#Excuse me I'm just really salty and angry and still hurting

[redeyedryu]

There's nothing quite like getting a call from the vet you've been struggling to get a hold of for months, finally reaching out to you... a week after your cat has passed away.

[bloody-cupcakes]

please please PLEASE some scary 11 x reader? I‘m a SUCKER for scary 11. when he gets angry, and invades ppls space, yells in their face? he can be so dark…. (swoons.)

what about him intentionally scaring the reader, to get them to be obedient for him? almost driving them into a panic attack, just so he can be the one to comfort them? 😳

Honestly I also have an unhealthy attraction to the Eleventh Doctor when he's acting all scary so-

Tw: yandere/dark content, gender neutral reader, implied kidnapping/Stockholm syndrome, the Doctor purposely upsets the reader using degrading words just so he can be the one to comfort them, the reader ends up distressed because of the Doctor and cries because of it, very brief shoving from the Doctor that could be seen as physical assault, gaslighting/manipulation

"What in the hell is wrong with you? I told you to stay on the TARDIS where it was safe so you wouldn't get hurt!" The Doctor didn't get truly upset often, but if there was one thing that was sure to bother him it was the thought of you getting hurt, or worse yet, getting away.

"I- I'm sorry! You weren't back when you said you'd be, I thought that- that something awful had happened!" You were visibly close to tears, but that didn't stop him from getting closer to you and shouting some more.

"I can regenerate, unlike you." His tone was cold and patronizing, the usual childlike mischief in his eyes replaced with a much darker look. "I'm also not stupid enough to ignore a few simple instructions left for me."

Despite the guilt you had for ignoring the one command he'd given you before he left, you still had enough of a defiant spark left in you to feel indignant over his words. "I am not stupid," you insisted with a glare while clenching your fists.

"Oh, really?" He scoffed as he moved forward, that single action causing you to shrink back and cower in fear. "You could've fooled me."

"I- I'm not," you reiterated, your voice not sounding nearly as confident as before. In fact, it was a little shaky, the fear that was beginning to build up within you spilling over into the way you spoke.

He noticed the change in your demeanor, feeling proud of himself for how easily he was able to get to you. Now all he needed to do was put the final nail in the coffin. "Maybe I should just take you back home to earth if you're going to insist on disobeying me."

A sudden gasp of disbelief left your throat when he said that. There was absolutely no way he'd actually leave you behind... right?

"No, Doctor, please, I'm so sorry, I'll never disobey you ever again, please-" Tears freely dripped from your eyes and down your face in salty streams as you reached for him, only to have him roughly yank your wrists back and use them to shove you away.

"I never should've brought you along with me in the first place. You're a pathetic excuse for a human being, and an even worse companion." He didn't raise his voice this time because he knew he didn't have to. He had you right where he wanted you to be, and that was in a fit of hysteria, reduced down to nothing more than a crying mess at the idea of him abandoning you.

"No... Doctor, please..." You sank to the floor in a heap of sobs, covering your face with your hands as you choked out apologies in a quivering voice. "I'm sorry... I'll never, ever disobey you again... please, Doctor, don't leave me..."

It was hard for him to keep from grinning at just how pitiful you looked, but he didn't want to mock you any more than he already had. "Oh, you poor thing." He knelt down beside you, the sadistic side of him that took pleasure from upsetting you now concealed behind his usual caring act.

"Don't leave me..." You begged while reaching out for him a second time, letting out a sigh of relief when he allowed you to cling onto the front of his jacket. "I'm sorry, Doctor..."

"I know you are. It wasn't your fault, dear. You were just feeling a little more anxious and worried for me than usual, which caused you to act carelessly and without thought." He rationalized your sudden emotional outburst as if he hadn't been the one to cause it in the first place. You were too focused on the kindness of his words and the warmth of his touch to notice.

Burying your face into his chest, you inhaled his scent, glad that he no longer seemed to be angry. "Yeah..." You mumbled out an agreement, too tired to do much of anything else.

The Doctor smiled at the docile way in which you were acting, pleased at just how easy it was for him to break you down into little pieces for the sole purpose of being the one to build you back up again.

[angelofthequeers]

How is Zoe's comic racist? (sorry don't mean to question you, genuinely curious) Also, I admit I was also sucked into the salt fic whirlpool, but quickly left after I realized how toxic it was being. Could you also elaborate on GalahadWilder, if it isn't too uncomfortable for you? I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, or ask uncomfortable questions.

I can’t point out everything off the top of my head but the racism (along with everything else but that’s not the focus) is a large part of what made me throw my hands up and write this. And I won’t be answering any more asks about any of this because I just want to get it out there so people know (because of how many people genuinely don’t see it) and then go back to trying to forget that this shit ever existed, rather than dragging out some new fandom drama. Also keep in mind that while I’m West Asian/Arab, I’m also white-passing so if I get anything wrong, I appreciate call-outs. (Also I finally got my laptop charger today so I can snip my posts again 😭)

Her treatment of Max in ‘Gamer’.

It’s not unique to her; it’s a very common salter thing to utterly tear into Max for being a “sexist jerk” and daring to underestimate princess Marinette because she’s a girl. Never mind that they canonically aren’t close friends because of Chloé’s bullying, so Max probably had no idea that Marinette’s liked video games all this time, where Adrien is the new boy so it’s just one more thing to learn about him.

It’s especially heinous compared to how the other classmates are treated far more leniently for their own mistakes - they still get salted on but Max, aka the Black boy, always seems to get singled out and held to higher standards. Just look at ‘Chameleon’ and how the other classmates are mildly to moderately attacked by salters but Max gets utterly ripped to shreds because he “should know better”. (Never mind that just because he’s smart doesn’t mean he’s good at human interaction. They just want to attack him).

It also angers me because people like Nathaniel and Ivan are absolved of what they do as akumas (like kidnapping others and literally forcing someone to go on a date with them) because they couldn’t help it, yet Max is literally held responsible for what he did when akumatised (because he dared to go after Princess Marinette) and even for daring to get akumatised in the first place. Both these things just make him a sore loser, apparently.

So SL ‘Gamer’ was the final straw for me, especially with how she characterised Max as a smug arsehole, and it made me so angry that I just exploded to my friends, but I didn’t know how to directly call it out without looking like a petty bitch.

Here’s a post I made about salters and ‘Gamer’ if you’re interested in a more coherent and in-depth thing about it.

Alya’s treatment throughout the whole thing.

In canon, she’s an enthusiastic and passionate girl who sometimes gets carried away and goes too far and who idolises Ladybug because Ladybug stands against evil. Here? She’s treated as the butt of the joke for being so starry-eyed over superheroes that she idolises Scarlet Lady while Marinette mocks her behind her back. Never mind her iconic line of “all that is needed for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing” and this is why she loves Majestia in the first place. Never mind that she loves Ladybug because Ladybug is kind and passionate and strong and creative. Canon Alya wouldn’t want a bar of Scarlet Lady, who just sits around complaining, and yet SL!Alya worships her because...why? Running joke? The only Black girl in the series is treated as a gag to be made fun of by someone who’s supposed to be her best friend, just for the audience’s amusement. Marinette’s probably meant to look funny and relatable here, but she just looks like a major bitch to her new friend. Alya’s flaws are basically blown up and exaggerated for comedic effect, while Marinette in contrast is airbrushed to perfection, with no flaws and no anxiety that was only alleviated in canon by - guess what - being Ladybug.

