#I mean I love him but also. rattling him around in a lil box like a LOT

[ltcolonelcarter]

you’re cordially invited to suffer with me as I present a question of time chapter 7: random access memory ✨

Sixty’s raring for a fight and looking for a way out… but there’s still someone in his way.

[the-s1lly-corner]

You points

I'd like to hear some of your general headcanons for itward! Any and all headcanons you can think of >:)

General Itward hcs!

I got too silly guys

This is gonna be long so buckleup

Side note, my silly little goofy baking marathon has begun, so requests are REALLY gonna slow down today and tomorrow and likely Tuesday as well

I current have multiple pies in the oven as we speak <\3 (note from the future i was typing for so long the first batch of pies finished and the second group just got put in)

My bodies gonna hate me for this but imma get paid (yaaaay!!!!)

Love to think that itward is self sufficient. He grows his own stuff and scavenges for any metal parts he needs what whatever (his ship, a project, ect)

As such he also builds and maintains his own stuff; the ship is the most obvious thing! But I like to think nearly everything in the ship itself was either made by him or found abandoned !

Its canon that he loves forks, both stated in the character sheet thing KMG posted as well as the copious amounts of forks decorating the main area of his ship! I mean he literally has a wall covered in forks! I can easily see him having even more forks stashed away somewhere

Torn between headcannoning him to just have them in a jumbled heap in a drawer somewhere... and headcannoning that he sorts them by size, material, color, and style... both seem so in character for him.. hmm..

I can say for certain that he has a box somewhere full of random stuff hes collected and it's not at all neat and organized. Rocks, gears, bolts, sticks, glass vials, jewels, and so on! The "oo pretty I think I'll keep this and use it for later (never uses it for later)" mindset! I like calling those lil trinket boxes "crow boxes"

"The one many children talk about", as said by the man himself. So fran and the twins arent the only ones who have interacted with him... dad of dozens of children

I was gonna go somewhere with that previous point but I genuinely forgot what I was gonna say

Has made stuffed animals and dolls at least once for all of his kids. And yes, that includes Clara and Mia, at least before they tried to kill him... reluctantly makes bunnies for kids who ask

Speaking of bunnies, since it's been proven that itward wasnt bluffing or lying about his fear of them (KMG made a post showing off a type of Kamala that basically makes you addicted to their candy, making you eat them til your guts explode) (which... is horrifying and makes me wonder, did itward see that happen to someone? Perhaps one of his kids? A friend? Or did he not and the concept just scares him so much?) It's a little funny that itward has a bunny plushie on his ship

Sad hc but I like to think it belonged to one of his past children and as much as hes afraid of it he doesnt have the heart to give it away

While we're on the topic of sad stuff, I dont think itward can shed tears. So in place of them, his bones start to rattle a little

While I also headcannon that his bones rattle when hes nervous or flustered, and perhaps on the rare occasion that hes angry, it does happen when hes sad enough

Okay no more sad, I like to think his hat steams when he gets real excited about something or embarrassed. The top of it just. Pops open and theres the steam billowing out

I dunno I think it suits him and his aesthetic...

Stole this idea from someone else but he can purr; it's mostly involuntary imo and if you listen close enough you can hear his bones vibrating and clacking against one another

His eyes glow in the dark! Not too bright, it's fairly dim, but it's enough for him to see around and for you to see where he is in a dark room!

Creaky bones. He is OLD! probably VERY OLD! So it would make sense his bones click and make noise thanks to the general age.. wear and tear you know? Especially prominent in his spine and ankles

Has a habit of clacking his teeth/jaw when speaking, as well as when hes just. Not doing anything

Prone to fiddling with his rings (!! Will get to that in a second!) As well as the accessories on his coat; and sometimes, even his hat!

Okay the rings! I like to hc that itward makes his own accessories too ! That includes the gems and chains on his coat (heck, hes probably made his own clothes!) And I like to hc that he sometimes wears rings !

Sometimes sells his stuff; more likely to sell shoes and clothing, as well as his machines and services! Sure he mostly lives off stuff hes found or grew, but theres some stuff that he cant just find or grow.. plus its generally a good idea to have some money somewhere

I'm pretty sure hes good friends with palontras and ziar (given him and palontras work together to help Fran and the painting of ziar in itwards ship) but I also like to think he is friends with the wizard and cogwind!

Mostly because I wish we got more stuff for both of them... also him and cogwind can bond over their interests!

Does not stay in one place for long, given that KMGs labels him as a wanderer, but assuming he keeps Fran around to raise her I think he anchors down to one place... well not ANCHOR but like, cutting down on traveling at least a bit, especially in the beginning so fran can fully come to terms with everything shes learned (the truth of her parents death, the grieving process, learning she may or may not be part of something larger if memory serves me right, it's been a while since I played the game, as well as being shot.. like yeah she was healed physically but like imagine how shes gonna feel when that fact she was shot mentally sinks in) ... cant have her bouncing between different realities and the spaces in between them constantly

Ponders

Listens to Antonios (giant old ant dude) old music, I think! Probably has a bunch of old vynlls laying around somewhere

Frequently has to clean his hands, especially his fingers since hes always working on SOMETHING, he doesnt wanna walk around with gunk in the grooves of his fingers. Very yucky very gross and very un-gentleman..ly...

I keep trying to wrap this post up but I keep remembering hcs/coming up with new ones

Anyways COMMITS to the bit when hes playing a game with Fran, or really any kid hes looking over. Tea party? Hes gonna bust out his very best manners. Yes he will wear a tiara if its offered to him. It will go over his hat, of course. Playing doctor? Oh he'll moan n cry about how sick hes feeling, please help him! Ect ect, things like that!

Sometimes makes shadow puppets and tells stories. Both in the form of little shadow theatres, but sometimes he will use his own hands and project the shadows onto the wall!

Very good at coming up with stories on the fly

Also very very good at comforting people, I think. Hes been around for a while and he just OOZES comfort

So if you have a nightmare or struggle with anxiety, itward wont let you just suffer and be scared, hes gonna do what suits you best to calm down; distractions, holding, taking, quiet, grounding, ect ect ect anything you need

[arianatwycross]

I’m not sure if someone has sent you this one already, but 4 for Jily.

I was such a fan of the first one I figured if you’re up for it I’ll send more!!!

yay thank you! I actually love doing these so here's another one - lots of fluff so beware!

For the prompt: I’m supposed to be mad at you but you’re holding my face and smiling and I just can’t resist it when you’re pouting like that

“Mate, she’s going to actually kill you this time around”

“She won’t, she loves me” James replies with a toothy grin.

“Has she actually admitted to that yet though?” Sirius questions.

“Course she loves me, she wouldn't publicly go out with me otherwise”

“You are more than three hours late, AND it's her birthday” Sirius states, raising one eyebrow at his mate.

“But I bear gifts!” James replies, a tad too enthusiastically.

“I hope those gifts are good enough for you to not get dumped” Sirius mutters.

They all climb through the portrait hole and brush down their cloaks. Dirt and dust clings to their clothes, and only Remus has half a mind to actually use magic to rid them of all evidence of their antics.

“If James was more organised, we could have gotten her present last weekend instead of the day of” Remus states, heading towards their dorm.

“I told you Mr Flume said he could only get the next shipment in today, and it's not my fault that a plethora of small children were there for a birthday” James pushes past a grumpy Sirius and runs towards the dorm. It's that late, that no one is in the common room anymore and he hopes he can somehow get to Lily before it hits midnight.

He flings open the door, to find Remus sitting on the end of his bed and a red-faced Lily sitting at the headboard. Her red hair in a messy braid and her arms pulled tightly around her knees.

“Lils! There you are!”

Lily gives him a look he hasn’t seen since the start of the year. One that usually coincided with a nasty hex or a detention.

“I’m going to leave you to it and I’ll keep the boys downstairs for a tad longer too” Remus gives Lily a tight smile before tapping her knee and leaving the two alone.

“I’m so sorry Lils, I know I’m stupidly late and it's your birthday and you probably thought I stood you up but the boys can attest to where I was!-”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses James” Lily said in a voice so soft and weary, his heart did a depressing flop in his chest.

“Just wait - let me get your present”

“I don’t think a present will help you” She started to say and if his heart wasn’t racing with his efforts of diving under his bed and dragging out her gift, he probably would have been so emotionally distraught at her words that he could have just stood there and cried.

“Here”

He thrusted a small present into her hands, wrapped in shiny red paper with a small green bow on top. She held it apprehensively, her eyes on the brink of tears. He slowly sat on the edge of his bed, keeping his knees away from hers. He longed to touch her, he always did but now didn’t seem like the right time to be clingy.

“Please Lils, this is just your first present. But I was trying to find your other present tonight, I had to get it ordered in and then I got an owl saying it had been delivered and I’m so sorry but please please open this one at least” His voice started to crack slightly, and he was suddenly aware of how much he actually felt for the girl sitting in front of him. It was all-consuming and almost debilitating and his heart hurt just looking at her.

She thumbed the ribbon until it spilled open and carefully tore the paper away from the box. She held the small velvet black box in her palm and cautiously opened it to find a thin silver chain necklace with her mother’s pendant. She gasped slightly, her green eyes wide and slightly wet with tears.

“How did you get this?” she whispered.

“I got Mary to knick it from your jewellery box. I know the chain you had broke last year and I missed seeing it on you.” He watched for a reaction but she just kept staring at the small circular St Michaels pendant, the silver recently polished by the jeweller James had visited months before.

“Turn it over,” he whispered.

On the back of the silver pendant were engraved words.

“Love is magic”

Lily’s body shook silently as a wave of tears rattled her body.

“I’m sorry love” James murmured, immediately moving to her side and wrapping one arm around her. “I didn’t mean to upset you, I thought you would like it”.

She hiccupped before tilting her head up to look at him properly.

“How did you know my mum said that?”

“You mentioned it a couple of times. You know that time you were telling me about how your mum and dad met and she used to believe it was magic that brought them together? You said that was in their vows, you thought it was ironic considering you turned out to have magic. Two halves made you - magic” he squeezed his hand around hers that still clasped the jewellery box.

She pulled away suddenly, making James heart race erratically.

“Wait - Lils! Don’t go! I have something else. It seems stupid now and totally not worth making you wait and I really am sorry” he rambled, his nerves making his entire body tremble. He couldn’t quite believe he had really fucked things up. This was Lily, his Lily, he knew he would never be able to get over the heartbreak of her leaving him.

He pulled a parcel out from his invisibility cloak.

“I didn’t have time to wrap it...obviously” he said forlornly.

She pulled it gently from his hands and pulled back the brown paper. A large bag of multiple packets of Fizz Wiz laid before her.

And she laughed.

His heart rate spiked and he sat on the edge of his bed, in awe of the way she flipped her head back and laughed freely.

“Where did you get these from?” she asked, a large smile lightening up her face, her eyes and cheeks still wet from her tears.

“I had to get Mr Flume from Honeydukes to order them in, specially. There’s no muggle shop around here that sells them and I know they’re your favourite and I know that Mary sometimes gets her mum to send them to you but I also realised you hadn’t been sent any in a while so I thought I would stock you up” he rambled, again. He couldn’t help it, he always lost his cool around her. He was nervous and quite terrified of losing her and it made his brain run a hundred miles a minute.

“James, slow down” she grabbed his knee and squeezed it. The sudden touch sent a warm relief of comfort down his spine and he instantly relaxed. She was ok.

She looked at the sweets fondly. James watched as another tear made its way down her pretty face. Before he knew it, he was kneeled in front of her on his bed and cupping her face with his hands. Her big eyes stared back at him.

“I am so sorry Lils. I wanted to make today perfect and I sincerely ruined it for you. There’s no excuse for me being late, none that make it worth it anyway” He stroked her warm cheeks with his thumbs.

They stayed that way for a few seconds, both of them looking at each other.

“I love you” he said softly. He poured every emotion into his words, knowing that this was either the worst or best time to say it for the first time.

He waited for her to frown, or even pull his hands away from her face but instead he was shocked to find her smile back.

“I’m supposed to be mad at you,” she whispered.

Her green eyes twinkled, the familiar spark made James excitedly pull himself closer to her.

“You can be” he whispered back.

Her gaze was pulled towards the velvet box sprawled on his bed.

“Thank you for the presents” she said softly, a small smile itched at her mouth.

He pulled himself towards her, taking his hands off her cheeks before pulling her legs apart and wrapping them around his waist. She wrapped her arms around him, sitting on his lap so they were as close as they could be.

“I love you too” She whispered before softly pressing her lips to his.

[anon-e-miss]

Jazz is going prepared to go journey for searching dryad's brother. will the twins coming with them? but punch has to take care of them

They slipped from the Dead End in the cover of darkness. Just across the border, the caravan waited. Ori had already prepared Jazz’s genitors for their secret cargo. Everything would be ready. Smuggling was not a new trick for Rumbler and Sprocket. Most of the caravans had dabbled in it here and there. There could be more shanix in it than the legal trade. No one paid tax on the credits that changed servos when you snug mechanisms or illegal goods across the border. Jazz thought his genitors had a more experienced servo than most. Straxis no longer send goons into the Dead End to confirm his hostages remained. Jazz had been able to go on his runs without detection for stellar-cycles. The way the Dead End was overcrowded, with habs stacked on habs, the goons would rightly think of themselves a target for the poor and frustrated residents. That was fair, they were a target. Swindle’s goons had been the law in the Dead End for a while now. Jazz wondered if Straxis even realized he had been deposed as the true power.

Rumbler appeared on the top of a dune. They spoke via chirolinguisitics. No one “said” a glyph. The mechlings did not stir, deep in recharge as they were. That was not an accident. Silence was of the utmost importance right now, they could make all the noise they wanted once they were deep in the Wastes. A load of duratanium hid the smuggling box set into the trailer. The team of machadron that would haul it across the desert was corralled nearby, leaving the hidden door accessible. Sprocket left the machadron and joined his brother to dare only the briefest of embraces with their sparkmate and creation. Jazz excited and terrified. If this worked, he would never come back to Staniz. His creations would never step ped back in the city. The Wastes bordered many states. They could buy a stake on another trade route if they played their cards right.

“I know it’s a lil cramped,” Jazz said to Prowl after the door was sealed behind them. The floor was covered in blankets. It was as comfortable as it could be. It was tight. There was no way of stretching out without touching. “Once we can drop the load, it’ll be more comfortable.”

“It is fine,” Prowl said, he sat back against wall with Bluestreak cradled in his arms.

Strings of crystals looped around his ankles, wrists and neck. He wore a crystal crown, balanced over his chevron, that bit was at Sunstreaker’s insistence. They were already dimming. The form stayed in was the blandest he had. If Jazz did not know he was anything but a normal Praxian, he would not guess it. Ori had already stashed a few bushes amongst the caravan’s cargo. Jazz could only hope it would be enough to get them to the oasis at Doradus where they would replenish their stock. If it was not enough, Jazz did not know what he would do. The idea that Prowl and Bluestreak could fade before his optics was a living memory purge. He would do everything in his power and beyond to prevent it.

They dozed through the last joors of the dark-cycle. With the light-cycle came the last preparations before the caravan set back into the desert. Through the speaker hidden high on the wall, Jazz heard Sprocket hooking the ornery beasts of burden to the trailer. He relaxed, but it was short-lived. Across from him, Prowl went sickeningly pale as they heard the same voices. Jazz squeezed Prowl’s ankle as he dropped a blade from its sheath in his arm, knowing full well his origin had done the same. As Prowl shivered with fear, Jazz urged the Twins over to him. They cuddled up with Prowl as their genitor and grandorigin slipped into position.

“Ya know ya ain’t welcome in my caravan,” Rumbler’s voice growled.

“I’m just here on a matter of business,” Swindle’s slick prattle earned him a derisive sniff.

“Ya mean the business o’ payin’ me?” Rumbler asked. “Ya still owe me for the last shipment.”

“I paid...”

“Counterfeit don’t count.”

“You listen...” Onslaught’s snarl was silenced as the ground shook below them. The trailer rattled as the machadron roared and stomped.

“Pay what ya owe,” Rumbler said as the ground stilled. “Plus that interest I know ya like so much, ‘n we can talk next time. Happens ‘m full up. Straxis’ got the contract this time. I don’t got room for your scrap.”

“I don’t have goods,” Swindle said. His voice was higher. Fear or frustration, or both. The ground rumbled again and Swindle squeaked. “I’m looking to recover some of my own...”

“Poor bitlet,” Sprocket cackled. The Combaticons grumbled but again the ground trembled and silenced them again.

“Think ‘m gonna let ya poke ‘round Straxis’ cargo?” Rumbler sneered. “Ya must think ‘m stupid. I know how sticky yer digits are.”

“I resent that accusation!”

“Ya mean ya resemble it,” Rumbler countered. “Get outta my camp, Swindle. Don’t show yer face ‘til ya have my credits, less ya want me to feed ya to my Dweller.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

There was a scream, more than one, as the ground shook. Jazz knew the moment Arkus breached. He roared as he leapt from the desert sands. A screech of rotors told Jazz when Vortex took flight. The ground trembled again as the Dweller Rumbler had spent vorns training disappeared back underground.   Swindle had no reason to suspect he had been played. He had no idea Meister was the product of this caravan. The most important lesson Punch had ever taught Jazz was to keep his function and his family well segregated. Swindle might yet turn up, though if he thought he could stalk Rumbler and Sprocket he was going to find himself led on a twisting, turning adventure until was hopelessly lost in the dunes.

Jazz slid his blade back into its sheath when the trailer started rolling. They had passed the first hurdle, hopefully, it would also prove to be the worst. His genitors had not transported a Praxian passenger across the desert, but they had hauled a load of palms to the oasis in Doradus to replace a glade that had been killed by some mysterious plague. It was possible the plague was just a desperate Dryad, or a Dryad had hitched a ride on one of the palms they transported. In any case, Doradus was the most sensible place to start the hunt for Smokescreen. Prowl remained worryingly pale. The crystals the Twins had strung for him were dull. Jazz was not the only one to notice. Ori called the mechlings over and opened a box of unstrung crystals and put them to work. Soon Prowl was draped in fresh crystals. Whether they really improved his colour or not, Jazz was not sure but the Dryad smiled at the Twins when they dressed him in his new finer. At the very least they helped his mood.

“We’re puttin’ down camp,” Rumbler declared before he opened the door, saving himself from getting stabbed by his mate or his creation.

“Looks like a new spot,” Punch observed, looking up at the sky, not at the ever changing dunes, when he stepped down from the trailer.

“Thought that pompous scrapheap was followin’, so we took them on a tour,” Rumbler explained. “Led ‘m into a Swarm’s nest. Outta keep’em outta our platin’.”

They were alone in the desert. The bulk of the caravan had taken off on route to Uraya with Straxis’ goods. It was not uncommon for pairs to split off for private deliveries, though it was not so common for them to split off so early. There was safety in numbers, but the fewer mechanisms knew of Prowl and Bluestreak, the better. Jazz trusted his progenitors and their secret weapon following along under their peds, to keep them safe. Jazz helped Prowl down from the trailer, and led him to the soft carpet set under the awning. The first sacrificial bush was brought over and Prowl placed his root crystal on its trunk. Soon his plating became crystalline as he took energy and comfort from the crystal and the desert.

“Thank you,” Prowl’s voice changed with his plating, taking on the ethereal ting of a crystal. Bluestreak changed to match his originator. When he giggled it had a similar bell-like clarity.

“We’re further out than we wanted to be after the first mega-cycle,” Jazz said as he looked up at the stars. “Gettin’ those afts off out tail took some tricks.”

“I hope the Swarm eat them slowly,” Prowl replied.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

While Sprocket put a sheepicron on a spit to roast, Rumbler used the exoskeleton to unload the trailer. He dragged the duratanium out of camp. The ground shook when Arkus poked his beak up and dragged the beams of metal underground. Somewhere below them, the beast had a nest. It was lined with offerings like this one. They knew from experience that the Dweller would not eat the beams, that was not the substance it lived on. Rather, the Dweller was an energy vampire. He had fed on the sheepicron Sprocket was now cooking. The thing had been a juvenile when Rumbler had found it. Whether it had been abandoned by its originator or orphaned had not mattered. Providing it with the energy it needed to feed had domesticated it and Arkus was now Rumbler’s loyal pet... more or less. They had never tested Arkus’ loyalty by withholding his fuel and they would not. Rumbler was not that stupid.

“I thought he was crazy adoptin’ that thing, but a Dweller’s a lot scarier than a hellhound,” Punch declared as he finished the edges of his weaving project. “‘N easier to keep fuelled.”

“It is ingenious,” Prowl said. “I did not think Vortex would fear anything.”

“Rumbler loves havin’ it rumblin’ under ped when the inspectors come ‘round,” Sprocket said, joining them on the carpet while the sheepicron cooked on the automatic spit. “Gets the machadron jumpy but keeps the inspections short and sweet.”

“Thank you for agreeing to transport us,” Prowl said. Cocked his helm to Punch.

“He asked, that’s enough. Thumbin’ our olfactory ridges at Swindle just sweetens the deal.”

“Grandtor, I wanna bounce!” Sideswipe exclaimed and he jumped into Sprocket’s lap.

“Just one bounce?” Sprocket asked, bouncing Sideswipe once on his knee.

