#I’m still sick so hopefully this sounds coherent at all

[paladinwife]

bouquet, smitten and valentines with rika?

Yay Rika!

bouquet — what’s their favourite flower and why?

She’d jokingly say a Venus fly trap. Or perhaps the blossoms on Venus’s Sawsbuck’s antlers as it sweeps through her team.

More seriously… hmm. I don’t think she’s thought through it that far. Something bold and colorful, like tulips or peonies.

smitten — was it easy for the people around you and f/o to figure out you liked each other? did they get involved in you getting together at all?

Strangely enough, lots of people close to them seem to be unaware that there’s anything going on with them aside from purely platonic friendship (aside from Larry, who definitely knows but stays in his own lane). Rika, for her part, finds it really funny and leans in hard on the “gal pal” jokes.

valentine — gush about your valentine! ^^

Uggggh. I love women. She’s probably the most predictably my type character Pokemon has put out in a while (aside from Nessa, who is a potential f/o!). But I don’t know why, she’s just like catnip to me. Something about both her looks and her personality. Also, the fact that she’s a ground type specialist? Guess who was one of those back in the day. It feels like I was just supposed to go crazy over her!

[masonmtxo]

Anytime you need me - Rewrite

Summary: Mason gets a call to pick his girlfriend up from the club

Words: 3k ish

Note: this is a rewrite of my first ever fic! It’s doubled in length and has been changed slightly so hopefully it’s a bit better than the original! As always, feedback is appreciated 🩷

Mason awoke with a start at the sound of his phone continuously buzzing on his bedside table. Rolling over and reaching to grab it, the time 2:06 am flashed up on the screen.

Squinting at the bright light, he flicked his messages open, clicking on your name as numerous notifications filtered down the screen.

He smiled to himself, rolling his eyes at your blatant drunkenness but pleasantly surprised that the messages were entirely coherent, half expecting you to have blown his phone up with nonsense. He slowly sat up and stretched as he clicked the call icon beside your name, eyes still too full of sleep to attempt texting you back.

You picked up on the first ring, some rustling coming down the line before he heard you speak, “Maseyyy, hiiii baby!” Your voice was slurred, a faint thumping from the bass of the club's music could be heard in the background but not so loud he couldn't hear you. Mason frowned slightly, assuming you couldn't have been inside the venue if the music was so distant.

It wasn't often you rang Mason in the middle of the night to pick you up from a night out, when you went out for drinks with friends it would usually end at a much more civilized hour, Mason more often than not acting as your taxi. But on the rare occasion you were out beyond midnight, you would avoid disturbing Mason at all costs, not wanting to wake him up when he had a match or training the following day. You had always promised to ring him in an emergency though, so his heart jumped at the thought of you potentially being unsafe.

"Hi pretty girl, are you okay?” He tried to keep his voice level as his anxiety spiked.

“Yeah baby I’m okay,” your wobbly voice echoed into his ear, “I was wondering if you could pick me up? Lana has found a random bloke so isn’t going home now. I was gonna get a taxi home because I can’t stay at hers like planned but since you're off tomorrow I figured you'd get mad if I did.”

“Yeah of course, I'm just getting ready to come and get you now,” he couldn't help but feel irritation swell in his chest and the thought of your friend abandoning you but was relieved that you had asked, “Where are you?"

He stood from the bed, walking to the chair stood in the corner of your bedroom and yanked on his hoodie and joggers that he had thrown on it a few hours prior.

“outsideeee", you giggled down the line after a pause and another rustle in the background.

He sighed deeply, coming to the quick realisation that you weren't as sober as your messages had led him to believe, "I know that baby, what club are you at?"

In between drunken giggles you revealed the name of the club that you had ended up in that night, quietly whispering down the line that it smelt like sweaty feet in there and that was why you had taken it upon yourself to wait outside.

Furrowing his eyebrows at your response he quickly grabbed his keys from the dresser and jogged down the stairs, "Wait, are you on your own?"

"Noooo, there's a man being sick next to the lamppost and I think his friend is asleep on the floor right by my feet!" You giggled, resulting in another deep sigh from your boyfriend.

"Y/n how many times have I told you not to wander off on your own?” He grumbled out as he slid into his car, his half asleep body shivering from the cold.

The call dropped for a second as he started his engine, connecting through his car causing him to wince as your voice echoed through his speakers.

"I'm not on my own baby, I just told you, I'm with new friends!"

Mason couldn’t help but laugh at your cheer before quickly remembering his drunk girlfriend was standing outside a sketchy club, "Two random drunk men do not count as friends love, where’s Lana?”

“I told you Mase, she left with a man just now!”

“You didn't say she had already left!” He chastised, “just she wasn't going back to hers.”

Mason couldn't help but feel his anger grow towards your friend, pissed off she had ditched you in favour of hooking up with a stranger from the club. Lana was a nice girl, but Mason had seen straight through her from day dot and was forever reminding you Lana’s friendship was only there until a man came on the scene. He never anticipated she would be one to desert you on a night out when you had plans to stay at hers, otherwise he would have stayed awake and kept tabs on you.

Mason sighed yet again, “please go and wait inside until I get there baby, I'll be 10 minutes.”

“It’s okay Mase, I’ll stay with my friends!” You smiled as the man on the floor beside you began to stir.

Mason could hear the man muttering in the background of the call, panic growing by the second. He didn't mean to sound so sharp, but knew it would be the only way to get you to pay attention through your drunken haze, “Get back inside. Now, Y/N."

Mason pulled off the driveway and began his drive through the quiet streets of Surrey as you mumbled down the line in protest but followed his instructions, the music now coming through the line louder and clearer than before, "Good girl, I'm hanging up now you're inside. Just wait there, I'm only round the corner."

Mason pressed his foot to the accelerator a bit harder, praying silently there were no police cars roaming the streets as he sped to your location.

A few minutes later the club came into sight and Mason pulled up in an empty space across the street. The two men he presumed you had been standing beside were still outside on the pavement, though two more men, who he suspected were bouncers, had now joined them.

Mason looked up from his phone to see your dress-clad figure stumble from the front entrance, rolling down his window to give you a wave as he spotted you scanning the road in front of you in search of his car.

Your face broke into a grin as you spotted him, quickly darting across the empty street to his car, but not before throwing a "Bye guys!" to the two partially unconscious men you had 'befriended'.

You reached his car, leaning in through the drivers window, pouting your lips to ask for a kiss which Mason granted, pressing his lips to yours in a quick peck.

"Hi baby, I missed you", you giggled into his neck as you leaned further into the car and cuddled into his warm body.

Mason reached up to stroke your hair back, gently lifting your head so he could see your face, "missed you too pretty, did you have a good night?" He asked.

You grinned back at him, slowly nodding your head and letting out a dragged out "Yesss, the best!"

"Good, now get in the car please before someone sees and thinks I'm soliciting you", he teased, aware you weren't in the nicest area and having a half dressed woman hanging through his car window down a dark street may have looked a bit suspicious to onlookers. He leaned across the car to open the passenger side door ready for you as you let out an offended gasp.

"Hey! I'm not a prostitute! I'm your girlfriend!" You laughed, lightly smacking his chest before stumbling around to the passenger side.

He hummed in response as you slid into your seat, throwing your bag at your feet with a tired sigh. He leaned across to plug your belt in after watching you struggle, giving you another quick kiss before starting his engine and pulling away.

He spent the entirety of the short drive home quietly chuckling in response to your drunken ramblings, animatedly giving him a play by play of your night's adventures.

"And then, as I was waiting to order my drink, this guy came over and I think he might've been flirting with me, Mase!" You gasped, "he offered to buy me a drink and he kept looking at my boobs, which I thought was pretty rude. But anyway, I told him I wasn't interested and 5 minutes later he was necking on with some other girl on the dance floor so I really don't think he was that interested either!"

Mason couldn't help but burst out laughing, reaching his hand across the center console to grasp your hand in his, giving your fingers a light squeeze.

“Why are you laughing at me?” You frowned, head tilted in confusion, “That is not very nice. I haven't said anything funny.”

His lips trembled as he tried to contain his chuckles, pulling your hand up to place a kiss to it in apology, “sorry baby, you're right. Did you have a good time apart from that?”

“Yesss!” You nodded animatedly, “I had to make new friends though as Lana was sitting at the bar with this bloke most of the night.”

Mason sighed in response, reminding himself in the morning to speak to you about being careful around your so-called friend. He would never tell you what you could or couldn't do, but he couldn't help but itch at the thought of you going out with just her again. His brain was in overdrive imagining the position you may have been in if he wasn't there to come and pick you up.

“I’m glad you had fun baby girl,” he kissed the back of your hand once again, holding it against his lips for a moment as he focused on the road ahead.

He looked across at you as he pulled onto the drive, innocently staring up at him with a soft smile making his heart clench at how much he adored you. Mason turned and pressed a kiss to your softly pouted lips, pecking you one, two, three times before turning to climb out the car and walk round to the passenger side to help you out. You'd made it as far as unplugging your seatbelt as he pulled the door open, reaching down to grab your clutch and heels that you had slipped off during the journey before scooping you up from the seat and carrying you bridal style up the driveway.

"Thank you for coming to get me," you whispered into his neck as he carried you to the front door, glancing back to check the car had locked as he placed you carefully on the doorstep.

"Anytime baby" he breathed against the side of your head as he unlocked the door.

The house was dark as you made your way in, the both of you heading straight for the stairs to take you up to your bedroom, fatigue setting in as the warmth of your house consumed you. You took the stairs slowly, Mason’s large hands wrapped around your waist to guide you from behind. You leant heavily into Mason's grip as he guided you through the bedroom door and directed you into your ensuite.

"C'mon baby, sit up on the counter,” he instructed, turning you and lightly lifting you from the hips until you were settled in front of him beside the sink.

He reached into the draw to his right, pulling out some wipes and gently beginning to wash away your makeup, softly tugging the false lashes from your lids as he stood between your thighs.

You stared up at him as he worked away, brows furrowed in concentration as he attempted to wipe away every trace of makeup on your skin.

You hadn't even realised your eyes were fluttering shut until the fingers that were cupping your jaw tapped lightly against your skin, "don't fall asleep on me just yet, pretty girl, you'll be annoyed if you wake up in the morning with makeup on."

You grumbled in response, eyes shutting completely as you felt your head beginning to spin, tiredness settling deep in your bones. You heard the click of a lid, flinching slightly as Mason wiped a cold blob of what you assumed was moisturizer onto your forehead, his gentle fingers massaging the cream into your skin making you sigh in contentment.

Reaching across behind you, fumbling around until you located your toothbrush and the tooth paste, eyes too blearly to properly see what you were doing. You squinted slightly as you squirted a blob onto the head of the brush, quickly wetting it and shoving it into your mouth.

"Good try babe,” Mason paused, a chuckle leaving his mouth, “but that's my brush.”

Glancing down to the toothbrush in your hand, you shrugged, continuing to scrub your teeth as he shook his head, muttering under his breath that he would just get another one tomorrow. You rolled your eyes, figuring he had shared enough of your germs throughout the years to be that concerned but settled down when he flashed you a cheeky smile.

