#<- tbh still unsure if i get his last name right

[dragonknightofsummerset]

screaming crying throwing up etc.

[plussizefantasia]

Unsure Hearts

Read Part One Here: Fluttering Hearts

Warnings: Reader gets grabbed, alcohol, I think that's it tbh

an: heyyyy... sorry I was MIA, lots of stuff going on I'll post an update about it soon. In the meantime enjoy part two of the Kili x reader fic from Flufftober. I think this will be a five-part fic including an epilogue and the next two parts are already underway. I've also got some requests ready to be edited and posted soon. Thank you for bearing with me, much love <3

Kili Durin x Human!Soulmate!reader

Word Count: 1.8K

Thorin was getting worried, Kili had become somewhat of a ghost story over the past month. He had assumed that his nephew was simply doing his duty. Kili had volunteered to be the envoy between Dale and Erebor for the discussions of armament and training. However, that treaty was signed a week ago, and said envoy position was no longer needed. So why in all of Arda was Kili still going to Dale every day? The young prince left as soon as he was finished with his daily tasks and didn’t return to the mountain until well after the sun had set. Thorin was not worried for his nephew's safety, after all, Kili was an excellent warrior and could take care of himself, no, Thorin was worried for Kili’s heart. 

Fili had also noticed his brother’s absence but the blonde prince had always been a bit more perceptive than his surly uncle. Fili had noticed that Kili was missing, but he also noticed that every time he returned to the mountain it was with the most dopey grin that he had ever seen. A grin that he recognized, for it had also graced his face a few months ago when he met his beloved Alma. Fili would bet his beard on it, Kili was in love.

You on the other hand were getting more and more annoyed each time the brown-haired dwarf walked through the front door. He was charming sure, and polite. But he stared. At you. The whole time he was there. And he was there a lot. His attempts to engage you in conversation were far and few between, the few times he was able to grab your attention away from the bustling building he became tongue-tied the moment your eyes landed on his.

Kili didn’t understand why he couldn’t say more than a few words to you without choking on his words. Your eyes had to hold some kind of spell within them. They enchanted him and left him bewitched every time he caught their gaze. It left him frustrated, he had never had this much trouble with women before, why were you so different? Deep down he knew though, you weren’t just any woman. He was afraid though, afraid that naming what you were to him out loud would make it real. And when it is real, it can hurt you. 

There weren’t very many stories on One’s where the love didn’t end up requited, either because it just simply never happened. Dwarves were incredibly stubborn creatures after all, and it was entirely possible that they just wore down their other half until some sort of connection formed. It was also possible that those unfortunate few who weren’t able to woo their other half died of broken hearts. The former was unlikely as Kili kept having to remind himself, he couldn’t die of a broken heart. Right?

He was determined tonight though, to find out definitively if the sparks he felt for you were just interest in the handsome woman from Bree, or if you truly were the other half of his soul. To do that though he would need to say more than a few words to you. The problem with that was that you seemed exceptionally busy tonight.

Busy you were, Brant had told you last night that he was going to be leaving today to go to visit family for some type of emergency. 

“If the place is still standing when I get back, we’ll talk more about it becoming yours someday.�� He had said. You were hoping that that ‘someday’ was sooner rather than later. Brant was getting up there in years. Just last week he had hurt himself trying to lift one of the barrels of ale that had been shipped in from the Iron Hills. You had been taking on more and more of his old tasks and to be completely honest, it felt like you did the job of an owner anyway, just without all the benefits.

You weren’t going to let the man down though, even if it did mean rushing back and forth all night trying to keep up with demand all by yourself.

“Another! Y/N,” was yelled in front the back of the room. Roland was a boisterous man who got along with everyone, he was only a year or two older than you and was currently on his eighth pint of the night. He had a large countenance and seemed to fill up whatever space he occupied, he was handsome but the more and more he drank the less his looks mattered. Usually, this is the point in the night where he starts bordering more on unruly rather than fun-loving. Nevertheless, he was a paying customer and as long as he could still walk on his own out the doors, you weren’t going to say no to his money.

You grabbed another pint glass and poured one for him, balancing it and several other drinks on a tray. You steeled yourself with a deep breath before running back out into the fray. 

Walking close to the stool he was sat on you leaned slightly over him and placed his pint down on the counter beside him. He was engrossed in the conversation between the large group of men, something about the best way to skin a buck, you weren’t really listening. As you grabbed his empty glass to take back to the kitchen to be washed, his large hand encircled your wrist none too gently.

“A pint is a wonderful thing, but it is even more delicious when served by a beautiful lady,” He whispered into your ear. You grit your teeth and roughly pull your hand back. 

“Now, Roland, what have we said about touching things that don’t belong to you? Huh? Touch the wrong thing and you might just lose your hand.” You spit back at him. Cutting your eyes up at the mounted swords that rest above the fireplace only a few steps from where the two of you are. “I’d hate to have to clean those swords, they are sharp.” You look back into his eyes, satisfied with the fear that you see within them. You stand back up and place your tray back upon your shoulder. 

“Anything else I can get you gents?” You question the other men scattered about the space. Silence reigned over the air for a few moments. 

“Alrighty then.” 

A pint here, a glass of wine there, and two hot meals delivered later, your tray was empty and everyone in the place seemed momentarily satisfied. 

 Letting out a breath you lean up against the counter.

“What did you say to him?” A somewhat familiar voice pipes up beside you. You turn your head towards the voice. It's the dwarf prince, and you are once again struck with just how handsome he is. You are also struck with the familiar feeling of annoyance, of course, he picked now to talk to you. Just when you had finally afforded yourself a break.

“Hmm?” You raise a singular eyebrow at him. “Who?”

“That large and very drunk man in the back, I couldn’t hear what you said but I could see the look on his face. It was similar to my brother’s when our mother would scold him for forgetting his manners.”

“That’s not too far off actually, Roland over there got a little too comfortable and touched something that didn’t belong to him, I had to remind him of the rules.”

“And what exactly did he touch that was so forbidden?” The prince smirks and laughs.

You smirk back and lift a glass to your lips before uttering one single word, “Me.”

All of the laughter drained from Kili’s face, “He touched you?” His voice had gotten much lower, his eyes darkened right before you.

 You rolled your eyes. “I’m going to stop you right there Your Highness, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I’ve been doing it for years. I don’t need some man, no matter how handsome he is coming to defend my honor every time I’m even remotely slighted. The trail of bodies will get far too long.” You stare into his eyes as you speak, putting all the righteous fury you’ve got stored inside into each word. 

Seconds tick by before he opens his mouth to speak again.

“You think I’m handsome?”

“I think that we have bigger problems if that is the only thing you got from that.” You took another sip.

“No, no, no I got the point, you don’t need a big strong man to come to your rescue. Lucky for you, I am not big.”

The laugh that sprung from the back of your throat caught you off guard, you slap a hand over your mouth in an impossible effort to catch it and shove it back inside. He was funny, he had never been funny before.

Kili liked your laugh even though it was closer to a snort than an actual laugh, and he would be foolish to ignore the way his heart picked up at the thought that he was the one who made you laugh.

“You- I- I have never heard of a dwarf who makes fun of themselves, in my limited experience your lot are very prideful.”

“Not as prideful as some other races, I should think.”

“No, you’re not nearly as prideful as the pointy-eared bastards who hole themselves up in that accursed forest.” Your words held a healthy amount of rage as well as teasing.

“I sense that there is a story there somewhere.” Kili raised an eyebrow, mimicking your face from earlier. He was desperately trying not to think about the fact that this was the longest conversation the two of you had had up to date.

“One that I’m going to need a lot more liquid courage before divulging, I’m afraid.”

“We can make that happen.” Kili wiggled his eyebrows and pointed at the bottles of liquor behind the bar that separated the two of you.

At that very moment, a shout from the rowdy bunch of men in the back rang out, calling for another round.

“Duty calls your highness, but perhaps I will tell you that story… another time.” You winked at him and grabbed for your tray again, beginning to load it up once more. If that is how conversations with the dwarf prince went all the time, you wouldn’t mind having them more often.  

You walked away before Kili could come up with a response, but he was more certain than he ever had been that your heart called to his. Why else would the very sight of you walking away feel like his heart was leaving too?

Read Part 3 here: Troubled Hearts

tags: @bunnybabe-babydoll @kokochanel111 @shiinata-library @oneiratxxia10

[wileys-russo]

childhood sweethearts (3) II a.russo x reader

series playlist part one part two

this fic really does have my heart tbh childhood sweethearts (3) II a.russo x reader

alessia exhaled shakily, tapping her foot nervously as her eyes flickered repeatedly between the time on her phone and the door to the cafe, counting down each second which passed that you didn't arrive.

maybe you just weren't going to show up at all, could she even blame you if you didn't? it had been six years since the two of you really spoke, and your last words exchanged were hardly on friendly terms.

when her mum had called her to invite her to dinner with your family, her heart leapt into her throat. your name was something that hadn't crossed her mind in years, well no actually that was a lie.

alessia often wondered what you were up to, occasionally in a moment of weakness imagining what would be different had things not gone the way they had between you both.

but she'd banish those fleeting thoughts and insecurities as quickly as they arrived, knowing she'd just spiral into a tornado of overthinking if she dwelled on them too much.

alessia tried to trick herself into believing she was fine with how things had ended, pushing her real feelings deep down away and filing them under painful memories she'd rather not resurface ever again.

but they always did, and no more so then when you'd walked into that restaurant beside her brother and every thought, feeling, memory and emotion she'd repressed the last six years came soaring to the surface, she could have thrown up with how suddenly she was swamped by them.

the pain only grew when you refused to even meet her eye, greeting everyone else first and alessia was almost certain if you hadn't had to sit beside her the two of you likely wouldn't have even conversed that entire night.

"hi i'm so sorry i'm late i got held up at work." she was snapped out of the depths of her overthinking as you hurriedly dropped down into the seat across from her, exhaling heavily and dropping your bag on the floor beside you.

"that's alright, i hope everythings okay?" alessia rushed out, playing with her fingers which sat dormant in her lap as you nodded, starting to ramble on about the frustration of substitutes not doing their assigned pick up duty so you'd had to fill in.

realising you were getting on a tangent and meeting those ever so familiar ocean blue eyes you suddenly stopped, clearing your throat and apologising.

"you don't need to be sorry, you've clearly found the right career. mum was right when she said she was sure you're an amazing teacher." alessia complimented with a soft smile as you nodded, admittedly still unsure quite how to interact with her after so much time.

"so...how have you been?"

~

"-no because that time was entirely your fault! you were always getting us in trouble." you chuckled, shaking your head at the grinning blonde across from you, your coffees long finished, empty mugs pushed to the side.

"i was not!" alessia defended herself with a playful offended scoff, unable to stop the smile spreading on her face. "you so were! every single time we had detention it was your fault, and any time we got in trouble with our parents it was one of your genius ideas that lead up to it." you couldn't help but smile yourself at the fond memories.

"miss!" your head turned as you heard a voice call out for you, spotting one of your students frantically waving at you from the counter. "sorry, he insisted on saying hi. i tried to explain that you have your own life outside of the classroom." his mum smiled apologetically as the boy hurried over and she chased after him.

"thats perfectly alright. i always say if you guys see me around to give me a wave and thats what you did, charlies one of my best behaved students! aren't you?" you smiled fondly, holding your hand out for a high five which he happily gave you with a grin, waving goodbye as his mum smiled gratefully and hurried the two of them away to another table.

"sorry about that." you apologized to alessia, a slight blush coating your cheeks as the blonde shook her head. "don't be, that was quite adorable. your class clearly love you and who could blame them." alessia complimented with a dangerously familiar look in her eyes as you forced a small smile and glanced down to your phone, eyes widening as you realised you'd been here well over two hours now.

"i should really get going, i've got dinner to cook and lesson planning to do for tomorrow." you smiled apologetically, alessia nodding in understanding as you both reached for your bags. "could we do this again, soon?" the girl asked hopefully as the two of you stood outside, causing you to bite the inside of your cheek.

"look alessia it was great catching up and i'm really glad that football and everything else is working out so well for you. but i just, i don't know if i can make this a regular thing." you admitted with a slight wince, watching as her face fell at your answer.

"why not?" as soon as the hurt was plain on her face it was gone, replaced instead with a firm look of defiance, folding her arms over her chest. "you know why, please don't make me say it." you responded quietly, shuffling uncomfortably and adjusting your bag on your shoulder.

"god you are so frustrating." alessia dragged her hands down her face with a shake of her head. "whats that supposed to mean?" you were now the one to respond with a frown.

"its like i said at the restaurant y/n we were best friends for years before anything changed. we've just spent the however many hours reflecting on how good that time was, i know the way things ended wasn't ideal but why can't we just work on getting a friendship back?" alessia almost begged, taking a step toward you and frowning as you immediately took one back away from her.

"before anything changed...the way things ended? you are so arrogant, as if it was nothing!" you scoffed and shook your head in disbelief that she could dismiss what happened so easily. "that's not what i fucking meant and you know it, don't put words in my mouth." alessia warned, jaw clenching tightly.

"no i think it was exactly what you meant. at least to me alessia what went on between us meant a hell of a lot, and it hurt when everything fell apart. for god sakes we were each others first everything! i can't just go back to being your friend after six years like none of it even happened." you had to stop yourself from shouting at her, well aware that she was a public figure now and though the cafe behind you wasn't crowded, you never knew who was inside listening.

"you are putting words in my mouth. just-" "no alessia, i've spent too fucking long getting over you to fall back into the trap of caring again." you regretted the words from the moment they fell from your lips, cringing with a shake of your head.

"i need to go i'm sorry. i really didn't want to argue with you but i just-I can't do this with you again alessia, good luck with everything." you forced a pained smile, the strikers stomach plummeting as you reached out, your fingertips just ghosting hers sending a bolt of electricity up her arm at the feeble touch, hurrying off away before she could even open her mouth to respond.

~

it seemed your words had struck a chord as you didn't hear a single peep from the girl the entire week following, it had been days of radio silence between you both and you had spent the whole time convincing yourself that was what you wanted and it was for the best.

you weren't sure what alessia had said to her own mum but yours seemed to be relentless in pestering you about how catching up for coffee went, you once again dismissing that too much time had passed and it was awkward.

though the ever persistent woman didn't take the hint it wouldn't be happening again and had tried time after time to press you for more, and you'd taken to dodging her phone calls all week just to avoid the ongoing conversation.

on the bright side you'd made it through another week and you were settling in well to life back in london.

you'd found a favorite coffee spot for your much needed morning brew on the way to work, loved your new school and your class, had dinner and drinks last night with a few co-workers at a local tapas bar and genuinely enjoyed their company, you were on top of your workload and despite needing to currently dodge her you were enjoying living closer to family again.

however you were a creature of habit and so saturday nights were always your night to relish in your own company, recharge for the week and properly switch off. armed with a face mask, a chinese and a glass or bottle of wine at your side, finding some sort of trashy reality nonsense to engross yourself in for the evening.

your family knew this and knew to leave you be, your friends knew this and had long given up trying to drag you out with them unless it was for some sort of holiday or celebration, and your co-workers you'd only gone out with last night and weren't yet all that close to.

which is why it caught you so off guard for your phone to be ringing at half past eleven at night, you'd almost dozed off with a bowl of crisps in your lap, snapping to attention at the ringtone.

rubbing your eyes you fumbled around in the blankets adorning your body for your phone, eventually finding it and answering without looking at the contact, assuming at this time of night it was either an emergency or a scam.

how you regretted that choice.

"you actually answered!" you winced as a loud and very intoxicated voice slurred in excitement, holding the phone away from your ear at the unexpected volume, music pumping away and people laughing in the background.

"alessia?" "baby! what you doin?" the girl slurred and you could already imagine the dopey smile which would be plastered on her face at her words, and the way the corner of her eyes would crease as she squinted.

you grimaced at how much one simple word could cause years of healing to wash instantly away. one little baby and you were suddenly sixteen again, wrapped up in her strong arms sharing soft kisses and giggling about something that happened at school that day.

growing up alessia wasn't one to ever drink all that often given how much time and energy she invested into being an athlete. though on the rare occasions she did drink you quickly learnt the girl couldn't handle her alcohol.

she was a messy drunk to say the least and anytime a drop of alcohol passed her lips you'd abandon your own, knowing you needed to be there and sober to look after her.

"why are you calling me? and at...half past eleven at night." you sighed, collapsing back into the lounge and tiredly rubbing your eyes. "because i wasn't lying when i said i missed you." she laughed and you shook your head at her words.

"alessia you're drunk. i'm going now, please be safe." you tried to wrap up the conversation, knowing she'd likely be embarrassed about this when she sobered up tomorrow, finger hovering over the little red button to end the call then and there.

god how you wished you'd pressed it.

"wait! i'm really smashed and my friends all left me, i can't find them and i need to go home. i'm seeing double babe!" the blonde groaned and you heard a smash and some yelling, your eyebrows furrowing at the noise.

"call an uber home then, or get a taxi." you remanded firmly but softly, knowing that in times like this she needed things very clearly broke down for her.

"i don't know how! i can barely see my fucking phone screen, can you come and get me?" she continued as you withheld a groan, sharply pinching the bridge of your nose at the seemingly never ending flow of possibilities for whatever you answered next.

"where are you?"

~

"god what am i doing here?" you mumbled to yourself, insecurely playing with the strings of your hoodie, feeling incredibly under dressed as patrons of the bar you were stood outside of stumbled around with giggles and drunken cheers.

"y/n?" you turned at your name, frowning at the unfamiliar voice as your eyes finally landed on alessia, who was not alone. "oh wow it is you, hi?" lotte spoke in surprise, eyes wide as alessia cheered when she spotted you, you weren't particularly close to many of the girls football friends but that hadn't meant you'd not known or become fond of some of them over the years, lotte and ella in particular were two names who came to mind.

"baby you actually came!" alessia stumbled her way over with her heels in hand, wrenching her bicep away from lottes careful grip. she was dressed in blue jeans and a charcoal coloured knitted vest, toned arms on full display as a rolex which probably cost you a months salary glinted on her wrist under the streetlights.

you shoved her away as she placed a sloppy kiss to your cheek, but had no choice but to grab her hands and steady her to stop her from falling over right afterwards.

"i didn't know you two were..." lotte trailed off with an awkward pause of uncertainty as you quickly shook your head, smacking away alessia's hands which poked at and clung onto you.

"we're not anything. we caught up for coffee once and it didn't go well, and then she called me tonight saying she was drunk and her friends left her and she needed a lift home." you sighed at the realization you'd clearly been played, feeling stupidly gullible as you swallowed the urge to yell at the tall dopey blonde beside you who really you knew had minimal control over her actions right now.

"well she ran off for a bit when we changed bars but then we found her again, we were actually going to send her off home but we weren't sure if a taxi would even take her, she's had a few too many." lotte winced apologetically as you nodded along with a sigh, knowing exactly how the older girl behaved when she drank.

"russo has a secret missus?" a brunette with a thick irish accent shouldered her way to the front of the group, slinging an arm around lotte and you shifted somewhat uncomfortably as her eyes narrowed and scanned you up and down.

"used to, not anymore. she hates me now!" alessia rolled her eyes moodily and you winced, knowing that sober she wouldn't have likely confessed that, especially given how much the brunettes eyes widened at the new information.

"wouldn't have pegged you for the type to drunkenly dial an ex russo, i learn new things about ya every day. she's quite fit though!" the brunettes lips curled into a smile and you felt a hot flush creep up your neck.

"lay off mccabe!" alessia scowled as her arm draped over your shoulder and you grunted as her body weight bore into you, struggling to keep the taller girl upright.

"oo and you're also the jealous type are ya russo!" mccabe continued to wind the drunken blonde beside you up with a grin, another girl stepping in to drag her back to the group with an apologetic smile flicked your way.

"are you sure you're right with her? i can get her in a taxi." lotte offered sincerely, glancing over her shoulder as someone from her group yelled at her to hurry up.

"no its fine, don't let her ruin your night. i know she's ruined plenty of mine before with her drunken antics." you sighed sparing alessia a glance who scoffed and stumbled slightly as you grabbed her.

"did not!"

ignoring her you again urged lotte to join her friends, sending her a reassuring smile and bidding her a good night as you struggled to move alessia through the crowd of drunken party goers and won the street towards where you'd parked.

