#Again I yell about his brother a lot because he's widely loved by the fandom

[clovermarigold]

Daggers and Daffodils Chap.18

Dagur x Reader

Hello, I am so sorry! It's been four months since I last updated, and a lot has happened since then.  My computer, I got sent to urgent care, new psychiatrist, etc. Getting off track main point is that I'm back! And I'm doing a number of small projects to get back into writing. If anyone has any oneshot requests my last post has all the fandoms I will write for. Please send in your requests Cuz I need some variety lol. I will seriously do about anything (minus smut)

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"My love! Just look at me!" Dagur begged. You sat on the bed in his quarters as you sailed towards Outcast Island. To say you were upset would be the understatement of the year. Yelling would only fly over his head, so you opted for your father's tactic of passive aggressively ignoring his existence.

"Please, my love. I missed you" his words were sickeningly sweet, and the worst part was that they were genuine. Dagur kneeled at the edge of the bed pawing at your hand despite your earlier attempt to smack it away. "I know you're upset. But I'm doing this for you" your eye twitched at that. For you? Kidnapping your father and using him as blackmail for your brother's dragon was for your benefit. You had half a mind to slap him across the face and scream at him, but knowing Dagur, he would have preferred that to your lack of response. So, you bit your tongue and continued to stare at the wall.

A frustrated almost whine like groan escaped Dagur as he stood to his feet. "Uuugh, can you stop being so distant for a moment and look at me?! Scream? Yell? ANYTHING!?". You flinched slightly at his volume but remained steadfast in your impassiveness. Dagur began to pace the floor rapidly back and forth and it was at this moment that you looked at him. It wasn't intentional, and thankfully he wasn't looking at you, however, what you saw was enough to make you break.

Dagur wore a panicked and possibly even frightened expression as his eyes shakily stared at the floor in front of him. Dagur threaded his fingers through his hair what in could possibly be an attempt to soothe himself. His breathing was unsteady and heavy. You only had a second to look away as he dropped onto his knees between your legs in one swift motion. Dagur's hands were quick to grab onto your shoulders. The sudden weight made you quickly prop yourself on your arms in order to stop yourself from falling backwards onto the bead. Because the last thing you needed right now was to have Dagur pinning you to the bed.

While catching yourself, however, you had looked forward, meeting Dagur's eyes. His eyes were wide and frantic, running over and memorizing each of your features. Dagur's hands felt course and rough but handled you gently with care. You watched as his panicked breathing slowed and his face relaxed.

The oh so familiar dopey lopsided smile made its way to his face, "There you are" he cooed. He was really close now. You never realized how big his eyes were, and they were- Growing? No. Dagur began to inch closer to you, eyes unblinking and locked with yours. And the worst part was, you weren't even doing anything. It wasn't as if you were tied up, you just couldn't bring yourself to move or say anything. He was very close now. He had paused a nose distance from you when he heard your breath hitch.

His eyes softened, and he released your shoulders in favor of drifting his hand over your shaking ones. How long had you been shaking. "I'm sorry" he whispered with a smile. He shifted to sit with his legs crossed on the floor as he looked up at you on the bed, your hands still in his. With Dagur out of your direct area, you were able to breathe again. after recomposing yourself you gave a slight tug to your hand, unfortunately Dagur's caveat to giving you space, was being allowed to hold your hand.

"Let me go" you said. "My love, I understand that your upset. But I'm doing this for us". Your hand tensed, "You're doing this for yourself". Dagur sighed, rubbing circles into your palm, "I'm taking you back to Berserk so we can be together. Your father... well, him getting in the way is what got him here. And besides, what happens to him is up to Hiccup".

"You're asking him to choose between his best friend and his father!" you yelled. Dagur rolled his eyes "Oh please, it's an overgrown lizard. If that's his best friend, then he needs to rethink his priorities".

"Just let my father go. I know letting me go is out of the question. But no one needs to get hurt". Dagur continued to rub your palm as he stared at you with a smile, "Y/N, you're smart. But I'm not stupid. And we both know me setting your father free will end with everyone getting hurt". Stoick the Vast? Both him and his daughter getting kidnapped? Oh yeah, there would be blood.

"Don't fret angel, once I capture the night fury we'll go to Berserk and spend the rest of our lives together. And if Hiccup doesn't make things too difficult for me, I suppose he can come to the wedding. In chains of course" Dagur wasn't budging. If he continued to ignore reason; there would be two possible endings. Your friends and family imprisoned and your dragons... you didn't want to think about it. Or with Dagur in locked away. While neither appealed to you, in the end you would always choose your family.

"Dagur if you don't let him go now than I swear you'll regret it" you attempt to dead stare him unblinking. But apparently, he's part cat as he matches you, remaining eyes open after you failed several times over.

He wrapped a number of your hair strands around his index finger "No I won't. If it's for you, I won't regret anything" The ship rocked as it hit the dock of what you assumed was Outcast Island. Dagur stood and held out his hand, "Come, my love. This'll be over soon".

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And here you stood with your arms bound next to both your father and brother, while Dagur stood in front of the caged Toothless. "Hiccup I'm all for family reunions but please tell me you have a plan" you whisper to him. "Are the other Dragon riders here, son?" your father asks.

"Well, not exactly", " Oh the Berk fleet". "No", "...Do you have any plan at all" Dad asks annoyed and skeptical. "I do actually!" Hiccup answered slightly rushed and awkward. "Oh, good, good... WOULD YOU LIKE TO FILL ME IN!" Stoick whisper yelled. "Uuuuh, no. I'd just like to watch it unfold if it's all the same to you".

You rolled your eyes as you watched Dagur ooh and ahh over Toothless and think of new names for him. A small squeak sounded from behind you, and without causing any suspicion you turned to see Scabbard hiding in a crack in the wall. "Good girl" you say under your breath turning to Hiccup who gave you a small nod.

"I have big plans for you Mr. Nightfury. You'll be the new symbol of the Berserkers. Every corner of the Archipelago will fear you." he says with a deranged smile before it drops into a calculating look of thought. While he spoke a burst of smoke launched through the ground throwing the guard to your right into the air. Scabbard took this as her signal and rushed up to you and chewed off your ropes.

Dagur began to pace lost in thought unaware of the ongoing escape attempt, "Of course we'll need to change all the sails and shields. And I'll need a new belt buckle, and new banners for the wedding, and how much is that gonna cost me?- NOT THAT IT'S TOO MUCH, MY LOVE" he yells as if to try and keep you from stressing about the cost of your wedding, (like that was ever going to happen now).

"Well, we'll worry about that after we've burned Berk to the ground" he suddenly turned to you all as a thought showed itself to him, as two of his guards were launched into the sky. "Hey! how about DeathKiller!?". His face dropped as he saw you frozen in shock bent down undoing your brothers ropes as Scabbard mimicking you had frozen mouth in an open gnaw around your father's. "Heh heh, hi" you say nervously.

Suddenly the earth erupts as three Whispering Deaths breaks through the ground with a roar. As if on cue, hanging onto the tail of one of them Alvin the Treacherous drops into the arena, and Mildew opens the cage setting Toothless free.

"Alvin, Mildew and Whispering Deaths? This was your plan!?" Stoick yells as you and Scabbard rush to set them free. "Did not see that coming did you" Hiccup snarkly replied. "Very funny" you say sarcastically with a smile as you and Scabbard finally snap their ropes free. "Just like the good ol' days" Alvin says to Stoick.

As if things couldn't get any more hectic, the ground begins to shake and cave in on itself. As you feel yourself begin to fall Your dad catches you and throws you back onto the stable ledge, followed by Alvin.

"Hiccup!" you scream as you watch him lose his grip on the rusted cage of the arena, thankfully to be caught by Toothless. The two of them were surrounded by Dagur and his Berserkers, who were about to pounce on them before a stream of gas intercepted them and exploded. "Ruff! Tuff!" you called.

"Woah, this is chaos on a level I've never seen before!" Ruff says. "I know, I want to live here" says Tuff, "Forever!". "Boy are we ever glad to see you guys" Hiccup remarks relieved.

"Don't thank us yet" says Astrid, "things are about to get a lot crazier". To your left Silver Tongue barreled into several Berserkers. "Silver Tongue!" to say he was in a bad state would be an understatement, His hide was covered in nicks and cuts, and for the first time in your life you saw someone that looked crazier and more deranged than Dagur.  For a moment you thought that he may still be under the effect of the dragon root.

Silver Tongue practically nocked you over with how fast he ran into you, rubbing his head into your stomach repeatedly, "haha, I missed you too bud". The sound of Fishleg screaming followed by a roar drew your attention to the sky, "Is that the-", "Screaming Death" Hiccup answers.

"Why in the name of Odin did you bring THAT here?!". "This may be the only chance we have to get rid of it" Hiccup says, "I saw the screaming Death's mother. It's been destroying islands looking for her". Fishlegs drops the dragon root on Hiccup's command and breaks away from the Screaming Death as it chooses to follow its mothers call towards the arena.

"Ah, I see. It want's its mommy" Dagur and his man quickly chain the Whispering Death keeping it from flying towards its offspring.

"Dagur no!" you and Hiccup yell. "You don't know what you're doing. Let that Whispering Death go before you destroy us all" Hiccup warns. "Why would I do that? Helloooo~ I'm deranged" he taunts Hiccup in a sing song voice.  "Well, can't argue with logic like that... right" Tuffnut says from atop his dragon. "Tuff! Not the time!" you scold.

"Back off Hiccup! you know if I destroy her, that thing will take us all out!" Dagur points a spear at the dragon.

"You would be willing to risk Y/N's life like that!". "No, because I know you won't either" Hiccup's face contorts. "He's right, back off" and the rest of you step back. Though it takes extra effort from you to stop Silver Tongue from bolting at him, it was official, your dragon hated him more than he did eels.

"Wise choice. Now, I might be interested in a trade" Hiccup frowns, "Oh come on, you didn't see this coming". The sound of Snotlouts war cry echoed throughout the collapsed cave system as he and an alight Hookfang blasted the Berserkers and freed the Whispering Death which took to its children and fled the island.

"Oh, thank god that's over" you exhale, petting Silver Tongue as Alvin drags the wriggling Dagur away. A part of you felt guilty as you heard him call your name. But for the most part you knew this was a long time coming.

"You, ok?" Astrid asks, putting a hand on your shoulder. "Yeah, I think so" Astrid gave you a skeptical but empathetic look. "What happened to him?" you gesture to Silver Tongue. "After Dagur took you, he tried to go after you, it took all of us to put him back in his pen. He wouldn't stop throwing himself into the door, Gothi had to knock him out before he hurt himself again".

As id knowing you were both talking about him, Silver Tongue let out a low tired grumble. "Don't worry boy, I'm not going anywhere".

Astrid continued to look at you, "What?". "Do you still like him?" she asked. "What are you talking about" you were genuinely confused, of course you still liked Silver Tongue why would she thi- ... oh. "WHAT NO! Nooo nonononononono" you ramble, "I never like Dagur. You know that" you try to reason. You should have known that Astrid would have been aware of your childish crush on Dagur growing u[, but for her to think you would still like him after all of this. Did you?

Pleased with your answer Astrid left to speak with Hiccup. Leaving you to have an crisis by yourself about whether or not you still had feelings for Dagur. You had been entirely willing to marry him in exchange for your family's safety, but that was just to protect them. But at the same time you didn't put up much of a fight. You had more chances to end everything once and for all (if you catch my drift x_x) than anyone else. But you could never bring yourself to do it.

"Y/N!" the sound of your brother's voice caught your attention, "You ready to go home?".

"Yeah... home"

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Thank you sooo much for reading this new chapter! Once again, I am so sorry for the wait! This next chapter will be up sooner since I've already started to work on it and because I'm much more familiar with race to the edge.

Love you guys!!!

[vrishchikawrites]

Post-post-post cannon Wangxian being completely in love in the cloud recessess as teenagers who time travelled back to their own 16-17 year old bodies on accident.

In love. Wangxian are in love. In love. Just smooph and fluff.

Like they're effortlessly in love. (No matter how much Jiang Cheng yells and ties to control Wei Wuxian, Wei Wuxian casually refuses to hear any of it, as he'd been ignoring Jiang Cheng's homophobia and hate forever by the time they both came back by accident. )

Also wwx doesn't hide his genius and every one around him is like senpai *heart eyes* (honestly he's almost forgotten how to hide his effortless genius.)

(Just FYI, don't have to include this: this Wei Wuxian has long since come to terms with all his war and Sunshot and Shiji related trauma— just FYI.)

I just want to read as much of the smooph, smushy fluff and love you can stomach writing please.

Extra points if you can show them both just effortlessly and absentmindedly flirting.

(You don't have to incude this, but: They just take like a weekend off and go raze the main Wen family to the ground casually— back late with Starbucks— "We were night hunting. What do you mean the Wen family died? So sad. We feel so bad. Don't we feel bad?" " Mm. Feel bad.")

Thank you so much for existing in this fandom. I love your fics. I love you. 💖

Xichen is proud of his brother but he can't deny that he is sometimes concerned for him as well. Wangji is a dedicated and accomplished disciple but he is isolated from his peers. Xichen has friends and confidants but Wangji is simply content to be by himself.

That is concerning, even for a Lan.

He had hopes that incoming disciples would manage to shake him up a little but that hope didn't last long. Year after year, Wangji continued to remain aloof, not expressing any interest in the disciples.

But something has changed this year. Xichen didn't even know what was going on until a few weeks into the introduction of the guest disciples.

He spots them by chance. Young Master Wei is cheerfully waving at a vendor, his smile wide and bright, ensnaring the old woman's entire attention.

Wangji is right by him, Bichen in one hand but the other…

The other is placed on the small of Wei-gongzi's back.

Xichen watches as they move on from the vendor. He sees how Wangji seems to shield Wei-gongzi from the crowd, angling his body slightly to ensure his companion can walk freely.

It is a gesture of protectiveness. It is a gesture of possession.

Xichen studies their body language carefully. Wangji seems content to follow Wei-gongzi around, his expression closed but gentle. There are no frosty glares or pursed lips. His brother, for once, looks entirely relaxed. Everything about him is loose and easy underneath all of his Lan elegance. His shoulders slope gently, his spine isn't as rigid, and his walk is steady.

The First Jade has never seen his brother look so settled.

Wei Wuxian seems happy too, his smile incandescent and lovely. Almost as tall as Wangji, the boy is the very antithesis of his brother. While Wangji is sedate and content, Wei Wuxian is nearly bursting with energy and joy. His silver eyes sparkle in the sunlight and his long hair sways with every movement of his body.

Xichen's heart softens at the glimpse of such open beauty. There's certainly something alluring about Young Master Wei. He seems to suffuse his surroundings with happiness.

There's something in the air around them.

Despite his lively mind wandering from one stall to another, Wei-gongzi always finds his way back to Wangji, looking at him with a hopeful smile and a cheerful comment.

His brother's expression is unfamiliar to him. Wangji looks like his entire world is smiling up at him.

'Is this love?' He wonders to himself as he watches his brother gently pull Wei-gongzi out of a running child's way. He doesn't miss how the touch lingers, fingers curling slightly around the slender wrist before pulling away.

There are many eyes following Wangji and his friend, and all of them have indulgent expressions. The people of Caiyi town have seen Wangji since he was a child. They know him and his nature well enough.

Xichen suspects they're just as happy to see Wangji roaming the markets leisurely as a pretty butterfly flutters around him.

"Is that Lan Wangji?" Nei Mingjue observes, stepping up beside him.

Xichen nods, "And his friend, Wei Wuxian."

"Hm," his friend says, "I've been hearing that name a lot recently. They say the only reason Jin Zuxian beat him in the rankings is because of his looks."

Xichen chuckles at Mingjue's tone, "Ah, Da-ge, you must hate that."

His friend rolls his eyes, taking a sip of his tea. "How do looks matter when you're facing down Fierce Corpses?"

"From what shufu says, Young Master Wei is Wangji's equal in many ways." Shufu had been wary at first, wondering what sort of chaos the son of Cangse Sanren would bring to Cloud Recesses. So far, Wei Wuxian has proven to be a mischievous but brilliant student. "He challenges shufu in class. They end up having loud, angry debates," Xichen chuckles because he knows his uncle, despite all appearances, loves being stimulated, "He mentions the boy often." There's a comment about Wei Wuxian almost every time he has tea with his uncle.

He looks at the two younger master's thoughtfully, "I didn't expect this."

"Are they courting?" Nei Mingjue asks bluntly, "Because your little brother is acting like a husband already."

Xichen stills and looks at the pair again. That is what's off about their body language. They move around each other confidently, not like a young couple in fresh blooms of love.

There are no tentative glances, awkward touches, and hyperawareness. Wangji touches Wei Wuxian like it is his right. Like he is confident that his touch is welcome and desired.

For a moment, he feels a pang of worry. Xichen looks at Wei Wuxian, studying him carefully to see if there's any sign of strain or distress.

He finds nothing. Wei-gongzi responds to every gesture of affection like a flower blooming under the Sun.

"Ah." He realizes, "You think…?"

"Strong bonds form quickly between cultivators with matching potential." Nei Mingjue observes, "It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. Your brother looks a little too enamored for this to be a teenage fancy."

Well, isn't this an interesting development?

---

"Your hair looks nice," Nie Huaisang says, hiding a smile behind his fan. Wei-xiong always looks good but there's something particularly radiant about him now. He seems to stand a bit taller, carry himself with a bit more confidence. His gestures seem stronger, somehow carrying more authority than before.

But the hair intrigues him. There's a glittering silver hairpiece in it and the strands of ebony are tied up in a neat style.

Neater than Wei-xiong's usual style. While Huaisang is certain Wei-xiong is perfectly capable of making himself as elegant as the Jades of Lan, he usually doesn't bother.

This was done by someone else's careful, loving, hand.

Jiang Yanli isn't at Cloud Recesses and Jiang Cheng would rather burn his own hands than show even an ounce of love towards his shixiong - something pricks when he thinks about that.

So there's someone else, someone willing to comb Wei-xiong's hair until every strand is glossy and straight, before tying it up with a silver and jade pin that looks expensive.

Wei-xiong is courting- no, he corrects himself, watching his friend wave enthusiastically at Lan Wangji, 'Wei-xiong is being courted.'

Wangji-xiong bows to his brother and walks towards Wei-xiong, his gaze softer than usual. His friend is smiling widely and immediately dissolves into excited chatter. Wangji-xiong doesn't seem bothered, just nodding occasionally and watching with indulgent patience.

There's something entirely lovely about the way Wangji-xiong's eyes remain fixed on Wei Wuxian's face. It is like nothing else is more important to him than Wei-xiong's smile and cheerful voice.

Standing together in the courtyard, both clad in white and glowing under the warm light of the morning sun, they look stunning. Huaisang's romantic heart sighs at the sight.

"What is he doing?" Jiang Wanyin hisses and Huaisang looks at him, startled by his icy tone, "I can't believe he's making a nuisance of himself again!"

"Jiang-gongzi-"

"Wei Wuxian! What are you doing, messing around?"

The loud voice catches almost everyone's attention. Wei-xiong looks over his shoulder and Wangji-xiong's expression turns frosty, all warmth draining from it immediately.

"Aiya, Jiang Cheng," Wei-xiong grins but it doesn't have that sheepish, placating quality that Huaisang had seen before, on those rare occasions he visited Lotus Pier with his da-ge. This grin was full of confidence and almost... dismissal. "Why are you angry now?"

Was that tone... mocking?

Huaisang's lips twitch as Jiang-gongzi swells further with rage, "Wei Wuxian! How can you be so shameless? Imposing yourself on Lan Wangji, always trying to distract him. Think of our sect's reputation for once!"

"Do not speak for me." Wangji-xiong's voice is icy and it cuts Jiang-gongzi's rant short immediately, "Wei Ying is free to seek me out whenever he wishes. No one may stop him."

And that seems to be that. Wei-xiong laughs and Wangji-xiong guides him away gently like he's someone delicate and not the strongest cultivator of their generation.

But, Huaisang muses, even strong people deserve gentleness.

---

"Da-shixiong! Show us that one again," A Jiang disciple demands and Wangji looks up from his work. He has clear sight of the training ground from where he's sitting. Wei Ying is standing in the middle, surrounded by a few Jiang and Lan disciples.

They're all looking at him in adoration.

Wangji feels a flood of amusement and sets his work aside, content to take a small break. It is always a treat to see his husband in his element; teaching people and nurturing young minds. They may be back in their teenage bodies, but their soul is much older.

Wei Ying, with his natural ability to charm juniors and his hard-earned wisdom, is the perfect teacher.

"It is amusing to see you so smitten," Wangji looks up to see his brother smiling at him, "Wei-gongzi must be very special, yes?"

His brother probably aims to fluster him, he is so fond of teasing Wangji. But Wangji had been Wei Ying's husband for more than a decade before an accident sent them back in time. He is no longer flustered or overwhelmed by his feelings. "Very special," He agrees, unable to help glancing back at his beloved, "Very lovely."

Xichen chuckles, "He is indeed lovely." His expression turns sly, "Do I need to speak with Uncle? Betrothal negotiations may be complicated in this case."

Wangji remains unphased, "You may," He says calmly, much to his brother's surprise, "Wei Ying will marry into the Lans. Give no concession to the Jiangs. He is just their Head Disciple, not the part of the family."

"Wangji," His brother breathes, "You're that invested?"

"Un. Will marry Wei Ying. Give him a better life. A life of dignity, freedom, and respect. Free of unnecessary debt that no one should foist on a child."

That is enough for Xichen to understand. His gaze turns solemn and he looks at Wei Ying carefully, "If that is what you wish, brother, you will have it."

---

Wangji feels his heart still when he steps into the library pavilion. He gazes at the scene before him, feeling the stiff formality of his expression melt away.

Wei Ying is beautiful, sitting there and reading peacefully. The evening sunlight envelopes him, giving him an ethereal glow. He traces his husband's features, feeling something akin to desperate love. It has been so since he saw this face and this body. Mo Xuanyu didn't lack beauty and Wei Ying's radiant personality had only added to it.

But this is Wei Ying's true body.

Helplessly drawn, he steps forward. "Xingan."

Wei Ying looks up, startled to hear such an endearment aloud. Immediately, his face is aglow with a pretty blush even as he laughs teasingly, "Lan Zhan! Don't be so bold!"

He walks towards Wei Ying and settles down by him, closer than truly appropriate but this is his husband. "Research?"

Wei Ying smiles, drawing Wangji's attention to his lips. There's no one in the library so Wangji permits himself the touch, reaching forward to gently caress them, "Such beauty." He whispers.

Wei Ying blushes again, "Er-gege," He protests, "Have mercy on my heart."

His fingers slide under Wei Ying's jaw, drawing him in gently. His husband is sweet and compliant as Wangji kisses him, an innocent brush of lips and nothing more. "My Wei Ying." His voice is low, heated in ways Wei Ying recognizes. He watches as those enchanting silver eyes brighten with passion.

His Wei Ying buries his warm face in his neck with a moan of protest, "Mercy, husband. You're so cruel to tease me like this when you can't take me to bed."

It is indeed a challenge to not have their 'everyday' but Wangji can be patient. Xiongzhang is already working on it.

For now, he is content.

They sit like that for a long time, Wei Ying leaning against him, trusting and calm. No one disturbs them and Xichen only stops by once, smiling knowingly in their direction and pointedly ignoring Wangji's restraining hand around Wei Ying's waist, stopping him from pulling away.

They spend the rest of the evening exchanging soft murmurs and softer kisses.

Nothing will stand in their way this time.

[thelastcitysposts]

And My Entirety

Character: Stefan Salvatore

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries

Categories: Reader Insert, Female!Reader, Human!Reader x Vampire!Stefan Salvatore, Ripper!Stefan, Angst with a bit of fluff at the end

Word Count: 2221

Warnings: Violence, a bit of gore, blood.

Requested?: NO

Summary: Stefan has flipped the switch. Leaving them all to find a way to bring him back before he destroys the town. Y/N finds Stefan and admits her deepest secret, how she feels about him.

~

Moving to a supernatural filled town called Mystic Falls wasn’t exactly on your bucket list but yet here you are, pacing around a vampires lounge room with a glass of bourbon in your hand. ‘He could be anywhere’, ‘He’s dangerous, we need to find him’, ‘And then do what? Tie him up for the rest of his life?’ were some of the conversations that were going on around you. Sighing quietly you brought your hand up to untuck your hair from behind your ear.

Stefan had folded, ripping into a young girl's throat three days ago and had switched off his humanity, causing the Ripper to return. He is your best friend, your confidant, your lost love. You stood by him, through all his heart break with Elena, the terrifying terrors that this town had ensued. But above everything, you stayed his best friend, afraid of what your inner feelings would do to the relationship that had been made between the two of you. But, above all, you had never thought that vampirism and sadism was going to be brought to your life because of knowing him, loving him.

Damon was pacing the ground opposite you, looking flustered and angry. Elena, sitting on the couch, trying to find ways or reasons that could bring Stefan out of this state of mind. ‘We could use you? Surely that doppelganger connection will do something to his cold dead brain’ Damon spoke, looking at Elena while downing glass, after glass of bourbon himself.

‘That boat sailed a long time ago. Plus we already tried that yesterday’ the girl huffed, placing his fingers on her temples due to the stress she was feeling. You felt yourself shifting on your feet, impatiently. Not knowing what to do or how to help, Stefan could literally be anywhere.

Suddenly, the front door ripped open, causing the three heads to turn up towards the sound coming into the living room. Appearing out of the dark was Jeremy and Sheriff Forbes. Damon rushed over to them with his vampire speed, turning up right in front of the sheriff. ‘Find anything?’ Damon whisper-yelled, causing your eyes to roll back.

