#I might be stupid; but the way they talk also sounds eerily similar...

[ilkkawhat]

between what i shared earlier and what i am sharing below...i was so close to almost hitting 1000 words today...amazing what a cup of coffee with a cousin you haven't really connected with before and/or healing from a terribly stressful weak with a climaxed migraine the day before can do to charge your creative outlet...

He foolishly thought he was finally a step ahead, using his newfound power to project himself into New York, a playground he was familiar with. This wouldn’t turn out like Night Springs did, he had a better understanding of the rules. This dart was finally landing on the board and at first, he felt like he hit a bullseye.

Until he woke up in the talk show studio. Until he saw himself on a television, in the Writer’s Room and rambling like crazy. Until he stumbled into that alleyway, confronted by the fictional character he’d done nothing but torture for a full series before sentencing him to his death…and again, as he watched that character die slumped in a pool of his own blood. A murderous shadow stalking him through the streets, with a voice that sounded eerily similar to his own. 

And that was all before he took a downward staircase that somehow led him up to a rooftop.

It had been nothing but a nightmare, but there were pockets of light he was able to hide in, if only to catch his breath. Ragged, hard. Nonsensical, because this body was fictional too, and every time he thought about that his head hurt just a little more. 

What was that stupid breathing exercise Barry once tried to get him to do before his first appearance on a talk show? He still remembered cringing as Barry gripped his hunched shoulders, whispering affirmations to him in the midst of the surprise panic attack that he felt he was above having, short exhaling puffs of anger expelled through his nostrils but Barry advised him to open his mouth, feel the air…Two seconds in, two seconds out. Two seconds in, two seconds out, until it makes the shape of a—

Box. Box breathing.

He remembered how he had tried and failed to lighten the mood with a snippy jab at his agent and best friend, sarcastically feigning that he didn’t understand and asking if he meant “beat boxing” instead. But he also remembered how it helped, and how he was able to just flip a switch as he walked onto the stage and wowed the nation. 

He was trying that exercise again, but was interrupted by a new sound slicing through the howling, growling wind of the city that blew him to the ground. 

Humming. A familiar tune, he but he couldn’t place the name. 

He emerged from his safe haven, waved his flashlight to dispel the shadows as he traced the sound. It got stronger when he saw a piece of yellow tape flapping in the cold wind, and that’s when he realized this voice was unfamiliar to the ones he had heard so far; it wasn’t the oddball janitor, wasn’t the actor-slash-character interviewed by the over-jovial talk show host who he might have liked to watch at a different time in his life, and it wasn’t even himself. 

So who was it?

“Hello?” he asked as he followed the tape up a flight of stairs, pushed a door that was already slightly ajar open further to find a mirror of the sanctuary he just left, except there’s no coffee and shoebox; rather pizza and suitcases. The room felt warm, basked in an orange glow. Instinctively, he wanted to flee as he registered the uniformed man standing in front of a blank whiteboard, holding his chin deep in thought. Still humming. 

“Uhm…hello?” Alan asked nervously.

“What the hell?” the man broke his humming, spun around and shined his flashlight and gun in Alan’s face. Alan raised his hands, dropped his own flashlight just as the unnamed Sheriff lowered his weapon. “Sorry, you scared the daylights outta me…Not that I’ve even seen daylight in this place…” 

“I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, Sheriff—?”

“Breaker. Tim Breaker.”

That named sounded familiar…vague memories of a woman with a good heart who just tried to help him, even when he wasn’t completely honest with her…a pang of guilt, having forced Barry to keep her away. 

“—Sheriff Breaker, but…are you real?”

“Well, uh, I hope so?” Tim chuckled awkwardly. “Could ask you the same thing, Mr…?”

“Wake. My name’s Alan Wake, I’m a writer.”

“Yeah, I…know who you are. Everyone does. But you…you disappeared years ago. How did you end up here? Wherever ‘here’ is…”

He could tell the truth. Tell this Sheriff how he dove into a lake to save his wife, after she was held hostage and he had to write a story that almost destroyed the town of Bright Falls, and now he was trying to write another story to get him out of this nightmare realm, and this man could very well be just another character that he’s made up, making a cameo in Initiation or maybe just another trick the Dark Place is playing on his mind. More bait to make him think that he has a chance to escape. 

But something about Tim Breaker seemed…more genuine than he could ever write up. 

[minkieater]

tace omg omg new lore abt my fav boy (kicks legs giddily)

gahdamn I KNEW i had read moirai somewhere but this and joong referring nana as supernatural beings oh wow... this reminds me there are 3 goddesses in three fates, and they also are called triumph of death? or the three times joong met (sort of interacted?)or nana tweaked his brain chemicals in a way, they can be the three sisters, clotho the spinner, lachesis the alotter and altropos the cutter of life thread. MAYBE im reading into the symbolism too much but literature is about each interpretation to its own and reading between the lines (im more worried abt sounding confusing and dumb but MEHHHH i wanna talk abt this so i will) you really ate with the symbolism (im a whore for that istg)

okay them sharing the same universe gives me hope because the last bit showcased immense mental strength of hongjoong despite the regression. and his values are so similar with captain irl i cant help but really really keep this story close to me.

ZORO ZORO ZORO DHEHAKGDJDHDJBR I JUST REMEMBERED JOONGIE BOY HAD HIS EYE ON HIM ALWAYSHDGEHVEBE YOURE SO EVIL WITH THAT i was like searching wikifandom who the hell is noa then gave up.

i think if joongie boy had confronted nana, which would make his walls fall more further than he wanted to. far from his comfort zone to even build it back up, and i can agree with that because sometimes i would just pschewww away from a situation because confronting it just another mental breakdown.

i was eerily content with the ending maybe thats why i never pointed out that they should've just talked about labels and all that jazz. (am i stupid, or am i single tune in to find out).

MY JOONGIE BOY IM SOS SOSKDO PROUD OF HIM ☹️☹️ I SEE MYSELF IN HIM😞😞😞😞💘 THANK YOU TACE FOR WRITING THIS (scoops up melted heart matter and gives it to you) 🫂 city boy!joongie will keep me company for the rest of my adulthood

you’re not reading into the symbolism too much at ALL its all about your take on it and what makes sense to you 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

i’m obsessed with how much you ARE reading into it genuinely this message literally made me want to giggle like a school girl im so happy omg

when i first got into atz mingi immediately pulled my ass under (i am a simple woman i love one man) but hongjoong… i am obsessed with him. my soul sister i see so much of myself in him sometimes, the big sister in me can’t help but read into everything he does and pick apart every part of his personality, i have no outlet except writing to bring all of these scenarios i think up about him into fruition. captain joongie is so layered i adore him i need to sit down and have a conversation with him to unravel each one, my feelings for him pour into each piece i write abt him (ill shut up i can talk about him forever)

i am also still a simple woman with my love for zoro, i love big man 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ he follows me everywhere and i keep him close to me always (so valid for searching for a noa. i couldn’t name him zoro its too OBVIOUS)

i honestly wonder if joongie ever would talk to nana, im unsure if it fits his personality to leave himself so vulnerable, to inevitably admit his feelings through what could be a simple conversation 😔 i was also comfortable with the ending i feel like it made sense but they also work together, they’ll see each other often & there’s no way they just ignore each other in the hallways 😭 at least i hope not tbh joongie might end up walking past her like he did in the lobby IDK

i also see myself in him we are similar and it makes sense that we both feel so many things toward him!!! thank you so much for reading it and loving my boy as much as i do<3 city joongie will live inside me forever

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What would happen if you were sent back and ended up in the orphanage with Tom Riddle—and say you also had magic?

Oh boy.

Well, there's a lot to question here. Judging by the... spirit of this ask, I presume I'm... pretty much reincarnated. I'm in the orphanage, I'm much younger than I am now and a child, I'm pre-Hogwarts age, and I retain my current knowledge.

For the purpose of this ask I suppose I also retain my current mental faculties. Despite being in the body of an eight-year-old, I'm not The Carnivorous Muffin at eight.

Welp, there's a lot to consider here.

First, I probably don't realize I'm in Harry Potter for quite some time and instead assume I've been reincarnated to some parallel universe. It's the 1930's, I'm in England in the depression, WWI has occurred and the vast majority of major historical events I know about seem to have happened in the right order, and this Earth is eerily similar to the Earth I left behind.

Strange that I appear to remember everything of my past life with my adult mental abilities, but alright universe, I guess that's how we're going to play this.

What I do know is that I'm dirt poor, presumably still a woman which does not bode well for my career prospects, and if I want any prospects in life period I'm going to have to fight tooth and nail for it. It'd be great if I got adopted to help with this, and might be nice to have people in my life who love me, but there's a lot of orphans in the world and a lot of orphans who are much less weird than I am.

The orphanage is the orphanage and not great, Mrs. Cole is overworked, the orphanage is chronically understaffed, and the kids are running wild beating the shit out of each other.

Being a girl, I probably don't have to worry about getting the shit kicked out of me quite as much, but I still probably try to keep my head down and don't aggravate the particularly beefy looking orphans.

Yes, there's some very angry gremlin named Tom Riddle around who will shove you down the stairs in retribution, but that's just a weird coincidence. And then supernatural shit starts happening. Billy's rabbit hangs itself, people get injuries when Tom is nowhere near them, and I start wondering if this is really the Tom Riddle.

I'm in Wool's Orphanage, my matron is Mrs. Cole, Tom Riddle is running around lighting things on fire. It's possible, though it could all be a strange coincidence.

Now, how things go from here depends on how controlled my own magic is. Since accidental magic typically does manifest at least once or twice, it probably does manifest for me for.. something. If Tom Riddle's there to witness it then...

Well, I imagine he's very offended. Here he was, special, different, better than everyone else, and then some girl in the orphanage (who dares to get very good grades on her assignments in school) has it too.

And I just stand there, smiling, going "Tee hee".

He probably confronts me to prove that he's better at it than I am, and he probably is unless the universe hates both him and me, but having someone else with the Shining around probably prompts him to take me as his protégé (in part so he can show off and in part because he's genuinely excited to be able to share this super cool talent).

I am now apprentice to eight-year-old Tom Riddle. Whoop de doo.

Well, I don't remember this part of Harry Potter, so now I'm probably confused as to where I am again. Regardless, I try to advise Tom on how to tone it down and not, say, traumatize Amy and Dennis for life and antagonize all the other orphans forever. He probably doesn't take me seriously. What do I know, I can't even light that patch of grass on fire?

Hanging around Tom Riddle gets me a reputation to, given the difference in genders, probably a fairly nasty one at that. When Dumbledore arrives he's undoubtedly told hot gossip about how eleven-year-old Tom and I have had sex in a ritual to summon Satan. Dumbledore takes this seriously.

Dumbledore probably meets us both at the same time and it's a disaster. I tried my best to prep Tom without revealing I'm a prophet, Tom first doesn't believe there might not be others, then doesn't believe they would be antagonist/anything but amazed by how awesome he is.

Well, Dumbledore lights his wardrobe on fire while I sit there. Dying inside. Dumbledore probably also does something to me too, to teach me some kind of lesson about something.

I imagine he temporarily disfigures me/makes me appear very ugly, then sticks a mirror to the wall, that way I realize that looks aren’t everything/being a whore is wrong. Tom, still traumatized over the wardrobe, is no help and my magic’s probably not controlled enough to do a thing about it.

I spend a day looking like a pig, Tom and I are given just enough money to buy new wands and second hand/barely functioning everything else and given the world’s worst directions to Diagon Alley. Thanks, Albus.

Well, months pass, we get our wands, Tom gets excited for Hogwarts and I... start seriously considering the future. WWII is coming, the Blitz is coming, Tom and I live in east London and must be able to evacuate during the bombing of London (which went on well past the Blitz to the end of the war). I also start considering my future in the wizarding world. Do I now actually have career prospects?

Probably not because I’m muggle born and a woman. My best bet is doing very well in useful subjects and finding employment with the goblins, I can’t imagine they have the same hang ups as the wizarding world.

Tom wants to go to Slytherin, of course, I tell him this is a bad idea. “Gee Tom,” I say, “Not sure how I know this but I have this feeling that Slytherin is filled with people who loathe our very existence and will shank us. Why don’t we pick Ravenclaw or Gryffindor instead?”

No one shanks Tom Riddle! Tom says. Tom is still eleven and while he admits that sometimes I may, in retrospect, have been right about certain things that doesn’t mean he wants to go to the house known for hard work. That’s code word for everyone there being a moron and having no other redeeming features than tenacity. As for the other two, Ravenclaws sound like smug, elitist, nerds and Gryffindors like dumb jocks.

Better to be known for ambition, cunning, and actually being competent.

Well, there’s no talking him out of this one, and goddamn it we’re all each other has.

I’m the closest thing Tom Riddle has ever had to a friend in all these years and in the orphanage the only one who could hold a decent conversation with him. And while it’s not my moral obligation to keep Tom from becoming a domestic terrorist, and there’s no guarantee I even can, dumping him for one of the other houses and drifting apart won’t help.

Not to mention that, after all these years, I’m undoubtedly lonely, I’m in this foreign land, and he’s now the closest thing to a friend I have.

Looks like I’m going to Slytherin, YOOOOOLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO! I shout as a battle cry as tears run down my face. I may have to convince the hat to put me in Slytherin, but like all human beings I am a mixture of many qualities. I’m not cunning in the least, mind games exhaust me unutterably, but I’m full of ambition. 

This confirms every bad opinion Dumbledore had regarding me and Tom.

For the next several months, Tom probably beats the shit out of dormmates who steal his things/harass him. He beats up mine too because feminism (TM) means that he should treat all people equally when guilty of the same crime. I... am not sure I can win that fight so I just resign myself to having to adopt some of Tom’s tactics to make sure I’m not shoved in lockers, have tampons thrown at me, or pig’s blood dumped on me at the prom.

Once again, everyone thinks Tom Riddle and I are dating. I don’t even know if they’re wrong at this point.

Well, being in class with eleven year olds who seem to have had little to no prior education, Tom and I are undoubtedly blazing through class. I imagine I’m bored out of my mind (the Hogwarts curriculum sounds unbelievably boring) and Tom is... well, probably devouring the library but probably also bored. I decide to try and see if I can find some real history texts on this world (there are probably none, the wizarding world seems to only have two historians and both... have a different approach to history than current modern thought as I know it) and discover what magic even is. That shit is fascinating: wingardium leviosa is not.

Dumbledore likely gives neither me nor Tom points in class, I think the house cup is stupid, so I really don’t care. I have no interest in playing quidditch, neither does Tom, so that doesn’t happen.

The second world war starts up, Tom, me, and the muggle borns are the only ones who give a flying fuck. I work harder on figuring out how to get lodging during the Blitz/the bombing of London. Unfortunately, Mrs. Cole hates me too for being the Bride of Satan, so that’s a no go. Third year, 1939, I probably write her in earnest anyway telling her to PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, send Tom and I instructions for the summer/where the orphans are staying/how they’ve been dispersed to the countryside. As a back up plan, I try desperately to shmooze shopkeepers in Hogsmeade during every Hogsmeade weekend to get myself and Tom part time jobs and lodging over the summer. As a back up back up plan, I spend my time badgering Tom to become very good at survivalist wandless magic and if the Lord has pity on me gain some ability in it myself.

Hopefully, either Mrs. Cole or one of the Hogsmeade shop owners take pity on us. If not, then Tom and I are going extreme camping. Given Mrs. Cole (and the brain damage brought on by Dumbledore erasing memories left and right) and the likelihood of Hogsmeade shop owners just not getting it, Tom and I probably go extreme camping.

(Tom, meanwhile, asks Dippet and Dumbledore if we can stay in Hogwarts over the summer. He’s told no exceptions. London’s being bombed, you say? No exceptions. Toodles. Tom is never the same.)

Me, Tom Riddle, a tent we made ourselves, several rabbits we had to catch and skin ourselves, and the pitiful fire that we can keep going through pure will alone because if we try to use real people spells then we’ll get arrested. It has the benefit of making Tom feel very manly and impressive, catching his own food, but both of us are well aware that this sucks.

But hey, we aren’t dead.

Well, I’m sure Tom doesn’t appreciate that and this is where I imagine he seriously starts talking about violent revolution. I imagine much of my time is spent discussing the merits of not violently overthrowing our ant overlords. I imagine a thirteen-year-old Tom isn’t impressed by my pacifism, but he’s not married to Voldemort yet (probably).

Then I imagine the horcrux thing comes up and... Well, I will argue hard against it. Humans die, it is a truth of the universe, and simply something we have to accept. Horcruxes are not a measure against that, they can be destroyed, given infinite time they will be, and the sacrifice they require is too high: human life as well as the very essence of who you are.

What is a soul? I’m not sure, we never really learn in HP canon, but whatever it is, it is in some way the essence of yourself. If you take half of it and throw it somewhere else, you will cease to be you, someone or something else is walking around in your body while the other half of you exists in endless agony.

If you must chase immortality, create a philosopher’s stone (as I darkly wonder why it was that couldn’t be replicated and what Flamel had to do to make it in the first place). On second thought, maybe we should search for the Holy Grail.

Whether I can talk Tom out of this or not is... unclear. I’m going to say that I can, in part because I imagine he’ll want to show the chamber off to me, tell me when he realizes he’s Heir of Slytherin, and in doing so I can prevent the basilisk incident from occurring. Without that, there’s no dead Myrtle, which means no first victim. That summer, when he goes to the Gaunts, I’ll go with him and convince him that it’s not worth it. He can just turn around and leave these people alone, I hopefully can talk him down. Which means no second victim.

I start writing Flamel to see if Tom or I can get an apprenticeship (Dumbledore probably beats us to the chase and poisons him against us, but it’s worth a shot).

Then, should all go well, I can convince Tom to find employment with the goblins rather than shady antique dealers on the bad side of town. Hopefully, I can convince him to never become Voldemort, and instead we travel the world together looking for the origins of magic or something.

Dumbledore goes around taking people’s memories of us in preparation for when Tom becomes a dark lord and I his lady of the night darkness.

TL;DR Apparently my life would become an SI/Tom Riddle fic. So, thanks anon.

[cuddlesslut]

Silence

Part Two to Home

Atsumu x Fem Redaer

Summary: Atsumu deals with the aftermath

Warnings: Angst, NSFW, Slight smut, Atsumu is an Ass

AN/ UNEDITED. this is just a portrayal of Atsumu for this work not how I actually perceive him

The will be a Part Three.

Part One: Home

Part Three: Memories

Atsumu cursed himself as you ran out the restaurant. He knew he was getting to cocky. Frustration was taking over his body as he sat back down at the table. He ran his hand over his face as let out a heavy sigh before looking up at her. Yuki ,his most recent girlfriend, sat there loss for words. He could see the tears building in her eyes. Obviously she was confused it’s not like she knew anything about you he had courted her like all the others under the disguise of being single. He racked his brain he knew he had been careless lately. Normally you’d never notice his infidelity he’d been doing it for quite sometime now and for so long you were none the wiser. He’d find some chick take her either back to her place or a hotel have his fun and be gone only repeating the same girl maybe twice at most three times if she was a really good lay. He’d make sure no marks were left and he was clean up before heading home to you his unsuspecting fiancé. Yuki was different though she was the first woman to actually catch his attention in more than just a sexual capacity. Don’t get him wrong the sex with her was amazing but he also found himself enjoying her company wanting to spend more and more time with her. He curses maybe if he hadn’t been so stupid and forgot your birthday everything would be fine. Being so pissed at the situation he failed to worry about Yuki’s feelings as she finally broke the silence.

“Tsmu I don’t get it, we’ve been together for eight months how could you cheat on me,” she sniffled tears starting to stream down her face as her usually charming boyfriend sat across from her looking at her with annoyance.

He scoffed looking at her pitiful state. If he wasn’t already so fed up with the situation he was sure he could use his silver tongue to get out of this situation and have her back at his side momentarily, but no he needed to save all his effort and false reassurances for you.

“Oh sweetheart I didn’t cheat on you,” he gave a little chuckle, “That’s was my fiancé , I’ve been with her for six years what makes you think eight months means anything, you were the side piece darling.” He saw the hurt on her face and knew he had just been a complete ass but he couldn’t find it in him to care right now although he was sure he would later. That hurt turned to anger as she stood and threw her drink in his face.

“You are an ASSHOLE Atsumu!” She yelled finally losing what composer she was keeping before storming away out the same door you had just previously exited.

