#And it surely will in the morning when everyone in this building wakes up unless we somehow fix it 💀

[flowerfreya]

The Office AU

This is part 3

Part 1 / Part 2

Just getting some more backstory for the reader and the boys as well. I’m trying to make it interesting but if it feels like to much filler let me know pleaseee

Poly!141 x reader

Content: reader backstory , and they have a girlfriend???!!!

He sees you before you see him and that is because you're taking a nap at your desk, your head down with sunglasses on, at least that's what he thinks. All the lights are off because they are motion sensored and when Simon comes in because of course he is the first one here the lights turn on. You shoot straight up sunglasses askew.

“Morning”

“Good morning Simon” You smile nervously. “ I got here at 6 am so I just took a quick cat nap before everyone came in and I had an alarm set for 7:30 before everyone came in but it looks like we have an early worm”. You’ve changed from the sunglasses to your regularly prescribed glasses, standing up with your makeup bag.

“Why did you get here at 6 am?”

“Oh, my boyfriend gets here at 6am and you know only one car”, you shrug like it's a normal occurrence. He just lets out a hum and just sits at his desk and you walk to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

By the time everyone comes in, you're ready for the day. You greet everyone with a smile and wave.

Simon stands up, which you don’t normally see, “Need to talk to you”, as he walk to John. Simon shuts the door after entering and you're a bit nervous that he's going to tell you about sleeping and you're trying not to stare but you can’t help it, you really need this job. Soap comes up to your desk and peaks over, “Did you get anything from TJ Maxx, Hen?”.

“You know about that?”

“Aye”

“Ha, well I never got a chance to go, but maybe this weekend”, you don’t say because when you got home you had to do all the chores that didn’t happen when you were at work and then you were so tired, you did your skincare and knocked out. He questions why you didn’t go and respond with a basic one liner, you know life. You look up at him and smile , he opens his mouth and looks like he’s about to say something and John’s door opens back up , only Simon leaving and John's voice carrying out in the office building calling your name, “Let me see you in here” . You move quickly half thinking your going to get fired and take a seat and instead of word vomiting like you did before you just sit there and wait.

John sighs and shakes his head like he can’t believe what he’s about to ask,“Love, why are here so early” .

Your so embarrassed about your car situation and how it’s already affecting your new job, “Me and boyfriend, only have one car so I have to ride with him and his shift starts at 6am so that’s why”

“One of the guys are me can pick you up on the way to work, if you want”

“Oh no , I don’t mind getting up early unless you mind me being here early…..” you trail off , hoping that this won’t be such a big deal.

“It’s fine, bird. Just don’t want you to go sleep on us waking up that early and working is hard”

“Oh no, I’m good. I just take a nap before everyone gets here, if that's okay, I don’t charge it on my time card”.

“That's not what I'm worried about”. You look away , not sure what to say and your eyes fall to his desk. He has around 20 challenge coins that look like from his time in the military. You see pictures with all the boys , some in uniform , some in just civvies, but they all look happy and so close it makes your heart hurt. You decide to change the subject.

“How long have you known the boys?”, you ask, gesturing toward the pictures.

He cocked his head to the side and smiled,”I feel like I’ve known them forever”. He sounds so fond of them and you can see the connection between them from the few days you’ve worked there. You're about to ask another follow up question but then you are interrupted by a knock and then the door opening.

“John”, a woman exclaims loudly and hops around the desk and gives him a kiss. It's a giant kiss. Somehow also…wet. Unprofessional. You know your mouth is open and you are staring but like what else are you supposed to do.

“Kelly, the door was shut, that means I was in a meeting. You know that.” ,he says in a low voice.

“Honey, I didn’t see her the-” , you cut her off ,” Oh,no I was just leaving“. You stand up and attempt to push in the chair but it doesn’t fit under the desk, so now everyone is looking at you attempt to push in a chair that you actually can’t. “Okay, I’m just going to go, do you want it open or shut?”, you ask.

They both say the opposite answers at the same time. You look between the both of them. “Uhhh”, you don’t even know who this woman is and what she is to tell and how much pull she has in the office.

“Open.”, John states matter of factly.

~

You’ve been sitting at your desk for around 20 minutes. You haven’t done that much work because the door is shut , the blinds are closed and you wonder what they are doing in there and its distracting you. You message Soap.

>>come here.

Soap looks up at you with eyebrows raised. You motion your head in a come here motion. He leans against your desk, “Aye, hen” , you try to make sure your tone doesn’t sound like a crazy lady, “who is Kelly”, and maybe you shouldn’t have ask because he stiffens up and avoids eye contact with you and hmmms.

“Oh, nevermind you don’t have to answer”, you add a chuckle to end as to not be awkward and look down at your keyboard.

Speak of the devil and she will appear , Kelly steps out of the office and see’s Soap and gives him an intimate hug, she knows his body she’s done this before. “I’m going to go to the annex and say hi to Gaz”, Kelly mentions as she moves toward the back of the office.

You see it for what it is, they share. Which is fine you do not judge on relationships but you don’t know what you thought was going happen between Soap or Johnny or even Simon like you have a boyfriend for christ sake.

Your boyfriend comes in, hes in a good mood. He wants to go out for dinner , he of course picks the place. Your just happy you don’t have to cook. Your shutting down your computer, putting on your jacket and getting you lunch box. You wish them a goodnight. John comes out of his office, “Everything, okay”, you nod your head and smile. It doesn’t matter anyway. Your happy. Your so fucking happy so it doesn’t matter anyway.

~

They “break up” with Kelly that night. They do it at a nice restaurant and do it immediately so she won’t get any other ideas. Simon doesn’t say anything, he knows Kelly only put up for him because they are a package deal. She of course ask why and John take points and lets her down gently but firmly. Then they get up and brainstorm how to get their Hen.

[topguncortez]

Maybe blurb from crying prompt idk if this would be a hide or hold maybe both? But the reader holds her emotions in during a family thing because she's the oldest sibling and she feels like she has to be strong because that's how her family was raised and then she gets a moment and they tell her to stop being strong and that it's okay to let it out. I'm thinking either Bradley or Jake?

Hold My Hand - J. Seresin x Reader

synopsis: you get a phone call that no child ever wants to get, and as the "rock" of the family, you aren't allowed to break.

warnings: parental death, trauma, parental abandonment, incorrect medical jargon, mental abuse, grief, depression

note: I know this was supposed to only be a blurb, but I started writing and I couldn't stop. These past 16 days have been hell and there was something about writing this that just felt so freeing, like the cloud hanging over me has finally been lifted.

it had felt like a lifetime had passed, but in reality, it had only been 10 days.

10 days since that frightening phone call on that cold January day.

10 days since your mother called you, sound incoherent on the phone but you managed to gather the gist of it.

10 days since you had rushed out of your house, your hair half done, your husband chasing after you like you had lost your mind.

10 days since your father so bravely rushed into a burning building, saving other children and leaving you, your siblings and your mother behind.

You were angry, at first. Angry at the world for allowing this to happen. Angry at your father for playing superman when he was just a regular man. Angry at the other people standing around who didn’t have the same courage to run into the fire instead of standing by and yelling at your father to turn back. Angry that this was going to be the end; that your mother would be a widow at a young age, your youngest sisters wouldn’t have their father to walk them down the aisle, your children wouldn’t ever have another “grandpa day”, that you’d never get another hug and an “i love you” from your father again.

You wanted to cry. You wanted to shut out the world, force the cameras away, force the sorrowful looks from others away, force the heavy weight of your heart onto someone else.

But you couldn't. You had to be the strong one. For your mother. For your siblings. For your own children.

Jake had been watching you like a hawk since you had gotten that phone call. The morning started out like any other morning, with the two of you waking up before the sun was in the sky, making sure you had enough time to do a quick at-home workout and a run. You had been working on packing the kids' lunches when you got that call. He had to pry the keys out of your hands, telling you that your mother didn't need you and your father in the hospital.

Jake had eyed you the whole drive, noticing the redness and the unshed tears in your eyes. The way that you clutched the dainty silver cross around your neck between your fingers. The way that you sniffled every so often, trying to hold back the tears. But the second you stepped into the hospital, seeing the distressing look on your mother's face and the waiting room full of fellow firemen, you rolled your shoulders back and pushed back your own sadness and grief.

Those 10 days had been the best and worst of your life. You hardly left the hospital, unless Jake was physically forcing you to leave. You hardly ate, hardly slept, hardly took care of yourself. Your mind was so worried about everyone else except yourself. For 9 days, you had believed that maybe, just maybe, your father would pull through. But that all came crashing down on day 10, when your father's brain had swelled and his doctor's pronounced him brain dead.

"Y/N," Your mother had spoke, looking over at you as the doctor stood in front of your family. Jake shifted in his seat, putting his hand on your thigh, "You need to do it."

"What?"

"No," You and Jake spoke at the same time.

Your mother shook her head, "I can't be the one. . .," Tears clogged her throat, "I can't be the one who takes him-"

Jake scoffed, sitting up straight in his chair, his grip tightening on your thigh, "And you want your daughter to-"

"Jake," You sighed. There was no use in fighting. After all, you were the eldest. You knew eventually you would be the one who gets stuck making the medical choices for your parents. You just assumed you'd have more time to prepare. You rolled your shoulders back and looked at the doctor, "What do I need to sign?"

"It was such a lovely service," Your aunt Marjorie said, patting Jake's hand as he spoke to him. It was true, you had done a fantastic job planning a funeral for your father, all by yourself. Jake had helped you the best that he could, going with you to pick out a casket and a grave plot and music and flowers, "That Y/N was always Lee's favorite."

"I know," Jake gave Aunt Marjorie his best gentleman smile, the one that made his dimple pop out, "She's a special girl."

"Oh and how brave she was standing in front of everyone and speaking?" Aunt Marjorie placed her hand on her heart. Jake nodded his head, wishing that he could be anywhere else than in a conversation with Aunt Marjorie, "And that Miranda," Aunt Marjorie scoffed, looking over at where your mother sat stoic on the couch, "Looks like she's going to be the next to go."

Jake clenched his jaw, pulling his eyes away from your mother. He had his own thoughts and feelings about her, ones that he had shared with you one night during a heated fight.

"She has abandoned you!" Jake yelled, as you angrily pulled the blankets back on the bed. You were exhausted and just wanted to sleep in your bed for one night. You had managed to get your mother to stay with your father for the night, which was like pulling teeth, "You need her to be the parent and she's not."

"She is grieving too, Jake," You sighed.

"And you're not!?"

"I am," You ran a hand down your face, "I just handle it differently. I've always been the strong rock. The one who doesn't cry. The one who holds others when they cry," You sat down on the bed, your body heavy with exhaustion.

"And I know that, baby," Jake rounded the bed, and sat down beside you. He grabbed your hand, holding it in his own, "You are strong. You are incredibly fucking strong. . . but you shouldn't have to be the strong one right now. You shouldn't be the one pulling all nighters by your dad's side. You shouldn't be the one making medical decisions on your father's behalf. Even though you are an adult. . . Y/N, baby, you're still his child. Your mother should-"

"I don't want to have this conversation anymore," You pulled your hand away from Jake, "My mom isn't well, and she needs me to help her-"

"Bullshit," Jake scoffed, "She is abandoning you and you know it."

You clenched your jaw, holding back the anger radiating in your body. Jake held a tiny bit of hope that maybe, just maybe you'd lash out at him. That you'd show some type of emotion after being a near zombie these past 8 days. But instead, you stood up quietly and left the room, choosing to go sleep in your son's room instead.

Jake had drown out Aunt Marjorie's talking, his eyes landing on you across the room. You had opened up your home to your family, your father's fire crew, Jake's squad and friends for a meal and drinks following the funeral. You had done a great job at not falling apart during the service or the burial, but Jake could tell that the rope was starting to fray. And right now, it was about to snap as you were talking animatedly with your sister across the room in a small alcove.

"Hey, Aunt Marjorie," Jake turned back to look at the 80 year old woman, "It was lovely catching up with you, but I need to go help Y/N with something. We should do coffee some time."

"Oh yes, that'd be-"

"Great, see you later," Jake quickly made his way over to you, not bothering to hear the rest of Aunt Marjorie's response.

The last thing you wanted to do in a houseful of guests from your father's funeral, was get into an argument with your sister, but here you were. Claire was the baby of the family, the one who got away with the most. Your relationship with Claire was rocky, as the line between sister and mother-figure had gotten crossed while you were growing up. You wanted what was best for Claire, and sometimes that required extra tough love and parenting.

"You are high!" You exclaimed.

"I am not," Claire's voice was slightly slurred. Jake's nose scrunched up as he walked into the room, smelling the distinct scent of marijuana.

"My whole damn shed smells like marijuana, Claire," You crossed your arms over your chest, "This isn't like you. What is going on? Talk to me."

"Oh god," Claire rolled her eyes, "Here she goes again. Acting like my mother!"

"Well!" You scoffed, throwing your arms in the air. Jake stood behind you, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder. In the past couple days, you had shrugged off any sort of comfort that Jake offered you, but now, you welcomed it, "You smoked a joint before you walked into dad's funeral! Smoked another one in my shed, where your niece and nephew play. And don't even get me started on how you reeked like vod-"

"Y/N," Your mother's voice filled the air, making all three of you look towards her, "Let's not do this now."

"No," You shook your head, "Let's do this now. Your daughter is high. She smoked up in my garage and then walked into my house smelling like a dispensary."

Your mom looked over at your sister and then back at you. You felt a pang in your chest as you watched her silently side with your sister. The familiar burning sensation of tears prickled at your eyes and nose.

"She's grieving," Your mother simply answered.

You scoffed, "And who isn't?"

"Y/N,"

"Forget it," You shook your head, "It's nothing, it's fine. It's always fucking fine."

For the rest of the afternoon, you made yourself busy, staying far away from your mother and sister. Jake remained within arms reach of you, his presence comforting and not overbearing. You had finally sat down, and managed to get something in your stomach. It must've been evident on your face, but the guests had only said a couple words to you before going on their way. It took nearly four hours, but all the guests had left, filling your house with a silence you hadn't heard in nearly 10 days.

Jake had taken the burden of cleaning everything up, while you sat on the back porch, watching the sunset with a glass of wine in your hand. The cool San Diego winter breeze felt nice against your heated skin.

"The house is finally, back to normal," Jake announced as he walked out onto the back porch. Natasha had gratefully volunteered to take your children for the night, so you and Jake could decompress.

"Thank you, daddy," You smiled sweetly at him, as he sat down next to you on the porch swing.

"Of course, baby," He said, and held out a white gift box, "Someone left this for you."

You furrowed your eyebrows, taking the box from him and lifting the lid. Your breath caught in your throat as you lifted the small, gold pocket watch from the box.

"Y/N," Jake said softly.

You looked up at him with tears in your eyes, "I always wanted this," You ran your hand over the engraved hummingbird on the gold casing, "It was from my grandfather's jewelry store and it quit working. My dad said he was going to get it fixed and give it to me as a wedding gift, but he lost it. . . I-I don't know-"

"Well, does it work?" Jake asked.

You swallowed, opening the face of the watch open. To your surprise, it did work. The second hand ticked around in perfect time as the watch seemed to already be set to the correct time. The beautiful watch had a colorful humming bird painted onto the face in the middle of the black Roman numeral numbers, and gold watch hands.

"It's perf- oh, c'mon," You cursed, as the watch stopped ticking. You tapped the glass face a couple of times, trying to maybe, just maybe get it up and ticking, "C'mon! You just. . . worked! C'mon!"

"Baby," Jake spoke, gently placing his hand on your wrist.

"No! It has to work! It has to!"

"Baby, it's okay," Jake assured you, "It's o-"

"Nothing is okay!" You snapped, looking up at him as the tears had finally escaped your eyes, "Nothing about any of this is okay!" You pushed yourself up from the porch swing, rushing to the edge of the patio and throwing the watching across the yard with a scream. Jake closed his eyes as loud sobs escaped from your lugs, as the grief had finally seemed to rush to you.

He stood up from the porch swing and enveloped you in his arms. You sagged against him, feeling his arms tighten around you to be able to hold you up. Jake hushed you, placing a hand on the back of your head, and his chin on the top.

"Let it out, baby," Jake encouraged you, running a hand over your hair, "Let it all out, baby."

You weren't sure how long you stood there in Jake's arms and cried, but he eventually picked you up, after feeling your legs grow weak. He carried you through the house, to your shared bedroom, sitting you down gently on the bed. You didn't even need to tell him what to do as he moved through the bedroom with familiarity, grabbing you nightgown, taking you out of your dress, washing the make-up from your face and applying your moisturizer.

"What do you need from me, baby?" Jake asked, as he kneeled in front of you, sliding your socks on your feet.