"for fuck sakes just get in you idiot!" you grunted as you all but shoved her into the passenger seat, clicking her seatbelt in and slamming the door shut.

"why me? why?" you looked up to the sky with a sigh of defeat, rubbing your temples for a second before moving around to the drivers side and sliding inside, wincing at the strong smell of alcohol wafting from the girl beside you.

"don't touch anything!" you swatted her hands away as she reached for the gearstick, sinking back into her chair with a huff. "you're so bossy now, you weren't this bossy before. you used to do whatever i told you!" alessia slurred with a roll of her eyes as you started up the car.

"yeah? well then it took me six years to grow a backbone. now where am i taking you?" "home." "well obviously alessia but i don't know where that is, do I?" "god can you stop that!" "pardon?" "the whole alessia thing, i hate the way you say it. call me less, or lessi, literally anything else!"

"just tell me where the hell im driving you so i can go to bed? please!" you sighed in frustration, looking at her expectantly. "fine. only if you agree to hang out with me again!" the blonde tilted her head at you, staring with half lidded eyes.

"that is not how this works. i'll kick you out right here and you can walk home!" "if i end up dead in a ditch cause you left me i don't think your mum or my mum would be very happy." "maybe not but you know what? you are no longer my problem to deal with or my mess to clean up anymore alessia. you're responsible for your own shitty choices and their consequences! like calling your ex and lying about your situation to come and get her to pick you up, and then trying to manipulate her into doing what you want." you exploded suddenly, hands balled into fists as you let out your pent up frustration at this entire messy situation.

there was a thick silence that followed afterward and you refused to look at her, feeling her eyes bore holes into the side of your head.

"god you look so good when you're angry."

you let out a groan, head thumping down onto your steering wheel in defeat. the comment took you right back again to being a lovesick teenager, alessia's blatantly charming cockiness both equally attractive as it was infuriating even back then.

"just please tell me where you live so i can take you there and be done with all of this." "um...i forget." "you forget? how the hell do you forget where you live!" "stop yelling at me i'm drunk! all i can think about is jager and vodka and tequila and-" "i don't need a walk through tour of the bar cart currently sitting in your stomach alessia. can you seriously not remember your address?" "nope." "give me your phone then, its gotta be saved in there somewhere."

you grabbed it out of her hands with a roll of your eyes when she refused to hand it over, but trying to open it was a fruitless activity as the screen remained black.

"its dead." alessia commented with a lopsided smile and you almost threw it out of your window. your fingers drummed the steering wheel trying desperately to think of a way out of this. you didn't have lottes number so that was out, and you couldn't just leave her here as tempting an idea as that was.

you didn't have any of her families numbers, you knew where she used to live with them but that was hardly close by and you didn't even know for certain if they'd moved or not, and you did not want to call your mum for support right now.

which painstakingly and infuriatingly left you with all but one option as you sighed and shifted your car into drive, pulling away from the curb.

"where are we goin?" "home."

~

"this is really nice babe!" alessia slurred as you stumbled through your front door precariously balancing the intoxicated footballer clinging onto you, kicking it closed behind you and tossing your keys on your hallway table.

"stop calling me that." you mumbled, dragging her into the living room and pushing her to sit down on your lounge as you rubbed your neck, which was throbbing from having to cart around the girl who was easily a foot taller than you, and being so drunk meant leaning her entire body weight into you.

"make me some food please." alessia demanded, head thumping back into the sofa as her eyes fluttered closed. "what do you think i'm your on call taxi driver and personal chef?" you scoffed, kicking her sharply in the leg to wake her back up as she whined at the action.

"the last thing you need is anything else in your system which could wind up on my floor later. are you sure you don't feel the need to be sick?" you asked for the fifth time this evening as the blonde nodded wordlessly.

"c'mere and gimme a cuddle baby girl." her lips curled into a dopey smile as she opened her arms expectantly, barely able to hold her own head up as your entire body cringed at the long familiar endearment.

"absolutely not, and stop calling me names. you're going to bed!" you refused, wishing the ground would swallow you up as alessia groaned.

"you're so stubborn, and so hot. i miss you!" the blonde slurred as you grabbed her hands, hauling her to her feet with a grunt and stumbling your way to the guest bedroom, sighing in relief as you dropped her onto the mattress.

"no you don't, you're drunk." you replied firmly, running a hand through your hair with a sigh. "i do! i have for years, the one that got away." alessia shrugged, arm flopping across her face as her eyes closed.

with a roll of your eyes you left her for a moment, hurrying across the hall to your own bedroom and grabbing out some clothes. she may right now be the most infuriating person on the planet but you weren't about to make her sleep in jeans.

you hated yourself for caring, why didn't you just ignore the phone earlier?

"jesus alessia." you sighed as you returned to find her with her jeans around her ankles and her vest stuck over her head, meaning you quickly averted your eyes from her half naked form.

"help! i've gone blind!" the blonde yelled and you bit your lip to stop the smile breaking out on your face, shaking your head firmly. "stop that, god you're useless." you couldn't help but chuckle as you helped her strip off the rest of her clothes, again careful your eyes only remained on her face.

"made you smile." alessia slurred with a stupidly attractive smirk, poking at you as you pulled a black baggy shirt over her head, handing her a pair of shorts which she promptly threw over her shoulder.

"alessia!" you huffed as she shrugged, mumbling something about sleeping naked as she rolled over and with much struggle managed to get into the bed.

"god you're a nightmare." you turned to leave her as a hand gripped at the back of your hoodie, firmly yanking you downwards.

"no! get off." you grunted, struggling to wrench her hand away as she attempted to pull you into a hug. "i want a hug! i'll probably never see you again." alessia whined needily as you continued to fight her.

"ohh you always did like when i touched you there." the blonde laughed as her hand accidentaly grazed your bum and your breath hitched momentarily before you pulled yourself free, shoving her back down into the bed.

"jesus christ alessia please shut up before you embarass yourself any further, the less i have to explain to you tomorrow the better." you flared your nostrils and took a deep breath, counting to three and turning away.

"where you goin?" "to bed alessia, go to sleep." "isn't this your bed?" "no this is my guest bedroom, not that i can even really call you that given i had no choice in you staying here." "you can afford a two bedroom flat on a teachers salary? wow baby you're doing good!" "please stop calling me that, now go to sleep." "can't we cuddle? for old times sake, friends cuddle!" "we're not friends." "ouch, way to land a blow babe." "i told you to stop calling me that, now please just go to sleep."

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

part four

[unabashedlittleblackbook]

Memories

Eddie Munson x F! Reader

Summary/Request: Cutesy Best Friends to Lovers @fuzzymelanie

Warnings: None? Not that cutesy??

A/N: This took me waaaaaay too long tbfh. Kinda proofread it but it’s 2am and this is my second attempt at posting it bc I don’t understand technology. I also don’t know how to get my spacing to stay. Might be a little rough around the edges? I don’t know how to write children tbh. Feedback is appreciated!! I love to hear what you guys have to say <3

In every instance of your life, whether it be big or small, you could look back and there would be one constant. What was that constant? None other than Eddie Munson. You’d known Eddie almost as long as you’d been alive, an exaggeration, sure, but the statement held some truth. You met at the Hawkins Middle School talent show. Neither one of you even placed in the top three, first place going to the girl with the dance routine that made waves with the adults in the auditorium. Truthfully it wasn’t all that great, but the people love mediocrity. However, your paths didn’t actually cross until later that night after everyone went home. As luck would have it, both of your rides were running late.

You would’ve never in a billion years dreamt of approaching a boy like Eddie, let alone strike up a conversation. You were a loner, something your parents frowned upon but people just weren’t all that interesting. But Eddie.. Eddie was different, be it the way he talked or even the way he carried himself, he just had this certain spunk to him. A complete riot to be around, as you’d later find out. Him coming up to you got the ball rolling, a feat you’d never forget.

You were sitting on a chair left out in the hallway, swinging your legs back and forth since they couldn’t quite reach the ground yet. There were a few people still lingering, some being students and some being faculty members. It was years ago but you’d never forget the way he sauntered up to you and broke the silence all in one breath. “Y/N, right?” You barely got a nod in before he was talking again, “Your performance was pretty cool, not my first choice of song, but it was cool.” You couldn’t help but balk at him until you finally regained your composure, forcing the words to leave your mouth. “Oh, uh, thanks? You were pretty cool too.” You were unsure of what to do, should you say something else? Clearing your throat you spoke again. “What was it? Corrupted Coffin?” You had watched his act, but the name fell on deaf ears when it was announced. “Corroded Coffin,” he corrected. “Right, sorry.” You offered a sheepish smile, not really sure of what to say next. “Anyway, I’m Eddie.” As he spoke the words he stuck his thumb out and poked his chest. “The guys and I were talking and we thought it would be killer if you stopped by sometime and watched us play.” He gave a small shrug, “if you’re interested.” You’d later find out that he forgot the ‘itwouldbesototallycoolifyoujoinedthebandasourvocalist’ part. “I don’t know,” you trailed off, chewing the inside of your cheek. “That’s not really- I mean you guys are great and all, but that's not really my thing.” Technically it was a lie. Music was your thing, people were not. That didn’t stop Eddie, “one practice? You won’t regret it.” The side of his mouth turned up and he threw his hands up in a ‘Hey Whaddya Say?’ gesture. You were curious for sure, but how could you possibly say no when he was staring you down with those pretty brown eyes? That was the first time you couldn’t refuse Eddie, and as time would tell, it wouldn’t be the last.

Over the years there were many laughs and even more memories, some more memorable than others. One of your favorites had to have been the night before your 18th birthday, the year after you discovered you had feelings for your best friend.

It was late, later than it was supposed to be if you had a boy in your room, which as of 15 minutes ago, you did. For the past 15 minutes you’d been arguing with Eddie while perched on your bed, arms crossed watching him pace back and forth. “I am not sneaking out! And I most certainly am not stealing my fathers car.” Your voice was firm but your resolve was cracking minute by minute. “Think about the memories! This is valuable band bonding time.” He put emphasis on the valuable part, spinning to face you with an exasperated look and threw his hands up before letting them fall to his sides. You tried not to let your disappointment show at his words, band bonding. Right. Pull yourself together.

Would changing the subject help? Probably not but it was worth a shot. “Take your shoes off, that's wool you’re standing on.” High end carpet for high end taste, your mothers of course. You got an eye roll in response. “Don’t change the subject. How are we supposed to enjoy the night without our best girl? Come on, think about it.” You ignored the flutter in your chest. It was basically a sales pitch at this point. You looked at the clock on your nightstand, it had just turned to 9 O’clock. The band started at 11. He was running out of time, the puppy dog eyes would be coming out soon. “You’re just saying that because I’m the only one with a means of getting there,” you said flatly. You had to admit though, it was tempting. He scratched his head and walked closer, placing both of his hands on your shoulders. “Okay, okay. When have I ever steered you wrong?” That made you laugh, “There was that time whe-” “Let’s forget that, do you trust me?” There they were, those big brown eyes. Your face softened and you felt your shoulders slump. Your eyes trailed down to his lips, pausing before meeting his eyes again. Of course you trusted him, he was your best friend. Though sometimes you felt like he could be more. “You know I do.” The words came out soft, softer than you meant but he heard you all the same. You both stared at each other before a grin broke out on his face. “Then get your ass out of bed and let’s get going!” He gestured to the window, a giddy expression on his face. “Shush! Do you want my parents to hear you?” Eddie put a finger to his lips, mouthing the word ‘sorry’ while wincing. You rolled your eyes and smiled at him before telling him the plan. “Go meet me at the car while I change and grab the keys.” Eddie gave a thumbs up before climbing out the window as quietly as he could. It wasn’t hard to get the keys, they were hanging on the hook where they alway were. Now was the hard part, how to get the car out of the driveway without alerting your parents. “Now how the hell are we gonna do this?” He held up a finger, “I already thought of that, follow me.” “Of course you did,” you muttered under your breath. “ We’re gonna put the car in neutral and slowly roll it until we’re far enough away. Key word being slowly.” You balked at him in disbelief before letting out a chuckle. He couldn’t be serious. “Well? Hurry up, we don't have all night.” He motioned to the car expectantly. Of course he was serious because why wouldn’t he be. You huffed before rolling your eyes and following his lead as you both slowly moved the car away from the house.

You and your gaggle of boys that you call friends made it to the bar on time and in one piece, all thanks to you. It was a few towns over which meant no familiar faces, something you were all counting on. You made it just in time to hear them play the first song of the night. At first you were worried you’d be kicked out but as the night carried on you worried less. If anyone had suspicions you were underage they clearly didn’t care enough to do anything about it. The night wrapped up a little before 2, it was late but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. Eddie was right, it was one hell of a night, definitely one for the books. The five of you made your way to your dads car, all of you laughing at something Gareth said. You waited until everyone was settled before beginning the drive home, you and Eddie up front and the rest of the boys in the back. It was the usual seating arrangement, at least it had been since the day you got your license. The car was loud with all the boys talking over one another but you just laughed and shook your head. Truthfully it made your heart swell, they were your boys. You loved them all, just in different ways. Sure they were your boys, but you wanted Eddie to be your boy. You wanted the cheesy compliments, the arcade dates, the feeling of him in your arms. You wanted it all, you yearned for it. But seeing him happy made you happy, and that was good enough for you. It had to be. You gave a quick glance in Eddie’s direction, his smile taking over his face as he replied to something Gareth said, or maybe it was Jeff. You weren’t sure, the only thing you knew was that you’d never forget tonight.

As all good things do, it soon came to an end. You were making your last stop before heading home: Eddie’s place. The car came to a halt and you paused, unsure of whether or not to break the comfortable silence that washed over the two of you. As if hearing your thoughts Eddie spoke up. “Happy Birthday, Y/N.” You blinked, in all the excitement of the night you had completely forgotten about your birthday. “Oh. Yeah, I guess it is.” You smiled, of course he would be the one to remember. “I uh, I have something for you.” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, suddenly unsure of himself. He cleared his throat before reaching into the front pocket of his jacket. He fumbled with the button before pulling out a cord with something attached to it and handed it to you. You held it up and let out a small gasp when you finally got a good look at it. He took his favorite guitar pick and turned it into a necklace. You’d been eyeing it for as long as you could remember. It was on its last legs of course, but it was still as pretty as it was when he first used it. You’d joked on more than one occasion that one day he’d wake up and it would be gone. You never thought he would actually give it up, the pick was special to him. Part of you hoped that maybe this meant he might feel the same. There was a small hole at the top where the material went through, made by his knife no doubt. You weren’t sure of what to say, what do you say to the person that gave you a piece of them? “Eddie, this…” you trailed off. “This is your favorite pick, why would you-” You were cut off, “I can get another pick, I can’t get another you.” He coughed before continuing. “I uh, I want you to have it.” He fiddled with his rings, hoping it didn’t come off too as cheesy as it sounded. “Thank you.” Releasing the breath you didn’t know you were holding, you wrapped him in a hug. Like the moment, it was a little awkward, the car not being the best spot for a hug. You pulled away slowly, meeting his eyes. You couldn’t remember who leaned in first, all you knew was that neither one of you made a move to stop. Your lips met and you swore your heart skipped a beat. Eventually you broke the kiss, resting your forehead on his. You had matching grins, the car silent except for the faint sound of the radio playing. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that,” you laughed, still in disbelief. “Middle school.” You pulled away, confused by his words. He continued, “I’ve been waiting to do that since that stupid talent show.” There it was, that warm gushy feeling. You shook your head and laughed. “Now you tell me.” He was definitely right, this was gonna be one hell of a memory. “Guess we have to make up for lost time then won’t we?” Just as soon as the words left his mouth he was pulling you in for another kiss.

[reds-fluff-extravaganza]

You thought I wouldn't appear here too, but I'm a very special gal, so here I am 👁👁

Fairy anon is here babyyyyy 🧚🏻‍♀️

Tbh I was gonna use this as an oportunity to tell you to do a oneshot about one of my headcanon requests, so let's go with my last one, with Reader being Grey's sibling and Glitchy Red being a sweetheart for once (LOL)

... I couldn't find another inspiring pokemon quote that I liked, so have a rare candy 🍬

I hope this is okay! Also thank you for the rare candy I need it today. Also here is the headcanon fairy anon mentioned!

You and Grey never thought you would end up in a Pokemon game, let alone a bootleg one. So when you two woke up in the bootleg world together, Grey was very nervous and a little scared. You tried your best to be brave for him, but even this was a bit too much for you. Over the short amount of time you two had been there, you had met one of the bootleg Pokemon, Shinto, who reminded you of a bootleg version of the Pokemon Hypno. While Grey was practically terrified of her, you became friends with her and you keep trying to convince Grey that she’s not going to hurt the two of you.

Unfortunately, you two have no idea how much time has actually passed since the two of you have been trapped inside the bootleg game, since… you don’t have a way of keeping time in this world, not even Shinto knows. You have figured out a way to communicate with her through the use of the pokedex that Grey had woken up with in his bag, as she can manipulate her pokedex entry, which was new to you but hey, whatever works.

You were playing with Shinto, just having a bit of fun while Grey was just watching you two from nearby. That is, until a glitched figure came up to him, not noticing you and Shinto. He reminded Grey of trainer Red, but very glitchy. He had caught Grey off guard, not expecting anyone else in this bootleg world aside from you, him and Shinto. He decided talking to him, he found out his name was Glitchy Red. Maybe he knew a way to get out of here? It was worth a shot to ask him.

You, on the other hand, had noticed the interaction between Glitchy Red and your brother. You occasionally glanced over at the two, but still playing with Shinto.

“…actually, I’m not by myself.” You heard Grey tell him as he pointed out over to you and Shinto, who had crawled up onto your shoulder. You walked over to the two, introducing yourself as Grey’s older sibling. It was at that moment that Glitchy Red decided that he was going to keep you both safe. Why? Not even he knew. He just had this feeling in the back of his mind that he had to protect you two.

After talking to the two of you for a while longer, Glitchy Red left, saying he would be back again soon. You thought he was pretty nice, or at least to you and Grey. Grey was a little unsure at first, but seeing as he hasn’t done anything to harm either of you, he would trust him for now, but only because of how you trust him, which he didn’t really understand how you could, but he knew he could trust you, and your judgement, at least.

“I think he’s nice.” You shrugged as you, Grey, and Shinto stepped into your little home, Shinto crawling out of your arms and back onto the floor.

“I know you think so, but we don’t know for sure yet, Y/n. We can’t trust him right away…”

“I am aware of that, Grey.” You pat his head and went over to the couch. “But he’s the only one here that we’ve seen that isn’t one of those stupid NPCs! We’ve got to at least give him a chance.”

“Alright, alright.” Grey shook his head and sat beside you on the couch.

“Besides, you know Shinto and I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you.”

“Yeah… that’s true.” He rubbed the back of his head, sighing softly. “Just… we need to be careful, that’s all.” You only nodded in agreement, taking his words into consideration.

Over the course of what felt like several months, but hey what do you know, you can’t really tell time in this world, you and Grey have gotten closer to Glitchy Red, especially you. He’s a little protective of you, even around the NPCs. Grey has noticed this, of course, and he was a little curious about this. So he decided to talk to him while you were out playing, or rather walking around, with Shinto.

“Hey, Glitchy Red..?” He started, looking up at the taller male, who looked down at Grey with a look of ‘go on, I’m listening,’

“I’ve noticed you’ve gotten pretty close to Y/n.” He swore he saw him flinch a bit, but decided not to question it. “I’m not surprised, though.. because they like you a lot. I guess to be fair though, you’re the only one we’ve seen in what feels like years… and the fact that you keep coming back, it makes them happy to see you.” Glitchy Red seemed a bit surprised by Grey’s words. You liked him?

“…I do like Y/n, a lot. I’ve never… felt this way towards anyone else before.”

“Then, you should tell them how you feel.”

“Are you sure about this, Grey..?” He seemed a bit nervous about confessing his feelings towards you.

“Absolutely sure. I want to see Y/n happy, and you make them happy, Glitchy Red. So you should go for it!” Glitchy Red nodded before he stood up.

“Thank you, Grey, I’ll do it.”

“Great! They should be back shortly.” And as if on cue, you and Shinto walked through the door.

“We’re back! Oh, hello again, Glitchy Red.” You looked over at him as you closed the door behind you.