It’s like Zoe wants to stick to canon while adding her own little “fun” twists for humour, like making Marinette snarky and perfect (which just makes her look like an utter bitch) and in the case of Alya, it does her so dirty that even Lila is more sympathetic. LILA. After SL humiliates Lila, Alya looks doubtful but buys some bullshit excuse so that she can continue to be the Scar-worshipping idiot. And then in the aftermath, her concern isn’t for Lila, the girl who was humiliated and bullied by a literal superhero and then ended up sick. No, she’s angry because...Lila lied on her blog. The blog that doesn’t have nearly as much recognition as in canon because SL would never validate her, unlike Ladybug. So her passion for her blog is exaggerated to imply that she’d say that a girl deserves to be bullied and sick because she told a few lies (since at this point, Alya doesn’t know about any possible malice on Lila’s part, just as in canon. All that’s known is the lying for attention).

It’s horrible hypocrisy, where Alya is held to higher standards than the other (white) characters and when she fails to meet those standards, she’s torn into. She’s not afforded any sympathy for being hurt that Lila lied to her; in fact, she’s demonised for feeling hurt, especially because of the running joke that her blog is focused on someone so horrible and she doesn’t see that. Lila is presented as the sympathetic one here. LILA. Just because Alya dared to believe her in canon.

Also, how she’s constantly trying to either tease Marinette for having a crush or insist that Marinette’s only doing what she does because of a crush...even though according to this ‘verse’s canon, Marinette is too good to make mistakes and do obsessive stuff over a crush, which is why canon Alya thinks this about her in the first place. That didn’t just come out of nowhere in the show purely for “woe is Marinette, her best friend doubts her”.

Like in the first part of ‘Gamer’, where she’s accusing Marinette of only entering the tournament to flirt with Adrien while Marinette so “coolly and calmly” rebuts her...why? By the ‘verse’s own logic, Marinette isn’t a flustered mess around Adrien. The only purpose of this scene is to glorify Marinette and her amazing calmness while making Alya look like a nosy idiot who dares to doubt her best friend. The logic of the ‘verse and of canon clash really jarringly in moments like this, and it becomes clear that the only purpose of these moments is to make Marinette look better at the expense of others. Most often her best friend, who’s an utter idiot for not seeing Scarlet Lady’s true nature and just can’t keep her nose out of Marinette’s business and so comes to wrong conclusions. Why are Marinette and Alya even friends in this ‘verse? SL!Marinette’s been nothing but condescending towards Alya most of the time.

Uh, and also the way she occasionally whitewashes Alya. Just look at the SL headers. She literally made Alya, aka a Black girl who’s one of the good guys, lighter than Lila, aka a white girl who’s one of the bad guys and not even that tanned in canon. Why do people make one of the villains darker and often whitewash one of the heroes? It’s not that hard to figure out.

(Also the way she really played into the aggressive Black girl stereotype in ‘Horrificator’ over a minor argument, even physically threatening Nino. Why? Literally why did she have to go full-on aggressive instead of just looking angry and scolding him or something?)

This all might not be conscious on Zoe’s part but the way Alya is treated is still disgusting, especially if you’re operating on internalised salt from other aspects of the salty fandom. I’ve seen her claims that she’s trying to help Alya improve and she’s not being salty but...even if she’s not being consciously salty, her salt is definitely still leaking over it and part of that salt includes racism. I also don’t see how making Alya a joke and exaggerating her flaws is helping her to improve when there was plenty to go off in canon but, well, that might just be me.

Even Marinette, who’s pretty much treated as white for 99% of it.

Marinette, aka the girl who’s only made visibly “Asian/Other” in SL ‘Reflekta’ with her Chinese-inspired Black Cat suit and name which is a one-off, while her permanent Bee outfit is just the bland tight suit that salters criticise Ladybug for having and her name is just Marigold. It comes across as using “Asianness” as a costume and it really didn’t sit right with me at first, but it took me a while to tease out why exactly this made me feel ick.

There’s nothing wrong with touching more on Marinette’s heritage and expanding on it in ways that the show doesn’t, especially because this is a big sticking point for salters, but again...it’s only a one-off. A costume. There aren’t casual hints sprinkled throughout the comic that just normally establish Marinette as half-Chinese, aside from like a page or two in ‘Timebreaker’ showing Sabine’s outfit. It’s another ‘Kung Food’ where it’s slammed into one episode and shoved into our faces that Marinette Is Chinese and it’s really jarring and unpleasant.

It just comes across as fetishising, is all. I don’t think it’s something most people would pick up on unless they’re used to being able to see this kind of thing.

Master Fu. Oh, Master Fu.

From an old man who made mistakes but tried as best as he could with the limited knowledge he had, he’s now a bumbling idiot who...put the earrings in Marinette’s bag instead of her room for some reason? To kickstart the plot? Especially because the ring was still in Adrien’s room. It’s very, very contrived.

And then in one of the most recent updates, Zoe has Adrien - a white boy - physically threaten Fu, aka an elderly Asian man. It’s disgusting. I was gobsmacked when I first saw it. And that’s the thing with salters: they tear into Adrien for being a white boy so they can look Enlightened when he hasn’t actually done anything racist, yet they then turn around and perpetuate actual racism in trying to “fix” him

There’s probably more but those are the examples that jump out at me of the racism in SL. There are plenty more problems but...whatever. I’ll be here all day if I try and cover those.

As for the Galahad thing...it’s personal. That original post was as much as I was comfortable revealing.

[jungnoir]

hello!! truth be told, i am not entirely certain if your requests are open and stuff, if they aren't, please forgive me, it's honestly my first time requesting so i'm really worried that i am gonna mess up, please don't hate me :((( do you think there's a chance that you'll write some youngk or wonpil fluff (or rival!au,,, or anything would be great,,, honestly) any time soon? if not, that's totally okay, i hope i didn't bother you, thank you regardless and have a great day!!

anatomically correct heart-shaped pretzel;

kim wonpil | food service is way more competitive and romantic than you’d think, believe it or not. rival!au. mall!au. | 1.6k words. | fluff, humor.

a/n: ahhh you’re okay!!! thank you for being so polite. I’m not officially accepting requests as I’m sort of just writing whenever I want to and dropping in. usually, I will announce that I’m writing requests on my blog and leave it open for a certain amount of time. however, I’m being pretty casual with things so I totally don’t mind this request at all! here’s rival kiosk workers at the mall with wonpil

“He’s at it again. Look at him; he’s got an evil look in those puppy dog eyes, that dead customer service smile, that high-pitched “have a good day!” pep in his step. I want to wring his neck like a Shake Weight.”