‘We found blood trails leading to the forest on the other side of town, and the new grill busboy’s head rolling on the ground’ Jeremy gulped, looking towards the man. Your eyes widening hearing just how far Stefan was going, not even cleaning up after himself it seemed that he had now completely turned over to the dark side of his mind.

``We need to go out there,’ you mumbled, picking up your phone and sliding it carefully into your pocket as you started to walk away from the warmth of the fireplace. ‘Wo wo wo there, blood bag’ Damon mumbled, holding an arm out to block you from leaving the mansion. ‘I don’t know if you’ve forgotten this, Y/N, but you’re actually a human. The exact person that Mr. Head Ripper is targeting and taking down. Leave the search team to the supernatural’ he looked at you with wide, stern eyes.

‘Maybe that’s exactly why I should be coming with you lot. I might just be that something that brings him out of the woods’ you pushed Damon. Hoping that he might just see your point of view. ‘And I don't know if you’ve forgotten this, but he is also my best friend. Not much you say right now would turn me away from trying to help’ you pushed again, looking back into his stern eyes with your even sterner ones.

Damon looked to the ground, trying to think if your ideas might just help them all bring his brother back. Without thinking for too long, he brought his eyes back off the ground and looked back into your own ones. ‘No, stay here’ he spoke, pushing past you to grab some supplies in order to trap Stefan.

You rolled your eyes, flinging yourself onto the couch. You knew deep down it didn’t matter what he was saying, you were still going to get up once they left and trail to the woods. You cared about Stefan, more than anything else. It’s not that hard to believe that you wanted and needed to be there to help him.

You watched as Damon ushered the rest out of the house, Elena following closely on his tail with Jeremy and the sheriff following them. Damon poked his head around the corner, eyeing you on the couch with a fresh glass of liquor in your hand. ‘Don’t do anything stupid, Y/N. You haven’t seen him like this before’ he spoke before closing the door behind him.

You rolled your eyes, downing your glass fast, standing up on your feet and walking towards the door, placing your ear against it while you heard the start of everyone’s engines. You waited for the sound of the cars to get further and further away, before ripping the door open yourself and shooting out to your own car.

You know this would be dangerous, but something deep inside of you knew that it was just Stefan. The same Stefan that showed you just how much you could appreciate and love someone. You knew that this was exactly what you needed to do to prove that everything that has happened to him the last few days didn’t matter, because deep down he was still that man.

Stepping on the gas pedal you whizzed through the streets of Mystic Falls, frantically trying to get to the woods on the other side of town. It looked like the Sheriff placed a curfew or a block in town. No one was anywhere to be found. Must be to protect the humans that live here peacefully, even though that would never trap a ripper.

Seeing the turn off coming up to where you needed to go you slowed down, coming to a break and immediately jumping out of your car and running towards the woods.

‘Stefan! Come out come out wherever you are’ you heard being yelled through the woods. Immediately recognising that voice as Damon. Wow, real creative Damon you thought while watching your feet and going off in a different direction then where they obviously were. “Stefan!’ you heard Elena yelling in her soft voice, playing that card are we.

You watched as the air seemed to get colder, and the ground beneath got harder to walk through. You kept an eye and ear out, hoping you might just see him wandering around looking for his next meal.

Your foot hit something hard, causing you to fall onto the ground and a stick making a small gash on your wrist. ‘God’ you mumbled, wiping away the small amount of blood that trickled from your wrist before looking down, seeing the head of the bus boy that Jeremy had mentioned earlier.

Gasping loudly you kicked your feet trying to move yourself further away from the disembodied head laying on the ground. Trying to calm your breathing you leaned against a tree, looking up towards the sky to reach some sort of solitude before continuing your quest to find the brown haired boy.

‘You shouldn’t be here’ you heard from behind you, immediately getting up off the ground to look behind you and see the man of the hour. ‘I know’ you mumbled, looking over his body. He was covered in blood, some still trickling down his mouth and landing on the forest dirt. He was looking directly at the blood on your wrist.

Your expression changed in the slightest, getting a bit scared now. ‘How idiotic can you be Y/N, wandering into the woods while a serial killer lurks’ he laughed walking closer towards you. You backed away slightly, watching your feet behind you as you tried to avoid falling over again. ‘You’re not a serial killer, Stefan’ you spoke clearly, looking at him directly in his eyes.

‘Really? Then why is your heart racing so loudly? Why can I hear the blood pumping through your veins? Smell your blood running down your wrist?’ he started explaining, walking closer and closer towards you. ‘Why do I want to rip your throat out?’ he yelled the last part as you sucked in a breath. ‘Stefan, this isn't you. You aren’t you!’ you yelled back, looking behind you again.

‘Look at me!’ he screamed. You turned back around slowly. Eyes wide. ‘You don’t know me Y/N, you don’t know who I am. This is who I am. This is what the world has made me become’ he spoke with strength as his feet walked closer, and closer, and closer.

‘Stefan. This isn't what you made yourself. You’re kind, reasonable. Respectful. You’re my best friend. The person who showed me love’ you mumbled the last part watching him closely.

‘Don’t feed yourself with these lies Y/N. There isn’t an ounce of love in my body,’ he added. You kept your distance until your back reached the rough bark of a tree. Sucking in a breath you looked towards him, terror evident in your eyes but love masking it.

‘This isn't you Stefan!’ you yelled back at him before he used his vampirism to rush straight towards you and capture his arms around your head which laid back against the tree.

‘Shut up!’ he yelled. Causing you to look away from his eyes, which started to show veins under his eyes. You had never seen him like this, apart from when it was necessary. It was scary, but something behind those eyes showed that his old self was in there.

“It’s okay Stefan, you’re going to be okay. You’re going to be okay’ you whispered to him while your hand brought itself up to the veins under his eyes, brushing lightly as you started to see them disappear.

He shook his head, grunting as he brought himself back to his current state of mind, whacking your hand away from his face as he grabbed your throat, constricting your air flow.

Gasping you looked up towards the stars, more than convinced that this was going to be the last time that you would going to look at them. ‘It’s okay Stefan, it’s okay’ was all you could say while you looked back into his dark eyes. He grunted. ‘Shut up, please shut up’ he mumbled while he fought his own grip on your neck. You shook your head, ‘Look at me Stefan’ you grunted out, using your hand weakly to turn his face back towards your own. ‘It’s okay. I love you, it’s okay’ you mumbled as his strength started to take over and your eyes started to fade out.

He heard what you had said, it fluttered to the back of his brain alongside all his humanity, causing it to rush forward to the front of his mind like a ton of bricks. He sucked in a breath, his hand immediately unravelling itself from your throat as he stepped back, watching your weak body fall to the forest floor and gasp in a long awaited breath.

The air felt like sandpaper in your throat, making its way back through to your lungs and the oxygen carrying its way back to your bloodstream.

What had happened? Why did he stop? You thought to yourself before forcing yourself to look back up at him, watching his face contorted with expression and emotion. ‘Stefan?’ you softly, scaredly asked him while looking up into his now much lighter, brown eyes.

He snapped back out of his trance, looking down at you laying on the floor and raced down towards you, cradling you in his lap. ‘Y/N? What happened? Did I hurt you? Oh my god I hurt you. I am so sorry.’ he cried, holding you closer than he ever has before.

‘It’s okay Stefan, you’re back, you’re really back’ you whispered to him, feeling his wet tears pour down onto your chest. Your strength slowly finds its way back for you. ‘It’s not okay, Y/N, none of this is okay. I love you and I hurt you’ he admitted looking down at you, straight into your soul.

You smiled softly, eyes closing slightly before reaching your hand out to caress his cheek. ‘I love you, I love you with my entirety’ you mumbled, trying to bring him closer to you. He cried, cried like he had never cried before. ‘What have I done?’ he mumbled while pressing a light kiss on your head and holding you. ‘I love you Y/N. More than you will ever realise. Please, help me’ he mumbled looking into your eyes.

You nodded, smiling before grabbing the collar of his leather jacket and bringing his lips to press against your own. It was a sweet, passionate moment to bring all of your feelings known to each other. Pouring your souls out and mixing them together. You pulled away, regaining your breath which wasn’t really there at the moment. ‘I’m so sorry, for everything. Was that me?’ he nodded towards the busboys head. You nodded slowly. ‘It’s okay Stefan. We will work through this together. You and me, and my entirety’ you spoke to him strongly, holding him closely. He was back, and you were going to do absolutely everything to make sure he would never crumble again.

REQUESTS ARE OPEN <3, LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO A TAG LIST

Please let me know what you think, I’ve been getting heaps of amazing advice and I’m so excited to keep writing, get better and hear what you all would like me to write! Thank you all for the amount of support and love <3

[guardianofrivendell]

How the company reacts to finding out you and fili are married 😂

I loved this request and I decided that instead of making into a full blown fic - that would take me even longer to publish - I would do it headcanon style. 

Look at me making my way through requests 💪!

The Company Reacting to You and Fili being Married

Fíli x fem!reader 

Warnings: Fíli has one braincell in this one and he does not use it, open ending because it started to get too long but we all know it would turn out okay in the end, f-word, it is really silly I’M SORRY

A/N: It might not be exactly what you had in mind when sending in the request but it’s where my imagination took me 😆 This should not be taken seriously.

you were a last minute addition to the Company

Fíli and Kíli had kept the Quest a secret but you found out anyway, following them all the way to Bag-End

because there was no way they were leaving you behind

they were not happy - except maybe Kíli who was over the moon to see you

almost breaking his brother’s ribs when he shoved his elbow in Fíli’s side

wiggling his eyebrows while his eyes drifted towards you 

Fíli immediately regretting ever telling Kíli of his crush on you

little did he know you felt exactly the same

anyways

back to the Company

lots of protest from the other Dwarves because there was no way they were taking a woman with them

it didn’t take long for you to wrap each and every one of them around your little finger

them quickly agreeing on you coming along, but you had to promise not to be a burden to them 

Kíli blurting out that he and Fíli would look after you

that earned him a swift kick to the shins from Fíli

he made Kíli promise not to tell you anything and to not tease him about it

Kíli promised to behave and not embarass him in front of you

crossed fingers behind his back

during the journey Fíli had a hard time keeping it together around you

much to the delight of Kíli who found it all hilarious

at the slightest sign of danger, Fíli did his best to shield you from it

it kind of was exhausting really, keeping an eye on both you and his brother while also not trying to get killed himself 

as long as you were safe, that was what mattered most 

he thought he could pick up some signals from you that you might be feeling the same

or that could just be him seeing things

he was planning on asking you if he could court you as soon as they reclaimed Erebor 

so he still had some time to build up his courage

and he was sure not to tell his brother about this 

but everything escalated one night when Thorin decided to share some news

they were all sitting around the campfire, chatting after dinner

when suddenly the subject of marriage comes up 

Ori asking what a wedding ceremony is like, since he never witnessed one before

before anyone can explain, Thorin clears his throat

“You will find out soon enough. We will have a wedding once Erebor is reclaimed.”

Everyone looking at each other questioningly, shrugging shoulders when asked if they know something

“Who’s getting married?”

dramatic silence

then Thorin looks at Fíli

“As soon as Erebor is ours again, Fíli is to be wed to a lady of nobility of the Iron Hills.”

a few gasps were heard among the Company

Fíli had dropped his bowl of stew to the ground

Kíli sat wide-eyed beside him, his eyes flickering to you 

you were completely still, as if frozen in place

you should have known you didn’t stand a chance

Fíli is part of the royal family after all 

but then Fíli stands up with a jolt, as if bitten by something

“I can’t marry her.”

Thorin sighs, he knew this was coming

“Fíli, it is important to strengthen the relations with-”

“No, I can’t marry her because... because...”

his eyes landed on you and his heart broke 

your eyes fixed on the ground, hands tucked underneath your thighs and biting your lip 

in complete panic he said the first thing that came into his mind

“... because I’m ALREADY MARRIED!”

okay well

that maybe wasn’t the best thing to say 

seeing how Thorin was about to burst

“Already married? TO WHOM?!”

...

Fíli panicked again

think of a name think of a name think of a name

any name but-

“Y/N!”

your head snapped up and your jaw almost fell to the ground

Kíli screeched in excitement, clapping his back

“Way to go, brother! You never told me you guys eloped?! No wonder she was so keen on coming along.”

Fíli looked at him and was speechless

did he seriously believe he would marry someone without telling him

without telling anyone?

yes, yes he did

it appeared the whole company believed it

he received pats on the back, a shove here and there

lots of ‘congratulations’ and ‘well done’

Dori was tearing up

Glóin and Bombur welcomed him ‘to the club’

you received the same treatment but were still too stunned to react 

when Thorin stood before you, you almost cowered in fear underneath his stare 

he crossed his arms and gave you a stern look

“Are you pregnant?”

“NO!” both you and Fíli yelled at the same time, absolutely mortified

his lips started to twitch and to your surprise Thorin smiled at you

“It didn’t go the way I expected but... Welcome to the family!”

Thorin hugs you

I repeat

Thorin hugs you

meanwhile Fíli is having a small extensive crisis 

he meets your eyes and you’re shooting daggers at him

he fucked up big time

there was no way out of this 

not this time

after Thorin it was Kíli’s turn to give you a bonecrushing hug

your feet might have been off the ground for a few seconds

“I never thought he would finally grow a pair! I mean... he couldn’t even talk to you without embarassing himself!”

“Thank you Kee”

you locked eyes with Fíli again

“Excuse me, I need a word with my husband.”

you ignored the feeling in your stomach when you said that

how right it felt 

lots of hooting and hollering when you dragged Fíli out of the campsite

you raised an eyebrow at him in question

enter puppy eyed Fíli 

“I panicked”

“Out of all the names you could have blurted out it had to be mine?”

since he was already in too deep he could just as well tell you the truth

it’s not like it couldn’t get much worse at this point

“You’re the only one I’m thinking about.”

smooth Fíli, really smooth

you’re speechless but your eyes betray you

they’re filled with love and adoration

and Fíli’s heart fills with hope

maybe he didn’t screw it up that bad

his hand disappears in his pocket

here goes nothing

“I was going to wait until we were at the Lonely Mountain...”

he opens his hand for you and you see a blue and silver courting bead with intricate carvings

“But since we’re already married-”

 you scoffed, but couldn’t help the wide grin on your face

“Would you do me the honor of braiding your hair?”

Told you it was an open ending... but we all know how this one would continue :) 

Permanent taglist: @roosliefje @kata1803 @entishramblings @artsywaterlily @sleepy-daydream-in-a-rose @marvelschriss @kumqu4t @myrin1234 @dark-angel-is-back @the-fandoms-georgie @lathalea @xxbyimm @sokkasdarling @katethewriter @aredhel-of-gondolin @leethology @thepeanutcollective 

[frogecstacy]

Just gotten into the obey me Fandom. But I can safely say that if Mc (or us) told mammon a lot of complements, acted sweet towards him, listen when he's down and say "you know mammon if it was for me I would want us to run away together so it would be the two of us and you wouldn't have to listen to your brothers bullshit about you. You're perfect how you are in my eyes" he would just. Like die like I think hell be like 'yep I'm marrying this human. This one is mine'

Omg yes I love Mammon so much he makes my heart 😍🥰

He is precious. And while I love the brothers, in some situations I agree Mammon’s takes to much of their bullshit

Mammon deciding he wants to marry MC

You and Mammon were always close but to say that little gap didn’t even exist when you guys started dating, quickly close.

Mammon was falling for you more and more each day.

———————————————————————

You and Mammon had been having lunch together and he was telling you about how he planned to sneak into the Fall’s VIP section with you. You always liked listening to his ideas, however you guys only went through with half the ideas. But what the hell you guys could dream.

You were eating your lunch and Mammon was basically talking his mouth off until he heard Lucifer’s oh so famous call “MAMMON!!” Mammon felt a firm hand land on his shoulder and you both looked up at the angry first born.

Mammon was dragged away by Lucifer, watching your boyfriend always looking so scared made your heart clench but you would comfort him later.

During the rest of RAD you had not seen Mammon and you were a little worried. Asmo and Belphie has decided to walk you home with as Mammon usually did so. You weren’t really listening to what Asmo was talking about until you heard him say “Can you believe Mammon, he used Lucifer’s credit card again!” Belphie nodding, saying “ I know he’s quite the embarrassment of an older brother. Will he ever learned?” You always hated listening to the crap they gave Mammon, he was so much more than what they thought of him.

Asmo usually liked flirting with you and was often to handsy to Mammons comfort, but today you weren’t having it either. Asmo wrapped an arm around your waist and said “You deserve someone better than Mammon. Don’t you get tired of his antics? Darling any of us could do better.” (Sorry Asmo stans idk why Asmo is my go to bad guy. I love him i do i just see him being an accident ass sometimes)

You three had now arrived home and Asmo’s lingering touch was getting annoying so detached his arm from your waist and said “I love Mammon the way he is. Now if you excuse me I have to go.”

Hurrying to your room to get changed and drop your stuff off. After getting into your casual attire you headed to Mammon’s room hoping he was finished being yelled at. When slowly entering Mammon’s you could hear him sniffling, he heard you when your foot creaked on the wood and he quickly whipped his eyes and put on a fake smile. You hated when he put up this stupid mask of fake confidence. “You alright Mammon?” “Of course I’m alright, I’m The Great Mammon. If I wanted to I could've told Lucifer to buzz off.” Mammon voice was still shaky but he was trying to recover quickly. 

You slowly walked over to where he was sitting on his bed, cupping his cheek it now felt like an instinct for him to lean into your touch. Without even thinking you leaned into him and kissed his lips, his cheeks, his forehead, and the tip of his nose. Before he protest saying he needed a warning you cut him off saying “I love you Mammon. Your so handsome. I love your schemes and how you always include and make it fun.” You kissed his forehead for thinking of his ideas. “I love how cute you look when compliment me or when you blush.” You kissed his cheek. “I love the way you talk and how your voice sounds. Your are always making me feel better.” You kissed his lips again, a little more tenderly and kissed back a little more needy, whining into the kiss. 

“And you know Mammon if it wasn’t for this exchange program and if it would be up to me, I would want us to runaway together so it would just be the two of us and you wouldn’t have to listen your brother’s bullshit. You’re perfect just the way you are in my eyes.”

Mammon was frozen, eyes wide in shock and slightly tearing up. Nobody had ever said such heartfelt words to him. In that moment he knew he would marry. The only human he’ll ever know who could bring such happiness to his heart. 

He leaned into your neck trying to cover his face, wrapping his arms around your waist and squeezing you so hard you thought you couldn't breath. Mammon was gripping your shirt and he crying into your shoulders, mumbling “I love you MC, I love you more than anyone else. Never forget that!”

You held him for awhile until you lifted his head up to you and said “Why don’t we go cuddle and then find a way to get some real cash.” Mammon was smiling again and already bouncing back. 

When you two were lying down Mammon looked at you seriously said “I love you MC.” You smiled and kissed lips as your way of returning the gesture.

He knew in those moments that he was going to put a ring on your finger one day, because there is no way in hell that he’s going to put a cheap ring on his most prized treasure.

You. 

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

I’m sorry writing is taking me so long. I’ve just been tired but I will try to get back into my routine.

Hope y’all like this

[nocturnaldivinationsfallingstars]

A Stray Bullet Part 4

Fandom: Gotham Characters: Victor Zsasz, female!reader, James Gordon, Harvey Bullock and a doctor. Warnings: Mentions of blood, swearing Summary: The reader is James Gordon’s sister and works for the GCPD and is dating Victor Zsasz. The reader has kept it a secret from her brother, until one day when she takes a bullet that was meant for him. Victor then shows up at James’ place to see the reader. Word count: 4121 A/N: I am sorry this one took a while, but I had to take a couple of days off for emotional needs.

The car ride to the apartment that James shared with his sort of, maybe girlfriend Barbara Kean had been a rocky and silent one. You had been jolted all over the car, into the back doors and nearly through the front windscreen a couple of times to name a few. You had hit your side with the bullet wound against the door, even though you had tried your best to make the impact a lot less rough on your already traumatised body. You were sure that you would still end up with a bruise. Either way, you blacked out near the end of the ride from both exhaustion and pain, only to have your brother nudge you awake. 

Each time your body hit one of the doors or the front seats you could hear James mutter out a not so heartfelt apology under his breath. All you could manage from your place in the back was a pain grunt or two to let him know that you're semi-okay, although right now you felt as if you wanted to be sick from being jostled around. It didn't take much longer before James parked your car in the middle of the road outside his apartment complex. 

Once James had cut the engine, he unbuckled the seatbelt and yanked the back door open, hauling you out of the back while keeping an iron grip around you as he closed the doors and locked the car. “Okay, just a bit further,” he urged, leading you up the steps towards the open glass doors that led to the fancy lobby, receiving looks of concern from some residents that stood around the spacious area. All of them watching with mixed looks of horror and surprise as drops of blood fell to the shiny marble floor beneath your feet. None of them made a move to help or even ask what happened to you or James, just simply stood there and watched as he struggled to drag you to the closed doors of the elevator. 

It wasn't like you could blame any of them for keeping their distance and their mouths shut around you and James, what with the given state of Gotham and the recent rise in crime lately. The fact that almost every criminal could get away with damn near anything and everything they do. You wouldn't want to be added onto someone's hit list for simply asking people a question on why they're bleeding all over the lobby floor of your home. 

“How are you doing?” James suddenly asked, pulling you away from your thoughts. The doors to the elevators opened  you stumbled on your way. Jim pressed the button to the floor of his apartment as he let out a sigh, still holding onto you tightly. You didn't answer him As you were too busy using the rest of your energy to keep yourself standing. 

“Hey, hey, [Y/N]. How are you doing?” He asked you again and helped you into the large room once the doors to the elevator slid open. Of course, you still had to make your way through the hallway and to the door, which he then had to unlock. James pushed the door open, and you followed his dark brown eyes as they scanned the spacious living space before you, like he was expecting someone to be there in the darkness, waiting for an opportune time to attack and finish the job. Out the corner of your eyes you noticed that he gave a nod of his head, confirming that it was safe to go inside his own apartment. 

“Peachy… Just — Just peachy,” you breathed out through the nauseous feeling that twisted painfully in the pit of your stomach. You felt sweaty and had a mild headache forming at the back of your head, most likely from the blood loss. Back in the car you noticed that you had started to feel dizzy, although you didn't voice your concern to your brother, it would only make him worry more and become more protective. He was probably already panicking internally enough as it is. 

You squeezed your eyes shut tightly and willed yourself to not give into the urge to let gravity claim you and fall to the floor, where if you had your way, you'd stay until you felt better or bleed to death. The latter sounding like a better option to you right now since you didn't want to have a conversation about Victor with your brother. "You don't look so good," James told you, his voice sounded quiet to your ears even though he stood beside you. "You look clammy, and you're sweating," he muttered out. All you managed was a short pain filled laugh. It wasn't funny, you knew it wasn't, but you couldn't keep it in. 

"That uh, yeah, that usually happens when someone loses a lot of blood." You croaked out snarkily, trying to lighten the heavy air that settled around you. You swallowed hard, your throat feeling unusually dry. 

"You know, she's exactly like you. She can't read a room and her humour is terrible." The familiar gruff sound of Harvey Bullock’s voice sounded out. James scoffed at that, but your lips twitched up at the corners in amusement. You had to force your eyes open. It didn't take too long for your eyes to fall upon the scruffy detective, his hat discarded on the coffee table beside him.

"Well, if it isn't Harvey Bullock." You didn't think Harvey would help if James had asked him to, considering he nearly throttled James into the ground of the men's locker room back in the GCPD a couple of days ago because your brother decided it was a good idea to let Oswald Cobblepot live. You wondered when James had the time to call Harvey. Was it when you had been blacked out in the back of your car? Or was it sometime before then, but you hadn't noticed? It couldn’t have been before you blacked out, you would have remembered the trilling conversation that must have transpired over the phone otherwise. 

A woman with long dark brown hair stood a few meters away from Harvey, a look of concern written clear as day across her features. You assumed she was a doctor, and you sure as hell hoped that she was in fact a certified doctor and not just some shady person that Harvey knows. "How're you doing darling?" He asked you, his voice warmer than it was when he previously spoke to James. He must still hold some resentment to his partner for his lie. 

"Oh, you know... not bad, bleeding out, and I want to sleep. But not bad." You responded, as if on cue your eyes slid shut, almost like you had commanded it. "Please for the love of... just tell me that she is a certified doctor," you whispered to your brother as quietly as you could manage. 

A whine left you as you opened your eyes once more, still trying to fight back the sleep that was threatening to take you to the black abyss behind your eyes. "They are someone that Harvey knows," he flashed an awkward side smile in your direction to let you know that he is indeed being serious about it. 

Blinking at him, you took a minute to process what he had just told you, your eyes scanned his features for the telltale signs of a lie, or at least any signs to indicate that he's joking. Waiting for him to keep talking and tell you that Harvey did in fact call someone who knew a doctor who could do an urgent house call at such short notice and wouldn't ask questions about it. But there was that nervous tick, it was faint but noticeable. 

"Oh no. No, no, and no," you started quickly and shook your head, removing your arm from around his back and placed the palm of your hand against his shoulder, pushing yourself away from him. Stumbling to the side you somehow managed to get yourself free from James's iron grip. "I know exactly what that means. If I wanted someone who is medically uncertified to root around my insides to get a damn bullet out, then I would have asked you or Harvey to do it for me." James shot a hand out towards you with lightning fast reflexes, his fingers snagging your upper arm to keep you from toppling over onto the dark brown wooden floor beneath your feet. 

"Stop being so bloody stubborn! I am not going to perform or let anyone else who isn't a qualified doctor perform any sort of surgery on you, and potentially get you killed!" He snapped back a bit too harshly without meaning to. You swayed on the spot, staring at him for the longest time, your lips parted as if you were going to say something in response. You wanted to, god knows you wanted to say *something*, but you didn't know what you could say without making him yell even more. 