“Hello Y/n.”

“Come on, Shinto, let’s go and play a game in the other room.” Shinto, at the mention of another game, hopped off your shoulder and followed after Grey, who went to another room. You were a bit confused by this, but you shrugged and sat by Glitchy Red. He looked over at you, a faint smile on his face, which you almost didn’t notice. You always thought he was really cute, but you weren’t going to admit that out loud to him.

“Thanks for keeping an eye on Grey while I was out. I know he doesn’t really need it, but it’s nice to know he’s safe.”

“You’re welcome, Y/n.” He wanted to move closer to you, but he wasn’t sure if his glitches were going to affect you or not, and he didn’t want to risk hurting you. It was silent for a few minutes, not an awkward one, but a nice comfortable silence, that is… until Glitchy Red spoke up.

“Y/n…” he turned to look right at you.

“Hmm?” You looked up at the taller male, tilting your head slightly, as if to give him the go ahead to keep talking.

“I’ve been… thinking about something.”

“What is it?”

“Since that day I met you and Grey… I’ve been having these feelings… ones I haven’t felt in a long time.” You were about to ask him to elaborate until he continued,

“I… love you, Y/n.” You were shocked to say the least. He felt the same way towards you! He took your silence as something bad, that you didn’t feel the same way.

“It’s… fine if you don’t feel the s-“

“I love you too, Glitchy Red.” You moved closer to him and hugged him, which caused him to flinch, as he wasn’t expecting the sudden hug.

“I’m… glad you feel the same way.” He said just loud enough for you to hear before he kissed your forehead and hugged you back. Sure, this was going to take some time for him to get used to, but with you by his side, he didn’t mind it at all. Especially since you weren’t affected by his glitches, which was a good thing for both of you, and eased his worry that he was going to hurt you because of them.

Unbeknownst to the two of you, however, Grey and Shinto had been listening to… most of the conversation, and both were very happy for you! However, if he did anything to hurt you, both would be after him in a heartbeat.

[alkibiadessuperfan]

hey ac valhalla fandom. so today I want to make a post and start a conversation on the glowecestrescire arc. it‘s the arc where you meet gunnar and his new girlfriend brigid. before going into it I want to give a trigger warning for drugs and sexual assault if these topics upset you please be careful when reading this post.

let‘s get into this whole thing. so the other week I was playing this arc and two friends of mine were watching too. I play canon Eivor and only make her go into romances with other women or right now no one because of Randvi. during this arc there is a character named Tewdwr that is chosen to take the place of leadership after the current leader sacrifices himself during the samhain festivities to ensure a better harvest. Eivor and him meet shortly while she has to guard him when he wants to visit a saints statue in the woods. Later they drink and celebrate together. That‘s when the game gives you the option to romance him. You can flirt with him, say smth along the lines of he isn‘t your type or tell him you would prefer to be friends. I chose the last option and that‘s when things got really questionable, or tbh, even upsetting to me. while celebrating and drinking more another character offers both eivor and tewdwr „heavier stuff“, that they decide to drink, followed by a fun little montage of their drunk shenanigans and eivor passing out somewhere outside. the screen goes black. and when eivor wakes up she is in tewdwrs bed. it is obviously not clear but all 3 of us had to pause and double check for a minute. my jaw was practically on the floor, the implication was unmissable in that moment to all of us. I still am unsure but the implications are so clear! We went through the whole arc that night and it is really a good arc with many twists and turns. Eivor does not remember anything that happened while the screen was black. She is mad that she was drugged but she is also mad that Tewdwr was drugged. She ends up saving Tewdwr and I was quite upset with the way it was handled by the game. To end the arc there is a kind of ceremony where they burn a giant straw man and then smth happens that settled it for me. Without choice Tewdwr, while thanking and saying his goodbyes to Eivor, comes incredibly close, touches her face, gives her a kiss on the cheek. It was nothing I, as a player, could have decided once again. I am feeling incredibly conflicted with the way the developers and story writers handled it and I did feel triggered after playing that arc. In a way Eivor is a safespace for me and it was really upsetting playing through an arc like that, given the illusion of choice with a strong female character like her and then being ripped away of it in fiction too. I have not seen a discussion about this online before which confused me but I would like to open the discussion and hear if someone else noticed it the same way we did or maybe not?

[cursivebloodlines]

☎️ - zoe <3

Send ☎️ And I Will Tell You:

What My Muse Has For Your Muse's Contact Info: Fave🥺 honestly shes not one for changing names on her phone really. (Except for her parents who are named Birth Giver and Sperm Donor. That's if she even has their right numbers and tbh is unsure why she has them BUT ANYWAY). Eric is her fave and regardless of their relationship she'll keep him as her fave because that hasn't changed :( as for the emoji idk he's cute and the emoji is cute and reminds her of him. If it were anyone else it would be just their name but he gets preferential treatment always <333

What Their Ringtone Is: Zoe is not one for setting ringtones for people because she doesn't see the point when she doesn't make many phone calls and when she receives them, she ignores them lmfao!! but her current one for Eric is Running up That Hill by Placebo, it just hurts a bit so she definitely has an instrumental version so she doesn't have to listen to it as such. Also, she really likes that song too.

The Last Text They Sent Your Muse: [UNSENT]: i made so many mistakes but going wrong with you was the biggest of all. if i could start over again, i would. we deserve a fresh start but it's too late. correction: you deserve a fresh start. one without me. // [UNSENT]: thank you for everything. i'm sorry. i'm so fucking sorry. i love you. i'm sorry. i love you. // [UNSENT]: you've still got some of your shirts here. if you want them. but if you do, can i hold onto them a little while longer? they still smell like you. // [SENT]: Please just let me go. You're making everything harder than it needs to be. (Honestly, there are probably loads of other unsent messages. Ones with words she could never verbalise to him but she deleted those just as fast too.)

What Image My Muse Has For Your Muse In Their Phone: Ahh, Zoe is not the best at taking photos but she has plenty of him <3 The first one she just loves so so much because he looks adorable. And of course, she would take the photo when he wasn't even looking at the camera! Then the second one? It purely embraces Eric being a complete but loveable dork. Which one is it currently? Who knows? I genuinely don't know tbh because the second one reminds her of happier times, of him being his cutiepie self but the first one is just such a precious one that makes her yearn for their relationship yet again and instant regret for all the hurt she's caused :(

Accepting | @overnightheartbeats

[veesbees]

The Edge of Everything ¹The Last Of Us season one

Summary:

in the events of TLOU (HBO Max), Penelope becomes wrapped up in trying to find her parents and a cure for her lung problem.

When Marlene dumps Penelope and Ellie onto Joel and Tess in exchange for some hefty and needed supplies, Tess and Joel decide to take Marlene up on the deal.

Will taking two young girls across the country really be worth all the trouble? Will Joel finally shed his hard exterior and care for the two supposed annoying fourteen-year-old girls? Or will Penelope find her biological parents who take the valued place of Joel?

☁︎ second chapter ‘the edge of everything’

☁︎Penelope gets wrapped up in whatever Joel and Tess are doing

shes honestly just along for the ride tbh

☁︎word count: 10,634

Chapter Two ;

When You're Lost in the Darkness

Many hours later, Penelope woke up. In the same room. The sun brightening on the horizon out the window. Penelope felt her cannula feeding oxygen into her body, and she sighed. Her eyes were still closed. She felt dried blood on her face and rubbed lazily on her chin.

“Oh good, you’re awake.” A voice came from beside Penelope. She was feeling drowsy, and numb. Like she was on a cloud. She turned her head to the right, where the voice was coming from, keeping her eyes closed. It took too much effort to open her eyes, frankly, she was comfortable staring at the darkness. 

“How are you feeling?” Marlene said, getting up to grab a glass of water for the girl. 

Penelope groaned, shaking her head. “That’s what I thought. Here. It’s water, drink up.” Marlene told the girl, and she reluctantly opened her eyes drowsily. She sat up, groaning in pain. She reached for the glass, to feel her arm being restrained. 

“You’ll have to use your other hand.” Marlene chuckled at the girl. Penelope took the glass of cool water with her left hand and gulped it down greedily. There was a metallic taste to her mouth, she coughed and sputtered it out into the glass. Marlene made a face, taking the red glass of water from her and setting it down on the table beside her.

“So. What’s your name girl?” Marlene asked Penelope.

Penelope groaned saying, “‘M Penelope,” her words slurred together. “Did you drug me?” Penelope asked the woman in front of her. 

Marlene laughed, throwing her head back. “No. You’re just being affected by the lack of oxygen in your system, Pen. So what’s the deal with the oxygen tank and cannula? You havin’ some breathin’ issues?”

Penelope nodded. “Somethin’ like that.”

Marlene sighed, taking out keys from her pocket, going to unlock Penelope’s wrist. “I’m going to unlock your cuffs, ‘kay?” Penelope nodded, holding out her wrist so Marlene could reach it easier.

Penelope felt her wrist come free, and she rubbed at the raw reddish skin. She sat there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Marlene broke the silence in the room, saying, “Uh, well, we might have some oxygen tanks for you to use. Ya know. If you run out of oxygen.” Marlene trailed off as Penelope sighed, leaning back into the bed, her eyes closed again.

Penelope sighed, breathing in deeply, sucking in any air she could get. Her chest loosened and didn’t feel as tight as before. 

“Alright.” Penelope mumbled. She fixed the cannula on her face as Marlene exited the room. The girl stayed in the room, unsure of what to do. Her body felt completely numb. Sometimes a jolt of pain would come from her left leg. It would surprise her. She remembers falling, but she didn’t think that she was injured.

Once Marlene came back, another woman came into the room carrying two oxygen tanks. It was the woman from before, with brown hair and a stern face. Penelope sat up and tried to look presentable.

“Here you go,” The woman–Halie said to Penelope. She set down the two oxygen tanks by her bedside table and stood up. “While you were unconscious, I took a look at you–” 

Penelope’s eyes widened. This random woman that she just met, took a look at her while she was unconscious.

“You wh–” Penelope started, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Relax, Penelope. Not like that.” Marlene soothed the young girl. “We’re not that bad of people.” Haile nodded in agreement and continued on.

“I found that your right rib has a hairline fracture in it. This must be why you’re constantly on oxygen, yes?” Haile motioned to the long-haired girl. Penelope shook her head.

“No. My dad diagnosed me with low bloodstream or somethin’ like that. I can't take much oxygen in, which causes my blood levels to drop. So having an oxygen tank forces my body to take it in or somethin’.” Penelope slurred together, leaning her head back, wincing as it gets harder for her to breathe. “I never paid attention when my father would talk.” Penelope scoffed, looking at the two women in the room.

The woman nodded and checked Penelope’s blood pressure. It seemed alright to her. The woman began to mutter to herself. Penelope lay in the bed, uncomfortable from the ache in her ribs. 

“You’ll have to take it easy for the next few days, your ribs will be aching a lot if you move around.” Halie told the child in front of her. Penelope nodded and closed her eyes in discomfort. “And you have a sprained ankle. Your left one. So be careful, alright?”

“Okay, I think that’s enough doctoring for Penny today.” Marlene spoke up to the woman, Haile nodded, leaving the room. 

“I’ll be in the room next door, so holler if you need anything.” Marlene told Penelope as she walked towards the door. Penelope hesitated. Should she ask Marlene about her parents?

Before Marlene got to the door, Penelope called out to the women. “Um, Marlene?” She asked, her voice quiet.

Marlene turned around, nodding at the child to continue.

“Uhm, I don’t know how to say this.” Penelope paused as she gathered her thoughts. She exhaled and began to speak again. “My parents are Andrea and Scott. I don’t know if their names are any important…but earlier today–or a day ago, I can't remember. My mother–who I thought was dead–contacted me. She told me to come here and tell you that they sent me? I have no idea what this is supposed to mean, but I was thinking, maybe they found a cure for my lungs? Or just something more important than that?” Penelope rambled to Marlene.

Marlene’s face flashed with recognition of their names. “Ah. This all makes sense now. Your mother radioed me earlier in the week, saying she’d be sending her child to the Fireflies. I just didn’t guess it’d be you.”

Penelope nodded, her face brightening. “So, what’d they tell you?” Penelope asked. 

Marlene let out a laugh, “I can't tell you, sweetie. I promised your mother.” Penelope’s face fell. “But, I’m glad that you came. Now I guess you’ll be coming with us.” Marlene explained vaguely, and Penelope felt irritation slowly forming at the bottom of her stomach.

She didn't let it show–hopefully–as she nodded pleasantly. “Where’r we going?” She asked.

“Can't tell you that either. Sorry, kiddo.” Marlene stated. “But you’ll be safe with us. Don’t worry.”

Penelope nodded as Marlene excused herself. Before she left the room, Marlene spoke. “I’ll come and get you before we leave. It won’t be for a little while though, so get some rest.” Marlene spoke with a softness that Penelope did not know she needed. All of the growing anger melted away, as she was left alone in the room.

Penelope was left to her own devices. She was in a room with nothing but a molding cot, her oxygen tanks, and some festering thoughts of her parents. The sun was starting to set, leaving a yellowing hue in the room over Penelope’s eyes. The windows had newspaper over them, making it hard to look outside. Still, the sun came through just as brightly. 

The air to Penelope felt very stale. Like they hadn’t opened a window in years. Penelope guessed as much. The room looked decades old, with flowery wallpaper that was being withered off with time. 

Penelope poked at her fingers, drumming to a song her parents had introduced to her before they left. She can’t remember the lyrics, but the melody was stuck in her head. Penelope had been growing antsy. Sitting in one position, alone. She let out a heavy sigh, staring at the ceiling. More like glaring at the ceiling. Penelope does like to be alone, but not when she was forced to. Plus she was somewhere that she’s never been before, and also has nothing to entertain her. 

She lets out a groan and grabs the blanket–more like a tattered sheet–pulling it over her head with a huff. She lay there, contemplating life. The puff of her oxygen tank was the only sound in the room. 

The whole place was eerily quiet. If she strained her ears enough, she could hear people walking every so often. Penelope lost track of time, the only indication that time didn’t stop at all was the sun. The sun fell a little lower, lighting up the room completely in an orange glow, causing Penelope to shrink into the blankets more. The blinding light caused Penelope to go momentarily blind–even through the thin sheet she had resting over her body.

Every so often, she could head talking. Penelope wasn’t eavesdropping, just listening. She heard Marlene’s voice, along with many more people. It was difficult to hear exactly what they were saying, but from their tone, Penelope guessed their conversation wasn’t going pleasantly.

Penelope thought of nothing suspicious when the conversation quieted. Merely thought their discussion was over. That was until she heard yelling, then gunfire. Penelope jerked up at the sound, not expecting to hear any violence out of their conversation. The thud of bodies rang through the nearly empty room. 

The door creaked open, a body leaning on the door, crimson liquid splattered all over the door frame. Penelope scrambled to the other side of the bed. Her movements were painful, as her ribs ached with every movement. Her nasal cannula got caught on her oxygen tank on the other side of the bed. She sat, hovering under the bed, waiting for her fate to come. 

She heard multiple gunshots and pained grunts. Penelope breathed in heavily, on the verge of hyperventilating. Her hazel eyes were screwed shut, her face creasing with emotions. Her body curled into itself. Penelope’s ears strained to hear what was going on, the sound more prominent now the door was forced open by a body. 

Moments of silence came. The ring in Penelope’s ears came with the silence. Penelope held her breath–a difficult task–and peeked her head out from above the cot. Penelope saw nothing but the halfway, and bodies laying on the ground, lifeless. With crimson liquid splattered around them. Penelope’s body was still getting off its high from not having oxygen, and now having consistent oxygen forced into her body. Her limbs felt light, along with her head.

The adrenaline from the gunshots flowed through her body. Penelope’s heart thundering in her ears, her eyes frantic as she counted the fallen bodies. She could only see three, but she guessed there were more. Her eyes switched from each body, widening in horror as she saw one person–still miraculously alive–fall backward with a thud, and a piercing gunshot. 

Penelope let out a shriek, not expecting anyone else to be alive, and ducked under the cot, her hand over her mouth. 

Many moments passed, and nothing happened. She heard staggered breathing like one of the men was still alive, but she couldn’t be sure. Penelope stayed hidden under the cot, shaking. She tried not to make a sound, in fear of herself being shot. 

Penelope creeps out towards the other side of the cot, reaching for her oxygen tank. She’s on all fours, her plum sweatshirt still draped over her shoulders. Penelope stops as she hears the floor creaking. Her hand hovering over the oxygen tank inches from her reach. As she hears the footsteps fade, she swiftly grabs her oxygen tank in her hands.

She breathes deeply for a moment, catching her breath. Penelope inches towards the door, cautious of her every movement. As Penelope puts her weight on her left ankle, she lets out a hiss. She dismisses the pain and continues forward. Before she comes inches in front of the open door, Penelope looks around the room for any weapon, coming across none. Marlene didn’t give Penny her backpack yet. For one, she doesn't have a weapon, and two, Penelope doesn't have her supplies and belongings. 

Finding nothing, she creeps to the door. Penelope holds her oxygen tank in front of her as a weapon. It is pretty heavy and good for bashing someone over the head if needed. She pokes her head out the doorway, almost tripping over the dead body in front of her. Penelope tries not to react, searching for the person that could have done this.

As she creeps out over the bodies into the hallway, she notices a man and woman in front of her, maybe about ten feet away from her. Penelope takes in their appearance before her. The man’s shoulders are rigid, his body in a defensive mode, with his hands clasped over a pistol. His steps are calculated and thought out. He also has a tattered tan backpack on his shoulders. While the woman beside him has a defensive stance, she moves in front of the man, walking a little quicker than him. The woman has long dirty blonde hair and a maroon shirt over her torso. She also has a similar backpack to the man’s.

Penelope assumes they have nothing to do with the dead bodies in front of her, as they walk cautiously towards the sound of struggling. Penelope lags slowly behind the two, barely making a noise. Penelope follows the duo as they advance towards the noise. They stop, noticing a hunched-over body.

Penelope identifies the hunched-over body as Marlene and sucks in a breath. The woman beside the man swiftly turns her pistol to Penelope. Penelope gasps, dropping her oxygen tank with a thud, and throwing her hands up in surrender. The woman looks at the young girl in question, glancing over at the man beside her. The force of her oxygen tank falling to the floor jerked her head forward as she still had her cannula on. She winced, glancing at the two people in front of her.

The man looks at Penelope with confusion, taking in her appearance. Her long dirty brownish hair, her nasal cannula resting on her face. Her frantic, wide eyes switch between the woman behind the duo, and the duo with both their guns pointed at her.

Out of nowhere comes a cry. The door next to the man flings open, and a figure throws itself at the man, weapon drawn. The man reacts quickly, taking his aimed pistol off of Penelope, swiftly shoving his shoulder into the figure, and throwing them into the floor. The figure crumbles to the ground, backing into the wall swiftly. With a pained, “fuck” falling from their lips. The figure looks up and down at the man with their mouth open in exasperation. The two stare at each other for a moment, before being interrupted.

“Joel?” Marlene calls the man. Joel turns his head to the voice, keeping his gun trained on the child in front of him. Penelope notices that Marlene clutches tightly on her side, as crimson liquid spills from some sort of wound. She frowns, clutching her hands. Penelope’s oxygen tank rolled from side to side on the floor, tugging on Penelope’s nasal cannula. She reaches up to fix it–very slowly, afraid to provoke the people before her.

The other woman, still aiming her pistol at Penelope, motions to Penelope to move. Penelope bends down to pick up her oxygen tank, gripping it tightly to her chest. She swiftly moves between the woman, sneaking behind the man–Joel. Penelope mutters a small, “Excuse me, sorry.” to the intimidating man in front of her.

Penelope has some trouble fitting between the man and the doorway, instead walking straight into the abandoned room–similar to the one Penelope was staying in for the time being–walking around the man–Joel she now knows.

“Penelope.” Marlene motions to Penelope. She swiftly limps to the woman, afraid of the situation at hand. Joel watches as the other child moves behind him.

“Marlene?” Joel’s voice comes out gruff, Marlene’s name coming out as a question. Marlene holds her gun, pointed at the man in front of her. She pushes Penelope between her and the woman–who Penelope found out, was a nice lady named Kim.