Yeah I guess I am he thought as wiped his face the rag before signaling for the check. Looking at the glass that contained your ring he thought of all the Pinterest boards you had saved of rings and dresses and different color schemes. He thought of the excitement and love in your eyes when he finally proposed. He plucked the ring out of the drink before pocketing it and heading home.

As he entered your shared home he realized he had guessed right you weren’t there. He pulled out his phone, pulling up your contact and hitting call. It wouldn’t connect. He let out the breath he was holding, so you had already blocked him he thought. He walked to their room wanting to change out of his wet dress shirt. He immediately noticed the most of your drawers were empty and your half The closet was looking sparse. He wondered if you were coming back for the rest. Part of him was sure you would, you would come back where else could you go. Yet somewhere deep in his mind part of him was screaming at the idea of you being gone. But he wouldn’t let that part surface. He walked out to the kitchen noticing the box of onigiri left out along with his brother’s birthday note to you. He rolled his eyes of course Osamu remembered. That’s probably where you are ,now that he thinks about it, that or your heading to Suna that’s who you always ran to he grimaced.

Thinking back to high school when the two of you had first gotten together he had introduced you to the team. You and Suna just clicked it was like you had been friends all of your lives the way you easily laughed and joked together. He had never seen anyone pull Suna from his shell the way you had and he still hadn’t. Not a single one of the middle blockers previous significant others had ever pulled the same reaction from the stoic man as you had. It didn’t take Tsumu long to realize the fool was head over heels for you. But it’s didn’t matter to him you were completely oblivious to blockers affections, as well as the fact that you were dutifully loyal to the setter. He wasn’t worried because what was Suna compared to him.

While he figures he should call either of the two to make sure you are indeed safe, he doesn’t feel like getting a lecture right before bed. He grabs his glass of water before heading to bed. Noticing how cold the mattress is without you. It’s fine he thinks he doesn’t need you. He knew that fact from the countless woman he’d beded in the last few years. Plus he’s sure you’ll come back. He’s the only man you’ve ever loved.

———

Atsumu wakes the next morning to find the house eerily quiet. He pays little mind to it before heading off to the gym he has a game today he can’t allow himself to be distracted. The setters normal routine isn’t disrupted for the most part. Finding his team doing his warm ups. He does however run into Osamu at the gym he’s setting up his vendors stand for Onigiri Miya. His brother says nothing of you to Atsumu minus some well wishes. So you must have ran to Suna he muses. His game goes off with out a hitch securing the victory for MSBY.

He finds the house just as he left it no trace of you having step foot back into your home. He checks his phone looking for a sign that you want to talk. No messages or calls. He decides to try and check you location but it seems that your number is no longer connected to his plan. He furrows his brow it seemed like a big step but he brushes it off his mind. He had just won a big game he wanted to celebrate. Usually he’d have dinner with you either going out or indulging in your delicious home cooking, you both share smiles about the game either her gushing about her favorite moments had she attended the game which normally she’d try to make a priority, although there were times you’d have class or work and you have to miss in which you’d sit and listen to him starry eyed as he retold the highlights of the game. You look at him like he was a star shooting across the sky. But right now the kitchen was empty and the house was silent missing the awes of your praise. It was to much at the moment. The setter changes into something dashing before heading out he’ll grab something to eat and then maybe get a celebratory drink.

That’s how Atsumu found himself here at some sleek bar with a glass of scotch in his hand. He surveyed the bar watching the people around dance and talk and go about their night. He try’s not to think about the silence waiting for him at home .That’s until he spots a girl. She look kind of like you similar build although her hair is longer and a slightly different hue. He knows it’s not you but still that hasn’t stopped him before so he slides his way over to her.

“Hi there,” he smiles a charming smile. She looks up at him giving a sly smile. From here he can see her eyes they’re nothing like yours, he shakes the thought from his head. “You know your boyfriend really shouldn’t leave you all alone like this you are much to beautiful,” if he a a nickel for every time he used that line he could probably retire early. He could see a slight blush appear on her cheeks.

“I would tell him but I don’t have one Mr. — ,” she trailed off leaving an opening for his name.

“Miya,” he smiles a bright fake smile. “And you are?” He questions.

“Chiyo,” she smile subtly biting her lip as her eyes raked down his figure. It’s almost too easy he thinks to himself.

“Well Chiyo-San may I buy you a drink?” He not so subtly eyes her as well.

And that how he got here for the first time ever he brought a woman home to your bed. Their body’s mashed together. Their clothes strewn around the house leading a trail to the bedroom. The recently quiet house filled with grunts and moans. “Miya-San,”she cry’s out and he has to try not to roll his eyes. She might look like you but she sounds nothing like you. You always makes the prettiest gasps and mewls as he worked your body over. She doesn’t feel like you, he can’t remember the last time you were together like this breathless underneath him. He shakes his head trying to rid himself of the thoughts. He’s confused he never compared you before with is flings you were always separate from his mind when the slept with other women. Frustrated with his thoughts he pulls out flipping the chick ,what was her name Chizu? , over on her knees before pounding into her relentlessly pushing her face in to the mattress as he took frustrations out. Her moans get louder as his face scrunches up in annoyance. It’s not long before he’s finished them both off and she laying there breathless as he throws away the condom. He see her make herself a little more comfortable on his bed he shared with you. He cringes.

“Hey Chizu, uh it’s probably best if you get going,” he states pulling a pair of sweatpants on.

He can see the disgust on her face. “My name is Chiyo asshole!” She says grabbing her clothes on as she start out the door.

Normally he’d care that he’d at least said the wrong name. But right now he just laid on the bed staring at the ceiling. The silence was back.

———

It has been two weeks since you left. He hadn’t heard from you, you never came back for your stuff. He hasn’t heard from Suna yet either although he figures the ass is to busy trying win and mend your broken heart. It’s only been two weeks but those two weeks without you were torture. He realized very quickly how much comfort you brought to him. How much he relied on you. All the mornings you’d spend cuddled together drinking your morning coffee. Although that had been less recent while he busying himself with Yuki. He missed the delicious meals you’d cook. Or the way you’d take care of him if he’d train to hard. He misses seeing you at the desk studying away your tongue poking out ever so slightly as you concentrated. He misses your laugh that would fill the house as you watched whatever anime you were currently bingeing always asking him to join you. You were always the one looking out for him making sure that he ate and rested. Always handling the groceries and the house work. The place was a mess without you he was a mess with out you. He misses the life you brought to the his home. He’s drawn from with wallowing when he hears knocks at the door.

He’s surprised to see his brother and Suna standing on the other side.

“Hey I’ve been trying to get in touch with YN but she’s hasn’t been answering is she here?” Suna asks stepping to his house his brother following behind. Suna stops his face scrunching up at the state of the place. Osamu also notices.

“Damn Tsumu its a mess in here YN let y’all live like this?” His twin asks taking a good look at his disheveled twin. “What happened,” concern crossing his similar features.

Atsumus mind starts to reel a bit. You werent with Suna?

“YN hasn’t been with you?” He looks at the middle blocker he was hoping he knew how you were.

“No,” he states starting to get really worried. “What happened,” there was an edge to his voice.

Atsumu stayed quiet. His brother nudges him but he still looks down. It isn’t until Suna grabs him by his collar that he looks up.

“She left me.”He states.

“That makes no sense YN loves you with everything she has she wouldn’t just leave you, what happened,” Osamu questions again.

“I cheated on her and she found out,” he says. He doesn’t look up but he can feel the rage coming off of Suna and the disappointment from his twin.

“What the fuck do you mean you cheated on her!” he yelled shaking him “for how long!”

The was no use lying and trying to hide it you weren’t coming back he can tell. And even if you would he knew he didn’t deserve you.

“The past 2 years,” he chokes out. Suna let’s go of his collar in disbelief.He breaths getting ready to explain everything but he wasn’t ready when he felt a fist connect with his cheek. He was on the ground rubbing his jaw. He looked up and Suna was seething in anger. His brother looked disgusted with him.

“Where is she,” Suna demanded.

“I don’t know she left two weeks ago I figured she was with you,”

“So lets get this straight you broke her heart and she left you and you didn’t even check to make sure she was safe! Did you ever even love her,” the dark haired middle blocker screamed at his former teammate.Of course he did but he cant say that not after he never showed it. He look down he couldn’t meet his friends eyes he felt so ashamed. He heard a scoff and then the front door slam. Suna was gone. He looked up and saw his brother staring down at him.

“You’re a real piece of shit you know that,” Samu says before he follows out the door.

Sobs tear through Tsumu as he realizes he ruined everything.

He sat there on the floor left in silence.

Home Masterlist

Taglist: @momoinot @multi-fandom-fanfic

[13uswntimagines]

Pranksters of the Bunch (Harry Potter AU)

Y/n is just starting to get comfortable with her new friends, when she learns about their more... playful side. We learn about more relationships and see hints of our endgame. We also get a glimpse of some other players that make up the rest of our version of Hogwarts. @literaryhedgehog

Pt. 1

“For next class, homework is to practice your transfiguration. Anyone who can get their matchstick into a needle is exempt from writing their essay. You are dismissed,” Professor McGonagall said, tapping her wand on the blackboard so the notes from the day’s lesson disappeared. As the other students began filing out of the room you picked up your bag and dropped your notes into it, careful to set your “quill” gently so the bic ballpoint pen you taped to it wouldn’t fall off.

“If you epoximose it, you won’t have to worry about it falling off” Lindsey said with an eye roll, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Some of your habits were a bit… odd. Like your preference for a pen that you didn’t have to dip in ink. 

“I’m sorry, if I what?” you asked. “That sounds like a sneeze.” 

“It’s a spell that’ll glue it so you don’t need to use spell-o-tape,” Kelley said, appearing on your other side as Professor McGonagall left the room.  

“I can teach you, if you like. It’s super simple, even a first year could do it,” Emily offered, ignoring Lindsey’s sideways glare. 

“Then why don’t they teach it to us as first years?” You said, slamming your chair under the desk. Not that you disliked any of your classes, but the curriculum seemed to leave out a lot of useful information. 

“Because they’re afraid that it’ll just help students do better pranks,” Lindsey huffed, crossing her arms. If anyone was going to teach you things, it should be her. 

“No they’re not,” Ashlyn said, rolling her eyes. “They teach tricky techniques that are applicable to multiple spells. It’s like quidditch drills.” 

“Cause it’s so much less challenging than fighting a boggart, or accioing anything. If you mess it up, then you could glue your fingers together,” Emily snorted, shaking her head. She was just lucky that Madam Pomfrey liked her enough to not rat her out to Professor Slughorn (not that he’d actually do anything) or Professor Longbottom. 

“Or accidentally drop a banner on the Huffelpuffs?” Ashlyn said with a raised eyebrow. Emily and Kelley seemed to shrink just a bit under her gaze. 

“That was you?” You asked, eyes wide. That banner had almost knocked Cheney off her broom and Amy was pissed. Rumor had it that the Slytherin captain had taken care of the incident because it was someone in her house that did it, but no one knew for sure (at least you thought no one knew). 

“You can’t prove anything,” Emily grumbled. 

“It was them,” Lindsey nodded, smirking at you. “and Arod made sure they not only apologized, but that they actually meant it. Kelley only got away unscathed because she hid in Gryffindor tower,”  

Those two always got themselves in over their heads and something always went wrong. You could only wonder what the Slytherin chaser did to them. Amy was terrifying when she wanted to be especially when you messed with her girlfriend. 

“Of course I meant it, the banner wasn’t supposed to fall,” Emily grumbled. “The charm was supposed to last the whole game. Anyway, she made me practice the sticking charm and its reverse a hundred times so it wouldn’t happen again. Not that it matters next year when I’m actually on the team. It’s stupid that they still don’t want second years to play beater.”

“At least this time there won’t be any accidents,” Ashlyn said, smirking as she settled into a chair previously vacated by some of your second year peers. Which was when you realized it was kind of odd that she was here. Wasn’t she a third year student?

“What do you mean?” You asked, your head tilting to the side like a puppy. 

“Wait THIS time?” Lindsey, asked, looking between the three girls settling down at the desks like it wasn’t the end of the day’s classes. “Don’t tell me you’re planning another prank right now?”

“Of course not!” Kelley said, looking aghast. 

“You haven’t left the room yet,” Emily said, adopting a similarly innocent, wide eyed expression. 

“They’re going to be dumbasses and probably get detention for a month aren’t they?” You asked, looking at Lindsey for help. Though you had know been hanging out with them for the past few weeks, they were still her friends after all. 

“Oh. I don’t want detention though,” Ashlyn said flipping through a spellbook absentmindedly. “And it will be rather hard to prove we have anything to do with an event which might or might not happen in the next few days.”

“Just a word of advice, though. If you’re going to take a shower today, do it in the next two hours and don’t take one tomorrow morning,” Emily said finally, eyes softening just a little at your too nervous expression. 

“You don’t think they’re going to test your wands to see if it was you?” Lindsey asked skeptically. 

“Priori incantatem only goes so far, especially if I tutor Y/n on how to glue her pens together,” Emily rolled her eyes, and shrugged. She would argue she was just being a good friend after all. 

“With the kind of prep work we’ve done, they’d have to go back, oh, at least three days before they saw any hint that we’ve done a spell related to the event, which again, might or might not start in,” Kelley checked her watch, the face of which glowed a soft yellow, “two hours and five minutes, give or take 20 seconds.”

You wondered if she came from a muggle family too, but you had been too afraid to ask. You had never met a wizard or witch that preferred wristwatches to pocket watches before. 

“In that case, we’ll head back to the Gryffindor dorms,” Lindsey said, hastily sweeping her transfiguration notes into the mouth of her bag. “See you at dinner Kelley, Ashlyn.”

“Want to meet in the library to learn the sticking charm Y/n?” Emily asked. Lindsey stopped in the doorway, waiting for you. “Like I said, I practiced the charm literally a hundred times, so I’m really good at it now!”

“Um, I think I’m just going to focus on turning my matchstick into a needle tonight, but maybe some other time?” You mumbled, glancing up at Lindsey. (Were you imagining the slight uptick of her lips?) 

“Okay,  See you then!” And with that Emily turned back to her compatriots, who all put their heads together and started talking in hushed voices, over a sheet of paper which looked eerily similar to a playbook. 

“What do you think they’re planning?” you whispered to Lindsey as the two of you raced towards the stone staircases up to the Gryffindor tower. There was this one staircase that was the fastest way up when it was connected to the right floor, but it only stayed there for a few minutes every half hour. If you missed the window to catch it there would be two extra flights to climb. 

“You really don’t want to know. Something always goes wrong when they make plans anyway. It’s why they always get caught,” Lindsey said back equally as quiet, shaking her head. She would skin them alive if you got caught in the crossfire. You were on her off limits list (you always had been) and they had always promised to respect that. 

*****

The two of you just made it to the beginning of dinner, after taking turns in the dorm’s bathroom to shower and dry your hair (at least until it wasn’t noticeably dripping). You didn’t know when your next opportunity to take a shower unscathed would be, and you were happy you had made it within Kelley’s two hour window. 

However, despite your expectations of screams, or the sound of frogs appearing from the drains, it was a quiet night. As was the morning afterwards. It wasn’t until lunch the next day, that you learned what the prank had been. Exactly as the clock struck noon, all around the great hall people started laughing as the hair of ¾ the school population turned bright colors. 

Professor McGonagall frowned at her bright purple hair in the reflection of her teapot. Alex threw a roll at Kelley (with neon yellow hair) who was pointing and laughing at her forest green hair. Tobin and Lauren had fallen off the bench laughing over at the hufflepuff table, pointing towards their respective girlfriends matching pink hair at the ravenclaw and Slytherin tables (Tobin’s hair didn’t seem to have changed color, though Lauren’s was a pale aquamarine sort of blue).

 At the Slytherin table Michelle was admiring her jet black hair, though with a wave of her wand it seemed to be speckled with glimmering white and red stars, then she turned to resume her conversation with Joy and some of the other seventh years, who you noticed didn’t seem to have colorful hair. 

Looking around the hall, you noticed that a lot of the older students seemed to be lacking the colorful hair sprouted by most of the student body. A few Ravenclaw sixth years had only looked up briefly from studying their notes to see what the commotion was about, before returning to “The Official N.E.W.T.S. Study Guide- test prep for the procrastinator”. Hope, Brandi, Mia, Briana, Christie, Tiffany, Lorrie, Carla. You looked at the sixth and seventh years you knew from watching quidditch games. Regardless of house, almost none of them appeared to be affected by the prank.. 

“You could have told me, you know?” Alex glared, throwing another roll at her cackling girlfriend. 

“But what fun would that be?” Kelley snorted, dodging the roll and quickly snatching up the basket to remove any further ammunition out of Alex’s reach. 

“Ashlyn told Ali and Emily told Kristie!” Alex whined, her nose scrunching up just the way Kelley always loved. Alex’s angry face was too cute for her to be like or off limits. 

“I value my life too much to mess with her hair care routine,” Ashlyn said, lifting her hands in surrender at Kelley’s death stare. Ali was on her off limits list after all, and that was a line she wasn’t willing to cross. 

“And you’ll notice all three of us were also affected by this terrible prank some stranger pulled!” Kelley said, unable to keep a straight face to match her seemingly offended tone. 

“Though I think I might use my free period after lunch to practice some quidditch drills,” Ashlyn said, twirling a strand of her bright maroon hair around a finger. “I have a feeling that the color will fade after I dump the icy cooler water over my head.” 

“Need someone to send some quaffles your way?” Lindsey asked around a large bite of turkey. She was always down to practice, especially if it meant avoiding the food fight that seemed to be brewing at their table. 

“Wait, ice water?” You asked Kelley as Ashlyn and Lindsey began discussing practice plans. Kelley jumped on the opportunity to escape Alex’s ire. 

“Oh yeah, we- um, whoever pulled this terrible prank- tied the spell to the hot water pipes. It should be safe to take a hot shower by tonight, but basically anyone who used hot water last night or this morning was affected. Cold water removes it though, which is why we quidditch players will discover the counter first, as we are known for taking ice baths after practice.”

“So I have to freeze my ass off to fix this shit!!” Alex screeched, plucking at the strands of green hair falling into her eyes. 

“Come on,” Lindsey said, grabbing your arm and pulling you towards where Brandi was sitting at the front of the Gryffindor table. “Let’s go get the locker room key from Brandi so we can go practice before potions.” 

“Yeah, let’s do that” You mumbled, eyes widening at how Alex was now towering over Kelley. You didn’t know the beater could shrink so far into her chair. 

Brandi, it turned out, was talking with professor McGonagall about the house cup this year. Though no longer head of Gryffindor house, McGonagall was still invested in the team’s progress. 

“Oh, speak of the boggart, here are our two latest recruits,” Brandi said, gesturing at you and Lindsey as you walked toward her. “Professor, Lindsey is our newest chaser and Y/n is one of the best first time seekers Mia has ever seen.”

“Speaking of which,” Lindsey said jumping in, “We were hoping to practice some drills after lunch. Could we borrow the locker room keys?”

You stood just behind her, still a little intimidated by both women. 

“It is good to see some responsibility coming from some of our second year Gryffindors,” Professor McGonagall said, smiling at you- when you peeked out from behind the taller chaser- and Lindsey in turn.  “I do think some of your classmates, and perhaps even some of our third year students could learn a thing or two from you.”

You weren’t sure how to respond, so you smiled meekly and quickly made your way out of the great hall with Lindsey and the acquired keys. “What do you think she meant by that? Do you think she knows who did it?”

“Oh absolutely,” Lindsey said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t take a Seer to predict that they’re going to have detention tomorrow night. Now come on, I want to try that new feint you read about.”  

[midnightdemonhunter]

Okay but 👀👀 The Celeste and Hiro parallel rant drop~ [When you can of course 💕💕]

OKAY so uh thesis statement ahoy: hiro is arguably one of the most similar classmates to celeste, if not the most.

I know i have to start off by saying yes, hiro, considered one of the most stupid charecters ingame by the majority of the fandom, reminds me most of minor mastermind celeste with her elaborate murder plan and act to throw people off their guard.

And while im not gonna go fully into detail on my 4d chess hiro theory/hc/reality cause thats a whole other essay, hiro is shown to (just like celeste) use an act, AND be a really competent liar.

In game, in chap 3, theres a scene where Monokuma is super suspscious of everyone leaving the bathhouse togehter for seemingly no reason, and they've gotta quickly cover for the fact that he doesnt know about alter ego.