Of course, you knew that he didn't mean to yell at you like that. That he was only worried about your well-being, worried about getting hurt even more so than you are now or worse, killed. However, this had been the first time in a very long time James had snapped at you, and it had to have happened at the worst time. 

"I didn't mean to yell at you," he said slowly as some kind of emotion flashed across his usually emotionless face, but it was far too quick for you to catch.

"It's fine. I get it, Jim." James watched wide-eyed as you pulled your arm out of his hand, causing you to stumble over your feet as you took a step backwards on shaking legs. You could feel everyone's eyes on you and all you wanted to do was to hide from them and sort this whole thing out yourself. Hurt was clear in your voice like a sparkling diamond set out in the sun as you spoke. "It's fine," you assured him, turning away, so you could move the rest of the way towards the couch on your own. Your vision was starting to blur and melt together, you blinked a few times to clear your fuzzy vision. 

You went to take another step towards the blurring couch, repeatedly blinking to keep your vision in focus when all of a sudden it seemed as if the coffee table and the floor raised upwards to meet you, twisting and distorting for the briefest moment before settling on its side. From both corners of the room you could hear at the very least two people calling out your name, followed by the loud and unmistakable thud of your body hitting the glass surface of the coffee table and then the floor. Which was then followed closely by the sound of a million shards of glass shattering and tumbling across the hardwood floor, echoing around you, so loudly it seemed to drown out the sounds of people yelling for you to open your eyes and to keep them open. 

After what appeared to be a few seconds, you could feel the electric buzz of pain ripple through you, causing your mind to jolt out of the darkness and quietness that had all but consumed your consciousness. The room blared dizzyingly back to life around you, the two deep voices of James and Harvey mixed together with the high-pitched frantic voice of the woman that you forgot to get the name of. You couldn't make out a single word either of them were saying to you. 

"Ugh," you groaned out and moved your hand to your shoulder where you felt a dull pulsating pain hammer and throb across your skin. Your fingers barely brushed over the soft fabric that's wrapped securely around your shoulder, but not hard enough to cut off blood flow. Someone grabbed your forearm and yanked your hand away from the bandage, holding it down tightly to some kind of slightly scratchy, yet soft fabric. 

You finally managed to pry your eyes open to find that everything was blurry, the lights hanging above you didn't help much either. However, you could make out Harvey and James hovering over you, but their expressions were something you couldn't make out. 

"Can one of you please hold her down?!" The female demanded snappily with a slight hint of panic evident in her voice as you moved to get up from your warm, cushiony spot. She spoke again as you were inevitably pushed back into the cushions of what you assumed to be the now bloodied couch. "I have a hold of the bullet. If she moves I might lose it, or make things worse for her.”

You didn't like the idea of that and let out a yelp as two sets of strong hands fell down to your shoulders and pushed you further into the cushions. You assumed that they belonged to James and Harvey since they're the only two men in the apartment. Harvey moved his arms from your shoulder and down to your arm, like he was trying to get a better hold of you. James did the same, both of their holds on you tightening, as if they were putting all of their weight into keeping you down while the doctor got to work. 

"H - ow!" You let out an inhuman screech as the woman ripped the long forceps and brass bullet out of your side. Warm, sticky blood trickled down your skin as the bullet was removed. After, the pain was red-hot as it pulsed through you, you felt as if your flesh was burning because of the quick and simple action. 

Harvey and James let go of your arms, their shoulders shooting straight up to their ears as the screech bounced around the quiet room. The woman even placed her hands over her own ears as she stared at you, taken back by the sudden noise. It almost sounded as if you were an ancient dinosaur. "Keep a hold of her arms, and for the love of god keep her still. I need to suture the wound up," the woman told them with authority in her voice - she had clearly taken over the situation. All you wanted to do was to roll over and clutch your throbbing side in your hands, but that was out of the question.

By the time James and Harvey had their hands back on your arms, putting all their weight into it, you had your vision back. James had a stony look on his features, something he had mastered while in the army. While Harvey looked as if he was cringing at everything that is happening to you, most likely picturing himself in your situation. You let out a deep, heavy and shaky breath of air, your eyes darting around the room to find something to keep yourself occupied, to keep your mind from the pain.

"Oh god," you whimpered, you could feel Harvey's thumb rub over the skin of your arm soothingly. You hated to admit it but in a way Harvey had become a brother of sorts to you, a little like a father figure as well, you supposed.

"Okay, I just need to clean the wound, and then suture it, and then I'll bandage it all up." The woman told you in a soft, somewhat calming voice. However, it did nothing to calm your nerves. “Alright?” Like it was any good asking you that question, she was going to do it anyway, and you had no choice in the matter. Unless you wanted to die, which you didn’t. 

Bobbing your head in acknowledgement to the doctor’s rhetorical question, all the worries about the woman who is currently taking care of your wounds being completely unqualified or even a doctor to the gangs of Gotham now forgotten about. She seemed to know what she was doing, at least you could give her credit for that. She hesitated for a minute, before pouring a bit of Hydrogen Peroxide onto a cloth and rubbed it over the wound to prevent it from getting infected. "It might make the healing process slow, but it'll do you some good." The doctor said to no one in particular, but that didn't stop you from mentally taking note of it. 

To you, it felt like the deepest and darkest form of torture and that the devil himself was pressing a burning hot poker against your side. You pressed your lips together into a tight thin line and tried to roll onto your side as if to shield the bullet hole in your side. Tried being the key word since you were roughly pulled back into place by none other than Harvey who gave you a nervous smile, that did nothing to ease the nerves that started to rise up in the pit of your stomach. "I'm sorry [Y/N]. It's for your own good," he told you without hesitation. 

You couldn't bring yourself to believe a word of what he said. If something this painful was for someone's own good then you can honestly say, with your hand on your heart, that you never wanted it to happen ever again.

"Is it over yet?" Laughing nervously, looking up at Harvey and James with pleading eyes. 

"Not yet." James answered in return, his eyes never leaving the doctor as she carefully threaded the plastic surgical line through the needle they've brought with them to do the job. The next painful thing to happen was the feel of a pointed needle being pushed in and out of your tender skin. All you could do was let out a low whimpering sound, trying to find something that you could hold onto tightly for comfort but all you could curl your fingers around was the thick fabric under yourself. 

Luckily, however, it didn't take too long for the doctor to do the sutures. She actually worked really fast and didn't mess up a single stitch. The woman was quick to put the bandage over your bullet wound too. 

"Yeah, I don't plan on taking any more bullets that are meant for my brother. Thanks for your concern though." You joked. 

The woman looked from you and then to your brother, raising a questioning brow at the two of you. "Neither of you get shot like this again or otherwise. I don't want to make another house call for something worse because the Gordon siblings can't keep themselves out of trouble." Harvey snorted out a laugh and clapped James on the back. Perhaps he wasn't as mad at James as you previously thought that night, but that didn't really matter to you right now. 

The doctor said her goodbyes to you and James, telling him to keep an eye on you because you've lost a lot of blood. Like she could steal bags of blood from the hospital she worked in as if it was nothing, like she had done it plenty of times before in the past without getting caught or questioned. Harvey also left with the woman to take her back home, whether it was back to his place or hers you didn't quite care to ask. Not really wanting to know the specifics and honestly if he told you too much information about her, you were afraid it would break the illusion that you made up about her. 

Once they were gone you managed to push yourself up into a sitting position. James had gone to find the pyjamas that you left there when you last visited and stayed the night, so you could get out of your bloody clothes. Although your blouse was pretty much useless now because they had to cut it off to be able to take care of you. Not that you cared about it, you hated the blouse anyway. "How are you feeling?" James asked suddenly. You hadn't noticed that he had joined you and was now sitting beside you with his hands held out in your direction, holding your pyjama's out for you. 

You could see the smallest hint of a smile on his lips, a hopeful one. You hummed out a quiet thank you as you took the pyjama from him, carefully nodding your head "I feel... Less like I got shot and more like the devil himself is using a burning hot poker to stab me." You laughed out shortly, leaning into him and nudged his shoulder with your, wincing at the pain that fluttered through you. 

A light-hearted chuckle came from beside you, James seemed to be relieved that you're joking about it. "I am sorry for putting you through that." You moved to get up, however the movement was slow, and in the end James helped you up by giving you a push.

"Considering I took two bullets for you and saved your ass, I think we're even." You told him cockily and walked a small distance from the couch. James turned on the couch the best he could so his back was to you. 

"Oh, you saved my ass?" He asked in a cheerful voice. James was looking to the floor, finding the remaining shards of glass interesting, to give you privacy while you got into the clothes. You pulled the black spaghetti strap tank top over your head and bit your cheek to keep yourself from moaning in pain. 

"Uh, yes I saved your damn ass from getting shot. However accidental it was," you sassed back, kicking your boots off and watched as they landed on the floor in a heap you got into your shorts quickly. James snorted at you, apparently finding your comment amusing.

He laughed and took a hold of your arm to keep you up right, "right, yeah. You saved my ass," you turned your head to look at him and noticed that he had his eyes closed. 

"If it wasn't for me accidentally getting in the way of the bullets, you'd be shot and probably bleeding out somewhere." You made a face at the bloody trousers that you were wearing in disgust. The doctor was right, you had lost a lot of blood, or at least enough to make it, so you're not in need of a blood transfusion. 

A quietness passed over the eerie living room which soon gave way to awkwardness. The only noises that could be heard were yours and James' breathing, and the sounds of the busy Gotham streets outside the apartment. Your eyes darted towards the open window behind you and James, and then to the front door, both ways for Victor to enter. You needed to call him to tell him that you're fine, he'd be beside himself if you left it any longer, but that would mean you need to get some time alone to be able to talk privately without James over hearing.

"You know you still haven't told me why I couldn't take you back to your place and get a doctor," his voice broke the suffocating silence and nearly made you jump straight into his arms. "Come on [Y/N]," he persisted, nudging your arm with his elbow. 

You were hoping your brother would have forgotten all about it what with everything that had happened or at the very least he wouldn't bring it up at this very moment. But you had to admit, he really did have you cornered. You folded your trousers and placed them on the floor with your boots, staying quiet as you mulled your answer over very carefully. 

"Listen, Jim." you trailed off slowly, thoughtfully, not knowing how to say the next words that you wanted to say. He was going to explode when you told him. He would tell you that you're being stupid and that you need to stop seeing Victor. "It's... Complicated," you shrugged as your eyes darted around the room, looking for some kind of excuse or even some kind of godly intervention to save you or interrupt the conversation. 

"How complicated could it possibly be?" He asked, looking at you for an answer.

"Extremely," you muttered out and moved away from him as he dropped his arms to his side, squinting his eyes at you like he was trying to figure out a riddle.

“You’re hiding something,” he decided.

"Pfft, What?" You asked anxiously. "No," you said a little too quickly and clenched your jaw at his accusation. 

"What is it?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest once more like your father used to do when the two of you got into trouble for something. Fuck.

Tag list;  @elasmo-branchii​, @nheirei, @the-ramblings, @milly-louise

[levis-hazelnut]

Summary: when you and your best friend, Hanji, were younger, you had made up stories about your dream guys - what they would look like and how you would meet. What happens when the one you had made up appears to be real?

Warning(s): I don’t think there are any in this chapter. But, please do tell me if there are any.

Taglist (closed!): @castellandiangelo @fandom-addict19​ @20coldhearts​

Status: completed!

part 4 > part 5 > part 6

series masterlist

It's been exactly five days since that time I yelled at Jean and Levi. What did I do during these days? Well, first of all, both males had sat down with me at lunch the next day, making Hanji, Connie, Sasha and Armin leave the table. Surprisingly, they apologised for things they weren't at fault for, so I shut them up, telling them they did nothing wrong. After that, they told me they won't stick their noses in my business and would let me tell them what was on my mind if I wanted to. We sorted everything out and ended up spending the rest of lunch being stupid, including Levi who tried covering up a couple of chuckles behind coughs. Since our table looked fun, those who left came back, along with Petra, Isabel and Farlan.

After uni ended that day, Jean and I stopped by at the cafe Eren worked at. I spoke to him about how I think he should forget about me because the relationship we had was in the past and he should move on. He did seem upset (obviously) but he understood what I was saying. Of course, however, he continued flirting with me. But that made sense since he can't just get over me like that and it's a habit of his to flirt with the first girl in sight. He claimed he was glad that I wasn't avoiding him or acting awkward around him. Soon, we parted ways and headed home. And the rest of the four days, I got over the fact that Petra and Levi were now in a relationship and I can't do anything about it. So, I was back to my usual, crazy, energetic and friendly self which Hanji, Eren, Jean and Levi were happy about. Though, one of those people had no way of showing me that (Levi). Now, it's Saturday (one week after the raven and strawberry-blonde went on their first date). Once again, me and Levi were sitting at the table with our laptops in front of us. Instead of hot drinks, we had iced drinks with all the windows open, seeing as how the weather was smouldering. This time I didn't have a gloomy expression, more like a smile which would often widen as Levi and I messed around. And there wasn't the depressing sound of Lo-Fi, we took turns in playing summery songs that only made our moods better. "Oi, stop singing. You sound like a cow and sheep fucking." I laughed and chucked a pen at him since it was the only projectile near me and he swiftly dodged it. Unfortunately, for the brunette with glasses, who happened to walk behind Levi at that moment, she got hit by the pen. I quickly apologised before locking eyes with Levi. "As if you sing any better," I retorted, about to take a bite of my sandwich, but it soon disappeared from my grip because of Hanji who took a bite before passing it back to me. "Hey, by the way, Erwin's coming over soon, but then we're going to go out," Hanji announced as she chewed on the food, causing both me and the raven to scrunch our noses up in disgust. "Wait. Erwin?" he repeated and shot me a questioning glance. "Yeah, our professor," I confirmed his vague query. "They're in a relationship." What the hell?" he murmured which I snorted at. "Anyway, that's fine." "You aren't going to be distracted?" "Uh, we're barely even concentrating because of the heat and this assignment isn't exactly fun," I said, standing up and stretching before taking Levi's glass and going into the kitchen to refill our glasses with mojito that I made. "You don't mind, right, Ackerman?" I questioned and placed the glass in front of him. "Yeah, whatever. It's not my apartment," he stated, looking down at his phone. I flicked his forehead, causing him to scowl once he glanced up at me. "What was that for, brat?" "I'd appreciate it if you give me your full attention when I'm talking to you," I smirked. "Sure, your majesty." He rolled his eyes but put his phone away, nevertheless. "What do you want?" "Nothing, really. Just wanted to make you look up." "To see your repulsive face? You're torturing me too much," he teased and I snorted before taking a sip of my drink. "Hm. You're really thirsty, aren't you?" If I hadn't swallowed the minty beverage a second before his remark, it would have spewed onto his face. My face grew red and I chucked a pencil at him. He dodged it once again as a smug smirk rested on his lips. "I hate you, you know," I muttered. I was so grateful that Hanji went back to her room because she would irritate the hell out of me about it, with Levi's presence here or not. "Yeah, right. Just as much as you hate that Eren kid?" "I have no romantic feelings for him. He's my best friend, other than Hanji, and he's a hell of a lot better at keeping me company than you." "Well, I obviously can't give you the attention he does since I'll be cheating." "Ugh, why did I even invite you?" "Because you don't hate me and I'm amazing at keeping you company." "Say whatever you want, Ackerman." "... Oi." "What?" "I'd appreciate it if you had your attention on me while I'm talking." "Yeah, give me one second," I told him as I continued typing away on my phone and I heard a sigh, which made me look up at him. "Is your pitiful ass upset because I'm not noticing you?" I mocked in an innocent voice. "Tch." He crossed his arms over his chest and faced away from me. "Why would I be upset, darlin'?" "Because you love me so much. And I'm your bestest friend in the whole, wide world." "You're such a child," he chuckled lightly. which made me smile. "Thank y--" I was cut off by the sound of the buzzer, so I stood up and approached the front door before getting pushed by Hanji who sprinted down the corridor to answer the door for her boyfriend. I clicked my tongue before going back to the table where Levi and I sat. "Someone's horny," I mumbled. "Hey, I'm not bothered to carry on with this. Let's just chill." "Sure. What do you want to do?" "I don't know. You should never ask me what I want; I'm the most indecisive person." "Fine. Seeing as how the weather is nice, let's go out somewhere." "Stop, stop!" a hushed voice giggled, catching mine and Levi's attention. "(Y/N) and Levi are here." I rolled my eyes and I could see that Levi was holding back a laugh. "Forget about them. So, where should we go?" I inquired, which Levi shrugged to before both of our heads turned towards two figures entering the room. "Hey, Erwin," I greeted with a smile. "Ah, hi, (Y/N). I didn't expect to see you here, Levi." "Likewise, Smith." The blonde male didn't regard the way in which Levi spoke and simply smiled at both of us. I'm going to be completely honest and say that Hanji is lucky to have a man like him. He's handsome, caring, polite and basically the embodiment of charming. And Hanji mentioned how great he is in bed. I never wished to know that, but whatever, it's Hanji so no one can stop her from saying her shit. Nevertheless, I love her. And I would never think about moving onto her boyfriend, well, it's not like I actually developed feelings for him. I kind of see him as an older brother or something of the sort. "Hey, Hanji, what's something fun to do outside today?" I questioned. "Um... Picnic in the park, go to the beach, cycle, visit a zoo--" "Okay, thanks," I cut her off before there would be too many decisions to choose from. "Why are you asking?" she asked before gasping in excitement. "Are you going on a date?!" "I don't see why you would be so surprised if I had a date, but no, I don't," I said, arching a single brow. "Me and Levi gave up on this shitty assignment, and since we shouldn't be inside when it's so sunny outside, we decided to do something," I told her before realising that the work we were doing was for the professor standing beside her. "I mean, we've finished it and we deserve a reward for doing so well," I joked and the male with cerulean eyes chuckled softly. "I appreciate your choice of words for describing the task I gave you. I'll be sure to remember that when I grade it," he teased, with an undertone of warning. "You know, you're the best professor in our uni." He shook his head and smiled. "Go out. I don't want to ruin your fun because of 'this shitty assignment'." "Haha, you know I was only joking about that. Anyway, let's go, Mr Moody," I said and got up from my seat, stretching. "You're going to out in your pyjamas?" "Oh, right. Wait here, I'm going to quickly change." "Okay." I rushed into my bedroom and sifted through my clothes, finding a white, lace singlet, along with baby blue, jean shorts. I slipped both pieces of clothing on before styling my hair into a half-up, half-down ponytail and put on sunglasses to rest on my head for now. I grabbed whatever I needed and stuffed it into a small bag, hooking it onto my shoulder before leaving my room. Hanji and Erwin were on the sofa as I spotted Levi leaning against the table, we previously sat at, with his backpack slung over his shoulder. I gestured for him to come and he came to my side as we both waved at the couple before proceeding to leave. We both slipped on our shoes and left, taking the stairs to go down. As soon as I opened the main door of the building, the heat slapped us and the sun blazed in our faces so I positioned my sunglasses to protect me from the light that threatened to blind me. "So where are we going?" the male beside me asked. "Pick from the things Hanji suggested. Maybe not a picnic since we didn't prepare any food for that unless you want to be lazy and just buy things. Also, not the beach because it'll take a while to get there and then there'll be no point since we'll only be there for a short while." "So picnic, cycling, and the zoo?" he listed and I nodded as he thought about it. "... Picnic in the park - let's be lazy and buy things." "Okay. Shall we head to the shops first?" "Yeah." ~/~ The grass tickled my bare skin as I laid on my back, with my eyes closed, one leg was arched as the other was stretched across the ground. My head leaned on one of my arms as my other arm rested over my stomach. Music rang in my ears, which I softly hummed to, from Levi's phone that rested in between us. Said male laid on his side, propped up by one of his elbows. He had his head in his palm and held a book in his other hand. Before we were relaxing like this, we had eaten the snacks and food we bought, though, some remained since we may have gotten too much stuff. Then, we decided to take over the playground, and apparently, we seemed to have intimidated some kids. Pfft, they're such scaredy cats. Why couldn't an eighteen (me) and nineteen-year-old (Levi since he's a few months older than me *eye roll*) mess around as well? Once we laughed at the children's faces, we came back to this spot and decided to just relax. Barely any words were spoken. A sigh left my lips when I felt my phone vibrate in the back pocket of my shorts. I fished it out before bringing it to my ear. "Hello?" "Hey, (Y/N)!" "Hi, Petra," I smiled and rolled over, onto my stomach. "What's up?" "I was wondering if Levi is still with you." "Yeah. We're in the park. Is something wrong?" "No, no. I was just trying to call Levi, but he wasn't answering his phone." "Oh, here you can talk to him.” "Thank you," she said before I passed my phone to Levi, so he could talk to Petra. He put his book down before taking my phone. I took his book and read the blurb before turning to the first page, trying not to listen in into their conversation. I'd say I've improved - there's barely any jealousy in me (okay, maybe a little), I don't turn bitchy when I see them two, and I don't have to fake smile anymore. The tone in which he spoke in was hardly any different to how he talks to anyone else, but I could hear a hint of something gentle. A soft smile touched my lips when I listened to his voice (not his words, mind you) and I wished I could listen to it on repeat. It was his usual nonchalant voice, mixed with a soft timbre, which was a sign he cared about Petra. He spoke in a hushed tone that almost sounded like a purr. I wasn't even concentrating on the book in front of me anymore. I kept on reading the same sentence over and over but I still wasn't able to understand the printed words since I was stuck in a daze because of Levi's voice. "What are you smiling about?" "Your voice is nice," I blurted out without thinking what I was saying. Once I realised what I said, my eyes slightly widened as I averted them from the book to him to see he was smirking. "I mean--" "Whatever, you weirdo," he cut me off, the smirk still present. He gave my phone back and stole the book from my hands and flipped the pages over until he reached the one he stopped on before his phone call. "And what are you smirking about?" "It's amusing to see you get nervous," he replied with a shrug, his eyes absorbing the information on the page. With a roll of my eyes, I returned to my original position but rested my head on Levi's lap this time since he was sitting with his legs outstretched. He flicked my forehead, which I ignored, as I took my phone in my hands when I got a few messages from Eren after taking a sip of the iced tea I bought. 'Hey (Y/N)' 'I got off work early today' 'Wanna go out somewhere since the sun's out?' I wasn't bothered to type so I decided to call him. He picked up after about five seconds and spoke a small 'hello'. "Hi, Eren." "Hey." "Basically, the thing is... I'm in the park with Levi right now." "Oh." "But," I began before glancing up at the raven whose eyes were still on the book. "Hey, Ackerman?" "What?" "Would you mind if Eren came?" "He's your boyfriend, do whatever." I rolled my eyes. "Sorry about that. But, you could come and join us, or we can go out somewhere later?" "I don't mind. What did Levi say?" "He doesn't care. We aren't really doing anything, though." "What park are you at?" "The one near my apartment." "... Do you mind if I come since I'm around there?" "Of course, I don't, you doofus. And, we can still do something later." "Okay. I'll be there in a few minutes. See you later, angel." "Bye, love," I went along with the joke. "And you say he isn't your boyfriend," Levi muttered. "He isn't. I already told you we're just stupid kind of friends that act like a couple by calling each other names. Don't think anything more of it." "Well, why are you so defensive? Also, you've never mentioned that you have an interest in someone." Yeah, well, that's because the person I have interest in is you and you're taken, I thought. "Just because I haven't mentioned it, doesn't mean I don't." "Well, do share, darlin'." "I thought you weren't going to get involved in my business." "But you don't seem upset about it." "Look, you asshole, I have no obligation to tell you, so--" "Hi," a voice cut me off and I flitted my eyes over to the figure that was protecting me from the sun. "Eren!" I beamed and tugged on his wrist which caused him to fall. I hugged him as he struggled to get off of me. "Where are you going? I haven't seen you for the entire week." "I'm probably crushing you right now. Let go of me, (Y/N)." "Hmph. Fine." I released him from my grip and he rolled off of me, sitting up next to me as I still laid on my back. "This is a park, you two might want to keep it PG," the male that I rested my head on commented. "Shut up and read your book." I scowled at him before facing Eren. "There are snacks and drinks, help yourself." "Okay, thanks," he grinned and laid down next to me, resting his head on Levi's leg as well. "Oi, I'm not a fucking pillow." "You are now," I told him bluntly. "So, how was work?" "It was all right. Horseface came in and decided to annoy me. However, he did look kind of upset about something. When I asked him what's up, he just scoffed and told me that it's none of my business. Typical of him, but I think if you ask him, he'll tell you." "I'll ask him later. Right now, I just want to relax without having to deal with anything," I sighed and turned to look at the sky. Eren glanced at Levi to see that he was still engrossed in whatever book he was reading and he slightly nudged me. I gave him a questioning glance and he motioned for me to come closer, so I did. "What's wrong?" I questioned the teal-eyed male. "How come you aren't depressed anymore?" "I got myself together. I realised there's no point in getting upset over something I can't change and just pushed everything to the back of my mind. Are you proud of me for doing that?" I asked like a little child, wanting praise. "Yeah," he smiled, tousling my hair. I shifted my head to rest on Eren's shoulder and closed my eyes, breathing in his entrancing scent and feeling content next to him. "Ackerman?" "Hm?" "Are you okay?" "Yeah, why?" "You're unusually quiet." "Maybe because I'm reading. Are you okay? You're being unusually kind." "Excuse me? I'm always nice." "As if," he scoffed. If my eyes were open, I would have rolled them. "If you're so nice, why don't you have a boyfriend?" "Seriously? You're still asking about that?" I didn't even bother to look at him since I was comfortable with my position. "Forget about it. Forget I said anything about liking someone since I have no intention in telling you, or anyone, right now." "... Is it Eren?" "No," I huffed. No matter how much Eren and I acted like a couple, we would never develop feelings for each other. I always have and always will see him as a brother, but not one that annoys the hell out of me. The one that cares for me and gets angry if someone would hurt me. The love we feel for each other is not romantic. ~/~ "Ah, it feels so nice to have a shower after sweating all day," I sighed in delight and plopped down onto the sofa in between Eren and Levi, who were talking about something before they both fell silent. I only cocked an eyebrow but didn't say anything, brushing it off. "Eren?" "Sure," he already replied without hearing my request. I grinned and passed him my hairbrush as he proceeded to brush my hair when I slightly turned my back towards him, now facing Levi who had his gaze on the floor. "Do you two want something to eat? We haven't had dinner and it's already nine o'clock," I suggested. "Yeah. But, do you have things to cook?" Eren pointed out. "Yep. What do you guys want?" I asked them, and Levi only shrugged, leaning back against the sofa. "What do you have?" "I'm not sure. I'll have to check, but I know we have ingredients to make a simple meal." "I kind of just feel like pasta," Eren spoke. "But like really saucy and cheesy." "What, like me?" I chuckled at my own stupid joke and I could imagine he rolled his eyes. I witnessed Levi's lips curl upwards slightly as he shook his head at my stupidity. "Anyway, I'm sure we've got pasta, and stuff to make the sauce, and cheese. Thanks, by the way," I smiled at Eren when he passed me back the hairbrush. I got up and quickly placed it back in my room before going back to the living room. "Both of you can have a shower while I cook something if you want," I told them as Eren nodded, leaving the room. "Darlin', there's one bathroom, so you better not be suggesting anything." I rolled my eyes. "There's actually two. Hanji has an ensuite and she won't mind if you use it. I'm sure you don't want to sit around after sweating, especially with you being a clean-freak, so go ahead. You can borrow Eren's clothes since I'm pretty sure he's left some here." "And you still claim you aren't in a relationship with the boy?" "Yes. Also, if we were dating, why would we hide it? And don't you think that I would've just given up and told you by now?" "Maybe you hide it because you're ashamed of something. And you're a stubborn brat, I doubt you would break." "Just shut up and go have a shower," I snapped with a playful tone, showing him I wasn't actually annoyed. "I'll get you some clothes and leave them on Hanji's bed; there should already be a towel in there." "Okay, thanks." I went to look for some of Eren's clothes. After a bit of hunting, I found a t-shirt and joggers, neatly folded, and I left it on Hanji's bed. When I went to the kitchen, I noticed Eren already fishing through the cupboards and had previously already found the pasta. "Hey," I spoke, catching his attention. He turned around and gave me a grin before looking for ingredients again. "You can sit down, I don't need help." "Are you sure your clumsy ass doesn't need help? I do remember when you nearly sliced your finger off like an idiot. And when you tripped over your own feet and dropped a plate. And--" "Okay, okay. Fine, you can help," I pouted. "I'm not that clumsy, though," I muttered to which Eren only chuckled softly. "Whatever you say, princess. Boil water in this pot," he told me and I nodded, doing as he said. I then helped him look for everything else as we set everything out on the counters and began preparing our dinner. It was silent until the teenage male spoke up. "... (Y/N)?" "Hm?" "What are you going to do about Levi and Petra?" he asked quietly, causing me to look up at him as he came by my side. "I don't know... There isn't anything I can do. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. I mean, me and Hanji did say that there would be so many girls chasing after him, yet he still chooses me," I described another detail in the stupid story thing we created. "Hey, don't look so down. It's been five months, not a few years, so you still have time to see what the future holds," Eren grinned, noticing the gloomy expression that cast over my visage. I gave him a small smile and looped my arms around him, feeling him embrace me tighter as my cheek pressed against his chest. I wish I could live in Eren's hug, there's nothing I love more than his hugs since he always comforts me and cares for me, and he smells so damn good, especially after coming out of the shower. "Oi, lovebirds." I huffed inaudibly before parting from the hug. "... What?" I spat, not meaning for it to sound so harsh, as I turned around to look at the raven. "Hm, so you are dating?" he smirked and went to sit down at the dining table, crossing his leg over the other. "What do you mean?" I inquired, folding my arms over my chest as Eren continued cooking. "If you weren't dating, you would have responded to 'lovebirds' or at least retorted with something. However, you didn't." "Or maybe I just got tired of correcting you." I arched an eyebrow, approaching him to flick his forehead. But, he grabbed my wrist, preventing me from doing that. I wiggled out of his grip and just frowned at him. "What will it take to prove that we aren't in a relationship?" "I just want to point something else out: Eren doesn't deny it whenever I say you two are dating." "Because he thinks you're an idiot. Now, tell me what it'll take." "Not a legitimate answer, but whatever. Anyway, you know I'm just messing with you when I say all this. I know you two aren't boyfriend and girlfriend." "Tch. Why do you have to be so annoying?" I muttered, plopping down in a chair next to him and he ruffled my hair. "I only annoy you, darlin'. You should be happy that you're special." "Whatever. I'm going to go help Eren with dinner." "Do you need help?" "Two people are enough. Thank you, though." "You just want to be alone with your boyfriend, don't you?" Levi stated when I turned my back to him, but he never knew I was holding a knife in my hands. So, to let him know, I faced him. "You better shut your mouth before this accidentally pierces you, Ackerman," I growled and he only laughed under his breath. God, what being on Earth is able to make that sound? Why is he so gorgeous in so many ways? Why can he make me feel like this, yet, I have no effect on him? Why can't I just jump onto him, and hug him, and kiss him, and love him, and marry him?