Marlene ignores Joel, her eyes falling on the child below Joel with a gun pointed at her. “You okay?” Marlene asks the girl her gun still pointed at Joel. 

The child on the floor seethes through her teeth. “Yeah.” The child looks up at the man with hate, baring her teeth.

The child looks up at Joel, and down at his foot. The child realizes that her weapon–which Penelope notices is a switchblade of some sort–was located beside Joel’s boot-clad foot. She reaches down swiftly, but Joel reacts quicker. He plants his boot-clad foot over the switchblade, causing the child to stop reaching for it.

“Ellie,” Marlene speaks softly to the child. Joel gives Ellie a questioning look, furrowing his eyebrows at the mere child in front of him. Ellie keeps her full attention on the man before her, as she breathes out heavily from the adrenaline rush. When Ellie doesn't look at Marlene, she says her name again. More forcefully. “Ellie!”

The child–Ellie–looks over to Marlene in fear, as she notices Marlene’s pain. Marlene motions for Ellie to calm down. At that moment, Ellie realizes there is something wrong with Marlene. She was holding onto her side–more like gripping it for dear life. Ellie tries to move to the woman, but Marlene dismisses her.

“Oh shit,” Ellie breathes out. 

“No, it's okay. I'll be all alright.” Marlene dismisses her pain. Her face hardens as she addresses Ellie’s actions. “And you can’t be stupid like this.”

Penelope watches as the two women in front of her lower their pistols. The woman who had her gun aimed at Penelope previously, finally spoke.

“So this is who Robert screwed us over with? The Che Guevara of Boston?” The woman’s voice was deep as her words flowed from her mouth. Marlene leaned on the wall to her right, looking away from Joel and the woman. 

Penelope glanced to her left to see Kim, with a blown-off ear. “Are you alright?” Penelope whispered to the woman in concern. The woman didn’t appear to notice Penelope, so she leaned back, piercing her lips.

The woman behind Joel continued. “I mean, war must be goin’ pretty shitty for you to be buying from scumbags like him.”

“Yeah, it kinda has been.” Marlene quipped back to the woman. “The merch was bad, and he obviously didn’t take ‘fuck off’ for an answer.”

Penelope pieced together the puzzle. The man–or men–who were lying all over the hallway had to be who this ‘Robert’ man was. He had to have something valuable for the Fireflies. 

“What do you need a car battery for?” Joel’s face hardened with the question.

Penelope observed the situation at hand. She noticed the girl, Ellie, eyeing her switchblade on the ground beneath Joel’s foot. “Give me my knife,” Ellie demanded the older man. The man simply ignored the child. Instead addressing Marlene. Ellie reached quietly for her switchblade, thinking she would go unnoticed. Joel swiftly clocked his gun at Ellie, looking at her swiftly. 

“Don’t.” He warned. 

Ellie leaned back swiftly, holding up her hands in surrender, piercing her lips. Marlene and Kim automatically jumped into action. Their guns point right back at Joel’s head. The woman behind Joel reacted just the same. Instead aiming her gun at Penelope.

“Not at her.” Marlene’s voice came out clear and demanding. Joel looked quizzically at Marlene, and back at the child before him. “Point it at me.” She spoke softly this time, nodding like she was encouraging them to shoot her. 

Penelope stiffened as two people now had their guns pointed at Marlene. Penelope’s arms had been growing sore from gripping tightly on her oxygen tank, but she simply ignored the pain–along with the infuriating pain of her sprained ankle. She had more pressing matters at hand than her physical health.

Penelope watched as Joel slowly aimed his gun at Marlene instead of Ellie. Ellie visibly relaxed, exhaling. Marlene and Kim slowly lower their weapons, Joel and the woman still having their guns aimed. The two didn’t look like they were going to lower their weapons any time soon.

“And to answer your question, I need it for a better reason than you do. No offense, but Tommy's just one man.” Penelope watches as Marlene sways to the side, leaning again on the wall. Joel’s face hardens at the mention of ‘Tommy’. Penelope’s eyes soften. She figures Tommy must be important to Joel given his reaction.

“It’s our business to know things.” Marlene continues.

“‘To know things’,” Joel repeats back to Marlene. “You're the cause of it. You turned my own brother against me.” Joel spoke bitterly. Obviously having some sort of history with the woman beside Penelope.

Marlene shakes her head. “Okay, Joel.” She sighs and grips her wound more forcefully. Penelope reaches out apprehensively and steadies the woman by holding onto her arm. 

“That was a lot of gunfire. FEDRA’s gonna be on the way.” Kim looks at the other Firefly in the room, speaking quickly. 

Marlene looks at Ellie, deciding something in her mind. “I know.” She replies quickly to Kim.

Ellie winces, gripping her pained shoulder, exhaling through her teeth. She looks over to Penelope in question, not noticing her before due to the action. Ellie watches as Marlene nods, piercing her lips before speaking quickly.

“We were gonna move Ellie outta the zone tonight. We also got a stray coming with us. Penelope.” Marlene looks at the child on the floor wincing in pain. She looks to her side, seeing Penelope watching Ellie. “But we won't make it anywhere like this. Not for a while anyway.” She paused as she looked at Joel. 

“So now I'm thinkin'... you're gonna do it.” Marlene finishes. Kim looks at Marlene in surprise. 

Joel looks back at the child on the floor, wondering what could be so important with the kids. “The hell we are,” Joel replies with some bitterness.

“I'm not goin' with them!” Ellie protests, looking at Joel and the woman in apprehension. 

Penelope’s eyes widened. She’ll be going somewhere with Joel and the woman who had their guns pointed at them? No way. “What?” She replied, breathlessly.

“Let me take them.” Kim protests Marlene, in some sort of desperation.

Joel looks at the woman behind him, saying, “Tess, we don’t have time for this.”

“Oh, you don't have time?” Marlene challenges, raising her voice. 

Before another fight could break out, the woman–Tess–replies. “Who are they?”

“To you? They’re cargo.” Marlene states with authority.

Penelope and Ellie watch the conversation bounce from person to person. Ellie’s mouth was wide open in confusion, and Penelope gripped her oxygen tank for dear life. Her hands were itching to fix her nasal cannula, but decided it would be best to watch the conversation than internally freak out. 

“We don’t smuggle people. Sorry.” Joel replies to Marlene with a matching tone.

Kim looked over to Marlene, finally speaking up. “I can do it.” Kim insists.

Marlene turns her head to Kim, speaking, “Kim, you don’t have a fuckin’ ear on your fuckin’ head. Could you please?” Marlene spoke fiercely, tired of the situation at hand. “There’s a team of Fireflies waiting for Ellie at the State House. Penelope’s parents should be there too.”

Penelope’s ears perked up at the mention of her name and her parents. They’re so close? A glimmer of hope sprouts in her chest. She hasn’t felt any glimmer of hope in years. Penelope is brought back to the harsh reality as Joel scoffs. 

“I know what’s out there. We were going with an entire squadron for that very reason. But now I don’t have a truck, I don’t have a squadron, FEDRA’s five minutes away. What I do have is you.” Marlene speaks with venom on her tongue. “And I know what you’re both capable of. For better or worse.”

The adults in the room look at each other with challenges, Marlene pleading with her eyes for Joel and Tess to take the job. Ellie looked at Joel with confusion. Penelope was unsure of how to take this situation at hand. Just twenty-four hours ago, she was in her parent’s apartment, reading an old book she had found lying around in the apartment. Now she was here, going with some random people who were capable of things she didn’t even know about. Not the ideal situation Penelope wished to be in at the moment.

Ellie looks at Marlene in fear, quietly asking, “What are they capable of?”

Marlene ignores Ellie and instead continues to convince Joel and Tess to take Ellie and Penelope out of the Boston QZ and to the State House. “You get them there safely, and they’ll give you what you need. Not just the battery. The whole thing. Fueled-up trucks, guns, supplies. All of it.”

“I swear.” Marlene nodes, knowing this is exactly what Joel and Tess want. She repeats. “I swear.”

There is a moment of silence as Marlene and Joel share a look. Marlene stared down at Joel. Joel turns to Tess, and she motions to the corner of the wall, for some private conversation. Joel looks at Ellie on the ground, and swipes his foot on the ground, kicking away the switchblade. Ellie reaches out for her switchblade, but she was too slow. 

“Asshole!” Ellie seethes out of her teeth.

Joel slowly walks over to Tess, still aiming his gun. His eyes glide from Ellie to Marlene, then to Penelope and Kim on the further side of the hallway.

Marlene looks at Ellie with a look of disappointment flashing on her features, and Ellie lowers her head. Ellie’s features softening. Penelope finally allows herself to relax–only a tiny bit. She lowers her oxygen tank in between her legs, untangling the cannula tube that had been puffing every so often, making it harder for the oxygen to flow through. Penelope didn't notice the lack of air flowing through the tube, but as the situation cooled down, she started to notice. 

Penelope’s breathing became a little uneven as she tried to calm down, gulping more and more air through her nose. She reached up to her face fixing the wire resting between her lips and nose. Instead of overthinking, and hyperventilating, Penelope tried to focus on Marlene instead. She reached out to the woman and asked, “Will you be okay?”

Marlene sucked in a breath, looking at Penelope. She reached to her shoulder, only a head and a half shorter than the woman. Marlene nodded and called out to Joel and Tess. 

“Y’all talk it through, but please remember that I’m bleeding out.”

Tess turned around abruptly, walking over swiftly to the other women in the room. Penelope flinched at her movement. “Okay. Here’s the deal.” Tess paused, Joel placed his pistol back in its holster, seeing as there is no current threats in the room. “We’ll get them to your crew, at the Statehouse.”

Penelope watches as Marlene advances on the duo, her mouth open with anticipation, but also limping on her feet. 

“But before we hand them over, they give us everything that we want. If not, we kill them, there and then.” Penelope’s eyes widened. They’d kill her? And Ellie? This is some messed up situation Penelope found herself in.

Marlene doesn't waste a second. “Deal.”

Penelope and Ellie look at the older woman in surprise. Penelope doesn't say anything. She’s too busy trying not to hyperventilate. Instead, Ellie calls out in surprise. “Really? That fast?”

“You are all that matters.” Ellie scoffs, and rolls her eyes at the woman, looking straight ahead. 

“My team will not jeopardize that. Remember what I told you?” Marlene questions the child in front of her. 

“Now, go get your backpack,” Marlene instructs Ellie, nodding her head back into the room Ellie came out of moments ago. “Now Ellie,” Marlene speaks when Ellie doesn't move from her spot. After a moment, Ellie huffs. She stands up swiftly, stomping back into the room she came out of. 

Penelope stands there for a moment, unsure of what to do. She doesn't have her backpack or any of her belongings. Hell, she doesn't even have shoes on. For a moment, it seems as if Marlene had forgotten about her, even though she said that Penelope would be going with Joel and Tess. “Um, Marlene?” Penelope calls out to the woman.

Marlene turns to the girl, after momentarily forgetting about her. “Your backpack is in the room behind me. Go and get it.” Marlene instructs the girl, breathing heavily. Penelope nodes. She bends down with some trouble, her ribs aching her. Penelope picks up her oxygen tank and swiftly walks into the room right behind her with a noticeable limp in her steps. 

Penelope can hear the adults talking in the hallway as she searches the room for her backpack. Penelope found her backpack thrown under a table with a map. Her green canvas backpack stands out amongst the browns and tans in the room. Penelope grabs it, unzipping the biggest pocket by the straps. She makes sure all of her supplies were left in there before she picks up her oxygen tank and makes room for it. She finds her tattered-up canvas shoes shoved in the side of her backpack. She slips them on, wincing as she moves her ankle in the wrong direction. After she is done, she looks around for her father’s coat. 

Penelope searches the room, looking in every nook and cranny, finding nothing. Penelope feels panic beginning to bubble up in the pit of her stomach. Her father’s jacket is all that she has left of her dad, so she tries to push down the feeling of anxiety crawling up her throat. She exits the room with her green backpack on her shoulders over her plum-colored sweatshirt.

“Marlene? Do you know where my coat is?” Her voice comes out very high-pitched, anxiety making her voice shake. Marlene looks at Penelope with annoyance, her side hurting her with every passing moment. Marlene definitely does not have the time to be bothered with Penelope. She looks at Kim, who nods her head.

“It’s right here,” Kim responds for Marlene, heading into the same room. She walks out of the threshold, handing the piece of fabric to the child. Penelope visibly softens, her shoulders loosening. 

“Thank you,” Penelope replies with gratitude. She wraps it around her waist before looking at Joel and Ellie. 

Joel looks at Penelope with a hard glare. Tess led the way out of the apartment complex. Ellie and Penelope share a look, quickly walking behind Tess. Ellie looks back to Marlene, who nodded to the child reassuringly. Joel was the last one to leave. He looked at Marlene with a nasty glare and made sure Penelope and Ellie were right behind Tess. 

*        *       *

Penelope follows Tess through the rain, every so often limping through the puddles on the sidewalks. Over the last few moments, Penelope’s ankle had gotten worse. It turns out, ignoring your pain does not make it go away. Her father’s brown coat was soaked, and her plum-colored sweatshirt was becoming even more soaked underneath it. In the Boston rain, Tess, Penelope, Ellie, and Joel walked to Joel and Tess’ apartment.

It wasn’t a long walk, but in the rain, walking became more difficult. Not to mention the FEDRA soldiers who were placed on every corner. Penelope looked back to Ellie, seeing her pull her hood up closer over her head. Penelope shook her head and fixed her itching nasal cannula.

The air in the Boston QZ was very humid and muggy. The rainy sky mixed with the hotter weather from earlier in the day clashed. The muggy air became a little more difficult for Penelope to breathe, thankfully her oxygen tank was working a little better than her former one. Both of the oxygen tanks were stuffed in her backpack, making it look over-stuffed. Penelope prayed to whoever is up in the skies, begging that her backpack didn’t look too suspicious. 

The quartet swiftly walking through the Boston rain make it to Joel and Tess’ apartment in one piece. Penelope follows Tess up the stairs to their apartment, Ellie following right behind Penelope. The two young girls approach a door, waiting for instructions. 

Tess opens the door for the two girls. “Give us a minute, alright?” Tess asks the two girls as they enter the apartment. Tess quickly slams the door shut. Penelope jumps, wincing as she puts too much weight on her sprained ankle. 

Ellie yelps, “What the fuck?!”

Penelope says nothing, too stunned. She makes her way through the darkened apartment. As the sun was setting, apartments grew darker. Penelope wandered around the room, her Converse sneakers squishing unconformably from stepping in so many puddles. She wandered to a window, noticing something blue on it. Ellie on the other hand began touching everything. From a book on the table to random trinkets around the room. 

As Penelope approaches the window with what she’s identified as a blue butterfly on the window, Ellie walks beside the girl, more interested in the book beside the radio. Ellie picks up the book, flipping through the pages. Penelope looks at the girl, abandoning the butterfly for a moment. Penelope wandered over to Ellie, looking at the book she was holding. On the pages, there was a scrap of paper hidden in the book. There were 60s, 70s, and 80s on the page, with a ‘B/F’ on the top of the page. She looked at Ellie quizzically, unsure of what this note meant. 

There’s a yell in the hallway, Joel opens the door furiously, entering the apartment. He sighs making his way to the couch. He ignores the two girls in the room, setting down his backpack with a thud, he moves to the couch, sitting down heavily. 

Ellie doesn't waste a  moment to annoy the older man, and asks, “So, who’s Bill and Frank?”

Ellie breaks the tense silence, her main goal is to annoy the crap out of Joel. 

“The radio's a smuggling code, right?” Ellie looks over to the radio where Penelope still sands, unsure what to do in this foreign room. “‘60s song they don’t have anything new, ‘70s, they got new stuff. What’s 80s?” Ellie continued to annoy the man.

Instead of answering Ellie’s question, Joel sauntered over, and snapped the book shut, tossing it out of Ellie’s reach. Ellie stood there for a moment, stunned. Ellie was successful in annoying the annoying man, giving Penelope a smirk.

Penelope still stood at the window, looking out to the Boston QZ below her. Every so often, she would spin the blue butterfly around, liking the feeling of the cool plastic. Jole looked over to the girl, with her backpack and coat still on, like she was ready to leave at any moment. Joel noticed the glare of blue as Penelope moved around the butterfly. His former daughter’s butterfly. A wave of protectiveness and anger consumed the man as he looked at Penelope.

“Hey! Kid, get away from that.” Jole barked at Penelope. She jumped a foot backward.

“Sorry.” Penelope whispered to the man, intimidated by his presence. 

The two girls set down their backpacks beside the table. Penelope found a seat to sit in, setting her backpack closer to the seat she was sitting in, her oxygen tank not being able to reach from the table. Ellie stood for a moment, not sure where to sit. The only other seat was the seat Penelope was currently occupying. 

“What are you doing?” Ellie pestered Joel.

Joel was currently walking back to the couch, his shoes thudding on the floor. He looked exhausted. Like a walking corpse to Penelope. She didn’t dare say anything to the man, afraid he might hurt her. She is honestly surprised that Joel isn't already annoyed. Especially surprised he hasn’t killed Ellie. Penelope will admit she finds Ellie funny, but sometimes her pestering jokes and sassy quips can be a little annoying. Even for her.

Joel sighed, laying his body out on the couch. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the annoying girls in the room. 

“Killin’ time.” His voice was full of annoyance as he answered. Penelope shook her head, reaching into her backpack for her book.

“Well, what am I supposed to do?” Ellie wines, throwing her hands.

“I'm sure you’ll figure that out.” Joel responded. He shifted on the couch, it shifted under his weight. 

Penelope pushed over to the corner of her seat, motioning for Ellie to sit with her. Ellie sighed. She grabbed the book she had annoyed Joel with moments ago. Ellie looked at Joel one last time, noticing his broken watch. “Your watch is broken.” She stated.

Penelope looked at Joel’s left wrist. Ellie was right, his watch was broken. Penelope pierced her lips and looked down at her book. She felt the cushion sink under Ellie’s weight as she sat beside the girl. Penelope shifted to the side, moving to give the other girl some space on the small seat.

“You don't have to move, I have enough room.” Ellie told Penelope, considerably lowering her voice.

Penelope gave Ellie a small smile, looking up from her book. The two entered a small silence–a rare occurrence for Ellie to be this quiet. After about ten minutes, Ellie grew antsy at the silence. The only sound was Joel’s muttering in his sleep, Penelope’s oxygen tank puffing from her backpack, and the pitter-patter of the coming rain. 

Ellie sighed, slamming her book shut in frustration. Penelope looked up from her book, before Ellie’s outburst, completely consumed by it.

“You alright?” Penelope broke the silence between the two, looking at Ellie in concern.

Ellie nodded, leaning back further into the seat. Ellie didn’t say anything. She only looked out at the window in boredom. Penelope reluctantly looked back to her book, rereading the same paragraph about ten times over, unable to concentrate. 

Penelope broke the silence again, asking Ellie, “Have you ever been outside the QZ?” 

Ellie looked at Penelope. She thought for a moment before answering. “Nope. I’ve been stuck in the QZ all my life. What about you?”

“Uh no. I've been here my whole life too. But my parents lived before the infected came. How about yours?” Penelope asked, closing her book. 

Penelope watched as Ellie’s eyes became blank. She realized she might have not mentioned her parents. “Oh, sorry for bringing that up.” Penelope quickly said. She dismissed her other words.

“ No, it's fine. Don’t worry. I was in FEDRA school my whole life. I’m an orphan.” Ellie said bitterly, responding to Penelope’s question. Penelope nodded, unsure of what to say. “So, did you go to FEDRA school?” Ellie finally asked.

Penelope shook her head, responding. “Uh, no. I taught myself stuff for school.” She nodded. Penelope decided to try not to bring up her parents again, seeing as Ellie grew a little bitter on the subject.

“Oh so cool!” Ellie responded enthusiastically. “You taught yourself?” She asked, leaning towards Penelope. Obviously interested in the way the conversation was heading.

“Yeah! My–uh,” Penelope paused for a moment, contemplating whether to bring up her mother. She decided quickly. Her story wouldn’t make sense without mentioning her mother. “Mom taught me some things, but other than that, I taught myself.” Penelope nodded, looking proud. 

“Granted, I’m no teacher, so I don’t think I’m too smart. There's only so much you can learn by yourself.” Penelope paused for a moment, nodding and smiling. She notices that Ellie had her full attention on her, fascinated that this girl in front of her taught herself. 