"I don't know," Your voice was raspy as you looked at him confused, "I've never. . . I've never felt-"

"I know," Jake nodded his head, "I know you haven't, and it can be scary the first time you just. . . lose it all." Jake could remember the first time he had ever broken down like you had. It was terrifying as he cried and destroyed the things around him. It felt like it was never going to end as one thing after another had set him off, until he was on the ground in the fetal position, withering, "But it will all be okay. I'm here to help you. Let me help you."

You nodded your head, tears springing to your eyes again. Jake cooed, and pulled you into his arms again as the tears fell down your cheeks.

taglist: @desert-fern @mygyn @cherrycola27 @sio-ina-bottle @seitmai @topgun-imagines @bradleybeachbabe @na-ta-sh-aa @startrekfangirl2233 @xoxabs88xox @atarmychick007 @lunamoonbby @sophiaslastbraincell @bradswolfe @fandom-princess-forevermore @thedroneranger @angelbabyange @dempy @lovelywiseprincess @krismdavis @eternallyvenus @dakotakazansky @pono-pura-vida @starberryhorse @daggersquadphantom @gspenc @poppyalice2001 @els-marvelvsp @nyx2021 @frazie99 @t0kyoreveng3rs @kmc1989 @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @malindacath @badasspizzalover @justenoughmadnesss @sagittarius-flowerchild @hardballoonlove @harrysgothicbitch @hookslove1592 @yujibubs @noonenuts @marvellouscroissant

taglist form

[v3nusxsky]

Hey

A playonic lesso where r goes to her crying in the middle of the night? X

🦖

Mama

*Authors note~ Agere eat your heart out. A friendly reminder that everyone is welcome here for this content, only my nsfw is 18 + unless stated otherwise. And a thank you to all those who have been supporting me, love you guys*

Note~~~ waiting for the day I get a little lesso cg r request ngllll

Trigger warnings~ nightmares of past trauma, child abuse, sexual abuse from an older teen, alcoholic parents? Neglect?

Prompt~see ask^^^^

Being a Never was well known for being strong. Not just physically but you have to be emotionally guarded and stronger than your opponents. At least that is what Leonora Lesso says. Yet your Dean immediately recognised you weren't like the other students. Not only are you a reader, but you seem to act like a scared child when faced with your peers. She thought a trip to the doom room could toughen you up. But what she didn't know is, the doom room felt like home to you, a familiar cold distant environment where you only had yourself to trust and care for. Upon leaving you just stood, bowed your head at the woman and left a without a word or anything else.

That was what caused her to take a more sudden interest in you, hoping to build a relationship with you in order to find out what is causing such an off behaviour for a never student. Of course you found this suspicious, an adult had never truly paid attention to you, let alone notice anything off in your behaviour. What was even stranger is she didn't try to touch you, as soon as you made it know you weren't okay with it, she made sure your wishes were respected inside and outside the classroom.

Sure it took her months to finally build that relationship with you but to her it was worth everything and for you, it meant everything and more. For the first time in your life you finally felt safe to show some weakness and vulnerability with another. It was freeing of a sort, but you knew deep down she didn't know the whole story, one day you'd tell her but only when you were sure she could be trusted. Leonora allowing you to do things your own pace showed you that, and that's why you told her bits in drips and drabs. To test the waters with the woman.

Nightmares have been a reoccurring situation for you, all your life you've been on edge and hyper vigilant, even in your sleep. And your sure if your parents were actually sober maybe they would've noticed and told you it's just an overactive imagination. But they were never sober, early on you had to learn to cook clean and dress yourself as well as care for a house that honestly they were never in. If they remembered sometimes your aunt would babysit you. But even then, it was a rarity and not one you loved at all.

You'd tried to tell them what she did, but they only got madder at you and made sure you'd be extra sore in the morning, to teach you about telling lies. But only it wasn't lies, they were just to drunk to care or notice that. Despite your aunts special time being all you knew, you knew it was wrong, and now you were safe the memories haunted your slumber.

On this particular night, you couldn't wake up, it was like being thrown back in the past where everything felt so real again. You would cry scream and fight your way through, desperately looking for an escape from the way her hands pinned you down or continued to hurt you in unimaginable and unspeakable ways. It wasn't fair. You were only 3, absolutely no chance of overpowering her, only this time it was like you were an outsider looking in on it.

When you finally got out of the horrid nightmare, your throat was horse from screaming and crying, body tangled in the sheets, littered with scratched and hits from your own hands and hot salty tears steadily streaming down your cheeks. The first thing you noticed was you needed air, it felt like you were drowning. The second thing you noticed was how everything looked overwhelming and massive to you. The third was that you were alone, and that meant she could find you again, and that wasn't something you or your little headspace wanted, so you went blindly searching for someone safe.

You'd lost count how many times you'd tripped over your own feet or even just air due to your shaking limbs. Everything seemed to move and blur as you desperately wanted to find safety, to subconsciously find her. The longer you stumbled along the halls the more upset you became, these damn nightmares causing such an emotional toll on your being that you couldn't help the rapid decrease in headspace.

You managed to finally find the door with the shiny on it, you knew it was hers. Only her door had the shiny golden rectangle on, you didn't even bother to knock but rather just walked on in. You didn't even noticed how much your arrival startled the dean, all you noticed was her. Safe now. If you were in your normal headspace you would reprimanded yourself for such an action, yet you weren't so you tried to run into her arms before stumbling and accidentally banging your head on her desk. "Mama" you whimpered through your tears and opened and closes your fists at the woman. It was a clear direct signal for touch, one she wasn't expecting to see.

"It's okay my little dove, shall mama get you coldies for your head?" She murmured before scooping you into her arms. Safe now. You were safe and that was all you could think about. Leonora didn't need a reply, the bruise already forming on your head told her the answer, so grabbing a cold pack she kept for her knee, she sat you on her lap and whispered reassurance and comfort, exactly like a mother would do while you soaked in her embrace. "Mama safe now" you murmured into her shoulder causing her to miss it slightly. "Safe from who my darling?" It was meant with care but you immediately went stiff and replied "mean lady."

As much as the dean could she tried to rack her brains for what you meant but she knew nothing. It was like trying to find some string in a yarn ball. Impossible. But soon enough your little state started to remember your nightmare and confide in your mama. That was the night she promised to keep you safe, taking on a mother role in your life and would never allow anyone to ever hurt you ever again. That was her promise as she settled you back to sleep. And a promise is something she wouldn't ever break.

Word count~ 1162

[pickledpascal]

The Way The Water Flows

Chapter Three: Bittersweet Music Playing in the Dark

Warnings: blood, some action, power imbalance (?), kind of love at first sight, someone (logan) is feeling guilty, mentions of unethical experimentation

Word Count: 2.5k

The Way The Water Flows Masterlist

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Over the next few days, Maya had slowly but surely settled in. Though, she wasn’t completely comfortable, it was much better than that first night. She could barely sleep, plagued by nightmares of the experiments she was put under and reliving the pain of how she got her scars. The plush mattress helped, easing the mental pain as much as it could.

Those first few days, she mostly familiarized herself with the grounds while the kids were in class. She discovered the greenhouse, wide-eyed as she looked around at all the different plants, they came in all different sizes, heights, and colors. Many she had never heard of before. While in there, she thought she might as well water the plants, a soft look on her face—a feeling she hadn’t felt in some time rising in her chest.

A sense of peace.

But she wasn’t sure how long that would last. And that scared her.

The day after, Charles wanted Maya to train with Scott. Simply to see the combat skills she already had. Maya couldn’t argue with that. They wanted to know what she could do.

Arguably, she was put at a disadvantage when they locked her in the room with Scott. A room with zero water to be found, no objects to use her telekinesis on, and Charles has asked her not to use her telepathy so as to not predict Scott’s movements.

It had surprised Charles that she came out on top. Although Maya was taller and had more brute strength than Scott, she was able to use her agility to her advantage. She learned fairly quickly that, unless he wanted to destroy the whole school, he had to turn a knob on his visor in order to use his powers. He wasn’t the best in hand-to-hand combat and he certainly couldn’t hit a target who moved fast enough.

Once out of the danger room, Maya rolled her shoulder, doing a windmill motion with her arm to ease some of the tension starting to build there. She glanced at Scott who was sporting a growing bruise on his jaw, a hand on his face to press against it.

“I’ll give you this time,” He grumbled as he shook his head. “Next time I won’t go so easy.” He didn’t know why but he believed Maya was as inexperienced as the kids under their care. Most times they’ve used their powers were for fun, accidentally, or to defend themselves.

To be fair, they didn’t teach all the kids how to fight. Only the ones who were old enough, fifteen and older.

Charles wheeled up to them, “I’m not sure there’s going to be a next time.” Maya cocked an eyebrow. “It’s clear you’re more experienced than I thought. It might be beneficial if you spar with Logan instead.” She could hear Scott scoff next to her.

Logan was the only teacher Maya had not met yet. She already knew Charles, Colossus, and Storm and had met Jean after she decided to introduce herself to the younger mutant. Hank, she had met after being asked to go to a few classes of his on history, asked specifically to pay attention to the news of the last decade. Apparently, same-sex marriage was now legal everywhere, which she thought was nice. And Scott, well, she had just met prior to training with him.

Maya had heard about Logan, though, from other students. How rough around the edges he could be but also that he cared deeply even if he didn’t want to admit or show it. Oh, and also the rivalry he had with Scott. Maya wasn’t sure if it was serious or not but Rogue and Yukio seemed to think so.

The next day, Maya did as she usually did in the morning—wake up earlier than everyone else and find something to eat before classes started so she wasn't left with nothing. Children could be ruthless with food. She learned that the hard way.

She was in the middle of taking a bite of cereal from her bowl when she heard another presence enter the room. She looked up at him from the cereal floating on top of the milk in her bowl, cocking her head. There was a hint of recognition in his eyes.

“Sorry, didn't realize anyone was in here…” His voice was deep, rough in all the right ways and it matched his appearance well. He was tall with thick shoulders and arms, showing them off since his torso was clad in a white tank top while his bottom half was in some jeans, a belt keeping them on his hips. He had dark eyes with a similar shade of hair. He was… attractive.

Maya had never seen him before. But she was still new. Charles did mention someone who wasn't a permanent stay at the mansion but who would occasionally leave for a few months and come back. Perhaps this was that man.

“Don't really care,” She shrugged and tried to muster up a polite smile. “Just wanted to get something to eat before the children leave me with crumbs.” Maya's gaze moved down to her spoon.

She could feel him staring. “What's your name, kid?” He had asked while she pushed her spoon around her bowl.

“Maya.” She offered, taking her last bite from her cereal.

“That short for something?” He pressed, going to the fridge to look for something to drink.

Maya let out a scoff and shook her head even though he couldn't see. “Nope. Just Maya.”

The man hummed in response, deciding to grab a soda out of all the options available. He twisted off the cap and threw it in the trash before taking a long sip. Maya stared at the way his Adam's apple bobbed and a particular vein in his neck became more prominent.

“Why're you here? You're a little too old to be at school.” Maya's eyes flickered to meet his.

Good thing to know he could tell that she wasn't an actual child. She did have a few scars on her face; her eyes appeared to be perpetually tired like she had seen things no one ever should. The man had the same look about him too.

Maya looked down at the counter, softly scratching a finger against the side of her bowl. “Haven't had a home in a while,” She didn’t want to explain everything to a man she didn't know, she didn't even like that Charles knew. “And it doesn't hurt that Storm and Colossus went looking for me specifically.”

His eyebrows raised, eyes widening with interest before realization seemed to dawn over him. He fell quiet.

Which Maya deemed as the perfect time to wash her dishes and leave. She wanted to water the plants in the greenhouse again before she had to go down to the lower levels to train.

As she did, she wondered what Logan's mutation was. It had to be, arguably, better than Scott's if Charles believed he'd be a better opponent for Maya. Something that he could use while more mobile. Or maybe he was just more experienced? She'd heard Rogue mention that he was old, in turn, making her assume the man was a little younger than the Professor.

She shook her head as she entered the locker room, grabbing one of the training suits to put on. He couldn't be that old or he wouldn't be able to keep up with her.

Charles guided her to the training room. Maya's eyes widened softly when the doors opened to reveal the man from this morning, although he was now dressed in an official X-Men uniform. This was Logan? He didn't look a day over forty—maybe thirty-five.

She stepped inside, noticing that she piqued his interest as well. She heard the doors seal shut behind her as she looked him over.

“Nice to officially meet you, bub.” Logan hummed, hands on his hips with one jutted out to the side. “Scott told me you're a tricky one,” He grinned, showing a glimpse of sharp teeth, “But he can't really talk, anyone with enough brain could take him down if they put their mind to it.”

Maya simply stared at him, narrowing her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. She was sizing him up. He was larger than her in every way—taller, thicker, more muscle. She needed to use that to her advantage.

Logan cocked an eyebrow. “Alright, all work, no play?” He got into a fighting stance, three metal claws unsheathing from his knuckles on both hands. “I can work with that.”

The younger girl hummed as she glanced down at the claws. That was certainly interesting. She widened her stance as she circled him, hands clenched into fists as she studied him for any weaknesses—a bad hip or knee.

His eyes followed her as she walked around him. “I showed you mine, you show yours now. As a courtesy.” Logan winked.

“There has to be water around for me to use my mutation. And there is none here.” Maya responded, her lips twitching into a barely noticeable smile.

But Logan noticed. He let out a soft chuckle but his face quickly became serious.

It was obvious she was waiting for him to make the first move, so he did. He ran toward her, slashing his claws at the less vital parts of her, intentionally giving her some time to move out of the way.

He didn't expect her to dive between his legs to dodge the attack, making him lose his footing from surprise. He dug his claws into the floor to catch himself as he whipped his head to look at Maya who was crouched on the floor, a hand behind her from the momentum.

Logan stood up, removing his claw from the floor but before he could even blink, Maya had jumped up onto his shoulders with her thighs wrapped around his neck, squeezing to suffocate him as they both fell onto the floor from her body weight. He struggled to breathe, both from her legs but the air was knocked out of his lungs because of the fall.

He writhed in her grip, this felt a little too real. He clawed at her arm when trying to get her off him. Nearly immediately, Maya rolled off him as she hissed in pain.

Logan's ears picked up the sound as he tried to regulate his breathing, claws retracting. He looked over at her and realized she was bleeding. Fuck, he didn't mean to do that. He pulled her up so she was sitting, brows furrowing with concern.

“Huh. I haven't gotten hurt in a while.” Maya hummed as if it was a scientific discovery. She seemed fine if that was anything to go by but that didn't ease the worry settling in his gut.

“We're going to go to Dr. Grey.” Logan told her, hoisting her up to her feet with ease, an arm around her waist which he kept there as they walked to the medical bay.

Jean was going through some medical files when she saw Logan and Maya enter, her eyebrows raising as she looked at Logan. There was a clear question hanging in the air.

“Training accident.” Logan answered, letting Maya go when she sat on the gurney in the middle of the room.

Jean pursed her lips as she replaced where Logan stood as he moved off to the side to watch, making sure everything went smoothly. She helped Maya slip off the top of her suit and Logan felt his chest clench at her wince of pain when the fabric rubbed against her wound. Jean then began treating her.

And Logan, well, he had to keep his mind occupied because seeing Maya in a simple black tank top was making his brain whir in a way he didn't want it to

“How did this happen?” She had asked, wrapping the wounds on her forearms in gauze after cleaning and disinfecting them. They would scar but she was more worried about something else. “Scott said he landed a hit on you but you came out of the danger room unscathed.”

Maya's jaw clenched, her shoulders tensing slightly, causing the muscle there to become more defined. “I have a healing factor,” Logan tilted his head at that. He knew she had scars, quite a couple were displayed on her back and arms. “But, um, the people who… kept me,” his eyes narrowed, his own jaw clenching as well. “They found some way around it. A weakness. Some sort of metal.”

“Adamantium,” Jean whispered, glancing up at Logan. What else could it be? Guilt settled in his gut as he looked down at his boots. “The same metal of Logan's claws.”

Not only did he hurt Maya but with something that she was specifically weak to. Something that was surely tied to a lot of bad memories she wanted to forget. And he was filled with it. He screwed his eyes shut, clenching his jaw as he ran a hand through his hair.

Maya turned her head to look at him, eyebrows furrowed slightly at the ashamed look on his face. “It was an accident. I don’t blame you.” She said firmly. “And yet you still feel responsible.” Logan's eyes opened to meet hers as she stood from the gurney. It was like she was staring into his soul and he wasn't sure if he liked it. “Y'know, guilt is something that helps people atone for what they've done. This is shame, which isn't helpful for anyone. Least of all yourself.”

Logan's heart pounded in his chest. And he wanted to respond but Maya walked away before he could. Her words hit harder than she expected them to.

Jean pursed her lips, tilting her head as she looked at Logan. “She's right, y'know. You have a habit of blaming yourself. You can't be a perfect man, Logan.” She stepped closer to him, eyebrows furrowed as she expressed her concern.