[mythichang]

➠ pairing . . . george weasley x reader

➠ genre . . . fluff!!! pining on both parts, pretty short but i think it was a lot of sweetness 😣😣 they ARE students!!! same grade and all that jazz

➠ warnings . . . nothing really!! although they doooo talk about butts but,,, you’ll seee,,,,,

➠ word count . . . 1.8k

➠ authors note . . . this is super duper late and was requested by anon so looooong ago!! i did fall out of the fandom for a bit because tiktok sort of made me realize that a lot of people were on the wrong side of my many situations, but hp will always be in my heart so here i am!!! i hope you all enjoy!!! talk to me about this imagine!! give me scenarios or ask this george and yn from this universe a question!!

➠ masterlist

george was being quite adorable on that particular monday afternoon

you had taken your usual seat, a two-seater splat in the middle of the class

you hadn’t even noticed that the red head fumbled into class, excited to sit besides you as you were too engrossed in your book

it was another thriller, one that made your skin crawl but in the most satisfying way

george got to his seat besides you, a smile on his face as he watched you bite on your lip the tiniest of bit in concentration

he plopped down beside you, head tilted to watch your concentrated face

although he wasn’t as confident as his twin brother, he always watched from afar, eyes full of puppy love

and by afar, he meant right beside you— because that’s where he always was— right beside you

befriending you hadn’t been the easiest of tasks, your quietness not being filling enough for any other person

but he admired the way you didn’t have to yell at the top of your lungs about your excitement

or the way you could sit with anyone in silence and make them feel more comfortable than words could ever manage

really, he was sprung on yOu and only YoU

it wasn’t a surprise to anyone really

not with those longing looks and the way the boy follows you around like a lost puppy

a lost cute puppy albeit

you didn’t mind either

he was an incredibly sweet boy and managed to help you out a lot in different instances

like the way he helps you find the right words to speak to someone whenever you’re stuck

or helping decipher exactly what others are feeling, since you had the smallest of trouble doing a mundane thing

he helps in all of the classes you two have together and is often found getting you to pull away from your little bubble

it’s a great bubble, you love the bubble, it’s always been YOUR bubble but you didn’t mind stepping out of it for the red head boy with the mischievous twin brother

“did you get a chance to study for OWLs?” the boy pulls you out of trance

you look up, a small smile blossoming upon your face at the sight of your favorite boys face

“i did, you?” you ask faintly, gently putting your book back into the small bag that helped you carry all of your books thought out the day

“not a chance.”

“im guessing you want my notes?” you turn in your seat, arm perched up on the desk as you leaned your head up on the palm of your hand

“hmm, i think i would greatly appreciate it.”

“oh, you think?” you laugh softly at his words, same bright smile on your face

you could feel your mood immediately spike as you spoke to him

he was so incredibly comforting and kind, something that you couldn’t find often at hogwarts with rivalries blooming left to right

“i'm not saying i would decline if you offered them up.”

“who’s offering them?” you feign a look of innocence as you exaggeratedly look around the classroom and back at him. “i don’t see anyone doing that.”

“it’s you. you’re offering them up.” he softly pokes the side of your stomach, making you squirm in your seat.

“ask nicely and i might consider handing them over.” you click your tongue and tap your wrist as if signaling that his time was almost up.

“y/n, may i kindly take a look at your notes so that i don’t totally bomb the OWLs?”

“i think i need a little more begging.”

“you suck”

—

it wasn’t as if you wanted to be staring at him

he was just there— standing there so gloriously beside his twin brother

it was no doubt that the weasley twins were popular around hogwarts

you weren't sure if it was their likability or the parties they seemed to make a thousand times more fun

whatever it was, they ravished in it, not that you cared either, even if it did get you into too many uncomfy situations

seeing george oh-so happy among the crowd of wizards was oh-so gratifying

he smiled so bright that his pearly whites shone throughout wherever he was

now was one of the moments, except you weren’t anywhere special— just another day of sitting across the room from one another in herbology

professor sprout had separated the two of you in hopes that you wouldn’t mess or speak to one another in class any longer

that didn’t work out great,,, clearly

because now you were dazed

dazed as you watch the boy laugh and work with his brother

you weren’t quite sure what was going on between them but you knew you looked like one of those ridiculous people in those ridiculous romantic movies

where the main character is staring at the boy they find so attractive— hearts floating around their head as they sigh out in happiness as if they were watching their entire world

ridiculous ridiculous ridiculous

but could you blame yourself? was it really your fault or was it george’s for being very cute? for having a laugh and smile that just manages to grasp your entire self?

it was george’s fault you like to think

“what are you doing?” the sudden voice makes you jump in your spot, utensils falling onto the floor with a loud clatter

you look down at the utensils out of embarrassment, not wanting to make any eye contact with anybody

“sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” angela bends down over with you, helping pick up your things

“it’s quite alright,” you mumble softly, not exactly knowing what so say

“i figure you’re into george.” the girl’s sudden words throw you off, your head snapping up to look at the beautiful girl

“w-what? where… um, where’d you get that? it’s nothing but… lies.” you sputter out as quickly as possible— and quite literally too loudly as many others glanced to you and the girl

you could feel your cheeks brighten up even more

a sense of deadly remorse wafts over your already flushed body as angelina gave you an unimpressed look

“alright, calm down, it was just a random conclusion i’ve came up with.”

“that’s a crazy hypothesis!” you continue to sputter out your words as if in disgust of her word

“it wouldn't be that crazy, now, would it?” she laughs gently as the two of you stood up, finally coming up from your crouch on the floor

“he’s just a friend”

“it’s no big deal, i’m definitely into fred. nothing to be ashamed of.”

“yeah, well everyone knows that.” you sigh, fixing up your utilities, angelina helping you with the task

“and no one knows about you and george? only so many can be as, and i mean this in the nicest way possible, oblivious as you two.”

“what’s that supposed to mean?” eyebrows scrunched, you turn to her

were you supposed to be offended? you felt as if you should but you didn’t care enough about it any longer

“it means... make a move.” she shrugs from beside you. “i don’t think it’d ruin anything. if anyithing, you two could stop running circles around one another and finally make out.”

“you are a very crude person.”

“masking out is crude to you? bless your soul, no wonder you haven’t noticed him.”

and that was where the conversation stopped, only making your thoughts run 100 mph

what was she saying exactly? was george as into you as you are into him?

it made your brain feel mushy and it was a horrible feeling

one filled with anxiousness, trying to figure out exactly what being a teenager with feelings meant

but it pleasantly relaxed you to know that angelina was going through the same things as a teenager herself

having started hanging out with her and listening to her advice, you began to notice more things about george and the way he was around you

he was a lot more touchy than you ever remembered, and not in an uncomfortable wait either

but what seemed platonic and innocent to you suddenly sent an alarm through out you (again, not a bad one,,,, just a slightly nervous one)

what were you supposed to do???????

you were always told that you were HORRIBLE with emotions and confrontation

confront him about your feelings???? now how were you supposed to deal with both???

you were unnerved to no end and george was quick to catch in as well

“okay, what’s up your butt?” at hearing george’s voice, you jump up slightly

“there’s nothing up my butt.”

“yes there is. you have that look.”

“the ‘there’s-something-up-my-butt’ look?” you scoff lightly, hoping to rid of the conversation with a tiny bit of humor

“exaclty the look. tell me what’s wrong.”

“nothings wrong.” you shrug him off, turning back to your book, one of which you had to read the first sentence repeatedly

you couldn’t even sit beside him any longer without feeling as if you’re about to burst with terrifying feelings and hypothesis, courtesy of angelina

“is someone bullying you?”

“what?” you turn to him in disbelief. “who would bully me?”

“i don’t know,” he mumbles softly not liking the reaction he managed to grab from you. “just... you look... weird.”

“and here i thought this flimsy uniform looked great with my legs.”

“okay sassypants, i’ll let you be.”

you sigh softly at the sight of a defeated look on him

your mother always said, “if something is painful but can be rid of in an instant, rip it off like a bandaid.”

you always thought it was dumb, why would you rip off a bandaid? bandaids were there to make you feel better so it should be working on whatever it’s put on

ridiculous

you’re ridiculous

YOU ARE RIDICULOUS

you knew you needed to stop being such a wussy, it was a bad look on you

that much you could tell at george’s hesitant looks

screw it

“want to go on a date?” it was too late to stop the words from coming out.

george looks over at you, wide eyes

you felt as if time was suddenly going to slow as you awaited his answer

so far,,,? things didn’t look too great for you

but you weren’t going to strike-out immediately, maybe he was too shocked

“you want to go on a date? with me?”

“no, actually, im asking professor snape... yes with you.” your cheeks were flushed red as you refused to look the boy in the eye

“sassypants is coming out again.” the melodious tone of his laughter reaching your ears, making you feel at ease

“i’d love to go on a date with you.” you shut your eyes tight, hands covering your face

“goodness, i felt like i was suffocating.” you mumble, embarrassment continuously coursing through your body

“is that what was up your butt?”

“you really do have a way with words. yes, that’s what was up my butt.”

“hmm, i knew something was wrong. weirdo, you could have asked me so long ago!”

“you could’ve told me too!”

[themonotonysyndrome]

Successors to the Future

I like to get lost on Tumblr when work becomes frustrating and I was immediately inspired by the Second Wive AU from @tri3tri! 

If you’re a TW’s fan and enjoy reading yandere content, you just gotta check @tri3tri out. They’re one of the best yandere content creator for the TW fandom!

And since I’ve been playing Blazblue Centralfiction a lot lately and love badass girls, this plot bunny won’t leave me alone and so I want to add a little something to their amazing AU. 

FD/N = First daughter’s name/Renata Draconia (half-human, half dark Fae Princess. Malleus & MC’s eldest child)

SD/N = Second daughter’s name/Sherrie or Cherry Draconia (half-human, half-dark Fae Princess. Malleus & MC’s middle child)

S/S = Son’s name/Lucien Draconia (half-human, half-dark Fae Prince and the heir to the throne. Malleus & MC’s youngest child).

MC/S = MC’s surname

-

“Oh. My. God. What did you do!?”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry! I got it all under control!”

“Under control - the pasta is on fire! How the - ”

“I can fix this! ...I think?” 

“Move. You’re a human disaster, you know that? I told you to wait for me if you’re planning to cook dinner! Now the kitchen looks like an eldritch god just threw up! Mama is gonna be so sad when she gets home.” 

“I tried yelling for you, but you were too busy livestreaming Among Us to hear me! Now help me scrap the pasta off the pot while I clean the counter before Mama gets - .” 

“Sweethearts?” 

Both teenage girls yelp at the sudden voice and instantly turn around. The pot of burned pasta clattered on the dirtied floor. MC looks around her kitchen in exasperation. She was wondering why none of her children didn’t greet her as soon as she got home from work. When she heard bickering from the kitchen, she saw her daughters were frantically cleaning up the mess that was Renata attempt at cooking dinner. 

But instead of being upset over it, MC just shakes her head fondly. 

“Did you use your fire magic to cook the pasta, sweetie?” 

Renata sheepishly scratch her cheek in embarrassment. “I thought it might boil the pasta a lot faster...” 

Her younger sister gape at her admittance. MC just smiles as Sherrie proceed to lecture her older sister about using her magic to cook while Renata slowly inch closer to her so she could hide from her sister’s wrath behind their mother. 

MC will never get tired of seeing her children so comfortable and vivacious in their own home. A stark difference when they were all living at that place back then. She could still remember how Renata barely smile, barely interact with anyone that wasn’t her parents and little sister. Her Sherrie weren’t any better. Back then, she was too young to understand why the castle’s servants would whisper that the King’s daughters were imperfect because of their human halves. Why their lingering and judgemental eyes would upset her so. 

MC could bear being a pet bird living in a gilded cage, could bear Sebek’s condescending remarks, Lilia’s cruel smiles, Silver’s guilty passiveness and even Malleus’ lack of empathy. What she couldn’t bear was how her daughters were treated at the castle. They expected their Princesses to be as aloof and noble as their father, but refused to acknowledge that they were children first and foremost. Refused to accept their human side. 

And when the announcement were made public that Malleus would take a second wife to provide him a male heir at the behest of his council, MC decides that it’s time to leave. 

Especially when she saw how the news broke her eldest child. That night, she was frightened at how intense Renata hatred of her father. While she could care less about Malleus taking in another woman into the castle, MC never thought that his second marriage would be an act of betrayal to her daughter. 

At that moment, MC knew that if they were to stay in that place any longer, she would’ve lost her daughter to her own hatred. They needed to go, they needed to escape. 

And so in the dead of the night while the entire Valley of Thorns were celebrating over their king’s second marriage and superior wife, MC and her children scurried away to the only place she could think of. 

Night Raven College. 

She didn’t know when Lilia or anyone else in the castle would realise her and their princesses’ disappearance, so she begged a stunned Dire Crowley who thought she had died when no one could find her after Malleus graduated to send her home. 

The headmaster finally came through for her and her confused, distraught children. Crowley had quietly explained that he already found a way to send her back to her own world years ago. However, she disappeared before he could tell her. A quick glance at the two little girls alongside her and he couldn’t help but grimace with deep guilt.  

As atonement, Crowley hurried to grab a few books and journal that he can find about the fae court (both dark and light) and their magic. He pressed the materials into MC’s arms and explained that after she and her daughters step into the mirror, he will shatter and destroy any remaining fragments so that Malleus and his men could never find them ever again. However, MC must teach her daughters about their Fae side and how to glamour their otherworldly features from humans. 

MC tackled the headmaster in a hug with tearful eyes, grateful that he could help them. They were then ushered into the mirror and finally, finally, her nightmare was over.

Years have passed since that night. With each passing seasons and being able to explore the world without Malleus’ oppressive court, the castle servants and his retainers, her daughters flourish into amazing young girls. 

Their little brother equally so. 

As Renata try to persuade Sherrie to allow her to use her magic to clean the kitchen up, MC asks, “By the way, where’s your brother? I’ll just order some takeaway for dinner. They should arrive soon.” As she said this, she already whips out her phone to order their food. 

“He was napping in his room.” Sherrie reply her as she wipes the stove clean. Renata grumbled under her breath as she was made to mop the floor manually.  

Mc thanked her and left the kitchen to wake her son up. Her son was the unexpected gift that they were blessed with after they crossed to her world. She didn’t expect to be pregnant, but consider how feverishly Malleus made love to her as his way to console her that the other woman and his second marriage would mean nothing to him and that she would still be the only woman he truly loves, MC really should have known.  

It was so difficult to hide her joy that with the presence of a second wife, it would mean that Malleus would focus more on the other woman. Which meant Lilia would also need to make sure that she would learn all the proper court etiquette and Silver and Sebek would need to arrange the proper security for her as Malleus’ concubine. 

The arrival of her son was unexpected, but dearly welcome by her and his older sisters. Although MC was not able to give her daughters the childhood that they should have, she made sure that her son - Lucien - was raised in an environment that allowed him to be a normal child. 

Well, as normal as a half human and half fae could be. 

Shaking the lump underneath the thick duvet, she receives a tired groan. 

“Wake up, dear. Go freshen up. We’re having dinner in a little while.”  

Worming his way out of the duvet, Lucien poke his head out and smile blearily at her. “Welcome home, Mama...” 

MC pressed a quick peck on his forehead before ruffling his dishevelled hair. Her son looks so much like Malleus except he inherited her eyes and soft heart. While her oldest daughter is a carbon copy of Malleus and her second daughter looks exactly like her but with Malleus’ green eyes. 

She’s so happy that she can provide her children that life that they deserve. 

Dinner that night was as lively as usual. Renata was still riding high from her sweet sixteen birthday party that they just had last two days ago. It was quite a celebration and it ended with the revelation of her Unique Magic. Since it was a warm Summer evening, the small family enjoy their meal at the garden outside. 

“ - we should totally play Among Us together! Including you, Mama! I think you’d love it!” Sherrie gushes after she pushes her glass of water away.

Renata gasped as if affronted. “Are you trying to tear this family apart!? The moment we suspect someone is the imposter, it’s anarchy unleash!” 

Sherrie rolled her eyes at her oldest sister need for the dramatics. “Oh please, you live for the anarchy. You’re the one who started the fire when we played last time.” 

Lucien winced as he recalled their last gameplay. “It was a mess. Everyone couldn’t stop accusing one another. My classmates even swore they wouldn’t dare to play with you ever again.” 

MC smiles to herself as her children chatted with one another. It always warms her heart to see how close the siblings are to one another. From the stoic and hateful little girl, Renata had grown to be a playful and brilliant young woman. Brilliant in terms of magic. Even from a young age, Renata could control her elemental magic well. MC still remembered how wide she would smile whenever Malleus praises her during their training. After coming to this world, she continued to mastered her magic with the helps of the materials that Crowley provided them. By the age of 14 years old, MC realised that her creativity had led her to combine her elemental magic into an arsenals of powerful spells. 

They decide to celebrate her newfound skills out to dinner. 

And with the recent discovery of her Unique Magic - Observer - their family is aware that Renata has been experimenting with it almost every day. 

“Oh yeah, uh, Mama?” Renata suddenly broke MC from her train of thought. Beside her, Sherrie and Lucien are comparing their two favourite games.  

“Yes, dear?” 

“Umm... Last night I Observed myself and something came up.” Renata began to explain and she started to fidget in her seat. 

MC grows concern over her daughter’s hesitant expression. 

“What is it dear? Is something wrong with your Unique Magic?” 

“No, no, everything’s fine! It’s just that, well, so you know my Unique Magic give me the ability to observe my possibilities, right? Well, 99% of my possibilities shows that I’m going to participate in Night Raven College’s entrance ceremony soon.” Renata explains. 

“Say what?” Sherrie suddenly intervene, eyes wide in surprise. Their own conversation paused. 

MC could feel her blood froze at her daughter’s words. Suddenly, she no longer has any appetite for dinner. 

“Night Raven College?” Lucien asked, confused at the sudden tension in the air. “I remember Mama said she studied at a place call Night Raven College.” 

MC wanted to spare her son what she and her daughters had been through in Twisted Wonderland. But at the same time, she didn’t want to hide their past from him. So he told her all about Twisted Wonderland and Night Raven College. Of the good friends she made during her time at the school. About all sorts of shenanigans they got themselves into.  

About a dark fae that she could see herself falling in love with at the beginning of their friendship, but that became a distant dream when Malleus let his fear of her mortality and his selfish, draconic desire to hoard her all to himself overwhelmed him. 

No matter how much she tried to pleaded with him, reasoned with him, Malleus refused to yield. He threatened to harm her friends should she ever think of anyone other than him and gave her all the luxury in a world while locking her up in castle full with creatures who believe they’re superior to humans. 

Lucien was stricken when she told him everything. In the end, all MC could do was smile sadly and told him that while Malleus might have love her and his children, in the end, it doesn’t mean anything when he allow his own council to dictate that Renata was not suitable to become his heiress just because she’s a girl. 

In the dead of the night when Renata couldn’t sleep after they settled down in this world, she went to MC and with tearful eyes yet resolute face, her daughter informed her that she never wanted to be Malleus’ heiress. Having a taste of freedom, everything that this world has to offer to her and the loving support of her family, Renata knew she could be so, so much more than a mere Queen to a backwater country and its people. 

And so the thought of her going back to Twisted Wonderland - where Malleus would no doubt still be searching for them - scares MC. 

“Is there a way to prevent it?” MC quietly asks, though in her heart, she knows the answer to her own question. 

Renata regretfully shake her head. “I can’t make the 1% where I don’t go back to Twisted Wonderland into a reality.” 

“And why not?” Sherrie demanded. 

“Because in that possibility, I’ll die here from Overblotting.” Renata dryly reply. 

That’s the drawback of her daughter’s Unique Magic. While she could observe her every possibilities and acknowledge one and turn it into a reality, Renata can only see hers and not other people’s. Not only that, she cannot changed the many paths that had been laid in front of her. She can only observe and choose. Not altered.  

Both Sherrie and Lucien flinch. MC shove the image of her daughter dying as a monster into the back of her mind. Renata lowered her head slightly. 

“I... I don’t want to go back there.” Renata whispers. “I want to stay here. All my friends are here.” She raises her head when MC hold her hand and squeeze it comfortingly. 

She needs to be strong for her children. Being a single mother wasn’t easy. They used to live with her parents and they were pillars of endless support to MC and her children. They didn’t turned her away when she appeared out of nowhere after months of disappearance with two horned children in tow. Instead, they helped raised and care for her children when she’s out working under long corporate hours. 

