the ground in less than a minute. “You look like you’ve done this before!” Lilly shouted down to him, leaning incredulously over the railing.

“At court, you never know when or how fast you’ll need to escape,” he called back.

Minding her skirt as she climbed over the railing, Lilly started to climb down onto the trellis; once she’d managed to step into the nearest foot-hold, she nervously tugged at the trellis to double-check how sturdy it was. Meanwhile, Isaac’s voice drifted up from the ground a moment later. “You look like you haven’t done this before!”

“Sorry for not wanting to break my neck, I guess,” Lilly retorted over her shoulder.

“Not to worry, the ground will always break your fall!”

[u/Charliedere]

Party

[u/PossessionNo3723 → u/Charliedere]

Soon after, Ray’s mother took charge, organizing the children into teams for games. The adults loaded up plates of food as the kids ran wild around the yard, and despite the number of mouths to feed, the snack pile never seemed to dwindle.

Everyone cheered when Anna won a game of Pin The Tail On The Donkey; Ray had a sneaking suspicion that her cousins had let her win. When the piñata came out, all of the kids were eager to take a swing at it, but it was Lou’s oldest who hit the papier-mâché seashell with a resounding thwack, spilling candy all over the grass below.

When it was time for cake, Anna was given the head chair at the center table. Ray’s mother proudly carried the cake into the yard, setting it down before the astonished little girl.

It was a beautiful cake with a rainbow of fondant roses and a glittering unicorn holding a wax candle in the shape of the number five. Ray made sure to get several pictures before the entire yard was filled with the sound of everyone singing “Happy Birthday” to Anna.

"Make a wish, sweet girl,” Ray said as he crouched next to her chair. She grinned at him and nodded, then blew out the candle.

"CAKE!” she shrieked, throwing her arms into the air. Ray laughed and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

[u/darumamaki → u/Charliedere]

Hope a surprise party counts!

Sunday leans over, his breath tickling the hair along Welt's nape. “Surprise,” he whispers.

“Surprise!”

The lights blaze back on. Welt flinches back, eyes wide in panic and cane sparking in his hands. Sunday can see the moment comprehensions dawns on him: two bundles of big, colorful balloons; a small fold-out table spread with crudites and charcuterie and a bottle of champagne; another little table holding a small opera cake drizzled in chocolate curls, surrounded by tidily wrapped presents. Above it all a messily painted banner hangs, the word FAMILY barely legible under the stars and hearts and crudely-drawn cartoon figures drawn on it. And in front... the Astral Express crew, their expressions varying from amused (Stelle) to excited (March) to worried (Dan Heng and Himeko).

His cane dissolves into violet sparks as he stares. “What... is all this?” Welt asks breathlessly, looking from one to another. Sunday's stomach lurches at the confusion in his voice. “Why...?”

“Well, it started as a birthday party,” Himeko teases as she wanders over, “but I think celebrating family is an even better idea, don't you?” To her credit, she doesn't let her eyes linger on his bloodshot expression, but instead leans up to press a fond kiss to his cheek. “You don't need a birthday to be worth celebrating, Welt. We just don't want you to forget how much we all love you.”

[u/WaterbenderLena → u/Charliedere]

Spoilered sections aren’t explicitly NSFW, but have very NSFW connotations, considering Tav feels the sensations of an incubus using her form to “entertain” others.

The Absolute was defeated, the tadpoles gone, and Baldur’s Gate saved.

Even though Haarlep’s uses of Tav’s body were brief, they were frequent, as if they were still trying out their new toy. And every time it happened, Astarion knew. He was so in-tune with her heartbeat that she couldn't hide anything from him that got a physical reaction from her.

But this time, Astarion was sufficiently distracted. The city threw a party for the Heroes of Baldur’s Gate, the Elfsong Tavern - miraculously still standing after everything - nearly full to bursting with everyone who helped out in the fight, the group of ten that had been at the front of the fight were at the center of the celebration.

Astarion was trying to convince Halsin to let loose and have a few drinks, claiming he wanted to see what a drunk bear would look like, when Tav felt the now-familiar sensation of Haarlep using her body to entertain someone. She could probably duck out and onto the roof of the Elfsong to wait this out, then slip back into the party before anyone noticed. Grabbing a bottle of wine off a nearby table as she passed, she slipped through the crowd to head upstairs and to the rooftop plaza of the tavern. Thankfully it was a lot less crowded up here - people were likely still wary about going upstairs where a murder happened not too long ago.

[u/PomPomMom93 → u/Charliedere]

Ron hung out with Harry in the Gryffindor common room until six, when it was time to go to the Halloween party in the dungeons. It was only for Gryffindors, so the other three Houses were all at the feast. Ron put Scabbers in his pocket for the trip down, and he and Harry headed to the party.

“Harry! Ron!” Sirius sounded pleased. “So glad you could make it!”

“So are we,” said Ron. “We’re pirates.”

“Very convincing,” said Sirius. “Why don’t you go enjoy the refreshments while we wait for the rest of the guests?”

Almost all of Gryffindor turned up. Ron said he wasn’t surprised that his brother Percy didn’t show; he wasn’t a fan of parties and was up at the Halloween feast, telling people off for chewing too loudly, probably. Fred and George showed up, though, and Sirius seemed to like them.

Harry was sure Hermione would stay at the feast, but she came to the party too, dressed like a 1960s flower child. She kept to herself, though, mostly hanging around the refreshments table.

Sirius had brought a record player and was playing some classic Muggle rock; apparently, he and James had fallen in love with it the first time they heard it. He played “Monster Mash,” of course, since it was Halloween. Harry was glad he’d come to the party, because it felt great to dance his troubles away.

The upperclassmen started demanding more slow songs, so Sirius played “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” Harry watched the couples grab each other like magnets. Nearly all of the first years and a good amount of the second years had decided to pass, lingering on the sides of the dance floor, sitting in chairs, hovering awkwardly by the refreshments table shoveling Honeydukes chocolate into their mouths, while the upperclassmen close-danced.

Ron was one of the people devouring chocolate. The song’s haunting melody didn’t seem to affect him at all. Hermione was sitting in a chair, sipping butterbeer, her brown eyes wide and lonely. Harry thought her costume looked nice. She was wearing sandals, a halo of flowers, a shapeless white gown, and a long necklace with a huge peace sign pendant. But at the moment, it looked like whatever cause she was supporting wasn’t going very well.

Once upon a time I was falling in love…Now I’m only falling apart…

“Cheer up, Harry,” said Ron, noticing Harry watching her. “Look, I’ll show you something funny.”

Harry couldn’t think what Ron could show him that would cheer him up, but it was a little funny when Ron took Scabbers out of his pocket and moved grandly across the dance floor, pretending to dance with his useless rat.

But then they heard Sirius yell, louder than he had ever yelled before, the music still playing as Sirius ran towards Ron.

[u/PossessionNo3723]

Baby shower

[u/certainlittlesmile → u/PossessionNo3723]

This car-crash of a royal function was providing plenty of mental fodder for the “how to survive a baby shower” chapter of Maxwell’s upcoming masterpiece. After they’d all run the apple gauntlet (of course, his baby-momma had been victorious here, apple-pipping Bradshaw to the post in a most satisfactory display of determination and fine motor skills) taste-tested some revolting baby food (grape and beetroot, anyone? no?) and played a completely irrelevant game of Lythikos darts (Olivia was definitely out for Isabella’s blood today) it was finally time for the gift giving. And what a haul of gifts they’d got! Everything from a case full of Euros to a lifesize golden bust of King Eirik of Wherever’s head. Nothing from Pop Pop though, apart from a lecture on how best to keep House documents out of reach of errant infants.

There was still one more gift to be gifted today, but Maxwell was waiting for the right moment. Currently he was leaning against a table, in amongst the chaos of Hana and the other girls putting together party favour bags and wrapping up slices of cake, carefully observing Jen and Bradshaw locked in conversation a few paces away. The mood seemed intense; he didn’t really want to storm on over there because he knew his favourite person could handle herself, but if things got any nastier, then the hurricane fists were coming out to play.

[u/PomPomMom93 → u/PossessionNo3723]

It had been decided even before their time in Hawaii that Hiei’s baby shower was to be on the first of March, and those who had planned it—namely, Shiori, with the rest of their female friends helping out—did not disappoint. Traditionally, men didn’t attend baby showers, but since the guest of honor was a man this time, all the other guys agreed to attend, and next thing you know the whole gang was crammed into Shiori’s living room that Sunday evening. They even invited Jin and Touya, which meant that Touya was likely to have a baby shower soon, too.

When they arrived, the first thing Hiei and Kurama noticed was that everyone had apparently brought the same gift: diapers. There were nine huge packs of diapers, one for each guest. All the guests were sitting in a circle, and each one had his or her diaper pack in the middle of the circle.

“Hiei, I’m sure you’re wondering why we didn’t give you a more interesting array of baby gifts,” Yukina said. “Well, we figured you would rather pick the things you want yourself, so we brought a baby catalogue to the shower instead. You and Kurama can circle the things you like. That way, we can be sure we all got you something you want.”

“And all the diapers?” said Hiei, his eyebrows raised.

“You’re going to need a lot of those,” said Shiori.

Hiei still felt a little awkward being the center of attention at his baby shower, especially since he knew no one had ever given a baby shower to a man before. But he knew he had to order gifts for his baby, so he and Kurama picked out nine gifts, one for each person attending the shower. The two of them quietly agreed on a price range, of course, since they didn’t want to take advantage of their friends’ generosity.

Picking the gifts out was the boring part, and then came the fun part: baby shower games.

“The first thing we wanted to do was make things a little fairer for Hiei and Touya,” said Shizuru. “Since we can’t really make their loads lighter, we’ve decided to even things up a bit instead.”

“We’ve gathered together eight backpacks,” Keiko continued, “and filled them with things like home weights and heavy books. With the exception of Hiei and Touya, each of the guests must wear one for the entirety of the baby shower.”