“Yeah, well I can't be a good man either.” Logan murmured, his expression was hardened but his eyes were a different story—they held such sadness that Jean didn't even know the depths of.

She smiled sadly and shook her head. “The definition of ‘good’ changes from person to person, decade to decade, place to place. I think you're a good man. I know you try your hardest to do the right thing, but people make mistakes. Even the most perfect of all.”

Logan shifted slightly, adjusting his weight to rest more on his right leg. Sometimes he hated to admit when Jean was right. But she was. One of the reasons he loved her.

But his brain kept thinking back to Maya. The scent of her distress mixed with her blood, his heart still ached at the memory. He wasn't the kind of man who apologized often, if at all, but he felt like he had to make this up to her somehow. But he knew almost nothing about her.

Guess it's time to find out.

[yandere-fics]

♡ How Daddy Sawyer Punishes You For Breaking Her Rules ♡

(Sorry this took so long, I finally got something to eat(food stamp day is tomorrow so I won't be starving to death finally lmao) today and then I ate too quickly and I felt tired and sick. BTW rule 10 is intentionally empty since it's the finishing rule.)

♡ Rule number 1: On days when daddy is home when you wake up, you must always give her a big kiss as soon as you wake up. On days when daddy has to leave for work make sure to call her and tell her good morning as soon as you wake up. ♡

You hated when she called in her security team just to escort you to her office, it was literally in the building next door and the security probably already knew that the only time they had to come get you was when she was planning on punishing you. Resisting however only made it worse so you acquiesced to her demands. If you resisted the punishment would change from something upsetting you can deal with to something you very much didn't want to deal with.

"Beloved, you sat in bed for approximately half an hour this morning and didn't even reach for your phone to tell me good morning nor did you attempt to say it to the camera." She patted her lap and you sat down trying to avoid making eye contact before correcting yourself and making sure to look her in the eyes to try not to make your punishment worse, "I thought we already discussed how important it is for you to tell me, how am I supposed to work if I am not given my good morning."

She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, turning you on her lap so she was cradling you closely. She reached for a blanket in the drawer of her desk and covered you. "I know you're upset that daddy is gone when you wake up but that's no excuse to ignore me, now I expect you to sit here on my lap for the rest of the day to make up for this."

♡ Rule Number 2: Always look daddy in the eyes when she's talking to you, you know how much she hates it when she can't see her beloved's precious eyes. ♡

"Look at me." She hissed which you ignored, you really didn't want to have to look at her right now, she'd fired your favorite body guard just because they accidentally bumped into you when they were guarding you because you stopped unexpectedly. You knew this was going to piss her off but you had to put your foot down on this, the guard did nothing wrong!

"Look. At. Me. I won't say it again." She squished your cheeks forcing your head in her direction but you closed your eyes. She let out a breath and you could tell she was rolling her eyes at your silly little defiance. "Do you want me to kill that guard for causing you to act like this, all you had to do is ask."

Your eyes flew open at that, staring straight into her eyes as she smugly smiled, leaning down and giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Good girl, now you know the rules for not looking at me when I ask. I think half an hour of time out sounds appropriate unless you want to keep arguing about this silly guard nonsense." You shook your head and let her lead you to the isolation room.

♡ Rule Number 3: Daddy must always know where you are, never leave the penthouse or her office without informing her and she must approve the location you're planning on going to. Daddy will assign you a bodyguard to go with if she approves the location. ♡

You'd broken a major rule today, this was by far the one she took the most seriously, said it was a matter of your security and never to be taken lightly. You hadn't yet seen what the punishment for this one would be however you knew it wasn't going to be pleasant considering how often she emphasized this rule in particular. You just wanted to be alone without a guard for a bit and it's not like anyone was going to hurt you when everyone knew exactly who you belonged to, they'd have to have a major death sentence. Still she wasn't likely to see reason and so you braced yourself as you walked into the penthouse with the bodyguard who had come to fetch you, a body guard who was promptly shot in the head by the guard right next to Sawyer.

"I thought I told you not to shoot that bastard while my beloved was in the room, you'll scare her." Yeah scared was uhm certainly a word that could describe it but really you just felt like you might actually piss your pants from what just happened. "Beloved, come sit on my lap." She snapped and pointed which led to you running over, just glad to not be standing next to the splatter corpse anymore.

"I'm sorry daddy, I shouldn't have gone out." She sighed and leaned back, her arm wrapping around your waist and also forcing you to lean back with her. The guard at her side promptly rushed to remove the body from the room though you doubted that would lessen the guards fate for firing so close to you even if they were 100% confident they wouldn't hit you.

"No you shouldn't have but it's okay, now you won't do it again." She lifted your foot, clicking something into place around your ankle, you looked down and it was an ankle monitor. "This is set so you can't step out of the apartment or my office unless I put in a code on my phone which will allow you to go to the place you have asked me permission to go, it will inform me if you're idling on the path or not going where you promised you would go."

♡ Rule Number 4: Don't remove the collar daddy put on you, no matter how angry you might be with her. ♡

The collar hadn't been easy to get off, not that it was tight, she would never point anything harmful around her beloved's neck however it was built solidly and it was very hard to pick the lock on the clasp area. Still it felt entirely worth it once you got it off, it's not like she'd knows, you were in the spa, a place the guards couldn't follow you into that didn't have cameras and you needed a break from feeling like property, you could always snap it back on later-

"Miss Y/N, you have a call from the boss, she would like you to answer as soon as you step outside of the sauna." The guard shouted from outside the sauna door, likely still on the phone with Sawyer. Well fuck there went your plans for a bit of independence you thought bitterly as you popped your collar back on. You threw on a long robe and stepped outside the steam room yanking the phone from the guard.

"Beloved, there you are, I noticed you opened your collar, honestly I thought the alert feature would be useless since my good girl would never try but it seems I was right to installed it in the lock." She cleared her throat. "I expect you back this instant, you've lost outdoor privileges for a month."

♡ Rule Number 5: When daddy gives you a gift, say thank you and accept it. Never reject her gifts, it's very impolite since she bought it with you in mind specifically. ♡

"Daddy, isn't this a bit much?" You whined, trying to sneak a few things out of the cart and back onto the shelf when she wasn't paying attention. She only hummed continuing to examine a dress she thought would look good on you, a floral sundress, she did really like the way you looked in a sundress.

"Beloved, you know what the rule is." She said sharply, tossing it into the cart without looking back, you looked at the price tag, yeah that was definitely getting put back on the rack when she wasn't looking, it's not like she'd remember every single thing she had picked out for you on this shopping trip.

"Yeah but-" "Shh no buts, just take the gifts." She finally looked down at the cart noticing some of the things she'd excitedly picked out just for you had seemingly vanished from the cart. "Pretty girl, it seems we can leave this store until you understand just how much daddy needs to spoil you. Put everything you removed back in the cart, we're going to be here all day."

♡ Rule Number 6: Never use your toys without daddy's permission, if daddy is almost done with work then you are to wait for daddy to arrive home and take care of you. ♡

You were so close when your vibrator suddenly switched itself off. You whined as you went to check if the batteries had died before you noticed Sawyer standing there with the remote in her hand glaring at you from the doorway. "Aww did my sweet baby girl think she was gonna get to cum without daddy especially since you should have been aware daddy was going to be home very soon."

"I- I'm sorry, I just didn't want to disrupt your work with such a silly question." She kicked her shoes off and pulled her pants and boxers off, holding up a hands to stop you when you went to pull the toy out.

"No no, I want to see how messy that toy has gotten my beloved." She crawled up the bed until her face was between you legs, her hands gently pushing the toy in and out watching how your cute hole clung to the toy desperate for the release she denied you. "You're not cumming until I cum tonight and you know how long it takes for daddy to cum especially when she's mad at her baby."

♡ Rule Number 7: Never reject daddy's touch when she's in heat, you don't have to allow her to knot you however you must accept her touches or she might get very angry. ♡

"Daddy I really don't want to cuddle right now, please?" You grumbled as she pulled you into her arms tightly, rubbing against you as if she needed to merge and become one with you, growling when you tried your best to get out of her arms.

"Beloved, you know how badly my heart affects me right, I need to be close to my beloved and if you aren't willing to cuddle then I assume that means you want to do something else." She slipped your sleep shorts and panties to the side and her cock throbbed painfully against your hole begging to finally be close to you.

"N-no please I don't want to be knotted right now-" "Shh daddy needs to be as close to you as she can be, my beloved mate, you knew what you were doing when you wouldn't let me cuddle you."

♡ Rule Number 8: When daddy tells you she loves you, you must always say it back, even if you're really mad you can't hurt daddy's feelings by not reciprocating her love. ♡

"I love you, beloved." You ignored her continuing to focus on your book trying your best to keep a straight face and act as if you didn't hear her so then she wouldn't be able to punish you since it wasn't your fault, you just didn't hear her, even though it was really because you really didn't want to get distracted from your book.

"My beloved, set your book down now..." She growled causing you to jump in your seat and rush to place a bookmark in your book. You looked over at her and gave a sweet "What is it, daddy?"

"Beloved I know you heard me-" "No I didn't what was it you said daddy?" She scowled as you still tried to play innocent, standing up and walking over to you, swiftly picking you up and sitting down on the couch with you over her knee.

"How does 50 spankings sound maybe then you'll remember what daddy said to you." "Wait I remember-" "Count."

♡ Rule Number 9: Tell daddy you love her after a punishment, it's important to kiss and make up. ♡

You'd been in the isolation room for what felt like the entire day, you couldn't remember what it was you had said that pissed her off so much but either way it leads to a very long time out and so when she opened the door, her arms wide open waiting for you to come hug her, you didn't feel the most inclined to act nice about it even if it was going to lengthen your punishment.

"Beloved, come here. I need your love." Yeah yeah you knew what she was expecting you to say if you wanted to get out however you had no intentions of saying it even if you had to be in here a week. She sighed and left the room with a disappointed "I'll check on you in an hour."

♡ Rule Number 10: Remember even when daddy is punishing you, you're still her beloved mate. ♡

[irondadidontfeelsogood]

Tower of Terror (reader request)

cw: vomit. This is another long, self indulgent one, and now one of my favorites—enjoy.

—————

To say that today was a long day would be a drastic understatement. After a school day full of his teachers somehow synchronizing their pop quizzes and exam reviews, he’d headed straight to the tower for training and lab work. His brain and his body are completely fried, so after being granted permission by May, he asks Tony if he can stay the night. He’s not sure he could stay conscious for the subway ride home.

“Sure, Pete. Does that mean you’re ready to cash?”

“Mhm,” Peter hums in response, his eyes threatening to fall shut and not open again.

Tony breathes out a quiet laugh. “Okay. Goodnight, kid.”

Peter murmurs something that sort of sounds like ‘goodnight’ but could also just be a random collection of consonants. He turns away, heading toward the elevator slowly. He feels totally drained, like his limbs each weigh a hundred pounds more than when he’d woken up this morning.

His head is throbbing with what’s sure to become a bad migraine if he doesn’t get to sleep soon. The air gets a little warmer as he ascends the elevator, and that nearly clocks him. He only just makes it to bed before he’s out, basically dead to the world.

Nightmares plague him instantly. He’s tossing at sea, and then he’s buried alive, and then he’s bleeding out fast—all alone in the middle of nowhere. At the end of it all, his heart clenches with the sharp feeling of free-falling, and he wakes abruptly, his lungs greedily gasping for air.

For several minutes, he has no idea where the hell he is. All he knows is that he’s soaked to his mattress in sweat, aching all over, and nauseous to the point of vertigo. He makes the mistake of sitting up. Instantly, the dark room around him seems to tilt forward endlessly, and he grips onto his sheets with white-knuckled fists.

God only knows what time it is or why his shoes are still on. He toes them off, hearing them land unceremoniously on the floor. He sits there for some time, trying desperately to remember anything about what happened before he’d woken up here. Nothing much surfaces.

He calls out for May, and is met with complete silence. That never happens unless she’s taken third shift. Maybe she had to pick up more hours?

Finally, he remembers that he’s at the tower, and he instantly feels worse. Being sick at the tower means he’s either going to suffer alone or bear the colossal embarrassment of having to ask for help from an Avenger. He groans, letting his head fall into his hands.

His headache is still pressing tight against his skull, and he feels like his brain and bones have turned to liquid. His stomach churns. With another groan, he lets himself lie back down against his sweat-cooled pillows.

Though he remains motionless in the dark room, his nausea only grows. He was hoping that it would fade as the nightmares did, but he isn’t so lucky. It feels like he’s swallowed an entire lake.

The internal battle has begun. He imagines how awful it would be for everyone to know. If he started hurling, it wouldn’t be long at all before everyone in the building caught wind of what was going on. FRIDAY isn’t great at keeping secrets.

He’s Spider-Man. He’s supposed to be a hero, not some kid that wakes up in the middle of the night with a tummy ache. The mere idea is mortifying.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing he can do about the circumstances that have been dealt to him, and if he tries to ignore them any longer, things are only going to get worse. So, he forces himself to his feet, feeling weak and full of dread.

The tower is silent as he makes his way to the kitchen, the floor seemingly tilting under his feet. He has to keep a hand on the wall beside him to avoid falling over. The journey feels ten times longer than it usually does.

He’s exhausted when he finally reaches the kitchen, heading straight for the fridge. He fills up a glass of water and sips at it gingerly. It feels nice going down his throat, but not very nice at all sitting on top of the dinner in his stomach. He groans, leaning over the countertop. He burps quietly, nauseated almost beyond what he can handle.

Miserable, he lazily drags his gaze toward the cabinet where Tony keeps all the medicine. Pepto is Peter’s absolute last resort. It almost never works, and it tastes so bad that he’s vomited from the taste alone on many occasions.

Unfortunately, he’s feeling like he might have to try. If he doesn’t, that means he’s accepted the inevitable fate of emptying his stomach in a building full of Avengers. With a dramatic groan, he moves over to the cabinet, grabbing the bottle of neon pink liquid.

He stares at it with distaste, nearly shuddering at just the thought of it. If he’s going to do this it has to be quick, like a shot of tequila. He pours some onto a spoon and stares again.

Finally, he takes it, chasing it immediately with water. He swallows convulsively, begging his stomach to grant him some sort of mercy. He feels a surge of violent nausea and presses a palm over his mouth.

He shuts his eyes, swallows again, and takes several deep breaths through his nose. The wave of nausea passes slowly, painfully. His stomach makes a noise that probably means fuck you.

Fuck you too, he thinks hazily. When he feels like he might be in the clear, he pours out the rest of his water and sets the glass in the sink. His stomach turns over as he begins his walk toward the stairs. Why he picked the stairs over the elevator, he has no idea.

He’s only halfway up when he suddenly feels the worst swell of nausea yet, stopping him right in his tracks. His stomach churns hard, bringing with it a hot, rising feeling in his throat. He cages his mouth again as it rapidly fills with watery spit.

He can feel the color completely drain from his face as he stands frozen on the staircase. His heart is hammering in his chest as he silently begs God, the universe, someone to keep him from puking right now. Unsurprisingly, his prayers go unanswered.

That awful feeling of dread doubles, pouring over him like hot tar. He feels an intense urge to gag, and he’s entirely unable to stop himself from submitting to it. He pitches forward suddenly, spewing a huge gush of pink vomit all over the stairs in front of him.

Again, he vomits, splattering his hours-old dinner all over the hardwood and his socks. Immediately, he throws up again for four straight seconds. He gasps for air afterward, dizzy from the effort of being so sick.

In the eye of the hurricane, he somehow convinces himself that now is his only chance to get to a bathroom. His whole body is shaking as he climbs the rest of the stairs. By the time he reaches the hallway that connects to the one where is room is, he’s sweating bullets and so overwhelmed with nausea that he has to stop again.

He takes one more uncomfortable breath and folds, throwing up all over the floor. With his stomach all but exploding out of him, he can hardly believe that no one has peeked their head out of their room to see what the noise is. At the same time, he’s so incredibly grateful for that.

He takes two more steps and pukes again, even more than he thought possible. He coughs, spewing out mouthfuls of vomit between each one. It’s nearly a full three minutes before he can get himself to stop retching.

He pants for a few more minutes, desperate for air. His vision is blurred with tears of exertion, and even if he weren’t crying, he’d barely be able to see anyway. His head is reeling.

It’s in that moment that he realizes he’s too sick to be alone. The terrible truth sends his heart down to his stomach, and his tears become real. He only allows himself a few minutes to cry in private before he begins to consider his options.

There’s Tony, of course, but he thinks he’d rather die than have Tony see him puke his guts out. There’s Nat, but she might remind him too much of May, and he’s not emotionally stable enough for that right now. He continues to go down the list, and by the end of it, he finds himself settling on Clint.