The kids adore their grandparents and were heartbroken when they passed away.      

But by that time, MC was financially secure to move her family into a new house and support her little family all on her own. She understood what it meant to be strong for her children and she will continue to be just as strong. 

So with a sigh, MC narrowed her eyes and said, “If we can’t change the outcome, then we will do out best to prepare for everything that will stand in your way, Renata.” All three of her precious children jerk their heads towards her. She press on, “Each one of you posses your own strength; and I don’t mean magical capabilities. Your oldest sister’s greatest strength is her creativity when it comes to magic, Sherrie possess an intelligent mind for planning and strategising and you, my son, I’ve seen how big your heart is. You understands that compassion isn’t a weakness and that’s something the faes from the Valley of Thorns can never understand.” 

Sherrie interrupt her speech with an abashed expression. “Uh, I don’t think me playing Total War: Rome II counts as a mastermind, Mama.” She sheepishly said. 

Her attempt at the joke lessen the heavy mood a little when Lucien giggle and Renata crack a smile. It’s amazing to see how much her children have grown. 

MC playfully roll her eyes. “Be that as it may, what I’m trying to say was that we can help Renata survive in Twisted Wonderland by doing our damn best to prepare her.” 

Renata nodded eagerly while Sherrie and Lucien cheer. 

And so MC clap her hands once and her children sat straight. “Let’s turn this into a family project. Now, sweetheart, do you know when the Ebony Carriage will pick you up?” 

“Hang on, lemme check again...” Renata’s scleras suddenly tinted black and her green eyes glow brightly as she activates her Unique Magic. While she Observe all her possibilities, SD/N left the table to fetch her tablet while MC explains a bit more what being a student of Night Raven College would mean for Renata. After Sherrie sat back down at the table, Renata blink and her eyes return to normal. “I’ll be at the entrance ceremony two weeks from today. The headmaster is going to be so shocked when he sees me.” 

MC hums. “Two weeks... we can work with two weeks. We need to prepare a countermeasure when it comes to your father. Words will surely spread that someone that looks like him is attending Night Raven College.” 

“I can Observe further ahead what he will do once he realised that I’m there.” Renata said and furrowed her eyebrows, contemplating. “I need to test my magic against other people so I can see if I’m able to fight him or not.” 

“Actually, I think I might have an idea on how to handle that.” Sherrie intervene. She’s holding a stylus pen and is scribbling something furiously on her tablet. Lucien crane his neck to see what his sister is writing, only to tilt his head in confusion. 

As the family continue to brainstorm into late in the evening, MC silently swore to herself that she won’t leave her daughter all alone to defend herself in Twisted Wonderland. She doesn’t know how, but she will be there with her and still keep her children safe. 

And then, the fateful day arrives. 

-

“Next student, please come forth!” 

“State thy name.”

“Renata MC/S...” 

She said nothing when she heard Headmaster Crowley gasped beside her. “You - how!?

The Mirror of Darkness ignores him. “You were born with a different name, but live proudly under your mother’s legacy.” 

“Damn right.” Renata smirks. “I’m my mother’s daughter first and foremost. I’ll continue to live as free as her.” 

“Such conviction. You possess a deep desire to protect your loved ones which is both admirable and ambitious with the power that you were gifted with. Becaue of that, the shape of thy soul is a blazing green fire and towers of thorns that serve as your shield. You belong in Diasomnia.” The Mirror of Darkness declare. 

The headmaster mutter something about fate playing a cruel joke on his once poor prefect. 

And when the current Dorm Leader of Diasomia greeted her, he took a step back when he sees her face and horns. His eyes wide with shocked and words failed him. For every Diasomnia member had seen the tapestries of their previous Dorm Leader and especially one as great and terribly powerful as Malleus Draconia. 

“Nice to meet you, senpai. My name is Renata MC/S.” She said as politely as possible. “I’ll do my best not to cause any trouble to this dorm.” 

Renata tilt her head and pretend to look confused when her Dorm Leader continue to gape at the sight of her. Whispers of her true heritage and family began to circulate among the crowd. 

At that moment, she recalled the advice given to her by her family:

“Don’t show off your spells. Ever. Lay low as much as you can. We can’t really control the rumour mill so let it travel on its own. While you’re there, gather all the intel you can about father and the current affairs in the Valley of Thorns. Anything that can be used against them. Also, you need to watch Bungou Stray Dogs with me. You can learn a thing or two from some of the characters in that anime.” Sherrie had said while showing her tablet and a messy flowchat of her plan. She tapped her stylus pen on the ‘Phase 1’ section with great importance.  

“You need to keep your cool, big sis. You like to set the things that irritate you on fire. Like that girl’s handphone after she copied your test paper.” Lucien reminded her. Renata stucked her tongue out while Sherrie laughs. 

“You need to make good friends, sweetie. Friends that can help you from the sideline. I have a list of people that might be able to help you against your father. I think it’s safe to assumed that their kids would also be attending Night Raven College too. Though some of them need to be offered a reward or be persuaded to help you first. Don’t worry, I’ll write down on how you can win them over.” MC assured her. 

With her family supporting her even from another world, confidence in her magical abilities and a plan already in motion, Renata would not let her other so-called family trapped them ever again.   

“It’s showtime...”

-

Did I really based Renata off Nine the Phantom? Hell yeah! I love her fighting style in the game. I HC that Renata is as badass as her. 

I like to continue part 2 to this oneshot next week if my workload isn’t so crazy. I’m having so much fun writing for this wonderful AU! 

[hells-angel]

A day with the Devil

Fandom: Supernatural

Pairing:  Lucifer x Reader

Word count: 1808

Warning/s: 

Summary: Spending a day with the devil turns into helping you get over your fear of heights.

It was just a normal day after a very tiring hunt, all you wanted to do was to eat and sleep. With the Winchesters going on another world with Jack. You were left alone to take care of the bunker and going on a few hunts.

What you didn't expect was to see the supposedly stuck on another world Devil asking for spare coins to passersby on the side of the streets.

For a minute you doubt your eyes but after taking a good long look on his blond hair and that very familiar face, you were sure it was none other than Lucifer himself.

Deep down something tells you to run and immediately report it to the Winchesters, but seeing him clutching himself to keep himself warm was enough to convince yourself to walk towards him.

"do you have spare coins? Or maybe just your jacket?" The devil said, demanding a passerby who barely gave him a glance.

"is this your new kind of scheme to get people's souls?" You asked, Lucifer quickly whipping his head in your direction. An amused grim quickly making into his face.

"the Winchesters other pet, fancy seeing you here" he grinned as he stands up from where he were, the cup he was holding all forgotten.

"stay there! I have an angel blade" you warned, stepping back as you put your hand inside your jacket grabbing the angel blade.

"we both know that won't work on me"

"yeah but it'll hurt really bad"

"Fair point" he calmly shrugs "but you don't want these humans to see you kill a very innocent and a very handsome man" he said as he easily closes the gap between you two. You glance around to see a few people looking in your direction so you hesitate to take out your blade and just hide it inside you jacket for now.

"I'm harmless...for now" he said with a frown on his face but was quickly masked up as he grinned at you again.

"what do you mean?" You asked more calmly but was still on guard.

"a very angry brother of mine almost drained my grace, and now I'm reduced to this" he disgustly explained as he mentions to himself, hungry and cold. Almost like the humans he despite.

" and I'm supposed to take pity on you?" You replied glaring at him.

"you can take all you anger out of me another time. First I need food" Lucifer said as he took your wrist and drag you towards a diner.

"hey! Let me go! I'll yell!" You threatened but it remains unheard by the devil, in the end you found yourself seating across the devil.

"and what can I get for the lovely couple?" The waitress giddily said.

"were not a couple!" You immediately disagree as Lucifer took the liberty to order food for himself.

"oh and she's gonna pay" he said to the waitress as he smiled and winked at you which you just responded with an eye roll.

You watch as Lucifer ate but you never let your guard down. From a distance he looks like a normal human being enjoying their food, no one would have thought that the devil himself was eating just meters away from them and that's why looks can be deceiving.

In the end you reluctantly paid for the meal after Lucifer threatened to tell that your cards were all fakes and hacked, he even persuaded you to buy him some jacket after playing his victim act on you.

"Sam and Dean is gonna kill me if they found out about this" you whispered under your breath as you walked around the busy street along with Lucifer trailing behind you.

"what they don't know won't kill them" he hummed

"and I'm sure I'll do the world a favor if I kill you right now" you said, irritation present on your face as you stop walking.

"I'm weak and defenseless, can you still kill me?" He asked while looking at you like a weak puppy, but you'll be dammed to believe that.

"oh come on, admit it you like me" he whined which you just replied with an eye roll.

"I don't"

But Lucifer’s attention shifted unto something that suddenly light up as the sun sets and the night arrives.

"hey what's that thing?" He asked pointing into the Giant wheel as you take a glance at it then back at him again.

"you've live longer than me, shouldn't you know what's that thing?" You asked

"well first of all, what you humans create or built doesn't interest me and second I spent all those long lives in a cage" he explained before stuffing his hands back in his jacket.

Lucifer was actually acting different than usual maybe because he was on the brink of becoming human that he felt more emotions than usual or just the fact that he felt comfortable around you.

"you just ate human food like hours ago" you said as a matter of fact.

"not related"

With a sigh you sat at the nearest bench, Lucifer taking the seat beside you, curiosity present on his eyes.

"it's called a Ferris wheel" you explained "it goes round and round while carrying people inside"

"hmmmmm" he hummed in thoughts as he glances at the Ferris wheel again " sounds boring"

"how would I know" you grumbled but Lucifer heard it anyway.

"you never rode it?" He asked in disbelief

"...I'm scared of heights" you confess a little bit embarrass, his head snapping back at you.

"what really? Now that's new" he amused

"a lot of people is scared of heights" you defended practically shouting at his face.

"I mean your killing monsters yet your scared of a simple thing?" He provokes a sly grin on his face as he was obviously teasing you.

"it's not a simple thing! So what if I'm scared?! Sam is scared of clowns and Dean is scared of planes" you said then you realize what you just said, you just confess the Winchesters weaknesses to the devil.

"shouldn't have told you that"

But Lucifer is not really listening that much he was in deep thoughts as he stared at you, making you a little bit uncomfortable.

"why are you looking at me like that?" You asked, getting a little bit suspicious.

"I have a great idea" he grinned "come with me"

"what? No!"

But before you know it, in the blink of an eye you heard the familiar flutter of wings then you were on another place.

"oh God!" You exclaimed as you found yourself at least 830 meters above ground. You were on top of the tallest building in the world, the Burj khalifa.

Your face drained of blood as you realize where you were.

With your instincts kicking in, you immediately cling into Lucifer for dear life. Your hands wrap tightly around him, your head buried on his chest with Your eyes clutch shut.

"I don't think calling for my father is gonna help you right now" he chuckled as his hands snake around your waist and pulled you closer.

"Lucifer this is not funny" your voice muffled and trembling.

"is it? I think it's amusing" he chuckled, he can feel your heartbeat thumping so loudly against him.

Your whole body was trembling from fear yet he didn't find any amusement from it, instead he wanted to comfort you. A feeling so foreign at him.

"I swear to Chuck, I'll murder you after this" you barely let out as you realize you’re barely standing on a tin metal and the only thing keeping you balanced right now was because of Lucifer.

"a nice threat but you can't get out of here without me" he sang as he enjoyed the feeling of your body clinging into him, though he would never admit it.

"...Please" you weakly whispered against his shirt, you swallowed your pride, right now fear wins over everything. Lucifer can feel your hands trembling, a deathly grip on him, his sure your nails had dug against his skin.

For some reason, seeing your vulnerable side was more interesting than anything, you always trail around the Winchesters, looking like a badass you are but right now, you were defenseless, so small, so...adorable.

A minute pass by in silence, the only thing you can hear was your own heartbeat and your rigged breaths.

Your hugging the devil himself right now but you didn't care, you were scared yet not of him but the height beneath you. Though it was his fault anyways.

"try opening your eyes" he suddenly mumbled

"I can't"

"too bad your missing out"

"just try opening them" he sighs but still you made no attempt to open your eyes.

" I won't let go" he suddenly whispered, it was undeniably softer than any words he spoke, even Lucifer himself was surprised to hear his own voice.

You know his the enemy, his Lucifer for Chuck's sake, but in that moment a voice inside your head keeps screaming that it's okay to take his words.

You bite your trembling lips as you carefully opened your eyes preparing for the worst but instead you saw something incredible.

Different Lights filled the dark city like fireflies, the cold wind blows followed by the sounds of the cars and the busy streets below.

It was dazzling.

No words left your mouth as you admire the view, slowly you stop trembling and you start to calm down but your grip on Lucifer didn't loosen.

"told you" he proudly grinned his eyes focused on your wide ones, the city lights reflecting on it.

"it's so beautiful" you mumbled under your breath, Lucifer humming in approval, a small but genuine smile on his lips.

-*-

With a flutter of wings, the scenery changes into something more familiar, you now look around to notice you were now in front of the bunker.

"you can let go now, the grounds not gonna eat you up" he amusedly said smirking down at you, still clinging into him for dear life.

"whatever" you immediately detached yourself from him, your face still red "listen, don't tell a soul about what happened today okay"

"whatever kitten"

With a flutter of wings, he disappeared and you were left alone outside of the bunker with a red face.

After calming down your heart, you went inside the bunker the loud opening of the door echoing on the silent place.

But as you descended down the stairs you were greeted by three men, Sam seating on the chair, hands place on the table, Dean was leaning against the pillar with hands cross against his chest while Castiel stand behind Dean his hands on his side.

All of them were looking at you intently.

"where have you been?"

[juminsmysticmc]

I was wondering how would the RFA react to MC playing a prank on them using the “ Yo is your man still around” Audio from TikTok to see what they’re reactions is? Btw I love your work keep it up and I hope you have a lovely day

RFA react to a MC who use a TikTok sound (Yo what’s good Shortie, is your man still around)

Hey Babe! Thank you for your patience! I hope you will enjoy this HC. At first, I thought, that TikTok was a dumb App and yeah. It didn’t even take me a day to get obsessed with it, I love it! So, tell me your opinion on it, okay?  Have a good day, I love you!

Jumin

You got a bit bored with time and since there were days when Jumin wasn’t by your side that much, you decided to download the app that everyone went crazy for lately - TikTok.

At first it was a bit difficult for you to use it. You were unsure how to get content you liked, but in time your FYP became better and better until you saw that one trend.

A sound was a man’s voice said, ,,Yo what’s good Shortie, is your man still around?’’ and all the men in the videos reacted just so sweetly…

You knew that you had to do it too.

And so, you gave Jumin a kiss when he wanted to go to work and then started playing audio.

Jumin waited and looked at you because he didn’t recognize your phone ringtone.

But when the man asked the question, Jumin’s face froze.

,,Excuse me. Who wants to know that?’’ he hissed and grabbed your phone, looking at the display he saw that this wasn’t a FaceTime call, but something else.

,,Who was that, Mc?’’ he asked you.

,,No one, Jumin. It was just a prank,’’ you tried to explain.

,,No, my love, I heard it clearly… don’t you love me anymore?’’ Jumin whispered and got on his knees.

,,Do you want to leave me?’’ he asked you.

Suddenly you felt guilty and decided to show him all the duets.

,,So this TikTok made this?’’ he asked after you showed him five videos.

You sighed and chuckled, trying to tell him once again that TikTok was the name of the app and not the one who made the audio.  

Zen

You, as his manager, was in charge of his TikTok account and always read through the requests of his fans or deleted bad comments.

You did your job pretty well and that’s how one day you read a comment, which wasn’t for Zen, but for you.

,,Hello, Mc! I love you and I support you! May I ask for a video where you use the audio ,Yo what’s good Shortie, ur man still around?’, we need to see a jealous Zen!’’ the person named ,,MC X ZEN IS LIFE’’ asked you.

You still didn’t know the trend so you searched for it. It was then that you knew that this challenge would be pretty funny.

You told Zen that it was time for him to go.

Just while he put on his shoes, you started the challenge and recorded his expression.

At first, he looked up when he heard the ringtone, but looked down again.

However, his eyes were wide open when he heard ,,Yo what’s good Shortie,’’

But when he heard the question if he was still around, everything in his head stopped.

,,YOU ASSHOLE OF A MAN, YES SHE-’’ Zen quickly noticed that this was a video since the sound stopped and the video of him got replayed.

,,Huh?’’ he looked at you, a bit worried.

Suddenly, you broke down in laughter and saved the video, telling him the truth. 

,,A fan?’’ he asked you.

You nodded and was just about to walk away when Zen hugged you from behind.

,,For a second my heart stopped and I really thought that you were cheating… You’re so mean, princess…’’ he whispered and kissed your neck.

,,I’ll make up for it…’’ you teased him.

Yoosung

You and your husband stopped talking.

Instead, you guys began to tag each other in the comments below funny TikToks.

,,Did you see this video already?’’ he often asked you, making you laugh loudly.

It was funny how good an app like this could become.

One day, while he was at work, you came across this audio and was about to tag Yoosung when you read a lot of the comments.

People were using the same audio to prank their boyfriends and you loved the idea.

You didn’t wait too long to use the trend and waited until Yoosung came home from work and had to leave for another visit to the doctor.

The audio stopped him from putting on his jacket since nobody usually called him.

He guessed something bad happened and waited.

But then the audio began and the man’s voice echoed in the hallway.

Yoosung observed you and waited for you to answer the man, but of course you couldn’t.

Instead, you began to laugh loudly.

,,I don’t think that’s funny, Mc! Who was that?! Who is it?!’’ he hissed and wanted to grab your phone.

He quickly realized, however, that this was TikTok.

,,You-’’ Yoosung suddenly began to sniff.

,,You pranked me!’’ he began to sob.

,,WHY ARE YOU CRYING?’’ you laughed a bit harder.

,,I PANICKED FOR A SECOND AND- YOU’RE SO MEAN!’’

Luckily he wasn’t angry at all, but he made sure to get revenge on you with another trend...

Jaehee

Okay, Jaehee was a bit harder, I thought about leaving her out

You wondered why, but Jaehee still didn’t have a TikTok even though Zen used the app for all kinds of challenges.

But since you had it and you were crazy about it, you knew every sound by memory now.

One day you came over the ,,Hey what’s good Shortie’’ audio and just loved the reaction of the partners.

And so, you thought about doing the same to Jaehee.

Although, she would probably notice that this was fake.

But nonetheless, you used the sound while she was cleaning the kitchen.

,,Yo what’s good Shortie, is your man still around?’’

As soon as the sound ended, you could hear how Jaehee stopped her cleaning session and came over to you.

,,Mc, did you tell anyone that I am a man?’’ she asked you.

You couldn’t hold it in anymore and began to laugh hysterically, shaking your head and showing her the video you took.

,,I don’t understand why you like this dumb app so much!’’ she hissed at you.

It didn’t take long until you showed her all kinds of videos and made her obsessed with it too.

,,Jaehee, the kitchen...shouldn’t you finish?’’

,,As punishment, you can finish cleaning it while I spam Zen with likes, thank you.’’  

Saeyoung

Handling two accounts on TikTok wasn’t difficult.

Instead,  it was super easy for both of you.

You and your future husband were quite famous as ,,The Herotic Duo + Saeran“ 

Of course, Saeyoung felt bad leaving his brother out so he added him, filming some pranks together.

Saeran, however, was quite special on the account so he didn’t appear often.

But the both of you pranked each other regularly with one of the extra phones Saeyoung had.

One day you saw on your own phone and your normal account, that one famous prank everyone was doing.

You decided to do it too and upload it live on your shared account.

One tap on the screen of your phone and the sound began.

,,Yo what’s good Shortie, is your man still around?“

,,Tell him that I am here and that he can come. He can videotape us while I show him that you are mine!’’ Saeyoung told you and turned towards you.

,,SAEYOUNG CHOI, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING?!’’ you laughed, trying to cut the live on TikTok

,,WELL YOU PLAYED A PRANK ON ME!’’ he yelled back and approached you, hugging you tightly.

What you didn’t notice, was that you never actually cut the live.

And so, while your fandom kept staring at the wall, you and your fiancé kept kissing passionately...

MASTERLIST 1

MASTERLIST 2

MASTERLIST 3

01.09.2020// 22:43  MEST

[fandom-necromancer]

I want to tell the world I love you

This was prompted by a wonderful anon! Enjoy! It is very angst but it has a happy ending, don’t worry!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 (Warnings: Overprotectiveness, panic attack, internalised homophobia (+struggle to overcome it))

It was a slow day at the precinct and Gavin hated it. Sure it was nice not having to work every single second of your shift and still leave something for the next day, but the opposite wasn’t that nice either. He spent his day resisting the temptation to play on his phone, looked over his reports to find errors or change a sentence to better convey the message. He filed the pictures he had taken for evidence. He watered the lone cactus on his desk. He got himself a coffee. He watched Nines, who caught his drift and smiled back. That had made it a bit better, but still frustration and boredom settled in. He just wanted something to do or go home and the more he looked around the precinct aimlessly, the more random things annoyed him. The way he could hear Chris’ nose whistle barely audible, but being unable to not focus on that now that he caught on. The way Tina brushed through her hair the fifth time in a minute. The ringing of somebodies telephone for at least two rings too many… Gavin knew it himself, this was one of the days he would randomly explode on people again. And that made him even angrier. ‘Phhhck’, he sighed silently to himself and massaged his temples trying to force himself to relax. But the tension stayed and the frustration continued to nibble at him and he was seconds away from screaming at someone, something, anything to make it stop and have something to work on.

And apparently the universe had decided to throw Connor his way. Gavin looked up if only in the hope that the change would mean the bot got something for them, but the RK800 didn’t even look at him walking straight up to Nines and banging his hands on his table. Nines looked at them, then at Connor and turned in his rolling chair. ‘Is it true?’, Connor asked. Nines looked at him questioning. That one sleek brow lifted over stern eyes. ‘You’, Connor jerked his head in Gavin’s general direction. ‘and him?’ ‘What?’ Nines was now sitting ram-rod straight, glancing over to Gavin, who had simply froze for lack of better word. ‘Err… What do you mean? Con, I-‘ But Connor wasn’t taking it, stepping beside the table and grabbing Nines wrist, pulling his hand from the keyboard in the process. Gavin reeled back as he saw Nines’ LED dip to red and stay there while his skin was pushed away from where Connor’s hand connected.

A forced interface. Gavin knew what he was seeing, Nines had done this a few times with unresponsive androids. The way the other’s skin didn’t retract but was forcefully shoved aside. This… This wasn’t right, Connor had no right to do this and Nines wouldn’t allow him- ‘So it is true!’ Seldomly had Connor been this loud or angry. ‘You and this wretched human! This robophobic piece of shit, who held me at gunpoint twice and punched me on the first day? Really? Did you forget how he treated you? Did you?’ ‘Connor, I-‘ ‘What are you two doing, hmm?’ Connor leaned forwards and his grip on Nines was like a vice. His face went blank. ‘So you two are already fucking? Nines, I can’t believe it. How on earth could you let him use you like that? Do you think he loves you? Nines, he is playing with you, can’t you see that? There is no way someone like him will ever change and you should really know better than-‘ Nines didn’t allow him to speak any further. His free hand slapped on top of Connor’s and closed around his hull strong enough to indent it with an ugly crunch. ‘Don’t you dare say that’, he hissed. ‘Don’t you dare say that if you know nothing about us. When was the last time you two spoke a word with each other? When was the last time you re-evaluated your picture of Gav-‘

Right. Gavin. Gavin, who had told him to keep their relationship a secret at all costs. Gavin who had only recently had started showing his emotions, who had taken more than one night spent talking that it was okay to be friends, that it was okay to be more than friends even, that loving a man wasn’t wrong like his family had taught him, that Nines would be there for him and that a slow pace was fine, that… That it was completely fine if their relationship stayed at home, that they didn’t openly show affection and that both of them feeling safe and comfortable was more important than all expectations.

Nines let go of Connor, his priorities changing to see if his partner was alright. But Gavin’s chair was empty. His jacket was hanging over the back of his seat, that had turned as if left in a quick escape. The keys to his bike were gone from their usual spot and Nines didn’t need more information than that to leave his predecessor – because brother really didn’t fit right now – behind and go after his human.

He managed to intercept him on his way out of the parking lot. ‘Gavin!’, he called out. ‘Gavin, please!’ And the man stopped. The engine was still running, gently chugging along without a care in the world, making Nines all the more desperate. ‘Nines.’ His eyes were still wide and unfocussed, it would be irresponsible for Nines to let him drive, but it would be even more detrimental to make him stay. ‘Nines, I-I-I… I can’t.’ His breath was quick and irregular, barely enough to sustain him. He must feel like suffocating right now. ‘Gavin, I didn’t want to. He forced it. I. I would never tell anyone. I promised you!’ ‘I know’, Gavin breathed out, his voice nearly drowned out by the engine sounds. ‘I know and I… I trust you still but… I can’t. I can’t take it. I shouldn’t want it, it’s wrong and I… Con is right and…’ ‘Breathe’, Nines said calmly despite his own stress. Gavin needed him. And he breathed. ‘We can’t be together’, unfortunately were the next words that left his mouth as he had enough air again to talk. ‘We just can’t. I can’t. I want but I… It’s better that way.’ It is not, Nines wanted to say but didn’t. ‘I love you’, was what he said instead, disappointed, knowing it wouldn’t change anything. ‘I know.’ There were the tears. ‘I… I love you, too. But I can’t. I… You shouldn’t have to wait for me, you deserve someone nice, someone less broken and wrong and-‘ ‘Gavin!’ Nines couldn’t help but make him stop. He wouldn’t let him say it. ‘Gavin, you are perfect. You are. Please. Please, I beg you, stay and let’s talk!’ The man looked up at him out of swollen eyes and Nines would never be able to forget the way he looked at him, sad, grieving and worst of all believing everything he had said about himself.