Carefully unwrapping your legs from his waist, he ducked out of the bathroom, returning moments later with your pajamas in his hand.

“Spit,” he murmured after stepping back between your parted thighs.

Leaning to the side, you spat the tooth paste from your mouth as instructed and turned back to look up at your boyfriend who wiped the excess foam from the corner of your mouth with his thumb.

Holding onto your hips, he gently slid you down from the counter and settled you on your feet, lifting your dress and slowly pulling it over your head. He worked in silence, unclipping your bra and sliding your knickers down your legs, quickly slipping his old t-shirt over your head before helping you step into your sleep shorts.

Once you were suitably dressed for bed and make-up free, he pressed another kiss to your lips and nodded his head towards the toilet, "go for a wee quick, otherwise you'll have us both awake again in an hour.”

You nodded in response, doing as you were told as Mason busied himself filling you a glass of water to take to bed and clearing away the used make up wipes. With a sideway glance, daring you to make a comment, he grabbed his toothbrush and gave his own teeth a quick refresh.

Flushing the toilet and shimmying your shorts back up, you joined him at the sink, knocking your hip into his as you washed your hands. He smiled with a shake of his head, watching as you skipped past him back into your bedroom and dove head first into the pile of sheets that had been left unmade from his previously disturbed slumber.

You sat up and watched him as he placed the glass of water on your nightstand, pulling your phone from your discarded clutch and plugged it in to charge. It was small actions like that that made your heart leap with affection for your boyfriend, knowing you would always be looked after and doted on as if it was second nature to him.

Mason stood back after helping you under the duvet, walking around to his side of the bed. Your eyes locked onto his bare body as you watched him pull his jumper over his head, admiring the way his back muscles moved under his soft skin. There was something so sexy to you about the way he undressed himself, roughly grabbing the collar of his top and seamlessly pulling it over his head, a sight that had you brain running away with itself as you thought back to all the times he had done that same action before having his way with you. The sight made you shiver and your skin heat, your alcohol fuelled hormones making your head spin.

Mason kept his back to you as he dropped his joggers over his narrow hips, sitting down on the edge of the bed to yank them off before settling in beside you, reaching to turn his bedside lamp off and engulfing the room in darkness.

You groaned in protest that the show had ended, rolling onto his chest as he laid back, gently scratching your nails across the light smattering of hair. He moaned in contentment at the feeling, pressing a kiss to the crown of your head and wrapping his arms around you to pin you against his chest.

"I love you," you whispered into the dark, tucking your head into his neck, hooking your leg over his hips to cuddle into him impossibly closer.

"I love you too baby," Mason hummed, rolling himself into you so your bodies were pressed against each other, lips finding yours in the dark for a loving kiss. His lips molded against yours with ease, the kiss slow and gentle, Mason eventually pulling away to let out a tired yawn.

“We better get some sleep,” he sighed, settling into the pillow, nose brushing against yours as you had decided to share his for the night, not wanting to part from his embrace.

“Night Masey,” you whispered, pecking his lips one more time for good measure, “thank you for looking after me.”

"Always."

[paging-possum]

So one of my friends who makes games (here’s her itch.io, she’s made some REALLY neat stuff AND is currently making some even neater stuff right now that I may or may not be helping with) recently told me about the concept of developer logs. And I heard that and immediately was like… “Well I love talking about my projects…and I’m currently working on a comic.” So I'm making the Milwaukee Protocol devlog! Which will hopefully keep me on track with working on it! I’ll also throw in smaller updates about other side projects at the same time, just for fun. 

Milwaukee Protocol is a horror comic about- you guessed it- rabies. It follows Lyssa (named for everyones favorite virus, lyssavirus) after she gets bitten by a weird animal in the woods and starts experiencing rabies-like symptoms despite the fact that medically, there’s nothing wrong with her. It’s about losing control! It’s about changing in ways nobody understands! It’s about suffering the consequences of completely avoidable choices! It’s about instilling the sheer terror/fascination surrounding rabies that I’ve had since I was a child in other people! I’m not sure how coherent it is, but it’s still being written, and at the very least I’m excited about it.

I’m still writing the script and working on actually figuring out what everything and everyone looks like (something I skimped on for the last comic I made, which I think made it suffer), but I’m hoping to put my all into this one! I’m hoping to have the script done by mid-November, and this is where we are now. 

Thrilling. I know. God I love Notion. I'll hopefully have actual drawings of them next week but it has been a very overwhelming 2 weeks and also im sick so things are going very very slow.

While I figure out how to put this beast together, I'm also trying to put together some search and find pages just for fun- I started one for the Fool tarot card, since it felt like a fun theme to start with. That said, I'm not a huge fan of the composition so I might go back and redraw it. I'm also making a comic for college using a rubber duck as an allegory for having a crush on someone because they make you do weird stuff in art school sometimes.

I'm also listening to a bunch of stuff this week! A lot of Parkdale Haunt, which is a horror podcast about two women and the creepy old house that one of them inherits. Probably not the best when my only roommate right now is a fridge that makes sounds like human breathing, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make for a good horror podcast. 

[babyboy-cody]

ch. 01 | finding out

summary: after feeling so different for the past week, you decided to go to the doctor in order to find out what was actually wrong with you. the cause of you feeling this way was something you weren’t expecting.

warnings: depictions of early signs of pregnancy, clueless grayson, mentions of sean, implications of smut, mentions of abortion

quick note: okay so this is my first ever grayson series, so hopefully i make you guys proud. some of the pregnancy signs are things that some people don’t go through, so i wanted to make it as realistic as possible. any feedback would be great! <3

word count: 2.6k

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Waking up early in the morning, you never expected to feel like shit. From the position you were laying in, your tender breasts were pressed into the bed, causing you the slightest pain. You groaned and winced as you went to turn. Just from moving, you felt nauseous and dizzy, the blinding light from the sun pouring into the room caused you to squint. Grayson wasn’t in bed beside you as usual. He always woke up at the ass crack of dawn to start his morning routines of breakfast, exercising for two hours, and shower. The rest of his day is spent doing activities, such as woodworking/building, spending time with you, long-boarding, or exercising some more.

A wave of cramps suddenly hit you, causing you to muffle your long moan into your pillow. You tucked your body into the fetal position, tucking your hand under your sweatpants to press down on your lower stomach, hoping that the pressure would ease the aggravating pain. For the past week, you’ve been constantly getting cramps. The breast tenderness happened only a day later. Premature cramps are the usual sign of starting your period. What confuses you is why you woke up with no blood staining your underwear or pants.

Sluggishly grabbing your phone from under your pillow, you opened up your usual period app. The last time you had gotten your period was exactly the same day as last month. Your eyebrows furrow when you see that you should’ve started your period exactly two weeks ago. You hastily sit up, immediately shutting your eyes as a wave of nausea hit you like a tsunami. There was brief commotion coming from the kitchen, followed by Grayson yelling, “Ethaaannn!” You faintly heard Ethan’s boisterous laugh, which only amped up his younger brother’s annoyance.

You swallowed the forming saliva at the back of your mouth. You suddenly felt so exhausted, even though you had a whole ten hour rests with no interruptions or disruptions. Swinging your legs to the side of the bed, you slowly got up, shutting your eyes to avoid feeling dizzy so fast. You desperately craved Grayson’s warm skin against yours in order to make you feel better, especially when his strong arms were wrapped around you, holding you nice and tight against him. As though the universe heard your thoughts, Grayson enters the bedroom, a comfy hoodie adorning his upper body as gray sweats adorn his lower half. He looks so comfy and warm and soft with his messy hair and growing bed and bright smile.

“Look who’s finally awake!” He announced and spread his arms wide, running over to playfully (and gently) tackle you into the bed.

“Gray, Gray, baby, be gentle,” you quickly told him, hands grabbing onto his arm as the room suddenly spun. “I’m not feeling too good today.”

He immediately sat up, using one hand to push his long hair from his face as the other slowly sits you up. His eyes were full of worry as they scan you up and down. You smiled tiredly and gently stroked his jaw, loving the feeling of his scruff on your palm.

“What’ve you been feeling?” He was quick to ask you, desperately wanting to know why you’ve been feeling sick and what could’ve caused it. “Do you think it’s cause E was sick last week?”

“I mean, maybe,” you shrugged. “I’ve been getting cramps and my boobs have been hurting as usual before I get my period.”

“So you’re starting you’re period?” He questioned, thinking that could be the reason.

“I don’t think so, babe. I’m getting symptoms I’ve never gotten before and it’s worrying me,” you quietly told him, your voice holding such worry that he’s never heard before. “I’m so exhausted and dizzy and I can’t even stand without feeling like I’m gonna pass out.” You rubbed your hands over your face, groaning at the uncomfortable churning in your stomach as you suddenly thought about eating. “I can’t even think about food without feeling like I’m gonna throw up everywhere.”

“Baby, you need to make an appointment for the doctor or the GYN to see what’s going on. You don’t know if this could be something serious,” Grayson anxiously tells you, his large hands cupping your cheeks to make eye contact with you, his thumbs lightly stroking your warm skin back and forth.

“I will,” you held onto his wrists. “I promise.”

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After your serious talk with Grayson yesterday, you made an appointment to go to the gynecologist the very next day. Nerves were bubbling in the pit of your stomach, causing you to use the bathroom four times in the past hour. Ethan and Kristina were worried as well, unsure of what to do or say to make you feel at ease and less anxious. If what’s causing your sickness something terminal, they knew that Grayson would quite literally go insane. You were his person. Grayson was a believer of soulmates, and he knew deep in his heart and soul that you were his.

This morning, it was eerily quite. The air was awkward and tense with no one knowing how to break the ice. Grayson’s jaw was clenched and he watched your every move carefully. You were feeling a little better, only eating in small quantities and being forced to drink lots of water (by Grayson). Your appointment wasn’t until 2 in the afternoon, so you had plenty of time to do your morning routine and talk to Grayson. He insisted on staying in the bathroom when you shower and do your skin care.

“Gray, I’m not dying,” you joked lightly.

“Don’t fucking joke like that!” He raised his voice, glaring up at you as he sat on the edge of the top, elbows on his knees with his fingers interlocked. “That’s not fucking funny.” There was anger in his tone, and you realized how insensitive it was of you.

You knelt down in front of him, unlocked his hands and slithering more between his spread knees. He doesn’t look at you as he looks down at the ground between your own knees. “Hey,” you whisper, hands on his broad shoulders, lightly shaking them. “Look at me, please.” When he does, you see the slightest of tears along his waterline. Your heart breaks when his face scrunches up in agony and his eyes shut, his hands immediately covering his face to press the heels of his palms into his eyes. “Grayson…”

He sniffles into his hands, shaking his head frantically. “I can’t lose you,” he weeped so softly, his voice muffled behind the barrier of his hands. “I can’t fuckin’ lose you the same way I lost my dad. I-I just can’t.” You let him pour out his emotions, all the while holding onto his shoulders and gently pushing his hands away from his face to wipe away his warm tears. The area around his eyes and cheeks were tinged red, his beautiful eyes now turning puffy. “You don’t understand h-how broken I’d be without you, Y/N. It’s like… a piece of me might die.”