Celeste is the one who instantly lies expertly and comes up with the idea of them betting on baths. This scene is used as foreshowing for her being a future killer, and a reminder of what a scarily good liar she is.

BUT shes not the only good liar in this scene. While hina takes some time to get used to the lie and not act super sus,

Hiro is instantly on board the lie.

He's the only other shown directly reactinf to her lie, and his reaction is to unflinchingly mirror her without question! Perfect poker face!

And while this little incident might not be enough evidence on its own, it repeats!!! Hiro is the one to always bring makoto to the bathhouse, confidently lying without trouble on two more occasions!

The second time he even spells it out for you!!!

This is a man capable of putting on a smile and lying to your face and the mastermind!! Of putting on an act when needed!! Sound familiar? (Yes, because its what Celeste does ALL THE TIME)

And sure okay, hiros capable of lying! Cool! But are there any more dirrect parallels? Maybe ones pointed out by other charecters in game? YEP

At the end of both their free time events, makoto's final opinions on Celeste and Hiro are eerily similar.

Basically, makoto decides he cant ever let his guard down around either of them, and is tentative to even call them friends. Because, as he's learned from talking to them, these are both people willing to lie, cheat and do basically anything to get what they want, and to keep surviving.

These are both people willing to frame others purely for their own benefit and survival, celeste framing hiro himself in chapter 3 and hiro framing toko in chapter 4, and people willing to kill to survive.

Because while celeste planned a double murder to escape, Hiro was ready to kill Sakura at the first sign that his life was in danger. These are people who are hard to trust and find trusting hard.

While I wont go too much in detail cause this rant is already super log whoops, chap 3, especially the final trial, is arguably a competition between Hiro and celeste for who can win the trial while keeping their act up! (Because why i cant go too into detail here, i am convinced at this point that hiro is constantly putting on an act in order to seem less threatening YES I HAVE EVIDENCE)

Celeste chooses to frame him (because hes "stupid" she says, and someone so obviously "stupid" cant bring up good points without easy evidence, right hiro?) , consequently betting her life against his, and her ability to defend herself against his. She puts them in a scenerio where their differences and similarites become apparent and easy to highlight because in the end it is her against him!!

Another really interesting thing about that trial is while Celeste's acts and lies end up imploding in her face, hiro's,,,sort of do as well! His over exaggerated dumb act nearly gets him executed, and he ends up having to break out of it temporarily jn order to point out something key he'd noticed.

(Yeah byakuya the point is you weren't supposed to know that) He also does use his supposed lack of intelligence as proof he's inocent in that trial, which is arguably,,one of the main reasons he uses it in the first place.

(Interestingly enough Celeste is also the one who points out this possibilty, implying she thinks he IS capable of that amount of forethought)

This is getting way too long so i have to cut it short for now, but additjonal points I'd be glad to ramble on in a second post include their shared low empathy (very clearly illustrated in how they treat/talk about Alter Ego) AND the fact that they're both shown to change their speech style depending on whats happening and who they're with. (Celeste's obvious accent drop in her final trial breakdown, Hiro dropping a casuel style of speaking when hes alone with makoto and trying to be honest with him, and when he's fully intending to come off as the adult in the room, which he is)

SO TL/DR They're both yasuhiros who are excellent at lying and putting on an act, are shown to be untrustworthy and have trust issues and do whatever it takes to survive, are direct opponents in trial 3, and have ulterior motives for how they act on a daily basis. Simply put, they're playing fools and playing nice! :)

[carcinized]

skipping records and eternity

~1k words | ao3

first of a series if people like it? i'd love to write more limbos...

please reblog if you like this it helps me a lot :DD

Tubbo stared into the unforgiving blizzard outside the cave. This was normal. A part of his morning routine, in fact. Staring out at the storm, wishing it would go away but knowing that would never happen; at least, not as long as he was in Limbo. But no one escaped Limbo. He’d thought Tommy had once, but Tommy was beside him now, so that couldn’t be true.

To his back was a hearth, wisps of people gathered around it. Tubbo had tried to reach them hundreds of thousands of times, probably, and he knew by now he couldn’t. It was like being in a dream, trying to reach the people around the fire. Either he was so slow he stopped moving or all of a sudden he was back where he started in a flawless loop.

Sometimes the figures huddled together, whispering, and occasionally looking back at Tubbo with glowing eyes, making Tubbo’s skin crawl. Sometimes the shadows shaped themselves into a certain tall enderman Tubbo knew all too well, or a regal figure with familiar sunglasses, or a happy, flailing child, or a tall figure with a barely distinguishable red and blue uniform. But despite it all, trying wasn’t worth the pain of not making it back, not even for family. Not anymore.

Tubbo sighed and internally scoffed, neverendingly surprised to be unable to hear his own sigh. Even after all this time, he hadn’t adjusted to being deaf. Or maybe he wasn’t deaf; maybe his Limbo just had no sound. It would make sense, after all. A world without sound, and especially music, was hell, in Tubbo’s opinion.

He shook his head to clear himself of the depressing thoughts. It was time to start his day. Tubbo got to his feet, taking a deep breath and steeling his nerves. Just another day in hell. Could be worse, right?

The light of the fire behind him flickered and a shadow of a figure with horns passed through it before disappearing eerily from the light of the flame. Tubbo spun around to look back at it, unwelcome hope flooding his limbs, but the shadow had already merged back with the others. He didn’t try to follow.

The next part of Tubbo’s repetitive morning was underway. The days were so similar Tubbo could no longer distinguish his memories of yesterday from that of today, or even what he thought might have been years ago. It seemed Tommy had spotted someone he wanted to see in the flames, because he was currently sprinting in an infinite route towards the fire, reappearing back to the edge of the cave still with his momentum.

“You idiot! It’s never going to work!” Tubbo called out pointlessly. “You’re never going to get in! …You’re never going to get in.”

Tommy attempted to get through one more time before he finally slowed, sitting down on the floor, visibly upset, mouth moving quickly. Tubbo couldn’t hear what he was saying, but, knowing Tommy, he was probably cussing more than a sailor could ever dream of.

Sighing, Tubbo sat down cross-legged beside Tommy. There was no point in talking, so he wrapped an arm around Tommy’s shoulders to try and comfort him. Them against the world, always.

“Come on, it’s that time of day,” Tubbo said, mostly to himself. He stood and offered Tommy a hand, which Tommy refused, opting to stand up on his own.

Tubbo moved on without comment, walking towards the other end of the cave, where he’d set up a workstation with an anvil. He had the infamous discs in his inventory, and always had since appearing in Limbo. However, every day when he played them in the jukebox they had been miraculously gifted, Tommy shook his head vehemently. And every day, Tubbo attempted to fix them.

He was handy, right? He was able to create nukes without so much as a blueprint. He should be able to repair two simple discs if he kept trying, even if he couldn’t hear them to check his progress. It seemed Tommy could, at least, considering he would always shake his head.

Sometimes Tommy tried to stop Tubbo from trying to fix them at all, probably to spare his time. But there was nothing better to do in Limbo, and maybe while trying to fix the discs Tubbo had fucked them up, but if he ever stopped trying he might never make them correctly. And he wanted to fix them, to fix them for Tommy, even if it seemed he never would. And, well, he needed to do something while he was stuck here for all eternity. Why not try and make it better with some music?

Tubbo made some finishing touches to the disc before picking it back up and walking towards the jukebox, ignoring Tommy’s protests. If Tubbo could do this, it would all be okay. They could sit together, shoulder to shoulder, and listen to the discs, and everything would be okay. Even if Tubbo wouldn’t be able to hear the music, that wasn’t what he really wanted, anyways.

Tubbo slipped the disc into the slot on top of the jukebox and turned to Tommy, whose violent headshakes had slowed down, more melancholy now than anything else. He met Tubbo’s eyes and shook his head once more.

Tubbo wanted to cry, but crying was stupid, so he simply took the irritating disc out of the jukebox. “Well, we still have another one to try to fix,” he mumbled around the burning in his throat. “Right, Tommy?”

Tommy didn’t look at him, hands reaching up to cover his ears instead.

Tubbo turned away once more, picking up the other disc.

Maybe, deep down, Tubbo knew it was fruitless. Maybe, deep down, he knew he’d never be able to fix them for Tommy. He couldn’t mend an attachment that didn’t exist. After all, these weren’t the discs, only emotionless carbon copies created specifically for this perfect little hell. But Tubbo would never stop trying to mend them, and mend things with his best friend, and trying to prove that he was worth it, that he could do something worthwhile. He would never stop; he knew that much. He supposed that was why they called it Limbo.

ty to @platytheplatypode for beta reading and helping with the title otherwise this would have not been titled </3

also literally tubbo is an unreliable narrator in this to some extent ask me what really happens here (or the symbolism i included bc its cool :]). thank you to @everydaybabbles for helping me figure out the limbo way back when (if you even remember?), i hope you dont mind being tagged but tysm youre literally the only reason this exists DFJDSLF

[milchig-de]

Never gonna give you up

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader 

Summary: After being kidnapped by the League of Villains and meeting you, Bakugou thinks about you. But then you meet again. Will he let you go again?

Request:  Hi! I saw requests were open, could you please write a scenario for Bakugou, where during his time kidnapped by the lov, they had another captive. A girl who is his age, but she has been there for a few months. The reason why she is there is because of her quirk. Her blood can heal others, all they need to do is drink some of it, the bigger the injury the more blood. They are saved together but then separated. It’s been two years of no contact when Bakugou goes to recovery girl to find the same girl who was a captive now learning under recovery girl. They hit it off.

Warnings: curse words

Notes: Did I change my story just to fit the title? Yes, absolutely. Also this was requested by @jessie4098​, hope you enjoy! Sorry again for taking so long!

Bakugou struggled against the bonds that were tying him to the chair. After kidnapping him, the League of Villains had encased his hands in a metal box so he couldn’t activate his quirk. Of course that did nothing to quell his anger. If they dared come close to him he would knock them out if anyhow possible.

But since he couldn’t do anything right now, he took in his surroundings instead. Their hideout was in some sort of bar- one of them, the warp villain from the attack at the USJ, even wiped the glasses with a rug. There was only one door and no windows, so he couldn’t tell what time it was or where he was. 

Obviously he already knew the warp villain and the hands villain but there were some new faces. The scar face that had pulled him through the portal stood in a corner, a lizard-human next to him. In another corner was the masked villain that had managed to capture him with someone in a full bodysuit next to him. Surprisingly, there was also a middle school girl there. Had they kidnapped her? It certainly didn’t look like it. Otherwise she would also be tied up. 

Suddenly that girl moved towards- and past him, towards another chair that he hadn’t noticed before. Another person sat slumped down in that chair, tied up in a similar fashion as him. The girl tugged on the persons arm, in an almost whiny manner.

“Hey there, sweetheart!! I got hurt pretty badly in the fight so it sems that I have to take some of your blood again!!”

The person didn’t respond. Ignoring that, the girl brandished a knife and cut their arm. Then she proceeded to lift their arm up to her mouth and... drank it? What kind of sick shitshow was this? Looking at them closely, Bakugou noticed the countless cuts and band aids all over their arms. It seemed that they did this regularly. Maybe they had some kind of quirk that required her to drink their blood? The crazy girl did say that she got hurt... Even though there were no visible injuries on her bodies.

Putting their arm down, the crazy girl strolled back to her original place. With the other person there, Bakugou would have to be more careful with blasting those stupid villains away. They didn’t look like they knew how to fight and they certainly weren’t in any condition to do so even if they could. If, you know, their slumped form was any indicator.

After the crazy girl had settled back down, the hands villain started to talk. He spouted some stupid bullshit about joining the League of Villains. As if Bakugou would ever become a villain. He was determined to beat All Might and to become the number one pro hero and he was not willing to let go of any of his goals. 

That was why as soon as the bodysuit took off his bonds he got ready to blast all of them away. Shuffling closer to you, he carefully took of your bonds too and then stood in front of you to protect you. But then the heroes barged in and they got sucked away in one of the slimy portals. He grasped your arm but the portals forced him to let go. Before the fight between All Might and All for One, he got rescued by the others, but he doesn’t know what happened to the person. They weren’t on the battlefield like the villains so he desperately hoped that the heroes saved them. Sometimes, late at night when a nightmare of that time wakes him up, he thinks about them. Regrets of not being able to grasp them and bring them with him to safety plague him occasionally. 

But why is he thinking about them now anyway? There wasn’t really a lot he could’ve done about them and it’s been two years since then already. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to give up on you.

Bakugou shakes his head, hoping to get rid of those stupid thoughts. He got hurt while sparring with Kirishima, so he’s now on his way to Recovery Girl to get fixed up. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he opens the door to the station. 

That isn’t Recovery Girl. 

Standing in the middle of the room is a person that looks eerily similar to the one that also got kidnapped by the League of Villains. 

Upon hearing the door open, you turn your head only to discover Bakugou standing there. To be honest, you had never met officially, but you’d be a fool not to at least know his name. For one, he’s one of the most successful students in all of UA, but he’s also that boy who stood up to the villains.

When you got kidnapped, you were barely conscious half of the time because of blood loss, but you do remember him. How could you not? He was so brave, standing up to them as if he was saying that he would win no matter what. You had to admit you hadn’t seen his features properly at the time, so you only remembered his blonde, spiky hair and his angry posture, but you had figured out who he is because of the news fairly easily. Funnily enough, they barely mentioned you, but you don’t mind at all. It allowed you to live a fairly calm life without having to worry about anyone recognizing you.

Now that he’s standing right in front of you, you allow yourself a moment to check him out. He still has his spiky blonde hair and even if he’s simply standing there, you do notice that he still has a slightly angry body language. Besides that, you also notice his ruby red eyes staring at you.

While you do admire him and think he’s hot quite a lot, you also have a job to do, so you point to one of the beds standing in the station and tell him to sit down. A first glance tells you he isn’t that badly injured, meaning alcohol and some bandages would probably be enough. Preparing everything, you put it aside before asking him about his condition. 

This is the first time you heard him talk since then. His voice sounds a little gravelly, though you’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy it. Shoving those thoughts aside, you focus on the cuts he shows you. Most of them aren’t bad at all, but some of them look pretty bad. Though you realize upon closer inspection that they’re is still only on the surface and doesn’t even require stitching. So you carefully clean and disinfect his wounds before putting band-aids or bandages over them. You try your best not to smile, since the band aids you used had pink Hello Kitty motives on them. They are the courtesy of Recovery Girl, who decided to only use those ones as a sort of punishment, since a lot of students are pretty reckless and don’t care whether they get hurt. 

Bakugou stays very calm during the entire procedure, not even flinching at the pain from the alcohol. You wonder if he remembers who you are, considering he didn’t mention or do anything that makes you assume otherwise. But perhaps he just doesn’t know how to approach it. Frankly you can’t blame him for it. It’s not exactly the easiest subject to talk about.

After finishing him up, you pull out a document and a pen, explaining to Bakugou that you need to record every student you treat because you’re only an apprentice so far. You already jotted down his name, so instead you asked for his class and noted his injuries and what you used to treat him.

Closing your pen you give him some last advice. Dismissing him, you put the document in its rightful place before going back to cleaning equipment. Of course you want to talk to him about well, everything, but how can you possibly ask him to spend time with someone he barely knows? 

But then he brings up the topic.

“Are you the one who was also kidnapped by the League of Villains?”

Well that’s pretty direct. Instead of leaving as you had told him he could, he only stood up. He turns towards you, clearly expecting an answer. So you clear your throat and confirm his suspicions. Upon hearing this, he stalks closer to you.

“Do you have time right now? There’s some things I want to know.”

“I actually don’t have time right now, since I’m, you know, doing my job. Recovery Girl deserves a break so because I am fairly capable already, I took over for today which means I need to be available at all times. But-”

You walked back over to the desk, then you pulled out a small piece of paper and a pen. Scribbling your number and name down, you folded it and gave it to him. 

“Here’s my number so we can meet up or just text if you prefer that.”

Taking the paper from you, he nodded and walked out of the station, though not without saying thank you.

Once outside, Bakugou finally allows himself to relax. He was so tense the entire time he was talking to you. It was difficult because he didn’t know how to approach you about it but also because you’re very pretty. A tiny smile wormed itself onto his face when he thought about you. He clutched your note a little tighter in his grasp, afraid of letting you slip through his fingers again. 

Maybe it’s good that he didn’t give up on you.

[themonotonysyndrome]

Emerald Onlooker

Part 2 of the Successors to the Future is here! I, uh, didn’t expect a lot of people liking it, but since I’m still pretty excited about this AU, I want to write as much as I can. 

Thank you again @tri3tri for inspiring us with your Second Wive AU and many, many wonderful Yandere!Malleus content. A little summary about this AU: Yandere!Malleus married and took MC against her will. He turns her into a Queen and they had 2 daughters. However, Yandere!Malleus is pushed to take on a second wife (a Fae woman, Gekkon) to give him a son, a male heir. During the wedding ceremony, MC took the opportunity and escape to NRC with her daughters in tow and Crowley finally did them a solid and send the three of them to MC’s world.

Successors to the Future, summary: Without a court of condescending Faes and Malleus’ oppressive affection, MC and her daughters live happily in the other world. When she left Twisted Wonderland, MC didn’t realise that she was pregnant and thus, she gave birth to a son who grew up as carefree as a bird and just as kind. However, now that her eldest daughter had just turned sixteen and discover her Unique Magic, she was returned to Twisted Wonderland as a first-year student in Diasomnia. Since it’s only a matter of time before Malleus and his court discover her presence at NRC, MC and her children did their best to prepare her for that inevitable day. 

This oneshot is a continuation of that. 

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

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

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

MC/S = MC’s surname

-

Sherrie enjoy going about her daily lives on her lowest brain capacity most of the time. There’s nothing like just... switching off your brain and ignore all the boring things around you.  

The only thing that gets the gears and cogs in her brain spinning is when she plays video games like Portal or coming up with schemes to get her eldest sister out of trouble. 

When she jokes about only having 2 braincells and that both are constantly on holidays at the same time unless Renata did something stupid, Renata howl with laughter while Lucien just rolled his eyes at his cackling sisters. 

But now that Renata is playing student in Night Raven College, Sherrie is surprised to find herself looking forward to not only help her oldest sister dodged their father’s steps, but also pulling the proverbial rug underneath the Thorn Kingdom. 

Especially Lilia Vanrouge. 

It’s addicting. The unholy glee running within you when your cute puppets finally realised who’s been tugging on their strings all along. 

Humans are easy and oblivious enough for her to practise on. Despite how monotonous school can be, the environment was a good place for Sherrie to learn and play. Everyone has a chip on their shoulder; everyone wants to stand out among the rest. 

So it’s really not that hard to learn who’s the right person to blackmail, who’s desperate enough to do anything to make their crush look at them and how to make the key figures dance on the palm of her hands. 

This year’s prom night was certainly a memory she won’t ever forget. 

And now? Now Sherrie can’t wait to play with the so-called ‘superior’ species - their father’s ancient court and loyal retainers - once she and her sister could establish contact. 

They’ve been working hard on this little project. Everyone in her little family is. Renata is off being a good little student and let the gossips travel on its own, their little brother is doing his best to assured their mother that all would be well and Sherrie?

Sherrie is busy setting up the stage for the climax once Renata usher all the important players to where she wanted them. 

(Mama likes to call her a ‘smart cookie’, always rubbed her head affectionately and said, “You’re a brilliant girl, Cherry. You’re just lazy. I know you can achive anything you want with the proper motivation, just like Floyd-senpai.”.) 

(Their Mama can never know just how far her daughter had use the same skill that she praise to manipulate others.) 

In the middle of the evening - just shy after midnight -�� Sherrie heard a water drip somewhere in her bedroom. 

Drip... drip... drip... 

She pushes her chair away from her gaming laptop, game paused and just listen. Her eyes scan the dimly lit bedroom. 

Drip... drip... 

“This better not be the start of a horror movie.” 

It’s coming from... somewhere near her vanity table. Sherrie ignores the clutter of make-ups, perfumes and figurines on the table and waited eagerly. Her leg couldn’t stop bouncing when the surface ripple like water’s surface once. 

The ripple clears and instead of staring at her reflection, her oldest sister stares right back at her. 

“It works!” Renata said incredulously. “I can’t believe the headmaster’s half-assed runes actually works!” 