And then he let the engine roar up and drive him away, leaving Nines standing alone in the parking lot.

-

He didn’t know how long he had stayed there. He just remembered eventually walking back inside the building, because really, there was no reason for him to stand there any longer, was there? It’s not like that motorcycle would reappear magically, that Gavin would come back and kiss him like he had so many times at home. Would they ever do that again? He didn’t dare to think such thoughts. No. Work. Work was what he needed. Something to keep him occupied, because if he had a free minute, he would think and thinking lead to ideas and Nines knew they wouldn’t be good at all. No, Nines couldn’t afford himself to be himself right now, else he would likely self-destruct on the spot. No, he went inside, ignored the looks and quiet questions, sat down at their – his - desk and interfaced with his terminal, concentrating on being RK900 only and digging up every unsolved case from their databanks.

The numbness was a blessing. Overworking his processors with wild pre-constructions that would ultimately lead to nothing left no room for Gavin. For his concerns whether he had made it home safely. For stray thoughts imagining him sitting at home alone, crying. Maybe drinking. Maybe worse. No, there were only murders and Red Ice and kidnappings and no end in sight. So, when Connor approached him and said something it took a while for the message to reach his systems. ‘/’m s0rry-.+’’#..||- I dIdn’t me@n t..-~ I c0uldn’t knw{-=-_.. I sh0uldn’t h@ve. I want t# apologise. Nines please listen to me.’ ‘I believe you said enough’, Nines spoke without intonation through heavy static. ‘Really, you can’t imagine-‘ His voicebox cut out and Nines laid all of his anger, sadness and fury into his stare while it restarted. ‘Don’t you dare talk to me like a simple apology could bring you absolution!’ With that he stormed off to the evidence room and locked himself in. This way there would be no further disturbances and he could again dive deep into the systems. Time didn’t matter, it’s not like he had anyone to go home to anymore. Their shift ended, the next had begun and Gavin had called in sick for the next day somewhere around 2 AM. Nines didn’t care. He simply pushed deeper, the clear orderly systems of the precinct a welcoming blanket to wrap his own chaos into.

-

Connor sat on the couch, mindlessly petting Sumo. He had never seen Nines like this. They had argued before. They had yelled at each other. It was normal. But this time something had changed. He had messed up badly. Even Hank ghosted him, telling him to set it right or not, but not to involve him in their fights as he would refuse to pick a side. He had just wanted to protect his brother! When he had overheard Nines and Hank talk about it, he had simply been concerned. He had only ever seen Gavin as the anti-android nuisance that couldn’t stay in his own lane. The arrogant man that only cared for his career. The guy without many friends because he never let anyone close enough to actually see beyond what was clearly your typical schoolyard bully grown up and misplaced in the police force. he didn’t want his brother to be pulled in for a prank. He hadn’t wanted his brother’s feelings to be run over by the truck that was human rottenness. He hadn’t – not even for a single moment – thought about the possibility that it was something genuine. That Nines really did love that man and that Gavin returned it. He hadn’t even taken into account it could be a chance. And he had hurt not only Nines’ feelings, but seemingly also ruined what had made them both happy. Some kind of brother he was… RA9, how could he set this right? He had to do something, it was his own fault, his doing alone. But how would he even begin? Nines didn’t let himself be talked to, Connor couldn’t even blame him for it. But Gavin… he couldn’t imagine the human to let him in, much less to actually listen or even consider his apology. But he had to do something and maybe even something as futile as this was better than doing nothing at all.

Statistically speaking there’s always a chance for unlikely events to take place. He remembered thinking like this during the revolution. He prayed to whoever was listening that it would prove true another time as he knocked at the door. To his surprise the wood gave way at the impact and opened a fraction. The lock was broken, a footprint underneath telling him everything he needed to know. ‘Gavin?’, he asked as he tentatively opened the front door a little more and stepped in. ‘It’s me… Connor.’ He winced, bracing for the human to come running at him with something sharp. But his only response was a very weak, very drunken: ‘Phck off.’ So no threat at least. And he was a lot further down his plan as he had ever thought to come. ‘Gavin, I came to apologise. ‘Phhhhck oooff. Don wanna talk with ya plastic shit ass.’ ‘Very eloquently put’, Connor commented, before he could catch himself. He had made it to the kitchen, where Gavin sat next to the open fridge wrapped in Nines’ old Cyberlife jacket and multiple bottles – all of them empty, one of them shattered - to his side. ‘I sssay whatIwant, thisis my houssse.’ ‘I get it.’ Gavin blinked against the clearly too bright kitchen light and furrowed his brows in tired anger. ‘Get. Out.’ He prepared to throw the bottle in his hand at Connor, who quickly lifted his hands. ‘Hey, watch out, this one’s still full. I guess you wouldn’t want to waste perfectly good alcohol on me.’ He hadn’t known it would work, but it did, as Gavin looked at the bottle then to the empty stack next to him, apparently deciding it wasn’t worth the effort as he took another chug. ‘Fine. Whaddaya want?’

‘Apologise. It wasn’t my right to say that.’ ‘Yer damn right, asshole.’ ‘I didn’t believe you two really were in love.’ ‘Didn’t believe it either’, Gavin slurred. And as Connor didn’t respond, he continued. ‘I mean me? With a guy like him? God, I thought I was dreaming.’ ‘Really?’ Connor dared to sit down on the floor opposite of the man that had leaned back his head against the wall, smiling completely lovelorn. ‘Of course. I’m n asshole. I can’t keep friends. Think they don’t really like me, just pretend. Destroyed every single one so far. Forced myself to be with girls, y’know, thought that I’d learn with time. So then, Nines comes up and is perfect, feels perfect, cares and… Nah, didn’t believe it. Told him upfront he would get factory second. Y’know, like a decent man. Told him all my problems and stuff and he still stayed. Agreed to all. First time in my life someone heard that and stuck around.’ ‘And I messed it up?’ ‘Yeah. Big time.’

Connor shuffled uncomfortably. The open refrigerator made it far colder than it needed to be. ‘How can I repair the damage?’ ‘You can’t. You… You were the source but I… I panicked and broke up with him.’ ‘But maybe I could-‘ ‘No. I have to man up, go there and tell him I love him still. That I will phcking commit, that I’ll send my parents to hell and my childhood memories right with them. That this is me and only me and that I want him like my gay ass should. But I can’t. I am phcking drunk and that’s the only way I can say that without freezing or panicking or building up walls or-‘ ‘What if I drive you to the precinct right now?’ That seemed to be too much for Gavin’s inebriated brain and Connor waited for an answer. ‘Nines is still at work?’, he slurred, obviously confused. ‘Yes.’ ‘Yess… That’s… That’s a good idea… Just… Phck…’ Gavin made it surprisingly fast to his feet and to the kitchen sink before emptying his stomach into it. Connor was next to him in an instant, holding him upright and helping him clean up afterwards. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to drive Gavin back to the precinct like this, but if this was the only way to right his mistakes, he would gladly do it. And besides, the night shift likely had seen worse already.

Gavin was still in Nines jacket as Connor helped him out of the car and guided him to the back entrance meant for supplies and smoke breaks. It wasn’t that far to the evidence rooms from there and Connor managed to get him inside without anyone really noticing. He tried to open the door to where Nines had locked himself in but was declined. ‘Go away Connor.’ The voice alone was what let Gavin next to him perk up and brace against the wall. ‘Nines? Nines, please, can you hear me? I love you. And I was an idiot, I panicked and I-‘ The door was ripped open in a heartbeat and there was Nines, catching Gavin by the shoulders and pressing him in a close hug. ‘Gavin!’ ‘I’m so sorry, I love you and I didn’t mean what I said, I panicked, and you know I say shitty things then, I need… I need you and I want you and phck everyone’s opinion, I am allowed to have you and I can do whatever the hell I want!’ ‘Yes’, Nines gently whispered. ‘Yes, of course. Don’t be sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told-‘ ‘No. Phck this! I want to tell everyone, and they will have to accept this shit! God pcking damnit!’ ‘Okay, but let’s wait with that until you are sober, okay? Come here.’ Nines drew gentle circles on his back and relished in the feeling of having his human – his – here in his arms and hold him and tell him he was safe and loved and cherished. He didn’t even know what he had murmured n the end of it, but it had made Gavin slump against him and fall half asleep in his arms. Nines decided then to retreat back into the evidence room. He did shoot Connor one last glance, grateful for bringing Gavin back to him, but also implying this would have repercussions as soon as their minds had settled.

Connor just swallowed, nodded and left them to it. He guessed he had deserved that.

[katemarley]

fanfiction: maybe i’d be happy for a while

Fandom: Mó Dào Zǔ Shī /Chén Qíng Lìng/The Untamed Pairing: XiYao Characters: Jīn Guāngyáo, Lán Xīchén, Niè Huáisāng, Niè Míngjué, Jīn Zixuān, Jīn Guāngshàn Rating: T

Summary: The university president makes his illegitimate son an offer he can’t refuse – or can he?

Also available on AO3 (see the link in my profile).

I want to run I want to hide I lie awake, can’t sleep at night Too terrified to do it wrong I just don’t know where I belong Fear holds me down, can hardly breathe —Kingfisher Sky: Through My Eyes

*

Nie Huaisang notices things. Not everything, as he has learned recently, but certainly more than most people, and definitely more than most people notice about Meng Yao.

For once, there is the fact that he suddenly stops typing on the computer and freezes, staring into the void. This is particularly strange because, for all Huaisang knows, Meng Yao has never had difficulty to focus before.

There is also the fact that Meng Yao suddenly needs to wipe his hands on his trousers every once in a while. The last time Huaisang has borrowed a pencil from him, their fingers brushed, and Huaisang needed all his self-restraint not to flinch from the icy touch. Cold, sweaty hands – and Huaisang knows for a fact that Meng Yao’s hands used to be warm and dry mere weeks ago.

There was also that time when Huaisang entered the student union offices unexpectedly and caught Meng Yao at the window, clutching the windowsill with both hands and shivering from tip to toe.

Yes, it is winter.

No, it is not that cold.

Huaisang has asked him then what the matter was, but Meng Yao has only brushed it off: Nothing to worry about; he has a difficult time, but he’s got everything under control.

Huaisang doesn’t believe him, but there’s only so much he can do.

Tell his brother, for example. But Nie Mingjue has already noticed some of the strangeness of Meng Yao’s behaviour, and so the confrontation happens without Huaisang’s doing. He is glad about that when he sees his brother tower above Meng Yao, shouting him down.

“…two mistakes in the union’s accounting!” he yells. “What is up with you, Meng Yao? You’ve never been this distracted before!”

“I’m sorry, but it happens!” Meng Yao says defensively. “I’m quite stressed, so I slipped up. I’d have caught the errors at the end of the month if you hadn’t pointed them out to me now.” Huaisang’s jaw almost drops. He has never heard Meng Yao talk back to Nie Mingjue. Wincing, he watches what will happen next.

“You…” Sure enough, his brother doesn’t let the back talk go that easily. “It happens, he says.” His tone is nasty. “It mustn’t happen!” he yells, leaning forward. “The accounting must always be accurate!” He reaches out to grab Meng Yao by the collar.

But then Lan Xichen is there, Meng Yao’s knight in shining armour. He steps between Huaisang’s brother and Meng Yao, catching Nie Mingjue’s hand.

“Let it go, Mingjue-xiong,” he says calmly. “There is a lot of pressure on him at the moment.” Without turning from Nie Mingjue, he adds: “A-Yao, please let us alone for a moment.”

A-Yao. That should have been a dead giveaway. But Huaisang has had a Lan Xichen-shaped blind spot, it seems.

When Meng Yao has left the room, Lan Xichen puts an arm around Nie Mingjue’s shoulders and manoeuvres him back to his chair. They both seem to have forgotten about Huaisang; at least no one asks him to leave the room.

“Mingjue-xiong,” Lan Xichen says in an almost pleading tone, “it seems that his father has finally noticed A-Yao’s presence. Two weeks ago, he was called into the university president’s office, who offered to recognise him as his son in exchange for some work. I don’t know what exactly A-Yao has to do, but Jin Guangshan’s tasks seem to be quite demanding. That means he needs to juggle his university work, his job as secretary of the student union and the work his father has given him all at once. He’s under quite a lot of pressure right now, but I trust him to be able to handle everything eventually. Please bear with him while he has so much to do.”

Nie Mingjue growls, but he sounds placated. Lan Xichen pats his shoulder and gives him a bright smile.

So is all well?

Huaisang can’t get the image of Meng Yao at the window out of his head, shivering all over.

I trust him to be able to handle everything eventually, Lan Xichen has said. It’s just that Huaisang is not so sure.

And then his brother speaks.

“Will he, though?” Nie Mingjue grumbles. “Meng Yao always pushes himself harder than anybody else. He always wants to do everything on his own, and he does not make mistakes. I worry about him.”

In his mind, Huaisang wholeheartedly agrees with his brother. He also hears his unspoken accusation.

Lan Xichen seems to have heard it, too.

“Alright, I’m going to talk to him,” he sighs.

*

Much later, Meng Yao returns to the office to pick up his messenger bag. He freezes when he sees Huaisang, who is still sitting on the sofa.

As always, Huaisang is working on one of his art projects – painting a still life, this time – but the only reason why he hasn’t gone home yet is that he was waiting for Meng Yao.

“My brother thinks you’ve made these accounting errors on purpose,” he says without introduction.

Meng Yao pales. It’s not a giveaway; anyone might pale at such an accusation.

“Lan Xichen told him he’s going to talk to you about it,” he continues. “If I were you, I’d go to Lan Xichen right away.”

“I can’t go to him,” Meng Yao says quietly. Huaisang hears the pain in his voice.

“You can,” he insists. “If there is anyone who would move Heaven and Earth for you, it’s him. He just wants to help you.” Huaisang stares at Meng Yao. “But you have to let him.”

There is a flicker in Meng Yao’s eyes.

Gotcha, Huaisang thinks.

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t think you can pull yourself out of this one on your own,” he adds fuel to the fire. “There’s no shame in letting him and da-ge help you. Maybe they know a way you can’t think of on your own.”

Meng Yao lowers his lashes.

“I will think about it,” he says quietly.

Huaisang leaves it at that. He knows this is the biggest concession he’ll get.

*

Meng Yao is standing in front of Lan Xichen’s flat, bracing himself to ring the doorbell. He has forced himself to get this far, but now he is losing courage.

Then the entrance door is opening and closing, and he has to ring. They have an agreement to show the neighbours as little of Meng Yao’s visits as they possibly can.

The surprised look on Lan Xichen’s face quickly turns into the kindest smile. Meng Yao feels a familiar lurch in the pit of his stomach. He has read somewhere that your hormones make you stay in love with the same person for about half a year, but they’ve been seeing each other for much longer now and the feeling hasn’t stopped. He wonders if it will ever stop.

It’s not that he is complaining.

Lan Xichen pulls him inside, shuts the door and tilts his head up. Then he captures Meng Yao’s lower lip with his own. It’s a chaste kiss, but it makes heat tingle through Meng Yao’s whole body. He is suddenly afraid they’re going to fuck without further ado – it has happened – but that would be unacceptable this time. Lan Xichen may not want to touch him ever again after what he’s going to tell him.

Ugh. The thought makes his throat tighten.

He breaks away regardless.

“There’s something I need to tell you.” He barely recognises his own voice.

“Sit,” says Lan Xichen and navigates him to his sofa. After he is seated, Lan Xichen presses a cup of jasmine tea into his hands. Meng Yao realises it’s tea Lan Xichen has just brewed for himself.

“I can’t accept—”

“You can,” Lan Xichen says firmly. “Take a sip and then tell me what has happened.”

So he does.

*

“Ah, Meng Yao.” Jin Guangshan puts his paperwork aside when he enters. “How are you? Is your job at the student union very stressful?”

“Good morning, Sir.” Meng Yao bows. “I cannot complain. My work is entirely to my satisfaction.”

“Ah, but probably still stressful.” Jin Guangshan takes a piece of paper and studies it. “It says here that you’ve been working at a supermarket, at a bar and at the university library before.” He looks at Meng Yao over the rim of his glasses. “At the same time.”  

“That’s not entirely true. I—”

“Ah, and you still work at the library,” Jin Guangshan continues. He doesn’t seem to have heard Meng Yao.

“Pretty time-consuming, I’d say.” Jin Guangshan shakes his head. “And yet, your grades are excellent.” He nods appreciatively at his computer screen. When he turns it around, Meng Yao sees that it contains a detailed list of all grades he has received in his master’s degree so far.

“I think,” he continues, “it is about time to acknowledge your efforts.”

Meng Yao’s heart thuds in his chest.

“It is a pity that such a talented young economics student should have to earn the money for his accommodations in a bar and in a supermarket. I think the job at the library is not suitable for the university president’s son either.”

Meng Yao stares at him with wide eyes. His heart almost leaps out of his ribcage.

“I think you will be Jin … Guang … yao,” Jin Guangshan says slowly. “Yes, that sounds adequate.”

Meng Yao screams inside. Finally, finally his father is prepared to acknowledge him as his son.

“Working for the student union…” His father brushes over his goatee. “That is appropriate. It will look good on your résumé. However…”  

He pauses. It’s in this moment that Meng Yao realises there will be a terrible catch to Jin Guangshan’s offer.

“Having worked with Nie Mingjue … that will not look so good.”

Oh no. 

“He is far too direct, and I’m afraid several of his ideas do not please me.” Jin Guangshan frowns. “One should think an engineering major would know better than to allocate higher funding to the Fine Arts Department. But I suppose his little brother and best friend have turned his head. And that is not everything…”

Meng Yao has a sudden photographic vision of the 10-point programme Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen have compiled before they ran for the student union. He knows it by heart. Not all of the points are his doing, but every formulation is.  

Jin Guangshan asks him to undo his own work. It makes him feel sick.

But it gets worse.

“It is clear to me,” Jin Guangshan continues, “that Nie Mingjue must leave his position as president of the student union as soon as possible. I believe it would be suitable to expose his gross misappropriation of university funds as quickly as possible.”

Meng Yao blinks. My father is asking me to tamper with the student union funds and frame Nie Mingjue, he realises incredulously.

“Should you need a little incentive…” Jin Guangshan types a password in his computer, and suddenly all Meng Yao’s grades can be altered. He picks one of the modules and clicks into the percentage box. It says “95%”.

He changes it to “50%”.

“How easily it could happen that, by some unlucky accident, you lose all the grades that qualify you for a First Class Honours degree…”

The cursor hovers over the “Confirm” button. Jin Guangshan stares at Meng Yao. Then he clicks “Cancel”.

With an ominous “Think about it,” Meng Yao gets ushered out of the office. The moment the door clicks shut behind him, he sinks to the floor.

*

“So you decided to alter the student union’s accounting,” Lan Xichen says matter-of-factly.

“Yes,” Meng Yao confesses. He doesn’t say I saw no other way. He says nothing and awaits Lan Xichen’s judgement.

“Those two accounting errors Mingjue-xiong spotted – were they all you did or is there more?”

Meng Yao closes his eyes. Lan Xichen sounds so kind. He can’t lie.

Of course he can lie. He just makes the decision not to.

“There is more,” he says.

“Can it be reversed?”

“Yes.” This is also true.

Lan Xichen pushes his Macbook towards Meng Yao. “Can you reverse it now?”

Meng Yao freezes. Digs his fingers into his knees. Then he braces himself and takes the laptop.

Lan Xichen sits down next to him. Meng Yao thinks it is to make sure he is actually doing what he said he would. Then Lan Xichen leans against him, buries his head in the crook of his neck and breathes in. Meng Yao feels that little sag in the pit of his stomach again. Suddenly he is very motivated to undo the trap he has begun to set for Nie Mingjue, consequences be damned.

Lan Xichen still wants to touch him. Lan Xichen still trusts him enough not to check what exactly he is doing on the computer.

When he is done, he flips the laptop shut.

“What happens when I actually lose my chance to get a First Class Honours degree?” He hates that his voice wavers as he asks.

Lan Xichen doesn’t answer at once. He is too busy leaving a hickey on Meng Yao’s throat, right below his shirt collar. It’s a dangerous place for a hickey – too far up to remain covered under all circumstances. The idea that he claims it nonetheless makes Meng Yao feel lightheaded.

“We’re going to tell Mingjue-xiong tomorrow,” Lan Xichen says eventually. “Together we will find a way to thwart Jin Guangshan’s plans. Have faith.”

Meng Yao is scared of facing Nie Mingjue, but Lan Xichen seems to have enough faith for two. Somehow that is enough. He tilts up Lan Xichen’s face and kisses him on the lips.

Later on, Lan Xichen carries Meng Yao to bed. They take each other apart with touches and kisses until Meng Yao’s world narrows down to Lan Xichen and Lan Xichen alone. Lan Xichen, who whispers words full of trust and reassurance; who caresses Meng Yao until he feels treacherously safe, but certainly more ready to face the world outside.

*

When he wakes up in the early morning, Meng Yao gets breakfast in bed – steamed buns with black coffee, just the way he likes it.

Lan Xichen only drinks tea. Meng Yao would never have asked him to buy coffee for him, but one day, the coffee maker and the beans were simply there – in the same way that one day, a spare toothbrush set had appeared out of thin air.

He realises what Lan Xichen is doing – how he lays claim to be a growing part of Meng Yao’s life – ever so gently and unassumingly and yet with the determination of someone who has never been prone to fickle changes of mind. Meng Yao can hardly believe that Lan Xichen really means him because Lan Xichen is the heir of the wealthy Lan family and Meng Yao is … well, nobody. Has, in fact, brought it upon himself to remain nobody just because … because …

Yes, he still remembers why. But now he wonders if the sacrifices he has made – for Nie Mingjue, for their common goals – really outweigh the opportunity his father has offered him.

Then Lan Xichen comes back to bed to have breakfast with him. When they have eaten, he starts to kiss the coffee taste from Meng Yao’s lips.

It’s a normal day of the week. Meng Yao has lectures later on. He hardly allows himself to stay with Lan Xichen for the whole night anyway. But this time…

This time…

“I thought you didn’t like coffee,” Meng Yao tries to joke.

“But I like you.” Lan Xichen gazes into Meng Yao’s eyes and oh, he is so kind and beautiful it makes Meng Yao’s heart hurt.

He makes the mistake to wish he could have this every day, for the rest of his life. Nothing prepares him for the visceral burst of pain he feels as he remembers all the reasons why this isn’t a good idea.

Lan Xichen is so good to him. Good for him. Meng Yao knows he probably doesn’t deserve him, but he’ll be damned if he lets that keep him from clinging to every second they have together.

*

Meng Yao hasn’t been able to focus on his studies for two weeks and this day is no different. His macroeconomics teacher is starting to throw worried glances at him. Meng Yao has always been an active participant in her classes, but now he is only staring at his desk.

She doesn’t ask him what the matter is, but he knows it is only a question of time. He realises that he must make a move or he will lose his chance for a First Class Honours degree entirely without his father’s doing.

*

After his last lecture of the day, Meng Yao meets up with Lan Xichen in the corridor. He greets him as politely as always when they are in public, and together they walk to the student union offices.

Nie Mingjue sits behind his desk, working on the computer. His brother, who is practically part of the inventory at this point, sits on the sofa and paints something. He looks up to greet them with a wave of his fan.

Huaisang always seems to have a different fan these days, Meng Yao thinks distractedly. He makes a mental note to talk more about fan painting with him … if casual chats with Nie Huaisang are still possible after the discussion he is about to have with his brother. If he doesn’t get fired immediately from his position as secretary of the student union.

He realises he would miss Huaisang. Meng Yao hadn’t even thought about the possibility of having to cut him out of his life before.

One more reason to go through with it now.

He braces himself and walks to Nie Mingjue’s desk. Nie Mingjue looks up. Frowns at him. Meng Yao swallows the lump that has formed in his throat.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he says. “There is something I need to tell you.”

“Is this about the two mistakes you made?” Nie Mingjue’s eyes pierce right through him.

Meng Yao almost loses courage. Then Lan Xichen is beside him, putting his hand between his shoulder blades. The touch calms him enough to carry on.

“They weren’t mistakes.” He hates to hear the waver in his voice.

Nie Mingjue is silent.

“I thought so.”

Bit by bit, he tells Nie Mingjue about his visit to his father’s office. Meng Yao can tell that there are several parts when Nie Mingjue wants to interrupt him. He senses that behind him, Lan Xichen shakes his head. So Nie Mingjue does what Lan Xichen asks of him, just like he has always listened to Lan Xichen’s advice.

It is strange, a part of Meng Yao ponders, how people like Jin Guangshan only ever see Nie Mingjue as the driving force behind the student union. They tend to overlook that in all his gentleness, Lan Xichen is just as determined as his friend. Meng Yao would never make his father’s mistake.

Towards the end of Meng Yao’s narration, Nie Mingjue jumps from his chair and starts prowling the room like a caged tiger.

“So,” Meng Yao asks quietly, “will you fire me?”

“Fire you?” Nie Mingjue stares at him. “Fire you? No. After all, you did the right thing in the end. Though…” He narrows his eyes. “I’ll be watching you from now on, Meng Yao, is that clear?”

“Clear as day.” Meng Yao swallows hard.

“Change all your grades for the worse, huh?” Nie Mingjue growls after more pacing. “Does he really think he’d get through with that?” After a pause for thought, he adds: “There must be some backup mechanism that tracks changes and who made them. There must be.” Then he starts pacing again. And stops.

“We need someone who is good enough with computers to trace changes back to the account that made them.” He looks at Lan Xichen.

“Zixuan-xiong,” Lan Xichen says promptly. Meng Yao turns to stare at him.