He has kids, so maybe he’d be a little less traumatized by the whole thing. He’s also generally calmer than most of them, so hopefully he won’t yell or treat him like a burden. Clint it is.

His room is a floor up, so Peter opts for the elevator this time. He wipes the tears from his face and tries his best to regain composure. Unfortunately, he’s still feeling like a giant pile of shit, so it’s easier said than done.

When he reaches Clint’s room, he pauses in front of the door. This is it. Either he leaves the mess and tries to stay conscious long enough to get back to his room, or he tells Clint the truth. As if on cue, he suddenly almost feels more ill than he has all night, apart from right before he’d been sick.

Before he can convince himself otherwise, he knocks on the door. When a minute of silence goes by, he knocks again, a bit louder this time. After a few seconds, he hears shuffling on the other side of the door. He steps back a little, and it slowly swings open to reveal Clint, still half asleep.

“Peter? It’s nearly four in the morning, what are you doing up?”

“Um,” Peter so eloquently breathes out, suddenly unable to get ahold of himself. Fresh tears well up without his permission. “I…I’m…”

Clint’s expression changes from one of confusion to one of parental concern. He steps a little closer.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

A couple tears spill over, and he wipes them away before they reach his chin. He tries again to explain, but he can’t seem to form the words in the right order. This fever must be really cooking his brain.

“Do you wanna come in and talk?” he softly offers.

Peter shakes his head a little. His head spins. “I’m…I need help.”

“What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

Peter shakes his head again. If his stomach wasn’t still sitting high in his throat, this would be much easier. He doesn’t have that luxury, but he tries again.

“I…I just thr—,” is all he manages before his stomach decides to make another appearance. He has all of half a second to aim somewhere else besides Clint’s feet. He turns to the side, vomiting through his fingers, down the front of his shirt, and onto the floor.

“Oh—oh, wow. Okay,” Clint blurts, probably wide awake now. Peter chokes up another round of sick onto his socks. “Alright, hey, come here.”

He takes Peter’s arm and begins leading him into the room. Peter does everything humanly possible to keep from throwing up on Clint’s floor, and when he finally drops to his knees in front of the toilet, he vomits so violently that he sees stars. Clint curses under his breath, a hand resting on Peter’s back as it heaves.

For the next several minutes, Peter is barely lucid. With what little consciousness he has, he tries hard to aim toward the water and nowhere else. He’s made enough of a mess as it is.

“It’s okay, buddy. Breathe,” Clint urges. Peter’s trying.

He’s sure he’s throwing up his actual organs after a few minutes. The only thing he can do is drape over the bowl and try not to pass out. He nearly fails.

Mercifully, he stops throwing up before the lack of oxygen gets to his head. He takes several more minutes to recover. The whole time, Clint is telling him it’s alright, that he’s going to be okay. Peter’s not so sure.

He’s really glad he’s not alone, especially now that he’s gone severely downhill. He can’t imagine being holed up in his room. He’d probably still be decorating the carpet with his stomach contents if he hadn’t come here.

The calm lasts all of eight minutes, and then Peter is suddenly launched into a fit of dry heaving. Despite his stomach being totally empty, the nausea is still rampant. He has no idea what he did to deserve this. Poor Clint doesn’t deserve this either. When he breaks his silence, it’s clear he’s reaching his limit.

“Alright, Pete…try and take it easy, kid. You’re really sick, and I’m…I think I’m gonna have to get Tony.”

That same dread pours over him. That’s the last thing he wanted. Even just the thought makes his face heat up fast. He can’t exactly express his disapproval when he’s actively still gagging. It’s too late, anyway.

“FRIDAY, could you send Tony down here, please?”

“Right away, sir.”

“Thanks,” he murmurs, his hand now rubbing along Peter’s spine.

Only a couple minutes pass before Peter hears Tony’s voice call from inside the room. He groans, lurching forward with another gag. A small trickle of bile comes up this time.

“In here,” Clint calls back.

“What the hell happened out here, Clint? Are you—,” Tony asks, stopping short as he crosses the threshold of the bathroom. Peter can’t help himself. He retches again, another rush of acidic bile washing over the roof of his mouth and into the toilet.

He can only imagine Tony’s reaction to walking in on Peter curled around a toilet full of puke. He’s so mortified he could die. Why does this kind of shit have to happen to him?

“He’s been like this for probably over ten minutes,” Clint explains. “I didn’t really know how to help him or I wouldn’t have woken you up. You know him better than I do.”

“Oh, kid…are you sick or is this a head thing?” Tony asks, taking Clint’s place beside him.

“M’sick,” he manages, half-choked on another heave.

“I’m sorry, Pete. How long have you been feeling bad?”

Thankfully, the retches are tapering off, and he can finally breathe a little. He spits and swallows against the rawness in his throat.

“Only when I woke up a while ago,” he breathes out. Suddenly, he remembers his stunt on the stairs. He groans, letting his head drop to where his arms are folded across the toilet. “I…I threw up all over the stairs and the hall before I came here…m’really sorry, Tony.”

“It’s alright, kid, I know you couldn’t help it.”

“But…”

“It’s okay, really. Do you feel like you’re done?”

Peter hums lowly. He nods. It’s the truth. He’s sure there’s absolutely nothing left in him to throw up, and the nausea is finally waning.

“Alright, good. I’ve got him, Clint, you can go back to sleep.”

“Are you sure? I can start cleaning outside my room.”

Tony shakes his head. “No, it’s fine, I’ve got bots that can do most of it. I’ll handle the stairs. We’re good.”

“Okay, well come get me if you change your mind.”

“You’ve already done enough, thank you for taking him in.”

“It’s no problem.”

With that, Clint leaves, and Tony is alone with Peter in his misery and embarrassment. He offers Peter some toilet paper, and he thanks him, wiping his mouth. He closes the lid and flushes the toilet.

With Tony’s help, he gets up from the floor to wash his mouth out. It makes him feel marginally better. Tony leads him out of the room, and Peter does his best not to gag at seeing the result of his earlier performance in the hallway. Tony starts leading him to his room, and when they get in the elevator, he finally breaks the heavy silence.

“You know you can always come get me if you’re feeling bad, right?”

Peter wilts a little. “I know, thank you, it’s just…I thought I could take some medicine and just go back to sleep, but obviously that didn’t work out. And I really didn’t want to bother a literal Avenger just because I had a stomachache.”

“Well, last time I checked, we’re on a first name basis, so it shouldn’t be that intimidating, kiddo. If you’re feeling like you’re gonna puke, you should let me know. It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Just…future reference. I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but at least I won’t have to worry about you being passed out in your own sick somewhere.”

It’s nice to know that Tony isn’t pissed or grossed out, but Peter prays he’ll never have to put that earlier offer into practice. He’s had enough of everyone watching him hurl. The heat creeps back up onto his cheeks as they reach his room.

“Okay…m’still sorry I got sick on the floor.”

“It’s completely fine, kid. Don’t worry about it, shit happens. Are you feeling any better?”

Peter shrugs, sitting on the edge of his bed. Tony scoots the trash can over to sit beside his bed. He lets out a short sigh.

“Well, I have a feeling your immune system is going to knock this thing out pretty fast.” Peter hopes he’s right, for both their sakes. “Here, let me get you some clean clothes. Want anything specific?”

Peter shakes his head. Tony nods, turning to the dresser. He brings over a t-shirt, some sweatpants, and clean socks.

“You can just leave the dirty stuff on the floor.”

“M’kay. Thank you.”

“Sure thing, Pete. I’m gonna grab you some water. Hang tight. And remember, you can always call me if you need anything at all.”

“Thank you,” he repeats softly.

When Tony leaves and Peter is done changing out of his dirty clothes, he’s all alone with the memory of tonight. The mortification is stifling, but he pushes the thoughts away with all the mental strength he has left. Turns out it’s not much, and he’s out like a light before Tony even returns.

—————

A/N: Thank you for reading! And thank you for the request! I loved writing this one, and I hope it’s at least a little like what you imagined it would be.

[theoceanoasis]

The new House of the Dragon episode got to me with how Seasmoke claimed his own rider. I can definitely see something like that happening to Hot Rod in the barbarian au.

"Once long ago dragons ruled the land. They were wise and noble beasts. Who were also strong and mighty. We had a partnership with them. Where dragons would bond with some of us and we would become their riders, helping our fellow bots and dragons in need."

He looked at his carrier in awe because dragon riders were awesome.

"We had a sacred partnership with dragons. One the city bots did not have because of their arrogance. They believed they were better than dragons and that their technology made them superior. They wanted the dragons and our people to bow down to them and submit to their will."

He looked at his carrier in shock, because he couldn't imagine making a dragon bow down to him.

"They were very arrogant and demanded the dragons be under their control. They were envious of our people being able to ride dragons and wanted that ability for themselves. The wise dragons knew the city bots wanted to use them to hurt others and refused. What we had was a partnership to better both our kind. Not to attack others and force them under our control.

"What happened?"

"I'm getting there."

His carrier kissed his forehead with a smile.

"Enraged the city bots attacked the dragons forcing them off their land. The two fought and many dragons were killed."

"Oh. That's so sad."

His carrier nodded.

"We tried to help them and many of our people were also killed. The city bots planned to invade our land and kill all of us unless the dragons surrendered."

"Did they?"

"Despite our pleas that we would die with them. They decided to die for us and let themselves be captured. Although some believe a few dragons had managed to escape. Most believe the dragons died sacrificing themselves for us and now every year around this time we honor them."

He yawned cuddling against his carrier. Hearing about the dragons was his favorite bed time story. Even if it was sad. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like, for the world to have dragons one day and none the next.

"I want to meet a dragon one day and ride them just like our ancestors."

"I'm sure that if anyone could befriend a dragon it would be you."

His carrier smiled tucking him into bed. Where he dreamed of dragons and flying through the air on the back of one.

He'd forgotten that dream a long time ago too busy with other tasks. Although they'd occasionally hear rumors of dragons, no one could ever confirm it.

He spent his days trying to help his tribe just like everyone else. When they were suddenly attacked by city bots. Who wanted to build a road where their tribe lived. When they refused to move the city bots became angry. They demanded they move and when they continued to refuse they decided to attack them in retaliation.

He looked around watching in shock as they burned their homes. Around him people were screaming and fighting trying to stop the city bots who used their weapons to attack them.

No one was spared and when he tried to stop them from killing a group of children he was cut down. He remembered a burning pain as he lay on the ground dying. Feeling his energon seep into the ground as he stared at the sky. Unable to look at the dead all around them. Including the young ones who's lives had been cut too short.

He thought that was the end. When he closed his optics he never expected to wake up. He shifted hissing in pain as the morning sun brushed against his face. Opening his optics he looked around gasping in fear and horror.

He felt a sharp pain against his side and he looked down at his wound. Stumbling half delirious through the burned homes of his people. He managed to find what little medical supplies were unscathed.

He worked on fixing his wounds while looking around. Sobbing as he came across the bodies of his friends and family.

He spent the day giving them a proper funeral. The entire time his spark felt empty as he stared at his tribe having no idea what to do now.

Looking around the wastelands he saw the mountains nearby. He found himself suddenly itching to climb them and get as far away from all of this as he could.

Grabbing what little supplies he could find. He set off on his journey. It was tedious and he almost slipped multiple times as he climbed the mountain. Sometimes he wondered if he should stop but something always called him to continue climbing.

He was almost halfway up when he noticed large marks in the rock almost like claws. At first he tried to ignore it until he saw signs of fire and more claw marks.

By now he felt nervous as he remembered his carriers stories. He still wasn't sure if it was a dragon though. Since most thought they were extinct.

Even though he felt uncertain he continued to climb until he came to a large cave. Something called for him within and he found his legs moving without his permission.

He walked inside and there laying in a large nest was a dragon. He gasped in shock and with a roar the dragon awoke. Spreading his long wings the beast looked down at him.

He braced himself. Expecting to get eaten, when the dragon slightly nudged him breathing in his scent. He froze wondering what the dragon was doing. His spark was racing and the dragon seemed to be looking him over.

When he was satisfied with whatever he found the dragon nudged food towards him. Not wanting to upset the beast he ate it. Only then did he realize how hungry he was.

The dragon seemed pleased as he watched him eat. When he was done the dragon nudged him into his nest and he found himself laying down. He was so exhausted he quickly fell asleep. The last thing he remembered was a wing covering him like a blanket.

He spent the next few days with the dragon. Even though he didn't know what he wanted with him at least he didn't feel so alone.

One night he'd been having a nightmare. He tossed and turned as he dreamed of that horrible night. He cried out in fear somewhere in the distance he could hear the sound of transformation seams and then someone was holding him.

He relaxed into their arms and when he woke up he was surprised and embarrassed to find himself in a handsome strangers arms.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Soundwave."

The mech pressed his head against his and he gave him a startled look.

"You're the dragon."

The man nodded taking his hand.

"What do you want?"

"You."

"Me?"

He squeaked an the dragon nodded burying his face against his neck.

"You smell good."

He gave him a confused look.

"You smell like my mate."

"What!?"

This time he sat up looking startled.

"You're my mate. After all this time I've finally found you."

The dragon pulled him closer and he found himself unable to resist. Now that he mentioned it Soundwave smelled good and he found himself pressing close. Wanting Soundwave to hold him more and wanting to be close to him.

Soundwave nuzzled him and he smiled cuddling against him. The two traded kisses and Soundwave pinned him against his nest.

"Can I mark you and make sure everyone knows you're mine?"

He nodded eagerly pulling his mate closer. Soundwave kissed him and then left a trail of kisses down his jaw and neck. Until he finally bit down on his neck making him gasp.

When Soundwave finished, he pulled away and licked his wound looking pleased with his work.

"There. Now everyone knows you're mine."

He moaned and found himself begging for Soundwave to mate with him. He wanted him so badly and Soundwave eagerly complied.

The two spent the next few hours fragging in Soundwave's nest and getting familiar with each other's bodies.

[clumsiestgiantess]

Chapter 21 of The Other-world Universe; is promising to save an entire city of people from an apocalypse the smartest thing to do? No. Is it the right thing? Hopefully.

all chapters listed here

[Calm Before the Storm]

I woke up the next day with the immense relief that I had not rolled over in my sleep.  Yet when I yawned, I didn’t feel Erica's form shift on top of me.  My head shot upright in a mini panic attack as I searched for her, trying to make as little movement as possible.  I was a few seconds away from fully sitting up before I finally found her.  

Erica had — either intentionally or subconsciously in sleep — managed to slip her way into my bra, and was sleeping soundly in the center of my chest.  Bewilderment and relief flooded through me so suddenly, I nearly laughed aloud at the sight.  Heat already began seeping across my cheeks as I watched her snuggle against me.  I was slightly suspicious that this might have been her plan all along, but it was entirely possible that it was a mistake.  After all, she had no blanket, and her spot tucked between fabric and my skin had to be rather cozy.  I have to admit, I don't blame her for sleeping there.

For a while I lay in the field trying to get control over my furious blush, but soon I felt Erica stirring on my chest.  I quickly shut my eyes, pretending to have been asleep.  Obviously, I couldn't see her reaction, but I could feel her flinch slightly once she awoke.  There was a split second of confused crawling around before she gasped; the audible shock behind its sound convinced me that she had in fact not planned for this.

"Holy shit!" I heard her whisper faintly, "How the hell did I get here?"  I bit my lip, desperately trying to keep myself from smiling at her reaction.  Thankfully, I hid my bemusement quickly.  Erica slowly crawled out from the top of my bra, trying her best not to wake me.  As quickly as she dared, she clambered down my side to the ground below.  The echoes of her faint touch still danced across my skin long after she'd stepped away.

When I was certain she had moved further from me, I pretended to wake up.  Erica was sitting on my cast-off clothing when I opened my eyes, no doubt pretending that was where she'd slept.  "Good morning," I addressed her with another yawn, "Did you sleep well on my shirt?"  Even with the slight distance between us, I could see the massive amount of guilt written over every one of her features.  To hide this, Erica busied herself by looking for the top half of her own clothes, which had been tossed off into the darkness the night before.  "Uhh, yeah!  I enjoyed spending the night with you."  Even her voice sounded slightly off-pitch with embarrassment.

"Something wrong?" I asked her.  "No!  Nothing's wrong; I just.. I can't find my stuff."  "Mhm, sure."  My mocking tone gave everything away.  She turned to look up at me, eyes wide.  "You woke up before me, didn't you?" she accused, a bit shaken.  "I may have," I replied, sliding closer to her.  "I.. That was an accident, I swear.  I wouldn't have done that unless you were awake.  You know, in case you disagreed."  "Well.. I don’t think I am disagreeing with it."