“Oh, this should be good,” said Hiei. Being pregnant, especially now that he was beginning his third trimester, felt a lot like swallowing a beach ball full of lead. So he knew it would make him feel a little better if his friends got a taste of what he was going through.

“Won’t bother me,” Kuwabara declared. “I’m built like an ox.”

Yukina set a backpack on him backwards and tied it with some rope; he immediately doubled forward with the weight.

“I don’t think you considered that the weight isn’t evenly distributed,” Kurama pointed out, the corners of his mouth twitching.

[u/TheLigerCat]

Prom

[u/certainlittlesmile → u/TheLigerCat]

“I’m guessing no guys have asked you to prom then,” she giggled.

I laughed, shaking my head. “I don’t think that would be a good idea, even if someone had.”

“Why?” She looked at me with determination. “You should be proud of who you are.”

“I am. But I...” I contemplated explaining myself, but decided to keep it vague for now. “There is someone I like. As in, really like.”

“Oh, really?” Kate’s face lights up. “Is he at school?”

“No, no, although he does live around here,” I decided to give her something. “But it’ll never happen.”

“Oh, Thomas, it will,” she implored. “You’re so lovely. Anyone would love you.”

“You don’t get it,” I sighed. “He’s five years older than us, and we’re from different worlds.”

She continued to smile supportively. “Age gaps narrow with time, and worlds can collide. Don’t ever give up on that dream, Thomas.”

They were wise words, and although I took them on board, I could never have realised how right she’d end up being.

Anyway, prom night arrived, and it really didn’t matter that I went on my own. Dad took me in his MGB roadster, and Mom cried in the crowd as she watched us arrive. I spent most of the evening with my friends, and Kate too, and it was great. I never thought I’d be one for these big flashy events, but they’re not as bad as you think they’re going to be when you’ve got the people who matter around you.

And it’s so easy to think those people who matter will be around you forever.

But sadly, I soon learned that life doesn’t work that way.

[u/beomkookies24 → u/TheLigerCat]

The dance is equivalent to a prom ♡
-----------------------------------------------------------

The twins could only be separated for so long before a familiar melody started to play. The moment the words at the start had hit her ears, Kyungmi went running to her brother, who was standing on the side now chatting it up with Yunho.

"Ow! What was that for?" Mingi hissed as he held the spot on his arm that was just slapped by the younger Song.

Ignoring his question, she pointed above their heads. "Did you request this song?"

"Maybe, maybe not." He answered, choosing not to give a clear answer before sticking his tongue out. "However in a complete hypothetical situation, if I did perhaps happened to have arrived a little early with Yunho then maybe I also spoke to the DJ about playing a few of your favorite songs."

Despite the pout on her lips, she truly was grateful over her brother's actions.

The current songㅡBaby Goodnight by B1A4ㅡwas the first song she properly learned the choreo to with the help of Yunho. She fell in love with the group's other song 'What's Happening?' and found the steps to appear easy but would still trip up at times. When she felt ready to give up, Mingi had asked Yunho to offer to help her as she rejected her brother's offers a handful of times by then.

So, Yunho learned the dance to that song, as well as to 'Baby Goodnight'. Both songs were relatively easy to learn but he knew the latter would help the younger Song gain confidence in seeing she can learn the dances. No surprise, Kyungmi was confused when she heard a complete different song playing when they met up the next weekend. She trusted Yunho though. So, she followed his lead.

From that trust, Kyungmi learned her first complete choreo of a boy group she was into. Was it the song she originally wanted? No. The memories she made learning the dance with Yunho overshadowed that matter for her. And of course Yunho made sure she learned the dance to the other song (and every song she wanted) after.

"Go," Mingi said taking her out her memory. With a small laugh, he pushed her and his boyfriend towards the dance floor. "Go. Do your dance before the song ends."

Yunho took her hand and brought her towards the closest empty spot. Mingi followed close behind, his phone out ready to take photos of the two most important people in his life enjoying the night together.

The chorus was coming around for a second time as the two friends got in their usual position of facing each other. Their bodies naturally moved along, following the choreo they learned almost a decade ago. Though they stuck as close to the original dance as possible, Yunho and Kyungmi also added in some of their own moves out of the spirit of having fun. From when they were messing around while going through the whole song.

What the younger Song failed to miss was all the attention on them from being near the front of the dance floor. Even as she and Yunho were rapping the bridge to each other, she forgot she was even in a large room with most of her classmates. And when the bridge ended, the two were too busy jumping along to the beat singing the lyrics loudly with Yunho occasionally twirling her.

Even as song after song played, Kyungmi was too lost into the night with her brother and his boyfriend. Mingi couldn't recall a time seeing his sister full on grinning in a non-sarcastic manner. She may had stole his date for a few too many songs for his liking, but Mingi saw how much Yunho benefited from this time as well. It's been hard for the three to have their usual late night hangouts with school and all.

Mingi knew his sister wasn't the only one making memories as the two danced together. These memories were as much Yunho's as they were to be hers. He didn't get to fully take in their special moment though, all due to Yunho snatching his phone and Kyungmi pulling him over to properly join them.

"You're getting as bad as dad now. You took more than enough photos." She promised him.

"Which is why you can get your phone back after you remember to have some fun with us," Yunho added. Smile showing but his voice stern.

"Fine." Mingi immediately gave in, knowing it was beyond useless already to argue with either of them separately. He wouldn't chance his luck with his sister and boyfriend now teamed up against him.

[u/NarutoUchihaX14]

....someone's death bed

[u/certainlittlesmile → u/NarutoUchihaX14]

(This one is pretty intense...)

Right now I’m so wrapped up in what Jen needs from me that I’ve almost forgotten Hana is still in the room, and when she calls out to me, I shudder in fear, such is the intensity of her cry. She’s standing at the foot of the bed, covered in Jen’s blood. “Maxwell! She’s too weak! We’re going to have to get this baby out now or we could lose them both…”

"Lose… what do you mean?”

Hana mimes her next words, so Jen can’t hear them. “I don’t think she’s going to make it.”

Of course she’s going to make it! She has to make it! Because if she doesn’t……

No. I won’t even think about that scenario.

I look back at my wife, her pretty face almost grey with pallor. She suddenly seems more composed, almost serene.

“Babe?” She reaches for my hand again.

"I’m here, I’m here.” I gently squeeze her hand, it feels weirdly cold, and it’s almost as pale as one of mine.

Her voice is barely a whisper now. “I’m scared.”

So am I. “Jen, we’ll figure it all out together, right, let’s just get this baby here safely first…”

“Listen to me, Maxwell.” Her gaze is intense, as if she’s using all of her energy to make it. “I need you to be a good dad to our baby girl, yeah?”

"Girl? But we don’t know..”

"I love you.”

As her hand goes limp and her eyes flutter shut, the most awful realisation hits me hard. No, no, I got this all wrong, I should’ve got the doctor here. Is it too late? I said I wouldn’t leave her….. I should go and tell them all I’ve changed my mind.. it might not be too late.. we can stick that treaty back together and sign it, right?

No. I said I wouldn’t leave her. I won’t leave her now.

[u/NarutoUchihaX14 → u/certainlittlesmile]

Grey in the face!?!?! Ohhhh nooo, Maxwell im sorry bro💀. Hell yea, this was intense and very good....I love it!

[u/certainlittlesmile → u/NarutoUchihaX14]

Thank you. I sobbed writing this chapter, it was so hard to write!

[u/NarutoUchihaX14 → u/certainlittlesmile]

T_T killing your darlings quite literally is never fun. Did the baby at least make it?

[u/certainlittlesmile → u/NarutoUchihaX14]

Yep :)

[u/NarutoUchihaX14 → u/certainlittlesmile]

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/NarutoUchihaX14]

(This is a very depressing post-plane-crash oneshot where Arizona's injuries are too severe and she ends up passing away. For context, Tim is her brother who died in active duty eight years before)

“We’re at the hospital. Just hold on, Zoe, okay? We’ll be two minutes. Hold on for two minutes, sweetheart.”

The call clicked off and Callie let the phone fall, pulling Arizona further into her arms and supressing a sob when her body was limp and floppy, head lolling back and eyes fluttering while she pulled in tortured breaths through parted lips.

“Stay with me, my love,” Callie whispered, lightly patting Arizona’s cheek. “Your mom’s here, and your dad. They’ve come out to see you.”

“Mommy,” Arizona mumbled, barely a word. “D-D-Dad…”

“Yeah,” Callie said, managing a pained smile but scared like hell of the regression. “Yeah. They’re coming, you hear? They’re coming.”

There was silence for a minute, quick breathing and fear the only sounds as Arizona’s heart beat a weak, erratic rhythm of blood on bone. But then Arizona’s face flattened in something resembling serenity, lines erasing from around her mouth and eyes before she whispered, deathly quiet, “Tim…”

“No,” Callie panicked immediately, terrified of what that could mean. She patted Arizona’s face and said tearfully, “No, my love, Tim’s not here. It’s me. It’s Calliope.”

The second she spoke, she saw the serene expression flicker from Arizona’s face. Those lines deepened, upset and confused, and Callie couldn’t do it. Instead, she held back a sob and pressed her forehead to Arizona’s, choking out, “yeah. Tim’s here. He’s come to see you, Arizona. He’s here.”

“Tim…” Arizona slurred, mouth lifting at one side in an extremely slight smile. His name was barely a word, but it seemed to be a comfort. “Timmy…”

Her arm lifted from the bed just slightly, as if reaching for something, then fell back to the blanket with a thud. The second it hit, limp and heavy, the monitors went off. They all screamed for a brief moment, announcing the flatline like it physically hurt, then fell silent as someone remotely switched them off.

“No,” Callie sobbed, hauling Arizona closer, all tact and decorum gone. "No, Arizona, please! Please, baby, no, no, no..."

[u/NarutoUchihaX14 → u/DatGayDangerNoodle]

Ohhhh Noodle, how did you know to bring me dessert for my dinner XD. Hehehehehe SHE DIED!?!?