“But would he help us?” wonders Nie Mingjue. His eyes are locked with Xichen’s.

“Against his own father?” Lan Xichen holds Nie Mingjue’s gaze, then turns to Meng Yao. “For his brother? I think he would.”

“Shall I ask him?” Nie Mingjue draws the phone from his jacket pocket like a weapon.

“Yes.” Lan Xichen locks eyes with Nie Mingjue again, who promptly taps a number in his phone’s address book.

*

Ten minutes later – Meng Yao can’t believe it is only ten minutes later – Jin Zixuan enters the student union offices. It is the first time Meng Yao sees him from up close. He has always kept a distance from his half-brother, certain that his presence would be unwelcome. Now he notices that Jin Zixuan is almost as tall as Lan Xichen. He has an elegant face with high cheekbones, showed to its best advantage by the elegant, expensive-looking suit he wears. When Meng Yao wants to bow deeply, he stops him – something only Xichen has ever done for him before.

“Mingjue-xiong said there was something you needed to tell me,” Jin Zixuan says, looking directly at Meng Yao. Not at Nie Mingjue; not at Lan Xichen. At him.

So Meng Yao retells his encounter with Jin Guangshan for the third time. Jin Zixuan doesn’t interrupt him, but there is a frown on his face that deepens as the story continues.

“I’m sorry,” he says when Meng Yao has ended. “This attempt at bribery is so perfidious it astonishes even me.” Jin Zixuan’s face hardens. “Maybe he thinks he can do that with an illegitimate child.”

Meng Yao presses his lips together. Lowers his eyes. He has thought the same.

Then someone brushes his arm. He looks up, surprised to find Jin Zixuan has given him an awkward pat.

“Don’t take it to heart,” Jin Zixuan says. “He is … insensitive, sometimes. Well, most of the time.” The fact that Jin Zixuan criticises his own father for him makes it a little better, but Meng Yao takes it to heart anyway.

“What do you suggest?” Lan Xichen asks. “How can we help both A-Yao and Mingjue-xiong?”

“Help them…” Jin Zixuan frowns again. “I don’t know yet…” He pauses. “I need a computer that is connected to the university network. Maybe….” He trails off. “I need to make sure it is possible.”

Meng Yao boots his computer. Jin Zixuan sits on his chair and … logs on with his father’s username and password. Meng Yao turns to Xichen, raising an eyebrow. Lan Xichen’s smile is a little more knowing than most people would believe but at this point, Meng Yao knows him well enough to read him.

You bastard! he thinks. I bet you had the idea to ask him yesterday, but you let me dangle!

Lan Xichen, for his part, seems to be able to read Meng Yao equally well. The smile turns into a smirk that makes Meng Yao’s heart stop before it starts beating twice as fast. He feels his cheekbones flush. Lan Xichen’s smile becomes smug before he lowers his head and breaks eye contact.

“There we are.” Jin Zixuan taps on Meng Yao’s desk, drawing their attention to the computer screen.

Meng Yao looks and sees rows and rows of characters and numbers that mean nothing to him. He exchanges a glance with Lan Xichen, who gives a small shrug.

“What are we seeing here?” asks Meng Yao before it can become awkward.

“That’s my father’s activity log for the grade management software. Wait, let me display the relevant parts of the code in a diagram, then it’ll become clearer…”

Meng Yao watches in fascination how Jin Zixuan copies parts of the code, opens another programme and creates a chart that Meng Yao can actually read.

“These are the accounts my father accessed in the past month,” Jin Zixuan explains nonetheless.

It isn’t grading season, so the list is short. But among the names listed are Nie Mingjue, once, Lan Xichen, once, and Meng Yao, seven times.

“I can also show you what he has done with every single account.” Jin Zixuan clicks back to the code. “Here are his actions. As you can see…” He turns to Meng Yao, only to find him stare uncomprehendingly at the screen. “Well, as you can see”, he addresses Nie Mingjue, who seems the only one able to follow him, “he didn’t do anything with your account. Just looked at the grades, probably.” He marks another part of the code. “Same for Xichen-xiong. But for my brother…” Again, he marks the relevant parts of the code. “The first and second times, he just looked at them. Then he changed one of your grades, actually for the better – that’s the third time – and reset the change on the fourth. The fifth time, he did nothing again.”

Meng Yao begins to recognise patterns. He points to a part of the code. “Is that a date?”

“Yes, that’s the time stamp. Well observed!” It doesn’t sound condescending; Jin Zixuan seems genuinely happy Meng Yao has picked up on part of the code.

“Then that was on the day he called me into his office. The other two were last week and … two days ago.” He looks at Jin Zixuan. “Did he … already…”

“No.” Jin Zixuan gives him a reassuring smile. “He didn’t change anything.” His smile falls. “But he’s probably thinking about it, just like he must have thought about forcing you to do his bidding before actually calling you to him.

“What do you suggest we do?” It’s Lan Xichen again. He is asking all the pragmatic questions; the ones Meng Yao would be asking if he didn’t feel so out of tune with himself right now.

“Meng Yao…” Jin Zixuan stands. Puts his hands on Meng Yao’s shoulders. “You must confront our father directly. I’m sorry, but I see no other way.”

Meng Yao stares at him. He knows he is a people-pleaser. Confronting people has never been his strong suit, let alone confronting people in a position of power. Opening up to Lan Xichen has been hard enough, and he has only managed to confess what he has done to Nie Mingjue because Lan Xichen has backed him up.

“I realise that this isn’t an easy task. But please hear me out.” Jin Zixuan’s eyes are compassionate. Meng Yao wonders what Jin Zixuan sees in his – fear? Cowardice? Whatever it is – Meng Yao nods.

Then Jin Zixuan explains his plan. It is … surprisingly simple. But this, Meng Yao hopes, is exactly why it might work.

*

The next morning, Jin Zixuan picks up Meng Yao in front of his student accommodations. When Meng Yao sees the expensive-looking black saloon car, he wishes he had told him to park a lot further down the road. He is aware of his current position and knows the car will cause comment. Getting accused of trying to sleep his way up – “like mother, like son” – has been one of his deepest fears for ages. Being seen in a car that is far out of his league won’t do anything to quell it.

At least the lowered saloon car takes Lan Xichen out of the equation. As much as humiliating comments about himself hurt, he knows he couldn’t bear it if anyone looked down on Lan Xichen for being with him.

“Hello,” Jin Zixuan greets him as Meng Yao opens the car door. He sounds almost as nervous as Meng Yao feels.

“Hello,” Meng Yao replies through the frog in his throat. Then he is suddenly faced with the problem of a huge picnic hamper on the passenger seat.

“Oh!” Jin Zixuan blushes as he notices the problem. “That’s … you know … my fiancée … anyway, just put it on the back seat.”

Meng Yao does as he is told, then sits down. Jin Zixuan starts driving. It takes a few minutes, but then Meng Yao’s curiosity gets the best of him.

“So … does your fiancée often cook for you?” he asks. He almost does a double-take as a big, happy smile appears on Jin Zixuan’s lips. It transforms his whole face.

“She does!” Jin Zixuan replies, trying and failing to reign in his big smile. “She knows I wouldn’t eat healthy food if she didn’t pre-cook it for me.” He blushes. “Just computer science student things, I guess. Do you like cooking?”

“I do, actually,” replies Meng Yao. “It’s just … I usually cook simpler things. This looks like it’s more elaborate.”

“It’s her famous pork ribs and lotus root soup!” Jin Zixuan says so proudly as if it was his famous pork ribs and lotus root soup. “It’s actually for more than just one person. She noticed most of my friends aren’t big on cooking as well, so she makes enough for us all.”

“Your fiancée must be very kind.” Almost too good to be true, Meng Yao thinks. Just like… Lan Xichen’s smiling face appears before his mind’s eye, and it is enough to make him feel warm and loved. He wonders if Jin Zixuan feels the same when he thinks of his fiancée.

“She is!” The bright smile is back on Jin Zixuan’s face. “May I ask – I hope I’m not overstepping – is there someone in your life, too?”

“There is.” It is out before Meng Yao can catch himself, and that has never happened. He all but shocks himself.

“Someone who is kind as well, I hope?” Jin Zixuan is curious; Meng Yao can sense it.

“Very kind,” he says quietly and is sure his face contorts into a foolish smile. He has never told anyone about Lan Xichen, but now that Jin Zixuan has touched upon the topic, he almost bursts with the urge to shout the enormity of his love out into the world.

“Let that kindness carry you as you stand before our father.” Jin Zixuan’s voice is hoarse. “That’s what I do.”

“That kindness always carries me.”

It’s the truth. Meng Yao hasn’t even known it to be true before he has said the words.

*

When they approach their father’s villa, Jin Zixuan actually stops a block away so Meng Yao can get out of the car unnoticed. Then he drives the rest of the way alone.

Meng Yao starts walking before he can second-guess what he is doing. At this point, there is nothing he wants more than to shirk any encounter with Jin Guangshan. But Jin Zixuan expects him to confront their father. So does Nie Mingjue. Lan Xichen, too…

Meng Yao imagines Lan Xichen right next to him – holding him; taking his hands. He imagines Lan Xichen to think of him in this very moment, and perhaps he really does. Maybe he plays a beautiful melody on his xiao, thinking of Meng Yao.

The image Meng Yao conveys before his mind’s eye is so powerful that he almost believes he could touch it; touch Lan Xichen’s cheekbones…

He is so beautiful and Meng Yao loves him so much.

He can only ever admit this to himself.

Or maybe he could admit it to his brother…

He makes a deal with himself: If Jin Zixuan’s plan succeeds, he will hand his secret to him on a silver platter. He will tell him about Lan Xichen.

This should be a scary prospect. Oddly enough, Meng Yao finds it extremely motivating.

*

The Jin villa is situated on a hill. There is a paved, winding road for cars leading up to it. There are also stairs that lead through a lush garden. It is the faster path for people on foot. Meng Yao knows it intimately well. When he had first come to Jin Guangshan in the hopes of getting recognised as his son, he had been thrown out of the house and rolled down … all the way down…

Meng Yao pushes the memory from his mind. Replaces it with the thought of Lan Xichen playing a melody for him. Then he climbs the stairs a second time. Rings the bell.

“Who is this?” a distorted male voice asks through the intercom.

“This is Meng Yao. I would like to speak with my father.” His voice sounds composed and polite. He is satisfied with it.

There is a pause. Meng Yao waits.

“The master says he will only talk to you if it is important enough.”

“It is important,” says Meng Yao. “I wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t extremely important.”

“First floor, second door to the left,” the bodiless voice buzzes with the electric strike. “And do not call him your father.”

Meng Yao opens the door and follows the voice’s instructions. Oddly enough, he feels angry rather than hurt. It is good anger. Cold anger. It clears his mind and pushes the fear away.

He knocks as soon as he is in front of the correct door.

“Come in!” he promptly hears Jin Guangshan’s voice.

“Father.” He opens the door and bows.

Do not call him your father, the voice has said. He will call Jin Guangshan his father because that is who he is.

“Meng Yao.” His father gestures to the chair opposite his desk. Meng Yao takes a seat.

“Let me be frank,” Jin Guangshan begins. “I am disappointed in you. I have been monitoring the student union’s accounts for the past two weeks. Not only did you make but little changes, you even reverted the ones you made. This is not how you will earn yourself the name of Jin Guangyao.”

“Good,” says Meng Yao, “because this isn’t how I want to earn myself a place in this family.”

“What did you say?” Jin Guangshan’s voice is dangerously quiet.

“I said I don’t want to earn myself a place in this family by framing Nie Mingjue.”

“How dare you!” Jin Guangshan leans forward, hands on the desk. Meng Yao is glad there is something between them, shielding him from potential violence. Then his father is able to control himself again. “You really do not value your chance to get a First Class Honours degree enough,” he adds with a glacial smile.

“I do value it,” Meng Yao objects. “Most of all, I value my own abilities to work for this degree. And even if you change all my grades for the worse, I will have earned it. I will prove that I deserve it.”

“Ah yes?” Jin Guangshan asks icily. He walks – prowls – around the desk. “And, pray, how will you go about doing that?”

Meng Yao stands. His hands shake, but he is not scared enough to back down.

“The question is: How will I go about doing that?”

Jin Zixuan is leaning against the doorframe. His arms are crossed before his chest, but in one hand, he holds his phone.

“I’m able to track all changes you make to the grade management programme,” he says. “I will also keep an eye on the grading because I don’t trust you not to bribe my brother’s teachers to give him worse grades. Understood?”

“Outrageous!” Jin Guangshan hisses. “Son! You will not…”

“I will,” Jin Zixuan insists. “I am also prepared to send this little recording to the higher education board.” He taps on his phone and shows Jin Guangshan as seen from the perspective of one of the buttonholes on Meng Yao’s suit coat.

Jin Guangshan whips around to Meng Yao, pulling at his collar.

“You…” Then he turns to Jin Zixuan. “Delete this at once!”

“I will not.” Jin Zixuan says calmly. “Besides, this isn’t the only phone to which this recording was sent. One of the others is Nie Mingjue’s, so be careful what you say about him. And don’t even think of manipulating Yao-Yao’s grades again. I will find you out.” He steps further into the room.

“I think it’s about time you stop trying to frame Nie Mingjue and recognise my brother without all these shenanigans.”

*

After three hours and an excruciating visit to a tailor who kept calling Meng Yao – Jin Guangyao – handsome, his brother and him lean against Jin Zixuan’s car, watching the sundown over a lake. They share a bottle of wine – not the cheap stuff but something heady and expensive. Jin Guangyao, who never gets drunk, feels tipsy after just one glass. He doesn’t know if the fuzzy warmth in his stomach is the wine’s doing alone. The fact that his brother’s upper arm brushes comfortably against his shoulder might factor in somehow as well.

“So,” Jin Zixuan says after a while. “The one whose kindness always carries you…”

Jin Guangyao stiffens in fear. Then he drops the bombshell.

“It’s Lan Xichen.” He hates how vulnerable his voice sounds.

“Good,” Jin Zixuan says promptly. “I couldn’t think of a better person.” He bumps against his brother’s shoulder. “Except Jiang Yanli, of course.” Jin Guangyao hears the smile in his voice.

“Your fiancée?”

“My fiancée.” Jin Zixuan laughs. “Lan Xichen and Jiang Yanli. We are some happy fools, aren’t we?”

Happy? Jin Guangyao thinks. Am I happy?

He knows all too well that his relationship with Lan Xichen is something he can only tell to a few people. There is too much prejudice surrounding him and his origins, even though he has finally been recognised as a member of the Jin family.

“Speak for yourself,” he mumbles. It is only after the words have left his mouth that he realises he has just called his brother a fool. But Jin Zixuan only grins and bumps his shoulder again.

“Yes, roast me,” he laughs. “I deserve it. I’ve been the biggest fool until A-Li and me got together. Even now, it’s only thanks to her that I’m a reasonably functional human being.”

“You’re a very kind person, too,” says Jin Guangyao, and he means it. “It’s only thanks to you that I have this name…”

“The name!” Suddenly, Jin Zixuan is angry. “He shouldn’t have named you Guangyao. By all means, you should have been Jin Ziyao.”

“It’s alright.” Jin Guangyao lowers his eyes. “I’m not picky. At least I’m a Jin now.”

“You should be. You’d have deserved it.” Jin Zixuan waves the arm that doesn’t brush against his brother’s shoulder. It’s an obvious attempt to distract from soppy feelings.

“And I realise I’m decidedly too drunk to drive,” he adds after a pause. “Let me call us a taxi.” He takes his phone, searches an address and hits speed dial.

“Mingjue-xiong?”

*

It has become quite cold and dark when the headlights of two motorbikes and a sidecar appear on the path to the lake.

“How did it go? How did it go?” Huaisang cries from the sidecar as soon as they stop.

“Quite well.” Jin Zixuan grins and gestures. “Meet Jin Guangyao, who is now officially my brother.”

“And the attempt to frame da-ge…”

“Thwarted, at least for the time being.”

“Good.” Nie Huaisang sighs in relief.

Meanwhile, Lan Xichen has approached Jin Guangyao.

“So,” he says quietly. “You’re Jin Guangyao now. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“Can I still call you A-Yao then?”

Jin Guangyao is suddenly overcome with emotion. He doesn’t know if it’s because of the alcohol or because of Lan Xichen’s words – probably both.

“You can always, always call me A-Yao!” he exclaims and flings himself against Lan Xichen. Wraps his arms around his neck. Pulls him down for a kiss.

Lan Xichen freezes. Then he kisses back and Jin Guangyao basks in his warmth and tenderness.

Huaisang cheers and claps with his fan.

The headlights are too bright, Jin Guangyao notices as they break the kiss. He can see his brother’s knowing smile, so they can probably all see his blush, too.

Then he meets Nie Mingjue’s gaze. The poor man looks as if he has seen a ghost.

Next to him, Lan Xichen starts laughing. He has a beautiful laugh, kind and pleasant to listen to.

“Mingjue-xiong,” Lan Xichen says between giggles. “Don’t be so surprised! You must have noticed how we look at each other.”

“Yes, but…” Nie Mingjue gestures helplessly. “And office romance! In my office!”

“It’s more likely than you think,” Lan Xichen teases. He wraps his arms around Jin Guangyao’s waist.

Suddenly, foolishly, Jin Guangyao thinks that maybe, maybe he could be happy. At least sometimes; at least for a little while. Perhaps for as long as Lan Xichen will have him, even. Which is hopefully for the rest of his life.

[sparkleofpizza]

The archer - Tim Drake x reader 4/?

Requested: no

Warnings: swearing, death, gore, fluff 

Taglist: @isthataladybag @the-fandom-ness @takoyakkun @caswinchester2000 

Summary: Y/n Queen will be living in the Wayne Manor for a while, and Dick Grayson decided to be the Cupid between her and his little brother Tim Drake.

Word count: 2.807

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7

Arrow after arrow was shot to the target glued to the wall. You kept going, practicing was a good thing to keep your mind off things and also clear your head. Sometimes it was good to just let your pent up feelings go with every arrow that left your quiver.

You haven’t been out on patrol since you moved to Gotham two months ago, all you did was sometimes spare with Jason - that was a rare occurrence now, he had one of his many fights with Bruce and has been avoiding the manor lately. That left you to practice archery on your own, not that you minded, it was good being alone for a while.

You could feel Damian’s eyes on you. You knew he had been keeping a close eye on you ever since they found out about the whole League of Assassins stuff. Even if you hadn’t heard what they were talking at the kitchen, you would’ve still found out he was suspicious of you, he didn’t know how to keep a low profile when giving you murderous glares or muttering under his breath - maybe he wasn’t trying to be subtle, maybe he wanted you to know he was keeping tabs on you. 

You didn’t mind him watching you, you just kept doing your thing at the batcave. You didn’t want to pick a fight with a twelve year old. 

“Hi.” Tim said, a smile on his face as he came to a stop beside you “I didn’t see you at breakfast today.”

“Good morning.” You nodded your head, not daring to look at him “I didn’t have breakfast today.”

He frowned “Why not?”

“So I could practice.”

He nodded his head, watching you do your thing. You looked beautiful, deadly and beautiful. He couldn’t help but admire you, you didn’t even seem to notice - at least he hoped you didn’t, he didn’t want to seem creep.

“Do you want to have breakfast with me?” He asked before he could think about it 

“I thought you already had breakfast.” You put your bow down to look at him 

He smiled sheepishly “I could never pass up the opportunity to drink more coffee and spend some time basking at your company.”

You felt heat spread through your cheeks. That was very smooth of him.

You nodded your head, agreeing to his idea of breakfast. You didn’t trust your voice to not betray you with your feelings for him if you spoke your agreement out loud.

You put your bow and arrows away, taking that time to gain control back of your emotions. This is Tim, the guy who doesn’t trust you enough to ask you questions about you himself - you had to remind yourself that. 

“I was thinking we could have breakfast at a cafe downtown.” He said, walking out of the cave with you “It is one of my favorite places, they have really good coffee.”

“Sure.” You smiled at him “I just need to get changed.”

Tim nodded, taking notice of your sports bra and leggings. He let his gaze linger on your body as you disappeared from his sight to go to your room to get dressed. 

After taking a quick shower and throwing on some clothes, and sunscreen on your face. You went down to meet Tim waiting for you.

You honestly had no idea what to expect from this breakfast with him. You were still weary of him after the conversation you overheard. You are still waiting for him to tell you, but apparently he wasn’t going to do so, and you are honestly disappointed.

Dating had always been a hard thing for you, considering your life and everything. You tried dating people you met at high school, but you couldn’t exactly say ‘hi, I can’t go on a date with you tonight because I am helping the Green Arrow fight a big threat to the city.’ Then again, most people were only interested in dating a Queen and not to exactly date you. And you also did try to date Connor, but it just didn’t work, you see each other too much as a family to have romantic feelings involved. 

And then you met Tim, and he was cute and sweet and pretty and soooo incredible. You really did think that maybe things would go right this time, but just like everyone else in your love life, he let you down. 

As you sat at the coffee shop, stirring your drink with a straw, you watched as Tim seemed way too nervous. He kept pushing his hair back and gripping on his cup.

“Are you ok?” You questioned, eyeing him suspiciously 

“Y-yeah. No.” He shook his head making you frown “There’s something you should know.” 

You nodded, motioning for him to keep talking. Whatever he was going to tell you, didn’t seem like it was a good thing. 

“I did something bad, something I really shouldn’t have done. And guilty has been eating me alive because I just can’t believe it I did it instead of taking to you.”

Oh. Oh. Oh. 

Is he going to tell you what you think he is going to tell you? 

"What did you do?" you asked quietly after a moment of silence 

Tim took a deep breath before looking into your eyes. It was now or never.

"After you told us about the League of Assassins thing, I realized I didn't know much about you, so instead of asking you what I wanted to know I looked you up and found out a lot of things about you. I am really sorry I treated you as some sort of criminal, it was not my intention and I realized that I shouldn't have done that the minute I finished doing it."

You kept quiet, processing his words. Although you already knew the truth, you are still trying to find out if he really means what he said. He didn't seem to be lying, and he does seemed very nervous to tell you that. 

"I already knew."

He blinked a few times, not fully comprehending what you had just said.

"I'm sorry, what?"

You smiled a little "I said I already knew what you did, Tim." you chuckled "I overheard you and your brothers talking in the kitchen."

"And you're not mad?" His eyes were wide, making him look adorable 

"Oh, I am more upset and disappointed than mad. I didn't say anything because I wanted to know if you were going to tell me, and I am glad you did."

He nodded his head, feeling a bit of relief, but also sad you are upset and disappointed with him. These are not good feelings. 

"I spent the last two week trying to find ways to tell you, none of them seemed good enough because what I did was really a shit action." He hesitantly grabbed your hand that was lying on top of the table, his cold fingers caressing your palm, making shivers go down your spine "I'm really sorry about what I did, y/n. And I totally understand if you don't want to talk to me anymore. I just need you to know that I am truly deeply sorry."

You smiled at him, squeezing his hand. Could this boy be more perfect? 

"It's ok, Timmy, I understand why you did what you did. In this line of work, you can't make mistakes, even if it means doubting people you shouldn't be doubting." You leaned over the table, pecking his cheek "I forgive you."

Tim seemed to be in a daze for a few seconds, processing your words and the kiss you just gave him. 

"Thank you. I don't know what I would do if you didn't want to talk to me anymore, I really like you."

His cheeks were tinted a dust pink and so were yours.

"I really like you, too."

To say you and Tim were living daydreaming after having admitted you two liked each other was an understatement. You were so happy that he liked you two that it didn't even occur to you that you said you liked each other and then did nothing about it. But Dick Grayson was having none of it.

"So you're telling me you told y/n that you like her and she said she likes you back, but you didn't kiss her or even asked her out on a proper date?" he had to refrain himself from yelling out in frustration 

He and Tim were standing together at a rooftop of an apartment building while on patrol. He asked his little brother how the two of you were doing, and although he was delighted to hear you both declared liking each other, he was very disappointed that was it. Nothing more happened.

"I was too busy making sure she didn't hate me after what I did." Tim shook his head, not believing his older brother was disappointed in him "I didn't know if I'd be rushing into things by kissing her after what I told her."

Dick nodded his head, heaving a sight "I know, I know. It is just that... Oh, there is so much sexual tension when you two are together, I just want you to kiss and be a happy sweet little couple together! Is that too much to ask?!"

The younger boy felt his cheeks heat up with what the other had said. There wasn't that obvious sexual tension between you two. Was there? Oh God, he hopes not, that would awkward for other people. Tim still remembers how he felt weird when Dick was pinning over Kori, the tension between them, the endless flirting and longing looks, it used to kill him to be in their presence with the Titans. He didn't want anyone to go trought what he did, and to know he was doing the same. The worst, or best, part was that he didn't even realize it because he was so enchanted by you that he didn't notice he was pinning over you that hard.

"I'll ask her to have dinner with me tomorrow." Tim settled with that, if you are still awake when he returns home from patrol then he will ask you out on a proper date, that's it 

"Good, and then I will help you prepare it!" the older boy grinned at his little brother

Before Tim could reply, telling him there was no need to do so, Jason cut their conversation short.

"Although, I love to hear about replacement's love life, there is still a job to be done." he said trough the coms "So if you could meet me that would be great. There is some fucked up shit here."

You didn't want to seem desperate, but you also couldn't help but stay awake waiting for Tim to return home after patrol. You had already talked for almost two hours on the phone with Connor, telling him everything that happened. Then you FaceTimed Oliver to see how his mission was doing, and proceeded to get very annoyed with the fact that he still refused to tell what the mission was, saying he would tell you everything once he gets back next week. 

You also tried sleeping, but you kept thinking about your brother's safety and then your thoughts would drift back to Tim and how you wished when you kissed his cheek, earlier today, that you had kissing him on the mouth instead. 