“Baby,” you whispered brokenly, shaking your head as you hurriedly pull him into your chest. His head buries itself in the crook of your neck. “I am so so sorry for making that joke, alright? Hey, look at me.” You lift his head up, wiping more of his tears with your thumbs. “I promise you, from the bottom of my heart, that everything is okay.” At the sound of your soft whisper, he lets out a quiet and shaky sigh. The thought of now hearing your voice anymore physically hurts his heart. He hesitatingly nods, desperately wanting to believe your words. But looking into your eyes this very moment, seeing the determination and confidence in your face, he has no other choice but to believe you.

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Sitting on the exam table in the cold room that slightly smells of hand sanitizer and wood, you didn’t know what else to think. Your thoughts were a jumbled mess as they tried to unravel itself to form a coherent sentence in your head. Grayson wanted to come in with you, but you had told him to stay in the car, out of fear of him hearing dreadful news. You closed your eyes and breathed in and out deeply, trying to calm the storm that’s beginning to make itself known. What you didn’t hearing was the door opening and the OB-GYN, Dr. Khaleesi, stepping in. She was a lovely Indian woman who was older than you by 20 years. You’ve been coming to her for a year and a half now for your usual STD checkups or any worries you had with your uterus. She was the sweetest woman you’ve come to known and you never felt judged by her.

“Everything alright, Y/N?” She asks as she shuts the door, leaving you both in privacy. She holds the clipboard to her side and sits onto the rolling stool to slide herself closer to you.

“Just nervous,” you laughed awkwardly.

“Well, it’s just me,” she tells you softly, her accent sounding so elegant as she gently pats your knee. “Now, it says on the appointment form that you’re hear for a checkup regarding your period.”

“Yes, um, I’m late on my period - about two weeks now. But I’ve been feeling a lot of cramps and breast tenderness and all the symptoms of starting my period. And I don’t know why,” you sighed and picked at your nails, not sure how to keep still.

“Alright, well, I’m going to be asking you a few simple questions and I want you to answer as honestly as possible,” Dr. Khaleesi tells you. “What day was your last period?”

“The 6th of May.”

“How long does menstrual cycle typically last?”

“Six to seven days, give or take.”

“And are you sexually active?”

You blushed as you thought about Grayson. You hadn’t forgotten the romantic picnic dinner he had set up in the backyard with a large projector hung up. Sitting there under the stars with him, being in such a close proximity to that man always made you feel so nervous. But having his hands on you, his lips on yours, his large and muscular body between your thighs, it made it all worth it. You most certainly didn’t forget how many times he made you orgasm in under an hour. You were thankful that Ethan and Kristina had gone to their own date night for a few hours.

“Y/N?” Dr. Khaleesi’s voice broke you free from your thoughts, causing you to clear your throat out of embarrassment.

“Y-Yes, I’m sexually active,” you softly responded.

Dr. Khaleesi nods and checks off the small YES box beside the question. “And how often do you engage in sexual intercourse?”

“Um, about three to four times a week.” You suddenly burst out into laughter at the surprised look on her face. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she laughs as well. “At least one of us is getting some action, huh?” She laughs again when you cover your face, muffling your small groan. “Back to the questions. When was the last time you were sexually active?”

“I’d say last week, but I’ve been feeling these symptoms for the past two weeks now,” you hesitatingly told her, secretly not wanting to know the cause in order to avoid the dread and heartbreak if something was terminal.

“And what symptoms have you been having?” She asked you, now looking at your expression rather than the clipboard in her hands.

“Um,” you looked up in thought, “Nausea, cramps, breast tenderness, sudden feeling of exhaustion, loss of appetite, and I’ve been peeing a lot more.”

Dr. Khaleesi nods silently, her sudden silence makes you feel incredibly uneasy. You swallow down and exhale a shaky and audible sigh. She gives you a reassuring smile. “Do you mind if I exam your stomach?”

“N-No,” you quietly said and laid back on the cushioned exam table. “Go ahead, please.”

And after hearing your consent, Dr. Khaleesi pulled on some blue latex gloves and hovers her hands over your stomach. You pull up your shirt and pull the cracked skin of your bottom lip with your teeth. She gently presses down in different areas of your stomach, periodically asking, “Does this cause any pain? Discomfort?” And each time, you shook your head. As she was getting to the end of the exam, you went over every single possibility. What if it’s a tumor? What if you’re pregnant? Could it be cancer? Is it internal bleeding? Somehow, you couldn’t find a reason for each possibility to happen. You had no family members with a history of chronic illnesses. And you and Grayson always used protection, never birth control because of the harmful effects to your body. When Dr. Khaleesi was finished with the brief exam, she sighs softly and lays a hand on your shoulder.

“I know why you’re feeling like this, Y/N. And before I tell you, I want you to know that I am here if you ever need advice on how to do this, okay?” She tells you in a reassuring and motherly tone.

“Just tell me,” you whispered, voice cracking as you strong to keep a strong front. But with every second, it slowly disappeared, revealing a vulnerable and terrified woman in front of the doctor. “Please…”

Dr. Khaleesi sighed quietly and licked her red lipstick stained lips. “You’re… pregnant. Presumably one month pregnant.”

If you were standing, you were sure you would’ve dropped to your knees. Your mouth dropped open, trying desperately to form words, but all that came out was a weak squeak. Tears lined your waterline as you shook your head in disbelief.

“N-No, that’s… that’s fucking impossible,” you frantically said, shaking your head even more as you hastily stood up and walked over to the other side of the room. Your hands went to your hair as you paced back and forth. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my, God,” you whispered to yourself, muffling a sob with the back of your hand. “I.. he’s been talking ab-about having kids for-for so long and…” your voice shook between every word. “We’re both so young!”

“We have options, Y/N,” Dr. Khaleesi gently told you as to not scare you if she rose her voice to speak over yours. “There’s abortion-”

“No!” You shouted. “That… That is out of the question. I-I need to talk to him. I need to see where his head is at first, and-and then I can talk to you about… options,” you whispered the last word. You are pro-choice, but you know deep in your heart that you couldn’t terminate this pregnancy. If Grayson thought the opposite, you’re not sure what would happen next.

“Would you like me to schedule your next appointment in one week?” Dr. Khaleesi quietly asks you as she notices the mental battle you’re currently having. “That way you have plenty of time to discuss what you both think, okay?”

You hesitatingly nod and look over at her with an expression that nearly broke her gentle heart. “I-I’m scared, Daksha.”

At the sound of her name exiting your lips, she immediately crosses over and pulls you into a hug. She understands that this may be unprofessional to her bosses and what other patients may see as inappropriate, but she would never let a terrified woman feel alone.

“You are going to be okay, child,” she tells you quietly, one hand wrapped around your shoulders as the other lightly pats the back of your head. “Whatever you decide, I will help you along the way, okay? Do not forget that.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

CURRENT TAGLIST

@etherealdols @certainaesthetic

[hollowedwing]

Isekai-ed into Hawk's Life

Hawks x gn!winged!Reader

Warnings: ⚠️ Death!(at very beginning, it is an isekai), mentions of death throughout, some angst(??maybe not yet??), slight cursing

THIS WILL NOT FOLLOW A SPECIFIC TIMELINE IN THE MANGA

(so sorry i just, love, love, the idea of having wings)

(this is all my art, it is on IG, im just too embarrassed for people who know me irl to potentially find this xD Even though none of them have tumblr 👀 if you somehow recognize it...props to you?)

_________________________________

tbh, I can’t decide if I want this to have more than 1 part. 

Word count: ~1,800

_________________________________

You were on your way home from a long evening at your part time job. Before that you had already taken 2 finals that morning too.

You dragged your feet, exhausted, as you headed towards the crosswalk. Stopping at the edge as the traffic light turned green, you decided to pull out your phone and decided to watch a speed paint from your favorite artist who recently released a new video.

It just so happened it was a Hawks speed paint 👀

The light turned red and you slipped your phone into your pocket as your started to make your way across the street

little did you know this would be the last time you'd cross the street

A wild driver came barreling down the road, no regards for civilians or traffic lights, probably drunk or high or just someone out for blood.

You stood there like a deer caught in headlights as your life flashes before your eyes

You can barely comprehend what's happening as you felt pain engulf your body and suddenly you were unconscious

________________________________________

Keigo tiredly stumbled into his large apartment, kicking off his shoes and shrugging his jacket off by the door

He wants nothing more than to just flop down and pass out. The HPSC has been giving him hell lately about god knows what.

He let out a long sigh and headed towards the bathroom to do his nightly routine

As he finishes up, he drags his feet towards his bed and flops down face first into the comfort of his pillow and sheets

Keigo falls asleep almost instantly after getting into a comfortable position, worn out from a long day of work

What he wasn't expecting was a loud "thud!" coming from the main room. He jolts up from his bed, feathers ready to attack.

*******

Reader's pov(?)

*******

You groaned as you hit the floor. Your head was spinning and it feels like a truck just hit you

oh wait...

You suddenly became more alert, looking around in a panic, expecting to either be on the road and injured or in a hospital of sorts. What you didn't expect was a wooden floor inside of a random apartment.

You felt around your body for any signs of injury, but all you found were a set of wings on your back- wings?? Hold up. Why did you feel wings what kind of sick joke was this?

Your thoughts were racing as your breathing picked up. What was happening? Didn't you just get hit by a vehicle? Why are there wings in your back? Where are you even?

Feeling around in your pockets, you found your phone and whipped it out, trying for anything. You turned it on, the harsh light of it illuminating your face, you tried to send a text to your best friend, but alas, it wouldn't go through. Actually nothing on your phone seemed to work. You checked your location settings, for some reason it said Musutafu, Japan.

Wasn't....Wasn't that the location that most of Boku no Hero Academia took place?? This can't be right, this has to be a dream right? There's no way that you could have actually ended up here unless...

Then it hit you.

You read your fair share of isekai series back when you were alive in your realm. Mostly manhwas of characters getting reborn into another person's body, but, never actually reincarnating as yourself into another world.

That was the only thing you could think of. You must have been reincarnated into the Boku no Hero Academia world. Except as yourself.

In all honesty, this is not how you thought you'd go out. You didn't know what to expect after death, but this definitely wasn't it. After all, this was a fictional setting, wasn't it?

Well, not anymore because now you're living in it! Smh.

That would also probably explain the wings on your back. This was you now. You have a bird quirk.

Now, all you have to do, is figure out where the heck you are.

Just as you are about to stand up, feathers zip towards you, pinning you to the ground

You hear footsteps begin to come towards you. You don't know if you should be scared for your life considering you've already died once or ecstatic because, you knew for a fact, this could be none other than Hawks' apartment.

The winged hero finally emerges and stares down at you, crossing his arms over his chest.

He says in a low, gravely voice from sleep, "Who are you, and how did you get into my home?" You stare back up at him and nervously chuckle.

"I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you." You nervously sigh out.

"Try me." He demands, sounding a little more irritated now. You sigh in defeat and start to explain your situation.