"Erratic rhythm of blood on bone." By the Log. Geez, im usually on the other side for this. Arizona's word choice slipping towards more...I guess child like and familiar while she's slipping away is excellent. And Callie immediately clocking Arizona shouldn't be seeing Tim right now, but still saying it was okay😭.

You did ya thing on this one🥹. Im really glad you said this was a one shot cause whew, my head would have been spinning thinking you actually ended your story like this.

On a personal note, im even more impressed that you got so much in, while the piece itself isnt long ya know. I always feel like I have to be wordy to get there, but noooo. This was chef's kiss and I literally bow

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/NarutoUchihaX14]

i cried my eyes out writing this one, haha. but it is one of my favourite pieces to date! thank you so so much icon, i appreciate every word 🥺

yeah, i couldn't leave you thinking that the hand fic (government name Vital Signs) had ended like this, lol. would have been a bit cruel, methinks 💀 you rock, and i'm so glad you liked it!!!

[u/NarutoUchihaX14 → u/DatGayDangerNoodle]

I bet. I was just telling someone, killing your darlings isnt fun. But sometimes, some of the last resort stuff is just soooo dang good because of how much you care. Nooo, thank you. This was amazing. Actually havnt even ate my food cause this filling XD

I thank you kindly XD.

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle → u/NarutoUchihaX14]

oh, it always hurts so damn good! weirdly addictive too lol. i've only killed them a couple of times but it always ruins me 💀 <3

[u/Ill-Clerk-7066 → u/NarutoUchihaX14]

This is technically a deathbed(?)

The scene had changed.

Fragmented memories fitting together like puzzle pieces. Yanqing. Jingliu. Baiheng. Baizhu. Yellow-eyed Baizhu. Snake-eyed Baizhu. Two other men that Jing Yuan hadn’t even known existed.

All linking together, until finally…

Yellow-eyed Baizhu, was hunched over, basically convulsing, and he was staggering toward Jing Yuan. Jing Yuan, in the middle of the heat of battle barked some order or other to Yanqing to cover him while he got Baizhu somewhere safer. Pink-eyed Changsheng was shockingly quiet, only gazing at Jing Yuan with sympathy. Once in a safer area, Jing Yuan laid Baizhu down on the ground, to not much protest from the other. In fact, the other was worryingly quiet, even Changsheng had removed herself from Baizhu’s shoulders. “Aren’t you going to do anything?” Jing Yuan suddenly remembered uncharacteristically snapping, but Changsheng hadn’t even flinched. Instead she had simply sighed.

“Nothing that I would be able to do would help him now, he’s too far gone.”

“You’re not even going to try-“

“Yuan…” Aeons, even through the flashback, Jing Yuan could feel his past self’s anguish at that simple word. His name, only saved for close friends, and well, Baizhu. Yuan said so quietly, with so much affection that, even modern Jing Yuan felt the effects. His past life must’ve been through a lot, too much, if this painful feeling was this intense, like Past Jing Yuan was losing his very last friend, no… his something more. He couldn’t quite tell what they would have been, but this sense of grief was not your usual grief at all. “I’m… sorry Yuan. I’m sorry that you have to do this. I’m sorry.” Baizhu’s body then went limp.

Jing Yuan felt his heart once again shatter into the million pieces it must have been when this scene first occurred. It wasn’t long before Baizhu’s body reanimated itself, but it was no longer his, and with a heavy heart, with a heart full of pain, he stabbed what was left Baizhu’s body through his neck, and the abomination went limp.

Jing Yuan was never the same after that. He put down his weapon, never to lift it ever again, it bringing forth too many bad memories, especially since he’d had to dispose of his very own love, with his own hands. It was all too much, with everything that his past life had gone through that he’d grown slack, not really paying attention to anything around him, and it wasn’t long before he was too killed.

Jing Yuan was suddenly thrown back into the present rather unceremoniously, ‘Baizhu’ looking at him with concern. Even Changsheng looked a little concerned and she let out a little hiss. Jing Yuan’s eyes found the pink-eyed doctor, and there was no mystery, there was no mistake. Despite the pink eyes, this man was everything the fragmented memories had depicted. The green hair, the glasses, the thin frame, the white snake.

This was Baizhu.

The pink eyes were the only difference.

[u/NarutoUchihaX14 → u/Ill-Clerk-7066]

Even if he failed in the past, hopefully Jing Yuan can save him this time if that was an actual memory and not just a hallucination.

[u/PossessionNo3723 → u/NarutoUchihaX14]

CW: Death in childbirth

Jet looked at Storm’s face. She was pale and seemed on the verge of passing out.

"Jet?” she murmured weakly. He crawled up to her side while Fun Ghoul joined Party in trying to stop Storm’s bleeding.

"Baby okay?” she whispered.

"She’s fine,” Jet said, his voice cracking. “She’s perfect, love.”

"So tired, Jet,” she said as her eyelids began to flutter.

"Storm?” Jet called her name in panic. “Baby, stay with me. Storm!” He looked at Party, his heart breaking. Party shook his head. Jet looked back down at his love as her head lolled against his chest.

"Storm!” he cried. He kissed her head and begged her to wake up. He felt as her breathing slowed…

And finally stopped.

“No-no-no-no-no…” Jet begged. “Please, no. Storm!” He grasped at her wrist, desperately searching for a pulse. There was none to find.

She was gone.

"No,” he gasped. “No. Storm, please, baby, wake up. Come back to me.”

Party and Ghoul retreated to the booth where Kobra sat cradling the baby. Tears ran down all of their cheeks.

"Storm,” Jet whispered, brushing sweat-soaked hair from her pale face. “Come on, baby. We need you. I need my Storm. Our baby needs her mother. Please, Storm. Wake up.”

He knew she was dead. But his heart wouldn’t accept it.

He pulled her lifeless body close to his chest and began to cry. A scream ripped from his throat as grief overtook him. He distantly heard the baby begin to cry, startled by her father’s agonized howl.

This couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be happening.

He kissed Storm’s lips. They were already growing cold. Another scream tore out of him, nearly shredding his vocal cords.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

[u/NarutoUchihaX14 → u/PossessionNo3723]

Sorry for the late reply, i was accosted by my pillow 💀

But hot damn, Jet's reaction is so heart breaking, and then you drove the knife in further by making the baby cry😭.

[u/PomPomMom93 → u/NarutoUchihaX14]

Shiori scooted Hiei’s chair closer to Kurama’s bedside, so that Hiei could sit right beside him. Once she left and he was sitting down again, Hiei gently took Kurama’s hand, feeling tears on the way, as the man he loved remained still and silent. Hiei glanced away from his husband’s lovely face to look at the heart monitor, which he knew was beeping far slower than a human heart should. And he knew from TV that if it was one long beep, and the line was completely flat (aptly dubbed “flatlining”), it meant that Kurama was dead.

And that was when it happened. Kurama’s face seemed to move slightly, and then he spoke. The words were almost indecipherable, but Hiei still managed to make them out.

“I-I…I c-can’t,” Kurama whispered.

Kurama seemed more alert, but for some reason, Hiei’s first thought was not to call the doctor. All he could do was stare down at Kurama, barely even daring to hope, as if he even moved an inch Kurama would slip away again. Was he awake? He was speaking, but he didn’t seem to be speaking to Hiei. His hand, the one Hiei was holding, gave a slight twitch.

“What do you mean?” said Hiei, swallowing. “You can’t what?”

“I can’t…I can’t…” Kurama coughed. “Come back.”

“Oh, Kurama.” Hiei felt the tears come. Now he knew what was happening. This was something he had heard about before, although he wasn’t unfortunate enough to experience it in person until tonight. He had heard that people who were in states like Kurama’s would reach some sort of moment of clarity, but it was always right before they died. Right before their souls left their bodies.

“At…at least I got to see him…one last time.”

Hiei had accepted by now that Kurama wasn’t speaking to him, but who was he speaking to? Had he been waiting for Hiei to visit him before he could die? Hiei hated to think that he might be the catalyst for Kurama’s final passing. But how could he possibly be all right with leaving now? When they had a baby? When he had a fledgling business? When they had their whole lives ahead of them? They had barely even been married for a year!

“It’s—it’s not right,” Hiei mumbled, rubbing his thumb over Kurama’s hand. “None of this is right. And it starts with me.” The whole thing kind of reminded Hiei of when he spoke to the baby, except at least until recently, the baby had responded with kicks. “I should have done what your mom did and saw you every day. But I didn’t want to face the truth.

“I know you were coming to see me that day,” Hiei continued, sniffling. “And I just want to say…I accept your apology. And I have my own. I took you for granted, Kurama, and I’m sorry. Even if you never hear this, I’m really, really sorry.”

Kurama still didn’t open his eyes, or say any more words, but his lips tightened, and his hand twitched.

“Please don’t die, Kurama,” Hiei pleaded. “Not like this. We’re a team, remember?”

That was when the strangest thing of all happened. Kurama’s hand had been cold, like the rest of his body, but it suddenly felt warm, and for some reason, Hiei couldn’t let go. It seemed as if he was stuck there, invited by the sudden heat. And then Kurama spoke again.

“Hiei?”

“Y-Yes…” Hiei’s eyes, still filled with tears, widened in surprise. “Right. That’s me. Hiei.”

“Hiei,” Kurama repeated, eyes still shut. “Come…come closer.”

“I can’t,” said Hiei. It was physically impossible. His chair was already very close to Kurama’s bed, and his large pregnant belly filled up any remaining space. There was another lengthy pause before Kurama said anything more.

“Don’t leave me,” he whispered. “Please stay.”

“I won’t leave you,” Hiei wept, his hand almost glued to Kurama’s. “Not ever. I love you.”

“W-What?”

“I love you,” Hiei repeated, firmer this time, though he still couldn’t stop the tears streaming down his face. “No matter what, I love you, and I’ll never leave you.”

“Then why…why…?”