For once, Erica became a blushing mess instead of myself.  She collected her things from the ground with flushed cheeks and an embarrassed smile, pressing them to her chest.  We had breakfast together, and Erica promised to come sleep with me at least once every week.  "To keep you company out here," she clarified, "Not because of, you know, anything that happened last night."  “Really?” I mocked a shocked expression, “That’s not the reason?”  Erica rolled her eyes, “Alright, that’s part of the reason.  It’s like.. a billion times more exhilarating making out with someone who’s building-sized.”

With a bemused chuckle, I finished my meal.  "Let's go see what everyone else is up to today, shall we?" I asked after we'd readied ourselves for the day.  "I'm supposed to be guarding the town, but lately I feel like I've just been slacking off."  "Alright," Erica agreed, "I'll go bother Ivan, then."  I smiled, shaking my head slightly.  Ivan is, to say the least, almost the opposite of Erica personality-wise.  I can easily imagine the havoc she undoubtedly thrusts upon him in the Cavern Town.  Usually, I was around to deal with her charisma myself, but I guess he'd been having to deal with it for the past few days that I’d been away.  

I held out my hand for Erica to climb on.  It was an unspoken rule that she would ride on my shoulder whenever we traveled together.  She stretched tiredly across its length before sitting up sideways, her back tucked against my neck.  With her settled in, I started off towards the town.  I couldn’t help but sneak a glance at her every so often.  Erica always seemed the most comfortable perched on my shoulder.  Half of me thinks it’s adorable, but my more reasonable half always reminds me of the times she nearly fell off.  Despite this, the former part of me always wins in the end, and I let her stay.

Reaching the valley of the Cavern Town, I checked in with the guards before anything else.  However, they were nowhere to be found.  Erica and I exchanged puzzled glances as I bent closer to one of the wooden structures.  Multiple large guns greeted me in response.

I flinched harshly, feeling Erica’s grip tighten on me as she was thrown backwards.  After a few tenuous seconds, someone recognized me.  “Get down!” a guard whisper-yelled at me, “There were giants spotted on the horizon to the west!”  My nerves spiked instantly and I dropped onto the valley floor.  If the scientists come back now, I might not be able to fight them off!  Sure, I have my new weapon, but I barely had time to practice with it yesterday.  I haven’t even put up a barrier around the town, either.  What if they attack it again?!

Worst-case-scenarios drifted through my head while I pressed myself to one of the mountains behind me.  They're here for the other-world people, not me.  I tried unsuccessfully to calm myself down, but I knew that wasn’t true.  In fact, they might've come back specifically because of me.  After all, I'd killed a few of them in my rage the last time we'd clashed.  

What if the scientists came to kill me?  I don't think I can fight any more than five of them at a time.  And I only managed to do that because I'd caught them off-guard.  What if they lock me away like everyone else — an oddity from a world that isn’t there?

Suddenly, I was startled from my thoughts by a whisper to my side.  "You're alright; it's ok,"  Erica comforted me, carefully laying a hand on my neck.  "The hazmat giants aren't here.  Just- Just calm down.. you're shaking."  I am?  I am.  I hadn't even realized that my shot nerves were vibrating my body with fear-induced adrenaline.  Try as I might, I couldn't get myself to stop.  My heartbeat pounded in my ears, and I was almost pulled into another downward spiral of worries.  Thankfully, Erica snapped me back out of it.  She tapped my shoulder lightly and I turned to see her.  With one small gesture, she slid into my awaiting palms.

I tried in vain to stop myself from shaking as I slowly brought her in front of me.  Despite that, Erica still wobbled in my cupped hands as she stood, reaching out to gently grip my face for balance.  Once she steadied herself, she stood directly in front of my vision.  "Focus on me, alright?"  My head was brought closer to herself.  "You'll be ok.  Just focus on me."  I listened raptly, trying to match my erratic breathing to her calmer breaths.  Her chest grazed my fingertips with every inhale as she leaned over them.  Erica’s concerned expression filled my view while she tried to take my focus off the possibly vengeful scientists.

Is this how Erica sees me? I wondered, watching her concerned expression inch ever-closer to my eyes.  Do I take up her vision like this when I get close?  It was strangely comforting now, but I could certainly see how overwhelming I would’ve been to her before we got to know one another.

I kept my gaze on her, though she only really fit into my view one eye at a time. Before long, a guard from the structure opposite us gave the all-clear.  I stood up with Erica grasped lightly in my clutches, gazing out at the horizon beyond the mountains around me.  “Where’d they go?” I wondered aloud.  “Must’ve been on the hunt for a different town,” Erica noted, “They know better than to mess with this one, thanks to you.”  I smiled down at her thankfully.  She met my gaze with such tenderness I nearly went in for a kiss before remembering where we were and deciding otherwise.

Together we made it the rest of the way to the cavern, where a small crowd had gathered outside.  I recognized Ivan immediately; he stood at the front, nervously shifting from foot to foot.  He flagged me down, but two vaguely familiar people stepped in the way before I could get to him.

Erica quietly explained from her spot in my hands that they were the co-founders of the Cavern Town: Isabel Ashford and Marcus Stoll.  She’d met them briefly when she’d been ‘kidnapped’ from the cliffside.  These were the same two people who’d negotiated the protection deal.  I knelt in front of them, letting Erica off shortly afterwards.  “Defender,” the kinder one, Ms. Ashford, addressed me as I settled cross-legged on the ground.  'Defender' is my nickname amongst some of the people living there; many of the guards called me by it.  

“The giants could have attacked us earlier, and you would not have been here to do your job.  The one thing we asked of you is that you protect our city as amends for destroying it.”  I nodded my head solemnly, “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to protect you.  I have no excuse.”  Silently, I shifted to feel the smooth crystalline structure embedded in my neck.  “However,” I continued, remembering why I’d wanted to return to the Cavern Town, “I might have a solution.  At least, I hope I do.”

With a slight flourish, I slid my gun out from behind me.  A murmur rose from the group of people gathered outside.  “I made and tested this yesterday.  Working properly, it’ll be able to create a protective barrier over your whole town.”  The shorter gruffer one, Mr. Stoll, was ready with multiple questions: How strong is the barrier?  What is it made of?  How deep does it go?  Would people be able to leave once it was put up?  Would they be able to breathe inside it?  Will I continue to stay in the valley after I've set it up?  All good questions; I answered every last concern until the two leaders reconvened and headed back towards the town to debate my idea.

A large number of Cavern Town residents stayed behind once they heard Erica tell me to demonstrate the barrier setting for her, including one of the founders, Mr. Stoll.  He broke away from the other founder and slunk along the edges of the crowd, watching me intently.  I pretended not to take notice, but I could feel him watching me.

After covering various pieces of land with green, glassy covers, I realized I’d yet to figure out how to take them down.  Oh no, please don’t make me recreate this thing again.  Ivan managed to slip through the crowd towards me as everyone gathered around to see the small barriers for themselves — walking through them and testing their strength with various objects nearby.  I watched them intently.  None of them were strong enough to cause much more than a strong ricochet, which worked out perfectly.  I didn’t need anything blowing up by mistake.

Erica surveyed everything from atop one of my knees while I sat in the midst of the crowd, trying my best not to get overwhelmed by the amount of small people surrounding me.  Once he’d made it to my side, Ivan called up to me, but I strained to hear his voice over the crowd and his distance from me.  Erica noticed my confusion.  “He asked if the barriers are really going to do anything, because it looks like they can’t!  Everyone’s just walking through them!” she yelled to me.  Ivan yelled at her and motioned for me to lower my hand to him, learning from Erica’s little gestures.

When my hand touched the ground, everyone around Ivan scattered as if I’d put down an explosive.  I tried not to dwell on the fact that everyone there seemed so frightened of me, or the fact that I had to pick people up just to understand them.  My height was quite the advantage in an apocalypse where ‘giants’ were invading, but it was such a hindrance for so many other things.  I want to help people.  If those same people are frightened of me, then are they really going to want my help?  A small sinking feeling arose in my chest.  These barriers better work…

With Ivan in my palm, I lifted him to my face.  “I didn't say any of that!” he told me, waving a hand at Erica.  “I asked if it was strong enough to keep giants out while still letting people through.”  Erica rolled her eyes behind his back.  “Hopefully,” I answered Ivan.  “there’s no way for anything besides your people and me to pass through one.  The scientists and whoever else tries to get in will be blocked, though I can’t exactly test it with the ‘giants’,” I confessed, “I did test it with a few different objects.  Nothing got through.”

“If they can’t get through it, won’t they try to dig beneath the barrier instead?”  I shook my head, “Even if they tried digging beneath it, the barrier will grow to cover anything they dig out.”  “Won’t it grow over the tunnels we make to get materials and things in and out, too?”  “Don’t worry, I thought of that.  The barrier will stay open around them so long as you make them before I put it up.  If you do it beforehand, the barrier will grow around the tunnels when it forms.  If you do it afterwards, like the scientists might try, it’ll sense that there’s a breach and grow to fill any gaps.”

Ivan seemed satisfied at that, and I let him off beside Erica. She gave him a teasing look and he said something to her. It was hard to tell sometimes whether those two were getting along or not, but Erica burst out laughing and Ivan grinned, so I guessed they were both fine. Before long, the crowd dispersed, leaving me, Erica, and Ivan behind along with a few stragglers.  I glanced around inconspicuously, trying to spot the founder who’d been watching me, but it seemed Mr. Stoll had disappeared along with most of the crowd.

By lunchtime, I was the only one left outside to patrol the mountains and practice with my new weapon — besides the other-worldians in the watchtowers, of course.  They came out in shifts, but there was always someone there occupying every lookout.  The others had left for the Cavern Town by then, hoping to find news about the debate and my idea. I toyed with my barriers, trying to seem like I knew what I was doing while the guards were watching.  Thankfully, I found that I had to hold my hand on top of a barrier and will it to stop existing if I wanted it to fall away.  The idea was somewhere in the back of my mind when I’d first created the crystalline bar. 

I’d just returned to the valley after eating lunch in my field when the founders returned.  Thankfully, they hadn’t arrived sooner, or they would’ve found me missing once again.  “We’ve come to a conclusion,” Ms. Ashford announced.  “You may place the barrier over the town, but only after we put hidden passages in place for our people.”  “Which means you stay nearby until they’re finished,” Mr. Stoll told me with a hint of distrust, “You will sleep right here in the valley, and return to your place in the field only after the barrier is up and functioning properly. Afterwards, I suppose we could cut back on your working hours so long as you make an appearance daily to scout for other giants.”  

The rules were fair enough.  I didn’t like the idea of sleeping in the slim space between the mountains, but it wouldn’t be for very long.  Erica had immediately complained once she heard about my sleeping in the valley.  However, I reminded her about her perfectly fine bed in the Cavern Town.  “At least you have an actual bed, and a house,” I said after she grumbled over the fact she couldn’t secretly sleep with me.  Erica mumbled a half-hearted apology before leaving for the town, yelling: “Steal a bed from your own world if you want one so badly!”  Before I could tell her that was a dumb idea, and the scientists would definitely be able to spot it, she’d vanished into the rocks.

With the plan underway and a full-time job taking up most of my time, the days blurred together quicker than I thought.  Erica would come visit me on the mountainside at least once or twice a day to keep me from getting too bored or too worried.  Ever since those scientists made their way along the horizon, I was anxious that they’d be back to take the town while it wasn’t protected by the barrier.  I trained with my weapon with every opportunity I got, which sometimes included late nights.  I didn’t sleep much anyways; the restricting space between the valley, and the potential to damage more of the mountainsides, kept me up.

Several weeks later, a few crude passages had been established.  They would be smoothed, tiled, and lit eventually, but they were solid enough in their current state to count as complete.  With crossed fingers, I pulled out my gun and shifted it into the fourth and final mode.  The whole town — which had really grown into a city — had to evacuate just in case something went wrong and the barrier somehow failed dangerously.

I was shocked at the amount of people that filed out of the gaping cavern in the side of the mountain.  I’d never seen the whole population in one place before.  Every day a scouting group would come back with various items and occasionally people in tow, but I hadn’t realized just how many other-worldians had settled there.  This has to work, I realized suddenly, Otherwise everyone here might not have a safe space to live anymore.  The scientists know all of this is here.  Why haven’t they come to take it yet?

With everyone finally out of the cavern, the founders gave the signal that it was completely empty.  With careful aim, I guided the barrel to the center of the hollow mountain and fired.  A firework-esque crackle resonated through the valley, making my hair stand on end.  Pieces of rock fell off the mountainside and exploded on the barrier’s face.  Small landslides tumbled dangerously close to the crowd, but I quickly swept them away with my free hand, blocking anything from falling too close.

It was a rather raucous creation, but once everything settled down, the barrier looked stunning.  Tension released from my taunt muscles as my plan fell into place, and I let out a breath I felt like I’d been holding for days.  Soon, everyone from the Cavern Town returned inside — marveling at their brand-new protection.  I could hear the faint noises of celebration coming from within; cheers and music drifted through the barrier and the tunnels. 

As my reward, I was allowed to collect my things and return to the field.  The valley looked a bit more barren than usual without me in it.  I don’t know why I was so melancholy leaving it; I hadn’t liked sleeping there at all. Longingly, I watched the festivities from afar.  “If only I could actually celebrate my accomplishments with them,” I whispered, “but I bet everyone will get uncomfortable if I get too close.” I rubbed the bar on my neck unconsciously.  If only this thing worked how I made it…

Dark clouds rolled in on a strong breeze that smelled of rain.  I put up a barrier around my blankets in anticipation for the storm to come, then lay down and curled up in my empty patch of grass alone, left daydreaming about what I would be doing if I were other-world size with Erica and Ivan out celebrating.

The next morning, I woke up extremely early.  Too early. A storm had started up while I slept, and I was startled awake by a sudden downpour.  The sound of the rain pelting the barrier was horrendous.  For the whole city inside the other barrier, the sound was probably dulled by how full the hemisphere was with rock and machinery and patched-together houses.  For me in my almost empty barrier, the hollowness amplified the noise until it was impossible to sleep or even think.

I angrily took down the barrier and almost went to grab an umbrella from my own world before lightning suddenly streaked across the sky.  Shit, that’s close!  I hit the dirt, realizing that I was definitely the tallest thing in the field.  An umbrella would only make things worse.  If I got struck, I would probably just end up back in the basement rather than dying — just like what had happened on my very first day.  However, the electrical surge from an actual bolt of lightning, no matter how small, might be enough to knock me out.  At the very least, it would be tremendously painful.

Again I found myself hating my stupid living arrangements.  I was wet, my blankets and pillow were soaked, and I could barely keep my eyes open due to my early wake-up call.  The storm stopped a few hours later, but by then I’d stayed up for so long and was so soaking wet that I was already wide awake and shaking slightly with the cold.  I internally rejoiced when the sun came out, warming me up and drying me off a bit.

The whole field was practically underwater — flooded by the rain — so I took my meal to go.  I must’ve looked like an absolute mess.  The moment Erica saw me, she gave me a look that was equally pitying and slightly amused.  “You might want to borrow a brush from your world,” she chuckled, “You look like you were hit by a train.”  “Or a thunderstorm,” I grumbled, “I’ll be back.”  In a moment, I was in my own world.  

Thankfully, everyone was preoccupied with other things at the time, so I was able to get a hairbrush and a fresh change of clothes without anyone noticing me.  I stayed a bit longer once I heard my family making plans in the living room.  Soon enough they would come over to my room to bring me up to speed on their ideas, so I avoided them by taking a shower.  Minutes later, my dad yelled through the bathroom door that he and the others were heading out.  He offered to wait for me, but I turned him down.  I had to get back to the other-world.

With everyone gone, and myself finally pampered and warmed up, I took a moment to stroll through the house, marveling at how everything was just perfectly scaled to me.  Back in the basement, I packed a few extra items for my settlement — including a hairbrush.  When I went to put my things away, however; I got an ingenious idea.  Grabbing my blanket and pillow, I brought them into my world.  “I’ve had just about enough of being uncomfortable,” I grumbled.  

Taking them both into the field of strange energy, I gave them each special abilities.  I imbued the pillow with the ability to make it feel like I was sleeping on a mattress while I used it, and I imbued the blanket with the ability to be the perfect temperature at all times.  “There,” I sighed, placing them down.  “I’ll check on you later.  First, I’ve got to get back to the town.”

Erica was waiting for me in the same spot she'd stood before, milling around aimlessly, waiting for me to come back.  She did a double take once I re-appeared, then nodded.  "Yup, that's much better."  I rolled my eyes with a smile and gently scooped Erica up.  Or, more accurately, I’d barely reached for her before she scrambled up into my hand.  “Where are we going?” she asked, peering over my cupped fingers in excitement.

“Now that I have some time off, I was thinking of exploring the rest of the mountains over here.  I’ll get a lay of the land, maybe find another town.”  “Another town?” Ivan echoed.  He’d just stepped out of one of the new tunnels and overhead me.  “I don’t think that’s a good idea..  You’ll just terrify a bunch of innocent people.”  