"Do...do you know what an isekai is?" You said sheepishly while turning your gaze away from his. He kind of gave you a confused head tilt and just a vibe that said “No”. You sigh again and explain it to the best of your ability. Hawks becomes more and more interested and confused as you talk, but nods a long slowly. 

“So...you were reborn here, but as yourself? Wait- does that mean you died before!?” He asked, disbelief and fear ran through his eyes. You looked at him in bitter amusement.

“Apparently I did. The last thing I remember of my world was getting hit by some truck or car. The dude clearly did not know how to drive. I had the right of way I was pretty sure at least. I mean, the light was red, usually that means pedestrians can cross the street? And plus he was going wayyy over the speed limit,” you begin to ramble on, the reality of actually dying setting into you. Hawks noticed the panic beginning to set into you and released you from his feathers. He crouched down next to you and grabbed your shoulders gently.

"Hey, hey, hey, look at me, you're ok now, right? You're here, and not dying in the middle of the street still. You're here. In Musutafu," he said trying to calm you back to reality. Well, what was your new reality. Your mind was racing. Trying to put together a coherent thought. 

You look up to him, with a panicked look still in your eyes, thoughts started to come out of your mouth as your brain was trying to catch up with the situation. "I'm... I'm in Boku no Hero Academia and, and you’re Keigo... standing... right in front of me..I have wings. I have wings? Jeezus I have fucking wings. And I’m dead in my own world. I don’t know anyone, well, wait, technically, I do know people, just-Oh gods! I’m so sorry, that name slipped out! I- I, I’m really sorry Hawks." Even in your wild state, you noticed Hawks tense up at the sound of being called Keigo by a total stranger, and were able to get out an apology. That was progress? You were slowly coming back to reality.

Hawks froze up a bit at the sound of hearing his real name mentioned. At first he wasn't sure if he believed your tale of the isekai situation, but after this he might have to reconsider it. He opted to shake off that weird feeling for now and focus on different matters. 

" I-I don't know what I'm supposed to do now? I have nowhere to go or to stay. I'm in a whole different freaking universe! My phone doesn't even hardly work here. And I have a pair of wings on my back!" You puffed them out angrily. Hawks glanced behind you and his eyes widened a little. You in fact, did have a set of bird wings. Kind of owl like wings. Not near as big as Hawks', but definitely big enough to fly you around.

Before Hawks could process the words coming out of his mouth, he was already asking you, "Would you maybe like to stay with me? I can help with your quirk too." He glanced away awkwardly. You looked towards him in disbelief.

"Dude, are you sure? We literally just met like 10 minutes ago? I mean, I'm all for it, I have nowhere else to turn to, but if you really really don't want me here, I will politely step out of your life." You so badly wanted to accept his offer on the spot, but being the considerate, mostly sensible human you were, you gave him the option to back out. Hawks shook his head.

"No, no, it's alright. You can crash here. Uh- I mean- stay here! Sorry!" You giggled at his comment.

"Well thank you very much!"

"It's all good. I have a spare bedroom you can occupy for the time being. I'll give you some clothes to sleep in that'll hopefully fit. Accidentally bought a couple things in the wrong size without looking. " (a/n: just...just assume its your size, or oversized, whatever's comfy idk) He jumped up and headed towards his room to grab you the clothes. You still sat on the floor. Still amazed at everything that was occurring.

Hawks walked back into the room and tossed you the clothes. "Hey uh, you know, you can get up now, sorry for holding you down earlier.."

You blushed and scrambled to stand up, "Oh no! It's ok! I understand. This would definitely warrant that kind of action. Some random stranger crashes into your apartment at like 1am. I completely understand. Honest."

He let out a small laugh and wearily brushed his fingers through his hair. The adrenaline of everything finally wearing off. He could feel the tiredness setting into his aching muscles again. “Ah, well, I’m going to head to bed now. The room is down the hall at the very end that you can stay in. I’ll take you out training tomorrow evening if that’s alright?”

You gave a nod of understanding and followed him down the hallway. “Goodnight Hawks,” you sang as he walked into his bedroom. He gave a hum of acknowledgment and closed his door. 

Making it into what was now your room, you changed out of your clothes so fast, eager to rid yourself of the past hours events. 

Not gonna lie, you could not figure out how to properly get your new wings into the shirt, even with the holes and snaps in the back. Your mind was too exhausted to even process this new skill. So you ended up going to bed without the shirt on and just settled for putting the sweatpants on. 

You figured it’d be good to just pass out asap. You were sure if you tried to recount the recent events, you’d spiral into a panicked mess. 

You shut your eyes tightly, willing yourself to sleep, trying to only think of positive outcomes for the future. But to be honest, you didn’t know enough about anything in this realm to think rationally about anything good. 

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

I prooobably didn’t proofread this as much as I should have

[tokoyamisstuff]

Dark Side Of The Moon Ch. 1 - Dark! Loki x Reader

Chapter 1: Speak to Me/Breathe

Chapter Summary: The last thing you remember was being mortally wounded, now having woken up in a completely different reality. And you’d soon need to face the horrors of who would seek you out...

Warnings: Violence, Blood, Suicide Attempt, Graphic Descriptions of Death, Dark! Loki, Spoiler you kinda die but kinda don't

Words: approx. 3800

[Story Masterlist]

Masterlist to my other works right ->Here<-

Lyrics used from the Song: Kina ft. Snow - Get You The Moon

“Y/N, look out!”

The piercing sounds of gunfire nearby made your eardrums ring, yet Steve’s words got through to you nonetheless.

But you were determined to end this, here and now.

Tony was the first one at your side, catching you in his arms before you hit the floor. However, you could only do so much as whimper a silent apology to your friends, who now had to live with the consequences of your actions.

“Why did you do this?!” you heared Dr. Strange yell as he unsucessfully tried to close the deep cut in your gut. Too afraid of what you might see if you’d look at the wound, your glare was locked on the beautiful sky - yes, the sun was almost setting, and it was somehow calming to you that this would most likely the last thing you’d set eyes upon.

“There was no reason to be this reckless!” Steve followed close by, his scolding soon turning into desperate screams. “Fuck. FUCK!” If Captain America himself is cussing, then it’s as severe as you thought it to be.

Your wounds were lethal, that much was sure.

And of course they were right, as always: You didn’t need to play the martyr here, throwing yourself into danger to shield your comrades - well, you did anyway, and there was no going back now.

On the other hand, they were the ones taking a gravely depressed widow onto a dangerous mission. But you did not want your precious friends to blame themselves for that, for it was your own wish.

Dying in an honorable battle was what would send you to Valhalla, after all - where you could finally meet him again, hopefully.

The only one not having spoken a single word up until now was Thor, very well knowing what all this was about. It was no secret that you were sick and tired of how your life had turned out to be, ever since the Infinity War.

You felt empty. Incomplete. Desperate. Hallow.

The God of Thunder had turned his back to you, yet there was still agony radiating from that already broken man. Your almost-brother-in-law was the only one who could possibly understand your pain. Thor Odinson had lost everything: His homeland, most of his tribe, his family and best friend - and soon, you as well.

All this time, you wanted to be strong. For them, who had also lost so much!

But at some point things just got out of control.

“You can’t leave me alone, Lady Y/N! Not you too!” Thor finally whimpered as he fell onto his knees, softly squeezing your hand. “You’re the only thing I have left from him!

So this is what dying feels like.

The bloodloss caused your limps to go limp, and when the pain began to stop and got replaced by numbness, you knew it would soon be time. Your brain lost the remaining control over your body, and you found yourself encoated by pure nothingless.

Only able to listen by their screams, cries and kind words - at least you’d die surrounded by those marvellous people. It sure was a privilege knowing them.

You weren’t afraid - all in all, it had been a good life, after all. 

There were no regrets.

“Shh” you hushed them, using your last bit of strenght so your lips formed somewhat of a most broken smile, forming words between gurling on your own blood.

“It’s alright, I-” you cut yourself off, trying to scream as a last, torturing pain shot through your whole system. “I-I-I’ll-- meet him again...you know?”

“I’m no-not strong enough, please...” Thor cried out like you had never seen him before, feeling a tide of guilt wash over you. “Loki wouldn’t have wanted you to go like this! He told me to protect you, so you could lead a long and happy life!”

Without him? Impossible!

“You gave me a shoulder when I needed it

You showed me love when I wasn’t feeling it

You helped me fight when I was giving in

And you made me laugh when I was losing it”

Yes, indeed: You had been to selfish to keep on living just for the sake of your friends, burdening them with yet another loss.

“I-I don’t wanna go...this was a mistake, I- please...”

How badly did you want to soothe them right now, telling them that everything would be alright and you’d meet them again, eventually?

It was too late now.

Your body gave up earlier than your soul, which had endured and kept on all this time, even in it’s shattered state.

And when Tony’s palm gently closed your eyes, making it easier for you to embrace the cold darkness, the last thing you heared before your senses gave up were startling you enough to almost bring you back to life:

“I’m so sorry, Y/N.”

That voice was familiar, yet it didn’t belong to Loki. Dr. Strange, no- Stephen Strange, your friend and mentor of the mystic arts.

“I don’t have the heart to allow this to happen” he stated frantic, making you wonder if that was a dream of your hypoxic brain or if you were still able to hear them? People tend to say the sense of hearing dies last, after all. “She still has a pulse, even though weak. Hurry!”

Their voices were far in the back, words way too far out of your reach to understand. As if you were an outsider, only observing from a distance.

Your friends were fighting, or maybe discussing something. That much you could make up from their tone, but your mind was too exhausted to make sense of anything.

It felt as if you were already without a body, floating through the unknown like a feather in the wind - not knowing where fate would lead you to next.

Everything was numb - even your pain. It was soothing, somehow.

Because you had been a ghost way before, when you were alive even. An empty shell of a human, acting like they weren’t dead on the inside.

Coherent thoughts, memories, emotions...even the fractions of your own past you had both collected and surpressed. Right now, they were all restrained and pushed far in the back of your very core, where you were finally able to evaluate them without earthly bondings.

Was this heaven, hell - or maybe both or none or them?

____

"Be aware of the limits this tactic has. It’s a very drastic measurement that can most likely be used only once in your lifetime, and it is not guaranteed to work either.”

Stephen’s voice again. You recall that scene, it’s been long in the past...but why are you remembering it now?

Yes, this was familiar. All of you had been invited to the Sanctum Sanctorum, a fitting place to teach about this ancient knowledge.

You clearly remembered that Loki was absent in any of the Doctor’s lessons, feeling that a “puny human” was “unworthy” to teach him, and “it would be nothing new anyway, Y/N, I am a god and the way better wizard, I know it all already.”

What he was about to tell you back then was some kind of crazy emergency-plan: Dangerous, unpredictable and escpecially untested.

“I’ve only read about this tactic up until now” the mage pondered loudly as he picked at his goatee, earning some childish giggles by you and Tony. “So I cannot promise that it will function as planned. The Multiverse is dangerous and acts in unforseen ways.”

“Very reassuring” you had mocked at the time, not really biding the topic any importance or thought ever again.

But now...