“Well, I’m not that good at math, and I never learned how to use a gun correctly–” Ellie cut her off.

“You know math?” 

“Yeah, I do?” Penelope replied with uncertainty.

Ellie straightened up. “So cool!” She paused for a moment. Ellie jumped, an idea coming to her mind. “Could you teach me? You know, teach me math, and I can teach you how to use a gun?” Ellie reached for Penelope’s hands, pleading with the girl to teach her.

Penelope’s mind turned to mush. For one, she’s never had a friend, this whole conversation being foreign to her. Two–Ellie, this girl who she just met is holding her hands. And three, she had to teach someone? No way. Penelope had a hard enough time learning geometry and slope intercept formulas on her own. What makes Ellie think that Penelope could teach her?

Ellie sat there, with a look of pure excitement on her face. Her body basically vibrating. 

Penelope couldn’t say no to Ellie. 

“I can try to teach you, but–” Penelope was cut off.

“Oh my god! Really?! Thank you so much!” Ellie jumped in her seat, shaking Penelope’s arms in excitement. Penelope laughed at Ellie’s reaction.

“Hey, I said I’d try. That doesn't mean that I’ll be successful.” Penelope had severe doubt in herself. But she would try. 

Ellie ignored her last sentence, calming down. The two girls sat in comfortable silence. Ellie went back to reading the book she found, in the 80s section of the book. Penelope back to reading. 

Penelope was at the climax of her book, on about page 150, starting earlier in the day on page 48. When Ellie sighed. Obviously bored. Without looking up, Penelope answered. “What’s up.”

“This book is boring.” Ellie stated, looking up at the ceiling. 

“Oh, I’m sorry about that.” Penelope replied without an ounce of sorriness. 

Ellie scoffed playfully. “Sure you are.”

Ellie sat there. Bored out of her mind. Penelope sat beside her, completely enjoying herself reading the book in silence. Ellie clicked her tongue in boredom, making random sounds. Clearly trying to annoy Penelope. 

Penelope on the other hand, knew how to tune people out completely and become consumed in what she was doing. So instead of responding to Ellie’s antics, she tuned her out. After about ten minutes of Ellie being a complete fool, Ellie noticed what Penelope was doing.

“Hey!” Ellie called, pulling the book out of Penelope’s hands. 

Penelope yelped, “No! Ellie, please! It’s at a good part!” Penelope whined. Ellie laughed triumphantly, closing the book without a bookmark in it. “Oh my god, Ellie. What have you done?!” Penelope wasn’t mad, just simply annoyed. Her face clearly showed it. Ellie shrank under Penelope’s stare, a tentative smile on her face.

“Sorry…” Ellie handed Penelope her book back. “I'm so bored Penelope!” Ellie called out, grabbing onto Penelope’s shoulder and shaking her body with her words.

Penelope laughed, her eyes closed. “I can see that.” 

The two girls talked for hours, about anything and everything. Ellie talked about what it was like in FEDRA schools, and Penelope told Ellie what it was like to work with the seniors. The two girls were having fun as the sun began to set. Finally in better spirits than they were earlier in the day. Penelope’s ankle and ribs still ached, but there was nothing she could do about the pain.

The sky became darker, the two girls became restless. They had no idea what they would be doing with the two adults–now one as Tess is nowhere to be found in the apartment. Joel slept on the couch, and Ellie roamed the room once Penelope returned to her book. 

Ellie sat on the arm of the chair, and Penelope comfortably curled up in the seat, taking up most of the seat. Ellie was looking out on the gray and dreary landscape beyond the windows. As the rain came down, the more dreary and dull the temperature became. 

Joel started to stir on the couch, Penelope not noticing. But Ellie did.

“You mumble in your sleep.” Ellie spoke up. 

Penelope looked to the girl in question, folding a corner of the page she was on. Penelope glanced over to Joel on the couch while stuffing her book back in her bag. She had been on the last few chapters of the book. 

Ellie continued to talk, to no one in particular in the trio. “I’ve never been on the other side of the Wall.” She sighed, resting her head on her hand. “Look how dark it is.” Ellie turned to Penelope. Penelope nodded. She did have to agree, the outside looked so dull and lifeless. No colors. Only gray and brown. 

“You guys go out there a lot?” Ellie directed this question to Joel. Ellie wouldn’t admit it, but she was nervous to go out there. Outside the Wall. She waited for Joel’s reply.

“I guess.” Joel spoke after a moment. He sat up leaning his body against the sofa nonchalantly. Penelope looked at the man. In this light, in the mundane setting, this man before her didn’t look like a major threat. He looked like a grown man with a tired face. With graying hair, and an exhausted stance. To Penelope, it looked like this man was holding the weight of the world on his shoulders. Penelope wondered what had made him this way.

Was it something that happened before the outbreak? Or during it? Was it something to do with his broken watch that Joel looks at often with a melancholy look? Or did it have nothing to do with anything? Was he just a bitter and grumpy old man?

Penelope looked to Ellie, dragging her eyes across the room in thought. “When was the last time?” Penelope was the one to ask. Penelope would admit. She was afraid. She has never been a mile away from her house. Penelope was quite frankly terrified. 

Penelope had been trying to avoid the nagging feeling in her stomach. She had talked with Ellie for hours. She had entertained herself with reading. Anything but listening to her thoughts. 

Penelope looked at Joel with dreaded eyes. Joel didn’t answer for a moment. 

Everything about Penelope’s mannerisms reminded Joel of someone. Ellie could tell. The way he looked at her for a moment with heartbroken eyes, then would let his face fall. The way he would be so guarded around the younger girl confused Ellie. She didn’t dare say a thing yet. 

Joel finally replied, a heavy sigh escaping his mouth. “Maybe a year. What’s it matter?” 

“But you know where to go?” Ellie spoke, making sure they would be okay.

There was a pause.

“Yeah.”

There was silence between the trio. Ellie looked back out the window, and Penelope messing with her nasal cannula on her face. Joel sat on the sofa pondering. After a moment, Joel broke the silence.

Joel addressed Ellie, “So, what’s the big deal with you anyway? You some kinda bigwig’s daughter or somethin’?” Joel’s gruff voice flowed across the room in the girls’ direction.

Ellie looked behind her to Penelope, giving her a smirk. “Something like that.” That was all Ellie said in return for Joel’s question.

Penelope’s face slowly grew into a tentative smile. “What about you?” Joel addressed Penelope. “What’s up with your baggage?” Joel motioned to Penelope’s oxygen tanks and the wire connected to them.

Penelope nervously itched at her cannula, before answering. “I have some sort of respiratory issue. If I don’t have my oxygen tank and my nasal cannula I could die.” Penelope answered simply. She didn't want to get too into her medical condition. Hell, she didn’t even know much about it herself. 

Ellie perked up, coming up with an idea. “Oh, the radio came on when you were sleeping.”

Joel straightened up on the couch. Penelope side-eyed Ellie, clearly not remembering the radio turning on once. 

“What?” Joel asked. “What was the song?”

“He kept sayin’, like, like, ‘Wake me up before you go-go?’” Ellie replied to the man.

Joel looked down with worry. “Shit.” He hissed. Penelope glanced up at the man. 

Ellie laughed, looking at Penelope and Joel in triumph. “Gotcha. ‘80s means trouble.”

Jole stands up and advances on the girl, annoyance clear in his stance. Penelope stiffens as the man comes closer. “Listen–”

Before he could say a word, the door opened, and Tess walked through the door. She closes it behind her, a look of tiredness on her face. Ignoring the situation in the room Tess speaks. “The spot under Lancaster looks good.” Tess addresses Joel, and Joel with his finger still pointed in Ellie’s direction hangs in the air. He stands up, straightening.

Tess looks at the two girls, Penelope curled up in the chair, not so comfortable now. And Ellie is now standing by the side of the chair. “You two got jackets in your packs?”

Penelope stands up out of the chair, uncurling like a cat, and stretching before leaning down into her backpack to grab her father’s coat. “Mhm.” Penelope replies.

“Yeah.” Ellie responds to Tess.

“Okay, get it. It’s time to go.”

The trio grabs their backpacks and coats. Ready for their adventure. 

Penelope shrugs on her father's coat, along with her backpack. Her oxygen tanks make her backpack heavier than before. By about twenty pounds. Nothing fun for the sandy-haired brunette. 

The quartet headed out of the apartment. They walked slowly and quietly. Ellie and Penelope walk between the two adults, Joel on Ellie’s right, and Tess on Penelope’s left. Walking through the dreary streets of the Boston QZ, FEDRA vehicles patrol the streets. 

Over the speakers, Penelope heard: “...mandatory curfew to fight infection and insurrection. Observe mandatory curfew to fight infection and insurrection.” It occurred every night. This a reminder that FEDRA still controlled everything about people’s lives in the QZs.

Penelope stood behind Ellie as Joel pushed open a trapdoor covered in dirt. It fell as Joel peaked his head out to make sure the coast was clear. He struggled to set it aside and bring himself up and out of the hole in the ground. 

After climbing out of the hole, Joel reached down, giving Ellie a hand out of the hole. Ellie ignored the man. Instead, watching her step. Penelope was after Ellie. She, on the other hand, struggled to get out of the hole. Her backpack was too heavy for her, causing Penelope to slow down. She glanced up at Joel’s hand and reached out. She assumed it was for her. But once Joel hesitated to help Penelope up, she realized his hand was outstretched for Tess. Not for her.

Penelope quickly tried to exit the hole in embarrassment. Tess followed after Penelope. Ellie and Tess got to work, crouching down and dragging the trapdoor over the hole they came out of. Once Ellie straightened up, she exclaimed in awe. “Hole shit. I’m actually outside.” 

Penelope crouched down close to the ground hiding the hole the quartet had just emerged from. Penelope observed her soundings. There were many blaring lights emerging from the QZ walls. Tess swiftly pulled Ellie down into a crouching position. It is unsafe to be standing straight up out in the open when you are not supposed to be somewhere.

“Jesus Crist,” Slipped out of Tess’ mouth as she glanced over to Joel. Penelope and Ellie were side by side, leaning on rubble by a bright yellow bus. 

“Okay, we’re gonna take the left edge around the buffer zone.” Tess spoke to the two girls, looking at one another to make sure they were listening. “You stay close and you follow my lead.”

The two girls nodded, Ellie, answering for the both of them. “Yeah. Yeah, of course.” 

Penelope looked to her side, just behind Tess to find the hollowed-out ground. It looked like a pathway to her, and once Tess said, “Let’s go.” 

She led the way under the bright yellow bus. Ellie followed right behind Tess, Penelope scrambling to follow the two girls. Joel was the last one under the bus, looking behind the group to make sure they would not be seen.

Ellie crouched down, sometimes walking on all fours after emerging from below the yellow bus. Penelope stayed in a similar position, her left ankle becoming very sore from the weight on it.

The group walked by the bus’ side, staying in the shadows. 

Penelope tripped over a piece of concrete, stumbling into Ellie. The two girls steadied themselves, sharing identical looks of utter fear. Penelope’s breath hitched, as she threw herself to the ground, noticing a truck with blaring lights come near them. Joel grabbed onto Penelope’s backpack, and dragged her to the side of a car, taking cover. Tess on the other hand pulled Ellie to her. The two clasping hands.

As the car drove away, Tess crouched up and looked through the tinted and dusty car window to make sure the coast was clear. After deciding the coast was in fact clear, she looked to Joel. Tess got up and started to advance. Ellie followed right behind the woman. 

Penelope glanced over her shoulder, Joel still gripping tightly to her backpack. He nodded to the young girl, and she moved to follow Ellie after Joel let go of her backpack strap. Penelope jogged to Ellie and held onto her backpack nervously. 

The group makes their way to some sort of above-ground sewer–or some sort of metal tube. Their footsteps thud against the metal tubing as they walk through it. Penelope had her head down when Tess quickened her steps and tried to blend into the side of the tube. Ellie and Penelope followed after the woman, getting the gesture. At that moment, another car with blaring lights came passing by. 

Penelope was surprised they were not noticed yet, considering her oxygen tank was as loud as it is. At each and every moment, Penelope was afraid they would be caught and killed, because of her stupid oxygen tanks. She tried to brush off her fear as Tess looked at the light’s shadows. 

Ellie and Penelope’s eyesight followed the bright shadows of the light on the walls, both their mouths agape. Once the bright lights were gone, the two young girls looked to Tess for directions, completely unsure of what to do. Tess looked back to the girls and gave them a nod. She got up. Ellie and Penelope followed after the older woman–like baby ducklings. 

Joel was the last one out–as per usual–making sure everyone would be alright to advance. The rain was coming down heavier now, soaking Penelope’s hair and her father’s coat. The group jogged through the rain, not seeing any lights or threats at the moment. A rumble of thunder lit up the sky as the quartet blended themselves into the shadowy walls. Penelope flinched at the loud rumble of thunder. Back in the QZ, it wasn’t as loud as the thunder was now, outside of the Wall. 

More rumbles of thunder came, making Penelope constantly jump. She was gripping tightly to the cord of her nasal cannula as they rounded the corner. She glanced to her left, and right as the thunder lit up the sky. Her eyes widened as she saw a FEDRA soldier urinating on the wall. Tess noticed too and ushered the two girls quickly out of his line of sight. 

“What the hell?” Penelope heard the man mutter under his breath.

Tess was unsuccessful as they heard shouting. “Hey! Don’t–don’t move!” The soldier began to turn, hurriedly zipping up his pants. In the process, he dropped his gun with its flashlight attached.  Penelope avoided his presents, instead glancing from Ellie to Joel, unsure what to do. The group stopped. 

“Don’t move!” The soldier shouted to them again.

Tess held up her hands in surrender, along with Joel. Ellie and Penelope followed their actions, Penelope dropping her cord in the process. The soldier had his gun pointed at them as the thunder illuminated them in the night sky. The soldier slowly pulled up his visor, getting a better look at the group. 

Penelope saw as the man’s face flashed with recognition. “You gotta be shitting me!” The man said, in disbelief. 

Joel quickly walked forward, looking to defuse the situation. The soldier turned on his flashlight again, as Joel began to speak. “Okay, let’s talk this out–” Joel was cut off by the soldier. 

“Turn around.” The man in front of the group ordered. “Get on your fuckin’ knees.” 

Penelope looked to Tess, unsure of what to do. Completely scared shitless. 

Joel grew angry as he said, “Hold on!” He held out his hands in surrender, not reaching for any of his weapons. Penelope watched the scene unfold. She looked to her side to Ellie who was looking at Tess.

“What did I fuckin’ tell you, man?” The soldier was freaking out. “I said stay the fuck home. Get on your knees.” The man pointed his finger at Joel in a threatening manner, his gun still pointed to the group. 

“Now hold on–” Joel tried to argue.

“Just get on your knees,” Tess looked over to Joel before turning around and getting on her knees with her hands behind her head. Penelope watched the woman, immediately fixing her stance, afraid of being shot right then and there. 

“Get on your knees.” Tess repeated to Ellie and Joel. The two followed her orders. Tess turned her body to the soldier saying, “Listen, you let us do this run… we’ll split the cards with you.” Tess promised the man. 

The soldier was not having any of their bullshit. “Oh, will you?”

“Yeah!” Tess replied to the soldier, trying to get out of this sticky situation alive. 

“I'm so blessed.” As he said this, he reached for some device. “Hands on your head. Eyes forward.” The soldier repeated the instructions to Tess. When she didn’t move, the soldier grew impatient. 

“Hands on your head!” Penelope threw her hands straight to her head, playing with a strand of hair in fear. The soldier held out the device and held it to Tess’ neck. 

“Really, man?” Tess scoffed as the device was held not so gently against her neck. 

“Yep. We’re doing this by the book.” The soldier replied. “Jesus Christ.” Tess let out as the scanner zapped her neck. Penelope looked to the side where Tess was, seeing the screen turned green. 

“Alright, what about three-quarters?” Tess was looking up at him over her shoulder.

 “Unauthorized exit. They’ll hang you for that.” The soldier said smugly as he moved on to Joel. 

“Fine, everything off of this run, and half off on all the pills.” Joel’s voice was gruff and angered. Penelope looked at the man in fear. Penelope was the last one in their group. Ellie was in front of her. 

The soldier looked applied. Penelope noticed, watching him from the corner of her eyes.“Half off?” The soldier scoffed, the scanner zapped Joel and the screen went green. “All off. Risk my job for half off.” The soldier muttered under his breath. 

Penelope noticed Ellie pull something out of her jacket pocket while the soldier wasn’t looking. Penelope was too afraid to say anything, or even question her. The man walked over to Ellie with the device, getting ready to scan her. Once the man was right behind her Ellie let out an inhumane sound and stabbed something into the man’s leg. 

Penelope let out a shriek of surprise and scrambled away from the commotion. The soldier let out a yell and hunched over pulling the blade out of his leg. Tess yelled for Ellie, instantly standing up and reaching toward the girl. Joel does the same, reaching for Penelope. 

Penelope was behind Joel, Ellie beside the two, and Tess holding her hand out in front of her to the soldier. 

“Get out the fuckin’ way!” The soldier seethed, pointing his gun at Ellie. Joel stood in front of the girl, using his body as a shield from the soldier. “Woah, woah.” 

Tess moved to Penelope and pulled her to the side.

“We can fix this.” Joel tried to convince the soldier, motioning to Ellie behind him.

The soldier was not having it. “Move.” 

When Joel didn’t move, the soldier repeated. “Move.” Aiming his gun directly at Joel. 

At that moment, Penelope noticed that Joel’s expression had changed. In a split second, Joel jumped onto the man, using his body weight to throw the solder to the ground. Ellie and Penelope shrieked. Penelope watched in horror as Joel threw punch after punch at the soldier. Ellie watched on with mixed emotions. Penelope on the other hand grew more and more afraid. 

Of what? She didn’t know. Everything, maybe. Nothing. She just grew afraid. 

She watched on with a blank face, not even flinching anymore as punch after punch came. The man’s body flew up and down from the force of Joel’s punches, his face caving in. The thunder illuminated the two bodies. Blood covered Joel’s fists. Blood all over the man’s face. 

Joel grew tired of punching the man, finally coming to his senses. Penelope glanced at Ellie with a blank stare, not even present at the moment. She felt the raindrops fall heavily on her head. But she wasn't there. Her fingers and toes grew numb, her body now becoming freezing. She was still breathing, but not focused on anything. 

Penelope watched as Jole looked behind him to Ellie, breathing heavily with blood covering his fists. The body below him limps. 

Tess moved Penelope to the side gently, lunging for the discarded device beside Ellie. She pulled out from the muddy ground, noticing the device was red. 

Ellie was infected. 

Penelope came to her senses, blinking rapidly. She looked from Joel to Ellie, then to Tess. Ellie was scrambling away from Tess. Screaming repeatedly, “No, no! No, I am not sick!” 

Penelope felt her stomach drop.

Ellie was infected?

“Joel! Joel!” Tess called to the man in fury. Penelope backed away from the commotion breathing heavily.

“Look! Look! This is three weeks old!” Ellie pulled up her sweatshirt to reveal an infected bite mark on her right forearm. From afar, it looked like Ellie was in fact infected. Penelope didn’t know what to think. Tess dropped the device, gripping onto Ellie’s arm. 

“You are infected?” Penelope whispered, horrified.

“Nobody lasts more than a day! Does this look a day old to you!?” Ellie pleaded with desperation, afraid that she could die right here and then. Tess would not hesitate to kill her, Ellie knew that. “You would’ve killed me!”

“I should fucking kill you!” Tess seethed in anger. “When did it happen?” Tess tried to ask the young girl in front of her.

Ellie was not having it. “It doesn’t matter! You have to trust me! They’re gonna catch us if we don’t run!”

Joel stayed quiet, returning from whatever fog he was in before.

Penelope distanced herself from Ellie, fear radiating through her body. She felt shivers crawl down her spine. She was afraid of Joel for one, brutally beating her to death if she proved to do something wrong. And she was also afraid of her newfound friend. 

Her first friend.

Penelope’s eyes danced from Ellie’s exposed forearm to Tess who was yelling at Joel.

Penelope couldn’t hear anything. All she could do was breathe. 

