#they're so!!!!!

[ohnomalora]

EarthMix - Only Friends Dream On ep. 1 premiere

[helenofblackthorns]

does anyone else ever think about how in cohf Magnus refers to Jace, Clary, Izzy and Simon as Alec's friends and says that he just puts up with them for Alec. does anyone think about how later in qoaad at their wedding Magnus refers to them as "their closest friends"??? because I think about it a lot

[igotcursed]

the worst crime of the twenty-first century is that betty suarez and daniel meade did not kiss on screen

[cebwrites]

"captain" (how heavy is your title)

a/n: why is it so god damn hair to find gifs of pre-ts shikamaru my GOD gifsearch on this site has gone down the drain 😭

oc | gen word count: 1.3k

At some point during the timeskip, Shikamaru's put on a three-man team with Tae as their jonin captain, he's a genius but still lacks experience after all. The other two members of their temporary team feel bad for the kid and give their consolations quietly away from Tae before the mission starts.

Shikamaru finds out later that this is apparently because their captain has apparent bad blood with Shikaku. He's understanding to a degree, but whatever his father did really doesn't have anything to do with him, and he's understandably frustrated.

Regardless, the mission proceeds as intended, if not a little awkward at times.

When they get a moment to rest, Shikamaru approaches Taeru and asks if it's really such a hassle to work with him. Tae agrees for a moment, but follows this by saying that it has more to do with the fact that the higherups agreed to send a kid on an S-rank mission, genius prodigy or not. He's irked at the fact that they're throwing Shikamaru into the deep end immediately, and so soon after their failure to bring back Sasuke, too.

Tae then talks a little louder to say that he wouldn't begrudge someone for something as petty as their parents' faults, enough for the other two to hear and stiffen as they roasted fish over the fire.

Shikamaru gets to have a moment alone with his captain later on when, while on watch, Tae notices him tossing and turning in his sleeping back, unable to catch a proper wink of rest. The older man humors his junior by talking about the first mission he was sent on when he made chunin, Shikamaru complains at first but he eventually pipes down to listen. It didn't seem like Tae was going to stop talking, anyway.

The mission was a disaster waiting to happen. Tae's subordinates were all older and more experienced than him, scoffing at the fact that they had to take orders from a twelve year old. While the younger two eventually came around when Tae had a chance to show his capabilities and how reliable he was as a leader, a boy and a girl in their late teens, the eldest remained stuck in his ways - a man in his early twenties who hated the idea of being bossed around by some shrimp regardless of rank.

His stubbornness lead to an injury that lost him a leg and put an end to the man's shinobi career.

At the Hokage's office upon return, Tae was berated viciously by his wife. She spared no expense about how it was terrible to put her husband's life in the hands of some snot-nosed kid in the first place, lamenting that they had a newborn at home and now they had no way to support their family so how was he going to take responsibility for his actions?

Tae remained expressionless throughout her tirade, nothing out of the ordinary, though the only thing he could offer was his apologies - going as far to get down and prostrate for his failure as a leader. The two remaining members from their team came running in just as things started to heat up, begging to explain their sides of the story and come to their captain's defense.

It was right that they did, considering the way Tae felt Genma's chakra started to churn when his subordinate's wife lifted her foot in an attempt to stomp on his head while prone. If Lord Third and the accompanying Hokage guard noticed it too, they made no comment.

With the commotion dying down and mission reports fully filed away, Tae was dismissed. So was Shiranui, apparently, his shift was picked up by a young Iwashi since he was told to blow off some steam before he could come back.

Genma spends that time trying to cheer Tae up. When Tae brought up that he didn't have to go so far as to let his killing intent seep through, and luckily the man's wife was too far away to notice, Genma scoffed. Ruffling the boy's hair, he'd say that there's no way anyone would watch their kid brother get treated like that and not get mad.

Their little moment gets interrupted by the other chunin put under Tae's care for that mission. They're only a little older than Genma, but he levels a warning glare at them too, standing between them and his brother - Tae's been through enough today.

When they clarify that they're here to apologize on behalf of the third member and his wife, Gen's still skeptical, but Tae steps to the side to hear them out. They're out of breath and stumbling through their words a bit, but the point gets across; conveniently leaving out the screaming match they had at the hospital with the wife that morning.