“But I could help them!  I could give everyone a barrier just like this one,” I explained, gesturing towards the Cavern Town, now sealed off by an indestructible opaque hemisphere.  “You should wait until we know the barrier actually works before you do that.”  My brows furrowed in concern, and I knelt to see Ivan’s expression.  “You don’t think it’ll work?” I asked, slightly offended.  I’d worked hard to create something that would protect everyone from the likes of the scientists.

“All I’m saying is that we have no proof that it does work,” he reasoned, “I’m fairly confident it will keep the giants out, and so are most people, or else we wouldn’t have let you put it up.  But no one knows that for sure because no one’s ever tried to break in. You said so yourself that you couldn’t fully test it.”  I nodded, seeing the logic behind Ivan’s argument.  I wanted to solve everything desperately — to keep awful things from happening and to prove I wasn’t a part of such awful things myself — but not so desperate that I was willing to give false hope to people just to relieve some of the stress.

However, Erica scoffed in my cupped hands.  “And?  What are you suggesting?  Do you want us to lure some giants over to test it?” She asked sarcastically.  “No!” Ivan yelled, exasperation growing in his voice.  “We should know for a fact that the barrier keeps giants out before we go promising it to others!  If they’re depending on it to keep them alive and it fails, you’re going to be responsible for their capture!”  Erica was ready to quip something snide in return, but I placed my hand over her — holding her in an interlocking cage of my own fingers.  Again, it was hard to tell if they were getting along or genuinely fighting.

“Erica, let it go.  He has a point; we can’t go around giving out barriers claiming they can stop the scientists when we don’t know if they actually do.”  I could hear her grumble in protest, but her voice was too muffled by my fingers to understand.  “I’ll just patrol around the valley today.  Want to come with us, Ivan?”

He shook his head, “I have plenty of things to do in town.”  I nodded, watching him leave.  Was that an excuse not to come, or does he genuinely have stuff to get done?  Erica yelled something and I quickly released her.  “What did you say?”  “I said forget about him.  If he wants to sit around in the rocks, let him.  He doesn’t know what he’s missing out on.”  With an annoyed huff, Erica gave a running leap out into the open air before landing on my chest, clinging to the fabric of my shirt.  She clambered up to one of my shoulders and sat atop it — perched a dizzying height above the ground for someone as tiny as her.  

“Alright I’m set, let’s go,” she said as nonchalantly as if she’d got into a car rather than jumped over a deadly long gap.  Speechless, I glanced over at her with wide eyes.  She snickered and leaned back slightly, grinning at me.  “Something wrong?” Erica asked in an innocent voice.  I shook my head at her reproachfully.  “You’re crazy.  I don’t know how you get the confidence to do half the things you do.”

Erica thought silently as I meandered around the outskirts of the valley.  “Well, I know you’ll always be there to stop anything bad from happening,” she answered with a nonchalant shrug.  Of course I’ll always take care of her, but she she should still be at least a little self-conscious, shouldn’t she? It’s not just her I have to worry about anymore; it’s the whole town. The daunting reality had dawned in my mind watching the crowds of people outside the mountain, but now it had really settled in.

“We've.. stopped," Erica stated in confusion.  I could feel her edge forward slightly, trying to gauge my pensive expression from the side.  "Alexis?  Are you alright?"  A long sigh escaped my lips and I put a hand to one of my temples to massage it.  A slight headache had tormented me for the past few days.  The storm the night before had only worsened it.

"Yeah.  I'm just.. tired, I guess."  I sat down heavily on a flatter part of the mountainside.  "You haven't been getting much sleep in the valley, have you?" Erica asked, realizing how exhausted I really was.  "Well, there's that.  But I've also been so stressed with the whole 'this barrier better work because if it doesn't you might be leaving a few thousand people defenseless' thing too,” I added.  Erica patted the side of my neck comfortingly, I turned to her and she brushed a stray lock of hair from my face.  

“I know, love.  People talk in that mountain, too.  They know they have to rely on you…  It’s a mixed reaction, really.  All those people — I can’t imagine the burden,” she said softly.  “Even-” she paused, shook her head, then started again.  “I’m here.  I’ll help in every way I can, I promise.  I hate that this is happening to you.. to us, but I’m with you.  Even if I’m not physically fighting beside you.  Even if I really want to be…” Erica gave me a little pleading look and I returned it with a half smile.  “If you’re scared or stressed or anything, pick me up anytime and let me help you.”

“Thank you,” I sighed. Smiling softly at her, I reached up and stroked her arm, then carefully rested the pad of my thumb against the side of her head.  A rare genuine smile passed Erica’s lips as she closed her eyes, leaning into my touch.  “I didn’t get a lot of sleep-” I paused to yawn, “last night too, so you aren’t entirely wrong about the no sleep thing either. Stupid thunderstorm kept me up.”  “Then what are you doing carrying me around?” Erica asked incredulously, “Go and get some sleep, you big dork!”  “But, it’s not even dark-”  “If you’re stressed and tired, you have no reason to be up right now!  Go to bed.  No excuses.”

Sighing, I lifted Erica off my shoulder to get a better look at her.  She knelt in my palms, looking meaningfully up at me, gesturing for me to bring her closer.  The moment I bridged the small gap between us, Erica pressed a small kiss onto my cheek.  “Go rest,” she said softly, “You deserve a break, Alexis.”  I gave in — nodding my agreement as I headed back to the right mountain to let Erica off.  Leaving her and everyone behind the safety of the barrier, I trudged off to my things that I’d returned to the field.

When I flopped over onto my blanket, it felt like heaven.  I’d forgotten that I gave little powers to my bedding.  I spread out completely, enjoying all the room I had out in the field.  The tight walls of the valley near the Cavern Town had previously restricted my sleeping space — it had been close to claustrophobic.  Now I had all the room I could want, as well as my new more comfortable sleeping arrangements.  Though there were still plenty more hours of daylight left, I was asleep in minutes.

[l0nesome-dreams]

I just realized I’ve never posted any of my writing before! I’m pretty new to writing fics/stories, so don’t expect anything phenomenal (I’m definitely better at drawing). The only reason I ever really write is for background and lore purposes, hence why you never see me writing 😂. Here’s a little WIP of a fic I’m writing based on this drawing. (Please excuse my grammar and what not I haven’t checked this yet lol)

Description: WIP of a fanfic I’m writing

Pairing: Captain Voorpret(OC) x Commander Lee Ruusaar(OC)

Word count: 1282

Warnings: just some kissin and maybe suggestive talk

Tag: @whiskygoldwings

enjoy?

It was too early in the morning when General Taleed called the troops in for a mission brief. It was all so sudden, Lee shot up from her bed blindly searching for her glasses, slamming her hand into her desk in the process. She groaned in frustration, shaking her hand to ease the pain as she finally found her glasses. Now less blind, she scrambled into the refresher to quickly make herself presentable before practically ripping open her locker to remove her clothes. She discarded her sleeping shirt, one of Voorpret’s old shirts he’d left behind one night, haphazardly shoving her legs into her leggings. She frantically searched for a proper top half but opted to give up on the search because it had been 5 minutes already since the call. By the time she was out of her quarters she had her sleep shirt on again and was pulling her hair back out of her face, her rubber band between her teeth. She staggered into the meeting room, everyone turning to look at her. Valkyrie elbowed Voorpret who turned to look at Lee, nearly choking when he realized she was wearing his old shirt.

“Ah, Commander, thank you for joining us this morning,” Taleed said before turning to the rest of the men in the room, “Sorry to wake you all so early, but we’ve been called to attend a gala that may be compromised by the Separatists.” 

He rearranged the holo map to present a outlining of a large building. Many floors and rooms were visible which all circled around what looked to be a dinning hall and ball room.

“The senator of the planet has expressed the concerns of their king and queen of the possible attack. We are to be there as support in case of emergency. Lee and I will be going undercover to try to figure out if there is a Separatist presence there within the gala before we do anything drastic. Captain and some of you boys will be acting as guards. The senator has already informed the normal guards of the planet that you all will be taking over for the night. Do not engage any suspects unless either the commander or I say so.” He explained, making gestures here and there to the table before him.

“Sir, who can we be keeping an eye out for?” Voorpret asked, his voice growly from sleep.

“We’ve got a few faces,” Taleed projected a few holograms of a variety of what looked like to be Separatist officers, “however nothing is set in stone yet. There could be more than just this handful.” He looked a bit wary of the situation.

“We’ll be sure to let you know if we notice anything suspicious that you or the commander didn’t see.” Voorpret reassured.

“Alright, we’ll be heading out at 0630 hours, so be ready in the hangar by then.” Taleed said.

The men left the room heading off to prepare, leaving only Taleed, Lee, and Voorpret.

“Lee I know you don’t appreciate undercover missions, but this one isn’t as bad compared to the others you’ve had to step in on I promise. Just dress nicely, but don’t stand out too much.” The togruta said, smiling at his daughter enthusiastically.

“I wasn’t too concerned buir.” Lee said, returning his smile, though hers was less so enthusiastic. 

“Good, good. I will see you both shortly.” Taleed bowed and existed the room, the door sliding shut behind him.

Voorpret sighed heavily.

“Mesh’la is this my shirt?” Voorpret asked, reaching forward and taking the hem of it in his fingers.

“It is in fact your old shirt. I was rushing to get out of my quarters this morning because I wasn’t expecting the general to call a mission briefing at 0400 hours.” Lee grumbled.

“I’m just messing with you cyare.” Voorpret chucked, pulling Lee against his chest softly.

She wrapped her arms around him, she appreciated the fact he wasn’t in his armor, but  just in his blacks. She inhaled the familiar scents of GAR issued soap, slight musk, and a scent that was purely Voorpret. 

“Mesh’la did you not sleep well?” He said after a moment, his arms still securely wrapped around the smaller form of his love. 

“Mhm.” She mumbled against his chest, snuggling in closer.

“Ah, I see. I’m sorry mesh’la. I was going to come lay with you for a little while, but then the general called the meeting.” He rubbed soothing circles on her back, placing a lingering kiss to the top of her head inhaling her scent ever so slightly.

She didn’t answer, but pulled away reluctantly. 

“Don’t worry about it love, I don’t think anyone was expecting the meeting.” She said, yawning. 

Voorpret grinned down at her when she yawned.

“You look so cute when you yawn,” Voorpret cooed and his grin widened when Lee glared up at him, “my little loth cat.” He placed a soft kiss to her nose before releasing her.

“You know I hate when you call me that.” Lee said, walking back over to the holo map.

Voorpret chuckled.

“Mesh’la you will forever be like a loth cat, you will never change my mind.” He stated, coming up to stand behind Lee, wrapping his arms around her waist while resting his head on her shoulder.

“Where do you get the energy this early in the morning?” Lee sighs, zooming in on the doors that lead into the main room of the building.

“You of course,” The captain says, kissing Lee’s neck, “if you weren’t around I’d be just as tired as you are right now.” He muses.

“Well I’m glad you’re in a good mood this morning, but I haven’t had my caf, and I’m not about to deal with all of your brothers without it,” she turned in his hold to face him now, “plus you’re being an active distraction.” 

Voorpret smirked, mischief glinting in brown eyes. 

“Oh mesh’la I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m barely being a distraction.” He leaned into her face, his lips only inches from hers, “But I can turn that around real quick.” He adds suggestively.

Lee deadpans and puts her hand over his mouth, pushing his face away. 

“Again. Distraction.” She grumbles.

Voorpret doesn’t let this slide. He scoops her up, setting her down on the table, and resting his hands on either side of her. 

“You know you can’t resist all of this.” Voorpret says, wiggling his eyebrows while slotting himself between Lee’s legs to emphasize his point. 

Lee flushed deep red looking down at Voorpret’s chest, avoiding eye contact. 

“Have I ever told you how pretty you look when you’re wearing my clothes?” Voorpret asks, taking Lee’s chin gently between his thumb and forefinger to draw her attention back to him.

“So you’ve said.” Lee says quietly, looking at his face now.

Voorpret grins at her before leaning in to place a soft kiss on her lips. They sit there a moment before the briefing door slides open abruptly.

“Oh force! Sorry!” Valkyrie chuckles, covering his eyes with his hand before peering through his fingers, “I thought you’d wait a bit longer V. You can’t just have se-“ He started before Voorpret interrupted him abruptly.

“Valkyrie, what in kriffs name are you doing back in here?” Voorpret hissed, still slotted between Lee’s legs, looming over her. 

“Forgot my helmet,” Valkyrie stated picking up his bucket from the chair he’d been sitting in, “I’ll leave you two love birds to it, just for force sake don’t be too loud.” 

Before either Lee or Voorpret could make a remark Valkyrie was out the door just as quickly as he’d come in.

[the-ikran-man]

May 30th - Tradition/Whump

WARNING:

Character Death!

Lot of curse words.

Lot of hurt, barely any comfort.

ANGST

-- --- --

Set before Dragon and Fellow actually become recoms cause Fellow's human death is just very good angst. Still counts, yeah?

Also we get to throw Parker, another one of our recoms into it, so yeah, it's that good stuff.

-- --- --

It was normal for Dragon and Fellow to swap dog tags if one of them was going on a mission or to an area without the other, which happened sometimes.

It was a tradition for them. By switching dog tags, the person who was leaving was saying 'You have my tags, so I'll come home alive to get them back.'

And while not swapping tags didn't stop the other from going, it sure voiced your displeasure about it.

Honestly if it were up to Fellow, he wouldn't go, bulldozer duty wasn't great. He'd much rather stay in bed with Dragon unless they had to get up to do stuff around base. And Dragon refusing to swap his tags with him the week before sure proved that he also didn't want Fellow to go either.

And maybe Fellow did him just a little dirty to make sure he walked out of base with those tags on.

See, Dragon slept like the dead after he and Fellow had a little fun in the sheets. He could get stabbed and he likely wouldn't wake up.

It was bit mean to use it as a way to get what he wanted, but technically it was fun for both parties and sure, Dragon would probably yell at him about it when he got back, but small price to pay to keep a tradition.

---

It's easy enough to unclasp the tags from around his sleeping partner's neck, Fellow planting a light kiss on the sleeping solider's temple before he gets up, securing the dog tags around his neck and setting his own down nearby where Dragon would see them whenever he awoke in the morning.

Usually he'd stay, but he was going to try to avoid the smaller's wrath for as long as he could, as his beloved was a bit of a loose canon when he wasn't in a good mood.

Fellow was just lucky he had what it took to handle him.

---

Dragon is aware that the usual weight in his bed is gone when he wakes up in the late afternoon hours. He groans, pushing himself up, fully expecting to find Fellow chilling in the corner somewhere waiting on him.

He is not.

"God, you fuckward, where'd you go?" Dragon mutters to himself, as he forces himself out of bed to attempt to get ready for whatever a day on Pandora decided to throw at him.

He's reaching to adjust his tags when he realizes they're gone. He searches his bed for them, then the whole room. Until he finds Fellow's tags instead, sitting there where his partner left them, almost mocking him in a way.

Fellow had stolen his dog tags and booked it. Probably in the middle of the night. And Dragon had slept through it. Like an idiot.

"I'm gonna kill him," Dragon growls under his breath, snatching up Fellow's tags and heading out. The second he got back from bulldozer duty, Dragon was going to lay into him. How dare he sneak off after stealing his stuff, the fucking weasel! Just he wait!

He doesn't even think that he might not get the chance.

---

"So far we've counted 7 bodies, but there could be more, people were changing shifts when it happened."

We found another one over here!"

"Shit. Who is it?"

"We weren't sure, but they've got their dog tags, but it's hard to make out the name."

A sort of hush falls over the room as everyone waits with baited breath to learn about another name, another team member to add to their list of dead.

Dragon feels sick, clutching Fellow's tags as he stands there, anxiousness building.

The leader of the team on screen reaches for the tags that are passed over by the other who's crouched by a badly burned body.

Dragon immediately curses the clear quality of the body cam recording everything. Because he knows those tags.

He doesn't need to hear his own name read off, or the curse the leader lets out as the realization dawns on him as well.

He doesn't even realized someone's come over to his side, until he's being pulled into a chest, held tight in an arm, a voice whispering, "Don't look anymore."

Parker had been watching Dragon ever since they'd started counting bodies. All of them in the room had been exposed to large levels of death at some point, but Dragon was pretty young, and death was harder on him than it was on the rest of them.

And being faced with the death of someone you cared about...

Parker had grabbed him and tried to block some of it out.

Dragon is not a touch person, he liked human contact less than the normal amount, but right now, he really didn't want anyone touching him. Not when his world was currently spiraling head first into the ground with enough force to kill a man.

He tries to pull away, but is not allowed to, in fact, Parker refused to let him go, her other arm coming around to hold onto him against herself.

Like he wasn't a solider, and instead a frightened child.