“The fuck? What happened?” Sherrie reply, a bit taken back. Behind her sister, Sherrie could see a bed, study table and walls and other furnishing that eerily looks similar to the ones back at the castle. 

Renata waved her hand in a dismissive manner. “I had to literally bullied a grown ass man to help me contact you. It took me a week of camping in the library to figured out how, but we managed to come up with runes that allow us to create a link to every mirror in the house.” She explains in an exasperated tone. “I’ll teach you the drawing tomorrow. All you guys need to do is just draw them on any mirror and it’ll send me a signal to find a mirror of my own.” 

“That kinda sounds like a phone call. Like, an interdimensional phone call!” 

“I know right! I already put a compact mirror in my purse so I can call you anytime!” Renata said with a smug grin. She’s clearly proud of her clever little trick. Even with the help of the headmaster. 

Sherrie never doubted that her sister couldn’t find a way to contact them. She’s a prodigy when it comes to magic. 

She might be young, but she could still remember how their tutors gave out praises as if they were candies when it comes to her older sister and her affinity for magic. 

It’s just too bad that their compliments are worthless when they always ended with, “If only the Princess is a full born Fae...” 

“Ok, so, contact established. Now are you still in Phase 1?” Sherrie said, bringing their conversation back to important matters. She made sure to properly and slowly explain their game plan a week before the Ebony Carriage took Renata to Night Raven College. The words are clearly written, highlighted colourfully and important steps are accompanied by cartoon stickers. 

Despite being a prodigy at magic, her sister woefully has short attention span when it comes to playing the long game. Her attention spans burn hot and fast, just like her anger. It also burns out just as quick as it came. 

Renata rolled her eyes, unimpressed. “Yes, yes. I’m still in Phase 1. It’s hard to make friends when everyone is wary of you. Do you know they hung up portraits of past Dorm Leaders and their Vice Dorm Leaders in each dorm? It’s so annoying when everyone stares at me and at father’s portrait whenever I walk into Disomnia!” 

Sherrie hums and made a quick dash to grab her tablet. The one where she wrote down her plans. She swipes the screen to the list of names that their mother had given them. 

“They’re just NPCs, don’t worry about them. What you need to focus on are the students with the surnames that Mama gave us.” Here, Sherrie is tapping on the screen of her tablet to the mirror. “Have you met any of them or did you fucked up the plan already?” 

“Calm your tits, I’ve been following your instructions.” Renata assured her, not the least riled up. “We’re only in the first semester; I only managed to match the names and faces of my dorm mates so far. It’s gonna take me at least a month of snooping around before I could find them.” Renata paused and her eyes suddenly lit up as if she just remembered something. “Oh, but I’ve been farming intel of the Thorn Kingdom using the Lucky Leanan spell every day after curfew. It took some trial and error but I successfully managed to find the castle again!”

Sherrie recalls that one of Renata spells - Lucky Leanan - creates a small fairy made out of pure magic that would do sneak attacks by shooting lightning bolts while Renata fights. It’s small enough to flit behind an opponent’s line of sight and take them off guard. 

Small enough to sneak into the castle without anyone none the wiser. 

So Sherrie nodded. “That’s a good move. You’re safely far away from the castle and you can remotely dispel Leanan if it gets dicey.” 

“Yup! Look at my one braincell go!” Renata cheered. “If I keep this up and give it plenty of water and sunlight, maybe it’ll grow!” 

Sherrie burst out laughing alongside her sister. Her joke took her off guard. Hopefully their laughter didn’t wake up their mother and Lucien. 

Sherrie hiccups and wipe the tears from the corner of her eye. It feels nice to talk to her sister again.  

She misses her disaster of sister already. 

“Anyway, I need to hit the bed soon.” Renata said, breaking her train of thought. “I’ll do my best to gather as much info as I can about the ongoings inside the castle for you. Are there any heads up you want me to look for?” 

Sherrie smiles brightly and reply, “Of course! If you could, be a dear and get everything about father’s... other wife. Everything - right down to the most boring shits.”

“On it.” 

-

That first-year Diasomnia student has been the talk around campus for weeks now. 

Not only is she the only girl in Night Raven College, word on the streets quickly spreads that she’s look too similar to one of the previous Dorm Leader of Diasomnia to not be related. 

Staring at her while she’s busy taking a selfie of the Great Seven statues, he agrees that the similarities are too uncanny. 

Now, why would he sends his own Princess to a villain school without any retainer? 

That, and why under a different surname? 

Something’s not right. 

Renata MC/S brought with her an interesting mystery to Night Raven College. A mystery that caught his interest at the first whiff of her scent. And oh Great Seven, her delectable scent. The first time his nose caught that mouthwatering smell, it had his tail swishing in eager and his head spinning. 

It’s the scent of his favourite flower - blood lily - with a hint of something... otherworldly. He still can’t quite put words into it. 

He wants to unravel her. Understand what makes her tick. 

Uncover what she’s hiding. 

Four days later in History class, Professor Trein gave him - and Renata - their golden ticket. 

“Kingscholar, MC/S - you two will be partners for this assignment. I expect you two have no objection.” 

“It’s fine...” 

“I don’t have a problem with the arrangement, professor.” 

The professor nodded and class is dimiss. Students began making their way out of the room. Except for him... and her. 

Renata steps in front of his desk when they finally have the class all to themselves. He takes a good, long look at her. 

She’s certainly beautiful; a real heartbreaker. But there’s something interesting within her bright green eyes. Something volatile. He wonders what could it really be. 

“Hi there. So you’re Bakari Kingscholar, hmm? Hope we can ace this assignment without any problem.” Renata said with a small smile. Is she trying to be friendly? Because it just looks condescending as hell. 

But that just makes this a lot more fun. 

“Same here. Girl or not, I won’t let it slide if you prove to be a dead weight.” 

His warning clearly took her off guard with the how her smile froze. It was only for a moment though, before she let out a laugh. As if he just told a funny joke. 

“Kitty-cat is flexing his claws, huh?” Renata had the audacity to grin. The other Savanaclaw students would’ve lowered their heads at his tone. “Don’t worry. Do your part and I promise I won’t light your tail on fire.” 

Oh, his old man needs to know about this girl. 

-

You have no idea how much fun it is to write about Malleus and MC’s children! Especially the Princessess. Unfortunately, they’re more like Malleus than they or MC even realise it. Anyway, my main reference for SD/N is none other than... TADA! Fyodor Dostoevsky from BSD!

It’s just that Sherrie is a lot more lazy and rather keep to herself and stay at home. She only goes out of her to way to mess with people because of Renata and her tendecies to get into trouble.  

I’m still thinking on the draft for part 3 so we’ll see how that goes. Also, I was struggling wether to name Leona’s son or not. I think that honoured should go to @tri3tri​! 

[the-asmp-wt]

(QUICK OOC COMMENT ABOUT MY POST. This is a nightmare, so characters WILL be out of character. Everything italicized is the dream. Have fun!)

The ground was sand. This was something that was unusual, because a!WT knew in her heart that this was L’Apoloburg, but nothing remained past the sand. No walls, no homes.

“Hello?”, she called out, squinting to try and see if she could see anybody in the sand. The wind kept pushing the sand over her feet, and she kicked it away, deciding she may as well walk since there was no answering call.

a!WT walked for hours, or maybe only minutes before reaching what looked like the walls of L’Apoloburg, crumbled and fallen, and a figure standing in front of it. The closer she got, the easier she was able to tell that the figure had its back to her, and that it was the President.

“a’Wilbur! Where are we- what happened to our home? What’s going on?”, a!WT asked, reaching out a hand to grab onto a!Wilburs shoulder, but instead of the other turning around the scene changed.

They were now both standing in L’Apoloburg, brightly colored grass beneath their feet. a!Wilbur was facing a!WT, and they were by the walls. The look on a!Wilburs face was a look that a!WT had never seen before, it was unsettling.

“D-did you r-really think I w-wouldn’t know?”, it asked, and a!WT froze. No. No no no no this wasn’t right this wasn’t something that happened or was going to happen no.

a!Wilbur was advancing now, grinning, and a!WT backs up, until her back hits the wall, panic shooting through her stomach. That was wrong she shouldn’t ever be scared of a!Wilbur this wasn’t right why was this happening-

“D-did you re-really buy that I’m that stupid? Come on a!WT, really? Was that what made you think you could pull this shit off? Of course I know your working with the enemy. I knew since the day I made you my Vice President.”, a!Wilbur sneered, a sword appearing at its side, and they rested a hand on it.

a!WT couldn’t comprehend what was happening. a!Wilbur knew all along? This was just some stupid fucking game that she was a pawn in?

“Then why not say something earlier! Why wait until I’ve told a!Tommy things!”, a!WT responded, pretending like her voice wasn’t shaking as hard as her hands were, eyes wide.

a!Wilbur laughed coldly, a dark gleam in its eyes that was never there before. At least, never a look that was directed at her. Once the laugh faded, the words that came were just as cold,” You think I care? You think I told you the truth- do you really think I’d trust You? Of all people, why you? It was just a stupidly easy way to distract the poor whining opposition…”

It was then that a!WT felt the eyes on her, and her gaze drafted from the healed but entirely unrecognizable face of a!Wilbur to the area around the pair. They were surrounded by residents, both ones who had been exiled and those who stayed. Ghostburs, a!Niki, even the a!Techno and the Wilbur she had met on her journey. They were all watching with impassive expressions, meeting her gaze and the longer they looked the more disdainful they became, faces warping in expressions of pure disgust or betrayal.

But the worst was a!Tommy.

a!Tommy’s eyes were filled with disgust and hurt, but also grim resignation. He was up in a tree, their bracelet-less arms wrapped around a branch, making no move to help.

“Help me.”, a!WT mouthed, aware that a!Wilbur was speaking but she paid them no mind, pleading for her friend to somehow be able to save this. Surely she had a plan, or some sort of saving grace that would get a!WT out of this. They were a pair right? Best friends?

Though a!Tommy was far away, his words echoed around a!WT.

“Why would I help you? You didn’t even fucking give me useful information- you got yourself into this situation. I don’t need you, and never did. You weren’t careful enough, and now everyone knows. Everyone knows everything except me. You’ve given me nothing… you are nothing to me…”, a!Tommy’s voice echoed, a!WT wilting back against the wall, the wall now fully supporting her weight as the weight of the words crashed down around her, unable to help but whisper back a helpless,”You don’t mean that.”, but a!Tommy’s cold eyes and careless shrug confirmed the Vice Presidents worse thoughts.

Everyone knew everyone knew everyone knew-

“Who are you talking to? Praying to some god you’re hoping will answer- why would they help you? Everything was in your hands… you could have saved me.”, a!Wilburs tone suddenly changed, and a!WT straightened, instantly looking back at the President. It’s face was now covered with a mask a!WT knew they got from a!Dream.

“What?”, a!WT asked, feeling incredibly wrong footed with how this had changed, but not questioning when it had had the chance to put on the mask. She also didn’t question the way a!Tommy was now standing beside a!Wilbur, and the feeling of being watched became stronger.

“You could have fixed things, fixed us. You could have not betrayed everyone you ever met, but everyone knows, and always did. We are all damned to a cursed existence because of you. And you are not going to escape punishment for your crimes”, a!Tommy and a!Wilbur spoke in unison, voices eerily similar as they both drew weapons, a!Tommy hoisting a bow and a!Wilbur with a sword.

There was chanting now, and the clicks of a clock. “We all know”, was being repeated over and over, in perfect time with the ticks of a clock that were getting steadily louder, and quicker as the pair in front of her advanced.

“No, no- no nonononono- NO-please, I’m sorry Please-“,a!WT couldn’t back up any further, shrinking down and she finally realized that tears were streaming down her face. The clocks were getting louder, and a!Wilbur was drawing its sword back, preparing to swing.

The sounds reached a crescendo before all the voices merged into one, sounding like every single person she’d ever loved or cared about. She was surrounded, but completely alone, with no one on her side. Only the ticking of the clock was there now, echoing in the silence.

“They all know. Traitors like you deserve to die alone, and your time is up.”, a!Wilbur said, mask disappearing to reveal their grinning face swinging it’s sword swiftly at a!WT’s face, as a!Tommy let the arrow fly in the same direction.

~*~

Right before the weapons hit, a!WT woke up, gasping for air, pushing herself away from the desk she had been sitting working at until she’d fallen asleep. The force of her startled push pushed her backwards in the chair, hitting her head on the ground once she fell.

“What the fuck-“, she mumbled, sitting there for a moment with a hand over her face and her other under her head, staring up at the ceiling. A!WT’s chest heaved with frantic breaths as though her body was making sure that she was still alive.

For a moment the girl simply laid there, staring up at her ceiling, unaware of the tears streaming down her face as she tried to convince herself it was all a dream. But was it? Maybe everyone did know…

“I’m so fucking stupid.”, she mumbled to herself, sniffling slightly as she crawled out of the chair and stood up shakily, glancing out the window, glad to find it was only barely sunrise. That would give her some time to try and make herself perfectly presentable before any of the remaining citizens saw her. She couldn’t let them see her like this, she was all they had left right now. The president hadn’t sent a letter, and a!Tommy hadn’t replied. Maybe they didn’t need her….

Deciding to busy herself in her work, a!WT stumbled back over to her desk, setting her chair the correct way around before flopping down onto it, and pulling the papers towards her. Might as well try and finish figuring out the details for the weaponry they had.

As she tried to distract herself, and the sun rose, the girl couldn’t quite shake the feeling that everyone around her knew, and were just waiting for the right time to expose her as a traitor. The morning sun and the tedious work may have burned away her clearest memories of the dream, but a!Tommy’s words were burned in her memory. They didn’t need her, and her time was running out.

[marshmallow-phd]

Catching Rain

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Minseok x Reader

Summary: You were more than satisfied with your life. You attended a nice college, had nice friends, a nice boyfriend. That’s what your life was: nice. You weren’t looking for anything more, so what were you to do when this seemingly harmless boy walked into your life and turned your nice little world into one much more dangerous?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I Epilogue

**

You parked on the side of an empty back road, careful not to stop in any spot that might be muddy. It hadn’t rained for a few days, but with the weather lately, you couldn’t be too careful. The last thing you needed was to have to call Erik and confess to him that you did indeed go out to the woods to take pictures and were now stuck in the mud and needed his help.

A small part of you felt guilty. His concern wasn’t completely unfounded. If he’d had gotten hurt working on a backdrop by himself, whether by falling off a ladder or being hit by a light, you would be hesitant about him doing it again. But each of you were your own person, right? Independent not codependent?

Okay, it was probably time to lay of the self-help books for a while. You took one modern philosophy class and it had been a downward spiral from there. Perhaps it was time to give the supernatural genre a try.

The trees smelled intoxicating. Mixed with the humidity in the air, it was the kind of scent that could outperform even the most expensive of perfumes. It was an aroma that surrounded you, engulfed you in its arms the further into the woods you went. The peaceful smile that pulled on the corners of your lips were automatic, involuntary. Not that you would fight if you could. Despite the rumors of wolves running around, you were comfortable here.

Deep within the forest, a wide, oval clearing full of browned wildflowers rested. Bits of green here and there tried to break through the foliage that had died during the harsh winter. Their odds of making it through might not have been great, but you admired their tenacity.

These clearings were common in the woods and yet, they were your favorite places to capture. From one angle, it could seem like you were lost in a fast labyrinth of Mother Nature. Another, a prairie that belonged to another region entirely. The possibilities were endless if you really thought about it. And each clearing, you’d discovered, was unique within itself. Its shape, the plants it held, the thickness of the grass. You knew you hadn’t found every one yet, but you were determined to someday. For now, though, you would have stick with this particular clearing that you had visited before, as it was close to the road for a quick getaway, should you need it.

Sliding the bags off your shoulder, you crouched down and dug through until you found your notebook. The pages were unlined, which allowed you to right down your thoughts and ideas at odd angles. To you, it gave the otherwise somewhat boring inside a more artistic aesthetic. The plain leather cover was soft in your hands, worn from the amount of use and abuse you’d put it through. It wasn’t exactly common for photographers to write out their ideas before shooting. Some drew out the scene they wanted to capture, trying out different angles in their imagination. Most didn’t do any sort of prep like this at all. But you preferred to write it out, especially since most of your ideas tended to come at the most inconvenient times. Scribbling down half-coherent words tended to be quicker than a sketch.

After a quick review of your latest ideas, you tossed the notebook down and turned on your camera. You took several test shots, adjusting each settling until you came to the look you were searching for. Long shots and close ups, you photographed nearly every square foot of that clearing in order to get that one picture. That one picture that took everyone’s breath away, that made them stop and tilt their head every which way in order to take the scene in at all possible viewpoints. You wanted to them to see the world the way you did.

So in tuned to what you were doing, you hadn’t noticed the pair of eyes watching you from the shadows. They gave off the faintest glow filled with curiosity as they hovered in the air. You snapped a few photos in their direction, still unaware of their presence, and then lowered the camera to look back on the shots. At first, when you clicked through the pictures, you didn’t notice the tiny amber dots that blended in with the foliage. But by the fourth picture, you stopped.

Never before had you been scared by this place. Then again, the only animals you’d ever encountered before were rabbits and deer and other mostly harmless critters. These did not look like the eyes of a friendly Disney sidekick. Ice ran down your spine. You couldn’t run. If it was a predator, that would only encourage it. So, you tried to remain as still as possible while lifting your eyes to the spot that the animal was hiding. Perhaps there was a chance that it wouldn’t sense your fear and would take your stare down as a reason to walk away.

No such luck.

The leaves under its paws rustled as it stepped forward into the sun.

A tannish wolf with a long black strip down its back revealed itself. But it didn’t look menacing. In fact, though you might have been fooling yourself, it seemed almost… curious? Confused? It was hard to read the expression since you couldn’t fully compare it to a human. With slow, thoughtful steps, it came closer. You tried to remain still, tried not to move. The strain was causing your legs to tremble slightly. Now, you felt tremendously stupid for not listening to Willa’s warning about wolves. Was this considered an ironic moment? You weren’t entirely sure since language arts had never been your strong suit.

Unable to keep you upright anymore, your legs gave out. At least you landed on your butt with your camera hanging safely around your neck. Your fingernails dug into the dirt next to you as the wolf came closer, still at that same cautious pace. Harder and harder, your heart pounded in your ears. The wolf paused for a few seconds before continuing on. Could it hear your terrified pulse? Silently, you said your goodbyes as the wolf erased all space between you. Its muzzle nudged your cheek, coming to a stop near your ear. It sniffed deeply, then jumped back.

Your eyes widened, somewhat relieved that it hadn’t pounced, but also confused. Why wasn’t it attacking? Why did it look spooked?

The wolf sat back, head tilting back and forth as it studied you. It made no threatening moves or sounds. The tips of its ears perked up and it let out a sound that was eerily similar to a scoff.

“I guess you’re not hungry then?” An odd thing to say out loud to an animal that couldn’t talk, but you blamed it on the shock of the whole situation.

The wolf responded with a short puff of air before lowering itself down to its stomach.

This was… surreal. All the other animals you’d ever encountered had either kept their distance or ran away at the slightest sound. And yet, here was this wolf, laying in front of you, not vicious or aggressive. It was almost… cute, in a way.

“You’re a strange creature,” you said out loud. The wolf apparently took that as a sign to come closer. Crawling on its stomach, it took came to the point where it was almost able to rest its head in your lap-

The shrill sound of your current favorite song ripped through the air. You gasped, jumping up to your feet and running to your bag where you desperately searched through the pockets until you found your phone. It was Willa.

“Hello?”

“Hey, where are you?”

“I, um,” you glanced at the wolf who had jumped up to its feet. “I got bored so I’m just out driving around. Why?”

“Jiyoung called and asked last second to switch shifts at the coffee shop and so I’m free for the evening. And I’m hungry.”

You laughed a little at her not-so-subtle hint. “Alright. Give me twenty minutes to get back to the dorm. How does brick oven pizza sound?”

“Like heaven.”

“Okay, then. See you soon.” You ended the call and looked up, meeting eyes with the wolf. It never broke contact and in turn, gave you a bit more bravery. Lifting up the camera, you snapped a single shot of the wolf. “I’ll be back.” A strange promise to make, but you said it anyway. You wanted another encounter with this mysterious creature. Gathering up your things, you hurried out of the clearing and back through the trees to your car, still sitting on the side of the road.