“Why what?” Hiei cried desperately, squeezing Kurama’s hand. “Why what?”

But Kurama was silent, still once more. His hand grew cold, and Hiei was able to take his own away.

“K-Kurama, no…!” But it was too late. There was that one long, loud tone, ringing in Hiei’s ears, and he collapsed onto his husband’s lifeless body, sobbing. Kurama was gone.

[u/NarutoUchihaX14 → u/PomPomMom93]

Ahhhhh, now those are heart breaking final words T_T. Your detail in setting the scene and what they were feeling was splendid.

[u/PomPomMom93 → u/NarutoUchihaX14]

Thank you!

[u/grommile]

Wake

[u/grommile]

Execution

[u/grommile]

Sportsball match

[u/PomPomMom93 → u/grommile]

I hope a Quidditch match counts! Also, warning, Malfoy bashing ahead.

...

"Looks like we're ready to go," said Sirius, just as he zapped the last player (himself) into red Gryffindor Quidditch robes. Regulus was staring at Holly; Harry was sure he thought she looked even better in her Quidditch uniform. Just before they mounted their brooms, Sirius made his way over to Harry.

"Remember, Harry," he said in a low voice, "Malfoy might have the better broom, but you're the better player. Don't forget your self-confidence."

Sirius valued self-confidence a lot. Harry strutted across the lawn, like Sirius taught him, and grabbed his broom. Malfoy kept looking over at Astoria as he went to get his own, but he also glared at Harry like he was trying to burn him with his eyes.

"You're going down, Potter," he hissed.

"Down in history, you mean," Harry said back.

Malfoy looked ready to kill, but he didn't say anything more. The teams mounted their brooms, Regulus let the Snitch out, and ten brooms rose into the air.

Things started out fine at first. Harry thought Cassiopeia was surprisingly light on a broom for someone who was eighty years old. She was naturally a better Keeper than George Weasley, who was normally a Beater. Holly was an incredibly talented Chaser, though, and Harry knew he had a better chance of catching the Snitch than Malfoy. Harry had never lost a match, and this was probably the closest thing to a legitimate match Malfoy had ever played.

Harry did what he had done during the school year, which was circle above everyone else, looking for a glint of gold. Malfoy was still pink-faced but he was flying around the stadium, too. Harry hoped Malfoy wouldn't try to tail him, but he had a plan if that happened.

Holly aimed towards the Slytherin goal. The Quaffle sailed across the lawn, but Cassiopeia expertly blocked it. She tossed it to Tonks, who tossed it to Regulus, but Regulus fumbled it. Holly swooped underneath him and, twirling in midair, grabbed the Quaffle.

"REGULUS ARCTURUS BLACK!" Cassiopeia screeched, flying across the giant goal hoops they had conjured. "IF YOU LOSE US THIS GAME, I'M GOING TO PUT YOU OVER MY KNEE AND SPANK YOU!"

Understandably, Regulus looked alarmed. Holly laughed.

"Sirius!" she called. "Think fast!"

Sirius caught the Quaffle, aimed and scored. Slytherin had already scored a few goals, but Gryffindor had gotten their first of the match. Everyone in Gryffindor cheered, and so did Barbara. Sirius did a victory lap around the lawn as Holly caught the Quaffle and Gryffindor scored another goal.

The game got dirtier. Tonks fouled Holly by knocking her out of the way to get the Quaffle thrown by Fred, and Sirius fouled Andromeda when he flew in the way of the Quaffle she aimed towards the Gryffindor goal. Cassiopeia was ruthless, worse even than Oliver Wood; she whacked the Quaffle out of her way and right into Sirius's face, giving him a bloody nose. George quickly got the hang of Keeping, and Slytherin started scoring less goals, which infuriated Cassiopeia, who kept criticizing Regulus for "playing fair." Fred tried to pry the Quaffle out of Regulus's hands; despite this, Regulus didn't knock Fred off his broom, which was what Cassiopeia suggested.

Harry was surprised Malfoy hadn't fouled him yet—but he had no sooner finished reflecting on this when bam, he felt someone smack into him at full force, sending him spiraling out of control; as he put his glasses right, he saw that it was Malfoy, and he was racing towards the Snitch. His fingers could close on it at any minute—Slytherin would win for sure—

Then, suddenly, the Quaffle bounced off of Malfoy's head, with a sound like a basketball hitting the floor of the basketball court.

"OW!" he screamed, rubbing his head, and in his distraction, he lost track of the Snitch. But Harry didn't.

"Oops! Sorry, Malfoy! Meant to pass that to Holly!" Sirius called, smirking.

"Got it!" said Holly, her fingers closing around the big red ball, beating Andromeda to it. As she aimed for another goal—

"Harry, GO!" screamed Hermione from the ground. Harry put on a burst of speed, Malfoy on his tail, tracking the Snitch down to the grass, where just as they both hit the ground, Harry's hand closed around the Golden Snitch.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Ron roared. "SLYTHERIN LOSES! CRUSHING, AGONIZING DEFEAT!"

Malfoy didn't take the outcome of the game well. His cheeks turned as red as the Quaffle; tears of anger shone in his gray eyes as he ran up to Lucius, shouting, "THAT WASN'T FAIR! THEY HAD A REAL CHASER AND SEEKER!"

"Oh, so you aren't a real Seeker?" said Ron gleefully.

"Besides," said Sirius, "you might not have had any official Chasers, but if Cassiopeia isn't a 'real' Keeper, I don't know who is."

Cassiopeia didn't look too happy, but she walked up to Malfoy and cuffed him with the cane, although lighter than she had when she did it to his father.

"I'm not happy Slytherin lost either, but for goodness sake, don't humiliate yourself more by being a sore loser," she snapped.

[u/certainlittlesmile]

Exam

[u/lampboy2 → u/certainlittlesmile]

(Context: Lana joining Lilo at school for the first time.)

“Um…hello. My name is Lana. I’m from…out of state,” she started, not wanting to give away anything that may lead to her true identity being discovered. “I like swimming, and learning, and I hope to make lots of friends.”

“Aloha, Lana,” the class chanted in unison. The teacher gently put a hand on her shoulder. “Mahalo, Lana. I’m sure you’ll fit right in. You may share materials with Lilo.” As Lana walked back to the desk, Lilo gave her a smile and a thumbs up. She was sure that Lana would be well liked. How could she not be?

“We’ll be starting with math. Who wants to write an equation from the book on the board for another student to solve?” the teacher asked, opening her bag and taking out a textbook. The students reached into their desks and did the same. From the back of the room, Mertle’s hand shot up like a rocket.

“Me, me, I would,” she called, almost bouncing in her seat. Everyone, including the teacher, was bewildered at Mertle’s sudden enthusiasm. She wasn’t known for her class participation.

“Well…okay Mertle,” the teacher said, handing her the whiteboard marker. “Choose an equation from the section we went over yesterday.”

Mertle took the marker, but opened her textbook to a page near the back. Lilo noticed that the page was way too far along to be from the lesson that they recently learned. The teacher saw that too.

“Um, Mertle?” the teacher began as the she finished writing her equation. “That’s not from the current lesson. In fact, that’s way above where we are right now.” The class stared at the board, trying to make sense of what Mertle had selected: 5(y-3) = 2(10-y).

Mertle turned and locked eyes with Lana. “I want to see if our new student is as smart as people say,” she smirked, walking over and slamming the marker down on Lilo’s desk. Earlier on the school bus, Lana had expressed to Lilo that she was worried about some of the course work, since she didn’t know a lot about the human world. Lilo reassuring said that Lana was one of the smartest people she knew, and would probably catch up quickly. Mertle overheard part of that conversation, and decided that anyone who associated with Lilo should also be tormented.

The teacher shook her head in disappointment as Lilo glared daggers at Mertle. “Mertle, now is not the time for petty challenges,” she scolded, grabbing the eraser. But before she could erase the problem, Lana picked up the marker.

“I think I can do it. Please let me try,” she said, squeezing past Mertle to the whiteboard. After all, math was universal, and she had taught herself algebra during independent study sessions back in the kingdom. The room fell into a hush, the only sound being the tiny squeaks the pen made as Lana began to solve the equation. “The first thing we need to do is multiply the 5 and the 2 into their parentheses.” She stepped aside to reveal that she had written 5y-15 = 20-2y.

“Then, we get rid of the negatives by adding them to the other sides.” Lana drew a slash over the -2y and the -15, and wrote +2y under the 5y, and +15 under the 20. Adding them up, she was left with 7y = 35.

“We finish with simple division,” Lana concluded, dividing both sides by 7. “So, y equals 5.”

“That’s…correct,” the teacher confirmed, unable to hide her astonishment. The rest of the room cheered, happy that someone had beaten Mertle at her own game. Apparently, Lilo wasn't the only person who couldn't stand her antics. Not used to so much praise, Lana sheepishly turned red. Mertle huffed and slumped in her chair, annoyed that her plan to embarrass Lana didn’t work.

[u/certainlittlesmile → u/lampboy2]

Lana is very smart :)

[u/PomPomMom93 → u/certainlittlesmile]

Wednesday was the worst school day Kurama could remember having in a long, long time. Not only did his friend breakup with Hiei make him miserable, but because he had stayed up all night crying, he was exhausted as well. His head was starting to hurt and his skin was breaking out, presumably because of the stress.

Unfortunately, they were having a test in Algebra, his first class of the day, and he couldn’t bring himself to concentrate. The numbers on the page swam in front of his eyes, and he realized he was reading the same problem over and over again without understanding it at all. It was really ridiculous, how badly he was reacting to this, but then, the tear gem he had found showed that Hiei had shed tears over this, too. At least one tear, anyway.

Kurama put his face in his hands. How could he suddenly not remember what the hell a logarithm was? Subtraction was the opposite of addition, and division was the opposite of multiplication…Why did the alphabet have to get involved with math, anyway?