The trick sounded way simpler than it actually was, being as complex as it is only natural for something like that, costing a huge prize at that:

Dr. Strange would send any of you who were on the brink of death through a portal, thus leading you into a random dimension of this endless Multiverse.

That dimension, in which your alternate self has most likely died, will gladly accept you as a “replacement”. Some kind of what Peter Parker called a “glitch” will occur, instantly healing all of your wounds - even fatal ones, so you could remain in the timeline that was missing you. 

Yet the consequences of this maneuvre would be unspeakable.

_____

“That bastard...” you gnarled internally, finally realizing why you would remember this of all things after apparently having just taken your dying breath. “He didn’t just-”

Eventually, you realized having escaped death’s grip, slowly beginning to regain your senses - yet still refusing to open your eyes.

“I don’t want to leave this place. My friends -- will I never see them again? No. NO! Life is meaningless. Just let me be with him. Please! Loki...”

“’Cause you are, you are

The reason why I’m still hanging on

‘Cause you are, you are

The reason why my head is still above water

And if I could I’d get you the moon

And give it to you

And if death was coming for you

I’d give my life for you”

Another part of Strange’s lesson echoed in your head, revealing that you were now in fact up on your own.

“Not even I can tell just how much this timeline will differ from what you know. Of course I will search for you right away, but considering the countless possibilities, it might very well be that we’ll never meet again. But you’re alive, and hopefully safe. That’s all that counts.”

Grass tickled your palm as you twitched your fingers, testing the limits of your body, which had literally just tricked death. Suddenly, you felt a stinging pain, almost like lightning boring into your temportal. The origin of this pain remained unknown.

When you finally found the courage to sit up, your flesh still feeling as heavy as lead, you realized that Stephen was most likely wrong: He assumed that you’d find yourself in a place you had a deep connection with, yet that place was unrecognizable to you.

Then why were you here of all places?

Actually, this location was incredibly beautiful, managing to stop the aching in your heart, if only for the fraction of a second.

Your former lover would’ve loved this place.

“'Cause you are, you are

The reason why I’m still hanging on

'Cause you are, you are

The reason why my head is still above water

And if I could I’d get you the moon

And give it to you

And if death was coming for you

I’d give my life for you”

Even though not all of Dr. Strange’s speculations were correct, you decided to stick to his emergency plan: Find as much information about this “new” earth as possible, point out the differences to your initial one, and then contact the Dr. Strange of this dimension.

Two mages working on crossing each other’s path would at least higher the stakes to find your original timeline.

Well, no one could guarantee you that the Avenger’s existed on this timeline, and they could as well be evil in this one...what a weird and horrifying imagination.

Knowledge really was power - that was another thing Loki had taught you a long time ago, and it would prove valuable, especially in this situation.

As you wandered this surprisingly extensive garden and getting lost in admiring the beauty of it’s nature, you found yourself devoid of any weapons. That fact made you slightly uncomfortable, even though your current location seemed absent of any ememies, making a peaceful impression. 

Seemingly there weren’t any evil schemes going on in this dimension.

It basically were only minor differences, at least that was your first impression. At least there were no changes in natural laws or something as big.

“I miss the days where magic and science didn’t mix up like this” you whispered, mainly to yourself as you examined the new, large scar on your abdomen - the only memory left of your “almost-suicide-mission”.

To be more precize: The only thing left from your former life, now leaving you able to start completely anew, wether you wanted it or not.

Sun had almost drowned behind the horizon, diving the sky in a deep orange. Your eyes were still adjusting, yet you could’ve sworn to see the silhouette of a person. It was far away, at the entrance on what appeared to be a palace belonging to this garden.

Apparently, you had invaded someone’s propery, and you could only pray that it was noone important - or worse, a owner who would defend their ground with violence.

You don’t think your earth had a place this...flashy. The castle was way bigger than any you knew on the other timeline. The first difference you had figured out, yet it was only a minor one.

Maybe the headache you were experiencing was from someone making you  out as an intruder?

One thing was sure: You had been noticed, and you immediately were on high alert.

Where to run to or at least hide?

There was a maze made out of bushed parting you and the palace, and since there was no better option, you’d enter it. Talking to that person and convincing them of your goodwill would make it way easier to gain information.

“You may come out” you declared as you made your way, unable to evaluate the situation properly. “I mean no harm. I’m just lost.”

Was it dangerous to be here? Obviously, you were not allowed to be here anyway.

However, when you had finally found the escape to that maze, only several hundret meters away from the building, the person was already gone.

Had your mind just played a dirty trick on you again? Wouldn’t be the firt time it’d betray you like this...

No. You clearly felt someone watching you.

And as soon as your senses had sharpened to your usual self again, you instantly jumped back, gaining some distance to the Citauri that had just appeared behing you.

Shit! You weren’t ready to fight again just yet. Not like this.

And where one of those vile beasts were, many others would appear. You knew that much.

Had Thanos invaded this earth? Oh god, not again...not him. You were so damn tired of those fights, escapes and especially the pain that always inevitable followed after.

Just when it was about to swing it’s weapon at your head, you felt dizziness crawl up your nerves, making you collapse on the floor. Lucky for you, because only like that, the stike didn’t hit you.

Even though having been taught basic magic skills, that certain kind of spell you were unable to fight against - only true masters of the art were able to perform a sorcery that well.

The Chitauri had left your line of sight, yet the other figure from before reappeared in a pace so fast that your eyes couldn’t follow. They sweeped you off the floor just before your head would meet the hard pavement.

“And now you will answer to me, shapeshifter.”

Once again someone robbed you of the control of your life and body, leaving you without a free will.

How long had you been passed out now? You didn’t know and honestly didn’t care either - since you had nothing to lose anymore.

In the meantime, the owner of those lands had dismissed his guards, not wanting to be disturbed as he was left alone with you in the giant throne room.

The apparent ruler of that unclassified location was sitting on his throne, warily observing you from above. You were lying to his feet at the bare floor, every piece of clothing robbed from you and restrained by a pile of chains. He watched every twitch, all breaths you’d take or groans escaping your mouth until you would finally awake.

Oh, how you really were just like he remembered you, with every little detail he had adored.

At long last, you would finally open your lids again, blinking heavily as you took in your surroundings - but when your eyes met certain emerald ones, they immediately sprung wide open, the emptiness in your heart being filled with all kinds of emotions once again.

The man - it was him!

“'Cause you are, you are

Oh, you are

Oh, you are

You are'Cause you are, you are

The reason why I’m still hanging on

'Cause you are, you are

The reason why my head is still above water

And if I could I’d get you the moon

And give it to you”

“Loki!” you screamed from the bottom of your heart. Without a single coherent thought, your legs would carry on their own as your weakened body stumbled in their attempt to climb those stairs.

For both of you, that momend of reuinion had waited far too long.

The god was temptated to approach you, his trembling hands already reaching out to catch your fragile body should you fall - but suddenly, you felt his knuckles digging into your cheekbone.

“Stay away from me, you fake!” Loki yelled furiously as you hit the ground, rubbing your cheek as you tried to understand what just happened.

Yeah, that sure brought you back to reality again, after such a short high.

Right.

That isn’t your Earth - and not your Loki either.

You couldn’t even be sure this world’s Y/N and Loki had the same kind of relationship the two of you had back in your timeline! The only thing you knew was that he knew you from his past, but as it seemed not pleasantly.

Now that you looked closely, he even had less scars, almost looking untouched and pure - like a true, invincible god. Maybe life here had treat him well, unlike his counterpart from your timeline.

He was still wearing that excessive outfit with the golden horns, and much to both your amazement and fear, it seemed that he still possessed theTesseract.

Could it be...

Before you could connect the dots, the king would soon interrupt your string of thoughts. “Drop that disguise, scum!”

Loki kept on degrading you as he paced in front of his throne, brow sinking deeper and deeper. “Don’t think you can somehow appeal to those pathetic sentiments” he explained, “I’ve freed myself from them long ago. Just stop making a fool out of yourself, and maybe I’ll reward it with a quicker death.”

Yet when he saw your most innocent smile, even this Loki would stand frozen in place, deeply in shock.

How he yearned to see it, all those years - to tell you just how sorry he was for everthing he’s done.

No.

He had left all of this behind - to claim his birthright and rule.

“I-I’m deeply so-sorry...that is a mistake” you whimmered with a broken voice, wiping a tear of joy out of your face. “My feelings overwhelmed me, I guess. I’ve never thought to see you again, even if you’re not the same Loki I know.”

Still cowering on the floor, you looked up to him with compassionate eyes, as if he had not just beat you before. You did not dare to make any more, wanting for Loki to try and understand himself.

“A variant?” he gnarled, just like you did when he realized.

No force in the world had allowed him to access other parts of the Multiverse, no matter how desperately he tried - and now fate had literally dropped you in front of his door.

Loki balled his fists in anger, making you flinch as you anticipated yet another blow.

“Dear, I-”

“Shut up!” the God of Mischief shoutet, causing his magic to break free. The walls of the palace were shaking, most windows and furniture having been destroyed. “It’s no use, woman!”

That man was way more powerful than the “puny god” people called names back on Asgard - and his sheer might made you quiver.

Just what kind of monster had he become, and why?

“L-Loki, please...” you tried to appeal to the last bit of humanity  he might possess, and your begging made his guts twist in agony. “You’re scaring me.”

“You better be scared!” he exclaimed, grabbing you by the chin and forcing you to look at him. “No matter what disgracefully weak “alter ego” of me you knew, I am built different. Stronger. Better. Everyone in the Nine Realms fears me, and I desire nothing else! Everything distracting me from fulfilling my destiny and reign over you dull creatures I got rid of. You’re nothing more than an insect I might as well crush right here and now!”

Choking on a sob, he tried to relish that last chance he got to admire you, smell you, touch what he cannot possess...no matter how many universes there may be.

A flood of tears cracked down your face at his words, yet you couldn’t be helped.

No matter what he would say - he looked just like him.

And that was enough for you to feel alive after such a long time of being a walking dead. There had to be a reason you landed right at his home, of all places in this universe. You had a connection, both of you felt it ever since you had been transported here.

"May I ask-” you disrupted yourself, awaiting some reaction. But the conqueror had seemed to have spoken what he thought important to say, not declining your question at all.

Whenever he seemed fit, he could disintegrate you - yet right now, this situation was way too intriguing.

“What happened to myself in this reality?”

Loki swallowed harshly, letting go off of you as he threw you down the stairs. He wouldn’t even bide you one look as he tried to surpress the turmoil of emotion still running through his veins, desperately keeping it from breaking free.

The outcome would always be the same: Suffering, for both of you.

“And if death was coming for you

I’d give my life for you.”

He only ever wanted it to stop hurting. To become unfeeling, since love had always been poisoning his mind, sometimes being gifted with it even though he knew he would never be worthy of anything else than disgust and hate.

And that contradiction caused him to throw away anything good that happened to him, through you. Let it be taken away from him just shortly after finally learning to remotely enjoy.

You deserved the truth, a reason to hate him even more than you probably already did.

Had you only come to his salvation earlier, then he might have been helped - yet now, he was beyond redemption. Broken. Sick. Dangerous.