Your coworker, Dowoon, pauses in the middle of refilling the fruity pebbles toppings to give you a disturbed look, “Okay, Jesus. What is wrong with you?”

You glare right back, “It’s fucking pretzel boy Wonpil showing off again.”

“You mean doing his job?”

Grumbling a “showing off” under your breath, you turn around again to continue your angry brooding when you happen to catch Wonpil’s eyes between serving customers. His friendly smile quickly turns malicious, the boy having the audacity to drop his eyelid down in a wink before going about his business again, annoyingly unbothered by your seething not 20 feet away.

Dowoon was convinced that you were paranoid. Ever since that new pretzel kiosk popped up next to your once very thriving frozen yogurt shop, you’d been noticing business trailing elsewhere. People were trading gummy bears for salty bread and Wonpil’s “personable” attitude, something that you couldn’t quite get over. He wasn’t personable at all. You knew the real truth and yet no one believed you.

It had all started two months back when they’d first opened. You had thought Wonpil to look actually pleasant to talk to, deciding to befriend your new competition to be friendly which, unfortunately, massively backfired. Perhaps you were too bubbly, too optimistic on the first go, because Wonpil seemed to immediately bristle upon greeting. That was your first sign that things were going steadily downhill.

Your next sign was how aware you were that you were dominating the conversation. It seemed like no matter how much you tried to fish out of Wonpil, he wouldn’t budge. His answers were short, blunt, and disconcerting to say the least. After a few failed attempts, you’d promptly agreed with yourself that perhaps Wonpil was just one of those people who went to work, did their job, and left it at that. But then the customers came rolling in.

He was a totally different guy, the bastard.

Everything. From the way he lit up to the way his voice rose several octaves to the way he laughed out loud at every terrible customer joke. It was a pang to your admittedly offended heart. Was there something wrong with you? Did you smell? Was he just having a bad day earlier? It had thrown you pretty off for the rest of your shift, even catching the attention of one of your other usually aloof co-workers: Sungjin.

You just couldn’t place it. You obviously didn’t want to think he simply disliked you and only you, but it was all you had to go on. Why was he so averse to you when you’d done nothing to him? ...as far as you knew, anyway.

He was even nice to Dowoon! What did Dowoon have that you didn’t?!

And then, then, Wonpil started to notice you, but for all the wrong reasons.

It was through knowing smirks and condescending winks that you began to kindle your delicate hatred-baby for Wonpil. He knew he was peeving you off. He knew that when you’d watch him with that barely veiled look of yearning in your eyes for acceptance that he could simply look your way and you’d fluster. He wasn’t kind. He was a jerk. Wonpil was an absolute asshole and no one seemed to think so except you.

Your co-workers called it a friendly rivalry. You called it war.

He was super keen on stealing your customers too, drawing them in from your shop to get them to buy those damn pretzels, just to see you squirm and fumble to turn their attention back. When he’d win, he’d get this smug look on his face and gnaw his bottom lip with a hooded gaze cast your way, practically relishing in your anger and humiliation. You’d dreamt of all the ways you could make that little pipsqueak sing for mercy-

“Hey! Can you do your job or do I need to stand you on the other side of the counter as a cardboard cutout?” Dowoon’s annoyance is not easy to ignore even in the midst of your daydream, and unfortunately, that meant that you would have to come back to your reality. Your cold, Wonpilly reality.

With a lack of vigor that could rival a pubescent boy in band practice, you continue your shift in a disgruntled haze. You don’t want to think you’re being childish about it, but you can often feel Wonpil’s eyes on you while you work, and it’s enough to make you rightfully paranoid. You know the minute you look up that he’s going to have some patronizing expression on his face and, honestly, you wouldn’t be able to hold yourself back from punching it clean off. Only fifteen more minutes, you think to yourself, counting down til the end of your shift. Fifteen more minutes and then I’m out of here.

Dowoon eventually leaves early, mentioning he has a date tonight and that he doesn’t want to be late, and you mumble an affirmative to clean and lock up for him. You’ve got no such plans for the evening, instead planning to relax and enjoy the weekend Wonpil-free. As customers slow to almost nothing, you decide it’s a good time to start closing up.

As you’re sweeping away the debris on the floor, you hear the sound of a fist knocking against glass and decide to look up, ready to shoo away a customer who came too late. Instead of a customer, it’s something much worse.

“Hey,” Wonpil says, one hand in his puffy jacket pocket, the other holding a small take-away bag from the pretzel place, “heading out tonight?”

You’re so stunned by his attempt at casual conversation that you forget to be mean, staring at him in confusion, “Uh... no. Why?”

Wonpil looks both relieved and surprised, clutching the bag a little closer to himself, “Oh... uh, well it’s just that... you know, it’s Valentine’s day. I assumed you had a date.”

Your brain is a Windows blue screen right now. Was it... oh, fuck, how could you have missed it? Today was February the 14th. You flush soon after. No, you had no date. “Nope... but I bet you do. If you came here to gloat about it, don’t even bother. I’m too tired to deal with you right now.”

A look of hurt flashes across Wonpil’s visage, “I didn’t... that’s not why I came over.”

“Then why?” You can’t hide the tired exasperation in your voice, “You closed up already, didn’t you? Just go home. I’m not in the mood.”

That same hurt flashes again and part of you almost wants to feel bad about it. 

Wonpil reaches into the bag with a trembly bottom lip, “I-I came over to apologize. And to give you this.”

In his hand now is a heart shaped pretzel, but not just the traditional heart shape. No, it was anatomically correct. Scarily so. It was also piping hot and looked rather tasty after a long day of work. You rarely indulged yourself in the enemy’s goods, but... “What do you mean, apologize?”

“I uh... I kinda totally screwed up. The thing is, I don’t hate you like you think I do. I actually really like you. I know that I don’t show it and it’s not much of an excuse, but it’s just... when I first met you, I was really, really nervous. You were so kind and funny and attractive... I froze up,” your eyes begin to bulge as he holds the pretzel out to you, “and I couldn’t act normally around you. Then people started saying we were rivals so I ran with it. Anything to get you to look at me.”

You check Wonpil’s face to see if he’s lying. He’s not, as far as you can tell, but you’d been a bad judge of his character before, “That’s really stupid, Wonpil.”

Instead of looking upset however, he laughs lightheartedly... like you’d kinda hoped he would laugh around you all along. It’s a sweet sound. You don’t even want to wring his neck right now. “I know. I don’t expect that to fix anything, but I still wanted to give you something. You can stomp it or throw it in the trash or feed it to the raccoon couple near Macy’s, I don’t mind. I just wanted you to know that I’m a really stupid guy who has a kind of embarrassingly huge crush on you. Happy Valentine’s day, (Name). I hope... I hope that we can at least be friends. Or enemies with a truce.”

Sincere. He was actually being sincere right now.