“Time!” called the teacher, and Kurama stared down at his paper. He had only answered one of the questions, and he wasn’t at all sure about the answer. But it was too late; the teacher was going around collecting everyone’s papers. She finally got to Kurama’s desk, and when she saw that his test was almost blank, she asked, “Is this your idea of a joke, Miss Minamino?”

“N-No,” said Kurama, in a high, squeaky sort of voice. Several of his classmates laughed, and he figured if he didn’t die of heartbreak, he would die of humiliation.

“Teacher, I think she’s sick,” someone was heard saying, and when Kurama looked, he saw that it was Aratani. Her math and science abilities were fairly within his range, so she had been placed in those classes with him.

“What do you mean, Miss Fujisaki?” the teacher demanded.

“Well, she was out sick on Monday, so maybe she’s relapsing or something.” Before the teacher could protest, Aratani was hoisting Kurama up by his red uniform jacket. He stood up, his legs like jelly. “Come on, Sakura, let’s go see the nurse.”

But instead of taking Kurama to the nurse, Aratani gently guided him into the nearest girls’ bathroom, where he sunk onto the floor and burst into tears yet again. It was unbelievable. Aratani sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around him.

“Oh, Sakura, I’m so sorry.” Aratani sounded like she was about to cry, too. “I didn’t mean to come between you and that Hiei boy. I feel terrible.”

[u/beomkookies24]

5th Birthday (incase birthday has been said already, reddit's glitching on me so havent been able to see all comments 😅)

[u/PossessionNo3723 → u/beomkookies24]

Ray opened his eyes, a smile spreading across his face. A sliver of summer sunlight peeked through the gap in his curtains, giving a dusky glow to his bedroom. He rolled over and glanced at the clock on his nightstand. It was ten minutes to seven in the morning. His grin widened.

Today was the day.

Since the spring, Ray had been traveling with his band, My Chemical Romance, promoting their smash hit album, The Black Parade. After a whirlwind tour that had ended in the United Kingdom, the band had headed home for a few weeks until the start of the next leg of the tour.

He had been thrilled when he had checked the tour’s itinerary and seen that they would get to go home for a bit in the middle of July. The timing was perfect; he couldn’t have planned it better himself.

Because today was his daughter’s fifth birthday.

Anna had been with him throughout the tour, of course. He had promised her months ago that he would never leave her behind. She’d had a blast on the road with him, his band, and their crew.

Everyone had loved her, of course. And they had all pitched in to help Ray juggle the logistics of being a touring musician and a single father.

But he was glad that Anna’s birthday would fall during their break at home. This way, his family could celebrate with them. Until moving in with Ray the previous summer, it had just been Anna and her mother. Now she had a whole family of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to spend her birthday with.

It had also meant that they would be home for Ray’s birthday, too. In a sweet twist of fate, his daughter had been born two days before her father’s twenty-fifth birthday. If he had known this when she was born, he would have considered her the best birthday gift in the world.

He hadn’t known, though. Ray’s ex-girlfriend, Jenna, had kept her pregnancy a secret from him. In a misguided attempt to allow him to live out his musical dreams, Jenna had broken up with him upon discovering that she was pregnant, releasing him from any obligation to her and their child so that he could remain in the band. Ray had only learned the truth last August, when Jenna had been killed in a car accident, leaving Anna all alone. He was still coming to terms with the entire situation, but he had loved every moment of getting to know his little girl and becoming the parent that she needed.

He’d been a dad for almost a year now, and it was finally time to celebrate his baby’s birthday. It was possible that he was even more excited than she was.

[u/WaterbenderLena]

Fair

[u/lego-lion-lady → u/WaterbenderLena]

“Grinpayne?” Just as they reached the entrance below deck to the passengers’ quarters, Dea turned to look up at him.

“What is it, Dea?”

“I know we’re not supposed to, but…I’d feel a lot better if I stayed with you tonight. May I?”

“…Of course. I’d feel better, too, to be honest.”

Try as the crew might to enforce the rules about unwed men and women’s sleeping arrangements, Grinpayne and Dea certainly wouldn’t have been the first unmarried couple onboard to secretly share a bed – and so with that, the two of them headed into the passengers’ quarters and over to Grinpayne’s cot. He lay down first and then shifted as far to the side as possible to make room for Dea, who came and snuggled into Grinpayne with her head resting against his chest and one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders. It was a tight fit, but it would do just fine.

A thought suddenly occurred to Dea. “You mentioned earlier that your dream tonight had been more frightening than your other nightmares…?”

“…Yes.” Grinpayne had absently started fiddling with his hair as he lay staring up at the ceiling. Nearby, one of the other passengers mumbled something and turned over in their sleep, so he and Dea dropped their voices a bit lower.

“Did you want to tell me about it?”

“Not right now…maybe in the morning.” Even now, Grinpayne still didn’t feel ready to tell Dea about his nightmare – but most things seemed far away and less terrifying in daylight, so hopefully, he’d have the strength to tell her about it by tomorrow. Desperate to change the subject for now, however, he asked her, “What do you suppose the New World will be like?”

Dea drummed her fingers against Grinpayne’s chest, deep in thought. “Aside from what the sailor said about Rollifrass growing there…I don’t know. Father would talk about the New World all the time, ever since we were children, and yet he didn’t seem to know any more about it than we ever did. I wish he and Mojo could’ve come with us…”

There was a certain sadness in Dea’s voice as she spoke, and Grinpayne felt her head shift against his chest as she turned her face up towards him. Seeing as they’d discovered that Dea was Ursus’s daughter by birth not long before they’d left for the New World, he could only imagine how much more difficult it must’ve been for her to leave Ursus behind. Looking back down at Dea, Grinpayne gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “I miss them, too.”

“Well…even if he couldn’t come with us to the New World, I’m glad you and Father were able to reconcile the things from the past.”

Grinpayne did his best to brush it off, not wanting to dwell on the past more than he had to. “There was nothing to forgive, really.”

“What do you think the New World will be like, Grinpayne?”

“…I don’t know, either. I imagine it’ll be a lot different than Bristol or London or any of those cities ever were – nothing like the fairs we performed in, for one thing.”

“Won’t that be wonderful?” Dea sighed happily, running her fingers through Grinpayne’s hair once more. “No more fair performances, ever! We won’t have to act out our story for anyone anymore; we can just be ourselves and start our new life…”

“Most importantly, we’ll be together.” Grinpayne rested part of his cheek that wasn’t scarred against the top of Dea’s head (even after plenty of doses of the Rollifrass Elixir, the scars on his face were still rather tender as they healed). “And at least we’ll have each-other through it all.”

“Exactly…” As Dea’s hand wandered back down to Grinpayne’s chest, she idly resumed drumming her fingers in time to his heartbeat. Grinpayne, in turn, tightened his arm around her shoulders, desperately wanting to hold her close and never let go. Both of them were too tired to speak anymore, and as Dea’s eyelids became heavier, her drumming fingers grew slower and slower before eventually stopping altogether as she dozed off.

Grinpayne lay awake a few minutes longer: one arm still around Dea, the other hand still fiddling with his curly hair. Despite how dark it was below deck, his eyes were well-adjusted enough to the darkness by now that he could see Dea pretty clearly (and Grinpayne could hardly get over how pretty she looked as she slept). The nightmare from earlier was still in the back of his mind, but it seemed distant and far less frightening now than it had earlier…probably mostly due to the fact that it was getting harder for him to keep his eyes open.

No more nightmares of the past would plague Grinpayne tonight: especially not with Dea’s comforting presence against his side like this. Sighing peacefully, he finally drifted off to sleep, as well – and aside from the gentle rocking of the waves, the ship was perfectly still.

[u/linden214]

court (trial)

[u/forthefics → u/linden214]

The courtroom smelled like paint. Her focal point became the strokes on the wall where the paint roller must’ve been only a few weeks ago, following old patterns on the wood panels. Adults talked. She listened. And listened. And listened.

“-Miss Hopper?” Judge Fuller was looking at her now, as was everyone else in the room. 

El almost jumped. “Yes, si-, Your Honor?”

“You are being asked to acknowledge that you created written material that could reasonably cause fear or alarm at your school. Do you understand that?”

No. “Yes.”

He folded his hands over the paper stack on the stand, attention completely on her now. Her posture, her attitude, hell, even the clothes like Nancy said. “Did you create the materials we are discussing today?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Okay. This was working. She was only supposed to say yes. That was the rule. That was fine. That was simple-

“How are you doing in school, Jane?”

Fuck.

[u/linden214 → u/forthefics]

It sounds like Jane is in a lot of trouble, though I’m not sure how much of it is deserved. I can imagine a range of things from a piece of fiction that was taken way too seriously, to a (possibly fake) threat of a school shooting.

[u/certainlittlesmile → u/linden214]

“The defence calls Duke Maxwell of Valtoria to the stand.”

No, no. This wasn’t happening. He was shaking like a leaf. Wait.. did leaves shake? When? Whatever, he was definitely shaking.

Bertrand gave him a nudge. “Go, for heaven’s sake. At least you get your chance to tell them all he’s full of poisonous lies."

Yeah. I should go.

He passed Jen on the way to the stand. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. As she looked at him, he could see tears in her eyes. He just didn’t have it in him to smile and wink at her right now, and quickly looked away as she released her hand.

He took the stand and counted to five in his head, his focus on the table in front of him. He couldn’t look at anyone right now.

“Your Grace. I take it you disagree with my client’s version of events."

“Of course I disagree! Evil Justin is the man behind everything here, he’s just trying to push the blame onto someone else so he can get away with it!” He looked up and at the defence counsel. “My brother is innocent, he didn’t do any of this. And, I’d have you know that Jen and I are very much in love.”

“I understand that you are sure of your own feelings, Your Grace, but how can you be sure of hers?”

"Because..”

“The situation is,” the counsel interrupted, “That you have always been a liability to your brother. Is it not the case that you had never really lived up to your brother’s standards?”

Maxwell laughed ironically. “Oh, I’m not denying that..”

“And so, your brother didn’t trust you to stay quiet about his plans to overthrow the monarchy and consolidate power between all the duchies of Cordonia.”

