YESSS the heat & rut fic was perfect, im so glad you see my vision. now how about some abo angst as a treat >:)
so reader has been on the hail mary for a while and is adjusted. theyâre close with everyone and at the point of calling the guys dad and pa. one day, theyâre being a bit of a menace/danger to themselves somehow (whether it be messing around with tools/equipment, maybe not taking proper care of themselves and refusing to sleep, etc) and wonât listen to simon, grace, or rocky. simon gets fed up watching his pup needlessly risk their health while his omega is trying to hide his distress, and decides enough is enough. with the best intentions he scruffs his pup to bring them to the nest.
however as youâve said - asora was not a kind place and readerâs family would dole out unnecessary punishments. i can see scruffing being used, especially to drag them to the closet while preventing them from fighting back. so reader PANICS. even though they know simon is safe and would never do something like that, scruffing has only been used against them to hurt them.
neither simon or grace expected this reaction - grace immediately is trying to calm reader down while simon is internally freaking out. eventually when everyone is settled, both reader and simon feel so guilty, reader for their body not trusting their pa and simon for hurting his pup. cue comfort and affection in the nest <3
this ended up being way longer than i meant but i simply have so many thoughts i canât help it!!! as always, your writing is peak, thank you for feeding us well đ«¶
Uggggh bro I always love your ideas!! Youâre so good at describing everything, itâs incredibly cool. Thank you for the kind words, I try!
All yaâll just love putting Reader through the wringer also. I get more angst -> fluff asks than anything else. I obviously donât have a problem with that! I find it very funny honestly lmao.
Ask and ye shall receive!
Project Hail Mary x Iron Lung x Reader (platonic!)
Reader is twenty, Simon is late thirties, Grace is early forties, Rocky is an old ass rock!
TW: references to past abuse, panic attacks, angst.
âThat kid never takes a break, huh?â Simon and Grace stood in the doorway to what had become the general communal area in the ship, watching you pick up the 50th interest that week. It had gone from the hibernation habits of mammals, to how crystals formed, to how houses were constructed. Rocky sat with you as you glued together flat pieces of xenonite heâd made for you, essentially a puzzle of attachable pieces to make little buildings.
âSure doesnât.â Grace snickered, âI wonder what itâll be next. Any movie we watch could set off the next hyperfixation, like when we watched Spirited Away and they binged every Studio Ghibli movie they could find.â
âAnd all the drawings.â Simon tacked on, chuckling to himself as he remembered the bin in the storage room full of your artwork. The two men grinned at each other, Grace quickly tucking himself under Simonâs arm and continuing to watch you, getting a whiff of Simonâs comfortable scent of soil and morning dew in the grass. He closed his eyes to nuzzle closer and take it in, enjoying the peaceful moment.
He heard you mumble something, moving around the room, grabbing what sounded like a chair; what could you possibly be doing now? He only opened his eyes when Simonâs content smell went murky, peering up in confusion and immediately understanding why.
Rocky had stepped away for a moment and youâd taken the opportunity to clamber onto a chair to dig through a particularly high shelf, searching for- for whatever you needed.
âHey- [Name]. Get down, that isnât safe.â Grace tried, but you didnât get down, continuing to dig, âjust a sec! Iâve almost got it!â The omega in him whined quietly in worry when you got on your tip-toes, the chair obviously unsteady with the uncentered weight you were putting on it. Simon growled a warning, nothing threatening, but something that made you wince, âI promise! Just need..â you pulled out a small pencil box, something Rocky had hidden away when you stayed up hours past communal bedtime drawing. How you knew it was up there was a mystery, but Grace was more concerned with you not getting down.
You stood flat on the chair and dug through the box, too distracted with your search to see Simon come up behind you and pluck you off the furniture. You made a surprised sound as he put you back on your feet, âNo more getting up on chairs.â You gave him a look, sass youâd most definitely gotten from Grace, but went back to what you were doing with little thought.
Simon huffed, âdonât sass me.â
âIâm not sassing. I didnât even say anything.â
âYou know how you looked at me.â You grumbled in response, âI was fine. It was just a chair.â
âMâkay. Thatâs it.â Simon didnât sound angry, more frustrated and a bit exasperated, but suddenly the pencil box hit the ground, you were not on your feet, and you couldnât move.
âIf you canât keep yourself safe then youâre going in the nest.â Simon sighed, holding you up easily with one arm. You were completely immobile, dangling off the ground. It didnât hurt, but it scared you, felt claustrophobic, felt too familiar. You let out an involuntary sound of panic, whining like you were being attacked, âput me down!! Iâm sorry! Iâm sorry!!â
Simon flinched, immediately setting you down and letting go, the sound of your panicked voice startling the alpha to his core. You rushed over to Grace and hugged him, tucking your face away under his arm to hide. The omega immediately wrapped you up tight, chittering comfortably to try and calm you down as you clung to him for safety. You were mumbling apologies into his cardigan, no amount of shushing and reassurance calming you down.