“Lots of bounces! Sing the song.”

It was not long before Sunstreaker abandoned their grandori and the loom to demand a turn at bounching. Sprocket sang the silly tune over and over but never seemed to tire. Punch’s optics glowed with warmth, watching his sparkmate with their grandcreations. Taking turns became more palatable when Rumbler joined them. When one was bounced, the other was given a piggyback ride. Jazz delighted in watching. His attention was only pulled away when he heard sharp intake from Prowl and he turned to look. Prowl was holding a blanket, the very project that Punch had being finishing. There were tears in his optics as he thanked Punch for the gift. Jazz shuffled over to join them and watched Ori show Prowl how to swaddle Bluestreak.

“Beauty work as always, Ori,” Jazz said.

“Thank ya, Love,” Punch replied. He did not preen but he looked pleased.

“I swear I will not lose it,” Prowl promised, cradling his swaddle creation. Whatever else happened, where ever they left Prowl, Jazz got the distinct impression Ori was going to want to drop in to visit. What Punch said next, confirmed it.

“Don’t worry ‘bout that,” Punch said. “I’d make ‘m another.”

[kawaragi]

hiiiiiii! can i ask what kind of pellets you feed your rabbits? and do you use timothy hay for them? and can i ask for some tips on how to take care of them? i have a rabbit too but it's my first time taking care of one, so i still kinda don't know what to do yet heheheh. it's fine if you don't want to answer though heheheheheh

hi! i’ll answer this ofc hehe im not an expert by any means but these r just precautions me and my sister take from videos about rabbits and even asking my friends for advice ^^ so sorry for the small text!

1) rn we use smallworld’s brand for pellets - it works perfectly fine and my rabbits really like them so it works the best for us !! oxbow is a good brand too and probably recommended by a lot of rabbit owners

2) we use timothy hay yes ! if ur rabbit is really young and small, use alfalfa. and please remember to always always ALWAYS keep your hay stocked and accessible to ur rabbit. this is an important part of their diet and if they dont get to eat hay for a long while, they’ll go into this stage called GI Stasis. its very very deadly for rabbits bc it affects their intestines and since rabbits dont have the ability to throw up or fart it out, their intestines is a good place to check if your bunny is okay.

3) consider getting them spayed / neutered ! i know that pet owners are 50/50 on the spaying / neutering topic, but i’d say it’s quite beneficial. rabbits are territorial and have a dominant-submissive relationship with other rabbits. when unspayed/unneutered rabbits become mature, they will mark the place that is unrecognizable to them as their territory. whether it’s chinning, pooping, even spraying pee everywhere to put their scent on said places. it’s super troublesome and they’ll also try and reproduce if they’re unspayed/neutered because their hormones are going absolutely crazy. if your rabbit is a female rabbit, PLEASE go get her spayed. female rabbits who are not spayed are prone to uterine tumours.

i think thats everything regarding health so let’s talk about bunnyproofing your home!

4) my rabbits are free roamed during the day and we put them back in their cages when we go to sleep and we let them back out the next day. my rabbits are neutered so we don’t really have to worry about their past behaviors of spraying pee everywhere. we blocked out every little space that my rabbits could get into bc theyre very curious little things and could possibly get themselves in danger.

5) keep your cords and cables OUT OF SIGHT!!!! rabbits are so so SOOOO notorious for destroying anything and everything that gets in their way and unfortunately almost every household has a fuckton of cords and cables and theyre all bound to be cut by rabbits. getting cable covers is a good idea but we never got one, my dad just replaces them BDSNBS

6) cardboard r good toys for rabbits and they can chew on them! just watch them and make sure they dont chew too much otherwise it’s possible for them to get intestinal blockages (which i thought song had but… he was jusg constipated and gassy…) sticks are also good!! my mom takes apple sticks from my grandma’s garden and dries them up before giving them to my rabbits :)

7) i live in a carpeted apartment and having rabbits is like … homicide for the carpet :/ if u live in the same type of apartment as me pls make sure ur rabbit doesnt rip up the carpet as often 😭

8) RABBITS CAN BE TRAINED TO USE LITTERBOXES!!!!!! we didnt really have to train my rabbits, they just started using the litterboxes on their own and u can do this by putting their poops in the box with some hay and bc of the scent, it’ll make them think that that is their territory :3 it’ll save u so much trouble and less poop to clean up. other places will advice u to get like chips for the pee to soak in but we just use a regular like pee pad for dogs bc its easy to change out

9) block out any small spaces that they could potentially get into. that includes spaces under the bed, under the couch, behind the tv where there are cords and cables, dressers - i don’t have this problem with song bc hes bigger in size and he knows he cant fit, but i have this problem with sang! hes much much smaller and he fits in small spaces and crawls in them easier and its just a pain to get him out so keep this in mind if ur rabbit is a menace and smaller in size ^

i think thats everything for bunnyproofing? so here r some other like things fhat we do for my rabbits

10) rabbits are just like cats and dogs, they settle for anything in terms of toys - i gave sang a small box and he plays with it and chews on it. its important to give them something to chew on if theyre not chewing hay bc rabbits’ teeth grow out suuuuper fast and u have to keep them chewing on something bc if u dont, and their teeth grow out, it could cause some growth problems!

11) u dont have to worry about bathing them. like at all. rabbits clean themselves way often than normal, they dont smell either! the only times that should be okay to bathe them is if they r really fucking dirty for example soaked in their own pee. do not AND I MEAN DO NOT regularly bathe them bc it sends them into a shock and could even cause death. we’ve had to do this to song and sang before they were neutered bc theyd be really dirty and soaked in pee and it’s just… gross to see them like that. (if u really really have to bathe them, use baby shampoo! its easier for their skin and their fur)

12) fun fact: rabbits LOVE bananas. they absolutely go fucking crazy over it - just dont give them too much fruits like strawberries and apples in one day bc they could get diabetes 😭 we let our rabbits eat as much as they want bc they stop when they dont want to eat anymore of the banana anyway. unless its song. song doesnt stop eating.

13) rabbits are actually very smart! u can put them in a routine with their meals like if u get them used to eatinf at around 11 am or earlier, they know the time of when they’ll be eating. for me tho song runs over to his bowl when he hears the rattling of the pellets in the scooper we have.

14) rabbits shed yes!! u can use a comb to get the shedding off but do not use a wired one. they have sensitive skin like fr fr sensitive skin and wired combs could cause abrasions on their skin which is never a good thing!!!

15) rabbits are, by nature, prey animals. they are naturally good at hiding their pain and sickness so its very very easy to miss them. u can easily tell if a rabbit isnt feeling well is if they are keeping to themselves, their ears are cold, they lose appetite, they dont move as much - something that’s not common to their usual behavior. so always keep an eye out for them!

i think thats everything i could think of ???? theyre high maintenance yeah just like any other animal but they are quite easy to take care of ! theyre also really really funny animals its adorable and i could fr watch them do their own thing every day.

they can be a lil bitch but tbh its so worth it, they are such cute critters. I JUST AGH I HOPE THIS HELPED U CAN ALWAYS SEND ME AN ASK ABT SOMETHINF AND I’LL GLADLY ANSWER IT FOR U!!!

[blue-lions-baby]

Operation Confession (Dimitri x Reader) [Ch. 1]

hi!! so sorry for the inactivity! i’ve been super busy preparing for college n stuff, so i didn’t really have time to write anything... but like i also didn’t want to go *another* week of not posting anything so lol

i’ve been working on this fic for almost a month now and as i was approaching the 5000 words mark, i figured it would probably be best to chop it up into more.... manageable sections ^^’ please enjoy~

spoiler-free and pre-timeskip fluff!

~*~

Oh, this was perfect.

Sylvain watched in pure amusement at the scene playing out before his very eyes. Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, future king of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, reduced to nothing more than a blushing schoolboy antsy with the love bugs and raging hormones. He weakly disguised his chuckle with a cough when he saw yet another quill snap in the blonde’s hand, most likely in reaction to that adorable pouting face you had put up. You had absolutely no idea what type of effect and the severity of said effect you had on the prince.

Which made it all the more entertaining.

You didn’t mean to-- in fact, you weren’t even aware of the raging feelings Dimitri held towards you.

But Sylvain knew.

And you could bet your ass he was gonna do everything in his power to help his longtime friend man up and confess to the girl of his dreams.

Dimitri’s cheeks, once dusted with only a faint pink, suddenly became a hodgepodge of every shade of red when he realized that was the third quill he broke in this hour alone. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, helplessly looking to his teacher for help.

“Your Highness... Have you broken another quill?” Dedue murmured beside him, concern eminent in his voice. Dimitri looked down at the large splinter running down its side and mentally banged his head against the desk.

“It appears so... I will request a replacement from the Professor.” He muttered back, silently rising to his feet and making his way to the desk up front. He was suddenly stopped on his 4-step journey when Byleth (with a crinkle in their nose and a sigh) redirected their frazzled student to a whole box of spare quills behind the blackboard. Dimitri-- very much aware that this box filled with ludicrous amounts of quills were entirely for him-- bowed deeply to the professor, picked up the feathery thing, and hurried back to his desk.

You looked up from your work to give your eyes a break from their swimming lessons and accidentally made eye contact with the returning prince. You both paused for a split second before you flashed him a heartfelt smile; a gentle warmth kissed the surface of your cheeks and you averted your eyes back to your studies.

A resounding snap reverberated throughout the quiet classroom.

“Dimitri?”

“Y-Yes, Professor?”

“See me after class.”

“Yes, Professor...”

♠ ♥ ♣ ----------------------------------------------------------- ♣ ♥ ♠

While the rest of the class huddled outside the door and watched their house leader write “I will not break another quill” line after line on the blackboard, Sylvain looped an arm around your waist and winked.

“Hey, (F/N). Mind if I steal you for a bit?”

“Um... Sure.” Wary of his skirt-chasing tendencies, you were reluctantly led away from your classmates and into a more secluded part of the monastery.

“This better not be one of your tricks again, Sylvain... I already told you, I don’t like you in that way.”

“Ouch. That hurt.” Sylvain’s lips formed into an exaggerated pout and you couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Nah, this ain’t about me for once. It’s about a certain... someone.” He continued rather vaguely.

“A certain someone? Sylvain, are you sure this isn’t about you?”

“It’s really not, I swear.” He put his hands up in surrender and seeing him genuine for once, you decided to believe him.

“Well, before I continue, I just wanna know if you... y’know.” Sylvain’s eyebrows wriggled very suggestively and a teasing smirk splayed his features. Your heart thundered in your ear, already knowing where this was going.

“If I...?” You whispered, taut fingers knotting the fabric of your uniform.

“Like, like-like anyone?”

Sylvain wished with all his heart that he had some way to capture the look and flood of colors that quickly took hold of your face. He watched in silent amazement as your face shifted from a barely-there pink to strawberry red in a matter of seconds. Gotcha.

“W-Well, I mean--” You took a shaky step backwards and your jaw clenched so tightly you were certain you were gonna chip a tooth. “There is this guy... Wait, why am I telling you this?! It’s none of your business!”

You rammed past the tall male with enough force to almost knock him over as you promptly made your way back to where the rest of your classmates were.

Satisfied with the laughable drop in quality in Dimitri’s penmanship, Byleth finally let the poor male join his classmates outside. His fingers twitched in an unsightly fashion and his wrist throbbed and cricked with every motion he made. He let out a guttural groan, making small, crackling adjustments to his neck and shoulder. The only thing he had left to do today was train, but he’d probably just go ahead and retire to his bed, at least for a little while...

Past the sea of heads crowding around him, he saw a flash of (H/C) streak across his vision, followed shortly afterwards by a head of shaggy red. (F/N)...? What were you doing with Sylvain?

Crippling exhaustion transfigured into searing jealousy and his eyes narrowed at his childhood friend with cold suspicion. Sylvain could easily feel the scorned prince’s hard stare like a knife in the back.

Was he at all fazed? Not in the slightest.

In fact, thought Sylvain as he sidled right up next to you, he wanted to toy with Dimitri’s heart just a little bit more...  

“Excuse me everyone, but I must speak to Sylvain immediately.” He emphasized the last word sharply, gently pushing his way through the crowd. While he brushed shoulders with Ashe and waltzed around Ingrid, he spun around and ended up face-to-face with... Oh Goddess, his legs were turning into jelly.

“Dimitri...? Is something wrong?” You breathed, fumbling with your clammy digits.

“O-Oh!” Said male rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “Nothing, Belov-- (F/N). Please excuse me, but it is imperative that I have a little... talk, with Sylvain.”

He left you no room for response as he quickly latched onto the toothy-grinned noble and practically dragged him away on his heels.

“What seems to be the problem, Your Highness?”

“Let us discuss the issue in my quarters.”

“Your quarters? Oh ho ho.~”

“Stop it, Sylvain. ... We’re here now.”

Dimitri watched Sylvain plop on the edge of his bed, his lips upturned in a carefree fashion. Dimitri lowered himself on his uncomfortable desk chair, his hands anxiously squeezing his kneecaps.

“So what would you like to talk about, Your Highness?”

“It’s about (F/N).” Dimitri spoke resolutely. “Sylvain... I know this will sound nothing short of mad, but--”

“Let me guess. You like (F/N).”

Dimitri’s bodily organs ceased to function; every ounce of blood in his body mutated into sharp, prickling icicles that seized his heart in a snare of terror and dread.

“I-- Wait, how--?”

“Your Highness. No offense, but pretty much everyone knows how you feel about her. You’re not exactly... subtle.”

Dimitri? Not subtle? Even after the extraordinary lengths he went through to make sure you remained ignorant of his true feelings for you? His brain filed through each and every interaction he’s had with you, combing through each word and shaky glance and awkward blush exchanged between either of you. Well, sure, he’s no master of disguise, but he wasn’t that bad... right?

While Dimitri’s thoughts remained in utter chaos, Sylvain coolly continued.

“Hey, about that lil’ act earlier... I was just messin’ with you, Your Highness. (F/N)’s a serious cutie, but I’m really not after her. I swear.” Sylvain winked. “Plus, she doesn’t even like me. She actually told me she likes--”

“WHO?!” Before Sylvain even had time to process-- well, anything-- Dimitri was on his feet rattling the poor noble to and fro, completely forgetting the crippling strength his Crest bestowed him.

“Gah! Stop it! That hurts!” Sylvain cried, trying with all his might to pry Dimitri’s iron grip from his shoulders.

Coherency finally returning, Dimitri immediately unclasped his digits from Sylvain. An expression of apologetic horror shot through his eyes as he stumbled back, back, back against his desk. The chest of both men heaved violently; raspy and hasty apologies slipped out of Dimitri’s lips while pain-stricken groans and a few obscenities raced out of Sylvain’s.  

“I’m so-... I’m so sorry, Sylvain, I-- I’m so, so sorry--”

“Augh, Goddess... You’ve got quite a grip there, Your Highness...” Sylvain chuckled weakly, feeling his skin swell and bruise.

“Allow me to fetch a healer for you!”

“N-No worries... Ugh... Just, I need to talk to you.”

“Sylvain--”

“Please. Seeing you skirt about this issue is far more painful than any bruise you could give me... But I’m not gonna lie, this one comes pretty close.”

Dimitri drew in a deep breath and settled in his desk chair, its wooden legs creaking slightly from his weight. He planted his elbows firmly by his kneecaps and rested his chin on folded hands.

“Lemme ask you a question, Your Highness. Do you truly love (F/N)?”

“Yes.” Dimitri answered unfazed, but suddenly realized the gravity of his response and drooped his eyes towards the floor.

“Then tell her!”

“I... I can’t. I’m afraid I lack the confidence to waltz up to a girl and profess my feelings to her. Especially with what happened to...” Dimitri shivered at the awkwardly painful memory and continued. “Sylvain, what if she doesn’t like me in that way? Then I’d have made a fool of myself in front of everybody. But most importantly, her...”

“Well, since she didn’t tell me exactly who she liked, there’s no surefire way to know...” Sylvain acquiesced. “But I’ve got a real good feeling about this. Trust me! If there’s one thing in the world that I can help you with, it would be something like this.”

“Well, I suppose you’re right...” Dimitri pondered, sighing in defeat. “But regardless of whether she likes me or not, I am unable to simply walk up to her and tell her my feelings. That’s...”

Dimitri trailed off, dejection glossing his pastel blues.

“I don’t deserve someone like her.” He breathed out just above a whisper. Poignancy took hold of Sylvain’s heart after hearing the sincerity in Dimitri’s voice. One look at the despondent royal was enough to tell him how much he believed those words-- how much Dimitri believed that he, a beast stained by blood and vengeance, could never have a beauty as tender and loving as you.

“Hey, come on Your Highness... It’s not fair on your part to be giving yourself so little credit.”

“Sylvain, look at me.” Dimitri cupped his throbbing head in his hands and he growled. “I am a monster. I can not drag someone as pure, lovely, and beautiful as (F/N) into...”

He paused, choosing his next words carefully.

“She deserves someone else-- someone who can bring her true happiness. Someone who’s... not me.”

Sylvain gritted his teeth from the dark and pulverizing atmosphere. Dimitri was spiraling. Further, faster into the void.

“Cheer up, Your Highness!” Sylvain bubbled half-heartedly, desperately trying to reel his friend from the abyss. “You’re a great guy! Hey. Remember when we went out to cull some bandits outta that one village? And some bad guy almost got (F/N)? You managed to swoop in just before that happened! You saved her, Deems. The look of pure adoration and gratitude in her eyes after the battle... It felt good, right?”

“I... suppose.”

“Oh! And remember when (F/N) was having a hard time grasping the concept of that battle formation the other day? Who came in, and spent the rest of their afternoon tutoring her until she could explain why you needed to send the flyers in first?”

“... I did.”

“Yup! And who’s the chivalrous, hard-working leader of the Blue Lions that everyone looks up to?”

“I am.”

“Atta boy, Your Highness! See? You’re a great guy! And the fact that you’re a prince doesn’t hurt your chances either.” Sylvain’s eyebrows danced smugly.

Dimitri’s chest rose and fell in laughter; Sylvain’s eyes lit up like a star. He managed to save him-- at least for now.

“Thank you, Sylvain. I really needed that encouragement. I... I apologize for--”

“No worries, Your Highness. ... I’m just glad I was able to help.” Sylvain clasped a hand on his friend’s shoulder and squeezed reassuringly.

“Um, Sylvain...”

“Hm?”

“How do I confess to her? Properly?”

Sylvain clapped his hands together and rubbed them gleefully.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ve got a plan.”

[charliesradiodemon]

Pwease pwease pwease do 15 passionately 💗💗charlastor , fat nuggets need it

(I was inspired by a couple of comics that are similar to this fic. For the sake of the fic making sense, Charlie never dated Vaggie and is single here.

Also don’t worry! I’m still working on Arranged Marriage! I’m just also working on many other things! You’ll be seeing an update soon! For now I’m bum rushing for Charlastor week!

Happy Valentine’s Day my friends ❤️❤️)

15. Passionate Kiss

It was Valentine’s Day, a holiday that humans came up with and celebrate once a year on Earth. It was a day of love and cherishing your significant others. Some even used the day to confess their love to another. Charlie remembered when she first heard of Valentine’s Day and only sighed at how sweet and romantic it sounded. But she never had anyone to celebrate it with. In her last relationship, Harold never wanted to celebrate the holiday in any way. He’d always tease her for wanting to practice “lowly human customs”. And before that, the holiday hadn’t even existed yet.

Today Charlie had a slew of ideas to celebrate the holiday with everyone at the hotel. Today was about love, and what better way to turn around a sinner than with love? And chocolate!

Before Charlie could skip out her door, she paused mid-step. “Oh!” She exclaimed, jumping back in surprise. A large red heart, along with a vase of red roses stood in her way. Had she finished that step, she would have crushed the heart entirely.

Charlie knelt and carefully picked up the glass vase and heart before backing into her room. She set the vase by her bedside and felt a smile creep up once she got a good view of the bouquet. The vase was simply brimming with perfect red roses, but there was no card amongst the densely packed flowers. Who could afford such a thing, Charlie wasn’t quite sure. It could have been from her parents, but they weren’t the biggest fans of Valentine’s Day considering the origins of the holiday. Nevertheless she loved the roses and took a deep whiff of their subtly sweet scent before heading out to find and thank whoever left them.

On her way down, she took a quick glance at the heart. She knew what hearts were and how it was a common symbol used on Valentine’s Day and for love in general, but this thing was different. When she shook it, it rattled. There was something inside, but how was she supposed to open it? Could she even open it?

When she reached the lobby, the giddy princess started her hunt at the bar to ask Husk first. When she got there Angel was already leaning against the bar counter, flirting with Husk so early in the morning.

Charlie skipped up to the bar, greeting both Husk and Angel a happy Valentine’s Day. She set the heart on the bar and slid it toward Husk. “Hey Husk, do you happen to know where this came from?”

Angel’s face lit up when he focused on the heart in front of Charlie. “Ohhhh! Who gave ya Chocolates toots?”

“Chocolates?”

“Aren’t they chocolates? I mean it’s Valentine’s Day, it’s gotta be chocolate.”

Charlie knew that lovers would exchange gifts like chocolate and flowers on Valentine’s Day, but she had no clue that the heart contained chocolate. She didn’t even notice that she could open it!