He's not a child, even if he's young. He'd seen death before, and on Pandora, the risk of it was even higher than back on Earth. They weren't invincible out here, death was an occupational hazard, he wouldn't cry about it, Fellow probably wouldn't have, he knew what he was getting into when he left, he-

Dragon hears a hiccup, and it takes a second or two for it to sink it that he's the one who did it.

Park holds him a little tighter, leaning over him slightly, muffling the wrecked sobs that start to eventually come out of Dragon as he breaks, as it all really hits him.

Fellow is gone.

It was like a sick fucking joke. He'd been here one day and now he wasn't, just like that.

This wasn't how it was suppose to go. He was suppose to come back. That what taking Dragon's tags had meant, that he try his hardest to come back, come hell or high water.

Parker mutters something into his hair, but Dragon can't hear her, his fingers curling so tight around Fellow's tags that his knuckles turn white.

Pandora was a right cruel place.

Inspired by this gif ^

Not gonna lie, we were gonna go the fist bump route, but as we were looking at this gif yesterday, the recom in the back came into focus like a light-bulb going off, and we noticed the dogs tags and things just sort of plummeted into place.

@recom-week

[grievedifferent]

the water estate was quiet: barren of life save for nature, the staff working to maintain it, and a man whose presence brought the faint scent of morning dew into the building proper. giyū gently folded his mismatched haori and set on a nearby cabinet — making sure the sunlight did not reach it. a table was already set up with tea and he sat in seiza with his gaze moving from the open shoji door to the letter in his hand. tanjiro's training was slowly progressing. good. better at that pace than rushing into things head on, despite the anguish and anger undoubtedly coursing through that boy's veins. unfortunately, his sister was still in a deep sleep and that made him concerned. was this a defense mechanism? what happens when she wakes up? will nezuko be herself then? a thousand questions and speculations swam in giyū's vast mind, and he calmly pockets the letter into his uniform before picking up a warm cup of tea and idly sipping at it. ocean eyes drift over to the open doors once more — gaze softening at sabito's arrival.

ALL THAT COMES TO PASS ... WILL PASS. sabito has been carefully documenting each letter he has received, albeit few (few than there should be, it seems). the ones from giyū have always been temperamental, not in nature but in delivery. the ones from their shared master arrive just as intended.

he says nothing at first, stepping forward. he has shaken off snow and rain to be here, one foot falling into the sun as he takes proper posture on his knees, bowing in deep respect. there are few that he shows this sort of gratitude towards; this innate longing (for family).

taking his place, he sits in a similar effect, finding comfort in the silence before he has to break it. the mask remains for now. finally, he removes it.

❝ brother, ❞ he says. twin. it is a private exchange. he does not call his other this unless alone. lest keep things as they are; not everyone needs to know. their styles say it louder than they ever could. ❝ giyū. i received your last letter. barely. ❞ an idle jest, nothing meant to pierce armor. ❝ let's discuss it. ❞ // * @tidalcrest

[azurdlywisterious]

I’m starting to think I was too harsh on silver eyes back in high school.

(Putting this under a read more because it’s super long)

It’s weird going back and reading it and knowing that the main antagonist (and my favorite character) doesn’t show up till halfway through. Sure the pacing slow, but I think my problem was I was reading it like it was… how do I phrase this?

Before I started this reread, I would commonly quote/paraphrase a line I had heard about the Michael bay transformers movies to describe this book:

“I came for the robots. I don’t care about the boring human stuff.”

And I think that’s why (or part of why) the book got such a bad rap when it was first released. When I read it, I was nearly skipping through it trying to get to the parts with the animatronics. And that’s the problem. The book has some poignant things to say or ponder about grief and change, things I didn’t have the experiences for to understand it but do now.

Now Charlie felt a pang of guilt. To someone, those little girls and boys had been as vital as Michael. To someone. their losses had meant the end of the world. She closed her. eyes for a moment. I can't mourn everyone, she thought. No one can.

Charlie (the protagonist) has a lot to say about this world and the situation she’s in. She’s not “a FNaF character,” she (and the rest of the cast) are the logical extension of kids who weren’t murdered growing up and having to live with that being one of the most formative moments in their lives.

"I didn't know what I saw," John said. "It was all chaos. I didn't even think about it; I didn't make the connection; it was just another animal at Freddy's. I didn't think about who might have been inside it. I was… I was a kid, you know? You figure that the grown-ups already know everything you know."

The pacing is slow, sure, but it uses that to flesh out and humanize each member of the main cast. Because this time around I’m just reading it for the sake of reliving all of it, I can appreciate the setup and world building the novel is taking its time to do.

And maybe I’ll change my mind (I just got to chapter 4), but I’m starting to think that I was harder on this book in high school than I should have been.

I remember a while back seeing a comment someone had that it was kind of weird how the franchise focused on the serial killer and his family drama and not the victims at all. While I don’t fully agree with this sentiment (I like the Afton family drama and his own kids were also his victims), I do agree that it’s rather strange. Surprisingly, so far, silver eyes has done a great job of focusing on the victims. While he is only one of the five mentioned to have been killed, Michael (the main group’s childhood friend) haunts the narrative like no other. I’d hazard to say even more than Charlie’s father at points. They’re all in town to memorialize Michael via a scholarship. He gets brought up in almost every scene. They go to Freddy’s as their own memorial to him.

After the ceremony, they went to say hello to Michael's parents, hugging them and making sounds of condolence. What do you say to someone who has lost a child? Can it be any easier? Can ten years make a difference, or do they wake up each morning as fresh with grief as the day he died?

Unless something wild happens quality-wise, I’m going to continue to hazard that silver eyes is a good book that ended up being read wrong on release.

[dabimybbg]

You're Beautiful, I'm In Love

DABIHAWKS

Warning: Fluff, Very Slight Angst

Characters: Dabi and Hawks (feat; kitty)

Summery: Hawks catches feelings for Dabi after spying on him petting a kitty.

It's pretty late at night. Dabi is sitting on a wooden crate inside a very broken and run down abandoned wearhouse. It's far away from any main road so unless you were actually looking for this specific wearhouse you wouldn't be available to find it, which makes it the perfect place for a villain and hero to meet up. There is of course still a chance people might come across it and decide it would be fun to take a peak in and explore, which is why Hawks always makes sure to hide some of his feathers nearby so he would be available to hear anyone approach and get him and Dabi out of there.

Speaking of Hawks, he is currently sitting on top of a little less broken building than the one Dabi is in. From where he is sitting he can see in through the broken glass in the wearhouse to where Dabi is sitting on top of the wooden crate. Thanks to the feathers he hid nearby he can also hear him hum a little tune to himself. They aren't supposed to meet for another couple of minutes so Hawks decided this would be the perfect time to spy on the villain.

Everything is silent, except the wind that whistles through the buildings every once in a while alongside the soft showering rain. All thought it's quite warm out still. Dabi's eyes are closed, he is sitting with on leg over the other and his foot is swaying side to side as he is leaning backwards onto his hands . The loud scratchy meow startles them both. The Villains eyes snap open, his foot stops moving and his leg come down from the other as he straightens his back. A small long haired black cat jumps upp onto the crate next to Dabi and sits down. They look at each other for a couple seconds before the cat gives away another scratchy meow and Dabi can't help himself as he stretches a hand out to the cat to let it sniff him and the cat does just so, then it stretches it's neck a bit more so it's little forehead makes contact with Dabi's fingers, before standing and walking over to the Villains lap and laying down in it.

They're both a bit shocked. Neither of them expecting the cat to crawl into his lap. Though the villain slowly brings his hand back from where it was outstretched and slowly starts petting the kitten over its little body. A small purr can be heard erupting from the small body and Hawks can see how Dabi's face twists into a small soft, fond smile. He can't help but to forget about his mission. How could he possibly remember that when the villains beautiful blue eyes sparkle and twinkle so perfectly. He feels his own face twist into a small fond smile and his heart beat picking up. Not because of the cute kitten purring away so happily in the dangerous villains lap. But because how beautiful the villain looks.

It startles him. He shouldn't feel this way. Especially not about villain. ESPECIALLY not about his villain informant. But he doesn't feel bad about it. He can't feel bad about it. The scene Infront of him is so domestic and soft. The villain infront of him looks so domestic and soft. If things were different Hawks is sure he would do anything to wake up next to that smile and those beautiful twinkling eyes evey morning for the rest of his life. He can already imagine it. Holding the warm body of the villain close to his own as they sleep, and once he wakes up he'd coo at the sight and plant kisses upon kisses onto his face all while cooing softly and fluffing his wings uncontrollably, Dabi would start smiling, giving a little giggle and slowly open his beautiful eyes and look into Hawks' own. If only Dabi wasn't a villain. If only Hawks wasn't a hero. He wishes that things were different. But they're not. So for now, Hawks will just admire from a far. He remembers his mission. What the Commission expect from him. What everyone expect from him. So for now, he'll try and forget those beautiful twinkling eyes and the perfect smile on his informants face, how the light catches on his staples and how domestic and soft the scene Infront of him is. Lightning flashes, big and blinding and the boom that follows after makes the cat jump up into the air and run of. Dabi's left there with his hand in mid air, his smile fading as he looks at the cats retreating figure. Hawks takes a breath and closes his eyes. He stands and flies down to the wearhouse. It's time for them to meet up.

I hope this is alright, this is my first post O-O

[arlaina28]

The Girlfriend Experience- First Date- Suga Version

Fandom- BTS

Relationship- Suga/Reader

Rated- General

It’s been a week since I moved into the bands building. A week of Yoongi working non-stop. I’ve been alternating between watching him work, making sure he has regular meals and convincing him to go to bed at a decent hour. I leave my room and head down for breakfast, realising all the guys are still in bed asleep as it’s their first day off. I make enough breakfast for everyone but put the others’ food into the fridge for when they wake up.

I take a bowl up to Yoongi’s room and knock on the door. I don’t get an answer so I carefully open the door and poke my head inside. I see his bed is empty and I sigh in frustration at him. I head to his studio, knowing that’s where he will be. I knock softly on the door but there’s no answer. I poke my head in and see he has fallen asleep slumped on his desk. I step inside and walk over to him.

“Yoongi?” I call softly, not wanting to startle him.

His eyes blink open and he squints at me sleepily and groans.

“I brought you breakfast.” I state softly, placing it on a coffee table away from all the equipment.

“It’s morning?” He groans, sitting up and stretching.

“Yes. You’ve been here all night then?” I ask, voice showing my disappointment.

“I have to get these songs ready.” He yawns, rolling his eyes at me.

“You need to look after yourself. Plus, it’s supposed to be your day off.” I huff, hands on my hips.

“Stop nagging.” He snaps but without any venom.

“You wanted a girlfriend. This is how I act as a girlfriend.” I snap back, frowning at him.

He sighs and rubs his face before nodding. He moves to the food and takes a bite.

“Thank you.” He mumbles around his food.

“You’re welcome. So, are you actually going to take the day off?” I ask softly, sitting beside him.

“You’re not gonna stop nagging unless I do, are you?” He mock glares at me.

“You’ve worked non-stop the entire week I’ve been here. You deserve a day to relax.” I point out.

He looks a bit shocked and searches my face.

“I’ve been busy the whole week? No wonder you’re nagging me. I’ve ignored you.” He sighs, looking down at his feet.

“I’m fine with being ignored. I want you to look after yourself though.” I state, reaching out and squeezing his hand.

He stares into my eyes and then smiles his gummy smile, looking away as he blushes. He eats in silence and then looks up at me.

“What are you doing today?” He asks me softly.

“I was gonna go to the gym with JK and Joon but after that I don’t know.” I shrug.

“Do you go to the gym with them a lot?” He asks, frowning at me.

“What else should I do? You’ve been busy.” I reply, wondering why he’s frowning.

He sighs and licks his lips.

“How about a date? Tonight?” He asks softly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Really? I’d like that.” I smile.

“Okay. Tonight at 7?” He smiles.

“Yes. What should I wear?” I ask excitedly.

“Anything you want. I’m going to cook for you.” He declares.

“Great! Can’t wait!” I grin.

He blushes again and stands up picking his empty bowl up. I follow him out and head to my room to change for the gym. I pass JK and Joon having their breakfast and they thank me for making it. I smile at them and notice that Yoongi is watching us with another frown. I walk up to him and kiss his cheek, wondering what is wrong with him and he blushes again. He’s so cute when he blushes and I can’t help smiling at him.

“Spend the day with me.” He states softly, whispering so the other two don’t hear him.

“Doing what?” I smile at him.

“I don’t know.” He sighs, looking away.

“Hey, how much sleep did you actually get?” I ask, frowning at him.

“Uh, three hours? I think.” He shrugs.

“You need sleep.” I state sternly.

“So you can go to the gym?” He growls at me.

“No. I’ll stay here to make sure you sleep.” I snap, frowning at his behaviour but thinking it’s just because he’s tired.

“What are you going to do?! Sit in my room with me?” He snorts at me, rolling his eyes.

“If I have to.” I snap at him.

“You’re like a married couple!” JK laughs from across the room.

“I think she’s good for you.” Joon smirks at Yoongi.

“Come on. Bed.” I tell him sternly, pulling him to his room.

He grumbles but doesn’t fight me. I push him into his room and then pop to mine to get my book. I go back to his room and knock before going in, seeing him put his phone down and then lay on his bed.

“I’ve made sure we’ll have the place to ourselves for our date tonight.” He yawns.

“Great.” I grin, sitting beside him on the bed.

“You’re really gonna stay and make sure I sleep?” He frowns.

“Yep.” I smile at him.

He sighs but he’s soon asleep, curled around me as I read peacefully. A few hours pass and I slip from his bed to make lunch, grinning as I find Jin in the kitchen cooking already. I sit on a stool and watch him.

“Want some?” He asks with his usual smile.

“Yes please. It smells so good.” I hum.

Jin looks pleased at my praise and serves me up a plate. I start eating and chatting to Jin when Yoongi walks in. He frowns slightly but doesn’t say anything. Jin hands him a plate and Yoongi sits next to me to eat.

“Did you sleep well?” I ask Yoongi as the others all shuffle in for food.

“Yes.” Yoongi nods, sounding cold towards me.

I frown but don’t press, figuring he’s probably just groggy from waking up. I eat my food while the members ask Yoongi why he wants them to clear out for the evening.

“I don’t want to cause any of you any inconvenience.” I say sadly, feeling like I’m being a burden.

“You’re not. It’s one evening and they can go somewhere else.” Yoongi declares, glaring at the others.

They all agree, grinning and nudging Yoongi. He growls and walks out, making the others laugh. I clean up from lunch and then head to my room for a shower. I want to look a little presentable for our date after all even if it’s just at home. I choose a comfy pair of jeans that cup my butt wonderfully and a loose fitting t-shirt that I stole from an ex. I hang out in my room for a while trying to decide if I should do my hair and makeup or not.

All the guys call out as they leave and I head downstairs, doing my hair but not my makeup. Yoongi is in the lounge putting some snacks and drinks on the table and spreading a blanket on the sofa. He then turns to go to the kitchen and catches sight of me. His eyes slide over my body, making butterflies flutter in my belly. He blushes as his eyes meet mine and rubs his neck.

“I’m going to make dinner then I figured we could watch movies?” He asks, looking at the floor.

“That sounds great.” I grin.

“You don’t mind it’s not a fancy restaurant or anything?” He asks, peering at me through his lashes.

“I prefer it. I always feel out of place in fancy restaurants.” I smile, blushing a little at my confession.

He grins his gummy smile at me and then heads to the kitchen. I head with him and sit at the counter as he cooks.

“So what kind of movie do you want to watch?” I ask him, wondering what sort of thing he likes.

“What sort of movies do you like?” He asks, tilting his head as he looks at me.

“My favourite genre is horror.” I grin.

“I don’t like horror movies.” He mumbles, looking at the food.

“That’s okay, some people don’t. I like action movies too.” I smile, not wanting him to feel bad that we don’t like the same genre.

“I like action.” He grins, looking relieved.

“Great!” I grin back. “I’ll get some alcohol out too.”

“Brilliant.” He grins excitedly.

I chuckle as I grab some different types of drink from the fridge, placing it in the lounge with the snacks. I head back to the kitchen just as Yoongi is serving dinner. We take it into the lounge and sit on the sofa together. He starts searching for films and I see him hesitate over several Quentin Tarantino movies.

“I love From Dusk Til Dawn but you won’t coz it’s a horror.” I say as he scrolls past.

“Sorry.” He grimaces at me.

“It’s fine, honestly. Oh Kill Bill!” I cry out.

“You like that?” He asks, grinning again.

“Yes!” I grin excitedly.

He presses play and we start to eat dinner. I moan at the taste, brilliant as always.

“How did you learn to cook so well?” I moan.

“My brother taught me.” He smiles, blushing slightly.