And when the Chitauri dragged you away, his last words let your blood run cold:

“She died through my hands.”

_____

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[nhlandotherimagines]

Oh Brother- Nolan Patrick (ft. Travis Konecny)

Author’s Note: I’ve been working on this for ages, and I finally just said ‘screw it!’ and am posting it! I’d love any and all feed back, and please tell me if you find any mistakes I’m the worst at editing! Thank you in advance!

Summary: Baby Konecny, that’s all you’re known as now that you’ve moved in with your older brother Travis. You love your brother, but things get a little difficult after one night at a bar with his bestfriend Nolan. Okay, and maybe one night turned to more, but Travis can’t know.

Tagging a few people, so if for any reason you would like to a) not be tagged on this particular post for any reason or b) would not liked to be tagged on any of my posts please do not hesitate to tell me ☺️ @anastasiyaigorevnadobrodevskaya @titobeauvs @bigboigritty

Word Count: 8.4 K

WARNINGS: This is definitely ✨spicy✨ at times, 18+ (sexual themes), cursing, alcohol, ANGST, anxiety, lying about/hiding a relationship, hospitals, some cute moments as well of course. (Please let me know if you find anything else in here that should be mentioned here thank you)

_______________

“Hey Y/n/n, you coming out with us after the game tonight?” Your brother Travis yelled to you from the kitchen of your shared apartment. You had just moved in with him a few months ago to start school in Philly, so you hadn’t gotten out much.

“You really think you’re okay with your baby sister going out with you tonight TK?” You added giggling to yourself as you pulled on your Flyers jersey. “Well you need to get out and see the world kid!”

“Call me kid again and I will set Nolan on you during warm ups.” You smirk joining him in the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

Travis’ face twists a little, but you choose to ignore it. “Fine! I’ll go.” You add shoving his shoulder lightly. He smiles at you, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. You don’t press him on it though as you both get ready to head to the arena.

“Trav and Nolan seem off, do you know what’s up with them?” You hadn’t really noticed, but now that Travis’ girlfriend Karly was pointing it out you could totally see it.

“I don’t know, but when I mentioned sticking Nolan on him earlier for calling me a kid, Travis did get a little weird. I hope they are okay.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing, you know how Trav can be at times!” Karly smiled reassuringly. The two of you continued to talk throughout the game, and soon enough you were waiting together outside the dressing room. Thankfully Travis and Nolan came out of the dressing room together both laughing which was a good sign.

“Hey babe!” Travis smiles wrapping his arms around Karly lifting her off the ground. You roll your eyes playfully and smile up at Nolan. He winks down at you, and your face heats up slightly.

“What’s up baby Konecny?” Nolan smirks down at you, resting his elbow on your head to emphasize the height difference. “Nolan I swear to god you’ve gotta stop calling me that! Just because I’m TK’s sister doesn’t mean I enjoy you pointing it out.” You scold, trying to ignore the butterflies erupting in your stomach.

“Oh my bad let me try that again.” He clears his throat dramatically and drops his arm so it’s around your shoulder, “What’s up baby?” His voice is deep, and you nearly choke at the pet name. You open your mouth, and close it immediately. Unable to form any coherent sentences. Thankfully Travis finally turns to you, a frown on his face as his gaze comes to Nolan’s arm still around your shoulder.

“Alright then, are we ready to go?” He asks awkwardly. You and Karly share a look, and Nolan’s arm falls from your shoulder. You try not to think about it, but you already miss the contact and feel cold as he steps away from you. “Let’s go!” Karly smiles, and starts dragging you out to the parking lot by the wrist. She is practically running, and yells to the boys that you are both going to the bathroom before you leave. This seems odd because you had gone not even a half hour ago as you both waited for the boys.

“Do you seriously have to pee again? You didn’t even drink that m-“ You started to question but Karly quickly cut you off. “NOLAN IS INTO YOU!”

“Woah! What!? Karly what are you talking about?” Your heart rate sped up and your face felt like it was on fire.

“That’s what is wrong with Travis. He is pissed off that his best friend is into his little sister! I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.” She is mostly just rambling on to herself and you feel sick. “He’s not into me Karly, he’s just nice to me because I’m TK’s baby sister.”

She stops and stares at you for a moment before her smirk grows even wider. “Oh. My. God. You’re into him too!”

“Nooo! No. No. No. Karly I am not, don’t even say that.”

“Why not?”

“Travis would kill me if he found out that I like Nolan!” After the words spilled past your lips followed by a moment of silence, your eyes nearly popped out of your head. “Karly I didn’t mean-“

“OH MY GOD! This is amazing!”

“SHHHH! What if they hear us!?”

———

After a few moments to collect yourselves, you head out to the car. As you open the passenger door of Travis’ car Karly grabs your arm. “Do you think I could sit in the front with Trav?” You know exactly what she is doing. “But I always sit shot gun...” you whine.

“Y/n, seriously just get in the back it’s a five minute drive back home.” Travis sighs out, rolling his eyes at your dramatics. You groan inwardly and climb into the back with Nolan.

“So Patty are you coming over to pregame with us?” Travis asks watching Nolan in the rear view mirror as he starts the car.

“What you meant to say I think is ‘Hey Patty will you come over and babysit y/n/n so Karly and I can fornicate before we go out?’ and the answer is yes I can, but I’m drinking your liquor and you better keep it down this time.” Nolan smirks at you once again and you quickly look down at your hands a smile tugging at your lips.“Yeah I’m with Patty here, I don’t need to hear that again!” You and Nolan laugh together in the backseat as the two in the front seat do their best to deny the accusations.

——

About an hour later, you are stepping out of your room dressed in dark jeans, a band tee, and a leather jacket. Your hair is curled a little, and your makeup all done. “You clean up nice baby Konecny” Nolan smiles at you from his spot on the couch as he tosses you a can of beer.

“Am I gonna be stuck living in your boyfriends shadow forever Patty?” You giggle cracking the beer and falling on to the couch beside him.“Jealous?” He grins, leaning back and stretching his arm across the back of the couch just behind your head.

“Not in the slightest.” As you both sit in a comfortable silence, you can hear music starting to play down the hall and you groan loudly and check the time on your phone. “They do this every time!”

“Oh don’t be such a baby y/n, they’re in love.” Nolan teases. “Yeah well they will still be in love tonight when I’m passed out drunk and can’t hear them.” You grumble playing with the hem of your shirt, and take another swig of beer.

“Sounds to me like someone needs to get laid” You immediately spit out the beer in your mouth choking on it. “Point proven.” He chuckles

“Hey! I get laid plenty thank you very much!” You shoot back at him after catching your breath. “Oh yeah? Must be when we are at the rink then, because last I checked TK hasn’t seen a single guy step foot in this apartment. And I know you don’t go out.”

“Why do you care?” You spit at him, becoming angry because you know he’s right. With that Nolan leans closer to you, and you can feel his breath on your neck. Subconsciously you tilt your head revealing more of your neck to him. You can practically hear the smirk in his voice as he whispers, “Gotta keep an eye on my competition.”

“What the-“ You don’t even have a chance to process the words when Travis’ voice makes you jump.

“Travis! Ready to go?” You practically shout, the nervousness pouring off you. Already on your feet walking towards the door.

“Wow TK that was fast. Not sure if I should be congratulating you or apologizing Karly.” Nolan chirps. You can feel the tension in the room, but no one acknowledges it. So soon enough you’re all packed in an Uber. Travis and Nolan both have their heads stuck in their phones, and Karly’s hands are all over Travis. It’s all really uncomfortable for you, so you’re the first out when the car pulls up to the bar.

Ignoring the entire group you make your way inside and to the bar, trying your best to flag down a bartender. “Want a hand short stuff?” You feel your breath catch in your throat as Nolan’s hand falls to the small of your back when he slides into the spot next to you. You just nod in response, as Nolan orders you a drink after quickly catching the attention of the bartender. He smiles down at you, and his hand slides lower so it is now resting dangerously close to the top of your ass.

“You look really good tonight Y/n.” You blush and mutter out a weak thank you, “You don’t look too bad yourself Patty.” Before either of you can say anything else your drinks are placed in front of you. Grabbing them quickly, you made your way to the booth Travis and Karly had claimed for you all.

“Wanna dance Y/n!?” Karly asked hopefully, a wide grin on her face. You chug about half your beverage, and take her hand as she drags you to the dance floor.

You and Karly dance for awhile together and you try and forget about the boys entirely. You’ve been mostly successful in that until you feel two big hands on your waist and a body dancing against you. You’re having too much fun to really care about the stranger dancing with you, until Karly speaks up about it. “Y/n, Nolan hasn’t taken his eyes off you all night! I think he’s jealous!” She smirks wiggling her eyebrows.

“You’ve been making eyes at my brother all night, how would you even know? Besides he’s not jealous.” You throw back, ignoring the pit forming in your stomach. You really wished Nolan felt that way about you, but he doesn’t. He couldn’t. You’re just baby Konecny. A frown creeps it’s way onto your face the farther in your thoughts you get. You’re so lost in thought, that you don’t even notice Karly slip away to find TK. It’s not until you feel the warm hands leave your hips, that you manage to tune back into your surroundings.

“I think you are done here man, go find someone else to bother.” Nolan is now standing between you and the guy you’d been dancing with. If you had been able to stop staring at Nolan, you might have even noticed how attractive your dance partner had truly been. “Nolan-“ You try and butt in to tell him it’s okay.

“Listen dude I didn’t know she was taken I’m sorry!” The mans hands go up in defence as he smiles apologetically at you. “Yeah well she is, so you can go now”

Your heart stops at his words. You knew it was just him playing the protective big brother roll, and hell TK probably sent him to do it. That doesn’t mean you didn’t feel things when he said it. “Okay I don’t know why TK told you to come over here, but I am quite capable of taking care of myself!” You scold him crossing your arms. You push past him bumping his arm as you head towards the table again. You don’t manage to get far though before Nolan’s hand is wrapped around your bicep. “He didn’t.”

You turn around to face him, and are taken aback by how close he is. The look in his eyes indecipherable. “What?” You manage to croak out, unable to comprehend what’s happening because you’re so nervous.

“TK didn’t send me over here. In fact Karly and TK left 5 minutes ago, but how would you know right? You were too busy basically having sex with that guy on the dance floor!” His words are sharp and his grip on your arm tightens slightly.

“I was not! And even if I was Patty, what’s it to you? Maybe I’d like to have a guy take me home for once, maybe I’m sick of having to go home and listen to my brother have sex with his girlfriend!” You’re yelling now, but as Nolan’s eyes darken you get nervous. “You’re not my babysitter...” you mumble dropping your eyes to stare at your feet. “I know I’m not your babysitter Y/n, but I can’t let you go home with strangers.”

“Why not? I’m an adult!” You’re sure you sound like a whining child at this point, which is not helping your argument. Nolan groans. He lets go of your arm and runs his hands over his face and stares up at the ceiling. “Because. Because I want to take you home. Okay?”

“N-Nolan what are you talking about?” Your heart is pounding in your ears, and your head is spinning.