You drop the dustpan and push the swinging half-door open to leave your little kiosk, watching Wonpil as he turns to face you, pretzel still outstretched. You take it form his hands and watch his shoulders deflate in relief. A little overwhelmed with the fact that he’d just confessed to you, you test the waters, “So uh... you busy, Wonpil?”

The boy blinks rapidly, “N-No. Why?”

You take a bite from the warm pretzel and almost let out a humiliating moan in content. Goddamn, this boy made some mean pretzels. How could you ever turn that down? “There’s a movie playing in the theater upstairs in an hour. You know, that really bad remake? You wanna catch it together?”

Wonpil lets out an immediate “Yes. But... what do you wanna do until then?”

For the first time in two months, you allow Wonpil one real, warm smile once more, “You can start by finally answering all those questions I asked about you two months ago, for a start. I’d like to get to know my rival a little better.”

[shadowthrone-ammanas]

I finished Nyakuza Metro and thought of this request! In the middle of Empress stealing all of Hat Kids time pieces, she goes to Subcon to unwind because she's upset about the whole thing and Snatcher sees upset Hat Kid and is just: Excuse me Kid, I'm the only one around here who's allowed to make you upset what's going on? So she tells him and now Snatcher has to go meet this Empress and let her know that bullying Hat Kid is His job. (It's not that He CARES About her! Nooo!! That's Ridiculous!)

First off, isn’t the ending of Naykuza Metro the single most disappointing ending since Mass Effect 3? I am so salty about it, I wanted to fight the Empress, it looked like we were going but nope we get a stupid cop out instead (and if that pun was intentional on Gears For Breakfast’s side then it’s not funny >:( ). Second, thank you for the request!

Good Kitty

Something was up. Hat Kid was in Subcon Forest but she wasn’t bothering Snatcher or seemingly even looking for him so she could. Instead she was just meandering down the path, her head hung low, hands in her pockets and idly kicking a stick along. She looked upset about something. What though? Well only one way to find out.

Snatcher teleported to pop up in front of her. “Boo!” he shouted loud enough to make her jump a little.

She gave him a disapproving look as he laughed at her fright as mild as it was. “Hello to you too Snatcher,” she said, her tone borderline annoyed. That wasn’t like her. Whatever was bothering had to be pretty serious.

“Hey kiddo,” he said grinning down at her. “What brings you to my forest?” He’d long since given up trying to tell her that their business was concluded, it only ever seemed to make her want to stick around more often and longer.

Hat Kid shrugged, kicking at the stick on the ground again. “It’s just a nice place to walk around and stuff.”

“Uh… ‘nice’? It’s a haunted forest full of dead things. What part of that is nice?”

“The haunted part.” Now she did smile up at him, only a little though. “It’s also the only place I can walk around aimlessly where there aren’t a lot people.” Implying she probably wanted to be alone, giving Snatcher a perfect opportunity to just leave her to it but…

“And why would you want that?” He was curious. What could’ve possibly brought her down. “Don’t you normally make a habit of annoying as many people as you possibly can?”

“Yeah but uh… I’m just really frustrated right now. And I hate it.” She stomped a stick, breaking it in half with a snap. “The stupid pecking Empress is sending her stupid pecking peck-neck goons to take my Time Pieces every time I find one in the Metro. And I can’t do anything about it because she’s got like I don’t even know how many goons, certainly more than I can take on by myself. If it was just her, I would beat the living shit out of her and make her regret ever crossing me. But I can’t and it’s not fair.” Her eyes were filling with tears of frustration now.

Snatcher grimaced. “Whoa kid, calm down there. No need to start crying or any of that.”

“Sorry.” She sniffled. “I just… really hate it and don’t know what to do. But I have to do something because I need my Time Pieces.”

“Well… good luck with that.”

“You’re not even going to offer to help me?”

“Nope, the fact that you thought I might is honestly offensive. I don’t care about your stupid problems and I certainly didn’t ask you to spill them to me. So yeah, good luck with that kiddo.” With that he teleported away.

-

 The Metro was bustling and busy with life. What little plant life there was, was all heavily manicured to match an aesthetic. Obnoxious neon lights were everywhere. And the place smelled horrible; a mix of trash, unwashed bodies, cats, trains, and the various food carts scattered about the place. Snatcher hated it.

He was half tempted to pop out his Hat Kid disguise – complete with dweller mask to hide his ghostly features – and raze the whole place to the ground. But that would take too much time and effort to be worth it. Besides he wasn’t into expanding his territory, he just wanted to keep and protect what he had. Taking over more would both make that harder and be pointless. So, grateful the mask would also hide his sour expression so he didn’t have to control it, he started wondering around to listen to conversations.

The more he walked the more he hated both the Metro and the very sensation of walking, especially on concrete. How did people stand this? It made him want to pull his hair out. He was never coming back here once he’d finished his business. Mercifully, the Empress was a pretty popular talking point amongst the cats wondering about the place and they all had a tendency to gossip just a bit too loud - possibly due to hearing loss from being around and in the trains making all that horrible noise all the time – so it wasn’t too terribly long before Snatcher knew where and how to find the Empress. Which was all he needed.

Once back in the central area, finding the jewelry shop didn’t take long. Hanging around outside were what was obviously members of the Empress’ gang. Most likely there were more hidden around the place too. Not even Hat Kid could take on that many opponents. Snatcher could, he could take down everyone in this Metro if he really wanted to – as long as no one had a way to make him vulnerable anyway. But if things went according to plan though all he’d have to deal with was the Empress herself.

Inside, the Empress was standing at the counter. She looked up as Snatcher strode in. “I didn’t expect to see you back so soon,” she said, fooled by the disguise and mask. “But that’s fine. I just got word of another one of those hourglasses in Pink Paw Station. Go find it for me.”

“Hmm… I don’t think I will,” Snatcher said, using Hat Kid’s voice but changing it a little so that it would sound just wrong enough to give most sane people chills. “Instead I think I’ll…” Grinning wide under the mask, he lifted a hand to snap his fingers.

The door slammed shut hard enough to rattle the whole store. Next, he made the lights flare bright before bursting, shattering glass everywhere. He timed their bursting with pulling the Empress into his pocket dimension, surrounding them both in a void of dark purple. And to top it all off, he teleported to float behind her and took off his mask. He kept the Hat Kid form though, he needed it.

When she inevitably turned to face him, already rattled she hissed and back pedaled, her fur puffing up the rest of the way. He’d morphed his face so he had bunch of misshapen eyes, covering the entire top half of his face. Only two of which actually worked, the rest were for show.

Still using Hat Kid’s voice and altering it to sound wrong, he giggled. There were few things creepier than a little girl’s laugh especially when it wasn’t quite right. To add a little bit extra, he made it sound like it was coming from all around the Empress, making her glance around in fear.

“What are you?” she asked with an angry hiss as she turned her eyes back to glare at him. Her claws were out now too, they looked sharp.

“It doesn’t matter what I am, what matters is you.” He pointed at her. “You’ve been awful mean to a friend of mine and I don’t like that.” It grated to call Hat Kid a friend but for this little act of his, he didn’t have much choice. “I’m sure you’re smart enough to know who I’m talking about.”