âPup..â Simon tried to get closer, but backtracked when you jumped, holding on tighter to Grace. His hearts clenched, hands shaking as he kept his distance. Rocky trotted back in, stepping into the middle of the chaos, âwhat happened? Question. Rocky not gone more than five earth minutes!â
âJust a little mishap Rock, itâs okay.â Grace picked you up, letting you wrap your arms around his neck as he supported your legs, âRocky? Can you grab the pieces [Name] was using? Iâm gonna put them in the nest.â
âYes yes yes.â Rocky started gathering the pieces, not noticing the glance Grace gave Simon, confused and worried, something that said, âgive us a minute.â Without verbalizing it. Everyoneâs scents had gone murky and scared, an edge to the space that followed you and Grace into the âdonât go crazyâ room. He got you settled, laying you down and tucking you in before curling up beside you, âwant to tell me what happened back there?â You shook your head, hiccuping quietly.
âWell, I think you should. What made you so scared? If we know, weâll make sure it doesnât happen again.â You sniffled, wiping your face with your sleeve, âdonât like beinâ scruffed.â
âWhy? Does it make you claustrophobic? Is it because youâre off your feet?â
âNo- no. Itâs..â you told him of an instance that stood out to you in particular, something clear as day that had shaped you as a person.
Your eldest brother had scruffed you for the first time when you were ten, using it to drag you to a closet so you wouldnât thrash and fight back. He locked you inside and left you there, screaming and banging on the door. Your little brother had snuck you a few snacks under the door, but that had gotten him in trouble and he never helped you again. The isolation was mind-numbing, cold with nothing to keep yourself warm with besides the clothes on your back, dark and scary when shadows turned into monsters when stared at for too long.
You were stuck in there for three days and came out a different person. Something in you wasnât the same after that, everyone noticed, nobody cared.
Grace had gotten paler and paler during the story, looking downright horrified as you finished, âIâm sorry.â Your voice cracked, you hated crying, but felt like you did it all the time, âI know Pa wouldnât hurt me, but my body doesnât know that. My body doesnât trust anyone or anything- and I canât blame it! People who were supposed to love me and keep me safe didnât..didnât do that. Now my body is convinced that everyone will turn around and hurt me eventually. I donât know how to make it stop.â Grace reached out to cradle one of your hands, rubbing his thumb over it soothingly, âIâm so sorry that happened. What they did to you is despicable, you never shouldâve been treated that way. Youâre an amazing kid, bright and curious, full of a life we were truly missing on the ship. We love you and we want you happy. Simon only scruffed you because he didnât want you hurting yourself, not to lock you away, but to settle you down in the nest. I swear.â You sighed wetly, sniffling again, âHe didnât do anything wrong, but he probably thinks he did.â
âMaybe, but everything will be okay. You guys can talk it out, yeah?â You hummed, tired, âyeah.â
Simon sat down in the very same chair youâd been using before, burying his face in his hand. Being a dad was hard- harder than he thought it would be. He felt like at every turn he was doing something wrong and then suddenly you were afraid or upset, like he just couldnât get it right. He wanted to be the best he could be for his pup, omega, and alien friend. How could he be the best for the very small pack he had when he could barely get parenting right?
Why couldnât he get it right??
âSimon.â Rocky stood beside him, gently tapping his knee, â[Name] okay. Statement. Simon okay too.â
âRock. I have no idea what Iâm doing, what if I keep messing up?â He felt like his mouth was a leaky faucet he couldnât turn off, âwhat if I hurt them in a way I canât take back? Traumatize them more? [Name] is so damaged and I..and I keep making it worse.â
âNot make worse! Make better!â
âLook at what just happened!â
âSimon didnât know. [Name] go through many things, too many for pebble. Bad bad bad people hurt [Name], not Simonâs fault pebble not feel safe sometimes. Statement.â Simon groaned, hating how Rocky was continuously right when it came to detangling human emotions, like he could think much clearer than any human ever could, which was probably true.
âYeah. Youâre right.â He also hated admitting that Rocky was right, hurt his pride a bit.
âRocky always right.â
âPfft- whatever. Iâm going to check up on them, want to come?â
âYes yes yes.â Rocky and Simon walked into the âdonât go crazyâ room, but Simon lingered at the doorway while Rocky sat beside the nest, placing a gentle claw on your back. You looked guilty, an oceanâs worth of emotions in your eyes, âPa..â
âHey pup, feeling better?â
âYeah. I am.â You looked away, biting the inside of your cheek for a moment, gathering your thoughts, âsorry-â
âPlease, donât be. I know youâre not afraid of me. I didnât know scruffing would affect you like that and Iâm sorry, I wonât do it again.â Grace grinned, opening an arm for Simon, scent comforting and inviting, âget in here before pup starts crying again.â
âI wasnât going to!!â
âYou cry just as much as I do!â You flipped Grace off, earning yourself a quiet, âbehaveâ and your hand being gently swatted at. You laughed, welcoming Simon into the nest to curl up and take a well-deserved nap.
âLove you Sapling.â A firm hand rested on your head, warm and familiar. You sunk into the touch, âlove you too.â
Thatâs it for now! Hope you enjoyed! Have a nice day and stay safe!