“Y/n, I’m sorry if this is weird, but god I think you’re amazing and there is nothing I want to do more than be with you tonight. I want to be the one you dance with like that.” He lets out a shaky breath, before finishing, “And fuck Y/n/n, I want to take you home with me.” Before you can even comprehend what all of it means you’re stepping into him. You run your hands up his torso and down his arms slowly. He’s eyes are watching your every move, as you spin around so your back as facing him. Grabbing his wrists you set his hands on your hips, smiling over your shoulder at him. “Then shut up and dance with me Patty.” Nolan smirks, and pulls your body flush against him. You move your hips against his, biting your lip hard as you feel his bulge rub against you. His lips attach to the base of your neck, leaving sloppy kisses in a trail to your ear. “Y/n-“ he whispers in your ear, “let me take you home.” It’s a desperate plea, but the way he pulls your earlobe between his teeth as he pulls away makes you rub your thighs together.

“Nolan-“ you practically moan his name, “This is a bad idea.” With that he grips your hips, spins you around, and crashes his lips to yours. He is trying to communicate how it’s not a bad idea, or if it is, that it’s worth it. And as you melt into him, becoming more needy, you know he’s right. You barely make your way out of the bar and into the Uber before Nolan’s hands are roaming your body more freely. His lips are searching yours, as his hand creeps up under your tshirt. He moans against your lips when his fingers reach the lace of the bralette you were wearing. You arch your back in anticipation of his hands finally palming at your breasts, but you groan in frustration as he pulls away from you entirely. “Someone is needy!” He chuckles, “we are here.” He winks at you paying the driver and practically drags you out of the car into his building.

When you both finally reach his apartment he unlocks the door letting you inside. As you stand in his living room you start to feel self conscious. “Baby come here.” Nolan’s voice snaps you out of your thoughts as you follow it into the kitchen. The pet name fuelling the fire that had been growing in you all evening.

Before you turn the corner into the kitchen, you pull your shirt over your head and throwing it to the floor. There is no going back now. “Fuck.”

“Are you just going to stare at me all night Patty, or are you going to fuck me? Because if not I’m just going to do it myself.” You smirk at him, running your hands down your sides stopping at the waste of your jeans.

“Jesus Christ! I was ready to bend you over this counter, but I think watching you touch yourself sounds pretty fucking hot.” He smirks and pats the counter looking at you expectantly.

———

Your evening started in Nolan’s kitchen, and eventually you found your way to his bedroom. The chemistry between you two, was undeniable. Nothing prepared you though, for the feeling of waking up in his arms. You were facing him, his face inches from yours. His breathing was shallow, and his cheeks their usual shade of pink. He was beautiful. “Anyone ever told you it’s rude to stare?” His voice was groggy and you’d be lying if you said it wasn’t sexy as all hell.

“I wasn’t-“ you began your protest, but were cut off by your phone ringing loudly from the nightstand.As you roll over to grab it, Nolan groans in protest. Your stomach drops when you see the name flashing across the screen. “Oh fuck!” Nolan’s eyes are wide when you turn back to him, terror evident on your face. “It’s Travis.”

“Hey Trav, what’s up?” You answer, hoping he doesn’t pick up on how unsteady your voice is.

“Where are you? Are you okay? I tried getting Nolan on the phone to see what happened last night.” His voice is laced with worry, and guilt washes over you. “I’m okay, I promise.” You’re practically whispering into the phone. Nolan’s eyes burning into you with his hand covering his mouth in shock, isn’t helping your nerves.

“Holy shit, y/n, did you go home with someone!?” You can hear the smirk in his voice. “Umm- uh- yeah I guess I did?”

“Atta girl! Do you want me to come get you?” He asks, and you nearly throw up at the thought.

“NO!” You cringe outwardly at how fast and loudly you protested. “I’ve already ordered the Uber, I’ll be home soon!” With that you quickly said your goodbyes and hung up. Immediately getting out of bed, and searching around for your clothes. You can feel Nolan’s eyes on you.

“You could just stay awhile you know.” His voice is so soft it almost doesn’t sound like him. “Right!” You laugh humourlessly, “and would you like to explain to my brother that it was actually you I slept with last night?” As you look over at him for the first time since you left the bed, all the air is sucked from your lungs. The sheets draped around his waist, an arm resting behind his head, his hair a mess. He looks so perfect, but his face twists at your words and the look now present in his eyes is one you can’t place.

“The kitchen.” He responds lazily. Your brows furrow in confusion. “Your clothes. They are in the kitchen.” He adds, but his eyes don’t meet yours. Your mind wanders to last night in the kitchen, and you can’t help the smirk that comes to your face. Walking slowly back over to Nolan, your place a hand on his cheek. He leans into it, and your heart melts as his gaze finally meets yours.

“I had a good time last night. We should do it again sometime.” You wink at him and he chuckles lightly in response. “We just can’t let my brother know we are fooling around. He’d kill us!”

“Sure. Yeah.” He responds shaking his head and kissing you lightly. “Don’t tell your brother.”

———

“Took you long enough!” The words were out of his mouth before you even closed the door.

“Jesus Trav, I’m an adult I shouldn’t have to let you know exactly where I am and when I’ll be home!” You glare at him, as you kick off your shoes and basically fall onto the couch. He laughs at you as you let out a loud groan. “Long night?”

“You have no idea!”

“Okay ew gross!” He whines covering his ears.

“You asked! Besides I’m sure your night was just as eventful!” You laugh as he gives you the finger, walking down the hall.

———

Over the course of the next couple months you found yourself falling into bed with Nolan more than you’d care to admit. You also wouldn’t admit how much you enjoyed spending time with him. He was always so sweet to you, and you wanted more than the whole “friends with benefits” arrangement, but you knew you couldn’t have it, even if it was something Nolan wanted too. Which it wasn’t. The only part you really hated about this whole thing, was hiding it from Travis.

“Nolan needs a date to the Christmas charity dinner.” Travis announces as he falls down on the couch between you and Karly. He had just gotten back from practice, so when that was the first thing out of his mouth you and Karly both looked at him in confusion. “You should go with him Y/n, he says his new girlfriend is too shy to go. So you should go with him, because it wouldn’t be weird y’know?” He states matter-of-fact-ly.

“Babe, why would going with Y/n be any less weird than going with anyone else?” Karly speaks up before you can, because your mind is running a million miles a minute. Did Nolan have a girlfriend? He couldn’t. Right?

“Because, it’s not like there would be anything happening between them. It’d give his girlfriend peace of mind.” He shrugs getting up from the couch, and walking into the kitchen. Karly sends you a sad look, and you feel sick.

Travis really had no clue what was going on, and you should be trying to keep it that way. You couldn’t help the question falling past your lips though, as he came back in the living room with a glass of water. “So who is this girlfriend whose job I’m expected to take for the evening?” You groan internally at how jealous that sounded.

“Dunno,” Travis shrugs, “he gets pretty flustered any time someone asks about her. Doesn’t want us to know I guess. The only reason we even found out about her in the first place was because Patty kept showing up to the rink covered head to toe in hickies and scratch marks.”

“Sounds to me like this girl is just a hookup Trav.” Karly adds and smiles at you. She is obviously trying to make you feel better about the fact the guy you like is with another girl. She doesn’t know however how much that comment hurt. It’s you, you’re the hookup. Travis shrugs once again and takes a sip of water, turning to watch whatever bad reality show Karly had put on to watch. You tried to watch too, but the tears that stung at your eyes threatening to fall, forced you to get up quietly and slip out the front door.

Not sure what to do next, you pulled out your phone pressing Nolan’s contact. “Hey Y/n, what’s up?” He mumbled as he answered your call. “Hi- can I uh” you hesitate for a moment as the first tear slips down your face, “can I come over?”

“Uhhh I’m kind of busy at the moment.” Your stomach drops at his response, and the tears fall faster as you try and hold back a sob.

“What did you need?” He speaks again when you don’t respond.

“Oh- Travis said you needed a date to the charity dinner, a-and I was just thinking we could talk about it.” You say, voice breaking slightly. “It was stupid anyway, never mind.” You cover your mouth quickly to muffle the sob you’ve been suppressing. “Y/n, are you okay?” You can hear the concern in his voice, he knows you’re crying now. You can’t form any words, so you shake your head even though he can’t see you. You let yourself cry now, no longer fighting it as you slump against your steering wheel.

“Where are you? I’m coming to get you.” You can hear him pulling on his shoes and grabbing his keys. “I-I’m in my car.” You manage to get out in between sobs, desperately trying to stop crying. You want to object, and tell him you’re fine, but you can’t. You need to see him.

“You stay right there, you’re too upset to be driving. I’ll be there soon. Okay?” You hear him get into his car closing the door. You nod in response, and even though he can’t see you he seems to know. You expected him to hang up, but he doesn’t. Instead Nolan puts you on speaker phone, but he doesn’t say much. Instead you hear him muttering to himself about stupid drivers and occasionally telling you he’s almost there.

You must have spaced out, completely focused on the anxiety driven sobs wracking through your body, because you don’t notice when he hangs up. Moments later your car door is opened, and a hand is placed gently on your thigh. “Y/n.” His voice is so quiet you almost don’t hear it, “what’s wrong?” Embarrassment floods you immediately. You groan throwing your head back against the headrest, wiping at your face in frustration. You try once again to tell him you’re okay, but your voice is gone. You just shake your head and and try to stop the tears.

“Look at me please.” His voice is both firm and pleading. You drop your gaze to wear he is knelt down next to your car. His thumb is rubbing soothing circles on your thigh, and his eyes are full of confusion. The tears that had slowed mostly to a stop, sting your eyes again. You want to jump into his arms, and just stay there while he holds you. You know it’s not an option, so instead you let out a little whimper tears falling again. “I’m sorry.” Your voice is barely above a whisper and cracks as you say it, but you manage to muster out the apology.

“No. No, don’t be sorry. Hey it’s okay!” He wipes the tears from your cheek with his free hand, but they are immediately replaced with new ones. “I’m going to call TK, he will know what to do.”

“No!” You practically yell at him in protest. “P-please don’t.”

“Okay.” He looks at you, concern once again written all over his face. “What do you need?”

“You.” You regret the honest answer as soon as it slips past your lips, but decide to keep going anyway. “Fuck, Nolan I’m sorry I just- I’m really confused, and I just. Im sick of being Travis’ little sister. I’m sick of being baby Konecny and when I’m with you, I feel like I’m me. Like I’m just y/n. That’s all I want, but I feel guilty about it. And I know that the boys are giving you a hard time about “your girlfriend” so I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m holding you back, and I’m sorry I’m jeopardizing your friendship with Travis. We can stop now.” Nolan says nothing. Instead, he reaches across your lap and unbuckled your seatbelt. He gently frees your arm from it and then pulls you into his chest, and rubs your back. You step out of the car and wrap your arms around his waist as tight as you can, your legs feeling like jelly beneath you. You both stay there for a moment, as you cry against his chest.

“You’re upset. Why don’t you come stay at my place for the weekend and have a little break from TK?” Nolan mumbles into your hair, placing a soft kiss to the top of your head. You push back from him, and look into his eyes. You were going to yell at him, tell him this was only going to make things worse, but maybe he was right. Some time away from TK and Karly would be good. “What do I tell him?”