The Empress hissed and lunged to claw him. It did nothing though so Snatcher just giggled again.

“Oh, silly kitty, that won’t hurt me. There’s nothing you can do that can hurt me. I don’t think there’s even anything on this planet that can.” Hat Kid was an alien so he was going to pretend to be one too. He needed to make sure no one ever connected this whole thing back to him. “So save yourself the effort and don’t try. Just do as I say and maybe you’ll get out of this alive.”

The Empress still looked angry but her fear was evident in the way her fur was still puffed up on its end, her tail curled. “What do you want?” she forced out through clenched teeth.

“I want you to give my friend back her Time Pieces, don’t interfere with her collecting any more, and once you’re done with that don’t ever talk to or have anything to do with her again.” To minimize the chances of her spilling the beans on this conversation. “I of course don’t expect you to do this just because I told you to so how about a little motivation?” He teleported to hover behind her shoulder again.

Before she could fully turn around, he pulled out her soul to hold in the palm of his hand. She froze solid for half a second before clawing at him again, more with desperation than anger this time. He ignored it.

“If you’re a good kitty and do as your told, I’ll consider giving you your soul back. If not, I know a guy who likes to eat souls who I’m sure wouldn’t mind being gifted one.” As he spoke, he bounced her soul up and down in his hand as if playing with a ball. “So is that enough to convince you?” He would’ve preferred a proper contract but other than snatching souls, contracts were what he was most well known for. And Hat Kid would certainly know it was him if he used a contract. This way even if she did find out about this, there should be some doubt about who was responsible. Her even suspecting it was him would be awful because then she’d think it was because he was her ‘BFF’ and that he cared for her or something when it truth it was because if he failed to make Hat Kid miserable no one else was allowed to either. That was his job and he was going to find a way to do it properly one day no matter how much she wanted to insisted they were BFFs and she loved spending time with him.

The silence stretched as the Empress glared at him, defeated but not yet wanting to admit it. But finally… “Fine,” she said. “I’ll give the brat back her hour glasses and then leave her alone.”

“You’ll order your goons to do so as well?” Snatcher wasn’t going to give her any loopholes. “As well as anyone else you might pay to deal with people you don’t like?”

She growled but… “Yes.”

“Very good. Now, after my friend has all her Time Pieces back, including the ones not yet found, I shall give you your soul back. If you break your end of the deal, I will not hesitate to give you soul to a certain soul eating ghost.” Meaning he’d eat it. “If you try to break it after you have your soul back, I will make your end a painful one and feed you soul to the Snatcher just because I can. Deal?”

“Deal.” Oh, no hesitation this time either, the Empress was a brave one as well as smart.

“I will see you later then. Remember to be a good kitty for your own sake. Buh-bye.” Snatcher lifted a hand to wriggle his fingers in a wave before transporting himself elsewhere, leaving her back in her jewelry shop.

For this drabble event.

[minhoslut]

♡ summary: Reader is traded to a band of pirates in return for the safety of her village because of her plant magic. They are not like she expected, much more like her than she could even imagine in fact. This is a journey through their relationships and the high seas they sail on.

♡ pairing: superm x fem!reader, superm x eachother

♡ chapter: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ? |

♡ series warnings: blood mention, injury mention, swearing, anxiety, death mention, depression, weapons, mxm

♡ series genre: romance, smut, angst

♡ series rating: Mature

♡ word count: 2261

♡ posted on: AO3

♡ chapter four: ice cold

Baekhyun returned with the entirety of the main crew whom you'd met, all of them taking a seat on various lower bunks, avoiding you beside Taemin, while the captain stop at the doorway. "It seems that hiding information was not the correct course of action. It was meant to soothe you rather than cause more harm." Jongin began slowly, watching your reaction carefully. "How could I be happy on a boat like this with a bunch of pirates? You took me from my home!" You huff, what kind of stupid logic was that. "Well, we were looking for you to complete our crew." You stared at him blankly, "What do you mean complete? How am I supposed to fit in here?" Jongin smiled, "Well if you stopped interrupting me, I could tell you." You snapped your mouth shut and he continued, "Good girl, now as I was saying, you were sought after rather than just randomly taken. All of us, in this room, are like you, we each have a power." What? How could that be? You were cursed, did they meet the same fate? You were nearly bursting with questions but you figured he would explain more if you said nothing. "Baekhyun is water, Taeyong is animals, Lucas is metal, Ten is fire, Mark is crafting, Taemin is light, and finally I am weather." You looked at each of them as Jongin listed off their powers, eyes landing back on the man speaking in the end. "Our powers are quite helpful in our trading business, it's the reason we all have such odd hair as well."

Not able to hold it back anymore you blurt out a question, "Ok, but what does that have to do with me? And I'd hardly call you traders your pirates for fucks sake." Jongin smirked. "You are the eighth person with powers such as ours. For many years we were under the impression there were no others until we heard rumour of you. I'm sorry that we took you from your home but I have a feeling that you didn't have many ties there other than, based on your power, a garden." It was annoying how accurate he was in his analysis, and the stupid smirk on his face made it more annoying since he knew you couldn't say anything. "As for trading, we have different ways of going about our trading, but we trade with mostly other pirates anyway, on pirate ports. We simply don't wait to trade for valuable or rare things when we could just take it from those who are not pirates." You narrow your eyes, "So you're looking down on everyone who isn't a pirate? You think you can ruin peoples lives just because?" Jongin shook his head at your words, "We would never steal from a good person or someone without much to give. Think more like kings and palaces that have many jewels for no reason, we simply take them away to be used." You scoffed, it was a stupid excuse, but they were pirates so you didn't expect them to see how wrong it was. "Regardless, I didn't want to come." You snap. Mark rolled his eyes and gave an annoyed sighed, "That's why we just took you dumbass."

"Mark." Jongin shot the smaller man a sharp look, which silenced him immediately, leaving him pouting like a puppy. "It's unfortunate that we had to take you, but there wasn't really a way for us to ask you to join, we have a reputation to uphold." You shook your head in disbelief, they were really going to brush it off just like that. "Y/N, I know it's hard to understand but we all have our reasons..." Taemin said, his hand still rubbing gentle circles on your back. You sighed, at least they were being honest now but you still felt angry about the situation. "It's not home yet, but hopefully you find yourself able to relax here eventually. I'd like to tell you to not go anywhere alone, I trust the men in this room, but the rest of the crew can be, less pleasant." Jongin said, bringing your attention back to him.

"This will never be my home, this is a prison. I still hate my magic and I still hate it here. I still hate all of you." Your sharp words filled the room with ice. "That may be the case, but maybe we can teach you more about your powers and you could hate them less." Baekhyun said, sadness lacing his voice as he looked at you. Regret bubbled in your heart despite your minds protest. "Regardless of everything, you are here now and we will keep you safe and healthy while you're with us." Jongin said firmly, then he called for Mark to leave with him, leaving you with the five other men in a very uncomfortable silence.