That left you wandering around the cave, telling Alfred you were just waiting for them to come back in case any of them were hurt and needed medical assistance. The butler knew you were just waiting for Tim to arrive, but didn't say anything, only gave you a knowing smile.

So when they all finally arrived home, you expected tired faces and sore muscles, not faces like they've seen ghosts. You frowned upon watching their expressions, did something happen? 

Bruce had a deep frown on his face and quickly dismissed Alfred when he asked him something. Damian went straight to the showers, Dick and Jason had lost looks on their faces, and Tim seemed deep in thought, almost missing the chair as he sat down to use the batcomputer, typing furiously in it. 

You bit your lower lip, it seemed like it had been a rough night. Thankfully none of them were hurt. 

"Hey." you said in a low tone, not really wanting to disturb Tim, but also wanting to give him some comfort "Everything alright?"

He turned to look at you, in his hurry to use the computer he didn't even took his mask off. You raised your hands, brushing some hair from his forehead, and then pulling the mask away from his face, reveling his blue eyes and deep bags. 

"Hi." he whispered, basking in your tender touch, you rubber his temple, trying to ease some tension "Just something that doesn't make sense."

You hummed, letting your hand go to his hair as you massaged his scalp with your fingernails. Tim closed his eyes, enjoining the sensation you were proportioning to him. He placed his arms around your waist, pulling you closer to him as he smushed his face against your chest, listening to your heartbeat. After what he saw tonight, feeling your warmth and sweet touch were everything his needed. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" you questioned him, not wanting him to you trough this alone 

"It is not something nice, I'm not sure if..." you placed a kiss on top of his head and he almost melted against you "It is a really horrible thing to say, are you sure you want to know it?"

"Yes." you tilted his back so he could look you in the eyes "Tell me, you don't have to suffer alone." you kissed both of his cheeks 

Tim felt his insides burning, he wasn't used to so much affection. Of course, his brother Dick was a man of hugs, he loves to hug his brothers, but other than that, Tim is a pretty touch starved boy. He was almost sighing in contentment with your touch and kisses, he wanted nothing more than to just stay like this forever. 

"Ok." he pulled back from you, still keeping his arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you down so you could sit on his thighs, he wanted to be able to look you in the eyes 

You smiled at him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders.

So Tim proceeded to tell you what him and his family had seen tonight. The trail of bodies at the casino Jason asked them to meet him. All the blood and every single one of the people in there dead. How they all looked horribly, so many wounds, so many knives, arrows, bullets. It was honestly one of the worst things he had ever seen in his life - he was Red Robin and before that Robin, born and raised in Gotham, he had seen a lot of horrible things in his life, but what he saw tonight? It was absurd. 

All the time he was telling you the events, you kept a comforting hand on him, wether caressing his hair, or trailing patters on his arms. He was glad you were there, making him calm and come down from the high emotions he was feeling. 

"This sounds like something the League could do." you muttered

He shook his head "There was something off about that, it didn't look like the League of Assassins pattern."

"Maybe the League of Shadows?"

He shook his head again, staring at the computer screen across from you.

"Can you show me?" you asked, he frowned at you 

"I don't think you should see it, pretty bird. It really is horrible."

"Maybe I can help. Please."

He hesitantly pulled the pictures he took with his phone, showing the casino littered with bodies. Your small hands zoomed into the picture, watching it with close eye and disgust, it really was horrible. You were sure this would cloud your nightmares tonight. 

"I know this arrows." you said "Malcom Merlyn uses them."

"So you think this was a mercenary work?" he questioned, it did make a bit of sense, but it was so brutal the way they were killed

You shook your head. Still staring at the picture in front of you, a thousand of thoughts running trough your mind. Possibilites, theories, everything. You couldn't even bring yourself to conclude one thought before another came crashing down. 

Tim gripped at your hands before closing the picture. Staring at it would do you no good. He also didn't want to look at it anymore for now. 

You turned around to look at him, a frown adorning your face making him worry.

"Timmy, have you ever heard of the Ninth Circle?"

[samsonet]

Power Trip

In which Piers is an actual bad guy and does actual bad guy-things.

*

Obstruct is a dark-type move. It’s unique among dark-type moves in that it is a straightforward block. In fact, it works remarkably like the move King’s Shield. But while Aegislash is the partner of kings, Obstagoon have traditionally been seen with traitors and outcasts.

Piers made his peace long ago with being the outcast of the league. They get a heel, and he gets a nice paycheck and a region-wide audience. He’s always been more comfortable as an outsider anyway. After all, he’s from Spikemuth.

The crowd roars when Leon’s Aegislash protects itself. They jeer when Obstagoon does the same.

Not like it matters, anyway. Of course Leon wins.

The champion grins as they shake hands, praising Piers on training his Pokémon so well. There’s no use returning the compliment. He gives a strained smile and waves dismissively to the cameras as he walks off the pitch.

“Leader Piers! Why didn’t you Dynamax when Leon did?”

“Do you think your unusual battle style caused your defeat today?”

“Can you tell us about the album you’re currently working on?”

He doesn’t answer any of them. He doesn’t have to; his contract is very clear that he is only obligated to talk to reporters at press events, and only if he’s been given twenty-four hours’ notice that there will be a press event. Besides, the questions they’re asking now will just have the same answers he’s given before. He hates repeating himself.

*

Aura Wheel is a dark-type move. Or it is half the time, anyway. It’s funny. While the dark type is mostly defined by pragmatic actions, it is also associated with, well, darkness. There’s no “light” type, but if there was one, it would be electric.

Piers congratulates himself again on choosing the perfect partner for his sister.

He wants Marnie to shine. He may be biased, but he thinks she's the most amazing person on earth. She’s a good person, better than he is, and she’s a good battler, better than he is. If anyone deserves to be champion, it’s her.

But success in the league takes more than talent. It takes a willingness to follow the league’s standards, it takes well-faked enthusiasm, it takes marketability.

So Piers is more than willing to use his influence to give her an edge.

He starts with his gym trainers’ admiration of Marnie, encouraging them to cheer for her at her matches. He gives them a name: Team Yell. Soon there are others joining the fan club. Nobody complains about his directions.

Fandom is part of the spectacle of the league. Piers is the leader of Team Yell, but officially, he’s not responsible for any mild mischief a fan gets up to. He doesn’t even direct them to do much. At least, he doesn’t direct the grunts. His gym trainers, yeah, they do the important stuff.

Rose is up to something. It’s big — Piers knows this because every project the chairman takes on is. It’s shady — Piers knows this because it’s not like the man to keep his projects quiet.

He sends Team Yell around the region and does some investigating himself. Nobody questions why Piers is suddenly showing up to league meetings; they’re just happy that he is. He comes to Rose Tower when he’s invited, and he stays even after the meetings are over. He walks through the lesser-used stairways, down the closed-to-the-public halls.

That’s when he hears the name Eternatus.

Luckily for him, Macro Cosmos’ grunts don’t seem to realize the importance of secrets. From scattered conversations he figures out that there’s a great big something in Hammerlocke, under the energy plant. It’s not league-approved, but then Rose is perhaps the only man in Galar more powerful than the league.

If Piers is smart, he can find a way to use this.

So he starts spending more time in Hammerlocke. It’s fun, actually; he and Raihan are friends, and they’ve managed to make a lot of progress on their DnD campaign. They even train together sometimes, making use of Raihan’s 24/7 access to the stadium.

Being a specialist means knowing when to taunt and when to flatter.

* He’s hanging out with Raihan when the latter says, “Wanna see something?”

Of course.

Raihan slides his key card by the elevator and takes him to the bottom floor.

The basement smells of gasoline. There’s a large orb in the center of the room; this, Raihan tells him, is Eternatus. See the tubes here? That’s where Rose is going to store the energy of the Pokemon. See this gadget here, only a couple inches bigger than Raihan’s hand? It’s Rose’s plan B, meant to control the beast if it gets out of hand.

Raihan starts his explanation calmly, but as he goes into detail, a touch of hysteria enters his voice.

“All this… It’s scary, right? This thing is so powerful and we’re depending on a piece of metal to control it. Literally nobody else seems to have a problem with it. That’s weird, isn’t it? Or is it weird that I’m terrified?”

“Not weird at all, mate. I’ll admit it’s giving me the creeps, too,” he says. But his eyes are drawn to that blinking piece of metal on the table.

The control switch. Something that would reverse the power of the wishing stars and calm the monster down.

It’s not that he thinks his little sister can’t beat Leon legitimately. She definitely can. But he taught her to use dark-types, and dark-types don’t play fair if they can help it.

When Raihan’s back is turned, Piers snatches up the switch and slides it in his sleeve. It fits comfortably between his wrist and elbow. If he curls his fingers just so, he can hold it in place without being obvious.

Sorry, Leon, he thinks. It’s nothing personal.

Thief is a dark-type move, too.

*

Piers meets Leon’s brother soon after. The kid is bright, and he definitely has talent of his own. He does tend to overthink things, but Piers has seen worse flaws. The Yell grunts say that this kid made Marnie smile within five minutes of meeting her. Anyone who can do that has earned some respect in Spikemuth.

“Good job, kid. You’ve got style.”

Hop beams. “Thanks! See you later!”

Leon’s other endorsee? Well, she exists. She arrives, she wins, she leaves. Real quiet, that one.

He doesn’t see them again until the night of the semifinals, when Marnie comes to him in her version of a panic. Her friends (friends!) Gloria and Hop were waiting for Leon to meet with them, but he never showed. They’re worried. Marnie’s worried. Piers is not. He suspects he knows where Leon is, and why.

(Rose loves his speeches.)

He sends the kids on a fool’s errand with the excuse of distracting the Macro Cosmos trainers. While they’re gone, he heads up the tower himself. All it takes is a few psychic commands from Malamar to get a lift key and remove distractions.

On the top floor, Piers makes his presence known. “Hey.”

That gets Rose to shut up. Hard to monologue when there are witnesses, hm?

“Yer brother’s waitin’ for ya. You’d better go get him that dinner you promised.” He gives Rose a steady glare. “Unless I’m interruptin’ somethin’?”

The chairman smiles. “It’s alright. Leon, think about what I said.”

For most of the elevator ride down, Leon is quiet. Then he says, “Thanks for rescuing me. You’re a good friend, Piers.”

“Don’t say that. I’ve got a reputation t’ uphold.”

*

As expected, Rose’s plan goes horribly wrong. The safeguards fail; Leon is called to Hammerlocke; all of Galar gets to see just what kind of men their chairman and champion are.

Marnie’s friends try to leave the stadium. Hop is determined to help Lee, apparently, even though Leon is the unbeatable champion and Hop has nowhere near the experience or raw strength his brother does.

Piers knows he’s a bastard, but he isn’t going to let Marnie’s friends get themselves killed on a hopeless mission.

“You can’t just run off to Leon an’ leave me all alone. I’m bored. Do me a favor an’ keep me company here, yeah?”

“No!” Hop cries. “Lee needs us! We won’t let you stand in our way!”

It’s heartwarming that Hop wants to rescue his brother. Piers is sympathetic, even.

But he will not allow these kids to interfere.

“Then I think I’ll invite Team Yell along, and we'll have ourselves a bit of fun, shall we?”

[spritewrites]

birthday minutes

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy

Characters: the Hargreeves siblings

Word Count: 2913

All eyes are trained on Ben’s wristwatch. “Okay, three… two… one… go!”

Allison rounds on Luther. “Okay, so what first?”

Luther’s grin takes up nearly all of his face. “Have you guys ever been to the museum?”

“Is that in the city?” Diego asks, his brow furrowing. Luther nods.

“By the library. I saw it on a map, and I found a pamphlet in the mail. They have an exhibit on airplanes all month.”

“That sounds boring,” Klaus groans, but Allison shoots him a look that shuts him up. He sighs. “I know, I know. But just wait until my turn, mine will be fun.”

–

Fifteen minutes and a bus ride later, seven pairs of loafers are marching single-file into the Argyle Technological Museum. Klaus decides he’d still rather be anywhere else, but Five is at his back pushing him along – “Move it, stupid, I want to see the rocket demonstration” – and Luther’s eyes are as big as saucers, so that’s something, he thinks.

They spend a little over an hour in the museum, grateful to finally be old enough that Mom doesn’t have to tag along. Five watches the rocket demonstration eight times, Allison finds a television hall that she drags Ben and Klaus into, and Vanya ends up spending most of the time in a movie that talks about the development of the automobile; she’s always wanted to learn to drive. Luther spends the whole time at the airplane exhibit, telling an unwilling Diego about all the different models. At one point, he even corrects the lecturer, which makes him very pleased.

Klaus isn’t very impressed with the television hall, but there’s one television that’s playing a station with live music that he gravitates towards. Ben ends up looking at one that’s playing the nature channel, and Allison looks at the enormous floor-to-ceiling pictures of movie stars. They’re much bigger than the posters she has in her room.

At one point Five points them toward an exhibition that has a picture of them, which is strange. They look at it for a few minutes, reading about the ways that their presence in the city has impacted the technology of the police force, but eventually they get too creeped out and have to leave. The long hallways of the museum take them all in different directions, scattering to all the little corners that hold never-before-seen treasures of information about the “real world.”

At five minutes to eleven, Five begins the Herculean task of rounding them all back up in the lobby. With just one minute to spare, they stare with enormous eyes as the little hands of Ben’s watch tick toward the hour. As the moment approaches, they begin the chant, with Klaus playfully pointing at each sibling when their number passes.

“Seven… six… five… four… three… two… one… go!”

Six pairs of eyes turn eagerly to Diego, who’s wearing a frighteningly mischievous smile. “Have you guys ever heard of go-karts?”

–

Vanya’s got her hands clapped over her eyes, screaming for her life. “Slow down, I’m gonna – HELP!” Klaus cackles, screeching around a corner, and Vanya lets out another yelp as she is shoved violently into the side of the car. “Klaus!”

“We can’t let them catch up!” her brother shouts over the whir of the engine, yanking the steering wheel just enough to cut off Diego and Ben, who are hot on their heels – er, tires. He laughs again when Diego lets out a frustrated yell.

“It’s my birthday, asshole!”

“It’s our birthday!” Klaus shoots back, sticking his tongue out.

Vanya sucks her bottom lip between her teeth, gripping the edge of the door with white knuckles. “When it’s my turn, we’re doing something more quieeeEET!” The kart spins nearly out of control, but Klaus has an iron grip on the wheel, and they skid to a halt inches from the wall that surrounds the track.

“Fuck,” Klaus mutters, and Vanya knows he’s not supposed to use that word, but the wild yell that Allison lets out as she and Five scream past them distracts her. Ben’s cursing too, on the other side of the track, and Diego’s whooping and laughing, and Luther (who’s too big to have a kart partner) keeps crashing into the rubber tires in the middle when he tries to turn. Klaus revs the engine again, and Vanya finds the small part of her that’s enjoying this and yanks it up from within, letting herself release a crazed shriek as they speed away.

At ten minutes to one, they all climb out, tip the go-kart operator with some wadded-up cash that Five has left over from last Christmas, each grab a piping-hot corn dog from a stand, and turn their red-cheeked, windblown faces to Allison.

“What’s next?”

–

Really, they should have known that Allison’s grin held too much mischief to be anything good. Diego nearly has to be dragged into her bedroom, kicking and screaming, but he knows the rules as well as any of them: whatever you choose, goes. For two hours, no matter what. And so, when Allison gathers them all on the floor of her room, in a neat little circle on the rug, she’s got them right where she wants them.

She looks each of her siblings dead in the eyes, lips quirking up into a smile as she gives Klaus a wink and asks slyly, “Who’s going first?”

Klaus’ hand shoots up in the air, and she sets to work. It’s hard with adopted siblings, since most of her palettes won’t suit them, but she figures she can scrounge up enough to cobble together a nice look for each of them. Luther puts on a record of a diva that Allison likes, and there in the pink glow of her room, she makes each of them beautiful.

Klaus gets his usual look and loves it instantly, of course, and Ben goes second, announcing that “he can do anything Klaus can do.” He actually comes out rather nicely, Allison thinks, with his little round cheeks stained with rouge. The rest of them aren’t so eager, so Vanya goes next, and Allison sweeps her bangs up and out of her eyes as part of the look; Vanya’s so shocked at the transformation, that she decides then and there that she’ll grow them out.

There’s a lot of shoving, but Luther ends up going next, and Allison revels in this because a) it’s Luther, and b) he’s got the lightest hair of any of them and she can use her chalk hair dye.

Diego nearly falls over giggling when she reveals the final product. “He looks like a troll doll!” he chokes out, but Allison fixes him with a glare.

“It’s my birthday, and I think he looks nice.” Luther turns bright red behind the makeup.

“It’s our birthday,” Five points out.

Allison glares. “Just for that, you’re going next.”

Five actually turns out okay, because Allison manages to highlight his dimples so that he looks like a model. He decides not to complain; after all, it’s her birthday.

Diego goes last, and Allison nearly can’t finish in time.

“Stop squirming.”

“It tickles,” he whines, scrunching up his nose as the brush passes over it again. Eventually, Allison has to get Luther and Ben to hold him down, but Luther’s so grumpy about Diego’s earlier comments that he keeps pinching his sides, making him yelp and whine even more.

“Diego, I swear, you’ve got to stop moving or this lipstick will get everywhere.”

“Luther’s – HEY! Luther’s torturing me, I’m gonna die!”

“Are not,” Luther mumbles, but he lets up enough for Allison to finish just as the clock downstairs alerts them that her two hours are up.

“Quick, go go go!” Five hisses, scrubbing at his face with a towel.

–

Klaus takes them all to a movie at the cinema, which they’ve never done before. They’ve seen some educational films as part of their schooling, and every now and then they’ll gather up enough quarters to rent a movie from the rental house down the street. They usually get horror movies that they can critique – “Eldritch tentacle creatures look nothing like that!” – but the look on Klaus’ face suggests that they’re not in the market for a horror movie.

Klaus makes sure that he buys the tickets, so the movie can be a “surprise.” That fills them all with a bit of trepidation, but their brother swiftly ushers them over to the concessions, and the almost overwhelmingly buttery smell of popcorn pulls any hesitation straight out of them. Armed with monstrously large buckets of salty goodness (and about a year’s supply of soda and Sour Patch Kids), they settle into plush oversized movie seats to see what Klaus has in store for them. Vanya looks the most nervous, but she always looks nervous, so the others don’t pay her any mind.

Ben isn’t so sure about the shit-eating grin on Klaus’ face as the previews roll, but whatever he’s anticipating, it’s nothing compared to when the film actually starts. The very second the others realize that Klaus has picked a rom-com – and not only that, a sappy rom-com – they all simultaneously groan and sink down in their seats.

“It’s the only one that was under the time limit,” Klaus protests by way of explanation, but the way that his bottom lip is caught gleefully between his teeth suggests otherwise. Luther decides then and there that as soon as this birthday is over, he’s making Klaus pay.

The movie isn’t hard to follow; it’s something about a girl with chronic amnesia and her fiancé who goes to war, or something. Maybe it’s the other way around. Five falls asleep halfway through, and the others have to nearly shake his brain out of his skull to stop his snoring. But when they all stumble out of the theater, blinking blearily into the mid-afternoon sun, Klaus looks pleased as punch. Nobody mentions that Diego’s eyes are suspiciously red and watery. After all, the twist about the love interest’s sister was pretty devastating.

Ben checks his watch. “Three minutes.”

Five rubs at his eyes, grumpy at being woken up. “We don’t need to wait. My birthday request is going to be all of you leaving me alone for two hours.”

Allison groans, shoving him. “Come on, for real.”

“I’m serious. I’m going to go home and take a nap and none of you assholes are gonna bother me for—”

“Five.”

He huffs. “Fine. Come on.”

–

“Really?” Vanya asks, her eyes wide as she steps over the sticky threshold.

“Shut up.” Five’s ears are red, but Klaus is bouncing on his toes.

“Awesome, Fiver,” he cries, making a mad dash for the first machine he sees.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been in an arcade,” Allison says, pulling some money out of her pocket, “only seen it in movies. How’d you find this place?”

“I come here sometimes,” Five mumbles, and his shoulders are up by his ears, maybe to hide the flush.

Ben puts a hand on his shoulder, in the soft way that he always does. “What’s your favorite game?”

The redness around the tips of Five’s ears doesn’t quite go away, but his dimples appear for a heartbeat, and then he’s got Ben’s hand in his and is dragging him off toward a Skee-ball machine.

Luther finds a strength tester and spends forever trying to find the happy medium that would get him the tickets without breaking the machine, with Vanya cheering him on. Allison and Klaus play a memory game and nearly win twice, and Diego spends almost twenty dollars spinning a wheel to get about ten tickets, with which he buys a lollipop.

When they’ve almost exhausted their quarter supply, Ben tugs on enough sleeves to convince them to pile into the tiny photobooth in the corner of the arcade. The most reluctant, unsurprisingly, is Five.

“We have to commemorate your birthday!” Allison says, only half teasing.

“Our birthday,” Luther reminds her, and that gets Five mad enough to stomp his way through the curtain.

They almost don’t fit, between Luther’s big shoulders and Klaus’ bony limbs, but eventually they’re all squeezed in. Diego puts in a quarter.

“Say cheese!”

“No way,” Five begins to grumble, but then Allison’s skinny fingers are poking into his ribs, finding the space right between the two lowest ones that makes him giggle. When they print the picture, they all tease him about his big smile, ruffling his hair and poking at his cheeks until he’s swatting at their hands and threatening to put bugs in their beds.

“Shit!” Klaus cries suddenly. “Is it Ben’s turn yet?”

Ben’s eyes widen, and he checks his watch. “Two minutes over. Five stole my minutes!”

“You stole your own minutes with that picture,” Five snaps back, but Ben’s already headed out the door.

“Quick, come on, we don’t have much time before sunset!”

–

They get to the park just as the sun is slipping over the horizon, each munching on a street taco wrapped in thin foil in one hand, with a towering ice cream cone in the other – except Vanya, who had eaten her mint chocolate chip too fast and gotten a brain freeze and dropped it. Klaus skips ahead, only vaguely listening to Ben’s directions on where to go, and as such, when they reach the duck pond, he nearly falls in.

Ben’s pulling a bag of sliced grapes out of nowhere – “Bread makes them bloated,” he says, and the others nod because Ben knows what he’s doing – and before long they’re sitting around the pond, alternating between tossing the grapes to the ducks and eating them in little handfuls.

Luther befriends one of the ducks, and it’s cute for a while, until it gets greedy and starts chasing him around the lawn, quacking menacingly. (Luther’s screams of terror are hilarious to everyone, but Diego especially winds up coughing his lungs out on the ground, weak with laughter.)

Klaus does cartwheels down a hill, Allison and Vanya play chess on one of the park chess sets, and Ben shows Five how to hold your hand so the ducks can eat right out of it without nipping your fingers. Five isn’t especially keen on their beady little eyes, but he knows that he really did steal two of Ben’s birthday minutes, so he feeds the ducks as long as he can, even when their nibbling beaks tickle his palms dreadfully. Ben is fairly glowing with happiness, the last rays of light dancing in his eyes as they all help with spreading out a blanket on the wet grass. They sit in a big circle, identically cross-legged and straight-backed from years of practice.

“I’ll go first,” Allison says. “Once.”

“Upon.”

“A.”

“Time.”

“There.”

“Was.”

“A.”

“Dragon!”

“Who.”

“Lived.”

“In.”

“A.”

“Pineapple under the sea!”

“Klaus, that’s cheating.”

“But it’s Spongebob! Fine, fine, lived in a… dungeon.”

Over the course of the story, the dragon who lived in a dungeon saves a princess, eats a pizza, invents quantum mechanics, and has… adult interactions with a mango salesman. Eventually, the seven of them are laughing too hard to continue, and Five especially has tears of mirth streaking down his face.

“Okay, okay,” Ben gasps, clutching his stomach. “It’s almost Vanya’s turn.”

“Vanny?” Six heads swivel in her direction. Vanya flushes, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

–

“How is this different from a normal day?” Diego grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest. “We hear her play anyway—”

“Yeah, but you don’t listen,” Five hisses between gritted teeth. “And don’t be an asshole, it’s Vanya’s birthday.”

“Our birthday,” Diego mutters, but he falls silent when Vanya picks up her bow. She carefully plucks at the strings, tuning, as Klaus shoves a sharp elbow into Luther’s stomach.

“Move over.”

“Quit shoving.”

“I don’t think a twin bed was made for six,” Ben observes, kicking his legs over the side. “Not six superheroes, anyway.”

“I don’t think anything was made for six superheroes,” Five retorts, but Vanya’s clearing her throat.

“This one, um,” she starts, and her voice is a squeak. “This one’s Bach.”

When she starts, she starts softly, so as not to wake the other members of the house – it was past 9 p.m., after all – but gradually, Vanya picks up pace and volume, the music swelling out of her violin and washing over her captive audience. Her siblings are transfixed, eyes like saucers as her bow dips and twists over the instrument.

The Bach concerto ends, and almost immediately she’s on to a Brahms, then a Vivaldi, and when she glances up in the middle of her second Mendelssohn, she notices that her audience is gone. Well, not gone, exactly – fast asleep, cheeks flushed and mouths open, breathing deeply, fingers twisted into one another’s hair and clothing, clinging. She stops short, almost astonished, but realizes with a weight that she is also mind-numbingly tired. Maybe the split-time birthday system was fun, but it was also exhausting.

Vanya sets her violin back in its case, flicks off her lamp, kicks off her shoes, and clambers onto the bed, nestling herself into a spot between Five and Diego. She breaths out a sigh, and it feels like something within her releases a notch. Not much, but enough. She smiles, brushing Allison’s hair away from her sleeping face.

“Happy birthday, guys,” she whispers, and curls up among her siblings, content.