She turned to Angel, leaving Husk to his morning drinking. She placed her hand over the box and looked up at Angel. “Someone left me this outside my door…”

“Did they leave ya a note?”

“Nope.”

Angel quirked a brow. “Alright… that’s a lil’ creepy… Do ya think it’s safe? Maybe there’s no chocolates in there.” He pointed to the heart-shaped box with a suspicious look in his eye.

Charlie shrugged and looked around the heart until she found a prominent line under what seemed to be the lid of the box. She lifted it by the lid and wiggled it, letting the box slowly separate from the heart-shaped lid.

When the trio looked into the box, sure enough it was full of chocolates. “Oh wow these look pretty expensive,” Angel took one and closely examined the morsel. “Bet they taste expensive too,” He predicted before tossing the whole square into his mouth. “Yep! Damn that’s good!” He exclaimed before reaching over and grabbing four more pieces.

Suddenly, the blonde got between Angel and her gift. “Hey!” Charlie pouted. Little did she know, Husk also picked up a piece and tossed it in his mouth. His face scrunched and he washed the sweetness from his mouth with the beer he’d already been working on.

Angel scoffed and rolled his eyes. “What, you’re gonna eat all that all by yourself?” He returned to lean against the bar and continued, “So expensive chocolates huh? Whoever gave ya that must really have it bad for ya Charlie.”

Charlie felt her face heat up at Angel’s comment.

“I wonder who the sucker is,” he looked around the lobby to find only a few of the patrons sitting around, waiting for breakfast. “Can’t be one of these bozos.” He huffed a laugh and popped another chocolate in his mouth.

Charlie took one of the squares and took a tentative bite. She perked up as the chocolate melted in her mouth, coating her tongue in it’s sweetness. It reminded her of the chocolates her parents would give her when she was younger. She tossed the rest of the delicious chocolate in her mouth and hummed in delight. “You’re right! It’s amazing!”

“I’m glad you think so dear.” A radio backed voice came from behind Charlie. She jumped and whipped around. Expectedly it was Alastor who stood fairly close to her with a satisfied grin on his face.

“Wait Al, this was you?” Charlie greeted the radio demon with a wide appreciative smile.

He nodded proudly. “Yes it was! I made it was only the best of the best!”

“The roses too?”

“Why of course! No-“

Angel gasped and yelled, “Woah woah woah! Roses?! Holy shit Romeo I didn’t know you were some kinda romantic!” The group eating breakfast turned their attention toward the commotion.

“Angel, it would be in your best interest if you would keep your mouth shut before I take it away.” He said in a crackling, eerie distorted voice. The air around the bar became increasingly thick with tension. Angel retracted back in fear while everyone at the breakfast table watched with interest, as if they were hoping the radio demon would make good on his promise.

Charlie slid the box between her and Alastor to grab his attention before the situation escalated. “Hey Al, why don’t you try one?” Immediately the heavy tension dissipated at the sound of her voice and Alastor returned his full attention to Charlie.

He chuckled and picked up a piece, casually examining it. “I’m not one for sweets my dear,” he bent forward slightly, holding the chocolate between two clawed fingers. He extended the chocolate right before Charlie’s lips. “I bought these for you, so why not have another and I’ll consider trying one.”

Charlie glanced up at him and then the chocolate. It was an odd deal but it seemed like it was harmless. She shrugged and opened her mouth to let Alastor place the chocolate on her tongue. She shut her mouth and let the chocolate melt over her tongue once more, savoring the flavor.

Alastor admired her face, which lit up with pure joy. Her smile never failed to set his heart on fire and inspire contentment at the same time. Today was the perfect day to show her exactly what she meant to him and when he continued to execute his flawless plan, she would be his by the end of the day.

But then his eyes drifted down to her closed mouth and watched it move with her swirling tongue. Though he didn’t enjoy sweets, his curiosity began taking over. Then his imagination. Then his hands and feet. Unknowingly, he moved closer and used his right hand to tip her chin up. He met her snapped open eyes before meeting her black lips.

He didn’t realize it either when his tongue forced its way into Charlie’s mouth. The dulled down sweetness of the chocolate on her tongue made the flavor bearable enough for him. It was good, even. Though he wasn’t sure if it was because of the high of the moment or the chocolate itself at this point. It was then he discovered that Charlie was kissing him back, her tongue moving with his and further amplifying the sweetness of the kiss.

Realizing what he’d done, Alastor pulled away. He never took his eyes off of her, not wanting to see the faces of the individuals around him. Usually he’d revel in the attention, but now he just exposed a soft side to him no one had ever seen before. He’d have to kill them all- no, that would upset Charlie.

Oh Charlie…

This wasn’t how the day was supposed to go. He’d inadvertently ruined all of his plans to whisk the princess off her feet and now he stood there like a fool. He needed to leave. He summoned his cane and tapped the floor, melting into a shadow that frantically slithered up the stairs.

The room was dead quiet. Charlie looked around to find all eyes on her. Even Angel Dusk was wide eyed and slack jawed in shock. Truly nobody expected that from Alastor, not even Charlie. She turned back around to hide her burning red face. He kissed her, and she kissed him back! Then another realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Today was Valentine’s Day and he gave her presents… and kissed her! Did he really feel that way toward her?

She needed to find him. She’d never find out if she didn’t ask. He went up the stairs so he must have retreated back to his room.

Without another word, Charlie slammed the lid on the chocolate box and sprint up the stairs with it in her arms.

‘He likes me! He really likes me!’ Charlie thought giddily, letting her emotional high carry her up the stairs.

Ever since she met him, she was drawn to his charm, his personality, his voice, his dancing- everything about him. Sure he wasn’t the kindest or most gentle mortal soul out there, but she’d always smile with him around. He was dangerous, Vaggie would always warn her, but Charlie didn’t care. No matter how bad the rumors about him were, she’d look past them and got to know him better. He could cook, he loved his mother and he’d always find ways to cheer her up in his own strange way. To her, he was human: flawed and full of his own unique personality. He was still a monster who committed atrocities, but Charlie still couldn’t help the aching in her heart. It was strange, but the heart wants what it wants.

When she realized her feelings, she immediately feared rejection. It was difficult to be around him at first, but over time it got much easier and she’d managed to push her feelings aside. After all, she didn’t want to scare her professional business partner away.

But now that was all coming to an end. She needed to talk to him and work this out.

Charlie knocked on his door and called out his name. When he didn’t answer, she tried the door knob. Surprisingly it was unlocked and when Charlie slipped into his room, she found Alastor sitting on the edge of his bed, staring blankly out the window with his signature smile.

When she approached, he snapped his gaze toward her. They stared each other down for a few moments. “Al, we need to talk.”

Alastor nodded and patted the bed beside him to which Charlie obliged. They now sat shoulder-to-shoulder in silence. It should have been awkward, but for some reason it felt comfortable. It almost felt natural. Charlie could feel him slowly relax beside her. He was calming down and Charlie smiled knowing that he was getting comfortable around her. Feeling brave, Charlie placed her hand to rest it on top of the hand that sat tensely on his knee. He flinched, but didn’t move away. Instead he shifted his hand to where he held her fingers in a gentle grasp. He even began to run his thumb over her knuckles.

When Charlie looked up at his reaction, he wasn’t looking at her. Instead, his gaze shifted down to their joined hands. His grey cheeks held a hint of red. His closed-lipped smile was soft and content. He greatly disliked being touched and yet here he was, being touched by her and looking completely at ease.

They didn’t need to speak after all. Their actions spoke a thousand words and they understood what the other wanted. This was new to them, but their interactions have never felt so natural and so sure. Charlie sighed and let her head fall to rest on Alastor’s shoulder. He jumped a bit, still not used to contact, but let his head fall to rest on top of Charlie’s head, relishing in the warmth that blossomed in his chest because of her.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Al.”

[welcometoclass1ahell]

Notebook Shocker: Mafia!Kaminari x Quirkless!Fem!Reader

Bruh its like 6am. I started this at 1am. Idk how writers do it. im drained af and probably spelt shit wrong but thats what edits are foooor. 

Mafia!Kaminari x Quirkless!Fem!Reader

Warnings: A lil torture, violence, and mafia stuffff

Plot : A certain mobster had caught you stealing 

Word Count: 5.8k

“What do you mean….someone took it?” Deku groaned in annoyance, fiddling with a pen behind his desk. His green eyes scanned over Kaminari’s sheepish stance, “That notebook has a lot of intel, if that gets in the wrong hands I won’t know what I’m going to do to you,” Deku continued, a sharp glare adding to the threat.

“I know, I know! Don’t worry about it boss, I’m gonna get it back. I saw who took it,” Kaminari explained, “I just wanted to let you know, I can track her down. How far can a little girly get?” He grinned as he rubbed the back of his neck. He knew he pissed off Deku but in a way he wasn’t too concerned yet. He just had to get that notebook back, and that would mean having a little chase with the girl who he saw last night.

“I don’t care who has it or how you get it back. I want that notebook, and bring her too! I wanna know who’s after it,” Deku ordered before waving his hand to dismiss him.

Giving a small head bow, Kaminari excused himself to go save that notebook. He didn’t know what was in there, but he knew it had to be important to rile up his boss that much. Walking down the halls of the hideout, he quickly made his way to the dinning hall where he knew his friends would be. Not minding the few bodyguards who nodded his way, Kaminiari pushed open the tall doors to the grand room and smiled over to his pals, Kirishima and Mina. “Guys! I may or may not have gotten myself into a bit of a situation,” He chuckled and took a seat at one of the seats across from them.

“What did you get yourself into this time bro?” Kirishima smirked looking up from the playing cards as Mina also took interest in the conversation. “I lost the notebook, the one Deku wanted,” He started which had already caused a worried look onto the duo’s faces across from him.

“Dude not cool, that had all the intel on certain politicians,” Kirishima sat up straighter, “Yeah, wasn’t Deku going to use that to bribe one of them to fund us?” Mina added into which Kaminari froze up.

“Wait, that notebook? Why would he make me in charge of that? Why not Todoroki or Bakugo?” Kaminari whined realizing how much worse this situation was and put his head to the table letting out an annoyed groan.

“Because they aren’t here at the moment! Duh! He sent them to go do something else like a week ago? You’re so daft Kami!” Mina teased but she looked a little worried for her friend who was now toying with the dinning cloth on the table.

“Let’s go, Kaminari, I’ll help you,” Kirishima began, to which Kaminari lifted his head with a relieved grin,”Really? Aw you’re the best,” The blonde responded happily and stood up with hope in his eyes. He did not want to stall much longer knowing Deku would lose it if he was still here and not out looking for that book.

“Good luck guys! Just remember to stay low! Deku doesn’t want any more loud operations! He’s still fixing the last screw up,” She reminded them. The boys simply nodded giving her a quick goodbye before heading out quickly to their cars.

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

Gripping onto the notebook tightly which you had stolen last night, you sat on your couch eyeing the cover of the simple black book. It was a simple job really, but something felt off. It was too simple. You weren’t a rookie when it came to stealing things, petty robbery and pickpocketing being your job after all, but you weren’t a professional. So why did someone like Shigaraki have you do a job for him. 

He hadn’t even asked you himself. One of his henchmen had asked you if you were interested in a job.

“It’s a quick and easy task! Just pop right in and grab a notebook, that’s all we need,” The man who introduced himself as Mr. Compress explained. “We just need someone with not much background, someone who doesn’t look suspicious,” He added on when you had asked why they wanted someone like you to do the job when they had many capable people of their own. “We will pay half now, half later,” Was the final deal breaker.

Surely you could have refused something like this but when he had pulled out a few wads of cash, your eyes had grown big at the sight and agreed. He wasn’t lying about it being easy either. You dressed fairly casual that night and went to the location he gave you. It was a small apartment building tucked away at the end of the big city with not many people around either. It was perfect.

You managed to climb up the building’s fire escape and perched yourself carefully onto the railing of the outside door to the apartment number. The lights were out and it was silent as well. Quickly grabbing the lockpicks tool out from your back pocket, you made easy work of the sliding glass door before letting yourself inside the home.

“Whoever must live here must be whack,” Were the first words to leave your lips as you looked around at the decorations and trinkets.It wasn’t fairly messy but there was nothing that matched. It just looked like a collection of things spewed out here and there. Quickly getting to work, you started rummaging through the living room, but only found video games, weed, and instant meal packages here and there. Letting out a huff, you made your way to the bedroom and started pulling out drawers, digging through the closet, and finally lifting the bed sheets and mattress to the side to find a small black notebook tied to a shoebox. 

“Found you,” You sighed in relief, “Was about to think you weren’t here,”. Untying it from the shoebox, you straightened yourself out before you heard the keys rattling and the doorknob jiggling from the front room. “Shit!” You cursed and quickly looked to his bedroom window. Rushing over to it, you unlocked it with a click, looking down to see that there was a little balcony below you.

“Hello?” You heard from the front room, a concerned male’s voice as footsteps got closer to the bedroom you didn’t have the time to think or look back as you made the decision to jump down, landing with a bit of a thud against the metal flooring before jumping down from that balcony as well. It was a lie to say it didn’t hurt the soles of your feet.

“Hey! Get back here girly!” Was all you heard from him before you took off running, the sound of something hitting the ground with a zap behind you causing the adrenaline to push you to run faster.

You hadn’t stopped running until you were met with a semi busy street, the nightlife letting you blend in with the crowd. You had managed to get the notebook and yourself out of there in one piece. It’s how you got here, back to your home unaware of the golden eyes that had trailed you back to your street.

Looking down at the notebook, you carefully opened it and skimmed through it, famous names and politicians you recognized with dirty secrets scribbled onto the side of the names. “Wow,” You breathed out before an uneasy feeling settled into your stomach. There was a lot in this book, a lot of information anyone in the deeper side of things would love to have. Yet here you were, something that could change a lot in the public's eye of view, resting in the palms of your hands. What made it worse was you were told to hold onto it till someone named Dabi was going to pick it up from you. Standing up, you looked around your apartment scanning for a place to hide this. 

Deciding to put it into a cereal box for now, you went to go take a shower and call it for tonight. You were far too drained to do anything else but that.

The next few days you took it easy, leaving every now and then to get groceries or get a coffee at the nearby cafe, doing your best to keep an eye out on anything that would make you feel unsafe or alerted.

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

“Come on Kami, you have to be sure,” Kirishima muttered as they stayed low in a stolen car, parked outside the apartments in which you lived. “I’m pretty sure that’s her, same hair, same face,” Kaminari eyed the building watching as you returned from the store again,”Clueless little thing huh? I don’t even recognize her from anywhere, she doesn’t even seem like the type to do anything like breaking into houses,” He spewed on watching as you swayed your hips up the stairs to your own little home,”She’s a cutie though,” 

“Yeah, but that cutie has something important. You’re right though, I haven’t seen her around, wonder how she knew about the notebook,” Kirishima mused before grabbing his gun, making sure it was loaded just in case before cocking it,”You sure we need that?” Kaminari asked to which Kirishima looked up at the apartments through the window.

“I hope not, but we don’t know her quirk or if she’s even alone up there,” the redhead responded with hesitation. He didn’t want to hurt her, just scare her enough to get what they want. “But you know what you’re gonna have to do. I’m just here for backup, this is your mistake bro,” kaminari only huffed back at his friend but nodded. Getting out of the car, the duo quickly made their way up the stairs and to the door they saw you vanish through. Reaching for the doorknob, Kaminari gave it a small tug and to his disappointment it was locked. Giving a look to Kirishima, the blonde gave a nod before knocking on the door.

Hearing you scuffle behind the door, his chest felt like it was going to explode when he heard the soft and sweet,���Hello?” come from inside. “We got a delivery for you!” He responded. Kirishima nudged his shoulder giving him a questioning, ‘What the fuck?’ look but when they both heard the door unlock, then quickly focused back to it.

Wasting no time, Kaminari rushed in grabbing you by the arm, his other hand flying to your mouth as he gave you a stern warning look as Kirishima followed inside, closing the door behind him with his foot. Drawing the gun just in case, Kirishima eyed the apartment before looking back at you and Kaminari.

The blonde knew you were in shock, your eyes wide as if you were a deer in headlights but tears quickly prickled at the corners of your eyes as he saw you eye the gun. “Hey, hey, shhh don’t cry it’s okay. Don’t scream or struggle, he won’t use it I promise,” Kaminari cooed, keeping a tight hold of you regardless. Little zaps sprung from his fingertips to show you that while he was talking sweet, he wasn’t going to let you try anything. Walking backwards towards your couch, he slowly removed his hand from your mouth,”Please...don’t hurt me,” You whispered out as you looked up at them. Kaminari would’ve felt more bad if it weren’t for the fact that you had stolen the notebook he was supposed to be keeping. He had to admit though, your wide eyes looking up at him like that made him feel something in his chest.

“Won’t have to if you give back that notebook you stole, baby, just tell us where it is and it’ll make this much easier,” He said sweetly to you and pushed you into the couch, having you fall back onto the cushions. Looking down at you as you pushed yourself further into the couch to try and keep some distance from him had him smirk with a bit of pride. He may be relaxed with his friends but man oh man if he didn’t look scary when he wanted to.

“I don’t know what youre talking about,” You tried to play off, to his disliking. He really didn’t want to have to hurt such a pretty woman like you but damn it if you didn’t spill it out he’d be forced to.

“Lying isn’t pretty you know,” Kaminari cooly muttered before lifting his hand up,”Search for it,” He said over his shoulder to which Kirishima started to go through your things. “I saw you taking it from my home, going through a man’s bedroom isn’t nice,” he continued in a teasing tone as he lowered himself so he was perched on his heels so he could look straight at you. Taking his hand he placed it on your leg causing you to tense up with worry. Watching you eye him back with uncertainty, he only smiled back in return as he let a few sparks against your leg.

“What the fuck!” he watched you hiss and try to pull away from his hand to which he only gripped the top of your leg tighter,”Ah uh,” Kaminari chuckled, a twisted tone in his voice, “Come on now, I don’t wanna have to hurt you more. Just give us the notebook,” He pressed on trying to get you to spill it already, “I’ll give you a minute to tell me, if not I might have to fry a few nerves, and we wouldn’t want that would we baby girl?” 

“Don’t call me that,” You spit back to his surprise. Fiesty one? Yeah he can dig that. “Don’t be so mean,” Kaminari uttered back in fake hurt as he shocked your leg with a little bit of a higher voltage watching as tears came to your eyes,”If you keep this up I’ll have no choice but to think you like this,” He teased and watched her as she gripped onto his own wrist trying to pry him off,”Let me go!” You cried out in frustration. Watching you struggle against his grip was cute but getting annoying, “Did you find it yet?” He shouted looking over his shoulder to try and find Kirishima who was currently digging around in your bedroom. 

“Not yet,” his friend called back. Kaminari was about to reply when he felt something hard smash against his head as well as you crying out in pain at the same time. Letting go of his grip on you, he fell back with a “Oof”. Holding the side of his head, he looked up to see you had headbutted him and were now on your way of getting up towards the door. “Fuck,” Kaminari gritted his teeth and sprung up, being quick to grab you by your wrist and letting out a painful wave of shocks getting you to scream. 

“Kaminari! The neighbors will hear!” He heard Kirishima yell at him causing him to grip onto her mouth, tugging her into the wall and pressing her stomach against the cool surface, “You know babe, I don’t usually get mad,” Kaminari whispered sweetly in your ear in a sickening tone, “But you’re really pushing it right now. Give it up or I’m going to show you how much I can really make you scream,” 

Feeling you tense up and shake against him had the blonde tilted your head back to see terror in your eyes. If this notebook hadn’t been so important, he would have probably apologized right then and there.

“Cereal box,”  He felt you mutter in his hand making him confused instantly. Removing his hand, Kaminari gave you a questioning look. “It’s...It’s in the coco puffs,” You sobbed out and he could tell you were trying to keep yourself calm through this. Looking over to Kirishima from across the room, he watched his friend hurry to the kitchen knowing they had limited time now that they made too much noise here. Digging through your cabinets, he watched his friend pull out a cereal box and spill the contents out, the notebook falling onto the counter, “There it is! Fuck there it is!” Kaminari laughed in relief while holding you between him and the wall,”See that wasn’t so hard? Who would’ve thought cereal was the answer?” He joked trying to lighten the mood.

“I don’t know dude, but we need to get out of here now, the neighbors probably heard her scream,” Kirishima responded but was smiling as well. It was funny seeing that you hid it almost so well in a breakfast box.

“Please...let me go, you have everything you want,” Kaminari looked down to see you with pleading eyes and while he wished he could say they were done with you, he couldn’t. “It’s not that easy baby, you stole...from the mafia no less. That was stupidly brave but our boss isn’t happy,” He explained and when he saw the look on your face of hesitation and fear he tightened his grip on your arm, “Don’t do anything stupid, just cooperate, it’s gonna be fine,” He tried to reassure you but already he could see the defiance building up, “I don’t want to have to knock you out, just relax,” 

“Here, blindfold her,” Kirishima reached over, handing over his headband knowing all too well how these things go. “No! I-” You began to try to fight back but Kaminari was quick to shock that out of you. “Kiri, hold her will you,” He muttered, taking the blindfold with one hand before gently pushing her to Kiri who grabbed both of her wrists and kept her sturdy. “Look just be good and we won’t have to hurt you any further,” Kirishima tried to reason with you looking down at your fearful expression before the black headband covered your red puffy eyes.