"Taemin, could help me up on my bed please?" You asked softly, thoroughly exhausted by your tears and the conversation. Your mind was racing with all the information, trying to process it and sort it out in your head. "Of course." Taemin said, standing and interlocking his hands and offering you a step up onto the bed. Once you are on the bed, you pull the blanket over your body and curl up into a ball in the farthest corner. Everything about this situation is hurting you, and none of them seem to understand that.

You listen to the hushed whispers of the crew after they assume you've fallen asleep, you can tell they are talking about you because you hear the words 'plant' and 'girl.' Tears fell from your eyes as you curled even deeper into yourself, you didn't want to be here anymore, not on this ship, not on this Earth.

~

When you woke up the next morning the cabin was empty save for Ten who was sitting on Marks bed reading a book. You sat up, wrapping yourself in the blanket. "You're up? Do you want to get food?" The maroon haired man asked you, his voice gentle. Shaking your head you laid back down and stared at the ceiling, listening to the door shut behind Ten as he left to get food for himself. After a few moments of quiet, you sat up once more and carefully hopped off the bed. You thought of last night when the captain had told you not to leave alone, but you couldn't stand to be in the room any longer. Pulling the door open you headed to the main deck, finding it almost empty since most of the crew was eating. You walked straight to the edge of the ship and leaned over the side to watch the waves crash against the boat.

The ocean had always scared you, even before you'd been cursed. You avoided it as much as you could when you'd lived on the island, never learning to swim and spending your time as far inland as you could while still doing your work. The ocean was loud and dark and vast, a never-ending abyss of huge waves, dangerous storms, and creatures unknown. And now here you were, in the middle of that horrible ocean, staring into the darkness of the waters and feeling the salty air chill as the clouds ahead turned dark. You leaned farther over the edge stepping on tiptoe, the mist of ocean spray covering your skin. Breathing in deeply you lean even farther, nearly unbalanced as the ocean looms ever closer.

"Y/N!" A voice shouts your name and you are yanked away from the edge of the ship in a hurry. You scramble to pull out of the grip of the person who is holding you, but they simply turn you in their grasp. Lucas' dark brown eyes stared into your own as you relax in his hold now that you know it's not a random crew member. "What were you doing you could have fallen in?" Lucas sounded genuinely worried about your safety and you felt like a small child being chastised. "I was just thinking." You said softly, looking away from his eyes. Lucas sighed, "You aren't supposed to go around alone anyway, you should have come to the dining hall to get one of us. You knew we were there." You huff, "Wouldn't that still be going somewhere alone? Where's the logic in that." Lucas stares at you a moment before he begins to laugh. It's a loud and boisterous laugh that has you trying to conceal the smile that is twitching at your lips. "Well, let's get you to Baekhyun, it's his turn to have you shadow him."

You sighed, not looking forward to it. Baekhyun had sounded so sad last time you'd seen him and you had a feeling that would carry over to today. You shouldn't be so concerned for one of the men who kidnapped you but you couldn't help it. Following the tall man, you reached the captains quarters where Lucas knocked lightly. You heard shuffling in the room and then the door was opened by Baekhyun who was doing up the buttons on his shirt. His eyes flitted to yours for an instance but you saw the sadness that they held. "We are headed to the maps room today, checking our distance for the next port." Baekhyun said plainly, then started walking away quickly, making you run slightly to catch up with him. It was silent as you walked, observing the blue-haired man as he walked ahead of you. He held himself with confidence and a sense of power, his shoulders set and head held high, subtly commanding the respect of those around him.

You soon reached a small room with a large desk in the center, that was covered in many pieces of parchment and some strange objects you didn't recognize. Baekhyun gestured to one of the chairs that were in the room so you sat in it while he moved the things on the desk around. We should be nearing port in the next day or so, so I need to make sure we are where we should be." He explained, but there was no real emotion in his voice. You sat quietly while he used the strange tools and held them against the maps, comparing lengths in ways that made absolutely no sense to you. Baekhyun made no attempts at conversing with you, and it wasn't in the way a person would when they are overly focused. It was an empty drawn-out silence that you hated. He must be really upset about last night... Your heart twinged at the thought. "Baekhyun?" You tried cautiously, but you were ignored. "Baekhyun?" You said again, a bit stronger but still no response. "Baek-" - "Y/N I don't want to talk ok?" You snapped your mouth shut, feeling hurt by the cold words.

The rest of the day was spent watching Baekhyun check the map and then following him out onto the main deck while he made sure everyone was doing what was needed to prepare for docking the next day. He hadn't spoken a word to you since he'd said not to talk, and you'd given up on trying since the silence hurt less than the words did at least. In the evening it was mealtime again, but you still didn't want anything, the day with Baekhyun had only added to the turmoil inside of you and made your appetite disappear. You tried to go to the room but Baekhyun had given a stern look before nodding his head towards the table so in the end you were sitting at the table beside Taeyong and Jongin at the head as usual. Taeyong had apparently lost at seat picking since he ended up beside you, you could hear him mumbling under his breath when he'd sat down.

You focused on your hands in your lap during the meal, picking at the skin around your nails. "/N? Y/N!" You looked up at the person saying your name and found Ten waving his hand in front of you. "You haven't eaten today." He stated plainly, "Not hungry." You answered simply, returning your gaze to your now bleeding cuticles. "Come back to the room with me then, we have an early morning together." Ten said, standing up and walking towards the door. You must be shadowing him tomorrow, so you got up and went after him. He led you to a room you hadn't been in yet that was filled with bandages and had a simple cot in it. "Hands." He said and you held them out to him. Ten made a clicking noise with his tongue then grabbed a roll of cloth and wrapped each of your fingers with it. "There, now you won't make them any worse." He said returning the leftover cloth to a shelf. "Thanks..." You said softly, feeling embarrassed by having someone care for your injury

Ten turned on his heel and exited the room, so you did as well, making your way back to the bunks. Ten gave you a step up onto your bed before heading over to his, but before he got up he removed his shirt putting the smooth expanse of his skin on display to you. You felt your cheeks warm as you watched the muscles in his back move, quickly turning your head when Ten had jumped up on his bed and turned to face you. "Sleep well." You heard him say softly before the room was enveloped in silence.

[stillhavingdaddyissues]

Stray kids reaction [1] - You’re dating someone else and they’re in love with you.

• gifs are not mine! Enjoy? 💙

Woojin:

*He’s gonna predent that he is happy for you but he isn't. But still doesn't want to ruin it for you because you look very happy. He just want you to be happy...*

”Are you happy with him (y/n)?”you just simply nod. (Fake smile mode activated)

Bang Chan:

*He gets over protective of you because he really loves you.*

„No, you can't go with him. You're NOT allowed to date!”

„Chan, calm down, please...”

„I just don't want you to be hurt (y/n)... I’m sorry.“ (please leave that guy and be with Chan)

Minho:

„Do you love him?”

„Yes...”