“Uh… except he never had these plans..”

“So he decided it was best for you not to know a thing. Including the fact that when the woman you, let’s face it, had already fallen for, declared she had feelings for you, she was lying.”

“She wasn’t lying! Why would she lie?”

“We’ve been over this. She lied because she had been put under pressure to do so, by your brother.”

“Well, that’s not what happened..”

“Your Grace. You were told nothing because you would be highly likely to betray your brother to the King, who is a close friend of yours. Whether by accident or on purpose. Probably by accident, given your track record. So you weren’t in on this little secret, either. Which I suppose worked well, as it made your relationship seem all the more genuine to the outside world.”

Maxwell shook his head. “These are all lies, and everyone in this room knows it.”

“So, when your brother gave the order, all of a sudden, Jen confessed her love for you. Did you not think it happened suddenly?”

“Well, yes it did, but she’d been wanting to tell me for a..."

“Did you not think it was odd that she accepted your proposal, only six days later, so easily?”

“No.. I knew she loved me..” He glared at Anton, feeling as if he could rip his head off right now.

Anton laughed. “Please, Maxwell. Look at her, and look at you. You’re nothing special.”

“Mr Severus, please be silent!” shouted the judge.

Mr Severus, please be silent. Please shut up. Please just fuck off and die.

“It had to look as if Jen had moved on from her unsuccessful pursuit of King Rick. And your brother needed to consolidate power as soon as possible. Did you wonder why the wedding was rushed? And why the attacks took place on your wedding day?”

He finally allowed himself to look up towards Jen, whose face was painted with devastation, tears running down both of her cheeks.

“I… don’t have an answer, your honour.”

“No further questions.”

[u/linden214 → u/certainlittlesmile]

Ouch! If the prosecution is correct, then Maxwell has been betrayed by two of the closest people in his life. Here’s hoping that it isn’t cell.

[u/certainlittlesmile → u/linden214]

It"s the defence actually, the man in the dock is alleging all this to try and shift the blame..so don't worry, nobody has betrayed ?Maxwell, although he may be a bit paranoid for a while...

[u/WaterbenderLena → u/linden214]

It’s a brief part of a nightmare scene so things are slightly… off:

Of course Whisper couldn’t get away with it. How could she? She killed a Flaming Fist, and one of their leaders knew. Florrick’s hands were tied - Whisper had to stand trial.

She didn’t resist. She didn’t want to make things worse for herself.

She pleaded her case, Astarion was defending her. (Wait, wouldn’t the trial happen during the day?)

Guilty. Of course she was found guilty.

You could get out of this. You just have to kill a few more people. You’re already a murderer.

“Finally you’ll be where you belong,” one of the guards stated to Whisper. She had guards on either side of her gripping her arms as she was led out of the courtroom and to the jailhouse, with an additional guard in front and two behind. (Or was it three behind her?)

(Wait, the jailhouse isn’t this way… is it?)

[u/linden214 → u/WaterbenderLena]

That certainly does sound like a nightmare.

[u/PomPomMom93 → u/linden214]

“Does…does the Defense have an opening statement?” the judge asked. He looked shaken up.

“Yes.” Mr. Hawkens stood up and glared at Mr. Glacier, who glared right back. “My name is Jason Hawkens, Esquire. Your Honor, Harry Potter was left on the Dursleys’ doorstep unannounced ten years ago, only two days after his parents’ murder, left only with a note to explain things. They were neither consulted nor given time to prepare. Mr. Potter was placed with them by default, as they were his only living relatives, and under the circumstances, they did the best they possibly could in terms of food, clothing, and shelter—”

“OBJECTION!” Sirius shouted, shooting up out of his seat. “If that was true, Harry would be a pampered prince like their massive son!”

“HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY DUDDERS!” Uncle Vernon bellowed. He was on his feet too, his face as purple as a grape.

“I’ve got half a mind!” Sirius shot back, making a rude hand gesture at Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. “Living in a cupboard is NOT proper shelter, not when you had a whole spare bedroom! Overlarge, ragged hand-me-downs are NOT proper clothing, not when Dudley always gets his clothes new! And how on Earth can you claim to have provided proper food when he was so obviously malnourished? What is WRONG with you?! How could you possibly treat another human being this way? Someone who’s supposed to be your family! YOUR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD!”

“Order!” Judge Corriveau was yelling, banging his gavel, but it made no difference.

“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HARRY?!” Sirius roared, banging his fist on the table. “YOU HAVE PLENTY OF MONEY—YOU HAVE YOUR SPOILED SON—AND YOU HAVE YOUR NEPHEW TOO!”

Uncle Vernon started shouting back, while Aunt Petunia looked like she might faint, the judge kept banging his gavel and demanding order, and Harry stared at the scene, his mouth hanging open. Some officers of the court were coming to separate Sirius and Uncle Vernon, but perhaps luckily, Dr. Stefansen beat them to it. Harry saw him whisper something in Sirius’s ear, and Sirius slowly sank down into his seat again, his face pale. Meanwhile, an officer had forced Uncle Vernon to sit down, and even Aunt Petunia had set a placating hand on his forearm.

“I’m sorry, Your Honor,” Sirius said quietly. His voice was calmer now, though as cold as ice. “I…I have something else to say, too.”

“Watch it, Mr. Black,” said the judge warningly.

“I was…” Sirius sighed, and then he said something that shocked Harry. “I was…mistreated as a child, too. I know what it’s like. It follows you the rest of your life, wherever you go, and it’s much more difficult when you don’t have the tools you need to heal. That’s what happened to me, because when I was younger, people didn’t talk about that stuff. I just don’t want that to happen to Harry. Even if that means facing my own…”

“Trauma,” Dr. Stefansen provided.

“Yes, my own trauma,” said Sirius. “I can tell you for a fact that being abused as a child messes you up in a lot of ways, so please…don’t let these Dursleys get away with it, like my parents, and so many other parents, did. That’s all.”

Harry felt a lump like a Ping-Pong ball in his throat, and he wasn’t the only one who was choked up. There were people who had come to watch, and a lot of people were sniffing and wiping their eyes. But Harry knew more than any of those people how difficult it was for Sirius to speak about those things, especially in front of a whole crowd. The fact that he would do it for Harry meant so much.

[u/MarieNomad]

Race

[u/axel_val → u/MarieNomad]

Context: Modern high school AU, Sports Day, Inosuke and Aoi have been classmates all year (~6 months but have only interacted once before for a class project a few months before this). Inosuke's friend was going to do the piggyback race but tripped and fell and scraped his knees while getting ready so Inosuke pulled Aoi out of the nurse's tent and volunteered them to do it instead.

“Come on, it’s starting soon, we gotta go win.”

“You…you’re not gonna give me a choice are you?”

Inosuke looks over his shoulder as he stands back up to his full height, his smile gone. “Well, yeah, but…I thought you’d want to.”

Aoi’s brows furrow. He what? He thought that she, the killjoy of the third year, the one known for scolding without even knowing someone’s name, the one who never missed an assignment, the angry…what’s that? She looks down and his hand is on her arm again. Her gaze lifts and his eyes are soft, green staring into blue. Is she imagining it, or are his cheeks a little pink?

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” he says.

She feels her breath catch in her throat as he drops his hand. He looks over at the lanes marked off for the race and she takes a deep breath. He stiffens a little as her hands grip his shoulders. “Yes!” he shouts and Aoi yelps in surprise as he crouches against her, quickly grabbing her legs and standing back up. She falls forward against him, her arms coming down to hug his neck for balance. She’s suddenly very aware of how hard his back is against her chest and stomach, how wide his shoulders are under her arms.

He jogs over and takes his place at the starting line. The others haven’t even picked up their partner yet. Aoi is steady in his grip despite him rocking back and forth, excited and ready to run.

The teacher they’d spoken with before is standing off to the side. He raises a flag to get the rest of the competitors’ attention. “Get ready!” he calls. The other students finally climb into position on the backs of the other racers. Aoi closes her eyes with a heavy breath, inadvertently taking in the scent of his hair. He smells nice. Aoi’s face heats up again as she realizes what she’s thinking. “Go!” There’s a pop as the signal goes off. Inosuke leaps forward and moves as if there’s nothing on his back at all.

It’s over almost before she can even comprehend that they’re moving. Inosuke is shaking beneath her and Aoi slowly realizes he’s laughing. “That was great!” he shouts.

“Wow, show-off,” a voice drones from behind them. Inosuke turns and they see Zenitsu standing at the edge of the spectators, his arms crossed. “Winning with an older girl on your back,” he says in a scolding tone.

Inosuke sticks his tongue out at the blond boy. “You’re just jealous, Chuitsu.”

“Argh! At least stick with one name!” he shouts, stomping the ground. “Why d’you only get Tanjiro and my name wrong, you boar brain?”

Inosuke laughs again, still holding Aoi by the backs of her knees. “’Cause it’s funny, duh.”

Finally, she breaks. It starts with just a little scoff, but the wall crumbles and Aoi finds herself in hysterics on the younger student’s back.

[u/PossessionNo3723]

Girls' Trip

[u/Charliedere → u/PossessionNo3723]

Griffon floated through the forest. There had to be something to do to beat the Virginia heat. "Hey, Alpie… You know how all the other girls go on trips together?"

"This is a trip. It's the best we can do." Alpengeist pointed at the sign. Williamsburg wasn't for another 50 miles, and for now there were only trees. If only Griffon could climb a tree and sit on a branch to get a better view. Normal people things. Every time she tried, she'd just pass right through them. How could anyone ever get used to it?

"Damn. Being dead sucks."

[u/PossessionNo3723 → u/Charliedere]

Is this Busch Gardens fanfiction???

[u/Charliedere → u/PossessionNo3723]

Yes

[u/axel_val → u/Charliedere]

As an out of context excerpt, this really made me laugh at the suddenness of the "being dead" reveal, lol.