Tess yelled to the man. “Joel, we gotta move.” When Joel didn’t respond, Tess said again, “We gotta move, Joel!” And reached for Penelope. She dragged the young girl behind her as sirens sounded around them. Tess pushed Ellie and Penelope through the cement barricades, as Joel reached down for the dead man’s gun.

Tess reached for the wired fence, pulling it open for Ellie and Penelope. The two girls slipped through the opening, walking through the scenery. 

“Joel!” Tess called to the man behind her, as he slowed down.

The four of them walked through the abandoned streets of Boston, breathing heavily.

[whoredmode]

SO continuing from this post last nite. like directly continuing from troy’s return after the mission where they killed loren (tbh i just recommend reading that post to keep everything paced)

so anteros gets to the penthouse where everyone else is and excitedly says they have someone else joining them. everyone’s like ??? oleg’s right here. but then anteros moves and reveals troy just kinda standing there. the silence and tension is palpable. 

johnny’s obviously the first to say something. anger is bubbling in his voice, and he’s immediately like what the fuck is this. why the hell would you bring him here. anteros says that troy’s quit and it was his decision. he wants to be here, and he always has. johnny is in disbelief. he makes his way towards troy, gearing up to punch him, but anteros gets in between them and tells johnny to back off. it’s not his decision. johnny and anteros glare at each other, and johnny angrily leaves the room. shaundi recognizes troy from the holding cell, and scrutinizes troy (and anteros’ decision). she leaves to find johnny.

they all just returned from a mission that very easily could’ve killed them—everyone’s emotions are high. things are really starting to get rolling and it’s clear shit’s about to really hit the fan. they take some time to clean themselves up; anteros sets troy up in some room in the penthouse. 

cut to several hours later and everyone is gathered again. cleaned up and with tensions seemingly simmered for now, oleg takes charge of this meeting and explains some people who could help and/or have information on the syndicate: kinzie, angel, and zimos. while everyone else is unaware of those three, troy actually recognizes all of them.

back when troy still worked for the SPD, he had connections with people in the FBI, and kinzie’s whole firing from the agency was pretty big news at the time. he remembered hearing about it and at least knew of some of the details, even a few things that may not have been public information. zimos has been a big name pimp in and around the area since the late 60s/early 70s, and he’d heard about him from older coworkers. and though troy isn’t much of a wrestling fan, his older brother is, and he’d watched a couple of matches with him and learned about all the drama between angel and killbane from him. so with all that in mind, troy offers to help oleg track these three down. oleg accepts, saying that it should go much faster with two people, and clearly troy knows his stuff. the meeting breaks, and afterwards oleg pulls troy aside. he looks at him and tells him that though he’s unsure of what entirely went down between troy and the saints, he can see within him that he’s clearly trying to make up for past mistakes. he respects troy’s determination and obvious love for these people, despite everything. troy’s not really sure what to say, but he thanks him anyway. he’s not sure if he can ever make it up to them, but god, he’s gonna try. 

[wow-cool-robot]

Episode 36: Big Zam's Last Stand

the large mobile suit on my television is so big! how did it get so large. it reminds me of my largest spacecraft

this part of the show is very pretty. space is easier to make pretty maybe

oh no. sleggar. however will we manage without you

bright, this is not the time for this

unsure what the show wants me to think here, but my guess is it's that mirai's falling in love with sleggar and bright is being noble about it, despite her last interaction with him being him slapping her and her clearly disliking him before that

so sleggar is supposed to be american, right? what with the hamburger and the face and everything

the romantic music playing whill he's eating a burger with crumbs on his face is funny enough to make up for this a little

dude you can't just leave the burger you had 2 bites of there! what a waste of food

boy do i hate being right all the time

giving her a ring? he's going to die and he knows it.

also the show realized it hadn't given anyone a reason to care about him (other than his name being sleggar law)

this is like the kittan/yoko scene towards the end of gurren lagann but worse

i will be honest, i'd forgotten m'quve was still alive

kai's really good at this, he just isn't a newtype (i assume)

the big zam is big strong

big zam looks very stupid though, which makes it not too bad

dozle, are you sure you're the best pilot for the job? i bet char thinks so

m'quve is still an asshole, but you're heading straight into the battlefield so maybe you guys should leave the pod to go elsewhere

mirrors probably not going to work anymore, but they're giving it a go

i think mirai should also have a romantic moment with sayla. fairs fair, and they've had more romantic tension tbh. sadly the showrunners are cowards

'it deflected the beam! that means missiles will work!' sure dude, whatever

"i never expected solomon to fall so easily." you ran the place! this is on you!

magnets deflect lasers. i gotta take notes

i thought missiles would need to be used? this type chart makes no sense

rip sleggar i guess. did his death accomplish anything? i think amuro could probably have managed that on his own

dozle getting out and shooting at amuro with a normal machine gun is i think supposed to be sad. it isn't

amuro getting attacked psychically by zeon now, and then a shot of him jumping away not in the gundam before the gundam jumps away. i like the visuals at least

this is a confusing episode, and i mean that in a bad way

this song is not earned at all

whatever, bad episode. sad that the cool space battle animation was blown on a boring confusing mess, but so it goes

[lovelyfaustus]

hey there!! can i request alois trancy hiring a bodyguard (bc he’s racking up a lot of enemies and claude ain’t cutting it by himself anymore) from like. a crime fighting ring. and falling in love w them because despite being very feral and generally violent, theyre super affectionate and loving once they get used to someone!

obv feel free to decline! since this is a rather violent request i wont force you <3

ello!! i hope this is up to your liking! <3 aa you didn’t specify whether you wanted headcanons or a oneshot kinda thing so i’ll do both :) this will be a reader insert typa thang, hope thats alright deary <3333

Alois hiring a bodyguard and falling in love headcanons + oneshot

cw; violence, swearing, gender neutral reader insert, mostly just violence tbh

——————

-initially Alois didn’t think a bodyguard was necessary, Claude was pretty decent at protecting him while Hannah and/or the triplets fought for him

-that was until there were enough men outside his manor to leave not a single spot of ground seen. there were enough random men inside his manor to leave no floor untouched.

-things escalated very quickly, all of them had guns or grenades of some sort, LUCKILY though the triplets took care of the grenades

-however, Alois literally begged Claude to hide him, or hide with him, somewhere under his mansion, insisting that he was too scared to be alone and didn’t want Claude to leave him

-Claude made sure to hide him deep deep in the mansion somewhere, assuring that things will end okay and that he’ll be back soon

-Like Claude assured Alois, everything turned out okay, all the men were either dead or they retreated to wherever they even came from

-Alois was very obviously upset at Claude for leaving him, although thankful that everything turned out fine, Alois begged to not be alone, and Claude still left.

-“Have you considered hiring someone else, perhaps a bodyguard who can and will be with you at all times?”

- Alois pretty much just 👁⚫️👁 at Claude

-“ You’re right, Claude!”

—

Alois waited by the manor door nervously, it had been a little over a week since he asked Claude to go over potential bodyguards locally or otherwise. Claude had informed Alois a few days prior to this moment, that he found someone who may be up to his standards or even Claude’s standards (they’re pretty high) and they’d be visiting within the week.

Alois is just waiting for that knock on the wooden doors. Words literally could not explain how excited he was, or how intrigued, almost as if last week’s incident never happened. Claude mentioned that this person was hardworking, a lil extroverted and probably almost perfect for what Alois was looking for. Alois whipped the door open as soon as he heard the first split second of a knock, only to see a milk man standing there with 2 crates of milk in his hands. With a ‘thank you’ to the man and ‘goodbye’, Alois shut the door slowly in disappointment, calling to Claude that the milk had just been delivered. As Claude turns to take the milk to the manor’s kitchen, Alois pipes up. “Claude, what if they don’t show up? Surely they’d be here by now right?” Alois frowns, irritated and disgusted at himself for getting his hopes up just to be crushed once again. “I’m sure they will be arriving soon, your highness. They didn’t give a specific time or day that they’d be here. Please, wait a while longer.” Claude says, continuing to the kitchen after falling silent.

Did the doorbell just ring? No, my mind is playing tricks on me. *Ding* “It rung!!! The doorbell just rung! Claude, come quickly!” For a second time, those doors flung open to reveal a person, kinda just standing there staring at him, entirely spaced out. Claude appears behind Alois, bowing and greeting them. “Your highness, this is the bodyguard.” Exiting the daze you were in, you, standing in front of them, bowed as well, “Sorry! My name is (y/n), I was told that,” They stop and look at Alois with an unsure gaze, “…..you? I’m assuming, needed a bodyguard, and well, thats my job :)!Apologies again, I meant to come earlier but got caught up with stuff, but I’m here now!”

Alois grabbed your hand, yoinkin them into the mansion with a huge grin on his face. After Alois settled down a bit he explained the entire situation he got himself into, how he threatened a group of men who he didn’t know were in a gang, and suddenly their entire clan showed up a week ago, and then how desperate he was to stay safe. You looked at him with a concerned look on your face, “that must have been very difficult for you to go through, I understand it somewhat. I’ll be here, you will have more people to protect you and keep you safe, okay?”A wave of comfort washed over Alois, he had felt like all of his problems had become trivial in that moment. “Thank you, (y/n).” Alois stood there with a wide smile across his face. Alois almost rarely says thank you, even Claude was a bit shocked.

Nearly 4 months of working for Alois had obviously been somewhat difficult. Alois is very bipolar and lets his emotions scatter out of control at any given moment. One minute he’s “You’re never there for me (even tho you quite literally are), I don’t know why you still want to work for me, I bet you’re only here to hurt me or take my money,” to “I’m so glad you’re here, (y/n)! Without you I’d be dead. Thank you for existing and being in my life, please never leave me!” Alois does love you, he is just so caught up in his past trauma (reasonably so) and the fact that there are multiple people after him, so he does not know a healthy way to show that he cares. One night it was particularly quiet in the manor, Alois had requested Claude to look for you and tell you to come to his room. When you knocked and entered, it would’ve been pitch black without the candle on the side table for his bed. “Alois?” There was a faint sob under his blanket, he just wanted to be heard. “Alois, I’m here, what’s the matter?” Alois lifted and unfolded the blanket from covering his head, tears and snot running down his face while his soaked pillow laid flat behind him. This is the worst you have seen him since you’ve worked here. “I am so scared, (y/n). There are always people just waiting to become my enemy and hurt me! I don’t know what to do. I feel so helpless. You’re here for me aren’t you?”

“Of course I am, you know I am. I willingly came here in order to protect you. I care about you a lot. Your feelings do matter to me.” Alois choked on a sob before reaching to hold your hand, wiping his tears away with the other and placing your hand on his chest, right above his heart. You locked eyes for almost an entire minute before Alois spoke up. “This is because of you. Please stay here forever, I don’t want you to ever leave.” When you took your hand away from Alois’ chest, his heart began to race, thinking he had said too much. “I’ve told you that I am willingly here and if I wanted to leave I would have already done so. I am here for you and nothing else, do not ever worry about me leaving, because I will not. I am promising this to you.” Alois turned away for a second, causing you to think you said too much. Alois looked back at you, tear trail stained cheeks, and replied, “You know, (y/n), you are living proof I am capable of loving, and also being loved.” You placed a gentle kiss on Alois’ forehead before telling him that it’s late and he has work to do early tomorrow, blowing out his candle and letting the moon be the only light in the room. You did as you promised and didn’t leave his side until he fell asleep, making sure to check up on his state every 15 minutes.

Alois genuinely loved you, more than Claude probably.

-

SORRY THAT THIS WAS SO LONG?? WTH? it’s 2:30 am and i am actually so fkin tired, sorry for not really including any violence but ! i tried D,: please enjoy and keep askin things or leave constructive criticism B-) anythin works! have a good day/night everyone !!! <3

[taintedcigs]

a little death: epiphany [bucky x reader, steve x reader series]

summary: bucky has an epiphany

pairing(s): bucky x reader, steve x reader, bucky x nat, steve x nat.

warnings: mentions of being drunk/high, swearing, bucky being an idiot, natasha is the best person to exist tbh

a/n: HELLOOO im back!! im glad you guys are liking this series and im sorry for this bad chapter but the next is going to be worth it i PROMISE.

songs to listen to: everything by the black skirts, draw your swords by angus & julia stone.

“You wanna tell me what this is all about?” Natasha asked calmly.

As soon as he took a place on the couch, the realization hit Bucky, what the fuck was he doing here?

He never thought of it this far, Nat was Steve’s fucking girlfriend, and here he was, about to confess his “love” to his best friend’s girlfriend.

God, did he feel like an absolute douche.

“I just- Fuck.” He cursed as he ran his hands through his face, in an attempt to sober himself up and stop this god forsaken mess of a confession.

“Okay- shit.” He cursed again and at this point Nat was just confused out of her mind, standing there awkwardly.

“I- I fucking need to get this out or I will never do it.” Bucky muttered, facing her now.

Natasha’s eyes curiously watched his movements, her brow raised in confusion.

“Go ahead?” She said unsure.

“Fuck, I-” Why was he a blabbering mess? This would have been so much easier if it was you.

You. He really fucked that up today, didn’t he? Spitting out the lowest blows, when he was just mad that you were still stupidly in love with him.

Did he even have the right to be mad?

He was in love with Nat, for fuck’s sake.

Or was he?

He cursed his mind as he got his thoughts together.

“Fuck, here it goes.” His eyes widened.

“Nat, I- I love you.” He muttered out pretty quickly, shutting his eyes in the process in order to avoid the whole awkwardness.

He didn’t know what to expect as her reaction, he didn’t expect a kiss, he expected a pity hug, maybe a shocking gasp, or the more possible option a slap in his face for confessing his so called love to his best friends girlfriend.

What he didn’t even account to was a laugh.

Not even a laugh, a fucking snort if you will.

And it didn’t even stop for a while, not until Nat muttered an apology and got herself together.

Bucky was now visibly confused, maybe a little hurt.

“What… what is so funny?” He asked taken aback. And Nat cleared her throat.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t want to seem insensitive.” She sounded sincere.

“I- just-“ She took a breath.

“You love me, Bucky? Really?” She asked tilting her head, sort of amused.

Bucky was visibly getting upset now, he had the courage to finally confess, and she was now overtly mocking him.

“Can you like stop all this laughing shit?” He asked annoyed, Nat muttered out an apology.

“Look, Bucky.” Nat started taking a place on the other couch, far away from Bucky.

“You’re not in love with me.” Nat looked him in the eyes, and Bucky shook his head.

“Yes, I am…” His voice was louder, Nat shook her head.

“Bucky, when was the last time we ever talked, other than us talking about Steve.” She asked.

“Did we ever have any conversation that was even longer than two minutes?” She continued.

“We’re not even friends, Bucky.” He was silent.

“I mean, for fuck’s sake do you even know anything about me?” He nodded pretty quickly and Nat chuckled.

“Oh, do you?” She mocked. “Then what is my favorite color?” No answer.

“What is my sister’s name?” Bucky had no clue.

“I’m sorry, those were probably too hard.” She mocked.

“What is my middle name?” She asked, raising her brow, no words left Bucky’s lips.

He didn’t know what to say, because he felt stupid. So stupid.

You had told him this the entire time, and deep down he knew, he knew that his feelings for Nat were purely surface-level. At least not on the same page as the ones you had for Steve.

Fucking Steve. He knew Steve was his best friend, but he couldn’t help but be mad at him, for stealing you away from him unknowingly.

He actually felt pathetic, he was confessing to Nat, while still thinking about you.

Bucky wanted to open his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Nat left out a heavy sigh, “Bucky, that “fling” we had in college wasn’t even a proper thing, it was purely physical, and we didn’t even go all the way. You knew I was doing it to get Steve’s attention, it was stupid and selfish of me. And I’m really sorry about that.” She cleared her throat.

“So, I don’t love you, and you don’t love me.” Her eyes were trained on the ground.

“But I love Steve, I’m sure of that, and I’m just as much sure of the fact that you don’t love me. We never really had anything.” Her voice was soft, and calm, doing her best to make Bucky understand.

“We never knew each other, properly, never had anything than a surface level conversation, and we never clicked in anyway possible.”

“I- Fuck.” Bucky was left speechless. “I’m an absolute idiot.” He muttered.

Nat chuckled softly, “I feel like there’s other reasons behind this visit, Barnes, perhaps something you’re trying to hide?” She raised her damn brow again.

Bucky was confused, what the fuck was she implying at, and what the fuck did she know?

“There is.” The words muttered out of his mouth quickly, so quickly, and he wanted to blame his high/drunk self for it but in reality he was just dying to talk to anyone about it, talk to anyone about you.

“Y/N?” Nat asked all-knowingly. Bucky did not expect her to find out right away, his face visibly scrunched in confusion.

“I see the way she looks at you.” She murmured, and Bucky felt that immense happiness again.

The way she looks at you? What did she even look at Bucky like?

“She looks at you so gently, every time. Even when she is angry, jealous, hurt, disappointed. Always a little glimmer behind them.”

Bucky felt his insides twist almost, did you look at him like that? How the fuck could he miss this?

“Bucky, don’t you get it already?” Nat rolled her eyes.

“You obviously have feelings for her, and you’re trying to push them away by “confessing” your fake love to me, to avoid your actual feelings?”

“Have you ever realized why you put unrealistic expectations to every women you meet? Realized how you tried to do them to me, when in reality I was nothing you thought of me?”

“It is because you know no one will be able to reach those unrealistic expectations, because they’re not fucking real, you made them up to be that way because you’re afraid of actual intimacy. You’re afraid of feeling something real for a real person, not an imagination you made up in your mind.”

Oh, Bucky was fucked now. He could see it all.

He felt like he was in therapy and his therapist was finally revealing all the wrong shit he did, and it did not feel good.

“You’re afraid of Y/N and her feelings, and also your own, and you keep trying to push her, because for once, it is real.” Nat felt pretty satisfied with herself as she finished.

“For once, you actually have genuine feelings, for someone that you really know, and it scares you.”

There was silence for a while, as Bucky tried his best to take it all in, with his state of mind.

“I fucked up big time with her, didn’t I?” He asked sincerely, his voice was soft.

“I suppose.” Nat answered honestly, obviously not knowing what happened between the two of you.

“I- I should go.” Bucky was embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Nat, that was just so fucking stupid and selfish. You’re Steve’s girlfriend, I should have never-”

“It’s okay, Bucky. It was just a misunderstanding” Nat cut him off, accepting his apology and giving him a curt smile.

Bucky slowly got up, still muttering apologies, “Bucky?” Natasha called out as Bucky turned slowly.

“You know, I need to tell Steve about this, right?” Bucky knew this was coming.

“Uhh- sure.” He muttered, scratching the back of his head.

Before he finally went to leave, “Is it okay, if I tell him?” He asked.

Nat nodded, “Yeah, sure.” She gave him a small smile, and as Bucky muttered out his last apology he finally left, going back to his to finally sit with his thoughts, and properly sober up.

When you finally arrived at your apartment, you were a blabbering mess, crying uncontrollably as you called Wanda on your way home.

It didn’t take her more than five minutes to sprint to your house, arriving minutes later than you did.

As soon as you opened the door for her, you collapsed, engulfing her in a hug, her heart breaking at the sound of your sobs.

Your chokes died out after a while as you attempted to calm yourself and Wanda stroked your hair slowly, placing you on the couch while grabbing a glass of water.

“I’m such an idiot.” Your lips were trembling as Wanda quickly shook his head. “You’re not an idiot, Y/N. You love him.” That part stung.

You didn’t want to love him, you didn’t want to love someone who had caused you this much pain, who threw you away like you had meant nothing.

Who served you with harsh words about your insecurities you had told him with trust and confidence.

Maybe you were overreacting, but you didn’t care, your face was running with your mascara and you had downed that bottle of wine, you were allowed, you decided.

“I hate him.” You spit out. “It doesn’t matter.” Wanda shook your thoughts away.

“You’re not an idiot, he’s the only one who’s an idiot here.” She reassured.

“And he better watch himself at me and Vis’ party.” Wanda did an intimate look and you groaned.

“I fucking forgot about that!” Wanda gave a slight sigh.

“You... you really don’t have to come, Y/N.” She was sympathetic, even though she really wanted you to be there.

“No! No way!” You protested. “I’m not running away from that fucking asshole.” Your face was almost red.