Though the connection is still frayed, they say that he wants to meet up in person to apologize if Tae was willing to give a jerk like him the time of day.

Shikamaru asks if they managed to smooth things out and Tae nods, watching the sun slowly start to creep over the horizon and faintly register the chakra signatures of their other team mates waking up. Ah shit, they hadn't slept yet. The other two would have to cover them and gather information in town today instead.

Hopefully they'd take their time.

Shikamaru's next question comes paired with a yawn, inquiring if they were still friends after everything. Tae's quiet for a moment, still staring off onto the horizon, before he tells the young chunin that though he smoothed things over with the older nin, his peers closer in age died in the line of duty some time later under different captains.

The boy's lax posture tenses immediately, Shikamaru actually covers his mouth as his sleepy gesture turns into a cough, then clearing his throat, and finally; a quiet apology.

Tae's rebuttal comes easily, like he's had this conversation many times before. The life of a shinobi was tied inextricably to death - whether the blood on one's hands belong to enemy nin, the painful passing of a fallen comrade, or their own. It was unavoidable in this line of work, most people in it were aware; others painfully so.

But the casual way his temporary captain speaks of his former comrades in passing sends a chill up Shikamaru's spine, knocking the sleep from his mind. He was restless before, but he was sure he wouldn't be able to get to bed now.

Upon their return to Konoha, things settle back into their regular rhythm; though with the addition of Taeru popping in semi-regularly to ask Shikamaru to pass on miscellaneous documents to his father. Shikamaru knows there's something going on underneath the surface, but he respects Tae enough not to pry directly. As for his dad? Well, Shikaku never really was good about being up front about those kinds of things anyway, always finding one excuse or another to slip out of the conversation.

The only thing he'd gotten out of his dad was a surprised look when he asked Shikamaru when he'd gotten so close to a jonin from Ibiki's task force, then a withering response about how Shikaku had work to attend when Shikamaru started to prod for details, considering his dad worked for T&I too. Man, his old man was such a drag sometimes.

The sinking feeling of Tae's words stick with him for a while, though Shikamaru wouldn't really learn the full scope of his grief until Asuma's death years later - he remembers how everyone just barely defeated the Sound Four with their lives in tact - but sometimes, he'd see Taeru talk to an older man running a soba shop near the Nara district and spar with a kid that could feasibly be around the same age as him.

The clouds in his mind begin to part.

[softest-punk]

"And you would take this task upon yourself?" Dream asks, gaze falling on Hob, now, as though seeing him for the first time. "Thankless though it may be?"

=

"I'll take care of you."

"It's rotten work."

"Not to me. Not if it's you."

Busted dragging out the Orestes/Pylades vibes for Dream/Hob but consider: they fit SO well.

Beware of becoming a partner in my madness.

Let that pass.

You will not hesitate?

No, for hesitation is a grave ill among friends.

T H E M

[agentsnickers]

i love the buckley siblings with my whole entire being

[nukiiszn]

i hated his kind. they killed my son. call it prejudice, but i'd rather kill myself than work with one.

unfortunately, i got the absolute displeasure of being introduced to one that was specially customized, just for me.

and along with displeasure, he brought me fear and denial.

the very idea of tolerating him alongside my already rotting dead end job was loathful. but it felt like a shot through my heart too, every bullet that went through him.

he was supposed to be dead. i was supposed to leave him behind within that first bloody robot corpse. but he came back, every single goddamn time.

unlike my son ever could.

he came back right when i felt i could move past the strange unforeseen sorrow watching him clatter to the ground with a dull thump.

his eyes that were already without life drained, puddles of blue drenching his coat. and the sight burned into my brain like a tattoo, over and over again.

you know, i was probably supposed to feel happy when he came back. but i wanted to see him die again. by my own hands. maybe he'd finally die then. maybe my mind would finally burn alive too.

he comes back like nothing ever happened. and it was i who carried the burden, the terror, the fear, the failure of not having saved him every fucking time.

he smiled at me. he was programmed to. and i knew he would never become the human boy i ached for him to be. the son i never had.

"shall we continue with the mission, lieutenant?"