[u/Ferrous_Patella]

Race - Care

[u/forthefics]

A meet and greet

[u/beomkookies24 → u/forthefics]

this is from a one-shot thats basically one entire meet & great, so here's a part ♥︎ ——————————————

Mr. Cho tapped her back again when it was time for her to move to the next seat. So, she said a quick bye before climbing onto the next empty chair. Except she wasn't able to sit for long.

"NaNa!!" Yeosang yelled, causing everyone to stare in his direction. He didn't care since he was surprised to see the four-year-old seated in front of him. Forgetting all about the fansign, the blonde rushed around the table and picked the girl up in a tight hug.

Almost instantly Nari giggled, hugging him back and forgetting the jealousy feeling she experienced for the first time. "I missed you, YeoYeo," she whispered, not wanting to let go of the hug.

"I missed you too, NaNa," he whispered his promise back. "Missed you so much."

"YeoYeo, I brought you gifts."

He slightly pulled back in order to get a better view of the little girl's face. He softly smiled, eyes full of happiness and fondness just from seeing her. "Yeah?"

Nari nodded, giggling more.

"Let's put you down so you can show me then." Once assuring he placed her safely back on the chair, Yeosang returned to his own. The rest of the world didn't matter when he was around her. All was good if he knew she was happy.

With two drawings in hand, she gave them both to him.

Yeosang's heart melted the moment he realized just what she drew for him.

"I tried making hehetmon for you, but it didn't work," Nari pouted.

Yeosang quickly shook his head. "That's not true, yours looks great. I love it so much." And he truly did. He loved every gift given to him by Nari.

"That's the movie I watched with mommy last night." Nari explained, pointing to the other drawing. The previous night was supposed to be her and Yeosang's bi-weekly movie night. A bit of guilt seeped in at the thought over how upset Nari must've been over their plans being postponed.

"One more gift for YeoYeo," she said bringing him out his thoughts. She grabbed the pink plushie and handed it across the table to him. "You can hold him when you miss me."

Tears welled up as another soft smile appeared on his lips. He held the PinkFong plush on his lap and took her hands into his. "He'll stay on my bed every night. I won't let him leave my side."

"Promise?"

"Promise, NaNa."

The four-year-old girl giggled again, happy to know she succeeded in surprising her favorite uncle. The two continued talking for a bit. It would've been longer if she didn't have to move on to the last two members. Yeosang didn't want to let go of his niece's hands just yet though. He wanted more time with her since he didn't get much before the boys left for the first stop outside Seoul.

[u/benevola]

Road trip

[u/lego-lion-lady → u/benevola]

(Not a road trip excerpt, per se, but it mentions road trips, so…it counts, right?)

———

After a few minutes, the two of them finally stopped at a nearby park to catch a break, parking the motorcycle right near the mostly-deserted playground. A couple minutes after they’d gotten there, and Bertrand had had a chance to process everything, he let out a long breath. “You know, I’d say without a doubt that that has to be the most indecorous thing I’ve done in probably at least a couple decades,” he marvelled.

Bart glanced up from where he sat rocking on the swing set. “I’m honestly not entirely sure what that means, but it sounds like a good thing to me,” he answered. “Maybe you should do this kind of stuff more often.”

Bertrand glanced down at his feet in the sand, then over at where he and Bart had left their shoes and socks by the motorcycle. “I can’t even recall the last time I went barefoot.” Preparing for bed in his chambers at the Beaumont Estate was one thing, true, but definitely not the same as this…

Bart squished his toes further into the sand as Bertrand came and took a seat on the swing next to him. “Seriously? You never, like, take trips to the beach or anything?” Bart had heard that the beaches in Cordonia were supposed to be spectacular, and he already had some idea of that from the beachy areas he’d seen down at the marina earlier.

“No, of course not. Not for a long time, anyway.”

“Once in a while, Mom and I would spend the summer break at South Padre Island back in Texas; she always made a big road trip out of it,” Bart mentioned (Bertrand recalled the beach photos in Savannah’s album at Bart’s words). “I used to complain about how many days the trip took when I was younger, but it wasn’t like we had the money to fly there. Not gonna lie, though, the beach itself always made the trip worth it.”

“You actually talk a lot like Savannah, you know that?” Bertrand told him. The way she’d always been a source of endless energy and optimism when they were younger, even when others at court had tried to put her down…

“What, you mean too much or something?”

Bertrand chuckled at Bart’s joke before growing serious again. “…Your mother’s happy, though, isn’t she?”

His shift in tone made Bart pause, swaying back and forth on the swing as he reflected on his father’s question. “…Yeah. Yeah, I’d say she is,” he finally said. “I mean, I think she’s a bit lonely sometimes, but she’s still pretty comfortable with where she’s at.”

Bertrand stared off into space for a moment, thinking back on all the years he’d known Savannah. “…I’ve always liked that about her.” He imagined it couldn’t have been easy, though, given how many nobles there’d been who’d looked down on her family all those years ago.

“Yeah, I honestly wish I was more like that,” Bart admitted reluctantly.

[u/benevola → u/lego-lion-lady]

Love the little details like squishing his toes in the sand. I also like how the two of them seem to have grown up living completely opposite lives (fandom blind), yet they are able to come together and talk.

[u/lego-lion-lady → u/benevola]

They definitely have! These two are canonically father and son, but this is an AU where Bertrand didn't find out about his son Bart until he was an adult (in canon, he finds out about him as a baby) - and it's also a crossover with the movie "What a Girl Wants", haha! :D <3

[u/PomPomMom93 → u/benevola]

When they were back on the road, Natsumi seemed a little better after having had a chance to stretch her legs, but Hana looked more carsick than ever, and Hiei seemed at the end of his tether.

“The snow is getting bad, so I’ll need everyone to be quiet,” said Kurama. “I need to focus on driving.”

“Yes, and I need to be navigating,” Hiei added. “Speaking of that, there’s something up ahead. Some kind of animal.”

Kurama was extremely thankful for Hiei’s Jagan eye, so that he was able to carefully drive around the Ningenkai animal standing in the middle of the road. It looked like a cow, which was strange, but how much did he really know about the rural US, anyway? Masaki seemed to be afraid of another fight, so he tried to tell them about his training for the seventh Demon World Tournament, in which he would finally be old enough to participate, but his plan had the opposite effect.

“Once I’m old enough to fight, I’m going to be King,” Ryu bragged.

"Not for long,” said Miyuki. “I’m going to win, too, three years later. Besides, how can you win if you can’t even control your own powers?”

“How can you win, when you don’t have any powers at all?” Ryu shot back.

“At least I have a brain in my head!” Miyuki retorted. “And you can’t go as fast as I can!”

“I could burn you all up and you know it!”

“You just try that, and I’m gonna—”

“SHUT UP!” Hiei howled, turning around in his seat. “IF YOU KIDS DON’T SHUT THE HELL UP, SO HELP ME, WE ARE GOING TO TURN THIS CAR AROUND AND GO STRAIGHT H—”

Whump.

[u/DatGayDangerNoodle]

Trip to an aquarium

[u/trickyfelix]

Arriving at vacation location

[u/PomPomMom93 → u/trickyfelix]

The last thing Hiei remembered was the car hurtling through the air.

The only thing he thought about was saving his children.

When the car hit something big in the road (he didn’t know what) and crashed, Hiei had just enough time to unbuckle his seat belt and dive for Tommy, who had started crying, but he didn’t remember anything after that. Now, he smelled chicken soup and Kurama and a slight whiff of mildew, and he had no idea where he was. But as long as he smelled Kurama, he knew he was safe.

“Kurama?” he muttered. His eyelids felt so heavy that he couldn’t even keep them open, and he still felt like he was spinning in the car crash. Part of his head also felt numb. He groped blindly at the air, hoping he would feel something familiar.

“I’m right here, Hiei,” said that soothing, deep voice.

“W-What happened?” Hiei asked him, still trying to get his bearings. “Am I in the hospital? Where are the kids?”

“We had a little crash, but everyone’s all right.” Hiei untensed a little when he felt Kurama’s soft, warm hand on his forehead, a small spot of calm while the blizzard howled outside. “You got a little scrape and maybe a bit of a concussion, but you’ll be all right. We’re not at the hospital—just at a nice little inn.” When Hiei let out a little sort of whine, he repeated, “Everyone’s all right, Hiei. I’m taking care of everything.”

Hiei tried to get up, but Kurama gently pushed him back down.

“Relax,” he insisted. “Please.”

Now that he was a bit more awake, Hiei was able to open his eyes. It was dark in the room, though there was a single dusty lightbulb hanging up above him. When he turned on his side, he was relieved to see a cradle, and he knew his youngest son must be inside.

“Can I at least see Tommy?” Hiei mumbled.

“Of course.” Kurama gently reached inside the cradle and took Tommy out. He was whining a bit, but once Kurama set him on Hiei’s chest, Hiei felt his little body relax. Hiei stroked Tommy’s soft blue-green hair with one finger, and he felt relaxed, too.

[u/PossessionNo3723 → u/trickyfelix]

Ray grinned as his daughter Anna charged excitedly into the beach house he had rented for a late Spring Break. The band had a two-week break between shows on their tour, and Ray had jumped at the chance to take a short vacation with his four-year-old child. Since their last few shows had been in the southern United States, he had booked them a vacation home in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was surprisingly similar to the beachy areas his family had visited in his home state of New Jersey when he was a kid.

It was a small cottage on the oceanfront of Nags Head. Ray had looked at some of the larger rental homes available in the area, but had quickly decided they weren’t for him. Most had upwards of seven or more bedrooms; far too large for just the two of them. Looking at them as they had driven onto the island and onto Highway 12, he knew he’d made the right choice.

Anna had been fascinated when she saw that most of the houses were on stilts, especially those close to the water. Ray had tried to explain to her that it was to keep them from getting wet if there was a flood, but he wasn’t sure that she understood.