„Okay then, date him.“

*wants to cry, but he wants to be strong.*

Changbin:

*Gets angry and salty at the same time.*

„He's gonna hurt her, i know it.“

*Hide his real emotions*

Hyunjin:

*Ready to fight that guy if he hurt you. He really doesn't want you to get hurt or be hurt. He knows (y/bf/n) is not the right person for you because he is.* (I'm sorry but eXCuSE mE bUt HIs LiPS)

Han:

* Really wants to cry. He would not talk with you as much as before. He would cry alone at night* ”I just don't want you to get hurt (y/n)...”

„Don't worry, I’ll be fine Jisung."

”(Y/n) i swear to god if he hurts you...”

Felix:

*He gives up. He would feel defeated. He would think you're better without off him, so he stops talking to you. Honestly, he just doesn't want to make you upset* (i really don't hate myself right now)

Seungmin:

*The sun would stop shining for him. He doesn't really know how to feel about it.

”Maybe its better like that... I was not right for her..."

*Wants you to be happy*

I.N:

*This baby would be really hurt. Really hurt inside. He would stop talking to you awhile. I see him trying to be strong. Try to hide how hurt he is... He would be like: *

(I’m sorry)

#straykids #straykidsreactions #minhoskz #skz #leeknow #leefelix #felix #changbin #jeongin #ïn #bangchan #woojin #han #hanjisung #seungmin #woojin #hyunjin #STAY #straykidsxreader #biasxreader #pleasestaywiththem

[codename-bewareofthefangirl]

Hi hi!! AkaMido anon here! I'm in need of some...you know...Akashi in love with Midorin. *blushes crazily and hides my face to your chest* So I wanted to ask, is it possible to ask for more than 1 prompt? I mean, if you accept ofcourse, can I have a (longish?) fic with #16sentence, #12dialogue and #14dialogue all in one together? Maybe break my heart for a long while then a small promising-happy-ending? I love the way you write internal monologues btw ^-^

Hi my sweetdear! *pat happily his head* I’ve finally written it! Sorry for the wait! Iswear, I’ve tried to make it angsty but the fluff and the fun conqueredeverything and I don’t know why, I hope you’re gonna like it either way. Thanks also for yourcontinue support!

Have a goodday!

 In the most inappropriate moments

 Midorima groaned again, shifting uncomfortably in hisposition, seated on the hard ground.

“Shouldn’t we try to move again?” Akashi whisperedhesitantly, seated a bit far from him.

“Akashi, please.” The other growled and his formercaptain stretched the lips in a thin line, “This is all your fault.”

“I disagree.”

“That’s because your pride is too big to admit it. AllI know is that one of us is right, the other is you.”

Just to describe their situation briefly, they werefucked.

It was half past ten in the night and they were lostinto a woods, without signal, a decent backpack, food or water. Not mentioningwithout a proper map. And, Akashi had sprained his ankle falling in hole whilethey were wandering around with only torchlights to light up the path.

Ah, they were obviously arguing too.

They had started arguing five minutes after havingentered the wood, fact that brought them to focus more on their unresolvedproblems than on the path and consequently lead them to lose the way back. Or theway in general.

Why did this happened?

Simple answer: because Akashi couldn’t act like anormal person, no. He, having decided that he wanted to fix up things withMidorima, had first organized a training camp with all the former players ofthe Miracle of Generation, without leaving them choice to participate or not.He had threatened them to come. Then the previous night he had, or that waswhat Midorima thought, food poisoned all the others so that the next day theonly ones capable to raise from the bed were them two. Finally, in theafternoon he had dragged Midorima away with the excuse of the good weather andthe necessity of a daytrip in the woods to a famous, mysterious shrine.Midorima couldn’t even understand why Akashi had thought that talking thingsout while going on an excursion was the best idea, but now he didn’t even wannaknow.

He was cold, without ideas and hungry.

And mad, so mad with Akashi that if the boy hadn’t hadalready hurt his body by himself Midorima would have surely done it in his stead.

Even because, during the time they spent together,instead of clearing the past misunderstandings, they had just accused eachother of every, petty things that happened since the first year in Teikou. Notreally useful.

 In the end, tired of the silence, the hostility andthe guilt, Akashi tried to stand up, wobbling. Midorima glared at him.

“What are you trying to do?” asked while looking athim resting unsteady against the trunk of the tree they took cover under.

“I’m going to find the way out,” he calmly repliedwith all the dignity he could muster, “Staying here doesn’t help us.” Commentedsharply.

“I doubt that moving around with that ankle andinjuring yourself more is gonna be of any help.” Midorima replied bluntly,fixing his glass. As always, a small part of him admired Akashi for hisdetermination.

“Then come with me and let’s search it together.” Heoffered, giving Midorima his back. But the other boy didn’t need to see hisface to recognize the implicit request into his words. What an Emperor.

“If you need help, just say it normally.” Hissed,standing up and grabbing his arm to stop him, and the boy grimaced, “As youshould have done instead of bringing us here. Really, can’t you do anythinglike the other, normal people?” Added salty, passing an arm around his waist.

Akashi adjusted his own arm around Midorima’s shoulderand leaned on him, as his ankle was throbbing with pain; not that he was gonnaadmit it.

“Everything would have gone smoothly, if you only hadlet me speak till the end.” He murmured in his defense, offended.

“You started a monologue were you defended yourself.That’s not how discussions go, nor how you fix up things.” Midorima bluntlyshut him, starting to walk without a proper aim. All the trees looked the same,he didn’t remember where they came from nor how read those damn stars like ananimal.

“While you walk, keep the phone in your hand, maybe wecould find signal.” Midorima ordered with a sigh and Akashi, scowling did as hewas told.

“I was just trying to find the right words.” He upheld,“You interrupted me immediately and brought up again my madness and “abuse ofpower”.”

“That’s was he problem. Together with cutting everybonds, using us only to win and destroying our minds.” Midorima listed plainly,taking a casual turn; he felt Akashi’s body stiffening against him, butcontinued, “Without mentioning your behavior during the first high schooltournament, you Emperor. Not even a handshake.” he remembered in a mutter andnow Akashi caught the hurt tone in his voice.

“Well, I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean it all. Andwhen I finally understood my mistakes, returning to my original self, it hurt alot. I knew that I couldn’t restore everything easily, I understood the amountof pain I’ve inflicted to you…but I was lonely too. I suffered too.” Explainedanimatedly, gripping hard around the fabric of his sweater.

“Want do you want then? That we just hug you again andpity you?” Midorima roared, still feeling the humiliation he caused him intheir last match.

“I JUST WANT TO APOLOGIZE!” Akashi burst into apained, angry yell that startled Midorima, who immediately turned to look atthe boy who kept his head low.

“You what?” Mumbled, blinking at him. He probably hadheard wrongly.

Akashi lifted his head and looked him in the eyes,firm and desperate at the same time.