“One more thing, get her hands behind her back, I don’t trust her to behave in the car,” Kaminari requested and watched as you struggled a bit against his friend who pulled your hands behind your back. Taking off his own belt, he made a makeshift handcuffs and tightened them around your wrists,” Alright let's get going before we get caught, oh and baby, don’t scream when we get out there, I really don’t want to sedate you with my quirk,”

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

After having the two strangers pull you out of the house quickly and get you to the car, you sat quietly in the back of the car, your heart and mind racing with thoughts and emotions. They had you blindfolded and your wrists tied up together making it difficult to calm down but at least they had the decency to buckle you up. “Hey, breathe, don’t hyperventilate,” You heard the blonde one suddenly say in the midst of the silence. That’s when you realized you really were breathing quick. “Fuck you…,” You mumble back and hear them both sigh a little as the car took off. “What’s your name then?” You heard the one named Kaminari speak again to which you only glared into your blindfold,”Gonna shock me if I don’t tell you?” You questioned back bitterly but hushed. 

“Just tryna make conversation, make you feel a little better,” You heard him respond with a huff before the radio was turned on. You felt somewhat relieved when the music replaced the awkward silence in the car. ‘You just had to get greedy with the money offered and this is where you ended up’ You furiously thought to yourself. Listening to your kidnappers talk with the music in the background had somewhat calmed you down just a bit to start feeling the aftermath of the shocks. Your leg and arm felt tingly still and a headache started to grow from the headbutt earlier. You’re sure to have a bump there later. 

Leaning against the seat of the car more, you shut your eyes and try to zone out to try and get a plan going. You hadn’t realized how much time went by before the car came to a slow and then a halt before hearing a gate screech open and for the car to move slowly forward, the tires sounding like they were on gravel as they stopped again. 

“I’ll get here,” You heard Kaminari say to which the other man snorted,”Not like I was gonna. Here take the notebook too. I said I would help, but I’m not going to face Deku. I already got my ass yelled at a few weeks ago and I’m not getting further into this,” He stated.

“Fineee,” was all you heard before the car doors clicked shut and footsteps to your side opened the car. Feeling hands reach in and unbuckle you, you kept silent in fear as well as anger before he picked you up out the car and helped you over his shoulder,”I can walk!” You hissed.

“Yeah, so can I,” Was the only snarky response you got back as you were carried off. As you reached the inside of wherever you were, you could hear small talk here and there as well as doors opening and closing. You started to feel a bit more nervous with how many people you could hear. Your kidnapper remained eerily silent as well as if he himself was nervous himself.

“Bring her in here,” You heard a different voice call out as Kaminari made a sharp turn into a different path following the voice. After a few more seconds you felt colder as you were put down and pushed into a chair. “Hey-” You started but a quick shock silenced you right up as your arms were tugged out from the belt and a cold metallic material was wrapped around your wrists.

“Now come with me,” The new voice spoke again and the footsteps traveled out the room, a door swinging shut with a loud click afterwards. Now you were chained to something, in a cold room, with a blindfold still on.

“Hello?” You called out and after no response you leaned over getting your face close to your hands before tugging off the blindfold. “What the fuck is this,” You muttered out as light brought onto you a cool grey room with nothing but a table to where your hands were chained, the cahir you were currently sitting on, and a chair in front of you. Starring around, the solid blocked out door was the only way out and god knows how many people were on the other side.

“Don’t cry...don’t you dare cry,” You growl to yourself trying to keep composure as you stare at your hands in anger. Breathing in and out as best as you could to keep from crying you wanted to think of a way out of this but there weren’t any ideas popping in. You were just a small time quirkless thief, not some mafia enemy. You didn’t know how to deal with this.

The door clicked back open causing you to turn your head quickly back to it to watch Kaminari walk back in with a folder,”(Y/N)...such a pretty name! You should have told me earlier baby,” He said making you stiffen up in your seat eyeing him with a glare,” But you really should have said something about being quirkless, I would have gone easy on you,” He pouted over to you making you bare your teeth in disgust.

“Why? Being quirkless doesn’t make us weak,” You spit out in malice disgusted by his suggestion,”I stole that notebook from you without one,” You proudly stated in a matter of fact tone. “Mhm, yeah but look where that got you girly,” Kaminari shot back taking a seat across from you before looking through whatever file he had on you. Golden eyes locked back to yours and a chill went down your spine from the grin he had,”So missy, I see you actually have a fair share of robberies in your file. Well, this time you hit big money huh? Wanna share where you got that information on the little notebook?” He started. 

Taking a small breathe, you knew you couldn’t give that away. Deep down you knew that wasn’t the best idea even if you were in this situation. If Shigaraki’s crew figured it out you told on them, you were most definitely dead. “Bite me,” You answered glaring back down at your hands not wanting to see what expression the man had.

“Maybe later, but right now I kind of need answers baby girl. See, the boss needs answers and he always gets what he needs,” Kaminari laughed lightly but you could tell he wasn’t too happy with your answer, “So lets try this again. Where did you get the information? Don’t make me shock a quirkless girly like you,” 

“I’m not making you do anything, you’re just fucked up enough to be the villain of the situation here,” That line alone made the room feel even colder as you lifted your head to see Kaminari silently put the folder down. He was still smiling and you couldn’t help but want to scoot further away from him. The chair beneath him squeaked against the floor as he got up and made his way behind you. “I told you I’m really slow to anger right?” He muttered lowly without the smile leaving his face and you felt instant regret as he reached over, his chin over your shoulder as his arms trailed up your arm and made their way to your hands. Flipping them over he forced his hands into yours, holding onto them tightly.

“Fuck off,” You huffed trying to shake him off but before you could try to shake him off, a high voltage sparked through both of your hands and through your arms reaching the rest of your body. Screams ripped through your lungs and your back arched off the chair as the tears had flowed down your cheeks. He didn’t let up until he was sure you had learned the message, letting the shocks die down but didn’t move his hands. You went limp against the chair breathing heavily as sobs shook through you.

“Shhh, it’s okay. I’m only hurting you as much as you hurt me with your mean little opinions,” He whispered but something in his voice gave off a small hint of him liking this, “Now, who told you about the notebook?” he asked again his breath close to your ear, “And think hard about what you wanna say. If you wanna act tough, I’ll treat you like you’re tough. You can handle more can’t you babygirl? I’ll make it last longer next time,” He laughed into your ear before he licked the shell causing another shiver to go down your spine.

“You’re...an asshole,” You cried out trying to hold onto the thin string of bravery and confidence to get through this. You heard a dark chuckle from behind you before your mind went blank. A searing pain of shocks went throughout your whole body as your scream filled the room once more, trying to tug your hands away from him but to no luck he remained the stronger of you two. It felt like this would never end and that this pain was going to be with you forever. After what felt like hours, the shocks stopped as your mind went numb. Your eyes closed as they felt heavier and your body felt like it was being pricked over and over again with needles.

“Don’t pass out on me now, come on wake up!” You barely even heard his voice as the blonde squeezed your hands before he helped you sit back up against the chair,”man, I went a little overboard huh?” Chuckled filled the room as he gave light taps to your cheeks causing your eyes to open to look above you, golden honey pools hypnotizing you for a little. “Hey pretty baby, you back from your little high?” He joked before tears pooled down your cheeks again, afraid of what more he could do to you. “Just tell me okay? We don’t wanna be doing this all day and night do we?” He questioned with a smile as he took your hands again making your resolve snap.

“H-He..he told me he would pay me alot...I just wanted to pay bills,” You cried out breaking under the pressure and pain, wanting nothing more than to quit being a thief and just go home to curl up in bed, “Shhh, it’s okay. I get it, you just wanted to survive out in this cold world. Give me a name, I’ll make this all better,” he breathed out, his thumb on your right hand stroking the back of your hand trying to soothe you.

“His n-name is Mr. Compress. I really don’t know his name please...don’t shock me please, that’s all i know! He wanted the notebook and gave me your address that’s all! Please let me go,” You begged wanting nothing more than for this to be over.

“Good girl, there you go. It’s okay, that’s all I wanted,” Kaminari praised before letting go of your hands which you automatically tried to pull back to yourself, your palms red and starting to swell. “I’ll get you some water okay?” He hummed as he gave you a condescending pat to the head before leaving the room. You didn’t care for what he did, you felt so drained and your head just felt so heavy. Closing your eyes you finally gave out and slumped over the table, your breathing uneven.

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

You felt like you were on a cloud surrounded by angels who covered you in their feathers. It felt like you could sink into that pleasurable feeling forever if it weren’t for the pain coursing through your hands. You didn’t want to move, you didn’t want to open your eyes. You didn’t want to be shocked-

You started to remember the moments before you had passed out and panic flung through your chest. You had to get up, assess what’s going on. Managing to open your eyes, you were met with a dimly lit room and soft fleece blankets all around and over you. Carefully sitting up you hissed in pain when your hands ached. Bringing them in front of you, white bandages were wrapped around your palms and fingers. Confusion hit you all at once as you looked up, the only light source coming into the room being from the ajar door. Squinting to try and see better throughout the room, dread filled you as you recognized your surroundings. This is where it all started. The room you took the notebook in.

Being quick to stand up, you felt woozy but the need to leave was greater than the need to sit down. Stumbling to the door, you swung it out and peeked out to see Kaminari sitting lazily on his couch, a ps4 controller in hand as he button mashed away. It was odd not seeing him in a suit, rather in shorts and a simple hoodie. Carefully stepping out, you looked to the front door trying to convince yourself to make a bolt for it. Taking in a small sturdy breath, you launched yourself out the room to try and get to the door but it seemed like your body had other plans. Wobbling forward you managed a few steps before your head pounded causing you to fall to your knees and groan.

“Careful! You’re probably still a little fried,” A voice came from above you and helped stand you up. The same golden eyes that had you crying and being shocked were now looking at you with worry. Dumbfounded by his expression, you let him lead you to his couch and sit you down,”You might want to take it easy for a while, you put up quite a fight in that room,” Kaminari chuckled to which you could only blink at him with confusion as to what was going on with the sudden flip of being nice.

“I want to go home,” Was what you finally managed to say after the two of you had stared at each other in silence. “Yeah...that’s not gonna happen baby girl. It’s a bit more complicated than that,” He responded with a small smile that had a sign of pity in it.

“What do you mean? I really just want to forget everything and go home, please,” You tried to argue to which he shrugged and sunk into the back of the couch getting comfortable again. Not bothering to look at you, he stared at the t.v ahead of him, “Well, there were three options on what to do with you. One, we could have killed you which I really didn’t want to do. Two, we could have released you but that would have left us open for an attack. Shigaraki’s side could have kidnapped you right after and tortured you again and killed you after for information about the book and us. Then this option. I could take you home with me, keep you safe and away from your own crimes and as well as us safe from others taking you for information. I took a liking to you, it would have felt a shame to kill a pretty babe like you,” He explained fully, before looking back at you. You felt horrified, looking back down at your hands to come up with something to say but you didn’t. You drew a blank. All you could think was that if you did leave, you’d have two mafia groups looking for your death/capturement but if you stayed, you would be forever locked away with this man who you know nothing of beside the fact that he works for the mafia.

“Hey, I know that’s a lot to take in, but I’m doing you a favor, keeping you here to stay alive. All you gotta do is listen to me, and we’ll both be happy. You can also call me Denki from now on, ‘Kay?” Kaminari hummed as he got up walking to his room and coming back with the soft blanket you were snuggled into earlier. Dropping it onto your head, he plopped down next to you.

“Denki?” You whispered out his name as you hugged the soft blanket around you for the comfort, “What...what am I supposed to do here?” You asked fearful of the answer looking at him as his eyes had a brighter shine than before.

“Just be a good girly and we will see what you can do,” He answered back and looked back to his game starting it back up, “You’ll make a cute little housewife or something. We’ll figure it out,”

[hockeytrashgoblin]

Just one date? ~Part 7

A/N: YALL. I CANNOT EVEN EXPLAIN THE HASSLE OF GETTING THIS INTERNET SET UP AND ITS NOT EVEN SET UP RIGHT FOR FUCK SAKES. but here’s another part. very smutty. im not sorry even a little. also the Mitch fic is like 30 thousand words so that will be split into parts as well so look out for that.

It had been a couple weeks in the new place with Alex. We were having the time of our lives. I had never been happier before in my life. Emily still hadn’t apologized and I wasn’t going to first so I was kind of on the outs with the wags but I didn’t care too much. I’d never really fit in with them anyway so it wasn’t the end of the world. I’d moved seats though so I could cheer and be in the game without all the gossip. Alex liked it better because I was sitting behind his bench now instead of in a box where he couldn’t see me. He could see and celebrate with me now and I really like being that support for him so it worked out really well for us both.

We had a perfect schedule going so it was a pretty seamless transition. I worked weekdays from 6-3 so for the most part I was home when he was. He had morning practices and meetings so usually it worked out that I could be home and we could cook and eat dinner together which I loved. The house was pretty big and empty when he was away on road trips but it was good for us to get some alone time too. It was really perfect.

Todays was one of the rare weekends when he didn’t have to play so we had just been laying around cuddled up all morning. Right now, we were watching a nature documentary, something I picked to break up the hours of family guy. It was his favourite show but I could only handle so much of it at once. But the same went for Alex. He could only take so much of my documentaries before he was too bored to concentrate anymore. He liked to say it was because I was much smarter than him but that just wasn’t true, although I had stopped arguing him on it.

“Hey Alex?” I asked looking up at him.

“Uh oh.”

“What ‘uh oh’?”

“Oh come on (y/n). Anytime you look at me like that it’s an uh oh. What do you want to do that you think I won’t be on board with?”

“It’s not that I don’t think you’ll be on board, I just think I’ll need to convince you maybe.”

“Just tell me what it is cutie.” He said with a smile bringing his hands to rest on my hips.

“I want to make a garden.”

“Okay?”

“Alright I want to make a couple gardens.”

“How many?” he asked suspiciously.

“Well I mean there’s like two in the front and a big one in the back with no flowers or anything in them.”

“Okay that doesn’t sound too hard to fix.”

“I also want to build a whole new big garden for vegetables in the back corner of the yard.”

“There it is.” He yelled throwing his head back.

“Come on Alex please? I want to grow fresh vegetables.”

“Baby why? We can get all the fresh vegetables you want, organic, whatever.”

“Because I want to do it.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to.”

“But why?”

“Becaaaause I want to.”

“And you want to do all this on my only day off this week?”

“Well we don’t have to do all of it now. I’d really like to do the flowerbeds though. Come with me to the greenhouse? Please?”

“Fine but we’re only getting flowers.”

“Yes!”

“We’re only getting flowers.” He repeated as I dragged him up towards the door.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s go.”

“You sure are excited for a few plants.”

“Yes. I love plants.”

“Well if it’s going to make you so happy I’m glad we’re doing it.” He took my hand in his and gave it a kiss before starting the car. We drove in relative silence, just music playing in the background. When we finally got there, I bolted out of the car making Alex laugh. I got on a big cart and looked at Alex who just raised his eyebrow at me.

“Push me, you ween!”

“I’m pretty sure those are not meant for people.”

“Hey I’m not as heavy as big bags of dirt!”

“Oh my god fine. Let’s go.” He rolled his eyes with a big smile and started pushing me through the aisles in the store to get to the plants outside. I waved at a couple of the workers who knew me by name making Alex laugh.  “Someone has been in here one too many times.”

“I love it here. My friend Briana has brought me here a bunch of times. We love the plant!” I yelled throwing my arms out making him laugh. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead before turning to the seasonal flowers.

“Come on baby let’s find some flowers.”

It was taking longer than expected I kept getting distracted and I couldn’t really decide what I wanted. I felt really bad because I could tell Alex wasn’t having fun anymore. I eventually decided on a bunch of pretty things with a bunch of colours. I also picked out a couple lawn decorations and by the end of it Alex was in a downright bad mood. We drove back in silence without the radio on and I was twitching and fiddling with my fingers nervously. I didn’t know why he was upset so I didn’t know how to fix it. Once we got to the house he just went inside without a word.

I decided to give him some space and started unloading the truck. It took a lot of trips but eventually I had carried everything from the front to the backyard. It had also taken a long time so I was hoping Alex had calmed down. Spoiler alert: he hadn’t. He was stomping around the kitchen when I walked in making all the cupboards rattle.

“Okay Alex what gives? I’m sorry alright?” I said getting his attention.

“Why are you sorry?”

“I don’t know! Obviously something at the greenhouse upset you and I don’t know what it is and so I’m just giving a blanket sorry.”

“God you have nothing to be sorry about. I’m not upset about going to the greenhouse. I’m just frustrated.”

“Why are you frustrated?”

“Babe, I’m frustrated.” He said putting emphasis on frustrated. I still didn’t get it and he could tell by my face. He rolled his eyes and started leaving the room. “Sex (y/n). I’m sexually frustrated. Happy?”

“God what a lil bitch.” I mumbled under my breath following him. “Alex stop walking away from me!” I yelled up the stairs.

“Just leave me alone.” He yelled back still walking away. I rolled my eyes and caught up to him quickly since there was nowhere to go up there.

“Can you stop? Why are you doing this?”

“Just go away.”

“No.” I said shoving him into the nearest wall. It shocked him into silence so that was nice. “Are you fucking done whining so I can fix your problem or what?”

“I’m not whining.”

“You’re literally throwing a fit because you want to fuck instead of just starting something. You could have just grabbed me or kissed me or something.” I was arguing but while I did I was taking his shirt off before moving to his pants. “Nah not you. Instead you just ignore me and stomp around the house like a fucking idiot.”

“I’m not throwing a fit and I’m not a fucking idiot.” He said harshly flipping us around so I was pushed against the wall. He started kissing my neck and unbuttoning my jeans. He shoved a hand inside them making me groan. “You’re the one who was too fucking busy today to notice me.”

“How do you figure that one?”

“When we woke up you just got up even though you felt me against you all hard and wanting. Then later on we were cuddling and I wanted to start something but you were too busy with your doc then you brought me all around, paraded me around your greenhouse friends hard. You never even noticed.” He growled rubbing himself on my thigh.

“You know I always want to fuck you should’ve said something.” I grumbled as he left more bites on my neck and shoulder. “You’re the one who told me I was being too much and too fucking cool it.”

“God damn babe I didn’t mean forever.” He pulled my shirt off me before slowly working my pants down and underwear down my legs. “I haven’t even seen your body in over a week.”

“You told me to-FUCK!” I yelled as his mouth made contact with the little bundle of nerves. “Told me to cool it-shit. I was waiting on you to ma-AH-make a move.”

“Is this enough of a fucking move?” he asked flicking his tongue on me making me yell. He lifted one of my legs on his shoulder. “Jump a little.”

“What?”

“Just do what I fucking say.” He gripped my hip hard and I did what he told me to. He had me completely stuck between him and the wall as he started fucking me with his tongue.

“Fuck Alex, fuck.” I grasped his hair hard as I enjoyed this new experience with my boy.

“Yeah? You fucking like that? Like my tongue fucking into you?”

“Yes.” I whined loudly.

“Now who’s whining like a little bitch.” He retorted biting my thigh hard making me yell.

“Alex, let me down. Lemme do something for you.”

“Not a fucking chance.” He chuckled before diving back in making me scream his name. He kept me pinned to the wall screaming and whining until I finished all over his face. Even then he didn’t stop, just kept going.

“Alex please. Sensitive.”

“I don’t fucking care. You’re going to cum again on my tongue. Like it or not. But I know you’ll like it. Isn’t that right baby?”

“Yes fuck, yeah.” I gasped out as he went back to work. Still being so sensitive it didn’t take much attention to have me falling over that edge again as he slowly worked his tongue in and out of me curling and wiggling it around.

“I’m going to let you down now okay?” I nodded and he let my feet fall. When they hit solid ground though they buckled and I ended up on the floor. “Fucking good one Bambi.”

“Shut the fuck up asshole.” I bit back as I tried to get up.

“No you stay there.”

“What Alex, come one let’s go to our room so I can take care of you.” I said feeling more than a little dazed still.

“No I’m going to take you apart right here on the hallway floor.”

“Ew Alex people walk here.”

“And now my baby is going to get fucked here. In a minute.” I groaned at that last part and he laughed. “You’re gonna take whatever I give you.”

“Then fucking give it to me Alex.”

“I will doll, don’t you worry I will.” He crawled up my body and took one of my nipples in his mouth. At the same time he started rubbing me fast and hard while he fingered me as well. He was sucking on my nipple so hard I was sure there was going to be a hickey covering the whole thing. All these sensations together where so overwhelming and I was still so sensitive from the first two times I came. It only took a minute for him to get me going again. At this point I was so sensitive that I was starting to have little ones almost constantly as he kept his hand movements up just shaking and screaming. I tried to bat his hand away but he pinned me down.

“You haven’t let me touch you in almost two weeks (y/n). Let me just enjoy your fucking body for a second.” Once he was happy with me being a blissed out floating mess he finally pulled his hand away. “Gonna fuck you now okay baby?”

“Mhm.” I nodded frantically. He pushed into me slowly and I whined pushing him away because of how sensitive I was feeling.