It took less than twenty minutes to make it back to the university. Back at the dorm, Willa was lying on her bed, scrolling through her phone mindlessly. She sat up as soon as you came through the door.

“Fun drive?” she asked.

You shrugged. “It was fine.”

“No exciting scenes to snap?”

Her tease made you roll your eyes. “No, not really. Now, come on. I thought you said you wanted to eat?”

Not missing a beat, Willa jumped up from the bed, snatched up her purse, and pulled you out of the room, contemplating out loud which signature pizza sounded good.

**

Minseok growled as he ran through the forest. How he could have possibly lost those three was beyond him. Being unable to find them now was even more stupefying. They were loud, how could he not know which direction to take? He had to be careful. This part of the forest was close to the back roads and Junmyeon was worried they were being spotted too often. If the three them weren’t paying attention-

Click. Click. Click.

Minseok brought himself to a halt at the strange sound. There wasn’t any sort of pattern to it, but there was an underlying shuttering that seemed vaguely familiar. Too curious to just ignore it, Minseok headed in the direction e suspected it came from. Once he found the answer, he’d go back to finding the others.

The sound led him to one of the many clearings in the woods. A person wandering around the area taking pictures seemed to be the source, a camera in their hands. You appeared to be alone. Odd since not many ventured out in the forest by themselves. The isolation didn’t seem to bother you, though as you carelessly went about your task.

Staying in the shadows, Minseok watched your back as you continued to photograph the nature around you. Something… something strange was tingling in his shoulders, like the muscle beneath the skin had fallen asleep. Without prompt from him, his paw moved forward. He should be leaving. Be gone before you spotted him. But he couldn’t do it. Something told him to wait.

That’s when you turned around. By the way you kept taking pictures, you hadn’t seen him. It wasn’t until you lowered the camera to review the film did you freeze. And you weren’t the only one.

Something in Minseok’s world snapped when he saw your face. His muscles contracted, shivered and ached.

Go! an inner voice urged. He tried to turn his body in the opposite direction of you, but failed. Not that way! He had no choice but to obey. So he stepped closer to you. Your eyes snapped up, meeting his own. In his chest, his heart accelerated. What was this? What was going on?

Slightly fighting each movement, Minseok broke out from the tree line and into the clearing. It was obvious you were frightened. And he was breaking all the rules by revealing himself. Logic could not win, however. He kept walking. Even after you fell backwards, he was only able to pause for a brief second. Your rapidly beating heart was loud in his own sensitive ears. But he wasn’t so sure that it was completely out of fear. He needed to be closer. So closer he went. The whiskers of his muzzle brushed against your cheek, sending a lightning bolt through his body. He took in your scent and reeled back. 

You smelled human. You were human. But… there’s something different about you and he couldn’t fathom what it might be. 

“I guess you’re not hungry then?” you said oddly. 

Minseok laughed. Well, as much as he could with this ribcage and these vocal cords. Overwhelmed, he adjusted to a more comfortable position. The feeling in his chest was almost all consuming and it weighed him down. He’d seen plenty of humans on his runs, but this had never happened before. Was this something that would only happen because he was in his wolf form? Or would he still feel like this if he saw you on two legs?

With a glimmer in your eye, you sighed, “You’re a strange creature.” 

Taking that as sign, he tested the waters and pulled himself across the grass with his front paws, closing the gap between you. 

A song suddenly cut through the air and forced him to a stop before he could rest his head in your lap - an action that he was itching to try out. You jumped up with a gasp and ran to the bags resting at the bottom of a tree. Frantically, you searched the pockets until you found the source of the noise, answering the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey, where are you?” asked a female voice on the other end. 

“I, um,” you glanced over him, making him jump to his feet. Will you tell your friend the truth?  “I got bored so I’m just out driving around. Why?”

He almost let out a sigh from relief. Talk of an overly friendly wolf would be bad, especially if it spread through town and more people ventured into the woods to try and encounter him. 

“Jiyoung called and asked last second to switch shifts at the coffee shop and so I’m free for the evening. And I’m hungry.”

You laughed. “Alright. Give me twenty minutes to get back to the dorm. How does brick oven pizza sound?”

“Like heaven.”

“Okay, then. See you soon.” You hung up the call and met his eyes again. Impulsively, you took one last picture of him, which he didn’t shy away from. “I’ll be back,” you promised softly. 

Minseok could no longer feel the ground beneath him. He just stood there, watching as you ran through the trees in the direction of the road. When his senses came back to him, he noticed a small brown square hidden among the tan grass. He went closer to inspect what the object was. It was a notebook. 

It must be yours. 

Scooping the leather-bound book in his mouth, he took off after you. Following your scent through the forest was easy – it stood out like a pink flower in a sea of green grass. But he wasn’t quick enough. He caught the sight of your tail lights far down the road. He would have to keep a hold of the notebook until he saw you again. You did say that you would be back. 

Or you could track her down? 

Minseok shook that thought away. How would he ever explain that without giving away his true nature?

Giving up for the time being, he turned around and decided to head back to the house. There was no way he could find the others now. And with you gone, the elated feeling disappeared, leaving him weighted as if he were being dragged down into the earth. Each step was anchored down. It took him much longer to get back to the farm house. 

Several other members were scattered about the house, either working on their studies or clowning around. Your notebook tucked between his clothes and held close to his chest, he headed up to his room. After a quick shower, he got dressed once again and sat on the end of his bed. In his hands, he flipped the notebook over and over. He contemplated opening it. But that would be invading, wouldn’t it? But he wanted to find out about you. 

So he pulled open the cover. 

Inside, in the top right hand corner of the first page was your name. He smiled, saying it softly over and over. It felt… right on his lips. Your face hovered in his mind. It fit you so well, like a jacket tailored with perfection. 

The nature of wolves was an odd kind. There was a constant urge to belong. To belong to a pack and then… to belong to a person. 

Ever since he was young, he was told about how someday he find that special person whose soul was connected to his. Fate predetermined who that person would be and no one could ever fill the void that existed until that person came along. Ordinary humans would never experience that kind of feeling, that kind of love. The type of love for the wolf that could only be given by one person. 

A mate. 

Was that what you were? None of his brothers were mated. They were all free – some taking more advantage of the situation than others. Occasionally, they would joke about who would be first. Some thought it might be Yixing, given his soft heart and the genuine warmth he radiated. Others liked to joke that it would be Baekhyun or Jongin, the big serial daters of the pack. Minseok, though, had his money set on Jongdae. That wolf had barely been able to give in to the call of the pack when he first joined them all. He was verbally against the idea of mating, more so than anyone else. Opening up to people was not a strong suit of the younger wolf and Minseok couldn’t wait to see what kind of journey that would be once he was forced to. 

Minseok would have been the last person on everyone’s mind for the mated list. Not for any malicious reasons, just because he didn’t venture out very much beyond school so the odds of meeting someone new were low. Or so he thought. He liked being out at the house, being home. He was the very definition of “homebody”. Ironic that he ended up meeting you out here. 

Knock, knock, knock. 

He looked up and quickly hid the notebook beneath his pillows, just in time before Junmyeon, the alpha, peaked his head in. “Minseok?”

“Yeah?”

Junmyeon looked back towards the hallway. “Yeah, he’s in here!” he yelled. “Tell Jongdae to stop worrying!” 

Minseok laughed. Naturally, they leave him behind but then they get worried. He was the eldest, always looking after the others. And yet, oftentimes, it didn’t feel like that. 

Where he thought that might be the end of the checkup, Junmyeon, instead, closed the door behind him and sat down on the bed beside him. 

“Everything okay?” he asked. 

Minseok nodded. “Yeah, of course. Why?”

“I saw the look on your face when you came in,” Junmyeon explained. “You looked troubled.”

The two of them weren’t the closet out of the whole pack. In fact, there were times where it was awkward between them, the role of the alpha and the role of eldest clashing at times. But other times, he was the best one to turn to. 

“What do you know about the mating aspect of us?” 

Junmyeon pursed his lips, thinking. “The mating aspect? Only the basics, really. That when you meet that one person, that’s it. And you’re supposed to live happily ever after.” He laughed at the cheesy line, releasing some of the tension. 

Minseok couldn’t help but laugh along. It died out soon, though, as his mind went back to his current dilemma. “They always say you just know after one look. Do you think that’s right?”

“Yes, I do,” the alpha confirmed. “That’s all it takes. You feel it in here.” He tapped his chest, right about his heart. “Minseok? Why are you asking about this?”

He weighed his options. If this wasn’t what he thought it was and the others found out, he would never hear the end of it from them. But having someone validate his theory would ease some of the strain. 

“I think I found her.”

[vagrantblvrd]

Thinking about werebear Michael again?

(Because reasons.)

And like.

That one fantasy-ish AU where Ryan’s Some Dude wandering around? Something of a mercenary/former mercenary who just.

Wanders.

(A vagabond, if you will.)

Here and there and knows a little bit of magic - small spells that don’t account for much up against properly trained mages or other magic users but handy all the same, right?

(Can make the business of starting a campfire easier after a long day on the road when the sun starts to set and the cold comes rolling in. Keeps him from freezing when he’s in the mountains or up north. Other little tricks like that.)

And there are monsters out there too, right? Ghosties and ghoulies and he’s learned (the hard way) how to kill the ones trying to kill him. How to leave the ones going about their own business alone and so on. (And sometimes what his fellow humans call monsters are better people than they could ever hope to be and all that.)

Anyway.

Wanderer Ryan who comes to a small mountain town somewhere and realizes something is Wrong.

Comes to find out there’s a monster in the woods surrounding the town that’s been plaguing them for some time now.

The townspeople have put up a bounty for its head, hefty reward offered by the people and more than a few people who have gone there hoping to claim it.

Ryan’s not really interested because he’s still got money from recent jobs he’s taken. (And not all that keen about venturing into unfamiliar woods after some unknown beastie and all that.)

But!

He’s got this look to him, seems confident and capable and the mayor makes a convincing case.

Missing livestock and attacks that injured/maimed several townspeople. Worries that it might get bold enough to poke around town, attack the townspeople and children and so on and so forth. (Sweeten the pot with promise of more money after he supplies proof of the creature’s death. Its head or pelt or something else along those lines.)

And Ryan.

He can tell he won’t get a moment’s peace until he agrees to accept, so he does. (Can’t hurt to have a little extra coin and such.)

Ryan doesn’t go looking right away, though. For one it’s late and he’s tired when the mayor “convinces” him. For another, something is weird?

(There’s a figure in a corner of the tavern, travel cloak with the hood pulled up and he knows he’s being watched.)

Also.

The mayor was all weird about this monster in their woods?

So.

He says yes when the mayor asks if he’ll deal with the monster in their woods and then finishes his meal and dirnk and goes to bed. (Tries to ignore the feeling of eyes on his back as he heads up the stairs to the room he’s paid for for the next few nights.)

The next morning he does a little poking around town under the guise of resupplying and such.

Buys food and whatnot for his travels. Gets new shoes for his horse and chats idly with the blacksmith about things.

Man’s had similar talks with other mercenaries and the like passing through, the handful who took up the bounty Ryan’s after now. Idiots and blowhards for the most part, jumped up on their own self-importance and none of them properly kitted out to deal with whatever they might come across in the woods.

All steel and iron and not a sliver of silver among them, he says.

Ryan listens and buys a pretty little knife off the blacksmith. Delicate thing, bright and shiny and not the best when pitted against solid steel but monsters are real and there’s some truth the old stories and all that.

(Feels like a frivolous purchase, but Ryan lost a knife like it some time back. Stuck it in the heart of a monster haunting another small town and always meant to get it replaced.)

ANYWAY.

He wanders the town all day seeing to errands and such he’s meant to get to but hasn’t and chatting with the locals.

Hears a few things that don’t quite mesh with the story the mayor told him, but nothing unduly worrying.

The monster’s appearance was sudden, unexpected. Took a while before anyone noticed it had taken up residence since it seemed content to keep to itself. But as the weather grew colder and game scarcer it went after easier prey, and livestock went missing and then people went looking and things went on from there until a bounty was decided on and here Ryan is.

People are a bit furtive about it all, but not in a way that sets off alarm bells in the back of his head and Ryan decides he’ll go looking the next day. (No sense in looking for the damn thing at night, after all.)

AND.

While he’s eating his dinner that night, same quiet table in the tavern that figure in the travel cloak sits down across from him and gives him a once-over.

Nothing hostile to it, if anything the man looks curious.

Lean figure with messy hair and this faint smirk and something amused (tired) in his eyes.

Asks Ryan if he’s there for the reward, and Ryan not seeing a reason to lie, tells him it wasn’t his intent.

But.

An annoyingly insistent mayor and maybe Ryan’s an idiot for saying yes, but the children here are unbearably adorable and sweet and Ryan’s seen instances like this turn ugly if left untended, so.

Better to take up the bounty than leave things as they are and hope for the best. (Doesn’t say for who, though, because some people don’t understand.)

That gets him a look, curious, thoughtful, and the figure laughs.

Quiet thing, and wishes him luck with his little hunt as they head out.

Ryan watches them leave and sighs because something tells him that’s not the last he’ll be seeing of them and hopes things don’t turn out messily the way they tend to in his experience.

...They do, though.

(So. Much.)

When he sets out to hunt down the monster that’s been prowling the woods he finds old tracks and all that. (Strange ones mixed in. Human to monstrous and baffling and that bad feeling of his again.)

Follows them best he can and finds the places where previous encounters with the monster must have taken place.

Old bloodstains and torn up ground and greenery and other things - broken weapons beginning to rust after being left out in the elements for so long and so on.

Realizes whatever this monster the quiet little town has, it’s bigger than he thought. (They usually are, though, so. Yes.)

Sighs and forges on and after a few hours realizes the woods around him have gone quiet.

Eerily so.

No birds, small animals.

Early winter and he’s high up enough there’s a couple of inches of snow on the ground and that quiet, muffled quality to the world around him it brings.

The tracks or whatever he’s been following have led him to a clearing and the opening of a cave and this awful feeling, because there’s blood on the snow here.

Signs of something big disturbing the snow, bloody tracks and heavy whuffling breathing somewhere behind him. Crunch of snow underfoot (underpaw?) and he turns to see the quiet little town’s monster shuffling towards him.

Big old bastard, and if Ryan didn’t know better he’d think it was just some overgrown animal walking towards him and not something else. (Other.)

But he does know better, and has time to swear under his breath because of course - and then the wind shifts. Carries his scent to the monster and Ryan sees it realize he’s there, nostrils flaring as its massive head lifts and spots him.

And then the fighting starts, because of course it does.

Monster rearing back on its hind legs and roaring at him, deadly fangs and claws and Ryan is so very small in comparison. (He’s faced worse, though. Managed to survive in spite of everything.)

Strangely, oddly, the fight isn’t like the ones he’s been in before.

The monster bellows and roars, bares it teeth and swipes at him with huge paws, but Ryan manages to evade it easily enough.

Dodges and rolls and blocks with his sword. Makes his own little attacks, and watches the way it watches him,

Angry, furious, really.

Snapping and growling and knocking his sword aside but instead of rushing in to crush him with those paws before he recovers his sword or gets back to his feet...it doesn’t.

Or rather it doesn’t kill him.

(Sends him tumbling, rolling a time or two. Scratches and bruises where there should be rents and gouges and broken bone, a dead idiot blood soaking into the snow and mud.)

Forces him away from that cave with the chunred up snow and mud and blood, and that’s when Ryan sees it. (Broken off blade in its side, glint of metal peeking through bloodstained fur and flesh and careful to keep that side away from Ryan’s attacks.)

An arrow lodged in one huge shoulder and other injuries and Ryan backs up a step, two. (More.)

Waits to see what the monster will do, if it will follow him or retreat.

It does neither.

Just watches him, alert and wary and bleeding into the snow and Ryan pauses -

“I see you still haven’t learned any manners,” Ryan hears, and turns to look to the side where that odd figure in the travel cloak is standing at the edge of the clearing.

Hands on his hips and this look on their face.

Annoyed? Exasperated?

Something like that.

The monster cocks its head, makes this curious little grumbling noise that almost wants to be a growl.

And that figure, slight and fragile in the way people tend to be, rolls their eyes.

Walks right up to the monster who snarls and growls and snaps their teeth at them right up until it doesn’t.

Looks almost alarmed as that slight figure keeps coming, backs it up against cave entrance.

Whuffles and chuffs and - to Ryan’s surprise and faint amusement - looks to him like it thinks he might intervene.

He doesn’t.

Just watches as that slight figure scowls up at the monster and lectures it?

No.

Mocks it.

Affects an accent as he looks the monster over. Eyes narrowing as he sees the same injuries Ryan had, breath hissing through his teeth and -

“You stupid bastard,” he finishes, sounding tired.

Exhausted.

Hands dropping to hang by his side as his head lowers, and Ryan starts to take a step forward when the monster whines.

Makes this odd noise it sways towards the slight figure, noses at his shoulder.

Ryan stops, stares as the figure laughs - that quiet little thing of his again - and looks up at the monster.

Edge of a wry smile on his face as he looks up it, and Ryan is very confused because this is not how things like this tend to go.

(Usually there’s more screaming and blood and flashing steel and silver, not. This.)

And then that slight figure sighs, fondness and exasperation as the monster whuffs, pressing its head against his shoulder and he hugs it.

Ryan watches, because odd, and after several moments go by in which no one is horribly killed, wipes the blood off his sword and sheathes it.

Clears his throat because it’s obvious they’ve forgotten about him, and he almost - almost - laughs when they starts and look over at him.

Hides a smile at the small, silent, fight between the two of them trying to shove the other behind them in case Ryan’s a threat - honestly.

The monster is the size of a small shed and -

Well.

It’s ridiculous, really, is the thing. The sight of that slight figure trying to push the monster behind him and vice versa and Ryan realizes whatever is going on here it’s bound to be a long story.

...it is.

Dear God is it ever.

Something, something, something a warrior and a bard (or so Gavin claims to be) and a series of missteps that ended in a curse, a spell, some bit of magic and idiots being idiots.

Protective idiots, in this warrior fearing the curse would take away his human reasoning, make him no better than a wild animal - a monster - and dangerous to anyone around it. (A loved one.)

So he’d run.

A curse/spell affected by the phases of the moon and those odd tracks Ryan had found. (Human leading to monstrous and baffling.)

(And run and run and run as far as he could until he felt he was somewhere safe, somewhere he wouldn’t come across anyone else and pose a threat to others.)

But then winter has started to set in and a lean year and he’d been forced to hunt too close to a quiet little mountain town.

Drawn attention he didn’t need in the townspeople and the mercenaries they hired and on and on and on until Ryan happened along.

And all this time, all this time Gavin following what whispers and rumors he could to find his idiot. Chasing smoke, and being turned around a time or two until he ended up in a certain quiet mountain town and just.

“And you call me an idiot,” he mutters, tending to Michael’s injuries with Ryan’s assistance.

Annoyed, obviously, and worried and scared and Ryan has a feeling he’s gotten himself inolved with another troublesome incident. (There have been so many over the years, but none so bafflingly odd.)

He could, he knows, go back down the mountain to the small town and continue on his way. Tell the mayor he didn’t find a thing up here and to keep his money as he continued on his way, but.

The monster - not so much much a monster as the idiot Gavin claims him to be.

Head resting on his paws as he watches Gavin like he never thought he’d see him again. (Follows him with his eyes as Gavin moves about the cave he’s been living in for the past few weeks, months?, seeing to his wounds and such.)

Closes his eyes when Gavin pauses to lay a hand on his head, a brief moment of respite before he gets back to work.

Complaining about the hardships he’s had to endure chasing after Michael and how unbearable it was (a pun, perhaps?) and how Michael owes him and on and on and no heat to any of it.

Ryan watches the two of them and smothers a sigh because he’s the soft touch Meg always tells him he is. (Soft-hearted and stupid with it, and it’s gotten him in trouble more times than he cares to think about.)

(And then, like. Shenanigans in which Ryan falls in for Gavin and Michael, when he’s in his human form between full moons and a Quest to break the curse/reverse the spell and just.

Lots of shenanigans and Michael and Gavin being wary of him at first - because of course - but the fact he didn’t kill Michael when he had the chance and so on has them willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and like.

Shenanigans?

ALSO.

Realizing there’s no way to break the curse/reverse the spell but that’s fine, it’s okay.