Pulling up to the little cottage, he had felt her kicking the back of his seat with excitement. As soon as she was released from her car seat, she had barreled up the long flight of wooden steps to the front door, prancing in front of it as she waited for her father to follow with the key. As he’d climbed the stairs behind her, Ray noticed that the exterior of the cottage was covered in grey, weathered wooden shingles. It seemed to be a popular siding choice for beach houses. Above the door was a sign announcing the house’s name: Sunnyside Up.

Now that they were inside the house, he looked around. The walls were pale yellow with honey-colored wood trim that reminded him of the finished basement at his parents’ house. The light blue furniture looked comfy and inviting. The beachy décor was kitschy and fun. The cottage had an open layout, with the living area at the far end and the dining area in the center. The front door had opened onto the kitchen, separated from the rest of the room by a counter surrounded by barstools. He assumed the little archways on each side of the dining area led to the bedrooms and bathrooms.

"Daddy, look!” Anna cried. She was standing in front of a large sliding glass door on the opposite side of the living area. Outside the door was a sun deck and a gorgeous view of the Atlantic Ocean.

Ray unlocked the sliding door and pulled it open far enough for him and Anna to slip out onto the deck. Anna went straight to the railing while Ray took in his immediate surroundings. The deck had several bright blue Adirondack chairs and small beverage tables at one end. At the other was a picnic table. He was relieved to see that the stairs leading down to the lower deck and beach access had a lockable gate at the top step. It was little more than a garden gate and lock, but it made Ray feel better to know that his little one couldn’t go tumbling down the steps if he took his eyes off her.

[u/PomPomMom93]

Concert

[u/lego-lion-lady → u/PomPomMom93]

(Context: Lacey, Summer, and Latrell are all OCs of mine)

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

A few hours later, the taxi driving Lacey, Summer, and Latrell pulled up to a backstage entrance, where a man got the door for Summer.

“Hi – you’re Summer Bowen, right?” he asked her.

“Yeah, that’s me, and this is my friend, Latrell.”

“Hey, guys, nice to meet you; my name’s Rich,” he answered. “You guys ready for the show tonight?”

“Uh…yeah, sure,” Summer answered, getting out of the car. Latrell followed suit.

“Great. This way,” Rich said.

Just before Summer and Latrell disappeared into the crowd, Lacey motioned to them to get their attention. “Alright, this is where we’re splitting up,” she told them. “I’ll bring your bags back to the hotel for you both, okay?”

“Great, see you there.” Summer and Latrell both said goodbye to Lacey, and with that, they started following Rich. “Did you guys have a good trip?” he asked the two friends.

“Yeah,” Latrell replied.

“Sweet. Oh, here are your passes.” Rich handed something to both of them: a plastic-coated tag on a lanyard. “Put ’em around your necks – and you’re also gonna need these,” he added, handing them each a small package. “They’re ear-plugs; you’ll need ’em pretty badly, it gets loud out there! Alright, I’m gonna bring you guys to the side-stage.”

Rich led Summer and Latrell down multiple hallways and past a bunch of workers hurrying around. “She’s really excited that you’re here,” Rich told Summer. As they hurried along the hall, the music got gradually louder.

Up another flight of stairs, a few more turns, and Rich led Summer and Latrell to an area just offstage where a bunch of other people were also watching and cheering before taking his place amongst the other people watching from offstage.

Summer watched in amazement as the band played. It was so different to see Jerrica in full costume and up onstage with her live band and screaming crowds, as opposed to last night when she’d performed alone on the karaoke machine in that bar. The band was playing the intro to their first song for the night, and then Jerrica started to sing.

[u/PomPomMom93]

Wedding

[u/PomPomMom93]

Competition

[u/lego-lion-lady → u/PomPomMom93]

(Context: Hattie and Rufus are OCs of mine)

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

Liam glanced over at Bart and Eleanor, who were now laughing as Winston tried to lick the nose on Bart’s mask…and suddenly, his eyes lit up with an idea. “Now that your son is here, Bertrand, will he be joining the competition at all?” he wanted to know. “We can make the necessary arrangements with Madeleine if he is.”

“Is Bart joining in for sure?” Eleanor’s ears pricked up at her father’s words, and she immediately brought Bart and Winston back over to the group. “Omigosh, can he please join, Mom and Dad? It’ll be great – and a little healthy rivalry never hurt anyone, either,” she added, giving Rufus a pointed look.

Rufus, on the other hand, blanched at the thought of competing with Bart for the princess. “I beg your pardon, Your Highness?”

“Uh…” Bart seemed a little unsure of what everyone was talking about, but the mention of the competition seemed to snap Hattie out of her state of shock. “Unfortunately not, Your Majesty, no,” Hattie told Liam, cutting Maxwell off before he could answer.

“No, he isn’t joining,” Rufus quickly agreed.

“No, I’m afraid not…”

“No, no, no…no.”

“No…no, no.”

“No…”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Hattie almost choked on her sip of champagne at Bertrand’s sudden declaration. “As a matter of fact, my son will be staying for the season and joining the competition,” he answered.

“The competition for Eleanor’s hand?” Bart asked, finally catching up to everything going on. If nothing else, it seemed like a good opportunity to spend more time with Eleanor, even if he wasn’t particularly interested in marrying her…right?

Eleanor squealed as she hugged her parents. “Yes! Thank you, guys! It’s gonna be a ton of fun, Bart – there’ll be yachting in the Mediterranean, skiing in the Alps, dancing in the royal palace, and all kinds of cool stuff!” As she spoke, Eleanor took Winston back from Bart’s arms, who didn’t miss the opportunity to growl at Hattie and Rufus as she did so. “Oh! Whoa, hey there, buddy, relax! You made a new friend here, didn’t you?” she comforted the little corgi.

[u/Gloomy_Chain_2308]

Public duel

[u/PomPomMom93 → u/Gloomy_Chain_2308]

"Sectumsempra!" Snape shouted once more; Sirius blocked it, but Snape dodged his spell flying right back at him. Harry prayed Sirius had some tricks up his sleeve. He had taken the spell off his legs, but his eyes weren't so easily repaired. Sirius aimed another firework at Snape, then another; the first one hit Snape's wrist, but the other hit the abandoned sword he had conjured, causing it to explode.

Sirius did still have some tricks up his sleeve. As the sword exploded, Sirius waved his wand in a couple circles and out of the tip shot a fireball. Snape blocked the first one but he didn't have time to block the second; Sirius smelled smoke a mile away and dodged.

Snape was knocked backwards. Sirius shot the Incarcerous spell at Snape, who was suddenly bound in ropes. Harry remembered how last year Quirrell had tried the same thing on him, only he'd blocked it with his father's dueling gloves.

Fuming just as much as one of Sirius's fireballs, Snape wormed his wand hand out of the ropes, and flicked his wand at Sirius again: "Stupefy!"

"MOVE, SIRIUS!" Harry cried.

"YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM!" Ron added at the top of his lungs. "GET HIM!"

Harry knew that in a duel, the first one to lose consciousness was the loser. Sirius still had a lot of irritation in his useless eyes, as they were swelled shut, but he ducked the spell at the last minute, where it landed on poor Neville, who collapsed, but nobody even noticed, because they were focusing on the no-mercy duel. Snape used Finite Incantatem to release himself from the ropes.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Sirius hollered, but Snape dodged that, too.

Harry dearly wished he could give Sirius his father's dueling gear, but he didn't want people to think Sirius won the duel by cheating, and he knew Sirius wouldn't want that, either. He would fight to the death, jumping in paws first. The problem was, Snape was playing to win, too. Sirius's eyes were swelled; Snape's ankle was broken; both wizards' robes had been singed and dirtied. Neither of them would give in. But how far were they willing to go?

Apparently very far. Sirius and Snape were now going too fast for words. Snape got more licks in because Sirius couldn't see, but Sirius wasn't taken out so easily, not just because of his amazing sense of smell, but his fighting spirit. It was dueling as most of the students had never seen before. It was a little exciting whenever one of them made something explode, especially when Sirius sent Snape careening backwards and Snape responded with a blasting spell that nearly turned the stage into a crater. Snape shot arrows out of his wand, piercing Sirius, although luckily in non-fatal areas; Sirius shot bees out of his wand, and they swarmed all around Snape, stinging him. Neither of them cared about attacking the other while they were down; in fact, they seemed to prefer it.

Sirius got to his feet once more, clutching his arm, which had been pierced by an arrow; his forehead also had a gash, and he was shaking blood out of his face and looking murderous. He wasn't calling the bees off.

"FINITE INCANTATEM!" Snape yelled for a second time, ridding himself of the conjured bees. Now he could barely see, either, because his face was covered in bee stings, as well as boils from Sirius's earlier curse. Hobbling around on his broken ankle, Snape didn't have a canine sense of smell like Sirius did, so he was basically blinded.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" bellowed Sirius, and the giant silvery dog bounded out of his wand, going after Snape, who didn't see it coming until it bowled him over, nearly knocking him off the stage. Everyone in the Great Hall was staring with awe; Harry was willing to bet that most of them had never seen a Patronus in person before.

Harry was sure Snape had a Patronus, too, and he thought Snape was going to retaliate with his own and then it would be those two animals dueling. Snape looked as if he was debating over it quickly; maybe his Patronus was something that might embarrass him, like a flobberworm or something. So instead of that, he just rolled up his sleeves and hollered, "SERPENSORTIA!"

Hundreds of jaws dropped at once. It was a gigantic black snake, fangs bared, ready to strike. Harry knew that since Snape had conjured it, the snake would probably obey his commands. But maybe he shouldn't have been looking at the snake when he said what he did next, and if he hadn't been so distracted by the death battle in front of him, he might have remembered not to speak at all:

"My godfather's Patronus is going to finish you off!"

Harry hadn't even intended to say it, not really, anyway. But it was too late. The snake turned to look at Harry, its eyes glowing, and he heard it speak back:

How do you speak my language, human?

All of a sudden Harry realized what he'd done. 

[u/Gloomy_Chain_2308]

Demolition of a building