“Shh baby be good for me. It’ll feel good in a minute. Just relax okay?”

“Uh huh.” I nodded again and he pushed into me a little slower this time making me cum again. “Fuck Alex!”

“Baby you’re so sensitive, cumming on my cock already. How many is that now?”

“I dunno.” I mumbled.

“You don’t know?”

“Lost count. Too many.”

“Not enough.” He said picking up his pace making me whine again, making him chuckle. “You’re okay baby, I’ve got you.”

Between the sharp thrusts of his hips and the cold wooden floor sticking to my skin and his mouth all over me it didn’t take long before I came again. I saw spots that time and I couldn’t see. Couldn’t calm down at all. I hardly had any conscious thoughts left. They were all Alex. I felt like I wasn’t even in my own body anymore as I felt his hips pick up the pace in an erratic way that I knew somewhere in my mind that it meant he was close. He started touching me again and I finished for the last time just before he did. I heard him grunt and moan and then nothing.

I was in a floating sense of being. I couldn’t see or feel anything. I just felt good and I was floating. There was no other way to describe in. I had never felt better in my life, I could almost get lost in this nothingness. It was all just feeling good and quiet and calm finally after how worked up I had been. Alex had literally fucked me so hard I passed out and although I felt like I could pull through anytime I wanted, I didn’t want to yet. So I just stayed pleased and utterly blissed out in the quiet dark.

“(y/n)? Baby?” curse Alex for interrupting the quiet dark place. “Honey wake up, are you with me?” no. “God I’m so sorry.” I’m not. Do it again. Send me here every time. It was quiet again for a while but then I felt hands on me as well as Alex’s voice and the black quiet started to disappear. I tried to hold onto it but it slipped away and soon I was opening my eyes to Alex’s very worried face.

“Thank God.” He breathed hugging me and kissing my head. “Are you with me baby?”

“Mmm no.” he chuckled and that made me smile.

“I thought I fucking killed you or something.”

“Dick’s not that good.”

“Good enough to knock you the fuck out for an hour.”

“I was out for that long? It didn’t feel like it.” Everything was starting to become more clear around the edges. “Felt like I was only out for a couple minutes.”

“Yeah well you weren’t. Also if William or Ryan say anything to you about this I’m sorry.”

“Why the fuck did you tell them?”

“I didn’t know what to do! You were unconscious. I’ve never fucked someone into unconsciousness before. If you hadn’t woken up I didn’t know how to explain it to paramedics so I needed some advice. I was really worried about you. I didn’t think that was going to happen.”

“I didn’t think it was going to happen either. Oh well. If they say something they say something.”

“Are you passing out again?”

“No love, I’m tired. Come hold me. Also how did I get in bed?”

“I carried you over. I didn’t want you to get hurt laying on the floor.”

“You had no problem with it when you were fucking me into it.”

“Well I had a clear mind after and you were unconscious.”

“Whatever just come hold me.”

“Okay fine. Needy girl.” He said with a smile pulling me close to him. I hadn’t noticed that we were both dressed as well now. Well if you count underwear and t-shirts as dressed, that is.

“Are you good now? Done being so fucking cranky?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. You were right I should’ve just said something.”

“You should’ve. I didn’t want to push or make you feel like I wasn’t respecting what you wanted that’s why I hadn’t been touching you or doing anything.”

“Next time you completely burn me out from sex I’ll be sure to say something when I need it. But I don’t think that’s a problem we need to deal with right now.”

“No we do not.” It was silent for a bit while he held me but then I felt him smirk against my head.

“So you really liked being fucked by my tongue huh?”

“Aleeeex you’re ruining this soft peaceful moment.” I whined looking back at him. “But yes it was fucking hot. I enjoyed it a lot. Something incredible about you being strong enough to hold me up against the wall and watching your tongue disappear into me drove me crazy.”

“Keep talking like that and We’ll have to do it again right now.”

“Don’t you get a single fucking idea.” I said smacking his hand away from my butt.

“Oh I have a single fucking idea.”

“Well get it out of here. I can’t handle anymore right now. Probably not anymore today. I’m fucking fried. My brain, my body, everything. The world is still fucking blurry.”

“That’s what good dick will do to a person.”

“Fuck off you cocky bitch.” I said laughing at him and hitting his chest.

“I love you.”

“I love you too babe.”

“Yeah but like I really love you. So much.”

“So do I Alex. You’re so important to me and I care about you so much.”

“I just wanted to make sure you knew after how moody and angry I’ve been the past little while. I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea and think I was tired of this. I’m not. I want to be with you for so long (y/n). As long as possible.”

“Awe baby you’re so lovely. I want you too, as long as you’ll have me.”

“Let’s take a nap and then we can plant all those flowers you bought, how does that sound baby?”

“That sounds great, love.”

It took no time at all for me to fall asleep and apparently, I stayed like that for a while. Alex woke me up with a worried expression. I had been out for a couple hours and wanted to make sure I was alive still. I got changed into some clothes I didn’t care about so I could go get my hands dirty and garden. Alex made this very difficult by grabbing me and touching me everywhere the whole time. I took my shirt off and he plastered himself to me grabbing my boobs. I took my pajama pants off and this man literally bit my ass. I had a bite mark. On my ass. I kicked him out of the room so I could finish dressing in peace but that didn’t really work either because once I was done he came back in while I was tying my shoes and just grinded against me. I yelled at him and brought him outside to move dirt around.

That let me tell you didn’t help. Watching Alex shirtless, sweaty, dirty and throwing things around was a lot. I didn’t get as much gardening done as I had hoped because we ended up fucking in the yard but there was always tomorrow for that.

[t-lostinworlds]

Duplicate (Shawn Mendes) [1]

A/N: Welp, part 1 is here asdfghjkl sorry if it took a bit longer. Anyhow, this won’t seem as an ‘x reader’ fic for the next few parts, but it will be I promise! I hope you guys enjoy and happy reading! x

Summary: Shawn finally gets to go home early and decides to surprise his family, however, when he arrived at the house, he got surprised as well when only three people welcomed him back when it’s supposed to be four.

Warnings: Lil bit of angst and Typos lol

Word Count: 5.2k+

Masterlist in Bio

-:-:-:-:-

Shawn sighed in complete relief as he plopped down on the couch, his luggage littered all over the living room since he was too tired to move all of them in his room as of the moment; he just got off a flight after all.

He finally had two months break and he was glad to be back home, living and breathing the air of Toronto yet again after months of being on the road. Sure Shawn loves being on tour, a lot, but he does need to recharge and relax once in a while.

This two-month break of being at home will be his way of recharging, or grounding himself back as some would say, away from all the rush and adrenaline and just being with family and friends, and having some alone time for himself.

The curly headed boy leaned his head back on the couch, eyes fluttering close with his breath slowly steadying as sleep started to take over his body. But before he could even fully drift off, he heard his phone ding.

Fishing the device out of his pocket, Shawn couldn't help but smile as he was met by the all too familiar text. It was a one of his mother's daily messages which he always receives early in the morning. It was just the usual, 'have a great day hun, I love and miss you so much' but Shawn is grateful for it nonetheless.

He didn't tell anyone that he was back home a few days early, wanting to surprise them with his presence once he drives down there in a bit. Though trying his best to give his family as much of his time, Shawn hates to admit that he's been quite busy recently, so he wanted to give his family a few days more, just to make it up to them.

All these press for the American leg of the tour has been taking up his time, and not to mention, keeping up with this PR relationship he managed to get himself into.

It was fairly recent to be honest, just roughly, two months in since he decided to pursue it, and by pursue, meaning, signing the contract.

It wasn't in Shawn's nature to be involved with this kind of things but his team thinks it's a good exposure for the tour, being that the girl he's currently being linked with is an up and coming artist, who happens to be his opening act for this specific tour leg, so imagine the amount of talk that would go around.

Weighing the odds, both of them will get the exposure they need and this will help boost her career. So it's a win-win on both sides.

They don't know each other that much but Shawn can guarantee that she's a sweet and kind person. Shawn also knowing that this PR thing wasn't her idea too since at the meeting she was fairly quiet, sighing in dismay every once in a while, indicating that her team probably dragged her into this.

In the two months of fake dating, Shawn knows her enough to call her a friend but not too much to say that they were relatively close, since at the beginning of it all, she already seemed closed off, maybe not wanting to get any real feelings involved, and Shawn has to agree. The moment feelings get involve, then things will get very messy.

So yes, they were friends behind closed doors, and an all-out lovey-dovey couple out in the open, and boy was it a task to make other people believe it was real. But judging by the headlines, it was definitely working.

After he sent his mum a response, Shawn stood up with a long stretch, casting his eyes on his beautiful view of the Toronto Skyline with a wide smile on his face. "Feels good to be home." Shawn sighed, before turning on his heel and making his way towards his bathroom, opting for quick shower before he gets back on the road towards his little hometown, Pickering.

***

The cold wind of spring rattled the trees that were surrounding the neighborhood as Shawn parked his Jeep just a few blocks away from the house he grew up in. A wide smile adorned the young man's face as he got out of the car with a few boxes of hot, fresh pizza in his hands, the familiar street bringing back so many memories from when he was a child, a nostalgic feeling slowly filling him up.

Silently, and as discreet as he could be, Shawn made his way to the front door, rapping his knuckles on the white wood before speaking in a deep, dark voice in an attempt to try and hide his identity.

"Pizza delivery!"

It was a couple seconds later when Shawn heard that all too familiar voice of his sister, a smile creeping up his lips as he hid his face behind the boxes of pizza.

"Who ordered pizza?!" She yelled, the sound of her footsteps growing nearer as she hurried to get the door. "Dad I'm not paying for this!" Aaliyah added before she finally pulled the door wide open.

"Good, because it's already been paid for." Shawn states with a grin, slowly lowering the boxes to reveal himself to his sister.

Aaliyah's jaw dropped to the floor, her brain slowly registering what she was seeing until a huge grin erupted on her face. "Shawn!" The girl launches herself into her brother's arms without warning, Shawn catching her with an 'oof' just in time without dropping the boxes on the floor.

The curly boy chuckled as he held his sister in his embrace, rocking her side to side like he always does, a soft 'I miss you' leaving her lips making Shawn sigh, him placing soft kiss on top of her head before whispering, "I miss you too little sis."

"Who's at the door Liyah?" Their father's voice interrupted the siblings' moment, his voice far, indicating that he was probably in the living room. Shawn and Aaliyah locked eyes, silently having a conversation as they walked inside the house with wide smiles.

"Oh, it's no one." Shawn spoke as soon as he entered the living room, his fathers' head snapped in his direction in no time, eyes going wide as well as the smile on his face.

"You're home!" Manny exclaimed, quickly rushing to his son to give him a bone crushing hug, Shawn thankful that Aaliyah took the pizzas this time so he was able to wrap his arms around his father fully.

"Hi dad." Shawn gave his old man a squeezed, a hearty chuckle coming out of both as Shawn patted him in the back, feeling super thankful to finally have him close.

"Is Shawn on FaceTime with you guys? I heard his voice." A voice spoke, and sure enough, Shawn was face to face with his mum, shock written on her face as well as her eyes brimming with tears as she finally saw her son in person after months.

"Nope, not on FaceTime. I'm here mum." Shawn chuckled, opening his arms as he walked over to her since she seems to be frozen on her spot.

Sure he's FaceTimed them a lot, well, as much as he can, but nothing will ever beat the feeling of having someone in the flesh, seeing them standing in front of you and feeling their warm embrace wrap around you.

"Oh my boy, you're home." Karen choked back a sob as she wrapped her arms around her son, placing a soft kiss on his cheek before pulling away and cupping his face. Shawn couldn't help but melt in his mother's touch, chuckling softly when she then started to cry.

"Awww, don't cry mum, I'm right here." Shawn cooed, pulling her in for another hug, looking up to see Aaliyah and Manny watching with glossy eyes.

Shawn beckoned them over, pulling them both to join in with their family group hug, but then Shawn was quick to feel like there was something missing, or rather, someone.

"Where's Peter?"

The temperature in the room seemed to drop full ton, Shawn feeling the energy from his family change in a snap as they try their best to avoid his eyes. Pulling away, Shawn looked at his mother for answers, but she only gave him a small smile, a hint of guilt in her orbs.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" He chuckled nervously, eyes scanning the faces of his family, Shawn trying his best to not think straight to the worst of the situation.

The awkward silence rang in the air for another few seconds until Manny finally spoke. "Uh, Peter is not here Shawn. He moved out."

The words hit Shawn like a ton of bricks to his face, mouth wide open in shock as he stared at his family in complete bewilderment, not because at the fact that his brother moved out–he's old enough to make his own decision, let's be honest–but at the fact that he knew nothing about it at all, not even a single hint or word came across him that his twin brother was no longer living with the family.

"What? Since when?"

"Two weeks ago."

Shawn shook his head disapprovingly, feeling somewhat disappointed that no one bothered to fill him up on what's going on back home while he was on the road. Plus, Peter doesn't make decisions in a rushed manner, his twin brother always so organized, wanting everything to be just as planned, so knowing that he's moved out of the house, it makes Shawn wonder what made him do it. "Why did no one tell me?"

"He said he wanted to tell you himself, and well, we thought you already knew." Shawn took in the confused look his sister gave as well as his dad's since they expected Shawn to have already gotten the news, his mother however, tried her best to avoid anyone's eyes, a certain sign that she knows something they don't, but Shawn decided not to push it.

"Well, Peter hasn't texted me back in days. Have you guys talked to him?" An uncertain feeling settled in Shawn's gut, wondering what the hell is going on since Peter was never the one to not return his messages, and now finding out that he just moved out just made Shawn even more curious. They always had each other's back, being each other's best friend since they were young, well, things have changed now a little bit but they were still close, at least Shawn likes to think.

"Yeah, once in a while." That made Shawn's worry grew, he hasn't been talking with them either?

"What do you mean?"

"He's been distant lately, said he needed time on his own, soul searching, as he'd call it."

Shawn's frowned deepened, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and in worry as he wondered what his twin brother is actually going through that he was in a need for soul searching. A pang of guilt started spread across Shawn's chest when he thought about something that could have been the reason about all of this.

Everyone in the family and some of their close friends know that Shawn was a twin, to the world however, Peter doesn't exist.

When Shawn got signed, management stated that they didn't want to disclose that Shawn has an identical twin brother; they said that it was a risk to his career. How you may ask? Shawn doesn't know, they just said that as an up and coming artist, it was best that people's focus would only be on him, not on someone who looks exactly like him but not possess the talent he has, their words, not his.

It made Shawn sick to the stomach when they proposed that, he loves his brother dearly, why would he want him hidden from the world?

But when it came to the point that Shawn had to choose between his brother and his career, Peter was the one who told him to do it, to sign the contract and that it was okay for him to be a hidden sibling, stating that he doesn't like being in the public eye anyway, something that both brothers' don't have in common.

While Shawn loved all the attention, Peter wasn't the same. The younger twin likes to keep to himself, a completely private person if you will. He was always behind the camera when Shawn used to shoot his vines, always behind the scenes and never in front.

It was tricky the first few years, making sure that they were never photographed together out in the public, and that friends and family wouldn't post something that would completely reveal the truth, but, they managed. It was Shawn's biggest secret that he's ever hidden from the public, that he has a brother, a brother who looks exactly like him.

But after years of being hidden, has his Peter finally got fed up by everything? Did he agree to be hidden because he was totally okay with it or did Peter do it so Shawn can make his dreams come true?

"Where does he live now?"

***

The afternoon sun shone through the window of the little bookstore at the corner of the street. An endless aisles of books with different sizes and ages a comforting sight to the young man who was sat behind the counter, hair styled back with as much gel as he can manage to keep his curls out of his face, though one still managed to stray away from the bunch as it bounced in front of his forehead. The space between his brows creased as he eyed the hard bound in his hand in pure concentration, hazel orbs filled with curiosity and wonder while hidden behind black rounded glasses that were sitting on the tip of his nose.

Peter was in his element.

A quiet place surrounded by a whole new world of words, no one interrupting his peace as he read his second book of the day, too engrossed between the lines that he didn't notice the black Jeep pulling up just at the front of the store.

The sound of a bell chiming echoed along the wooden walls, Peter silently groaning at the interruption but then again, he was supposed to be working at this hour, he was not one to complain. So reluctantly he placed the book down before turning his attention to the customer, but when his eyes met a face that was too familiar for his liking, he stumbled back, clutching his heart as if it'll help prevent it from jumping out of his chest.

"Holy Jesus Shawn, a little warning next time?" The younger twin gasps, doing a double take to see if it was actually his brother standing there, casually with both hands in his pockets, an amused smile playing on Shawn's lips as he tried his best to not laugh at his brother's reaction.

"I take you didn't expect to see me?"

"No shit Sherlock." Peter couldn't help but roll his eyes at his brother's teasing tone, rounding up the counter and walking past him to get to the nearest bookshelf, Shawn frowning at his actions. "What? I don't even get a hug from my twin bro?"

"Not for scaring me like that no." Peter responded casually, back now facing his twin as he pretended to rearrange the books. He knows why Shawn is here, it was just a matter of time that he found out that he moved out, but Peter wasn't sure if he was ready for a talk yet.

"You're being mean Pete, I missed you." Shawn pouted at his brother, arms wide open as he sported his best puppy dog eyes, trying his best to look cute, Peter scoffing with a shake of his head once he gave him a glance over his shoulder.

"Come on, I know you want to." Shawn cooed, a sigh of defeat escaping Peter's lips making him shake his head before turning around with an annoyed look as he trudged towards Shawn, the slightly bigger boy pulling him quick by the shoulders for a tight embrace, a joyous laugh coming out of him, knowing that Peter can never resist him.

"Yeah fine, I missed you too idiot." Peter mumbled, a small grin making its way up to his lips as he hugged his brother back.

Shawn and him has always been close, they were each other's best friend ever since they were young and they brought that bond when they grew up, well, that until Shawn skyrocketed to fame.

"Okay, this too much." Peter added after a few moments, fake choking as Shawn hugged him even tighter. "But I love you." The older twin cooed, now rocking him from side to side like they were five again.

"Too much love Shawn, get off me." Peter pushed him off playfully, the curly boy letting out a loud and obnoxious laugh as he finally pulled away. "God you're annoying." Peter rolled his eyes with a chuckle, the two brothers smiling at each other, missing these kinds of moments since it doesn't happen that often anymore, being that they can't go out together without trying to be discreet.

It was amazing how both boys looked so much alike yet different at the same time.

Shawn had tattoos while Peter had none. Peter's hair was still also curly but he likes to style it back and away from his face, giving him a clean sleek look, while Shawn on the other hand lets his messy curls be as they are, unruly on the top of his head.

Another difference was Peter's glasses and the way they dressed. Shawn always opting for the casual and comfy plain colored t-shirt and denim jeans while Peter always wanting to dress semi-formal with his brown khaki pants and long sleeves buttoned up to the neck. It was not hard to pinpoint which one was the nerd out of the two just by one look.

Other than that, both boys have the same colored eyes, same structure of face, same shape with their noses and lips, their faces identical being that they mostly share the same DNA, well, almost identical save for Shawn's little cheek scar that he got when he tried to shave who knows what off his face.

Shawn took a deep breath as he looked at his twin, smile slowly fading with face turning serious making Peter swallow the lump in his throat, here we go.

"Why didn't you tell me you moved out?"

Peter's eyes landed on the collection of vintage wall clocks hanging on behind the counter he was sitting at just moments ago, each one showing a different time in correlation to the different time zones all across the world, the ticking noise ringing in the air as he tried to sync its rhythm with his breathing to calm himself, him adjusting his glasses before turning back to face his brother.

"You were busy Shawn. I just didn't think it was a big deal." Peter shrugged his question off, crossing his arms over his chest as he chewed on the insides of his cheek, trying his best not to get too much into his head again.

Peter had his reasons why he moved out, but he wasn't sure if his brother would exactly understand those said reasons, and he wasn't in the mood to explain it in detail also.

"You moving out of the house is a big deal Pete. And you know I'm never too busy when it comes to you guys." Shawn reasoned, brows furrowed as he looked at his brother in pure confusion, and this seemed to get on Peter's nerves, that Shawn himself doesn't even know what's been happening with his family lately, a sole proof that he, in fact, has been too busy.

"Yeah, not so sure about that." He grumbled with a hint of accusation in his voice, Shawn taken aback at his brother's tone. "Okay, what is that supposed to mean?" Shawn raised his voice a little, slowly getting agitated by Peter's sudden change of attitude.

"If you weren't too busy for your family, then mum calling me Shawn wouldn't have happened." Peter snapped, the anger in his voice surfacing, but that wasn't what made Shawn take a step back, it was the hurt in his twin brother's eyes.

Shawn felt like he was slapped across the face at his brother's words, a realization sinking inside of him as he took in how Peter's jaw went slacked, cheeks now slowly heating up as he tried best to stay calm and composed. Peter wasn't one to get angry very easily, always the one who can control their emotions better between the two, so to see him getting all worked up by this, it worried Shawn.

"That's why she was so quiet when I asked about why you moved out." Shawn whispered, lips turning into a frown, guilt now swimming inside of him, has he really been that busy?