“Really? I should thank him because this is so good.” I moan as I take another bite.

He chuckles and we eat in peace for a little while, watching the movie. Once dinner is finished I take the plates out.

“Don’t worry about washing them! I’ll do it later.” Yoongi calls and I agree.

I come back from the lounge and smile as I see he paused the movie for me. We sit together on the sofa, curled under the blanket, as we drink and eat snacks. We end up watching both movies and chatting as I slowly start to feel tingly from the alcohol. I don’t even notice how long has passed until the other members all pile into the building, chatting louder.

Yoongi clicks his tongue in annoyance, glaring at them as they make fun of how we’re sitting together. I shake my head at them and stand up, stretching. I wobble slightly and giggle as I go a little dizzy from the alcohol. Yoongi quickly stands up and grips my hips to steady me. I giggle again and he pushes me towards the stairs.

“Bed time.” He grumbles sternly, pushing me along.

“One date and you think I’m gonna go to bed with you?” I giggle, stumbling a little.

“No! You need sleep.” He says quickly, blushing as the other members laugh harder at him.

I pout as he pushes me to my room. He helps into the room and lays me on the bed.

“Get some sleep.” He snaps sternly.

“Fine!” I snap back, curling up on the bed.

“Goodnight.” He sighs, turning to leave.

“Yoongi?” I call before he leaves.

“Yes?” He says softly, looking back at me.

“I had a really great time.” I smile at him sleepily.

“So did I.” He says so softly I barely hear him.

I fall asleep as the door closes behind him.

[crownjimin]

☆//★ 005 | hickeys tell all

telepathy — the friends with benefits to lovers social media au where hoseok has been sleeping with namie for seven months when she blurts out that she loves him, and from there things get complicated. namie refuses to take the next step toward a serious relationship but hoseok refuses to let her give up on them. due to this, chaos ensues.

tags: @bubblytaetae

( masterlist | prev | next )

Most mornings, Hoseok forwent breakfast. He was too tired or rushed to remember to feed himself before he hurried off to his first class. But sometimes, when he managed to check his phone in time, he would meet with Haryun, Moonhee, and Yoongi for breakfast.

It had started with just Haryun and Hoseok in the beginning. Before Yoongi had the guts to confess to Haryun, Hoseok would have quick breakfasts with Haryun at Toasty Beans whenever he wanted a nice cup of coffee before class to gather his bearings. Over time, Haryun became his best friend, so starting his days with her made everything better.

Eventually, Moonhee caught a whiff of the two meeting up and wanted to tag along. Hoseok hadn’t known much about Moonhee, but he knew that she was Haryun’s roommate and her closest friend, so he had no issue with her attending their breakfast.

He learned that Moonhee was also on the cheer team and was much like him when it came to waking up; they both didn’t like to do it. Moonhee was easy to talk to, and he could see why Moonhee and Haryun got along so well since they complemented each other’s personalities amazingly.

And, of course, seeing as ever since Yoongi and Haryun started dating, they never went anywhere without the other, Yoongi eventually tagged along as well. It was rare for all four of them to attend every breakfast; sometimes, Yoongi had basketball practice, or Moonhee overslept, but more often than not, it was always Hoseok and Haryun.

Just as that morning was.

Haryun sat across from Hoseok in a booth tucked into the far corner of Toasty Beans. She was devouring an everything bagel, and Hoseok was working on a blueberry muffin he had ordered a few minutes prior.

There was no cheer practice that morning, so Moonhee slept in, but there was basketball practice, so Yoongi was absent. (Although he promised to meet them afterward as long as Hoseok paid for his breakfast.) Hoseok hated to be stubborn, but he preferred it like that. Not as if he had anything against Moonhee, but when it came to Haryun, he was selfish. He liked the one-on-one conversations they would have and the strong connection they could build, and even though he knew it wouldn’t be different with others there, he always preferred it with just her.

“I hate to break the light atmosphere we have going on here,” Haryun began as she reached for a napkin to wipe her hands. “But there is a dark purple hickey practically glaring at me from your neck that I just have to ask about.”

Reflexively, Hoseok tugged the collar of his hoodie closer to his neck. Hoseok made sure to wear a hoodie before leaving his apartment this morning, having caught the hickey in his mirror while doing his skincare, but he hadn’t realized that it barely did the job.

Unless he tightened the strings around his neck, the hickey was visible for everyone to see. Luckily, Haryun had pointed it out before he walked around campus with the blemish on display. He had seen how that played out for Yoongi, and he refused to feature on the SNUUpdates account for something as invasive as his sex life.

“It’s nothing, Yunie,” Hoseok ate another bite of his muffin. “Don’t worry about it.”

“You can’t lie to me, Hobi baby,” She replied. “I hope you're not walking around letting just anyone mark you up like that.”

Hoseok scoffed out a laugh, shaking his head at Haryun. She had a lot of nerve to tease him about hickeys knowing her past, but he wasn’t evil enough to bring that up. Not yet, at least.

“It’s not just anyone, but it’s also no one important. We just mess around sometimes.”

Swallowing the final bite of her bagel, Haryun cleared her throat. “Oh, like a fuck buddy, or-at least I think that's what they’re called. I never knew those were a real thing until recently.”

Hoseok had to school his expression. He was very animated with his expressions, or so he had been told. Before his lies could give him away his face always did, so he made sure to keep a stoic expression and not raise any suspicion.

“Oh.”

Haryun hardly noticed as she continued to babble. “Even Namie has one apparently, which surprised me because she’s like my child-”

His face had remained emotionless, a pat on the back to Hoseok that he pretended to give himself. But he couldn’t suppress the wince that came from his throat. It was loud enough to make Haryun pause in her tracks and look up at him.

For a brief moment, she looked concerned as she pushed Hoseok’s drink closer to him, silently urging him to take a sip, but once she realized Hoseok couldn’t look her in the eyes, Haryun froze.

“You’re not sleeping with Namie are you?” To be fair, Haryun was joking when she suggested it. It was so far-fetched that it seemed funny, which was why she said it in the first place.

As seconds passed, and Hoseok did nothing to negate or deny the question Haryun rose from her seat. In a swift manner, Haryun reached for Hoseok’s collar and yanked it with all her might to set sight on the thing that brought upon the conversation.

“Namie did that to you!” 

“Keep your voice down!”

“Don’t tell me what to do, you heathen!”

Hoseok slapped Haryun’s hands away from him and forced her to sit down as he glared at her with a fierceness only he possessed.

“You cannot tell anyone.”

“You are not seriously sleeping with Namie right,” Haryun was breathless, her eyes shimmering with disbelief as she gazed at Hoseok with curiosity. “Like, not for real, right?”

There were crumbs of blueberry muffin left that Hoseok shoved into his mouth to calm his nerves. From the beginning, he and Namie had agreed to keep everything to themselves, between one another so as to not have so many people asking questions but Hoseok had just broken that agreement, and he had no idea what to do. To make matters worse, it was one of Namie’s friends that found out, and not that he couldn’t trust Haryun, but it elevated the chances of Namie finding out he told.

And for some reason that scared him.

“Can you please just keep it a secret?” Hoseok whispered. “We don’t want anyone to know.”

“If it’s because you’re ashamed of Namie she is a wonderful person who you are lucky to even-”

“That's not it!” Hoseok rushed to cease the rant Haryun was sure to go on. “We just want it to be private so, please, keep this between us.”

Haryun’s lip quivered as she tried to find the right words to say. Hoseok could only imagine the hard decision Haryun was having to make at the moment, but he couldn’t help but ask. She was a good friend, he knew that, so he was positive she was going to do the right thing.

“Yun-ah,” A voice interrupted the two of them as the owner slid into the booth beside Haryun. Yoongi was quick to wrap his arms around Haryun and hug her with all his sweat Hoseok knew Haryun didn’t mind. “I tried calling you a few times but you didn’t answer.”

“Yeah, I,” Haryun grasped one of Yoongi’s hands in her own, her eyes never leaving Hoseok’s. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you. How was practice?”

“Good,” Yoongi’s eyebrows furrowed in concern as he noticed his girlfriend’s strange behavior. He turned Haryun’s head to face him and asked, “What’s up?”

In an instant, Haryun melted as she looked at Yoongi. “Nothing, nothing. Hobi was just telling me about a dance he was working on. Right Hob-ah?”

Yoongi turned to look at Hoseok for verification and Hoseok had no trouble smiling, grateful for Haryun and her decision to keep their previous conversation private. He had always known Haryun was a good friend, but it never hurt to be shown that every few moments.

“Yeah, right.”

☆//★

( masterlist | prev | next )

A/N: i don't know if it's just me but i feel like this story is progressing really fast :(((. i don't know if it's because i've written these first few chapters within three days but i feel like we're so far ahead. anyway, enjoy and don't be afraid to send an ask or leave a note! i appreciate you all <333

[fate-magical-girls]

The King finds a range of uses for beetles. He has a new one for almost every situation, from agriculture to clothing to interrogations to warfare.

But he hasn't used them for medicine aside from the traditional recipes. Not until a strange new pestilence sweeps the land.

The miasma drifts in from the South, sweeping old and young, rich and poor alike into its Danse Macabre. The Queen's days are spent in frantic back-and-forths with the envoys of lords and religious institutions to coordinate containment and treatment measures. Her job is compounded by the strange behavior of the illness -- little symptoms building into one final, catastrophic, feverish collapse; an unstable fever that can fade in the mornings and attack again at night; an almost irreversible decay toward the grave for all those affected.

At the same time she has to find ways to keep the Capital and the Royal Court safe, but the tragic truth is, the more powerful and wiser the courtiers are, the higher likelihood they'll find a way to skirt around the new rules implemented for their own protection. Her husband is of no help -- he chooses to lock himself in the study, trying to synthesize a cure for the incurable. She reminds him, again and again, to not miss mealtimes, to wear his protective clothing and charms at all times, to never handle packages unless they've been checked and confirmed to be safe, to retire and sleep at a reasonable hour. He forgets. He always forgets, and then depending on his mood, he either gives a half-hearted apology or yell at her to stop pestering him when he has work. He sees no reason to be so careful if he never leaves his study; she still worries. They argue again and again. The tension gives her headaches and nightmares. She almost wants to evict him from their bedroom, but he's already spending his nights alone, locked in that dreadful study.

One day she wakes up in a fouler mood than usual. Her dress hangs heavily on her shoulders. Her meal tastes like ash in her mouth. Everyone speaks sharply, in tones that seem designed to irritate her. But she finds she doesn't have the strength to snap at them, because she suddenly forgets how to keep upright, and she forgets how to stay awake.

For the next hours, she's not sure if she's dreaming or not. Everything is a swirl of colors and noise and painful flames in her bowels. She thinks the doctor is there, and she thinks her handmaids are there. Despite not really hearing what they've said, she understands that she's been infected with the new plague.

At some point in the afternoon, she fully wakes up and finds her husband sitting by her, his eyes rimmed with tears and a beard covering his jaw. It's a great relief and she opens her mouth to tell him how happy he is. But he doesn't wait for her to speak before he stands up and fixes her with an intense stare.

"I'll make this right." He says. "I can save you. I promise."

And then he's gone, and she's drifting off into a feverish sleep. When she wakes up again, it's like he was never there.

For the next few days, she realizes the true horror of this plague. At night it steals her sleep with pain and nightmares. In the morning it leaves her tired and apathetic. Her husband is never there, and on her orders, neither are any of her advisors or handmaidens, except for the physicians and her most loyal oath-sister, who's already proved herself immune.

In spite of herself, she finds that she grows more disappointed every day. Her husband who fought off assassins for her and read her favorite fairy tales at bedtime had all but vanished. Even knowing he runs the risk of being infected, she still wants him here. The desire increases as her fevers continue and she feels more tired, just in case it does turn out to be her final day.

One morning she wakes to wailing outside her door.

"Who are they wailing for?" She asks. And then she adds, almost sarcastically, "Go tell them I've survived the night. Or maybe that'll just make them cry harder."

"They must be praying." Her oath-sister replies.

The physicians don't come that morning. But after so many visits with her condition never improving, it's almost a relief. "So where could they be?"

"Oh, I'm sure they never run out of patients." Her oath-sister replies.

"You'd think they'd all be more careful, now that there's someone infected here."

In the late afternoon she gets two hours of sun in the garden, where she eats some porridge, the only thing that doesn't disagree with her nowdays. When she's headed back indoors, a group of clergy pass them in the halls.

"And why are they hurrying at this odd hour."

"To bless something or offer a charm. They've done that a lot, lately."

She makes it back to her room and lies down again. Her oath-sister reads to her, but they're interrupted by horses frantically galloping in the courtyard.

"And whose messenger just rushed in like that?"

Her oath-sister takes a look out the window. "A high and powerful lord's."

"And the guards just let them in without a check-over? Great." She grumbles and buries her head in a pillow.

That night the fever pains are worse than ever. And her husband is still nowhere to be found. She's glad to wander into a nightmare, for once, if it means she doesn't need to feel the fever or the disappointment.

A massive figure towers over her, seizing her by the waist with a pale hand. It speaks to her with a rattling voice.

'I claim you, Queen. Meet the fate of all your kind.'

She refuses. She struggles against Death. Of course she does. She has too much to live for. Her Kingdom is still weak, recovering from war and corruption and now plague. Her King will be lost without her, at the mercy of whatever nobles that can shout over him while he wasted time in his study like he was doing now. Her brother who inherited their father's throne will laugh at her after stealing away her dream to rule.

Death laughs...and then offers her a deal.

'Redeem yourself then. Give me a King for a Queen.'

The answer should be easy. She needs to stay alive for the good of her kingdom. For years, she's been the one ruling and fixing the problems. She cleaned away the corrupt officials, she fought and won wars with neighbors looking to exploit her husband's weakness, and she helped her husband find confidence in himself and his research. Her dreams of power, that she has always been willing to kill for, are just within reach.

But if she must lose her husband...Suddenly her dream feels so hollow. He hasn't always supported her the right way, but he's done the best he can, and he's been sincere with her in a way no one else has ever been, and he's one of the few people who cares for her as a person...She could rule without him, but it would bring her no joy. There would be an empty space next to her throne and an empty space in her heart.

She stops fighting Death. It can take her, so long as it doesn't touch her King.

Her Kingdom will probably fall apart. Her King will be devastated. But she's always been ruthless and selfish, so just let her be selfish this time too.

To her shock, Death drops her. And then another figure falls out of its other hand. It's her husband, and he looks at her with an expression of shock and horror.

She reaches for him, but wakes up before she can.

She's covered in a cold sweat. The fever and pains are gone. A foul odor lingers in her mouth and nose. Her oath sister lets out a whoop of joy, tosses away a glass vial, and hugs her.

When the celebrations are over, she manages to gasp out a question on the King's whereabouts.

"Oh, he's in his study --"

Her oath-sister doesn't finish before the door is kicked down. The King stands tottering in the hallway, disheveled, haggard, and weak. Sweat drips down his pale face and bushy beard. Another handmaiden, Lord Burlsek's girl, comes rushing after him. He wobbles. The Queen shrieks, as loudly as she's able, for her handmaidens to catch him and bring him to the bed.

"...wanted you...It wanted you..." He murmurs through parched lips. "Won't get you. Even if..."

The Queen smoothes his wild hair and kisses him. "I'm still here.'

And he's here too. Finally.

He stares at her, not sure to whether to laugh or to cry. He settles on laughter after a long while.

"It worked!"

"It did for both you." The Queen's oath-sister adds.

"It's only fair after Your Majesty's ordeal." Burlesk's girl adds. "Exhaustion. Then infection."

"On purpose?" The Queen whispers.

To her relief, the King shakes his head no. He was desperate, not stupid. The Handmaidens quickly give her the rest of the details. For the past days, the King had been working harder than ever. He barely ate, he barely slept, he barely talked to his assistants, except to say he was just one step away from that cure. Finally he mixed his prototype of a cure...and then collapsed. His symptoms had been severe because of the strain he put on himself. There were talks of last rites even as he rambled feverishly. Fortunately the two handmaidens had the presence of find to search for the vial he kept shouting about, and then they insisted on giving him a dose despite the doubts of the physicians and clergy.

The Queen listens with sadness and pride in equal measure. To think her husband, who could fight off any assassin, would almost lose his life to an illness. But like all the other assassins who came after her, he fought the plague and he won. She kisses his cheek and tells him, "You did it. You saved me."

In the morning, she'll ask him about his notes and start a program to synthesize and distribute that cure, but right now, she's just glad they're both alive.

I think the funniest dynamic for arranged-marriage royalty would be a queen who came here 100% prepared to murder her future husband and rule as a widow queen in her own right, only to discover that the king is autistic as hell and responds to her wish to rule with "oh thank god please do, I don't want to be bothered by these people. I can just tell them to go bother you instead, if you really want that. I've got beetles I wanted to study."