Having a huge fucking werebear on your side who’s figured out how to control where/when he shifts from human to fuck-off huge bear and back is a handy thing indeed.

...:D????

[kagehinataboke]

only time will tell - chapter 5

For several reasons, Todoroki thinks he’s dreaming when he walks into class. For one, he didn’t sleep through his alarm this morning, which never happens. He also let Fuyumi convince him to eat breakfast with her, which is an even rarer occurrence. But, to top it all off, Todoroki is staring at the Bakugou Katsuki he expected to see on the first day of class.

His piercings are all gone, his shirt—which is usually barely attached to his body—is almost completely buttoned, and his hair is the same blond it is in the photos scattered across Todoroki’s bedroom floor. He still has no uniform jacket, but one can only expect so much, even in a dream.

“What the fuck are you staring at?” He scowls, shattering the illusion a little. But only a little.

Todoroki isn’t sure if the question is directed at him, since most of their classmates are also staring at him, but he answers anyway. “Your hair.”

It might be his imagination again, but Katsuki’s face goes a bit red. “Don't you dare read anything into this, you damn bastard. Aizawa was just getting on my back about it: that’s all.” He glares at the people who are still staring, and they all quickly look away. He’s still got his reputation, it seems.

Todoroki says nothing, passing him to reach his seat. He can feel Katsuki’s gaze on him, and they lock eyes when he sits down. Todoroki raises a brow questionly. Katsuki’s scowl deepens. He seems as if he’s going to pull him into the hallway for another kabedon, but Aizawa enters the classroom before he can.

“Settle down, would you? If you’re all so wound up in the morning, don’t come to school.”

“...Should you really be saying that, sensei?”

“Quiet. Take out your textbooks.” Aizawa turns to the board and starts writing book pages. While everyone else unloads their things, Todoroki stares at the back of Katsuki’s head. His hair… He washed all the dye out of it. Todoroki can still see some black left at the roots.

Did he really only do it because Aizawa’s been nagging him? It’s true that he doesn’t approve of Katsuki’s look, but after a month into the semester, it’s strange that Katsuki would finally decide to listen to him now. After their talk yesterday, it seems even more suspicious.

He does look good, though. Todoroki can’t seem to stop staring at him. He’s startlingly similar to his past self now—minus the height and the muscles and the personality change. Okay, maybe not so similar, after all. He does seem to be acting differently lately, though. There are more and more ‘soft occurrences,’ as Todoroki’s been calling them: times when Katsuki’s demeanor changes, even for an instant, into something less tyrannical—something almost gentle.

If he’s being honest, Todoroki is a bit scared of that gentleness. Not because he doesn’t like it: no, it’s all he wants, really. It’s because it confuses the hell out of him. Katsuki was so adamant about them staying away from each other, and now he’s contradicting himself. Todoroki is happy about it, of course, but it also pisses him off. It’s a ton of crossed wires and mixed signals that are too hard to unravel.

What was the advice Shigaraki gave him? Be persistent, annoying, and ‘cute.’ How exactly those three things go together, Todoroki has no idea. Should he try them all separately? It seems stupid. Maybe Shigaraki was messing with him.

Oh, no. Katsuki noticed he’s been staring. There’s no way Todoroki can pretend he wasn’t: he took too long to react. He’s definitely going to get yelled at as soon as lunch break comes. Whether they’re fake or not, he’ll have to try out some of Shigaraki’s tactics and see if they can save him. Improve, adapt, overcome, as they say.

* * * * * *

“You had a damn stupid look on your face all morning,” Katsuki accuses.

He says something else, but Todoroki is only half-listening. He’s been kabedonned again—this time in the stairwell leading to the roof—and from this position, it’s very obvious that Katsuki has well-developed biceps. Is it from playing basketball? Todoroki found out from the team captain—who tried to recruit him a while ago—that he’s a shooting guard. It’s apparently a very important position.

“Oi, are you fucking listening to me?” Katsuki snaps his fingers loudly, and Todoroki slowly blinks himself back into the conversation.

“Oh, sorry. What?”

“You damn dumbass.” Katsuki clicks his tongue. “I said you’re being stupid. Why can’t you give up on being friends with me? I just don’t fucking get you.”

Step number one: be persistent.

“I won’t ever give up.” Todoroki straightens his back, making their height difference more apparent. He’s got a few inches on Katsuki, and he might as well use them. “I want to be friends again.”

Katsuki’s face shows raw surprise for a second before he expertly hides it with a scowl. “You still don’t get it, do you?” He slams his fist into the wall beside Todoroki’s head hard enough to make him flinch. “I’m not a good guy, you dipshit. I’m involved with the wrong people. Hanging around me isn’t good for you. Why can’t you get that through your thick skull already?”

“Because I don’t believe it!” Todoroki knocks his arm away irritably. He wasn’t going to tell Katsuki about Shigaraki, but he has less of a filter when he’s irritated. “I met one of these ‘wrong people’ yesterday, and he seemed completely—“

“What did you just say?” Katsuki interrupts, backing him into the wall again. His eyes are serious enough to shut Todoroki up. They’re almost burning. “Who did you meet?”

“...Shigaraki.” Todoroki shifts, suddenly feeling small. He’s never seen Katsuki so angry before. “He… said you were supposed to meet up last night, and when you didn’t show up, he asked me to go instead—“

“Bullshit,” Katsuki snaps, his fist slamming into the wall again. “Meet up? I’d never fucking meet up with that bastard. Why else did he say? Did you go with him?”

“We just went to a café—“ Todoroki flinches again when Katsuki’s hand moves to grip his shoulder.

He releases him almost immediately, taking a conscious half-step back, but anger still simmers in his tone. “Listen… Don’t fucking go near that guy, you hear me? Don’t talk to him, and don’t listen to a word he says.”

“But—“

“Quiet.” Katsuki gives him a dark, intense look that sends chills down Todoroki’s spine. This truly is someone he doesn’t know—someone who is very different from his childhood friend. If Todoroki didn’t know better, he’d think this person wasn’t really Bakugou Katsuki. But the harsh reality is this: “This is the last time I’ll say it: keep the fuck away from me, or else.”

Katsuki disappears through the door on their left, leaving Todoroki alone in the stairwell. His hands are shaking. Even though he knows Katsuki wouldn’t hurt him, his body still reacts to every harsh touch in the same way. He wonders if he’ll ever get over that.

It doesn’t matter right now. Lunch break will be over soon, and after school, Todoroki has an interview to run to before the remedial lesson. Which Katsuki will be at. Ugh. Things will be so awkward…

Maybe he should pretend to be sick. He might not even have to pretend: he’s been feeling under the weather lately. But if he doesn’t show up, Katsuki will only get angrier. Besides; Todoroki is curious now. What’s so bad about Shigaraki? And what on earth is Katsuki trying so hard to hide from him?

* * * * * *

It’s dark in the house. It’s eerily quiet, too. The only sound to fill the silence is the tick of the clock on the far wall. There are footsteps now, too, moving slowly down the hall. Each one seems louder than a gunshot in the black and quiet void.

Todoroki’s body won't stop trembling. His shaking knees bump against the wall in sync with the footsteps. Tap, tap, tap. Todoroki is too big to be hugging his knees to his chest, but he does it anyway, just to keep them from moving. He always gets found in the end, but the longer he can stay hidden, the better.

The door clicks open right as he’s convinced himself this time will be different. He buries his head between his knees, making himself as small as possible even though he knows it will achieve nothing. It will do nothing to stop the icy grip that curls around his wrist and squeezes in a way that will leave impossible-to-hide bruises.

“What have I told you about hiding from me, Shouto?”

Todoroki jolts upright in bed so quickly that he throws off his comforter. He’s breathing as if he’s just run a marathon, and there’s a cold sweat coating his skin.

It’s been a while since he had a nightmare. He almost forgot what they do to him—how they put him right back in that house; how they make him feel powerless.

His limbs are still shaking. It takes him several tries to get up, and several more to open his bedroom door. Fresh air. He needs fresh air. In Tokyo, there was nowhere to go. There was no freedom. But here, he can run anywhere he wants.

There’s this old park he used to go to when he was a kid. It still looks the same even now, so many years in the future. There’s a set of swings, a jungle gym, and a huge structure with slides and ropes and other things. Whenever he was upset, Todoroki would climb into this long tunnel hanging above the whole thing. You have to climb a ladder to get to it, so you can’t see in from the ground. The perfect place to hide. Todoroki almost wishes he’d had something like it back in Tokyo.

He scales the ladder and sits in the middle with his knees pulled to his chest, staring at his reflection in the shiny warped pink plastic. They haven’t replaced it. When Todoroki tilts his head back, he quickly finds what he’s looking for: T.S.+B.K. They carved it there when they were kids—he and Katsuki. It was after Todoroki got in an argument with Natsuo and ran off to the park.

Katsuki was the one person who could always find him. The one person who he didn’t mind finding him. Todoroki feels calmer already just imagining the way Katsuki would distract him with something, anything, until he forgot what he was upset about in the first place. The name carving was one of said distractions.

“Now we’ll be here forever, and nobody will know it except for us,” he’d said proudly. Todoroki had been amazed by such a small, simple thing. Carving their names together seemed binding to him, as if they’d be stuck together. That little plus sign meant they were an item—a pair. Shouto + Katsuki. It made Todoroki feel inexplicably warm.

“Oi, is that you up there, Half n’ Half?”

Todoroki’s heart skips a beat. Of course Katsuki would show up. Thinking about him always seems to make him appear. “...Last time I checked, this was a public park.” His voice is unsteady. He’s still a little shaken from the nightmare.

There’s a long pause. “I’m coming up.” Footsteps echo on metal, and then Katsuki slides in next to him feet-first. “Fuck,” he says when he’s settled, hugging his knees to his chest. “We really can’t fit in here anymore.”

Todoroki stays quiet. He looks at his feet, which are kicked up against the side of the tube. It’s better than staring at their carved names, or at Katsuki’s face. The memories are almost too bittersweet to stomach.

“You always used to come up here when we were kids, remember? When you were mad, I had to come talk you down.” Katsuki tilts his head back and gives a long sigh. “What, not talking? I’m guessing you’re waiting for me to ask what’s wrong?”

Asshole. Todoroki would be pissed if he had the strength. He’s so exhausted that he might fall asleep any second. “Why’d you come here?”

“Last time I checked, this was a public park,” Katsuki drones, mocking his earlier words. He relaxes a bit, sliding down so they’re nearly shoulder-to-shoulder. “Kidding. I like to come here sometimes.”

Todoroki faintly wonders if Katsuki comes here for the same reason he did tonight, but he doesn’t ask. It’s better not to scare him off. “I thought coming here would help me,” he says instead. It’s the truth. A small part of it, anyway.

Katsuki doesn’t ask questions, either. He just nods, as if he somehow understands. His fingers tap an uneven rhythm against his kneecap. He’s wearing ripped jeans. Isn’t he cold like that? “You can talk about it,” he says after a long stretch of silence. “If you want to.”

“It’s a long story.” Todoroki hugs his arms to his chest. He ran out of Fuyumi’s apartment in his pajamas—a T-shirt and shorts—like an idiot. Even though it’s September, it’s getting cold already. Cold enough to make him shiver. “Also, I thought you didn’t want to talk to me.”

“I don’t. But I never said I wouldn’t listen to you.”

Todoroki scoffs, shaking his head softly. Katsuki really is a piece of work. “I’d rather just be alone, then.”

“The fact that you’re saying that after supergluing yourself to me over the past month tells me not to leave you alone.” Katsuki takes off the red track jacket he’s wearing and throws it over Todoroki’s head. “Geez. Put this on, fuckhead. Your shivering is annoying as hell.”

Instead of arguing, Todoroki pulls on the jacket gratefully. Katsuki is still kind in some ways, at least. Which only begs the question: “Why are you being so nice to me?”

Katsuki shrugs noncommittally. When he tilts his head back, the skin of his throat stretches out and seems to glow as it reflects off the walls of the plastic tube. “Maybe I just felt like it. Are you going to talk or not? Haven’t you been begging to spill your guts to me since school started?”

He’s right. Todoroki isn’t exactly sure why he’s hesitating now. Isn’t this what he wants? Katsuki is like a ghost that’s been haunting him for ten years. He wanted to clear things up with him. That was his only goal when moving back to Hosu. Has it changed?

Todoroki stares at Katsuki for a long time, searching for the person who’s grown to hate him over the past month. But instead, all he can see is his old childhood friend. His old childhood friend who came out here for a reason he doesn’t understand, lent him a jacket, and asked him to talk.

Yes. This is exactly what he’s been wanting. It’s just taken so long to get to this point that the truth of it finally happening completely flew over Todoroki’s head. This is his chance. Katsuki will listen to everything he has to say. With this one conversation, maybe—just maybe—things will finally start to change.

previous | next 

[mistystarshine]

Build You To Break You (1)

 Wordcount: 5,346

Fic Summary: Mercy.

Notes: This is a three-shot on Ao3, but since I have the first two parts done, I decided to condense it into a two-shot on here, because why not. Proofread by the spectacular @az-files​! This fic can also be found on Ao3 here.

The beginning of the end came quietly.

Dabi was a high ranking member of the League - MLA - whatever Shigaraki’s not-so-little band of freaks was called these days. He wasn’t an errand boy and the rest knew better than to treat him like one. Yet there were individuals within their association whom even he would balk at ignoring. Contrary to popular belief, Shigaraki was not among them.

It agitated him to no end when Ujiko had called him in, only to ask him to ‘pick something up for him’. They had so much dead weight floating around now and he was choosing to use him as a literal delivery boy. Despite the unsettled air of the Doctor’s laboratory, jars and screens and containers that his gaze didn’t linger on for long, he wasn’t about to let that slide without complaint. So complain he did. He groused about how he had better things to do and how some dumb muscle to do his little instead chore. The doctor let the stream of insults wash over him, unflappable, and eventually gave him an address and a time. No other instructions.

He didn’t want to waste his time with what he’d been “promised” was a quick and easy mission. But because it was Ujiko, he went. Their motley villain group was filled with people who liked to try their hand at a bunch of things. But the Doctor did more than try.

Even he had to be pushed further than that to defy a man who played god.

The address led to an abandoned warehouse. He rolled his eyes of the cliche of it all. True, he had utilized similar settings plenty of times himself, still, he expected a little more creativity from the Doctor. A quick once-over didn’t reveal anything alarming or suspicious other than those that were inherent with abandoned warehouses. It was hardly thorough though, not enough to negate the possibility that a trap was waiting around one corner or another. That was fine with him. Anyone stupid enough to try anything would be rendered to ash before they could so much as blink.

Dabi walked into the warehouse.

It was an open, eerily void room with only one other person inside.

A young boy, around eight years old, was chained to a chair in the center of the room, a pair of quirk suppressant cuffs attached to his wrists. His hair was blond enough to be nearly white. There was a blindfold over his eyes and tear tracks running down his cheeks.

Heat rose to the surface of Dabi’s skin even as cold seemed to sink into his insides. Maybe this wasn’t the sort of trap he had anticipated.

The kid’s foot twitched. He was still alive, then. He was alive and wasn’t even trying to scream despite not being gagged. Probably had just given up.

His stomach churned like it was trying to hold down something curdled. Heat continued to build in his hands, his chest, his face, but the cold of the air and the insides just made him feel numb.

If this was a trap, he knew exactly how to get out.

Dabi began to walk forward. His footsteps echoed far more loudly than he would have liked. The kid’s whimper, somehow, was louder. “Quiet,” he ordered, his low and relatively quiet voice made to resonate like a booming shout. The kid immediately went quiet, but not before he thought he heard one more pitiful noise.

It wasn’t that he was trying not to cry. One might even say that he wanted to cry, because that would mean there was still some sort of hope left, some sort of spirit, something to truly dismay and mourn over the injustice of it all. But he knew that there was no point. He would receive no mercy here.

The apathy that came before the rage was the worst part of all. And he could even say that it ever ended. Not completely.

A foot away from the kid, Dabi paused. To his credit, he didn’t start whimpering, speak, or even start sobbing anew, the threat trust in front of him reviving some sort of spark in him. But his chest began to rise and fall much more rapidly, up and down, up and down, only a hair’s breadth away from hyperventilation or a panic attack.

The sleeve of his jacket accidentally brushed by a lock of whiteblond hair as he crouched down. The kid stiffened.

"Chill," Dabi grumbled. No response. But as he drew his hand up toward the chains, flame dancing on the tip of his pointer finger, he noticed the kid starting to squirm. He paused and pulled his finger back.

Right. Most people weren't used to burning.

"This is going to hurt," he warned. "Bear with it."

With that, he brought his flame up to the thinnest part of the metal chains binding the kid's hands. He didn't want to fuck directly with the quirk suppressant cuffs and risk electrocuting him or something, but this would at least allow him to move freely. 

After some ordeal.

He watched as the chainlink turned bright red and began to sag. Even as his own finger began to sting, he watched it turn white and start to drip. Watched a few droplets of molten metal hit the kid's sleeve or pants-leg on the way down. The kid, who had begun to sob, but was still trying his damndest to keep his mouth shut. His blistering wrists were bent awkwardly as he tried to hold them as far away from the flame as possible; a distance that amounted to millimeters. He probably thought he was going to roast him alive. (Burn, burn all the weakness out, immolated until-)

Enough.

Dabi snuffed out the flame, reached onto either side of the chain, and pulled. The weak link pulled apart like putty, but not without a slight splash. The kid broke and let out a shriek as a few tiny droplets of molten metal hit the palm of his hand. 

With a curse, Dabi jumped back up to his feet. He stared at the kid, frantically wracking his mind for something to say, something to say fast, and ended up snapping, "you're free." 

The kid didn't respond. Seemingly stuck to his chair, he slowly raised his hands to inspect the damage with eyes streaming with fresh tears. (Wrists burned fast and easy, so the damage was burns. Burns and metal, it was always-)

"Did you hear me?" Dabi snarled. He reached forward to snatch the blindfold off the boy's head in one harsh, doubtlessly uncomfortable jerk. He blinked up at him with truly disgusting blue eyes. " Go ."

With another whimper, the boy staggered out of the chair. Dabi crushed down anything he may have felt as he watched him scramble across the room. He hesitated for a moment before darting out of the warehouse, and at that moment, Dabi almost thought he heard a hoarse, "thank you."

Then he was alone. It was just him, a chair, and melted chains. Just him and some failed test.

Distantly, he wondered how the kid would get back home. If it was a home worth going back to. 

Didn't matter. He'd get resourceful if he really wanted to live.

Dabi waited for what felt like a long time before leaving the warehouse. When he did, he looked up at the night sky, tried to peer through the city's smog to see the stars, and hoped that he wouldn't pay too severely for a moment of sentimental mercy. 

* 

The next day, he told Ujiko that there hadn't been anything in the warehouse. That someone else must have taken it.

"I see," the Doctor said, voice absolutely aching with disappointment.

Nothing else. Just 'I see'.

Dabi walked away with an imagined chill running over his skin, undamaged and charred alike.

*

The middle of the end was a blaze of fire.

Or at least, that was what it built up to. First, before it had a chance to be anything else, it was a shove.

Dabi had been heading back to Deika to talk to Shigaraki about some nonsense or other. It rapidly stopped being important in light of what happened next.

He had been taking a shortcut through a back alley when he heard the sound of footsteps. Although he didn't slow down or stop walking, it immediately put him on edge. It was a sensation that he immediately pushed aside. The footsteps were soft and casual - probably just some passerby who didn't want to bother with the main roads. As the form of a petite young woman came into view ahead of him, he scoffed internally. Villainy was good for some things. Helping with paranoia was not one of them. 

He and the woman started to pass to each other without so much as a second glance in the other's direction. Then she took a sudden step to the side, shoulder slamming into his side, and grabbed his wrist.

Dabi immediately recoiled and moved to call up his quirk. In the same instant, she sank her nails into the skin of his wrist and a horrible burn began to course through his body. It made him falter, an involuntary hiss of pain leaving his lips.

"Murderer," the woman spat. She let go of his arm and took a sudden step back. It allowed him to catch a glimpse of brown eyes, glaring at him as if she had been given the opportunity to play judge, jury, and executioner.

As if he would let her. 

The woman began to run as Dabi pulled at his quirk. Instead of an immediate burst of flames, he was greeted by a jolt of searing pain racing up the hand he had tried to call the fire with. His quirk appeared only a few seconds later, but the woman was fast. They barely scorched her heel as she took off around the corner. He moved to pursue, only to end up wobbling and lashing his good arm out to brace himself against the alley wall.