Wanda cheered you on, “Exactly!” She added.

A chime on your phone distracted you, and you checked the notification.

Buck: I’m sorry.

You scoffed, he had the nerve.

You: Fuck you.

Buck: Can we please talk?

You were contemplating, and Wanda was curiously watching you, you wanted more than anything to talk with Bucky, to curse him out, get angry at him, and maybe fall back into the sheets later, but then again, this time he had really hurt you.

Another notification chime distracted you once again.

Buck: Please.

You: I don’t ever want to see you again, James.

James? Oh, Bucky had really fucked up.

And he could feel pain ozzing from his body, he felt numb for that one second, then he felt stupid for doing all of this.

Just because he could mask his stupid feelings, just because he was such an idiot that he didn’t realize what was wrong with him.

Bucky didn’t want to bother nor cause you pain anymore as he almost threw the phone aggressively, running his hand through his face in frustration.

He was thinking back to his conversation with Nat.

What they had talked about, what she said to him.

He once again realized, those words would have probably sting if this was Bucky 4 months ago.

But it didn’t.

The “I don’t love you.” Didn’t sting, the “You don’t know me’s” didn’t cause anything inside of him. He didn’t care.

None of what Nat said mattered.

But the “I don’t wanna see you anymore.”, the “James” hurt, he could feel his insides tighten just remembering those words, flashbacks of your tired eyes, your trembling lips as you were about to burst into a cry, right before you left.

He felt so guilty, he wanted to punch himself.

But at least now he was sure of two things.

1. He didn’t love Nat, he never did.

2. He loved you, truly, irrevocably.

[roscgcld]

NANAMI KENTO + GOJO SATORU || the one that got away

request: i'm literally in love with your fics- i was wondering if you could write a Nanami x reader x Gojo where Nanami and the reader were dating before he left Jujutsu Tech, but they break up when he leaves. When he comes back he realizes he's still in love with the reader but she's engaged to Gojo and there's just a bunch of angst and tension. Sorry ik that's a lot :') But ty!!

note: lowkey thought you wanted a nanami x reader x gojo and i was like ‘oh babes am so ready-’ until i rer-read your request lmao! but honestly this was a lot of fun to write. tbh, if i was reader I would choose nanami cause rn am a whole ass SIMP for the man that is nanmi kento cx but i hope i managed to capture what you wanted in this request babes!

pronouns: she/her

“Maybe we should take a break.”

Those six words were engrained into the mind of Nanami Kento for the rest of his life. Those six words were the words that tossed his world upside down - and every time those words came into mind, the imagine of your crying face comes with it. 

You were so distraught, yet you put up a brave front as you gave him a shaky smile - something that he loves so much about you. That even though his explanation as to why you two should break up was childish, selfish even; you still go the extra mile to make sure that he knows you understand. That you understand why he wants to take a break so that he can focus on himself and his career.

“I understand, Nami...just know I love you, okay?”

Your simple words, coupled with your tearful eyes and watery smile made him want to take back the words as soon as possible. That he wants to just turn back time and just admit to himself that he was going to regret his decision. But at the same time, he doesn’t want to. If he did go back in time and stopped, he might end up breaking your heart again; if not with more bitterness and anger. 

When he was young, he hated that he was a jujutsu sorcerer - hated how he has this responsibility over him that he never asked for. He just wanted to be free from the jujutsu world and never look back. You were different - you were so proud that you were a jujutsu sorcerer, always a beacon of light in the dark reality that is being a sorcerer. Somehow you made it bearable for him, and at one point he thought he can do it for the rest of his life. Until after the death of Haibara Yu, a classmate that the both of you call a dear friend.

It was at that moment that he snapped, and he knew he didn’t want to do this anymore.

Yet he couldn’t force himself to drag you away from something you love so dearly, something you see as your duty to protect. He knew that either way he was going to be selfish, and either way tears were going to be shed; so he chose the one that would hurt the least. However, now years down the line, he still thinks that maybe things could have worked out. There was no denying that he still loves you - even though he keeps in touch with his senior, Gojo Satoru, from time to time, he doesn’t ask about you.

From what he knows, you stayed back in Jujutsu Tech and became a teacher, but that is all he knows about you. He was too scared, too embarrassed to face you once more - because he knows better then to dream. Dream that the promise you promised to keep as teens was going to hold up now that the both of you were in your late twenties.

But there is no harm in dreaming, right?

Nanami checked his watch as he got off the train, making his way towards the bus station located right outside of the building. It was his first time back at the college after being away from it for a few years, since he had called Gojo the other day on asking about if there is an opening for him to return as a sorcerer.

Even though Gojo can be a huge pain in the ass to deal with, Nanami knew that if there was anyone who can confirm a space for him at work, it will be Gojo Satoru.

Walking out of the crowded station, he looked up just in time to see the white haired shaman waiting for him at the entrance; who grinned and waved when he saw his junior. “Nanami! I knew you were not going to be late.” Gojo called out to the man dressed in a fresh grey suit and blue shirt underneath; his spotted tie knotted around his neck. The bespectacled man just sighs tiredly and made his way towards his overly excited senior, scowling when the taller male draped an arm around his shoulders.

He opened his mouth to say something when he noticed the ring that was resting on Gojo’s left ring finger, causing him to raise a curious eyebrow as he allowed the older male to lead him along. “You got married?” He asks the taller male, who glances at his hand before he grins and shakes his head, flexing his hand a little to show off the simple band around his ring finger. “Nah, we just got engaged. We are planning for the wedding though.” He stated simple, to which Nanami glances over at his senior in surprise. “What? Thought that I was too good to be married off?”

“No, I am surprised that you somehow managed to find someone willing to chain themselves down with you.”

“How mean!” Gojo gasps before he shakes his head in amusement, playfully squeezing his junior who just scowls lightly. “For your information, we’ve been dating for the last 4 years. And we have both talked about marriage before, so I wasn’t blindly shooting into the dark when I proposed.” Gojo commented as the two of them made their way towards the taxi stand, where Ijichi greeted his two seniors with a soft bow; all three men getting into the car. “Still surprised they said yes.”

Gojo just pouts and whines at his junior, who just listened to him with his deadpan expression the entire way to the college. He was surprised that Gojo managed to come on time to pick him up, since he had expected for him to be late, and for him to have either taken the bus or hailed a taxi on his own. But he didn’t really mind; he’s used to handling Gojo’s childish personality, and he gets a free ride at the same time. So he doesn’t mind the brief ride with Gojo.

Soon they arrived at the wooded area where the college is located on, getting out of the car once Ijichi stops the car. Quietly Nanami got out of the car and squints his eyes a little at the sunlight that shone down on him, his eyes slowly focusing on the grand temple-like compound that is Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College. “Feels weird to be back?”

“A bit.” Nanami admitted to Gojo when he walked from the other side of the car to Nanami’s side, the man just chuckling before he gestures for him made his way through the gates and into the campus, immediately being hit with all the nostalgia of being a student once more. It felt like a light weight was being lifted off his shoulders as he soaks everything in, like the guilt of him leaving his duties as a sorcerer behind has been lifted.

The two men made their way deeper into the college just as someone called out to Gojo from behind, causing both men to pause as they turned to look back. Immediately Nanami felt his heart skip a beat when his eyes finally settled onto you, a warm smile gracing your features as you made your way towards the both of them. Nanami was so stuffed that he didn’t catch the way Gojo grins and opens his arms for you, watching the two of you embrace one another as a sinking feeling when he saw the delighted grin on your face.

The same grin that you used to give him after not seeing you for awhile. 

Somehow Nanami managed to keep up an indifferent façade as you embraced your fiancée, pressing a soft kiss against his cheek in greeting whilst Gojo just nuzzles closer to you; in an attempt to milk all of the attention he can from you. “How needy.” You giggled at him before you turned to the man beside your fiancé with the intension of greeting him; only to freeze up when you realise who it was. “K-Kento?”

“Nice to see you again, Y/N.” Nanami greeted in his usual indifferent tone, trying to hide his heartbroken eyes beneath the shadow of his sunglasses as he tilted his head ever so slightly. “I guess some congratulations are to be said.” He stated simply before he gestures to your left ring finger, where a simple yet beautiful engagement ring rested on your finger. For some reason your heart sank as you awkwardly hid your hand behind your back, causing Gojo to raise an eyebrow as he glances between the both of you.

Was there something going on between the two of you?

“O-Oh, thanks.” You mumble out awkwardly, knowing immediately that Nanami was no longer in his usual indifferent mood. You can feel the slight hurt in his voice, one that causes your heart to break a little; bringing you back to the day you two broke up. How you promised to keep loving him until he was ready to return - yet here you are now, engaged to another man. It wasn’t like you fell out of love with him, you still love Nanami with all your heart, but that love had started to shift the years you two spend apart. And somehow, you started to fall for the white haired shaman known as Gojo Satoru.

But that doesn’t mean you didn’t feel any guilt for how evil you might seem to your ex for stringing him along like that. “I wasn’t expected to see you here.”

“I decided to come back.” Nanami stated simply with a shrug, glancing over at your quiet fiancé who blinks at him owlishly back at him. “Plus, Gojo here told me about a student of his by the name Itadori Yuji that I am supposed to take under my wing.” He continued, giving Gojo the chance to jump in as he smiles down at you, squeezing your shoulders gently. “That’s right! Kento-kun here said he wanted to come back! So his first job is to supervise Yuji-kun.”

“Oh.” You replied in a small tone, unsure of how to answer at all. But luckily Nanami stepped in before the awkward silence can drag on for long, pulling the sleeve of his jacket off his watch to check the time. “I don’t want to get in the way of your free time now, Y/N-san. I am going to go and rest up in my room before dinner is served.” He stated simply before bowing at the both of you, not meeting your eyes. “Excuse me.” 

With that he turned to walk away, forcing himself to not look back at you as he made his way down the familiar hallways towards the dorms; the keys to the room he is to stay at for the time being clutched in his hand after he slipped it into his pocket. What was I thinking? He thought to himself as he continued his way down the empty hallway to the dormitories. Did I really think an amazing woman like that will wait for me? 

He sighed to himself as he shakes his head a little, slipping his polished dress shoes off his feet before putting them on one of the free cubbies built into the wall; grabbing a pair of the guest slippers before he puts them on. “At least she managed to get engaged to Gojo. He’s definitely worthy of her love.” He mutters to himself, reminding himself to be happy that you found happiness. He doesn’t blame you for finding love once more - when he left this life behind, he also left you.

No call, no text, no attempt to reach out. Was he expected you to just fall into his arms once more? Pretend that nothing happened, and to go back to where you two once were? That thought alone caused him to let out a soft snort as he made his way towards the locked room, unlocking it with his keys. “Don’t be foolish, Kento. Be happy that she’s happy.” He mutters to himself as he entered his new room, closing the door behind him with a tired sigh.

“Guess you really were the one that got away.”

© roscgcld — all rights reserved to me, rose, the author and creator of these works. do not repost/translate/claim my work as yours on any platform

[youreobsessedwithtoomanyfandoms]

It’s All My Fault (Gender Neutral Reader)

Word count:294

Warning: none really? IDK TBH

There is one for the Avengers/MCU that is very similar, mostly just some names are different.

This is also came to me while watching The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, after Finnick’s death. And on with his death, WHY DID HE HAVE TO BE KILLED? WHY COULDN’T GALE HAVE BEEN KILLED? NO OFFENSE (full offense), BUT HE REALLY DESERVES IT!

Also, all the characters I have tagged/have masterlist on are just ones I currently write for/have something in the works for them, but it can be anyone you wish from the X-Men Universe

Also, random, but I got carried away and now there’s an extended version of this with dialogue. I’ll release it too if ya’ll want it

Main Masterlist

XMEN Masterlist

Y/N fell back. Barely able to catch their breath. Unsure of what they had to do next. It had happened. They had killed one of the only people who they knew always trusted them. Of course others would say it wasn’t their fault as they didn’t send what killed them, but they felt like it was there fault all the same. They were only there because of Y/N.

Y/N felt numb. They knew that everyone was yelling their name. Yelling for them to move. To get up and run. But it sounded like it did when Sean busted their eardrums. They couldn’t even move. Their body was stuck to the floor. Their mind replaying the screaming of their name. The screams of them to help.

Y/N felt someone grab their arm. Pulling them up. Their voice was louder than the others. But even so, it still sounded miles away. What was being said didn’t even register with them. But even with it not registering, they knew what was being said. That they would be back. The Governments Sentinels would be back and they would get them. Get them when they were so close to winning this. If they stayed, they would all be killed.

But what was so wrong with that? Peace never lasts forever. This was proof. Erik was right. With the humans, they’ll always fear the mutants. But...Y/N still wanted to go back. Back to what what they were living in before. Sure, it wasn’t peaceful, but it sure as hell was better than this. Better than innocent people dying left and right. People that they loved dying. Now their home, the mansion, was gone. Any sense of normalcy they used to have was completely gone.

And that was never coming back.

[spotofimagines]

No Longer A Secret ~ Isaiah Jesus

A/N: A year later, here’s part 3. I think I’ll make this the last part because it took a lot out of me tbh. I hope you enjoy it!

Requested by: a bunch of you a while ago (sorry for the wait!) [ tagging: @anyasthoughts​ ]

Warnings: pregnancy, family fighting

Summary: Isaiah held up his end of the bargain, now you’ve got to do your part and finally tell your family your secret.

Part 1(Keeping A Secret) - Part 2(Unveiling A Secret)

gif by @pvkyblinders​

More had changed for you in the past few weeks than you thought possible. Being a Shelby meant you were used to drastic change pretty often, but you, along with Finn, were usually the last of your siblings to know what was going on, being kept in the dark for as long as possible.

Being on the other side of the fence this time and having to tell your family this information was filling you with a lot of dread, especially when it came to Arthur. He was volatile with regular news at times, so how bad was he going to be when he heard that the little sister he protects with his life is not only pregnant and engaged but that you stole money so you could hide it from him?

Walking into the Shelby household had never felt so tense. The hallway so small. The dark walls so imposing. Isaiah's gentle touch on your waist made you jump a little bit as you were so trapped in your fear. "You alright, babe?" He uttered in your ear, truthfully knowing the answer would be no but needing some reassurance before you both faced your family. You didn’t answer him, struggling for once to cover how you felt with a lie, but luckily you didn’t need to; with Isaiah, you never really have.

Slowly moving through the house, you shouted out a hello and heard Tommy's voice reply from the kitchen. You were about to make your way to them when the hand you reached out behind you met thin air. Peering over your shoulder in search of the rock you need in Isaiah, he came just in time out of the living room, Finn two steps behind him and tucking an empty tube of tokyo in his inside pocket. You shared a silent greeting through a smile - weak on your side from nervousness and sheepish on his side from being caught - before grabbing Isaiah's hand and carrying on into the kitchen.

The first sight you were graced with was Tommy's frown as he lit a cigarette, nodding his head to you when you entered the room, his frown dissipating when he leant back against the counter and the smoke left his mouth. A stressful morning with business was the last thing you wanted. Everyone’s emotions would be heightened and their tethers near breaking point. The breath in your lungs almost got caught in your throat just at the thought.

But Arthur's voice filled the room before it could. "Y/N, Isaiah, y'alright?" He asked loudly, walking through the room to give an envelope to Tommy, and the cheerful tones told you maybe the stress was on Tommy's shoulders only. You hummed in response, not quite brave enough to open your mouth yet.

Finn nudging past your shoulder by mistake kept you alert to your surroundings as Isaiah went to give a quick greeting to Michael, who sat reading the newspaper with a cup of tea at the table, before pouring some tea for himself. "Watch out would ya," Arthur spoke, shoving Finn playfully to the side, Finn getting out of the way and sitting at the table with a grumble, wiping his nose a bit, "bloody boy." Arthur muttered to himself, his usual temper present but masterfully pushed down, before locking eyes with you still stood in the doorway.

"Y'alright love?" He asked, stopping in his tracks to make sure things were okay. You darted out of your thoughts to look at your brother properly. "Hm? Yeah. Can you stay here a minute though?" You responded, averting your eyes and turning toward everyone else.

Missing the way Arthur shrugged his hands and ventured back to the table, leaning his hands on the back of the last spare chair, you took a breath and steadied yourself.

A quiet rolled over the small room when you picked a slip of paper out of your purse, unfolded it and put it on the table, right under Arthur’s nose for him to read.

A cheque. The first cheque he’s ever seen signed off with your name. A cheque disclosing the exact amount that disappeared from the vault a month ago.

Arthur frowned up at you confused before moving to pick it up himself. “What’s this then?” He asked, looking around at the others for a bit of a clue but finding no help. Tommy rifled through the envelope he’d been given. Michael cast a glance at the cheque then went back to finishing his article. Finn sat scratching his head, keeping himself out of the conversation like he was used to, not that he’d be that much help to Arthur anyway.

When Arthur met your eyes again, you took a deep breath. “The money, from the vault. I’m giving it back.” Arthur’s eyes shot wide, surprised you had been the culprit of the incident (he’d had his eyes on a young blinder he was certain was responsible for a week now).

“You took it? How come?” He frowned again as he asked the question. This one was a little harder to answer. Not only were Arthur’s eyes on you, but Finn was watching you precariously and Michael had let the newspaper in his hand drop on his lap to focus on you too.

You didn’t dare look at Michael, knowing his gaze would stare straight through you and make you crumble under pressure. This money theft had been weighing heavily in the back of Michael’s mind so he wasn’t going to let the answer go without scathe.

“To go to the doctors. I didn’t have my own money to use.” You quickly added, wanting to justify your actions before they could blame you unfairly.

“The doctors?” Arthur repeated, looking over at Tommy again who was still reading through his letter. “What you going the doctor’s for? You’re alright, ain’t you? Nothing wrong?” He spoke, dismissing the reason and not believing you’d have a serious issue without him knowing first.

And that panicked you. Your heart speeding up already. There was something up, something that couldn’t be dismissed, something very well worth seeing the doctor for.

However, a second long glance at Isaiah calmed you down. He stood behind Arthur, porcelain cup of tea in one hand, the other tucked comfortably in his pant pocket. He wasn’t preparing for a fight at all, so why should you? One small subtle nod from him and you knew you’d be fine to speak, regardless of the outcome. He’d be there, Tommy would be there, you wouldn’t find a better chance to say it than now.

“Because I'm pregnant.” The words came out as feebly as you thought they would as you peered down at you feet. Arthur’s eyebrows raised in shock before clearing his throat with a cough that stopped the room from being silent.

“What?” His voice gravelled out of his chest. You looked up to meet his gaze, unnerving and unwavering, daring you to repeat the words he thought he heard the first time.

The movement of Isaiah putting his cup down on the counter had you squaring your shoulders a little. It was a change Tommy didn’t miss when he glanced up after the quiet lack of response, causing him to put the papers in his coat pocket for later.

You repeated yourself, louder this time, more assured despite the clear indifference Arthur's eyes held.

Smoke trailed out of Michael's mouth as he sat up straight in his chair, the cloud dissolving into nothing whilst he folded his newspaper up. Finn didn’t move, quickly inspecting the reactions of Tommy and Arthur before even thinking of speaking up.

Tommy stood still reclined against the counter, cigarette burning between his fingers as he kept his eyes on Arthur and on the door behind you in equal parts, making sure he was prepared for anything that might happen but refraining from acting on it yet.

Arthur’s hand tightened on the back of the wooden chair and his fixed look didn’t let up. He was angry, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on the reason why. Maybe it was because his sweet little sister wasn’t that anymore. Maybe it was because he’d let Isaiah recklessly get his hands on you. Maybe it was because you were young and silly and not ready for this in the slightest. Maybe it was because you hid it from him, and even went as far as stealing, right from the pocket of your family, to stop him from knowing. All of it was hitting him like a dagger in the chest.

His eyes hadn’t left yours before his gruff voice broke the silence again. “Y/N, you better tell me you’re joking now or I swear...” He spoke quietly and your chest shook as you breathed, your lungs tight from nervousness but your shoulders held strong. You weren’t backing down from him, no matter how much your hands trembled.

You shook your head at your brother. “I'm not playing. I'm having a baby, with Isaiah, and I'm keeping it.” Arthur’s eyebrows moved up and down quickly as he sighed out in order to keep his words down. He turned his head toward Tommy, whose face was stoic, not telling Arthur anything at all as he smoked. Arthur’s teeth clenched when he turned back to you, annoyed at the lack of backup from his brother and unsure where to start with his sister.