Peter ran a frustrated hand through his hair, making some of his curls go astray, closing his eyes for a moment as he took deep, slow breaths in an attempt to keep himself level headed. "Look, I told her it was fine and she shouldn't worry about it and it wasn't the main reason why I decided to move out. And I'm not mad at her, I'm just–"

"Hurt." Shawn finished his sentence for him, his heart beating rapidly against his chest, head slowly wrapping around what his twin brother might have been experiencing for the past few months he's been away.

Peter looked away, pushing his glasses up his nose as he chewed on his bottom lip, a nervous tick he has that Shawn knows so well. "Pete, why exactly did you move out?" He pressed, concern laced in his voice as he saw just how much this was affecting his brother, the anxious look in his eyes and the way he's fidgeting with his fingers giving it away so easily.

"I don't really want to talk about it Shawn." The younger twin muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose as he avoided Shawn's eyes, but Peter knew that no matter how hard he tries, Shawn won't let this go, his brother was stubborn that way.

"Well it's bothering you and I want you to lay it all on me Peter. I'm your twin. We always have each other's back remember?" Shawn pushed, wanting nothing more than for Peter to let him in, to open up to him again. Plus, he wanted to help, to be there for him again, because Shawn feels like he hasn't exactly been there for his twin brother lately.

"It's nothing okay? I'm 20 and I just don't think it's ideal to still be living with my parents." Peter threw in his half-assed reason, turning his back around on his brother fully as he walked over to one of the shelves, fingers grazing the spines of the book but not really doing anything to them, just distracting himself from the conversation at hand.

"I know that, but mum and dad need you, Aaliyah needs you back home. At least when you're home, they have someone when I'm away you know?"

Peter threw his head back in a sarcastic laugh, Shawn furrowing his eyebrows even more at his brothers reaction, a deep frown etched on his face because he can't seem to understand what Peter found funny.

"See that's the thing." The younger twin walked over to Shawn, jaw tight as he held his gaze, to make him see what he actually feels, Peter stating slowly to let his brother understand each word that's been bothering him for the last few months,

"Am I living in that house as Peter or am I just Shawn version 2? When I'm living it that house, are they seeing me as me, or just as someone who looks like you so that they won't miss you that much when you're away?"

Shawn felt the wind get colder inside the store like the breeze from outside somehow managed to get in, realization dawning in his face as he searched Peter's eyes. Everything seemed clearer now, things now starting to make sense. Peter being distant, moving out of the house, why he suddenly closed himself off from everyone, soul searching... and Shawn wanted to beat himself up for not seeing it sooner.

He felt silly when he told Peter they had each other's back, because it's seems like Shawn isn't the one who has Peter's back after all.

"You know that's not true Peter. They love you just as you. They see you just as you, not another version of me." Shawn's voice wavered and Peter couldn't help but shake his head with a small chuckle. Even his brother wasn't sure of the words that went out his mouth.

"I know they don't mean to make me feel like this but it's what's happening Shawn. I feel like I'm just living in that house to fill your shoes while you're away, like a temporary replacement to fill the hole in their chest when they miss you." Peter confessed, voice barely above a whisper and this made Shawn's heart clench.

"Pete–"

"When mum called me Shawn by accident, it just made me think about myself, or rather, who I really am. Like maybe I'm becoming so much like you that I'm slowly losing my real self, that's why she thought I was you for some reason. I just needed some time away Shawn, to find myself, to find what I want to do in life, like find what my passion is as you did with music. And to learn to stop myself from comparing your life with mine, because when I do, I just feel like a complete disappointment." Peter added as he chewed on his bottom lip, eyes meeting his brother’s for a quick moment before he casted it back down, but the short eyes contact was enough to make Shawn’s heart hurt.

"Peter, you are not a disappointment." Shawn cried out desperately, eyes frantic as he wanted so badly to get rid of the look of hurt that was swimming in his brother's eyes, he wanted so bad to make things better, to make it up to him, but Shawn just doesn’t know how to.

"Yeah, tell that to most of the family who thinks, 'Why aren't you like your brother? Famous and successful.', to the people who knows I exist and then look down on me because I'm not as 'talented' as you are, that I still don't know what I'm doing with my life, which is true. I still don't know what I want to do with my life." Peter's voice broke in the end, a sad smile playing on his lips as he looked down, shoulders all slumped and defeated. He knew he shouldn't think about it too much, but how can he not when he's still looking for what he's passionate about but he's twin brother is already out there breaking records all across the world?

If there's one thing that's the two brothers have in common, it is how they care so much about what other people think of them, a mindset that's both a blessing and a curse.

Shawn was at a loss for words, a heavy feeling in his heart as he didn't do anything else except rush towards his brother and pulled him in for a hug, making Peter let out a shaky breath as he lets Shawn hold him.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry Peter."

Silence rang in the air for a few moments until it was interrupted by the bell ringing, both brothers pulling away to see who it was, but when the girl spoke, Peter was quick to turn around and keep his head down, hiding his face as he hurriedly went behind the counter.

This hurt Shawn even more, seeing that it became their new norm, well, Peter's new norm to hide whenever someone walks in every time they're in the same room together, especially when that person is a fan.

"Oh my god, are you Shawn Mendes? Can I get a picture?"

Shawn plastered a fake smile, walking over to the girl and taking her phone out of her hands, making sure to not show any background of the store whatsoever as he took the selfie. "Thanks honey." And with that she was out of the door, completely forgetting why she came in in the first place.

Shawn turned his attention back to his brother, a small, guilty smile etched on his face, "Pete, I've been meaning to talk to management lately, about you. I think it's time to stop hiding–"

"No Shawn, it's fine. Don't risk your career for me, it's not worth it." Peter interrupted before Shawn can even finish saying what he wanted to say, not really in for another topic to talk about since he just literally told his brother everything that's been bothering him for months on end.

"I won't be risking my career." Shawn mumbled, though Peter was quick to catch the uncertainty in his voice. "Highly doubt that Shawn, I can already see the headline, 'Shawn Mendes: Hiding his brother for almost 5 years, is he a drug addict?'" He joked, and this made Shawn roll his eyes with a groan. It's always been like this with the two of them, either one annoying the other, sometimes making it a challenge on who can annoy which twin more.

"Peter I'm serious."

"Can we talk about that some other time maybe? I think we've talked about a lot today already." Peter sighed, he really just doesn't want to talk anymore. He just wants a nice hot coffee while he finishes his book, take some time to recollect himself, and Shawn saw this too, he knows his twin like the back of his hand, when he doesn't want to talk, he won't talk.

"Okay fine, I'll give you some time alone. But, we're having a family barbeque this weekend, and you're going to be there Peter, no buts." Shawn stated firmly, accusingly pointing at a finger at his brother, but Peter only gave him a light nod. "I'll think about it."

"No, you'll do it. They miss you bro, I missed you. Some family bonding won't hurt you know. Besides, it's just a small gathering." The curly boy reasoned, leaning onto the wooden counter and picking at the books that were stacked in a certain way. Peter was quick to swat Shawn's hand away before his clumsy ass could ruin the perfectly displayed books.

"Okay fine, I'll go." Shawn's face brightened like a fluorescent lamp at Peter's words, walking over to him all giddy and excited and giving him a hug goodbye, Peter groaning when Shawn gave him a kiss on the cheek, sound, slobber and all.

"See you then, love you Pete."

"Yeah, yeah, love you too Shawn."

Peter watched as his brother went out the door and in his car, thinking that going to this family barbeque might not be such a bad idea, he does miss his mum's cooking after all, and his dad always knows his way with the grill. Plus Peter missed his sister, maybe some sibling bonding between the three of them would feel refreshing.

But that was when none of the twins knew what was about to go down.

-:-:-:-:-

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[parttwoactuallywrites]

If you're still taking requests for bad things happen bingo, how about Virgil x Mel + natural disaster? - theportalwedeserve

@theportalwedeserve 

ahslkdjfhlHLKJASHDLFKJH I was considering reposting that bingo card so people might consider requesting, but this came at a really good time!! Thanks a million for asking!!!!

Some quick notes before I start - This is my first shot at writing both Virgil AND Mel, and honestly? I have no idea how I did, so feedback from those who actually have written these guys/know more about them then I do/ etc. is always appreciated! Sorry if it’s not quite up to snuff! Secondary sorry that this took so long, I wrote this during my study-breaks for my midterms (which start this Thursday and I’m ahsdkfjhsjf). This was also originally gonna be WAY shorter but I’m a mess lmao. 

This fic is best enjoyed listening to Gymnopedie No. 1 and Cherche La Rose on loop. Sorry this wasn’t angstier, I wanted to write some comfy stuff ‘cause it’s cold out. 

The two of them were always regarded as an oddball couple, woodsy folk who lived a mile or so out of town in a little log-cabin they’d built themselves with the extra hands of whoever wanted to help - which was, evidently, the entirety of the little community of Laurel River.

It made sense, at least to Virgil. Though he couldn’t help but think of himself as the most “other” person there - Hah, I’m calling myself a person, now. - he seemed to fit right in. Hard workers with practical genius and warmth he’d never seen down in the salt mines. He supposed you had to be a certain kind of person to work at Aperture, and those types didn’t have a predisposition to warmth, now did they?

Speaking of, the warmth was only really metaphorical. The weather hadn’t gotten above freezing in weeks, the days got shorter and shorter, and with no real work that could get done with the ground and the river frozen, the town and its inhabitants got rather sleepy.

A cold, cold wind blew over a mostly-empty town square as Virgil stepped into the little general store for the groceries.

“Hey, Lil,” Virgil said, closing the door behind him as softly as he could.

“Hello to you too, Virgil! How’s the weather out there?” Lily asked, without turning around. She was an older woman, soft spoken and gentle. She made lovely bouquets in the summer and spring, with a garden to kill or die for.

“Bad,” He said, pulling his neatly folded list out of his pocket, “Cold, windy, cloudy.”

“Oh dear,” She said, still re-organizing the things behind the counter, “Well that sounds about right. There’s supposed to be a storm coming, a big blizzard. First of the season.”

Blizzard.

Virgil knew what those were, knew that they were big screw-off storms with strong wind and snow that made it so you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. He knew that blizzards took down trees and power lines and covered up solar panels in a foot-and-a-half of snow. Sounded like a recipe for losing power, or worse, their house getting destroyed.

He frowned, one by one grabbing the things off the shelves and putting them into a canvas bag he’d gotten when he first came into town. Flour, sugar, milk, eggs, brussels sprouts, carrots, leek, butternut squash, ‘any herbs you can get your hands on’…

He put the worry out of his mind. The clearing the cabin sat in was far enough away that a few trees coming down wouldn’t be a terrible issue. The house kept the heat well and he’d be willing to trudge a ways into the woods for more firewood if they lost power and ran out. They could camp out in the living room and snuggle to stay warm, or maybe…

Well, that assumed either of them would be willing to get their clothes off. Unlikely, given the predicted circumstances, but a nice thought nonetheless.

Virgil set his things down on the front counter one by one, lost in his unlikely-but-still-nice-thoughts about the days to come, just the two of them, snowed in together.

“Name the kid after me,” Lily said with a pleasant smile.

“Wha- Good lord, Lil!”

She laughed, took the money from the counter and handed him back a few bucks in change. “Seriously, you kids be safe, and don’t you hesitate to come to town if something happens.”

“We’ll be sure of it. Thanks, Lily.” He slowly loaded all his things into his bag.

“Any time, Virgil. Have a nice evening, honey.”

He pushed the door open, waving as he walked out. “You too!”

And then once more he was out in the cold. A gust of wind blew in his face, stinging his eyes and making them water. That might be the only thing he missed about being a core, his fantastic inability to feel most external stimuli, and with that, his inability to feel the cold stiffening his fingers, making him regret not wearing his gloves.

It was gonna be a long trudge home.

Virgil came home a few minutes out from frostbite as the sun was starting to set. He huffed as he gently set down the bag on the floor by the front door, kicked off his shoes carelessly, and wondered how long it’d take before his ears stopped burning and feeling returned to his face.

The smell of bread wafted through their small home, coupled by hot cocoa floating in beside it.

“Making something, Mel?”

She hummed. “You were taking a mighty long time out there,” She said, moving through the kitchen slowly, leisurely. “Thought it might be nice to come home to something hot to drink.”

“You’re my savior, you know that, right?”

Mel giggled. “You’ve said so on more than one occasion.” She set two cups down on their modest kitchen table, filling them with the cocoa. “What’s the news from in town?”

“We’ve got a blizzard coming in,” He said, walking towards her “That’ll be your first snow in over a hundred years!”

“It’ll be your first snow ever.” She handed him a cup of cocoa and leaned back against the kitchen counter to drink the other herself.

He took it in both hands, taking a long sip, letting the sweet drink warm him. “Mmm… This is good.”

“Thank you.”

“But personality cores are based on, well… Personalities. They were all people, once, including me,” Virgil said, “Don’t remember any of it, but I bet you I saw snow back then.”

“I still don’t get how you’re supposed to pour a person into a box, and then have that box… Do things,” She said, flatly.

“Mel, we own a computer.”

“Yeah, and I like it, but that doesn’t mean I understand it. Last I checked, TV’s were the size of our oven and only played blurry and in black and white. It’s just after the apocalypse, and we got color and crystal-clear pictures.”

Virgil shrugged. “Fair point.”

The storm came early that morning, before first light of dawn and well before either of them woke. Virgil vaguely remembered sleepily arguing for Mel to stay in bed, to sleep another hour or two with him, before being given a pillow to hug instead as she went about her morning without him. She only actually woke him up some time later, gently shaking him awake to a dark bedroom.

“Power’s out, Virgil,” Mel said, “Virgil, wake the hell up.”

“Huh?”

“The power’s-” Mel was cut off by a clap of thunder that rattled through the small house, startling Virgil fully awake.

“What the fuck-” Virgil shot up in bed, grabbing Mel’s hands almost instinctively for support.

“Looks like it’s a thundersnow,” Mel said thoughtfully.

“A what?”

Another clap of thunder, accompanied by a flash of lightning. Virgil yelped in surprise, this time, earning him a comforting hand on his shoulder from Mel. “You alright?”

“Fine!” He squeaked, “Just fine.”

“Well, the power’s out,” She said, “So if we’re gonna make breakfast, it’ll have to be over the fireplace.”

“Do you need a hand with that?” He kicked his legs over the edge of bed, planting his feet on the ground and stretching up.

“I can get the fire set up and all that-” Mel cringed as his back cracked.

“Sorry.”

“Not a problem, not a problem,” She said, dismissively. “Could you make that stew of yours, though?”

Oh. The stew. He’d made it over the fireplace, once or twice before, with decent success. Not that it was particularly difficult to make, more or less a “sear some stuff and then leave it alone for three hours” type of situation.

He wanted to say no, anyways. Last time he did it, he burned his wrist on the pot and he still had a little scar from it. It was dangerous and difficult to cook over the fireplace, but Mel looked so hopeful and she loved that stew…

“Yeah, alright,” He said, “I can do that.”

Mel sweeped him up into a hug, pressing kisses to his face indiscriminately. “You’re the best,” She said, after landing one right on his eyelid, “Easily the best.”

“That’s high praise coming from my savior.”

When he actually got a chance to look outside, it was a little astonishing. He could hear the wind whistling almost constantly, or the odd clap of thunder in the distance, but he had no idea just how nasty it was, out there.

The world was covered in a haze of white, he couldn’t see the trees of the backwoods or the river that ran through the area they designated as their backyard. It was almost spooky, like the house itself had been isolated from the rest of the world.

He turned his attention back to the cutting board, back to cutting the vegetables they had on hand. Mel was curled up on the couch in their modest living room, warm and cozy by the fire she’d just started, reading something by the soft light of the window.

Yeah, burning his arm again would be worth it, if it came to that. Definitely. Mel worked too hard, too long, too sustained almost constantly. She had no ‘off’ switch, though, he supposed, that is what got them out of Aperture and into town in the first place.

Virgil dropped the vegetables into the almost cauldron-like cooking pot, letting them sizzle satisfyingly. The browned meat sat in a little bowl next to the pot, along with all the stock anyone could ever need. He absentmindedly stirred things around, more aware of Mel’s contented humming than he was his own hands.

Luckily, he didn’t burn himself, this time.

As if on auto-pilot, he put everything left in the pot, one by one, with the exception of the random assortment of root vegetables he’d throw in towards the end. He poured in the stock, covered the pot, and turned to Mel, who opened her blanket and patted the spot next to her.

“Kept your seat warm for you.” She said, grinning.

“Think I could stand to take a nap?”

“I’ll wake you up in two hours,” She said, “Stew smells great, by the way.”

“Thanks, love,” Virgil said, grabbing an extra blanket and curling himself up next to her, falling asleep in her lap.

Virgil woke up to the smell of stew and the sound of bowls being shifted around in the kitchen.

“Mel?” He called to nowhere in particular. Did I wake up in time to add the parsnip?

“You didn’t wake up, I handled the rest of it,” She said, almost reading his mind, “Stew’s done, if you’re hungry.” She handed him a bowl, as he sat up, complete with a piece of toast with butter. She dug in without waiting, putting a spoonful in her mouth and sighing with pleasure. “Christ, this is good…”

He looked down into his bowl, contemplative.

The world was scary, wasn’t it? Terrifying. There was a blizzard out there that could’ve probably killed him, back when he was a core, that would’ve definitely killed him if he was out there, now.

But he wasn’t.

He was warm and safe, in his own home, just him and Mel. Larger than that, they came off the heels of a war, and they were better for it. Would Laurel River have helped them build their home, been so kind as to open their doors for them before the war?

He didn’t think so. From what Mel said about the world, back then, they’d have had white picket fences up and would’ve judged ‘em both for how they dressed and acted, when things were ‘improper’ - whatever that meant. 

He couldn’t help but thank the maker that he was alive, really alive, then. In his home, with the love of his life, safe and warm and eating stew.

He ripped off a small piece of bread and dunked it into the stew, taking his first bite before it went cold. 

She was right, it was pretty good.

[avengerofyourheart]

You Are My Heaven Pt 1 (Steve Rogers Fic)

Characters: reader, Steve, Sam, Natasha, Tony (mentioned), Clint (mentioned) Maria Hill

Summary: Falling for a good man, who happened to be her training partner, was unavoidable. Does the reader have the courage to find out if he feels the same way? What if he doesn’t? Life rarely unfolds the way we hope it would. (Events take place after CATWS)

Warnings: lil fluff, lotta angst. Heartbreak. I’m sorry. 

Word Count: 2.8k

Song Inspiration: A Drop in the Ocean by Ron Pope

Tags are at the bottom

A/N: This one hurt. Once again, I drew from my own personal experiences, so it took a lot out of me to write. I hope you enjoy it? Part 2 will be out in a few days, I promise! It’s already written and will be the last, with a possible epilogue. Please let me know your thoughts! Special thanks to @buckyywiththegoodhair for reading this over! You’re a darling! 

Part One   Part Two>>>

Masterlist

_______________________________________________________

Stupid heart.

Stupid feelings.

Stupid brain for putting you in this situation.

Stupid gorgeous, muscled Super Soldier who just had to be working out right in front of you with his God-like physique and sweat glistening on his handsome brow.

At this point, you had no choice in the matter. You were too far gone. Resistance was futile.

“You know, you could just tell him,” muttered the red-headed former assassin beside you.

You scoffed, “Who? About what? I mean, I don’t…what’re you…”

Unimpressed by your less-than-convincing response, Natasha caught your eye and raised an eyebrow. She knew.

Huffing out a frustrated sigh, you conceded. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

A snort of laughter escaped you, “Why? Because he’s Steve Rogers! Captain Freaking America. It’s not gonna happen.”

She shrugged, “You never know unless you try.”

Returning your focus to the man before you, the thought rattled around in your mind. Standing from the mat where you had been stretching, you grabbed your water bottle and took a swig. The idea of putting yourself out there terrified you, but maybe she had a point.

__________

A drop in the ocean A change in the weather I was praying that you and me might end up together…

After SHIELD was dismantled thanks to Captain America, HYDRA’s evil acts were uncovered and you found yourself unemployed. Eventually proven trustworthy and in no way tied with HYDRA, you found a position at Avengers Tower. You weren’t out there saving the world, but you worked closely with the Avengers, being the assistant to Agent Maria Hill. You thoroughly enjoyed your job and even more, you were really good at it. Maria trusted you completely and had full confidence that you could handle things whenever she was called away on business.

Although you spent your time behind the scenes, there was a certain grandeur that came with being around a Centenarian Super Soldier, assassins gone good, genius billionaires and demigods. You were on a first name basis with superheroes. That was pretty awesome. There wasn’t much need for you to be trained to fight in combat, considering you spent most of your time in an office, but some fighting ability was encouraged. Considering the previous attack on New York City by aliens, you quite literally never knew what might happen in the future.

The gym was open to any employees and Maria was supportive of your ambitions, so she let you take an hour midday a few times a week for training. On your first day at the state-of-the-art training facility, you looked around in awe. There were countless weight machines, cushioned floors for sparring, dumbbells, high-tech treadmills, and many more contraptions that you couldn’t even name. Walking up to one, you stood with hands on your hips, head cocked to the side as you tried to decipher it. The machine had pulleys and handles with some sort of weighted plates in the center, but you had no clue how to use it.

“Would you like some help, Y/N?” a confident, deep voice asked behind you.