Warily, Dabi looked down at his other hand, still tingling with pinpricks of pain.

Where his arm met his hand, charred purple gave way to the angry pink of a fresh second-degree burn. Tiny droplets of blood welled up where his staples dug into suddenly-living flesh.

Something cold spread in Dabi's stomach.

Ignoring the fresh surge of pain it bright, the continued lightening of the pink skin, and the ominous sensation of something creeping up his arm, he created a tiny flame in the palm of his hand.

The edges were tinged with orange.

 A staple fell off his hand and hit the ground with a tiny pling.

*

He only ran a few tests after that incident. Only used his flames a few short, sparing times.

Each time was the same.

It hurt to use his quirk. However, even if it was a different sort of pain, it was still pain. It was nothing that he couldn't push through. It was nothing new in and of itself. The new part was what came with this pain. It wasn't the smell of burnt flesh and the feeling of his nerves shrieking and dying as they caught fire. No, it was the terrifying sense of near relief that came when the stinging stopped. It was the sensation of long-dead nerves being brought back to life, of flesh being stitched back together and rendered fresh and new and whole.

There were many in the world who would have seen such a thing as a gift.

Dabi knew better. The universe was not a charitable thing and what 'kindnesses' it dispensed always came with a price. Quirks always had a drawback and a price. This - oh, this one had many. But one was more apparent than the others, more pressing, more urgent. Of all of the damnable side-effects of the woman's quirk, only one of them demanded that he act now.

Every time Dabi used his flames, he healed a little more. And every time he used his flames, they always burned a little colder than the time before.

*

Dabi tried to ignore the feeling of dread screeching in the back of his mind as he stormed into the Doctor's office. He certainly didn't let it show. He moved quickly and with his head held high, his eyes cold and unflinching.

"Yo, Doc!" he called. "You got a sec?"

Ujiko was sitting at his desk, a paper containing god-knows-what laid out in front of him. At Dabi's commanding voice, he spun his chair around, a placid look on his face. "Oh, Dabi," he said. "What a pleasant surpri- oh dear. What's wrong with your arm?"

Dabi glanced down at his right arm, which was wrapped in gauze from elbow to fingertips. His unscarred arm. He felt his jaw clench, a bitter rebuttal on his tongue and dying to get out. 'Don't you already know?' he was dying to ask.

Contrary to what Shigaraki sometimes said, Dabi wasn't an idiot. He knew that the chances a woman with the healing quirk had coincidentally run into him were incredibly low. For her to have caught him off guard like that, either she had been following him for a long time, or she had some inside help. And he could only think of one insider with reason to do something like that. It was oh-so fitting too, the good doctor and the healing quirk. It was the exact sort of sick, twisted thing that could be called kindness if anyone asked, if someone took a step back and squinted.

It was exactly Ujiko's sense of humor.

'Don't you already know?' he was dying to ask. He didn't, but a portion of his anger did slip through for a moment. His eyes narrowed and something behind them lit aflame. Ujiko tilted his head to the side and smiled faintly, something like delight twinkling behind his eyes. Was he waiting for him to say something? To cast his accusation?

Dabi clenched his bandaged hand into a fist. Clenched his jaw a little tighter.

Then, he let out a deep breath and opened his hand.

Ujiko was a bastard, but he was a bastard with resources Dabi still needed. His anger was a bright and living thing that could not, would not, be denied. But even now, it could not be pointed toward him in its entirety. Not with that other thing burning and writhing and eating away at the back of his mind.

"It's nothing for you to worry about," Dabi said.

Ujiko let out a disbelieving sound. Or maybe disappointed. Whatever. It didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that he fulfill his latest request.

"I need another noumu," Dabi continued. "Stronger than the last one."

That gave the Doctor pause. He brought a hand up to his face and tapped his fingers against his chin. "Well, well," he said, "this is unexpected." He 'tutted' a few times before asking, "are you making another attempt at Endeavor?"

"Yes," Dabi said. There was no point in denying it, not when honesty might enable the Doctor to better set him up with something capable of doing the job. "And this time, I'm going to finish the job."

He didn't know what would happen when the quirk ran its course and he was fully healed, but he wasn't going to risk losing the chance to do the thing that he wanted to do most. The thing that he needed to do.

Dabi would kill Endeavor before his power ran out.

*

He caught up with him on his patrol. It was near the edge of the city and in the edge of night, far from the public eye, not a supporter or civilian in sight. Part of him couldn't help but wonder what the great Endeavor was doing out there. He was the sort to prefer his accomplishments to be where the whole world could see and stand in awe of his power, not waste time patrolling the fringes of civilization in the dead of night. That sort of shit was for heroes who actually cared about what they were doing. (That was why patrols like that so often went untended.) Maybe the great fool was actually looking for trouble.

In that case, he was going to get it.

Dabi turned to the slavering beast standing over his shoulder. The noumu was over seven feet tall and built like a brick wall, standing tall and menacing where his first High End had hunched over. It had beady black eyes and a canid muzzle with lips that seemed permanently curled back in a snarl, revealing inch-long razor-sharp teeth. As Dabi watched, a thick rope of drool trickled down its jowls.

He almost wondered what it might have looked like as a human before abruptly deciding that he didn't care. Only one thing mattered right now.

"Let's go," Dabi muttered.

The noumu let out a growl that might as well have been an agreement.

Dabi stepped out from around the corner of the old factory he was standing behind and lit a flame in his left hand. He ignored the stinging jolt that immediately raced up his arm and the tell-tale tingling that began in his fingers. Waltzing further and further into view, he called out, "yo, Endeavor!"

The "hero" turned his gaze toward him, filled with anger and hatred. (Void of recognition.) A rictus grin curled Dabi's lips.

"You," Endeavor growled.

"Me," Dabi mocked. "I think it's high time we finished this, don't you?"

The circumstances were far from ideal. When he had played this confrontation out in his dreams, there had been hundreds of thousands of eyes witnessing the fall of the flame hero. It had been played out for all the world to see. But beggars couldn't be choosers, and right now, Dabi was closer to a beggar than this man could ever be allowed to know. Even if no one else saw Todoroki Enji's fall, even if Dabi himself wasn't around to see the aftermath, the world would feel the aftershock.

Dabi would finish what he had set out to do, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

Quick as a flash, the flame villain started the battle by sending a blast of flame at his heroic counterpart. He paired it with a preemptive step backward, but still had to duck to avoid the flaming fist that Endeavor sent crashing toward him. He let out a mirthless laugh as he twisted to the side and blasted a torrent of flame at the hero, allowing himself a burst of satisfaction when Endeavor let out a grunt as he was pushed backward.

"Too slow," he mocked, as if the exertion was not setting a stitch in his sides and the skin on his arm didn't sting badly enough that he almost wanted to claw it off. A quick glance revealed the scarring on his left arm to be fading rapidly. Dabi's grin faltered.

The sight of his arm made Dabi falter. Endeavor went charging forward, flames roaring and ready to render it a fatal mistake, only to be intercepted by the noumu. The thing entered the battle with a screech and a blast of white-hot flame from its muzzle.

Endeavor quickly sent up a wall of flame to block the noumu's own blast, but the beast charged right through it, mottled black flesh barely even simmering. It bodily tackled the hero and sent him flying into the wall of the nearby factory.

Dabi grinned. He knew that the smart thing to do would be to step back and let the noumu handle this, but he didn't care about smart right now. This might be his last chance to finish things, and he was not about to let it slip him by.

He wanted to be the one to kill Todoroki Enji. Him, by his own hand. He wanted that man to look him in the eyes and know that he had been brought down by the creation he himself had deemed a miserable failure.

And if he just let the noumu have its way with him, it might kill him before he had another chance to do that.

As the noumu unhinged its jaw to release another blast of white flame, Dabi ordered, "get back." With a click, the noumu closed its jaw and stepped back obligingly.

Endeavor was already getting back up. He probably even would have survived a direct hit from the noumu, stubborn bastard that he was. Dabi only had a second to recognize that he might have made a mistake before the bastard of a number one was charging at him once again.

"Woah!" he cried, sending up another wall of flame and quickly sidestepping. He ignored the pain of the woman's quirk reaching his shoulder and the slow but steady rain of staples sloughing up his arm, but he couldn't ignore the flickers of white and orange that penetrated his wall of fire, nor the feeling that the blast was distinctly smaller than it should have been.

Fuck.

"IS THAT THE BEST YOU'VE GOT!?" he screamed at Endeavor. With a wide-armed clap of his hands, he sent another torrent of fire at Endeavor. The hero blocked and sent a blast in return, so Dabi sent another, and another, and another -

- and the sting of a vengeful stranger's quirk turning him inside-out reached his face. Adrenaline kept him from screaming, left his face locked in its manic expression as staples fell off. Caught in a haze of vengeance and fury, he barely even noticed as, lit only by blasts orange and (fading) blue fire, "Dabi" unraveled around him.

But. He had no choice but to realize when, at some point, Endeavor stopped moving. He simply stood there with wide eyes and a haunted face, something Dabi couldn't begin to decipher seeping across his face. Amidst it all, there was the one thing he'd been looking for all along. Recognition.

(It didn't feel quite like he thought it would.)

"What's wrong?" he jeered. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Touya," Endeavor breathed.

Not anymore, he wanted to say. But as he was forced to spit out a staple that got caught on his lip as it fell out, it occurred to him that that may not be the most convincing argument. Instead, he fell still for a moment, allowing his fury to consume him. "Of course," he said. "Who else would it be?"

"Touya, I..."

"Who else would it be?" Dabi continued. "After everything you did, all the damage you caused, all the people you hurt - mom, Fuyumi, Natsuo, even your precious Shouto - who else would I be!?" His voice was beginning to rise to a scream at this point. Somewhere in the distance, he heard the beat of a helicopter and roar of a siren. Good. Maybe he would get the audience he'd desired after all. "Did you really think I would die so easily? That I would let you get away without feeling every bit of pain you've ever caused!?"

Endeavor's gaze fell for a moment. When it rose, he straightened up a little and began, "Touya. I-"

Oh, Dabi knew where this was going to go. He was horrified and disgusted by what he had become, he was mortified that any son of his would turn out a disgusting villain, he was a mistake and now it was time to put him down like a sick dog-

"- am sorry."

Dabi froze. "No," he said.

"I'm sorry," Endeavor repeated. "I know that nothing I say will undo what I've done-"

"No," Dabi said, taking a step forward. He summoned flames to his fists - there wasn't a flicker of blue in sight. There was an especially bad jolt of pain in one of his eyes before the nearest staples began to push themselves out.

"- and you have every right to hate me. But I am sorry. -"

"No you aren't," Dabi hissed. He didn't come so far for Endeavor to be sorry. "You don't get to be sorry." He didn't become a murderer for Endeavor to be sorry.

But as Dabi stalked forward, Endeavor continued. "- What happened to you is my fault. If there is anything I can do -"

"SHUT UP!" Dabi shrieked. He raced forward to punch a burst of flame at the number one hero. And Endeavor... stood there and took it, barely wincing when the cloud of fire hit his skin, leaving faint burn marks where he made contact.

Dabi sent another plume of flame. Again, Endeavor took the hit. Then again, why wouldn't he? His flames were weakening enough that it barely left a scratch at this point.

No. It didn't matter if he had to use all of his remaining power and burn himself out entirely, it wasn't going to end like this. That man wasn't going to win, not again. He was going to be the one to kill Endeavor.

"Come on!" he cried. "You've never held back before!" The flames his Endeavor's face this time, leaving red welts on top of the fragile flesh of his scar.

"I should have," he said. "You were a child. Touya -"

" - No!" Dabi punched Endeavor in the nose with a simmering fist. It sent a jolt of pain through his hand, but not as bad as the ravenous stinging that was now clawing at the edge of his head and down his back. Just how many of his scars were left now, anyway?

"I'm sorry," Endeavor whispered.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still. Dabi hesitated with his fist pulled back, genuinely unsure of what to do. Likewise, Endeavor didn't seem to know where to go from there - or maybe he was waiting to see what his son would do first. It was something that shouldn't be able to happen. It was something that, based on everything he knew of his father, couldn't happen. Endeavor had never once shown any signs of remorse, not until now, when he should have been angrier than ever. He should have been burning and spitting and fighting to the death, but instead he was apologizing, saying those words that a younger version of himself had wished so many times to hear. How different would the world be if Endeavor had only said those damn words sooner? Why couldn't he have said it sooner?

The flames that had begun to die out began weakly licking at Touya's fingertips once again. But before he could move - scream painful truths at his father or continue his futile assault in a battle already lost - the standoff was broken by a low rumble behind them.

"Tou - ya," the noumu rasped.

In front of him, Endeavor went stiff as a board. "Touya," he said, voice tense and serious, "step aside."

"Toooooou - ya," the noumu repeated.

Reluctantly, he looked over his shoulder, only to start and turned around completely at the sight that greeted him. The noumu was slowly advancing on him, teeth bared and malice in its eyes that had been completely absent when he set it on Endeavor only moments ago. Tiny plumes of smoke seeped from between its teeth and rose into the air.

"Hey," Dabi snapped even as he took a half-step back, "stand down!"

The noumu took three more steps toward him. "T - ou - ya," it hissed.

Slowly, Dabi raised a hand to brush his fingers across his face. His scarless, staple-free, likely unrecognizable face.

"Tou - ya."

The noumu had increased resilience, strength, breathed fire so hot it burned white, and was all but fireproof.

Numbly, Dabi realized that Endeavor wasn't the only one the beast was perfectly suited to kill.

A heavy hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. Dabi immediately and violently wrenched himself out of his father's grip, landing a venomous glare at the man. "Don't fucking touch me," he spat.

"You need to get out of here," Endeavor said.

Dabi readied himself to snap something back, but before he could utter a single word, the noumu let out an unholy howl and flung itself forward. Dabi took a hurried step back and called forth his fire with a wave of his hand, only to be met by another wave of pain and a weak flame that flew a few inches away from his hand before dying out. Worse yet, the stinging, which had been only inches short of agonizing this entire affair, was beginning to fade.

"Move!" Endeavor shouted. He shoved Dabi out of the way, sending him sprawling across the pavement in his act of protection.

For a little while, the world spun. It was with it still twisting and lurching around him that Dabi forced himself to his feet. Not too far away, yet blurred enough to seem like miles, he could make out to forms of Endeavor and the noumu locked in combat, the blasts of orange and white enough to illuminate him even in the darkness of the night. Endeavor was fighting like his life was on the line even though, from what Dabi could see, the noumu had very little interest in him.

The sound of sirens and helicopter blades was growing closer. The press would be here soon, and coverage, and backup. (And what would they see but the great hero Endeavor defending his son.)

They would be there soon, but it looked like Endeavor didn't have that kind of time.

(He had wanted to hear those words for so long. Why would he say them now, when he wanted them the least?)

With a curse, Dabi lurched forward. Reaching deep, into the parts of him that had always burnt and scarred the most, he called upon his quirk and aimed one solid, sharp, decisive blast of blue at the noumu. The beast jumped several feet back with a screech.

With that final blast, the last of his scars faded from his back and feet. The agonizing stinging began to fade. The last staple hit the ground with a tiny pling. And everything that made Dabi finished unraveling, leaving behind only poor, weak, Todoroki Touya.

An insidious feeling of peace and exhaustion began to overtake him. But Touya forced himself to keep standing even as his vision went black at the edges, hissing out a furious, "what are you doing!? This isn't your fight."

I don't want to be saved by you.

As the noumu shook embers out of its eyes, Endeavor cast a morose, repentant, almost soft look upon his son. The only one he had ever seen from him. (Why now?) "I've failed you so many times," he said, "as a father and as a hero. This time, I want to do better."

And maybe it was because he swore he could feel the ground moving beneath him, but in that moment, Dabi didn't know what to say.

The noumu raced forward once again. Endeavor met it head-on, hands lighting up bright blue as a white glow began to emit from the creature's mouth. Touya had to hold his hand up to his eyes as the pair went up in a pillar of flames.

There were people shouting in the background.

Then it was over. The charred corpse of the noumu fell to the ground, Endeavor stumbling down after it not seconds later. Touya stepped forward, then fell to his knees, one hand on Endeavor's chest.

"Hey," he hissed as people began to swarm the scene, "get up." The world around him was starting to fade, but regardless, he shook the man's chest, trying not to notice the lack of any movement.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

"Endeavor."

It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

"Get up. Now."

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

"Todoroki Enji." This wasn't supposed to happen.

"...Dad."

This wasn't what he had wanted.

As people began to flood the scene, Touya gave Endeavor's body one final shake before slumping forward and falling into unconsciousness.

[concealeddarkness13]

A New Dawn Part 1

So, I recently came up with a thief character named Kai who has memory issues and a snarky attitude (here’s the post for the powerpoint to explain more about her and her world). I thought about how similar Kai and Rat (from @ratracechronicler‘s Rat Race Chronicles) are, so we decided to have a collaboration where Kai comes to Rat’s world. Here’s the first part! (You should totally also check out @ratracechronicler‘s first two books in the series: My Name is Criminal and My Name is Runaway; they’re awesome books: the story is awesome, the characters are fun, and there is so much awesome worldbuilding!) Also, tagging: @nightskywriter, if you’re interested in reading this?

I glanced over the book that was supposed to have info about the apocalypse that happened so long ago. For what seemed to be the millionth time. And it wasn’t like my glare could make the words become understandable. I had stolen so many alien language translation books, but none of them had any similarity to whatever this language was. I was still nowhere closer to learning more about it.

I flopped back on the ground and stared up at the ceiling, with music blasting in my ears. Who was I even kidding? There were too many people on this planet. I would never find my family. And why did I think that my memory loss and their disappearance from my life had anything to do with the fabled apocalypse and its consequences? I should just give up and settle down in some town, so at least I wouldn’t be so alone.

I blinked, and the building and everything around me vanished. I scrambled up on my feet and stared. Pure white buildings all around me, and people brushing past me, like they didn’t even notice me. And all the machines. Machines above me, all around me. Mechanical eyes watching me. I could barely see anything besides the machines. And…there were machines inside people’s brains. Like me. How? Where was I? I couldn’t be on my planet anymore. No one knew how to put machinery inside people.

To take my mind off all the questions, I forced myself to focus and walk against the flow of the crowd, quietly stealing from everyone I brushed past. They seemed exceptionally oblivious, so it was child’s play. But it helped me push aside the jumble of thoughts, at least.

Once I had finally calmed my racing heart, I pushed out of the crowd and down a side street with a lot less people. No one even gave me a second glance as I pulled up my hood and grabbed out the phone Taeo had given me years ago.

I pulled up Taeo’s number and tried to call him, but the stupid machine just said that it couldn’t get through. I frowned and stared at it. Nothing seemed to be wrong, so I really had to be on a different planet. Crap.

I slunk low and hid around the corner of one of the houses when I heard people talking up ahead. Everyone else around me had been eerily quiet, so those people who were talking must be special.

“Don’t worry, Eli, we’ll head out soon enough. I just have a few more things to finish up before we leave. Got to get some more supplies.”

“Fine.” I frowned as something lit up in my vision. The machines were strangely shaped as a human, but it wasn’t completely a robot. There was no way those machines could support a full robot, and anyway, some of those machines were doing things that weren’t needed unless they were supporting a human. What in the world?

Eli kept talking. “I just can’t wait to see more of Tersatellus. And I want to see how everyone’s doing. I know Vastate told the discipline ops to calm down, but I’m worried. You know how the others are…”

The first person laughed. “You mean how we are. Remember, you’re talking to a hardened criminal.”

I held my breath as they started to walk past my flimsy hiding spot. Maybe I could actually tail them and figure out more about where I was. But I couldn’t stop my gasp. Eli was the one who had all the machinery, and I couldn’t even see what he really looked like. All I could see was the machinery lighting up in my vision. However it had happened, the machines were working perfectly. It had been an expert job. Maybe I could even ask him how he had gotten those machines.

Eli turned his head toward me, and I shook my head and tried to dive for extra cover, but I had been too slow. Crap. I shouldn’t have let my curiosity distract me.

But they didn’t stop. I frowned and snuck after them. Either they knew about me or Eli hadn’t seen me, but I had to take the chance. If it meant that I would figure out more about this place…

I only got a little ways before the woman whipped around, and I turned away as quickly as I could, hunched over, hands in my pockets. Crap.