“I wanted to apologize.” Repeated in a murmur, “I’msorry for having left you alone back in Teikou. Sorry for having betrayed yourtrust. I’m sorry for having been the Emperor. I’m sorry for having underestimatedand belittled your team, refusing your handshake. I’m really sorry.” Heearnestly apologized, trying to convey with his stuttering words the guilt thatwas eating him from the inside.

Midorima didn’t have words to reply. He wasn’t readyto confront an apologizing Akashi. He couldn’t even remember the last time hehad apologized.

“I thought that maybe we could start restoring newbonds again. That’s why I brought all of you here, that’s why I dragged you intothis damn wood, that’s why this afternoon I started talking from the past. Ihad a lots of things to say and explain, and lots that I wanted to ask…” Hisvoice dimmed in a whisper.

Midorima’s glasses slide down his nose and he feltblushing. Now, he was the one feeling guilty.

“Akas-”

HONK!

A big truck sounded its horn and made them jump ontheir feet; they got so startled that Akashi lost the grip around Midorima andfell on his back before the other boy could catch him in time. Midorima widenedhis eyes, looking astonished in front of him, while Akashi looked around as ifhe was waking up from a dream.

“We are…out?” he observed incredulous, frowning at thesight of the empty, silent street on which side they were standing dumbfounded.

“I think so.” Midorima agreed, instinctively cleaninghis glasses with the hem of the shirt.

“How?” Akashi inquired shaking his head.

“I wasn’t paying attention, actually.”

“Me neither.”

They exchanged an amazed glance and twin smirksblossomed on their lips.

“I can’t believe it.” Midorima whispered trying toconceal his amusement.

“But we didn’t arrive from here this afternoon, sowe’re still lost.” Akashi noticed, narrowing his eyes.

“Better than being in that wood.” Midorima exhaled adeep breath of relief, shrugging, and stretched his hand to Akashi.

“So? Now what?” the boy accepted it gratefully andstood up, unsteady.

“I don’t know. I didn’t think we’d get this far.”Midorima honestly admitted, “The phone?” asked hopefully, but Akashi grimacedlooking at the screen.

“It seems the battery has run out.” Told him blanklyand Midorima felt the need to slam his head against something.

“Well, since you can’t walk, we can only tryhitch-hiking.” Dared to say, fixing his glasses and Akashi sighed, exhaustedly,but nodded.

 After fifteen minutes, they were luckily sat in theopen trailer of a small truck; the driver, a local farmer, after laughing attheir misadventures, had kindly accept to bring them to the hotel, which theydiscovered was two hour by foot far away from there. Midorima had picked upAkashi and helped him sitting comfortably, and now they were in silence next toeach other.

Midorima looked at the pearly moon that shinedbrightly in the sky. He was still thinking about what Akashi had told him,knowing the boys was waiting for an answer. Now, all the negative and confusedemotions he felt before were melting in the quietness of the dark blue sky.

“Akashi.” called and felt him shifting nervouslybeside himself, “All the things you wanted to say and explain. All the thingsyou wanted to ask, tell me. We’ve time, I’ll try my best to not interrupt you.”Midorima offered, searching for his red, amazed eyes.

“I-” He stuttered confusedly, happiness for havingreceived a second occasion and fear of messing up again mixed in him, but thenhe took a deep breath, “Okay.” He manage to reply quietly.

And Akashi told him everything from the start. Thecoach, his fears, the situations of his family and the issues he had with hisfather. He told him how he felt losing himself, being incapable to reason andto care about them properly. How victory became the only important thing. Hearrived talking even about the recent matches: the jealousy he felt seeing himand Takao pairing up, the high due to the crushing victory and finally the voidhe fell into when he returned to his original self. Scared that it was toolate. Scared that he couldn’t be saved or forgiven anymore. He listed patientlyall his attempts to find a way to restore things as they were before, to fixall of them again.

Midorima listened to him silently, just making smallcomments here and there.

“So, this was the last attempt to bring us together?”Asked Midorima thoughtfully. It was a lot to take in, of course, but he wasfeeling more and more relieved as Akashi told him everything. He wasdiscovering that the boy he had loved was still there.

“Yes.” Akashi nodded with an embarrassed smile, “Ithought it was a good idea.”

“That’s questionable.” Midorima harshly shot him down andhe glared, “However, I have to think then that yesterday you didn’t food-poisonedthe others on purpose?”

“I’m not a killer.” Akashi coldly replied, offended,and Midorima smirked.

“You tried to stab Kagami with a pair of scissors.”Reminded him, arching an eyebrow.

“First, I thought we had agreed I wasn’t completelymyself at the time;” argued lifting his chin, “Second, I knew he could dodge.”He wanted to add, “Because I’m never wrong.” But bit his bottom lip andrestrained himself. He was trying to be humble.

However, Midorima seemed to have read him, as hechuckled a bit.

“Leaving this aside, why the trip outside then?”inquired again and he saw Akashi blushing slightly.

“You were the one I desired to connect with the most.I needed to have you back. I hoped the excursion could bring us together andmake the tension vanish. I hoped being outside and far from everything elsecould help me find the courage to tell you everything and apologize properly.”Whispered bitter sweetly, bringing his knees to the chest “Not the best plan inthe end.”

“Yeah it was a horrible plan, you should haveapproached me like this from the start.” Midorima agreed, making him curl onhimself more, but then continued, “But if that is what you needed to reach thispoint, than I’m glad to have gone through and survived that hell.”

Akashi’s head perked up and his scarlet eyes shone.

“I’m relieved” thanked him with a small, grateful andgiddy smile, “Losing Midorima’s friendship had been my greatest defeat andregret.” Admitted softly, looking with fondness at the sky.

His words froze Midorima on the spot.

He had forgotten Akashi was born to be charming andadorable when he lowered his defenses.

“You…!” he cursed rubbing his forehead and Akashiglanced at him perplexed, “You are the worst. You should stop saying those kindof things.” Growled, glaring at him.

Akashi blinked: what had he done now? He thought tohave been sweet or at least friendly saying those things, why Midorima was mad?

“What kind of things?” asked confused, his heart onthe verge of shattering.

“The kind that makes me want to kiss you in the mostinappropriate moments.” Midorima revealed with red cheeks but a firm,unwavering gaze.

Akashi heart didn’t shatter. It stopped. Then startedbeating again so fast it could fly out of his chest.

He blushed furiously, taken completely by surprise.

“Like, for example, in the trailer of a truck in themiddle of the night, after a day spent arguing?” wanted to verify, in a hopefulvoice. This was too good to be true.

“Exactly.” Midorima assured him, embarrassed, annoyedand nervous altogether.

“Then,” Akashi whispered with a smile escaping hislips, “I wouldn’t mind it.”

Midorima risked to choke with his own saliva, butmanaged to compose himself rapidly.

“You asked for it. I’m not joking.” Mumbled as awarning, but, seeing Akashi looking expectantly at him under the moonlight, hecouldn’t restrain himself. He leaned towards him and, with a kiss, cleared thepast misunderstandings and opened the doors to a future of happiness for bothof them.