Whirling around, you found yourself face to face with the Blond Super Soldier you had been crushing on since you started working there almost a year ago, the one and only Steve Rogers.

“Steve, hi,” you greeted him with a smile. “Um…yeah. What does this thing do?”

He flashed that Million Dollar smile and you found actual weakness in your knees upon the sight. Was that really a thing? Oh mercy, you were in trouble.

“Well,” he furrowed his brow, sizing you up a bit. “I haven’t seen you in here before, so I’m guess you’re a bit of a beginner?”

Feeling heat reach your face, you deflected, “I mean, I’ve had a gym membership for a few years. That card is probably somewhere in my apartment gathering dust…”

He chuckled, crossing muscular arms over his massive pectorals which dreams are made of. “This machine is a little more advanced, so maybe something to work up to? I can show you a few simple exercises to start with and see what level you’re on. Sound good?”

Flabbergasted that Captain America himself was offering to help you, how could you say no?

“Uh…sure. That’d be great. I mean, if you have the time. I don’t want to interrupt…”

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s always good to get back to basics. I don’t mind at all,” he assured you with that sexy half-grin you loved so much.

Steve was incredibly patient with you; always pushing you to improve but never chastising when you said you’d had enough. He showed you light strength training exercises and good cardio routines, plus other simple stuff you could do on your own when he was away on missions. You also trained with Natasha and Sam on occasion, but obviously preferred your time with Steve.

After a few months of training, you felt stronger, more agile, and had most definitely fallen head over heels for the good Captain. Oops. Stupid brain for agreeing to this. It was supposed to be the first line of defense to keep your heart from getting into trouble, but what a big fat fail that was. You were in over your head and you didn’t even mind the drowning at this point.

You found yourself looking forward to hitting the gym just to see him, sometimes turning down plans with friends just because a certain evening worked better for Steve’s schedule. You were addicted to his smile, always trying to make him laugh. It became your favorite sound and you craved it, even making a fool of yourself just to hear him chuckle. Indeed, you were in deep with no desire to come up for air. _________

It’s like wishing for rain As I stand in the desert But I’m holding you closer than most Cause you are my heaven.

A few days after your conversation with Natasha, you were lightly sparring with Steve as he gave you pointers. You had spent hours weighing your options. Do you risk your friendship and training partner by rocking the boat on the chance that he felt the same way? Or do you stay silent and keep things the same, possibly missing out on a good thing? What if he said no? Could you handle the disappointment, should that be the case? What if he said yes? What then? It was Schroedinger’s Cat. You had to open the box first, though, to find out.

In the end, you decided that not knowing was worse than either outcome, so you devised a plan. You would ask Steve to accompany you to a casual dinner. He had never experienced authentic Indian food, which you two had discussed in the past, so you would bring up the subject and lay down the groundwork for dinner plans. You were still uncertain of his feelings. Steve was kind to everyone, joking around with friends and colleagues alike. There was hardly a person in the Tower who wasn’t thoroughly taken with the Captain. It was like he brightened every room he entered, drawing people to him without trying. He was the epitome of charm and charisma. How could you not fall for him?

“Alright, keep your knees bent with your core engaged.  You’re more stable that way and a smaller target.” Adjusting your stance, he nodded, “Just like that.”

Hands taped and raised up by your mouth, you sent a few jabs his way. He quickly dodged, but spoke words of encouragement as you stayed quick on your feet and kept alert. Attempting a kick with full force, your foot nearly connected with Steve’s side, but he caught it just in time. Unfortunately, your momentum continued forward which meant you lost control and collided with the man, sending you both to the mat in a tangled heap. Steve exhaled an ‘oof’ as you landed on him ungracefully.

Finding your face resting on the Captain’s sculpted chest, you reluctantly raised your head with a blush rising. He had just returned from a week-long mission and you’d wanted to show off the latest move you had learned, but apparently it was premature. How embarrassing. Luckily, you heard Steve’s melodic laugh ring out and you followed suit. Soon you were both collapsed on the mat with tears of laughter running down your face.

“Well, you definitely have the power behind it, but you might need to be reined it in a little,” Steve chuckled, sending off more peals of laughter from you both, your heart swelling at the sound.

It took a few minutes for you both to calm down before Steve popped to his feet and offered a hand to you. Accepting its comfortable warmth, you groaned as he helped you stand. If you weren’t already sore from training and your collision with a rock-hard body, your abdominal muscles now hurt from laughing. Catching Steve’s eye, you offered a smile and opened your mouth to breech the subject about dinner, but then someone approached.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt,” Sam spoke, stepping to his friend’s side. “Steve, could you look at this mission file for me? It’s kind of time-sensitive.”

“Sure, pal,” he replied. “I’ll be right back, Y/N.”

“No problem. I’ll just get some water.” You followed the men out the gym door but they turned right while you took the left corridor. Just outside the gym, there was an unusually high-tech water dispensing station with just plain filtered water or you could even add flavoring if you wanted. Of course, this was Tony’s idea. He didn’t really do ‘simple’. Walking back toward gym, you heard the two men’s voices carrying as they finished their conversation.

“…look at the intel tonight and hopefully we’ll have a better idea for the timeline. Thanks, Sam.”

“Sure thing. So, uh… you looked pretty cozy in there with Y/N. What’s going on with you two?” Sam questioned with intrigue in his voice. Hearing your name, you paused to listen. Yes, it was snooping, but apparently it now involved you, so…

“What, you mean…me and Y/N? Together? No. We’re just good friends. Besides, I don’t really see her that way.”

Your stomach dropped to your feet, feeling your frantic heart threatening to escape your chest. There was a whooshing sound in your ears as if all the air had escaped the room, nearly missing their next words.

“Does she know that?”

Steve scoffed, “Of course she does. We’ve been friends for a while.”

Sam clicked his tongue in disagreement, “Are you sure? I’ve seen how she looks at you. Might wanna let her down easy, man.” The sound of a hand clapped against a broad back was heard.

On shaky legs, you made your way into the gym in a daze. Taking a drink of your water just to have something to do, you nearly choked on it in the process. Steve then came up behind you, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“Alright there? Wrong pipe?” he joked with a smile.

Finally, the coughing stopped and you nodded that you were okay, avoiding his gaze.

“Ready to get back to it?” he asked with enthusiasm.

Mind hazy, you followed him back onto the mat and raised your fists, body on autopilot. Steve initiated the spar this time, putting you on defense. You knew he was going easy on you, but it was still a challenge, especially in your current state. Attempting to focus, snippets of their conversation floated between your ears, almost as an echo, while you processed it.

…looked pretty cozy…Block….just good friends….Jab…..don’t see her that way….Kick….let her down easy….Left hook…

As your mind caught up and their words sunk in, the tempest of thoughts and emotions became too much, causing you to drop your hands and step away. Pressing the heels of your hands into your eye sockets, you were determined not to lose it here in the gym.

“Hey, you okay, Y/N?” Steve asked, concern coating his words.

Chest heaving with effort and emotion, you knew you couldn’t stay a moment longer. “Yeah…I mean, no. I, uh…I think I heard a pop in my shoulder when we…um, when we collided. Old injury. Probably should rest it. I’m done for today,” you spoke without meeting his eye, heading for your gym bag.

You stuffed your jacket, towel, and water bottle inside, yanking the zipper shut when you realized Steve had followed you.

“Do you want Dr. Cho to take a look at it?”

“No, it’s fine,” you answered, slinging the bag over your shoulder and heading for the door.

“Hey, Y/N, um…”

You paused. “Yeah?”

Hands stuffed in his pockets, he hesitated a moment before continuing. “I, uh…just wanted to say that I enjoy spending time with you. I’m lucky to have you as a friend.”

Friend. That word was a dagger to your heart, pain exploding in your chest as you struggled to breathe. Knowing he awaited a response of some kind, you finally met his bright blue eyes.

“Thanks, Steve. You, too,” you quietly uttered with a hopefully genuine-looking smile before rushing past him and out of the room. Once alone, you broke into a sprint and barely shut your bedroom door before collapsing to the floor, sobs clawing at your throat.

_________________

And still I can't let you be Most nights I hardly sleep Don't take what you don't need from me

You spent the rest of the day in bed cocooned in blankets, tears slipping down your cheeks. Eyes red, you couldn't bring yourself to watch any of your favorite movies or shows for fear of tainting them, so you found yourself watching true crime documentaries on Netflix.

Sleep evaded you and past midnight, your growling stomach forced you out of bed and down the hall toward the kitchen. Blessedly, you didn't run into anyone and you were able to stock up on bottled water and an armful of snacks to last a while. Creeping back to your room, you resumed hiding from the world. Thankfully, it was the weekend so work wasn't a worry.

You received a text from Steve midway through the next morning.

Hey, Y/N. Feeling any better? I've got some time for training later today.

Of course he would be that sweet. Blinking away tears, you set your phone down. What could you say to him? He didn't have a clue. You felt like one look in his eyes and he could see your torn heart and fractured soul. There was no way you could be around him right now.

Opening his text, you stared at the blinking cursor before replying.

Not today. Shoulder’s okay but feel a cold coming on.

Total lie, but necessary.

Oh, I'm sorry. Can I bring you anything?

No. Don't want to risk it. Thanks.

Putting your phone aside, you finally let yourself fall asleep

_________

A few hours later, you startled awake to someone sitting at the end of your bed. After recovering from your near heart attack, you glared at the redhead before you.

“How did you get in---ugh, nevermind. I don’t wanna know,” you groaned, slumping back on your pillows. You had asked JARVIS to not allow anyone into your quarters, but clearly there was no keeping her out. “What are you doing here?”

“You’re not sick.”

“You are correct,” you replied, emotionless.

Natasha surveyed the state of your bedroom, empty food wrappers and tissues littering the floor.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you to talk to him, I…”

“Not your fault,” you sniffled. “Besides, I didn’t even have a chance to. Doesn’t matter now, though.”

“If it’ll make you feel better, I could kick his a…”

“Don’t you dare!” you shot off the pillows, finger pointed in her face. “He can never know.”

You held her gaze without wavering until she consented with a nod.

“Fine. You can’t hole up in here forever. I’ll hold them off as long as I can, though,” she promised, clutching your ankle affectionately through the blankets.

“Thanks.”

_____________

The next two days were more of the same, wallowing and Netflix. Natasha was kind enough to bring you actual meals, though, which was better than packaged snacks. She kept her word and no one hassled you. You even called in sick for work on Monday and thankfully, Maria was understanding. That evening, Nat came in with a plate of dinner, making herself comfortable on the end of your bed while you ate.

“He’s gone, you know.”

You paused in eating, waiting for explanation.

“He left on a mission with Clint and Sam this afternoon. They’ll probably be away for a week.”

On that note, she grabbed the dirty dishes from lunch off your floor, raised an eyebrow at you and then she was gone. She’d made her point. It was time for you to return to the land of the living.

Easier said than done, you thought, as another sleepless night stretched before you. Hopefully the ‘heartbroken zombie’ look was in style…

_________

Part 2

__________________________________________________

Ouch. Yeah. Sorry about that. Things get a little better in part 2. That unrequited love, though. I’ve been there SO many times. I appreciate you reading and please let me know what you think of this!! I love all your comments and asks and replies and screaming at me, I appreciate it all. :) 

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[chasingxprongs]

A small (I say small) Jily drabble for @ofmanyworlds, mainly from James’ POV, based on Perfect, by Ed Sheeran. If you haven’t listened to that song, you need to, but please enjoy if you so choose to have a read. 

I found a love for me Darling, just dive right in and follow my lead

James Potter had never been afraid of Hogwarts. Never worried about making friends, about if people would like him, if he’d fit in. Because he knew he would. Simple as that really. He already knew he could fly. Already knew he’d have no issue learning spells. Why would he? His dad was the best wizard in the whole world and his mum the best witch, it just made sense that he would be too.

He didn’t expect to be surprised at Hogwarts. He’d spent years listening with an awestruck expression has his dad told stories of Gryffindor pride. Of red and gold, of lions and bravery. He’d listened as his dad explained Gryffindor loyalty and being there for your mates no matter what.

So James Potter knew he was going to be popular at Hogwarts.

He knew he was going to be Gryffindor.

What he didn’t know. What he hadn’t expected. Was to fall head over heels in love with a red headed muggle born who sat next to him at the welcome feast.

At eleven, in all his eleven-year-old, wise glory. He was one hundred percent positive that Lily Evans was going to love him the way he so obviously loved her.

“I’m James.” His hand shook with hers, hazel eyes meeting a green so bright he was sure it must be some kind of magic.

“Lily Evans.” Came the response and James thought even her voice was pretty.

“That’ll be Potter one day.” His voice was devoid of the surety that would come in a few years. The bravado and the confidence of a bloke who knew he was attractive to women. Right now his voice held all the optimism of an eleven-year-old who was sure he’d just fallen in love.

“What’s that supposed to mean?’ She was affronted, her eyes flashing in a way that James felt was still pretty. And he didn’t understand. Was confused by her. This wasn’t what happened when his dad charmed his mum. This wasn’t how girls had ever responded to his dad and he was just like his dad. He was going to be exactly like him.

“I uh—” He broke off, confused and out of sorts. Out of words for once. He chose instead to point at the boy currently making his way over to the sorting hat. “Ha! Look at that Greasy Git…bet he’s gonna be a snake.”

If he’d been unsure of her before, he definitely was now. As she turned to him, green eyes flashing with an intense anger unlike anything James had ever experienced. Almost like she hated him, in that moment. Except, James knew that couldn’t be true. Nobody hated him. That wasn’t how it worked. He was a Gryffindor!

“That Greasy Git, is my best friend.” Came the retort, as Lily made to stand and James could only stare at her in horror. “…and he’s a much better friend than you could ever be. He doesn’t insult people before he’s even met them properly for one.”

With that she was moving, across the table, not sparing him another look as she applauded for her friend. James thought maybe his heart was broken there and then. Or it would have been, if he wasn’t eleven and easily distracted. As Sirius Black was joining the table and James knew with all his eleven-year-old wisdom, that they were going to be best mates.

Who needed girls anyway?

Well, I found a girl, beautiful and sweet Oh, I never knew you were the someone waiting for me

“Oi Evans!” James’ voice rang through the hallway, Sirius’ laugh echoing beside him as he chased after the red headed witch who was steadfastly ignoring him.

“Are you gonna make me beg?” He sighed heavily, shooting a wink to Sirius, before he turned to the rapidly gathering crowd of snickering students. “Ladies and Gentleman, you’re about to bear witness to the broken heart of James Potter…”

“A weekly occurrence!” Sirius chimed in, and James happily gave him the finger. 

“He’s not wrong in his harsh assessment of my life.” James wiped a none existent tear from his eye, turning once more to Lily. Lily who wasn’t laughing. Lily who was standing, white faced and furious, knuckles white where she was clutching her books to her chest.

“Stop it.” Her voice was a harsh whisper, a hiss filling the corridor despite its lack of volume and James had to stop himself from wincing at the hatred inside it. “If you really think embarrassing me in public and pressuring me to go out with you is the way to go about it, then I look forward to hearing about your many divorces!”

She turned then, footsteps echoing down the corridor. Kids parting to let her pass, as though her fury was contagious. As though it was going to jump from her skin and infect anyone who passed. But James knew that wasn’t true. He knew that anger was reserved solely for him and for some reason, this time he didn’t enjoy it.

He should have finished his performance. Should have continued with Sirius to act out the broken heart of James Potter. Make his constant rejection into a joke that he controlled. Because it was easier that way. It made more bloody sense to have people wonder if he was serious, if this was actually a crush, or just a prank.

A prank at the expense of Lily.

He didn’t bloody want that. But he didn’t particularly want to be constantly bloody rejected either.

“Evans wait!” He was running after her, not bothering to shoot a grin or a wink at those he passed. Not bothering to hide the fact that this was no longer a joke. That she was pissed off and that he fucking hated that. Wanted to fix it. “Lily—just wait a bloody minute alright?”

She stopped. Not bothering to turn towards him as forced himself to come to an unexpected stop.

“I uh—I’m sorry—for embarrassing you.” The words felt foreign on his tongue, weird and stilted. He didn’t generally apologise, not when you could just turn something into a laugh instead. “…I didn’t think alright?”

“You never do.” She turned then, a little more colour on her cheeks and despite the fact she wasn’t looking at James how he wished she would. She was so fucking beautiful; it still took his breath away. “You never think. Which completely baffles me considering you supposedly have a brain rattling around that enormous head of yours.”

James frowned, unsure if he was being insulted or complimented…which was the story of his life with Lily Evans. But she didn’t give him chance to answer, seemingly on a role now she’d begun.

“Your band of merry men might find you amusing, or your penchant for humiliation to be charming…but I do not. Will not.” She shook her head. “Be more than that. Or would you prefer to be an arrogant toe rag for the rest of your life?”

He was more than that. Knew he was more than that. Could be more than that. She’d put him in a box he didn’t want to be in. Yet maybe he’d closed the bloody lid on that box. Maybe he’d locked himself in there and she was giving him a way out. He didn’t know, he was no fucking good at metaphors, but it seemed to be working for him.

“…so you wanna go study for Charms?” His olive branch was there, held out with a grin and a subtle wink. An invitation. A sacrifice. To be him. Alone. No performance. To do what she liked to do.

She paused, as though considering and James held his breath. 

“I’m going to study. If you happen to be in the library also, then I suppose I can’t stop you from sitting at the same table.” Her reply was succinct. Cold even. But James could see through it, could see the smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. Could see the subtle flick of hair as she turned.

It was a challenge. To prove himself. To prove he was more than what she thought. And a challenge he was ready to fucking win.

“So Evans, you don’t fancy a quick snog in the restricted section then?” He asked cheerfully as he jogged after her.

The smack around the back of the head was fucking worth it.

“…stop talking Potter.”

I will not give you up this time But darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own And in your eyes you're holding mine

“Oi…mini puff, it’s midnight…you need to get your little arse to your common room.” James yelled down the corridor, ignoring the exasperated sigh from Lily next to him as the eleven-year-old froze, weirdly trembling as he stared at the two of them.

“Hey kid…it’s not that far past curfew, we’re not the bloody Aurors…despite my fantastic badge of never ending authority.” He tried to lighten the mood, glancing at Lily in confusion before nodding to his head boy badge gleaming on his chest.

“I’m—I’m sorry—I—I was in bed but I—there was a letter…” The kid was stammering, trembling where he stood and James looked to Lily who was studying them carefully. It was new, this job. Lily had been a prefect the year before but James hadn’t. The only perk to this job was the extra time spent with Lily. Lily who was finally fucking dating him, finally letting him take her out and sneak into the kitchens for a picnic in the middle of the night.

Lily who was fun and daring. Lily who continued to shock him every day.

Lily who still hadn’t let him bloody kiss her. Never mind all the other shit he wanted to do. Preferably without clothing, but he was an easy going kind of bloke…he could make amendments to his extravagant plans.

“Jeremy, what letter did you get?” Lily was speaking softly, her head tilted to the side and James marvelled that she knew the kids name. That she was able to sound so soft and reassuring whilst still exuding that air of authority.

“Well my—my dad he—there was a mark above the house and he—my mum said he didn’t—he didn’t…” He was crying then, sobs choking the poor boy as his whole form shook with the force of them and James didn’t give Lily a second glance as he moved toward him.

“We get it kiddo…you don’t have to keep explaining.” He was pulling him into a hug before he’d considered his actions, filled with a righteous anger that this was happening, a renewed sense of protectiveness that seemed to always exist within him. “Lil? Go get Sprout won’t you?”

He didn’t give much thought to anything but the situation at hand as he heard Lily’s footsteps trail off down the corridor, arms wrapped firmly around the sobbing boy. It wasn’t awkward. Didn’t feel awkward. It couldn’t. The world was a terrifying fucking place at the minute and he didn’t have the capacity to feel awkward about comforting a young, terrified kid who had just lost his dad.

“Don’t let this break you—don’t let ‘em do that kid.” He murmured softly. “Cry, fucking cry all you want, but don’t let them take your hope alright?”

He pulled back slightly, holding the hiccupping kid by the shoulders as he met his eyes.

“They took your dad, but they don’t get to take anything else from you. You’re a Wizard and you belong here, just as much as any fucking pureblood. Don’t let them take who you are as well…d’you hear me?”

There was an answering nod, and James simply sighed and pulled him back against him, the polite cough causing him to look to the side where Lily stood, eyes brimming with tears, Professor Sprout by her side.

“Come along Jeremy…come on love, let’s get you some tea and see if we can get your mum here.” The professor was talking, Jeremy running to her, her arm around him as she led him away. But James only had eyes for Lily. 

Lily who was looking at him like she never had before. Lily who was walking towards him, trembling hands cupping his face and all he could do was stare at her. At this new side he’d never seen before. The vulnerable side. 

“…I didn’t think you’d ever prove me wrong James Potter.” She murmured softly, and James could only swallow heavily, his heart pounding in his chest. “...but you’re more, you’re more than what I thought.”

And as hazel eyes met answering green, as his arms wrapped securely around her waist. He knew that he always wanted to be the kind of bloke who would draw that look from her eyes. He wanted to be the kind of bloke who deserved everything she was fucking giving him.