“You can’t be having a baby, Y/N,” Arthur's voice the only noise in the crowded room. “And why’s that?” You challenged him, his knuckles almost turning white against the chair. Finn's hands fidgeted with the cap on his lap, not wanting to be in the middle of this but not able to escape.

“Really? Well,” he huffed as he stood straight, fingers finally releasing the wooden seat, “you don’t have your own house, you have no cash, you can’t even look after yourself Y/N you’re too young for this!” He listed off the reasons on his hand, voice getting louder with each word that came out.

You put your hands on your hips, frustration mixing with the need to defend yourself as you matched Arthur’s level with your retort. “This is no different to John when he had Martha on her second kid at this age.”

Arthur waved his hand and shook his head. “That’s very different Y/N-"

“How is this different? Why is this any different at al-"

“It just is!” He shouted, slamming a hand on the table between you. You instantly jumped back at the sudden outburst, the boys both flinching too with Michael taking his elbow off the table and Finn scuffing his chair back a bit.

Isaiah stood firmly in his space now and toyed with the cuffs of his jacket to refrain himself from action. Another movement Tommy observed and he internally rolled his eyes at it. Isaiah knew well that this was your time and your situation to control, and that you needed to deal with your brothers in your own way for your own sake. A fight would help nothing right now.

“And before you’re married? Y/N, you aren’t even married for Christ’s sake!”

“You think I'm not married, do you?” You snapped, stopping Arthur from his inching closer and closer over the table top. Tommy’s head shot up in your direction and you could have sworn you found confusion on Arthur’s face before a second later, his and everyone else's attention was drawn away.

Polly opened the double doors from the shop to step through into the kitchen, shutting them behind her. "What in god’s name is going on in here? You're shouting the fucking street down." She chastises through her teeth with a scornful look sent Arthur's way. Neither you nor Arthur dropped your angry stares until Polly's demand of an answer had Arthur stepping away.

"Well," Arthur says, tension in every sound as he walked around the table to Polly's side, "it seems our darling angel girl has gone and got herself up the duff, hasn't she?" He said with bitterness in his words but a thankfully lowered voice as he shot his hand toward you. Polly met your gaze, concerned about the tears that lined your eyes but saying nothing about it yet.

"And that's just so terrible for you, is it?" You spite back, not giving Polly a chance to intervene. You guessed she'd be just as mad as Arthur for you being so silly and reckless, and you needed to fight for this on your own. To Arthur’s point, you had to look after yourself. If not now, when?

However, it isn't the news that's got her concerned, it's the venom in Arthur's words.

"You're not even married Y/N!” He continued his former point, “What are people gonna thin-"

"Well I am getting bloody married aren't I!" You interrupted, throwing your hands up in the anger that's finally caught up with you. Tommy raises his eyebrows questioningly as he keeps watching your movements, a quiet washing over the room again as the boys sat at the table wait for what's coming next.

"I'm engaged," You hold your hand up, your ring glinting in the light, "because Isaiah proposed to me, because he loves me," you drop your hand back to your side in defeat, "more than I can say for some..."

Tommy and Isaiah share a small glance before Isaiah turned to watch you again, leaving that conversation for later, or hopefully never.

After a moment of silent eye contact between you and Arthur, as his chest moved up and down with heavy breaths, he sighed and let his hands drop too.

“You think I don’t love you?” He uttered, “hm?” When he received only silence from you, faced with watching you stare at your feet to avoid him, he almost felt sick.

Everything he does is to protect you, to protect all the people he loves. Even now, as he’s in a blazing shouting match with you, it’s not because he’s angry - no, not truly - but because he’s scared you won’t be okay. Scared that you’re becoming something different to the little girl he practically helped raise. Scared you’ll be going into a world where he can’t protect you anymore.

He can deal with fighting and shouting, but he could never live with himself if you thought he felt anything but love for you.

His breath got caught in his throat and he could sense Polly's eyes burning a hole through his skull. Swallowing his pride, he tentatively asked, “Are you happy?”

“More than ever.” You immediately replied to his sincere-as-possible question.

He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, subtly meeting Tommy's eye across the room - who doesn't move an inch - then walked around the table with his arms out wide, inviting you to him.

He hugged you tightly and you felt his shaky hands settle on your back. “Then how mad can I be?” He muttered and a small smile etched onto your face, eyes squeezing closed which made the tears you’d been holding finally roll down your cheeks. All the strength you feigned left you as you hugged him back, thankful for your brother’s arms to be holding you up like normal.

With Arthur’s acceptance and lack of Tommy’s protest, Finn stood to his feet and as Arthur held your face, wiping your tears with a loving but faintly nervous smile, Finn made his way to you to give his own congratulatory hug.

Arthur took a second, watching his younger siblings before scanning the room to get his bearings again. And he went straight to Isaiah, gripping him under his arm and pulling him close, sternly muttering the typical older brother threats in his ear for only him to hear. You missed the words said but by the slightly distant look behind Isaiah’s eyes you quickly got the gist.

Pulling away from your hug with Finn, you met Tommy’s eyes across the room as he still leant unmoved against the counter, extinguishing his cigarette in the ash tray beside him. He sent you a wink and a nod, the corners of his mouth poking up for only you to catch sight of.

“Don’t worry Arthur, of course I will.” The words from your fiancé caused you to turn just in time to see your brother patting Isaiah’s neck before walking away, mumbling about a much-needed drink as he dragged his feet through the shop doors and the usual bustling noise of the building returned.

When Isaiah’s gaze met yours, the sliver of fear in his eyes was completely overshadowed by the confident love he held for you. You sent him a silent apology with your eyes which he dismissed with a shake of his head. He took a few steps toward you and gave you a quick kiss before squeezing you into his familiar tight hug, whispering not to stress about it into your neck. It was enough to stop you falling to pieces right in the middle of the family kitchen.

Isaiah rubbed his hand over your back and pulled his head back up, an inch from giving you a quick peck on the lips when his shoulders shot up with a hiss. He quickly turned his head with an angry scowl that instantly vanished at the sight of Polly. She tilted her head to the side, getting Isaiah to take his hands off you without a word. Isaiah left the two of you to yourselves to avoid the wrath of your aunt and went to join Michael across the room, rubbing the back of his neck as he walked.

Polly smirked at your shocked face and it grew when your surprise turned into a slight shocked laugh, shaking your head bemused at her actions. She held a cup of tea out for you and you took a step closer to her. Part of you was still wary of what she'll have to say about your pregnancy, but part of you was also comforted by her presence, knowing she'll never let your brothers step too far out of line with you.

"Are you mad?" You asked cautiously, never wanting to assume with her. She was pouring another cup of tea as she answered. "I was a little when I first found out, I thought I'd told you more than enough times to be careful," she shot you a nettled look before turning to face you properly, "then I had about two weeks for the idea to grow on me." Once again she smirked at the shock on your face. Of course Polly knew, you hardly had to tell her anything without her figuring it out for herself first.

"You'll be fine dear, he's not the worst." Polly joked sincerely, clinking your cups and taking a gulp before putting it down on the side again. You’d yet to move, stunned into stillness by her revelation, when her hand lay firmly on your small belly. She stared down in thought for a few seconds, her touch a stark contrast to the sharp slap Isaiah felt a moment earlier.

A feeling of relief you'd only ever felt once before - when John shot a bullet that skimmed your leg at 12 years old – had managed to fill your chest, almost enough to overwhelm you were it not for the grounding touch of your Aunt Polly.

You let her process her mystic prediction as you finally moved, sipping your drink and sending a smirk over to Isaiah to match his own.

Polly looked up at you with a smile spreading over her face and joy filling her eyes. “A beautiful baby girl.”

[blahkugo]

Rouge

Satori Tendō x Reader (Haikyuu!!)

Word Count: 2.5k

TW: Mafia AU, Dark themes, Blood play (an excessive amount of blood mentions in general), Knife play, Asphyxiation, Angst (?), mentions of death (no main characters), Just two psychopaths going at it tbh.

A/N: I’m so excited to be writing for @the-smut-pile’s newest collab, hosted by @present-mel, @pleasantanathema, and @linestrider. Please make sure to check out the rest of the masterlist here!

Every night, the smell of bleach stings your nostrils and prayers left unsaid weigh heavy on your tongue. ‘It comes with the job,’ they had warned you, had urged a ‘pretty little thing like you,’ not to take a position you couldn’t stomach. You didn't listen, of course.

Because death isn’t a stranger in your life, nor an old acquaintance you catch up with once every few years. It’s a friend that phones daily, a lover you scurry into bed with—the chill down your spine when you walk home alone in eerie silence.

As a doctor you saw it everyday, with every patient that prayed for pity when the pain became all too much. Cries of the sick plagued your every waking moment; who were you to deny them release? Their suffering ended the moment you injected the drugs.

But you’ve never seen death like this before.

“Daydreaming again, angel?” Tendō swipes a disinfectant across the cold metal counter, rubbing until pools of pomegranate red match his long, messy hair. Despite the dreariness of the task, an impish smile remains plastered across his face, the glint in his eyes unscathed by the scene you’d both just witnessed.

“It’s still Doctor to you.” Try as you might, your voice comes out shaky, your heart pounding so hard you’re worried it may actually jump out. That feeling never quite leaves you.

He straightens his gloves and out comes his signature laugh—that high, maniacal, chuckle that stops just short of a song. You’d rip out your car radio if it meant getting rid of it.

“You haven’t been one for a long time.”

The truth makes you shudder, but he’s right, of course. Once your license had been stripped away and you were on the run, your career had officially ended. An ‘Angel of Mercy,’ all the news stations had called you, yapping on for days when you were that week’s most wanted woman.

You don’t have the right to be called a medical professional and yet, you stand your ground. If it means getting him to quit with the dreadful pet name, you’ll say just about anything.

“Your boss calls me Doctor.”

“Because my boss can’t remember your name.” He meets your eyes, lips quirking upward at the little huff that escapes you, your furrowed brows spilling bits of frustration you so desperately attempt to keep bottled. The air hangs heavy with the shrieks of anger you wish you could unleash, all the words you don’t dare say aloud in fear of looking weaker than he already believes you are.

Instead of challenging you further, Tendō simply turns away, chucking the wipes in a bin and humming a tune far too cheery for a man who just ended a life.

When night comes, you dream of the older man who begged to see his children one last time and the laugh that sounds like a song.

—

The next day isn’t any better, because it never is. Ushijima’s moles bring in three more bodies for questioning; bodies, because you’ve been instructed to refer to them as nothing but. And they’re young this time, heavily tattooed kids that can’t be much older than nineteen—children that look so much like the thralls of young men you’ve learned to call friends, you have to avert your eyes when they send panicked glances your way.

You wonder if Tendō ever makes these comparisons.

“I’ll only ask once,” the gruff, even voice echoes within the small space. “Who’s your supplier?” Your boss is cold and calculated. He never wavers, never says more than he needs to. He’s everything you’d thought the leader of a crime organization would be and more.

Tendō hovers next to him, gnarled fingers twitching eagerly at the knife splayed between them. It’s his weapon of choice, because—as he mentioned your first day on the job—he can ‘take his time with them’.

The captives crack immediately, pleading helplessly for their lives as they vow they know nothing. They probably don’t, appearing to be nothing more than lowly thugs in a long hierarchy of vile men. It doesn’t stop what comes next.

As expected, Ushijima remains silent except for the soft sigh that leaves him. Tendō sighs as well, though it seems more pleased—euphoric, even—than bored. He presses a slender finger into the tip of his knife, watches as a bit of blood runs down his lean arm, paints a strip of his tattoos red, and drips onto the metal table.

“Are they ours now?” Ours. The word brings bile to your throat. Ushijima makes his way to the door, bluntly calling over his shoulder,

“Do what you must.”

You push up your glasses, Tendō grins, and the screaming begins.

—

Blood-stained lab coats are a staple of your wardrobe. No matter how hard you scrub, fingers raw and aching, the faded pinks never seem to give. You quit months ago, resorted to throwing the worst ones away instead of putting yourself through that hell.

This coat’s going straight to the bin.

Through every horrid interrogation, you’ve forced yourself to watch. You’ve never looked away, never dared allow him to smell the fear off of you. You hand him the tools, write the information on the clipboard, assist with cleanup and disposal, and answer any questions he may have—like the good little medical doctor turned mafia member you should be.

And Tendō smiles the whole way through. Even as dagger meets flesh, as pained cries shatter your eardrums, as your vision is clouded with red, red, red—Tendō smiles, humming a tune that you hear long into the next evening.

But today, when the third young man had looked you dead in the eyes and sobbed, begging you to tell his mother he loves her, you couldn’t help yourself.

Of course, the towering redhead didn’t fail to detect the misstep.

“Bad day?” He questions innocently, resting his elbows on the now spotless titanium table. His muscles ripple as he leans, boasting the thousands of dollars worth of art across his arms. It bothers you that you notice it, even more that he probably catches you gawking. He sees everything, after all. Everything but the blood still splattered across his body.

“Won’t be the last, for us at least.” Brows raise, as though the thought hadn’t occurred to him. If at all possible, the wicked grin on his face widens.

“You’re exactly right.” And like clockwork, he laughs. Your hands grow cold, ice corroding your veins. He swipes his tongue over his lip, leaving a slick shine on his lips. When he rises and steps toward you, you stand your ground, though you so desperately long to run. “Why so serious?”

“They didn’t know anything,” you mumble under your breath, “and you tortured them anyways.” In all your months of working with him, this is the first you’ve complained—and you immediately wish you hadn’t.

Tendō moves even closer, as though entertained by your tiny outburst. Perhaps he’s been waiting for this moment, for you to finally break your silence. When he speaks, his tone is gentler than usual, but still holds every hint of mockery and nonchalance the bastard is known for,

“It’s our job, angel face.” Another step, another tiny breath you’re holding in, worried that the slightest of sighs might shatter your perfected image of faux indifference. He tilts his head to the side, peering down at you, like you’re- a child.

And the glass breaks.

“Enough.” You splay your hands in front of you, halting him in his tracks, just as he invades your space. “Enough of the patronizing looks, and the humming, and the stupid pet name that you know bothers me!” An accusatory finger is jabbed into his chest. “Don’t you feel guilt? Fear? Empathy? You murder people.”

Your chest burns, heaving with rage. Tendō’s half-smile still sits on his face, words of ridicule ready to roll off his tongue any second. But when you look into his eyes, there seems to be something more—an emotion you can’t quite place. Anger? Understanding?

His next sentence is whispered with such sobriety, you’re unsure who it is you’re speaking to anymore,

“People like us don’t deserve those feelings.”

“There is no us!” The claim may come out crazy, hysterical even— a woman covered in warm blood shrieking within a cold, sterile room. For once, you don’t care. “I’m not like you.”

Those words may be what set him off, hand wrapping around your chin and tilting it up so that you’re unable to look away. Fingers that incite panic and enact violence, fingers you’ve feared since your first day here, clutching you ever-so casually. “Exactly. You’re not like me.”

He doesn’t wait for your rebuttal, gripping harder at your face. “I’ve made my peace with who I am, but you,” his breath fans your cheeks, “you only pretend you don’t enjoy it.”

Then, Tendō’s kissing you. And to your utter surprise, you’re kissing him back. Heat rises within you, the hairs at your neck curling as your lips meet with a ferocity. His palms graze your lab coat—no doubt staining his skin with the blood it’s drenched in—before he’s peeling it off.

When you tug at his messy locks, the butcher smiles and sinks his teeth into your bottom lip. He pulls you closer, hurriedly stripping you of your remaining clothing, until you’re left in just your panties. Hands roam at your supple skin, kneading at your hips, meshing into you wherever he can. All the while, your lips do the same, bleeding into each other until you’re unsure of where you start and he ends.

“No.” The command is stern, perhaps the most you’ve ever been with him. His eyes narrow in disappointment, limbs rapidly untangling from your body. You shove him backwards until his knees hit the edge of the table, nudge him again so that he falls against it, and grab a clean scalpel off the side counter. “No, we do deserve to feel those things.” His grin returns in full force—and he laughs.

This time, you don’t hate it.

“Deep down,” he grunts as you hitch a leg over his thighs and climb onto him, “you know that I’m right.” The scalpel’s pointed tip grazes his black tee, cutting through the material meticulously. You run a palm up his broad chest before pressing a finger to his mouth, smearing nearly dried blood across his jaw in the process.

“You talk too much,” the hushed murmur tumbling from your lips doesn’t sound like you, is foreign and twisted, and too much like him to bode well for either of you. The muscles in his thighs tense beneath you, his hard chest rumbling in a silent glee.

Your fingers brush against his cheekbones and you gasp, losing all perception of who you are. It’s absurd, but the individual you knew before, the persona you so adamantly believed you could uphold, crumbles with a single, soft touch of his skin.

And it’s unfair, really, that someone so beautiful—covered in art, blessed with hair the color of sweet wine and a laugh that sounds like music—could be so utterly fucked up.

When you nick his cheek, observing the drip of blood that trickles down, you wonder if Tendō ever makes these comparisons. And when you lick at it, preening at the groan that leaves him, you wonder if you’re just as fucked up as he is.

All at once, you’re flipped beneath him, back crashing against the cool metal table. He climbs down and drags his pants off, yanks you towards him with one pull of your thighs, and presses against your core. A shiver runs down your spine at the heat, crazes you for something you didn’t think you needed.

“By the way,” Tendō speaks through kisses and nips at your neck, “you are just as fucked up.” Though you hadn’t realized you’d said that aloud, you’re unable to retaliate, only wrap your legs around his middle and moan at a particularly harsh bite. He soothes every spot of broken skin with his tongue, drifting downwards until his lips meet your cotton panties. “How cute.”

“Well, I wasn’t exactly expecting thi– Ah,” your complaint is cut short when he moves them to the side and licks a long stripe up your slit. And he doesn’t stop, lapping and sucking at your soaked cunt, holding you down with one lean arm when you writhe in response to the pressure. “God, fuck.”

“Satori, but I’ll take God too,” he smirks against your mound. It’s then that he inserts a lithe finger, then two, stretching you out until you’re tugging at his long locks, goosebumps raised as the warmth of his mouth intertwines with the cold beneath your back.

You’re panting, unconcerned with time or it’s passing, only his fingers, his tongue circling your puffy bud, and your steady ascension to the edge. Just as your legs tense, breath caught mid-mewl of his name, he stops. You lean up on your elbows, rut against him, searching for more—friction, movement, anything—but he doesn’t let up.

“Fuck- why?” Your cry is loud, whiny even, but you don’t particularly care when euphoria’s been ripped away from you so suddenly.

“Tell me I’m right,” he teases, eyes peering straight through yours. You whine again, a mix between a pained groan and ‘are you fucking serious?’ before he flicks at your bud once more. “Say it.”

And you do. Because, as strongly as you've denied it, you’re every bit as perverse as he is, every bit as infatuated by the idea of power, of playing God—of holding a life between your fingertips and choosing death.

The second the words are out of your mouth, he thrusts deep into you. Your fingers scramble for purchase, nails dragging against the table, then his back, as skin slaps against skin.

There’s nothing gentle about Satori, all lean, hard muscle and jagged edges, but the pain is just as blissful as the pleasure. His fingertips rub at your clit, other hand moving to wrap around your throat and squeeze tightly.

“Satori, I- I need more,” you choke out, lightheaded. And he complies, shifting you to your side and throwing one of your legs over his shoulder. Your cries melt into his, sweat soaking your skin, your hair, the table, as he pounds into you over and over again.

“That’s it baby– fuck, let go for me.” He presses the long-forgotten scalpel against your throat—and your vision goes white. Electricity sparks through your spine, your tongue lolls out, and you swear you feel tears run down your cheeks.

He doesn’t stop, working you through the orgasm as your legs bind his waist. A few more thrusts and he’s following you, holding your hips against him so tightly, he’ll probably leave deep purple bruises.

He finally stills, chest falling against yours and heaving, allowing you both to catch your breath. Flashing a set of pearly canines, his wild grin and the glint in his eyes reappear. For the first time since you’ve known him, Tendō is completely silent.

And then he laughs, lawless and untamed, the howl of a hyena that sounds like a song—and you laugh too.