“Hey! Don’t you know it’s not polite to stare?” I turned around, and the woman was walking up to me. I backed up until I hit the wall and pulled out my knife. At least I had that with me still. If I tried to run, they’d just try to give chase, and Eli would most likely be able to catch up with all that machinery. I was trapped.

The woman pulled out a pocket knife of her own with a smile. “Howdy! You’re a little far from Stillstone to be acting like that, aren’t you? Not gonna make any friends waving that around.” She glanced around, eyeing the people around us who weren’t even paying attention. “There’s a strict no-crime policy everywhere else in the city but Stillstone.”

Eli took a step forward. “I don’t think you’re helping too much, Rat. She’s scared, and she also looks confused.” He turned to me. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“How do you have so much machinery?” The words blurted out before I could think much about them.

They exchanged a glance, and Rat turned back to me, her smile turning sharper. “Okay, sister, you just revoked your right to ask questions. Who are you?”

I stood up straighter, even though I stayed crouched a little, instinctively making myself look smaller, less of a threat. It wasn’t like I could run anyway. So, I might as well be truthful. “My name is Kai.” Rat winced a little at the name, and I frowned. “I have no idea where I am. One second, I was in my hideout in Valeria, and the next I’m in this crazy city with all the machines and even ones in people’s brains. How did that even happen? How did you figure it out? No one has been able to.” The words were just babbling out, my thoughts running too fast to stop it. “So, that must mean that this is another planet, where people are more technologically advanced. Are there any aliens on this one? What are those crazy machines above us? Why does everything around here always make me feel like someone’s watching me through a camera? What’s up with all the oblivious people?”

She lightly bumped the top of my head, and I shut up. What was I thinking? They probably thought I was insane. She glanced at Eli. “It’s so simple. Aliens. Rex was right all along.” I frowned, about to ask who Rex was when she turned back to me. “Okay. Let’s start at the beginning. Your name is Kai. And you have no idea what Tersatellus is?” I shook my head. “How about Earth?” I frowned and shook my head. She sighed. “How do you speak Boreas Vox, then?”

What was that? “Bor—what?”

“The language. We can understand each other. Your accent’s weird, but we speak the same language. How do you expect me to believe you’re from a different planet with that kind of evidence?”

Crap. How could I explain that? Before I could say anything, Eli turned to her. “Rat, I have an idea.” Rat glanced over at him, and he probably shifted on his feet. “…How do you know that I have machinery in me?”

That was easy to answer. I pointed at my brain. “I have a machine in my brain, and it points out machines to me. I’m the only one who has a machine inside me where I’m from.”

“Oh, makes sense, I guess…” I flinched at how sad he sounded. He glanced over at Rat. “Like you and Voxel mixed together.”

She snorted. “Our combined bodaciousness would rock the world.” She looked back at me. “And you’re trying to say that you’re from another planet? And we’re supposed to believe that?”

Before I could even try to think up an answer, Eli spoke up again. “But that’s what I’m thinking is maybe—do you remember what you were telling me Vastate told you about the First Order? How they had all that tech hundreds of years ago, and they’re so secretive, there’s no real way to know what else they did with it besides all the stuff to do with Tersatellus? What if they went to another planet? The ultimate isolation from the rest of Earth. They did terraforming, anyway. Maybe they even had pre-mainframes, and that’s…you know…”

Did he think that whoever this First Order was, was the reason I had something in my brain? Well, that could be true. I didn’t remember anything about what happened to get the machine in my brain. “I don’t blame you for not believing it. But I promise I have no idea about this Tersatellus or anything about your world.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Wow. Okay. Know what? All good. You’re from another planet, Kai. Splendid. I’m from a country that totally legalized all crime all the time in an area a few square kilometers, permitted you don’t do any crimes in the rest of the city, i.e. this one, because if you do, then the law comes down on not just you, but the illegal zone, called Stillstone, so let’s put the knives away before people get suspicious and the real bruisers show up.”

I hesitated, but they didn’t seem like a threat right now, so I put my knife away. Rat put her knife away as well with a grin. “Anyway, I got a beautiful idea. You’re gonna love it. Tell you what. Unlike the other Kai I know, you haven’t tried to kill me within five minutes of meeting me, so you’re coming with us. If you are from another planet or timeline or reality, you can learn the area a little. I happened to be giving a tour, anyway. Unless you were looking for something more, y’know, private.” She lowered her voice for the last part and eyed Eli suggestively.

Ugh. I rolled my eyes as Eli stuttered. “Gosh.”

Rat turned back to me, and I tried to hide my exasperation. “And if you are from around here but you’ve got your memory mixed up—and trust me, you wouldn’t be the first—showing you around should maybe help you find something to jog your ol’ brain lobes.” I winced, and she paused, staring at me. She didn’t trust me. “So, what do you say?” She gestured me forward with a grin. I started walking forward, still eyeing her, and as I passed her, she tried to slip her hand into one of my pockets. But I snatched her hand and held it tight.

She pulled her hand back with a smirk. “So, you’re pretty good then. I might actually come to like you. I might even forgive you for what you said about my partner in crime. But did you steal anything?”

I nodded and pulled out the trinkets I had stolen. I had only done it to calm my thoughts anyway. I didn’t actually need them. Rat whistled. “Not bad, kid. But no more. We’re only safe here because we keep the crime to Stillstone. We’re dead if you get caught with that. So, drop them.” As I dropped the trinkets and pulled out the rest I had stolen, she turned to Eli. “Are you sure you’re okay with a tagalong?”

I watched as he nodded. “Yeah. I’d love to have someone else along. It’s just…”

I jumped when Rat turned back to me, watching me with dark eyes. Was I not supposed to be watching? She sighed. “Do you even realize what you said?”

I frowned and thought back. What was she even talking about? I had already said a lot of stupid stuff. I cocked my head. “At what point?”

She rolled her eyes. “Ugh. You literally pointed out his machinery as the first thing you said to him. You don’t think that’s wrong? You hurt him!”

I flinched and looked over at Eli. “I…I’m sorry. It just blurted out. I didn’t mean for that to be the first thing I said. It was wrong.” If only I could even see his expressions. I didn’t know what he was thinking.

He shook his head. “No, it’s fine—”

Rat nudged him in the chest. “Is it really fine?”

He sighed. “I accept your apology. Thank you.” He paused and continued. “I mean, I understand why you would be curious, if the people on your planet really don’t have any machines in them. Here, it’s a little more normal, but I’m still an anomaly. I was…technically dead for seventeen years, but my brother was able to bring me back to life. That involved a lot of machinery, but all I want is for people to see me as human. That’s why what you said was a little, um, startling.”

I nodded. I was going to try my hardest, even though I couldn’t see any of his human parts. He was a nice person.

Rat nodded with a smile. “Now that that’s all sorted, we just need to get a few more things, and we can head out.” She started walking, and Eli walked beside her, while I trailed behind. I didn’t want to bother them.

But I had some questions. “So, we’ll be travelling around?”

She nodded. “We need to check up on some friends.”

Perfect. I’d love to learn more about this place. “And I’m allowed to go with you?”

She laughed. “Of course. I’ve got to keep my eyes on you.” She sighed and glanced back at Eli. “So, I guess we should start with Zenith.” He nodded. “Zenith…the home of the HQ buildings, where the government is seated. The biggest, most impressive city in Tersatellus. There was an earthquake recently, and a few buildings were knocked down, but they’ve bounced back from that. It helped that we celebrated the New Year recently. Everyone’s spirits are still high from those festivities. Now, there’s a community of criminals who are safe from discipline ops within Zenith’s borders, called Stillstone, so that’s where we live, since we’re totally criminals. Those “crazy machines” up there harness this thing called liquid lightning that powers all our machines. And that dark mass in the distance?” She pointed at a massive shadow looming over all of us. “That’s the Divide. It’s a wall that keeps us isolated from the rest of the world. And that’s about all you need to know about Zenith.”

If she talked to me again, I didn’t even hear her. We were back walking among all the other people, and I had to look around. All those people with machines in their brains. They seemed so oblivious. And some people, the ones who were more aware than the others, had machines in their eyes. Whenever their eyes passed over me, that mechanical gaze pushed down more on me. Those were probably the people looking for crime.

It was just so bright and crowded and huge. Cities back on my planet were impressive, but nothing close to the scale of this city. Buildings loomed over me, higher than I had ever seen. I couldn’t imagine living in a city like this. I felt crowded and completely invisible at the same time.

Rat whistled, and I looked over at her with a grunt. She was holding hands with Eli, and he was looking back at me as well. “I understand that there’s probably a lot to stare at, but I didn’t bring you along to just stare. What’s your planet, or whatever you want to call it, like?”

She didn’t believe me, but all I could tell was the truth. “Not as impressive as this. The city buildings don’t reach nearly as high, and no one knows how to put machinery into people, so I’m an anomaly. Aliens also live there, and I’ve learned about other planets, but not yours. The places I’ve been to have all been part of a desert, so they were dusty and dry, but the sand is all different colors. And the sunsets are beautiful.” A smile tugged at my lips, but I pushed it back. “I want to see the whole world.”

She nodded. “Sounds like nothing I’ve heard of. You could always be from beyond the wall, but it would be way too difficult for you to get here for you to just pretend that you just appeared here.” She frowned. “So, why do you want to see the world? Is it just because you’re curious?”

I shook my head. I had never admitted this to anyone, but there was no reason to not be truthful. “I am curious, but that’s not all of it. I…I lost my memory of before I was sixteen. I have no idea who my family is, and I have no idea what happened to separate me from them. I want to meet them, even though I know I have barely any chance of finding them. I have no clues or anything.”

Multiple emotions passed through her eyes before I could identify them, and she turned back to the front. “Can’t fault a goal like that.” She stopped at a shop and picked up some extra food and held up a thin machine that had multiple functions, such as transferring money. “This is a beacon, by the way. Do you have something like this in your pockets?” I shook my head, and she nodded. We kept walking. “So, you steal for a living?”

I nodded. “And I’m also trying to get enough money to keep moving around. What about you?” She had almost moved too fast for me to stop her when she had tried to steal from me, so she had to be good too.

“I used to, but I’ve been trying to straighten up, at least when I’m in Zenith.” She grinned over at me. “But outside Zenith, we can steal what we want.”

I let the smile come to my lips this time. At least I could do something familiar in this place.

We gathered a few more supplies, like fuel, and Rat and Eli led me to a sleek car that was parked a ways away. I slid in the backseat as Rat and Eli got into the front, and Rat looked back at me with a grin. “Next stop, Pike!”

[lovlieziam]

@treacle-black asked for prompt #66 on the drabbles, so here ya go :) I hope you enjoy!!

66.  It’s not a donkey. It’s a mule.

Out of all the dumb shit Louis has convinced Zayn to do in the 20 years he’s known him, this probably takes the cake. And maybe Zayn was slightly overreacting—because Louis was a bad influence, honestly, and they’ve done a lot of stupid things—but going to the zoo at 7:30 in the fucking morning was insane.

“Quit being dramatic, Zayn. It’s the fucking zoo. Not like we’re breaking any laws, here.” Zayn rolled his eyes in response to Louis’ harsh words. It wasn’t the zoo that was bothering him, it was the early hour and Louis’ sour attitude. He didn’t want to be here, thanks.

“Oh, now I’m the dramatic one? Literally all you’ve done since you picked me up is complain. If you don’t wanna be here, then why are we, exactly?”

Louis cut a glare in Zayn’s direction. “Fuck you, you know exactly why I’m here.”

And okay, Zayn did know, but, “It’s not my fault you waited until the last minute to do your paper. You’re the one that wanted to do it on fucking donkeys.” And really, Louis could have picked anything—their professor just wanted to gauge how much they knew about research papers. The topics to choose from were endless, but Louis chose donkeys. He was pretty sure he knew why, but he’d never actually asked.

“But Zayn, think of it! Donkeys are the perfect topic. Do you know how many times I’ll be able to use the word ass in my paper? It’s genius.”

Zayn rolled his eyes so hard he thought they might fall out. That was the exact reason he thought Louis had chosen them. He loved his friend dearly, but sometimes his definition of ‘genius’ was a little skewed.

“You’re ridiculous, and I still don’t understand why we even had to come here. Couldn’t you have just googled facts like the rest of us? There’s no reason for us to be stuck staring at a donkey at eight in the fucking morning.”

“Actually, it’s not a donkey.” Both Zayn and Louis swung around at the voice, turning to face a very attractive worker. Zayn was left speechless when he took in the man’s bright eyes and barrage of muscle. “It’s a mule,” the boy continued, and Zayn fell a little in love with the gentle way he spoke and the endearing curve of his lips.

“What?” Zayn’s attention was drawn away from the boy and to Louis when he spoke. Zayn was just as confused as Louis sounded. In his defense, the boy standing in front of them was so beautiful it was disorienting. Zayn wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to follow a conversation, not if this boy was going to keep smiling like that.

The boy cocked his head, his smile turning a little nervous, and God help him, Zayn was endeared. Why did this boy look like a human puppy? It was hazardous to his health, honestly. Zayn wasn’t sure he’d survive in the aftermath of this conversation.

“The, um, the animal behind you? That y-you called a donkey?” He looked at Zayn, making direct eye contact for the first time, and Zayn was pretty sure he was melting. Someone better call in the cleaning crew because soon Zayn would be just a puddle of mush under those warm brown eyes. “It’s not, um. It’s not actually a donkey. It’s a mule.” The boy brought a hand up to the back of his neck, a blush working its way up his cheeks as he adverted his eyes.

“They’re very similar because, well, mules are the offspring of donkeys, but, um. They also are the offspring of horses, too.” The boy seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing. “Male donkeys and female horses, to be more specific.” He chanced a glance back up at Zayn and gave a small, soft smile and, fuck, Zayn now knew he wasn’t going to survive this conversation. “I just, um, didn’t want you to have false information? I, uh, I heard you say something about an essay? And I didn’t want you to, um, be misinformed.” He finished with an embarrassed shrug, his hand finally dropping back to his sides as his face took on an even deeper flush.

It was official. Zayn was already 100% in love with this boy.

“Cheers, mate,” Louis said, and it was then that Zayn remembered what was going on. He was so caught up in the cute zookeeper that he forgot that Louis was even there. “You probably just saved my ass.”

The boy swung his own startled gaze over to Louis, like he himself had forgotten he was there. “Um, yeah, yeah. ‘Course. ‘S my job.”

Louis shot the boy a grin before turning to Zayn, and Zayn tried really hard to mask whatever expression he had there—Zayn knew he was more than a little endeared with this boy, and if anyone was going to be able to tell, it was Louis. He knew Zayn better than practically anyone, and the last thing he needed was a day filled with fucking ass jokes about the zoo employee. Louis thought he was clever, and he was relentless about it.

Zayn realized too late that he didn’t compose his face fast enough because he watched as a wicked smile stole over Louis’ lips. He was so, so fucked.

“Say, what’s your name, mate?” Louis asked as he turned to face the boy again.

“Erm, I’m Liam,” the boy mumbled. His face was still covered in that lovely shade of red, and Zayn was pretty sure his own eyes had formed into the shape of hearts. Liam. He really liked that name.

This was going to be a disaster.

“Liam, hmm?” Zayn had a sudden fantasy of kicking Louis. He had to physically restrain himself from actually doing so. “How much do you know about donkeys, Liam?” And Louis’ voice was absolutely diabolical, and Zayn knew he was going to regret whatever was about to come out of Louis’ mouth.

Liam stuttered a little in front of them, his body obviously tense with the urge to flee. Zayn didn’t blame him; he was fighting the same urge. Louis’ tone had suggested nothing good. “Um, a little, I guess? Not too much, I—”

“Because, you see, dear Liam, my friend Zayn here,” Louis gestured to Zayn, his smirk making dread sink into Zayn’s stomach. He was definitely going to regret the next words out of Louis’ mouth. “Just absolutely loves asses, and I’m sure he’d love it if you could tell him all about the one you have here.”

Zayn choked as Louis’ words hit him, his eyes widening and his face flaming with embarrassment. Zayn wanted to die. Honestly, fuck Louis Tomlinson. He was the worst fucking friend on the plant and Zayn was going to kill him.

“Louis,” Zayn bit out, and all Louis did was laugh like a fucking maniac. Seriously, he was dead. Zayn didn’t care if he spent the rest of his life in prison, Louis was a dead man. Zayn chanced a glance at Liam and felt his expression soften a bit at the timid smile on the boy’s face. Liam’s face was even redder than before—which was a feat, since it was pretty flushed before—but he also had a shy smile on his face that he was directing at Zayn. There was a barely concealed gleam in his eyes, one that was eerily similar to the one Louis had in his. It made Zayn’s breath come in short puffs thinking about the possibilities behind those playful eyes.

“I’m glad you asked,” Liam began. His shy smile curved up into a smirk as he met Louis’ gaze head on. “A little fun fact about donkeys is that they really enjoy rolling around with other donkeys, which I totally get.” He looked over to Zayn, before, “It’s one of my favorite things to do, too, though I prefer somewhere a little more comfortable than the dirt.” He shot Zayn a wink and Zayn couldn’t fucking breath. Liam, the seemingly shy zookeeper, had just made a pass at him. Liam had just suggested he liked rolling around in bed. Then he’d winked at Zayn. Zayn was pretty sure his knees were about to give out.

Louis let out a delighted laugh next to him, and Zayn was once again drug back from his Liam consumed thoughts.

“Aww, don’t like getting all dirty, Liam?” Zayn felt his breath catch once again because, honestly, couldn’t Louis just shut up. Once again, heat rose in Zayn’s cheeks, but when he looked back to Liam he forgot all about his embarrassment. The gleam in Liam’s eyes from earlier had seemingly doubled. His smirk was wicked enough to rival Louis’ and fuck, Zayn was in over his head. This boy was going to be the death of him and they’d just met. He hadn’t even said anything to the boy. Literally not one word and he was ready to start planning their wedding.

“I never said that,” Liam began. “In fact, I quite enjoy getting dirty.” He arched an eyebrow at Louis before turning his gaze back to Zayn. He let his eyes slowly rake over Zayn’s body and Zayn’s knees almost gave out again. Liam’s gaze left a blistering trail of goosebumps erupting over Zayn, his skin heating up at the pure want obvious in his eyes. “Really, really like getting dirty.”

Fuck, Zayn was going to die. Liam was going to make him self-combust right here in front of the mule exhibit.

Louis let out a little choking laugh next to Zayn, drawing both the other boys’ attention. Liam seemed to come back to himself in that moment, a blush overtaking his cheeks once again as he realized what he just implied.

“Right,” he mumbled. “Well, I’m just going to, um, get back to work.” Liam took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes closed before opening them again. They landed on Zayn, Liam’s smile making him feel a little fuzzy. “Let me know if you need anything else, yeah?” He shot Zayn another wink, and Zayn decided he needed to start going to the gym. Really, his knees should not be that willing to give out every time this boy so much as looked at him.

As he walked away, Zayn felt a lump rise in his throat. He couldn’t just let this boy walk away. He didn’t know if he’d ever see him again after this, and that left him feeling more than a little upset.

“I think I like him, Zayn,” Louis said. “He would probably be perfect for you.”

Yes, Zayn was well aware of that, and there was no fucking way he was letting Liam just walk away from them, not if he could go toe to toe with Louis like that. Plus, he was more than a little turned on right now, and from a conversation. If Liam could do that just by talking, Zayn couldn’t wait to find out what he could do with his hands. Zayn took off after Liam, anticipation running through his veins.

“Where are you going?” Louis shouted behind him.

Zayn turned around, walking backwards for a few steps as he said, “I’m not going to let the love of my life walk away without at least his fucking number, Louis,” before he ran into something warm and solid. Zayn felt himself freeze up, slowly turning around to be faced with none other than Liam himself.

Liam was smiling down at him, his eyes practically disappearing with the force of it. “The love of your life, huh?”

Zayn felt his blush return with a vengeance, all his words leaving him. Why did he have to turn into such a mess around this boy. “U-um, y-yeah. I mean, I was just, um, I was…” He trailed off as Liam’s smile softened, gazing down at Zayn with so much warmth it made Zayn a little drunk. “Can I have your number, Leeyum?”

Liam giggled, he fucking giggled, and Zayn was already writing his vows.

“Yeah,” Liam said. “You definitely can.”