He didn’t speak. Couldn’t think of words big enough. For once. Could do nothing except to duck his head, lips pressing against hers easily. As though they fit, as though they were meant to join together like this.

James wanted to kiss Lily Evans for the rest of his life.

Had every intention of it.

Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I'll share her home

James was breathless, completely overwhelmed as he closed the door to headquarters behind them. They needed to find the others. Needed to have a proper mission debrief, but with the adrenaline still flowing through his body, James could focus on nothing but the amazing woman by his side.

“Bloody hell Lil, you were something else out there.” His voice was low, unable to hide his complete awe and devotion as he surveyed his girlfriend calmly hanging up her jacket.

“Did you expect anything less?” She wasn’t fazed. Voice filled with a teasing humour that James bloody loved. 

His girlfriend was something else entirely, something completely fucking unique. Just when he thought he had her figured out, just when he thought they might finally be on even footing. She’d surprise him. She’d send him spiralling down a path of love and devotion he couldn’t escape from.

He was a goner for Lily Evans. Always had been.

He couldn’t focus on anything but her, couldn’t control it as he backed her up against the door. Eyes on her he watched carefully, watched as her eyes darkened with lust, a small smirk curving into the corners of her beautiful lips.

“Marry me.” His voice was muffled, buried in the skin of her neck, pressing hot open mouthed kisses against the familiar expanse. He wasn’t paying attention, hands either side of her, bracketing her in. Where he wanted her. But best of all, where she wanted to be.

At least she usually wanted to be here. Usually liked it when he shoved her up against the wall. Usually slipped her hands into his back pocket, pressed him closer in a crude imitation of what they both really wanted to be doing.

But not now. Now she was pushing at his chest, her words stern.

“James Potter. Stop.” He pulled back, eyes confused as he stared at her and he could only wait for her to explain. “You are not going to propose to me like this. I expect to be proposed to properly.”

He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped at her words, hazel eyes alight with mirth as he felt the box he’d been carrying around for weeks in his pocket. He finally had one up on her, finally had a way to show his love that she didn’t expect.

“Bloody hell Lil, y’know you’re not supposed to direct your own proposal don’t you?” He shook his head in mock disapproval as he sunk to his knees, holding a hand up to still her as she opened her mouth. “It’s not your turn to talk yet…lemme get it out before you start dishing out instructions yeah?” He reached into his pocket, pulling out the box, a familiar cheeky grin spreading over his face as he did. “Had it for weeks…I was waiting for the right time to ask y’know? But I uh—I don’t reckon there’s ever gonna be a more perfect time, cause whenever it happens…that’s gonna be the perfect time y’know?”

“James…” Her voice was breathless, unsure and nervous in a way he fucking loved. Because it meant she trusted him with that side of her. Trusted him to see her vulnerabilities.

“Nah…this is my time to talk now alright? Lemme ask the question before you answer…follow the rules Evans.”  He winked, shaking hands opening the box as he held it up to her. His mother’s ring nestled comfortably inside. 

He took a breath, stealing himself to sum up some words. The right words. Words they’d remember. But he didn’t have any. He didn’t have words big enough to encompass everything he felt for Lily Evans. Everything they were and everything they were going to become.

Nobody had words for that.

“Lil…I’m not asking you cause we’re at war. I’m not gonna sit here—well kneel here—and say that I wanna marry you now cause we might not get much more of a forever. Cause that’d be a cop out.” He shrugged. “I wanna marry you cause you’re a bloody nightmare Lil. Cause you’re stubborn and proud and I can’t fucking breathe as soon as you walk into a room. I don’t wanna marry you because of the war Lil…I wanna marry you in spite of it.”

His voice was thick with emotion as he met her eyes, those beautiful fucking eyes that were bright with unshed tears. And he didn’t have the nerve to try and figure out if that was good or bad.

“You’re it for me Lil…this love, this is it for me.” He shrugged, as though it were that simple. Because it was. Because to him, it was fact. 

“I know you don’t put much stock in soul-mates and all that shit and neither do I—almost failed bloody divination didn’t I?” He shook his head. “But I reckon I believe in one great love in your life, and you’re it…every stubborn fucking inch of you. I wanna spend the rest of my life making you slowly learn to hate me.” He joked, before shaking his head. “Nah…but I wanna get old with you. As old as we get…as long as we’ve got.”

He winked. “…so what do you say Evans? Finally, wanna become a Potter?”

I found a love, to carry more than just my secrets To carry love, to carry children of our own

“What do you mean she’s not been bloody hexed?!” James’ voice echoed in the small room at St Mungo’s, his footsteps following not far behind as he paced furiously. “Of course she is—she passed out! She wouldn’t faint for no bloody reason!”

“Mr Potter…we found no trace of dark magic in the diagnostics we ran and –“

“Then run them again!” The poor healer was trying his best. James knew that. He knew that even as he froze, turning his furious, panicked gaze on the flustered man in question. He knew his anger was directed at the wrong people. Knew that they were doing a job and they were doing it well.

He knew they were doing their best. But this was his wife. And their best wasn’t good enough when it concerned her.

“Mr Potter—”The healer began again, and James couldn’t even remember his bloody name, so he simply held up a hand instead.

“No. Run it again. And if you can’t bloody do it, then find me someone who can.”

He hated it here. In the hospital. The familiar robes, the smell, bringing back memories of his dying parents. It hadn’t been very long ago. Not long enough to be back here. Never long enough to be back here fretting about the person who got him through it. His Lily flower, his rock. The woman who had sat with him outside their hospital rooms. The woman who had told him he was allowed to cry. The woman who had promised his mum she’d take care of him, that he’d never be alone. That had promised him too.

His everything.

“James…” She was speaking from the bed, her voice unsure, fragile in a way it never was. Her eyes red rimmed from where she’d evidently been crying before he’d got her. He couldn’t fucking stand it. Couldn’t cope with the fact she’d been alone and scared in this room and he’d been at the fucking pub with his mates.

“Lil…it’s fine. We’re gonna figure this out alright?” He approached her then, perching on the edge of the bed as he took her hand. “He’s gonna run the tests again—and if it doesn’t work—then I’ll fucking pay someone else to. It’s gonna be fine, you’re gonna be fine…I’ve got you.”

His words weren’t reassuring her, those captivating eyes brimming with tears once more and James didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know how to reassure her, felt as though he was missing a giant piece of the puzzle.

“James—you’re not listening.” Her voice was thick with emotion, a lone tear escaping but she didn’t take her hand from his. Didn’t scold him any further, and James knew that was testament to how scared she was feeling. “They can’t find any trace of a hex because I haven’t been hexed—I—“

She broke off, head nodding towards her stomach, the tears falling thick and fast and James could only stare at her. Could only clutch her hand that much tighter as his heart drummed violently in his chest.

“I’m pregnant James…we—we’re having a baby…”

It should have been joyous. It should have been a time to be excited. But James understood her tears, understood what this meant, what it was. They were young. Too young anyway. Too young for people living a normal, happy life.

But they weren’t those people. They were people fighting a war. A violent, bloody war. A war where people died everyday, where they lost friends and family faster than they gained them. A war they had glamorised. A war where they didn’t feel like brave Gryffindors anymore, because the reality of it, the gritty, dangerous reality wasn’t the brave lions marching into battles they’d all imagined in school.

“Say something…James—I know this isn’t ideal…” Her words broke his heart, the fragility in her voice, in the way her fingers were laced with his. Knuckles white as she held on for dear life. 

It killed him.

His brave Lily. His stubborn, perfect Lily, was terrified because they were going to have a baby. Because they hadn’t been careful. Terrified of telling him, of his reaction and he couldn’t bring himself to let her down. Knew that right now was his turn. His turn to be strong for her, his turn to swallow the fear and get ready to be the husband and father he needed to be.

The one his parents taught him to be.

“It isn’t ideal…” He spoke carefully, extracting his hand from hers before he gently slid it under the white sheets covering her body, resting protectively against her abdomen. “But I love you and you love me—and we’re gonna love our baby Lil. We’re gonna love them and we’re gonna keep them safe.”

His own eyes were brimming with tears as he leant down to press a kiss against her lips, soft and loving as he whispered against them.

“We’ve got this Lily flower…”

When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath But you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight

James grinned as he threw Harry into the air once more, the resulting babyish giggle making his heart fucking melt once again. He was turning into a right sap, embarrassing really, how much he loved this tiny human being. How he could spend hours just watching him, listening to him, wondering how he’d managed to get so lucky. How he’d managed to create this baby that needed him.

“…you’re going to make him sick if you carry on.” He turned at the familiar voice, the fond amusement betraying her stern words as his eyes caught sight of his wife in the living room doorway. “I’m certainly not going to be the one getting up with him when he’s sick in the night.”

James snorted, tossing Harry into the air once more, as he shook his head. “Did you hear that Squirt? Your mum doesn’t wanna wake up for you…don’t worry kiddo, I’ll make sure to report this neglect.”

He paused, pressing a kiss to the chubby cheeks before placing him on the ground as he shot a wink towards his wife. “…you’re the one who was force feeding him chocolate frogs Lil.” He shrugged. “Reckon I need to get myself some legal representation at the blame placing taking place in this marriage.”

“Two chocolate frogs James…and I wouldn’t exactly call it force feeding.” She shook her head, arms crossing over her chest and James couldn’t help how his eyes lingered on her form.

But fuck...she was beautiful.

Even now. Exhausted, her face free from makeup, hair loose around her face, the evidence of sticky little boy fingers amongst the familiar fiery strands. She looked even more beautiful than she ever had. There was a light in her eyes, a glow he couldn’t explain and didn’t want to. Explaining it would mean she was capable of being described, that she was someone who fit the mould that words would push her into.

She didn’t.

She didn’t fit any mould. She was one of kind. Made for James as he was made for her. She was bloody perfect and that’s about the only word he’d agree to be used to describe her.

“Don’t pout Lil…” He murmured, advancing on her slowly, a teasing predatory gleam in his eyes. “Besides the fact it’s technically a holiday and frankly bloody illegal to be pouting…” He paused, arms wrapping around her waist. “…besides all of that, you know what it does to me.”

He pulled her towards him, her body flush against his own. A perfect fit, moulding against him like the missing puzzle piece fate had been so kind to provide them with. His breath was hot against her lips as he dipped his head, kissing her easily. Slow and deep. Familiar. As though they had all the time in the world, years to do this. Forever really. However long forever was going to be.

James could kiss her forever, could continue to lose himself in the feel of their lips moving together, her arms around his neck, nimble fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. He could spend forever memorising her taste, drinking her in, because it would never be enough. There would never be enough of her. He would never be done.

Unfortunately, little hands were finding their way to the hem of his trousers, an indignant squeal indicating that Harry, like his dad, didn’t appreciate not being the centre of attention. So he laughed, pulling back with one final press of their lips, glancing from the two of them fondly.

“…Happy Halloween Lily Flower.”

[autumnpawtribe]

Seeking the Raptorblood - Jura

Xiao's smile widened slightly to something hopeful, giving her one last nod before standing up. "Celestials watch over you, Reshka." The wolf transformation both surprised and impressed him, looking at her once more before walking out. He knew where to go now. He didn't summon his cloud this time, it wasn't fast enough for such a long distance. He let out a sharp whistle and that beautiful thundering ruby cloud serpent of his came flying down to him so he could mount up. Within moments he was steady in the saddle and guiding her back up into the sky. He could only hope his mate was already there, waiting. If not, well... then it would be time to wait until he came back. He hoped for the former, he'd done enough waiting. When Xiao arrived at the spot Reshka had pointed out, there was a small cottage, human in style, log and stone on the outside.  There was a short fence, more the type of a small stone wall to keep little feet from running toward the cliff.  The door was not locked, but a familiar raptor pair was guarding the door.  Honor and Valor, both of Vol's favored hunting companions were curled up on the inside of the door, prepared to rip anyone who entered to shreds.  It was only when they recognized the Pandaren that they stood down and whistled a shrill hello.  They would let him in after sniffing him for a bit and then going out the door to hunt, leaving Xiao alone in the house. The house was empty of life, save for the retreating raptors and the pandaren. Xiao smiled at the two raptors. What a welcome sight. He actually went so far as to hug Honor, knowing he was the more stable and tame of the two, scritching those little head feathers gently. "Did you miss me, hm?" He cooed quietly before letting them go run off to hunt. He sighed and looked around the home. Empty, he was afraid of that. The fact that Honor and Valor were left, however, meant Vol wasn't going to be gone for too long, otherwise he'd have taken at least one with him normally. With an empty house, well... there was one thing to do. Snoop! Normally he would feel guilty invading someone's privacy, but it was his mate, it would be like invading his own privacy. After all, they were going to be married. "What's yours is mine, and mine is yours", that's the old saying, right? As such, he began to explore the home, partially out of curiosity and also just for some damned information. He'd come this far, if he could find any indication of what he could do next short of just playing the waiting game, he would.

There were two bedrooms, and spare items from all of the houses to furnish.  The bed from one of the spare rooms at the Vale was in one room, a crib at the foot of the mattress.  The crib was a deep stained brown, looking like it was used before, and trollish in nature.  Laying on the bed was a hammock, almost looking like a cradle that would be hung from the rafters with sturdy rope and chain.  A pile of soft furs, a bone rattle with fur and leather, and a small case of changing cloths and bottles was laid in a corner.  It looked as if the move was hasty, but organized. Xiao stopped when he saw that crib, walking over to it and smiling a bittersweet smile. All of this... he'd missed all of it just for some gold. To think his fiance would actually think he wouldn't want him anymore or this child. He took a slow calming breath to settle his emotions, his paw pads trailing along the worn wood slowly. He sighed and moved to sit on the bed, grabbing the rattle now and just holding it, feeling the leather and absorbing his emotions in that moment. It finally hit him how distant he'd been, how busy he'd been, how distracted he'd become trying to get gold when he knew Vol wouldn't care one way or another. He'd become so caught up trying to build this life for Vol when the only life either of them needed... was the one with each other.  For some time, he would just sit there, holding the rattle, and silently letting tears trail down his cheeks. There was a small knock on the door, a tall, familiar face wandering in, speaking rapid, lyrical Zandali.  The troll addressed Vol'raka but the rest was said too quickly for non native speakers to pick up.  The male troll went into the other room, not coming out.

Xiao was pulled out of his thoughts and hurriedly wiped the trails of tears down his fur, rustling the lush pelt just enough to try and make it look somewhat normal rather than being matted down where the tears trailed. He heard his mate's name, but knew it wasn't his voice. Anything beyond that was way too fast and way too foreign for him to understand. He bit his lower lip. Should he come out? He certainly couldn't just wait in there like some murderer and have the poor man wander in and see sudden surprise panda. Announcing himself seemed like the better option. He cleared his throat and spoke out, the heavily accented Pandaren voice starkly noticeable immediately as NOT Vol'raka by any means. He came out of the room as he spoke, peeking his head around the corner of the doorframe cautiously to see who the mystery Troll was addressing his mate. His guess was Jura but he couldn't be sure. "Hi, I uh... am not Vol'raka, obviously." He offered a sheepish smile. "Good to see you again, I was... well, I was waiting for him since I don't know where he is keeping Naddja." Jura, Vol’raka’s elder brother, turned, staring at the Pandaren for a moment, cursing himself for not realizing the life he sensed was not his brother.  "lil Mango Mon."  He gave a smirk and kept unpacking, knowing it was best he break out of these quick.  "What bring ja ta dis house, hmm?  Mah lil bruddah not be 'ere."  The look on Jura's face was neutral.  "An ja been cryin' ah smell ta salt from ja tears and ja eyes red."  He was still turned away, now unpacking a few soft toys, one a creepy looking black and gray doll.  "Ja gonna lay ja burdens out, or ja gonna wait til ja find his ovagrown Darkspeah ass?" Xiao hissed at himself inwardly for not accounting for those damned noses. He sighed and letting out a defeated chuckle. "I never was good at lying or uh... subterfuge. I was told Vol would either be here or with Naddja. Considering that Honor and Valor were outside, I figured he can't be gone from here for too long, so... I planned on just waiting." He said as he came closer. "Here, let me help?" He asked as he rounded the box to stand by Jura's side and help him unpack if the man allowed him.

“Ah wouldn't be waitin' long.  Last ah smelled dat girlie, she be closah ta er time den she be tinking."  He smiled, unpacking a little red stuffed raptor.  "Vol's.  Held on ta et fer em.  Nevah thought he be needin' et.  He left Honah an Valah 'ere fer weeks.  Not be countin' on dat  He got othas fer huntin'."  The room they were in seemed like it was meant to be a child's room, but was mostly bare save for the child size bed frame and wool blankets thrown over the windows to keep in the heat.  Jura finished pulling things out of his crate and set piles of clothes and blankets for both child and father against the wall.  There was a desk in the corner, a pile of accounting books and Vol's journal of raptor bloodlines.  These were things he kept with him when he could, some of his blood lines near and dear to him.  There were things missing, the pile of books strewn around and one missing.   "Not be used fer a baby fer a while.  Seem he moved 'is accountin' tings in 'ere.  Last day or two ah be tinkin, from da smells."

Xiao paled then as he helped, holding onto the little raptor plush. "Wait you mean he might not come back until after the baby is born...?" The fear was as clear as day on his face. Missing that birth would shatter him, who knew it'd mean so much to him, but there'd be no way for Jura to mistake that look.

"Not know what he gonna do.  Ah know he set ta come 'ere fer safety.  Ah see dat look, Xiao, ah can't help ja.  Vol not tell me where he smuggled da mama off ta.  Ah know he move some goats cuz he gonna be needin' milk.  Rest of et, ah been bringin' mah daughtah's clothes fer em  She out grow em, so et be good use."  He stood, dusting his legsoff.  "Dusty house fer a new one.  Dwarves know dey shit though.  Ja keep lookin'.  Ah smell da oil Reshka use.  Know where ja been.  With that, he picked up his crate and wandered out, barely ducking his head as the door was built for his brother. Xiao brought his hands up to his face to rub at it slowly, clearly stressed out as he bit back a groan. "Reshka doesn't know where he is either. I do not know what to do. I... I cannot miss that child being born, Jura... I want to see our child being born together..."  He whimpered. "Yes, our child. I do not know how much Vol told you, about he thinks I might leave him for this..." He shook his head. "I would never dare... he is my family, that baby... is my family. I... I cannot imagine him thinking anything but. I need to be there... I need to be there..." He leaned against the wall of the hallway now and let out a shaky sigh. "What do I do..." He whispered to himself before it hit him. He hurried back into the babies room and immediately opened that desk. It was Vol's accounting things, maybe it'd mention somewhere the other house. It was his last hope, he didn't care about pushing boundaries, he could apologize later if it meant finding the man he loved. In the pile, the notes for Krait's Jetty, The Vale house, and Jade forest were there.  Vol tended to keep detailed records of where he put his livestock and his money.  He'd killed too many people to not monitor where the gold went.  Accounts and payments, the flocks of raptors and small herds of goats were accounted for.  If Xiao looked, he would see that three goats were taken from each house and the Krait's jetty books settled completely.  The Animals from the camp had been moved to the Vale, all raptors accounted for, though many animals were sold or apparently butchered.  Three of his female raptors were marked with x's for some reason.  To the side of the desk was a contract, seemingly between mother and father.

*** Contract between Vol’raka, Son of Un’lai and Naddja, Daughter of Jansevet. The child born of this union will be named and cared for by its father.The mother will have no claim to the child after the birth.  This means that the mother may not return to claim the child later.In the event that something should happen to the father before the child is of age, the child will be raised by his family. The mother’s family has no claim to the child in any situation.  The mother agrees to leave, within three days of the birth.The mother agrees that she does not wish this child and all things shall lie upon the father as soon as her labor is complete.  The sum of ten thousand gold, three raptors, a herd of ten goats, and other goods equaling five thousand gold pieces shall be given.  These will be useful, but at the discretion of the father.** Below the writing, three people had signed.  All in Zandalari runes.  Next to the contract were the books of Vol's investments, the totaling fifteen thousand gold not quite a fourth of what was accounted in the record before him. Xiao furrowed his brows as he saw the contract. That was something he didn't expect. It made sense, but to see it all written so clinically like it was just some trade. Some things can't be avoided, but it still made him a bit uncomfortable for some reason that he couldn't quite pinpoint. Then he saw three signed runes. He knew one was Vol, one was the mother... who was the third. He assumed it had to be Kit, but again he had no way to get in touch with her that he knew of. "Celestials, please... something..." He whimpered to himself. "There has to be something I am missing..."

Xiao pored over the notes again, grumbling to himself. Such extensive notation, everything marked, everything kept track of. What was he missing. "Wait..." His eyes widened. "What is MISSING!" He hissed to himself and looked over the notes again. A book for each property; Krait's Jetty which was long done with, the Vale, the one near the monastery... he had more houses than that. "... Oh my sweet Celestials you have got to be kidding me." He said with a disbelieving chuckle. Just like that, he grabbed the stuffed raptor and the rattle before reaching for his hearthstone and using it to pull him back across Azeroth over to the Vale. From there, it was a very speedy flight over to the Kun'-Lai house. He landed silently, having taken his cloud as he abandoned his poor cloud serpent in the Eastern Kingdoms; though the greatly intelligent creature always found its way back. He took a deep, calming breath and opened the door. He could only hope he was right