Nolan shrugs, “That you’re staying at a friend’s place?”

“Okay.” You sigh, and Nolan smiles at you. The smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes, but it still makes you feel a bit better. Nolan let’s go of you and opens his passenger door motioning for you to get in. You do, and he closes it gently. He closes and locks your car as well before hopping in the driver’s seat.

You decide to text TK.

Y/N: I’m going to be staying at a friend’s place for the weekend. See you Monday?

TK: Sure! Everything okay?

Y/N: Yeah! Don’t have too much fun with the apartment all to yourself 😛

“It’s going to be alright you know? You’re not holding me back from anything.” Nolan speaks leaning over and giving your knee a reassuring squeeze. And maybe, it will be.

________________

You had spent the rest of the afternoon with Nolan between your legs. Nothing you hadn’t done before, but there was so much more emotion behind it, that it scared you.

As you laid in Nolan’s bed after your afternoon activities, his hand ran gently up and down your back. Tracing patterns across his chest, you let out a content sigh. You opened your mouth to tell Nolan how you felt, to ask him what this was to him, but before the words could even form on your tongue a knock on the front door caused both you and Nolan to jump up.

“Shit.” Nolan grumbled pulling a pair of shorts on, “I’ll be right back.” You frowned in response and got out of bed pulling on a pair of Nolan’s shorts and one of his hoodies. Little did you know, that just down the hall your worst nightmare was unfolding.

“Travis! What are you doing here?” Nolan said just loud enough for you to hear, and your body froze in fear.

“Hey Patty have you heard from Y/n at all? I’m a little worried about her. Wait a second is your girlfriend here!?” You could hear the excitement in Travis’s voice, when he realized he might finally get to meet the mystery lady.

“Um- yeah, now isn’t really the best time TK.” Nolan mumbled and you can practically hear his cheeks heating up, from your spot in the hallway just out of view. Your hands were shaking as you lean against the wall, trying to control your breathing.

“Oh shit! Did I interrupt something?! Dude you shoulda just told me! I’ll just call Y/n if you haven’t heard from her.” At that your heart stops. Where is your phone? You set it down when you got there.

“Okay, see you later TK!” Nolan basically shouts, trying to close the door you assume. Relief begins to wash over you, and you feel like you can breath again.

However, the relief leaves just as fast as it came, when you hear your phone ringing. Stomach dropping, as the memory of setting your phone on the table by the front door comes to mind.

“Nolan.. why the hell is Y/n’s phone in your apartment?” You can hear the anger in your brother’s voice. “Teeks I can explain” Nolan’s voice is weak, and your heart breaks a little despite its rapid beating in your chest.

“Great idea Patty! Please explain to me why you didn’t bother telling me my sister was your secret girlfriend!” He’s fuming and you don’t know if you should rush to Nolan’s aid or climb out the fire escape. “She’s not actually my girlfriend...”

Ouch.

“Okay so you’re telling me you’re just fucking my baby sister!? I’m going to fucking kill you”

“Travis stop!” You surprise yourself as your running to put yourself between the two best friends. “Please don’t.” You whimper the last part. Tears streaming down your cheeks, as you use your arms to push him back trying to keep the distance between him and Nolan.

“I told you she was off limits! I told the whole damn team that they weren’t allowed to mess with her. So what? You just thought you’d fuck your best friend’s sister like some cheap whore when you could have any girl in Philly!?” Your face twists at that. You know that Travis didn’t say it to hurt you, but you couldn’t help feeling sting of hurt mixed with jealousy you wish you didn’t feel.

“I-it’s not like that” Nolan mumbles out. Your heart crumbles at his limited response. “Travis, take me home.” You plead, trying not to let more tears fall.

“Y/n- don’t-“ Nolan reaches out for you, but Travis shoves him. Hard.

“Travis! Please!” With that, you lose it. Hands shaking, sobs escaping you relentlessly, and you can’t catch your breath. Both guys stop, eyes snapping to you. Travis wraps his arms around you, affectively keeping you upright.

You don’t hear anything else, or see anything else. Everything stops.

_____________

Your eyes flutter open, and you’re met with a white ceiling. Head aching nearly as much as your chest and you groan. “Y/n/n! You’re awake!” It’s Karly’s voice that startles you, “are you okay?”

You don’t know where you are, or what happened really, but you can only manage to ask two questions. “Where is Travis? Is Nolan okay?”

“Y/n-“ you can hear the pity in her voice. “Oh god!” You start crying again, “this is all my fault!”

Karly speaks softly to you, telling you everything is fine. Telling you Travis is coming, and that Nolan will be fine. You hardly listen. You just allow yourself to cry until you fall asleep.

___________

“I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. You knew it was wrong, and I told you it would be fine. I’m such an idiot.” You listened to his voice as he mumbled, hand gripping yours as tight as he could without hurting you. Keeping your eyes closed, you fight back the tears. It hurt so bad, everything hurt. You couldn’t face him, you were embarrassed, and heartbroken. “Nolan, I think you should go.” Travis’ voice makes you wince inwardly.

“Teeks, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt her, or you. Tell me she’s gonna be okay.” Nolan’s voice breaks and he lets go of your hand.

“The doctor said she is okay, she needs some rest. She is just stressed Nolan.” Travis sounds just as defeated as Nolan’s, “I’ll text you if anything changes I promise.” You could hear Nolan get up and leave, and honestly, your heart went with him. When the realization hit you, you’re shooting up in the bed eyes wide gasping for breath.

“Y/n/n-“ Travis starts, as he rushes to your side.

“I- I’m sorry Travis. I’m so sorry! God I’m so so stupid.” You start rambling, chest heaving, breathing shallow.

“Slow down! Just relax please, you’re okay. It’s okay.” Travis is squeezing your hand now, concern for you evident in his features.

“I ruined everything. He’s your best friend, and I ruined it...”

“Nolan and I will be fine. This is between him and I, not you. Don’t blame yourself ple-“

“I love him!” Your sudden outburst shocks you just as much as it shocks Travis. The silence that follows is deafening. You try to think of something to say, anything to make this less awkward. Before you or Travis can speak though, someone at the door clears their throat. Your eyes snap to the source, and your stomach drops to the floor.

“I- uh I left my keys” Nolan mumbles, scratching at the back of his neck. His cheeks are red, and his left eye is purple and swollen. Travis sighs and mumbles something about giving you a minute, before he gets up and leaves the room. Not without bumping a little to hard into Nolan’s shoulder. More awkward silence follows, and this time you manage to find words first. “Jesus Nols your eye, are you okay?”

“It’s nothing.” He mumbles.

“It’s not though! I’m sorry, about all of it. I shouldn’t have gone home with you, I shouldn’t have called you, I shouldn’t have kept it from TK, and I shouldn’t have said that I lo-“ you stop unable to say it again, “Well you heard. You didn’t need this drama.”

“So you regret it?” His entire body tenses.

“You don’t?” You laugh out humourlessly

“Lying to my best friend? Yes. Taking you home? Being the person you call when you’re upset? Falling in love with you? I’ll never regret any of that. I’m sorry I hurt you, I’ll leave you alone now.” He says the last line with so much hurt it kills you. He snatches his keys off the table by your bed and turns to leave, but you grab his wrist. “You don’t mean that. You don’t get to say that and leave me.”

“What do you want me to do?” He raises his voice. You’ve never seen him like this. “I can’t stay. You wanted to leave my place last night. I don’t see what the problem is.”

“I didn’t want to leave Nolan I wanted you to fight for me, for us! I wanted to hear you tell my brother that you wanted me as much as I wanted you. I know you don’t though, and that’s alright. But you do not get to say you fell in love with me, and walk out of here like nothing happened. You don’t get to fuck with me like that!” Tears fall slowly down your face, and you let them. Sure you probably looked like a hot mess, but you didn’t care anymore.

“I thought this was just sex for you. I didn’t think you wanted anything more than a distraction from your brother’s life. I tried to get you to stay with me that first morning. I tried to show you how much I wanted you in my life yesterday. Y/n I drove like a bat out of hell from the rink to pick you up because you were hurting. I was at the rink talking to Giroux, trying to figure out how the hell I was supposed to ask Travis for his permission to date you. Actually date you. I’m in love with your stubbornness. I’m in love with your aversion to being called baby Konecny. I’m in love with how you look in my jersey even though you refuse to wear it because ‘why wear mine when you could wear one with your last name’. I’m in love with your laugh and your smile. I’m head over heels for you baby, and I can’t stay here. I can’t stand seeing you in that bed knowing it’s my fault you’re even there, knowing that when you leave you’re going home with Travis and not with me. I can’t stand around and watch you hurting, only to make it last longer. I’m sorry.” His whole body seems to deflate as he adjusts the keys in his hand.

“Nolan I didnt know.”

“Yeah well...” he mumbles, and refuses to look at you. With that you let go of his hand and he’s gone.

________________

“Well Miss Konecny you should be good to go. Just take it easy for the next couple weeks alright?” You were hardly listening to the doctor, but really he was more talking to Travis than you. After signing discharge papers, Travis helped you out to his car. He stops opens your door for you, and you mumble a thank you. You’re so caught up in your own thoughts, you don’t

“Trav?” You say, after awhile of driving. “Yeah?” He asks, taking another turn you’re sure is just taking you away from your shared apartment. “Where are we going?”

Pulling over and parking the car, Travis looks over at you guilt written all over his face. You look out the window, taking in your surroundings for a moment before it clicks. You’re in front of Nolan’s building. “Travis please no...”

“Y/n/n listen. I’ve never in my life heard Nolan talk about anything too real. When he left the hospital, he stopped me in the hallway. He apologized for hurting me, and you. But you know what else he told me? He told me he wouldn’t take it back. He said that if his options were to have you for those few months again or to take it all back and have it never happen he’d hurt me again. He told me he loved you, and that he still does. He said he’s not sorry for loving you, but he’s sorry he didn’t do it right. Then I called Claude. He told me about Nolan just about in tears trying to figure out how to make it work without hurting his friendship with me, but mostly about preserving our relationship. He was worried about what would happen between me and you. He is so into you, and obviously you are into him. So into him, and so worried about it you landed yourself in the hospital. I was the issue here, so now I’m going to fix it.” He pats your knee soothingly. “Please let me.” You can only nod, and pull yourself out of Travis’ car. He drapes an arm over your shoulder and pulls you into his side.

“You hit him didn’t you?” You ask quietly in the elevator ride up to Nolan’s floor. “I did. I thought he was using you. I was so upset. He didn’t fight back, he wouldn’t even defend himself. I’m such an asshat.” He admits

You nod in response, and hug him as tight as you can. “That’s my big brother, the asshat. Thank you for always looking out for me, but you really shouldn’t have hit him.” He whispers an apology into your hair as the elevator doors open. “Now let’s go get your man! Ew no, I’m not calling him that ever again.”

You laugh at that. Travis smiles at you as he knocks on Nolan’s door. You wait patiently, but nothing happens. The door never opens. Travis knocks again. Nothing. Your heart feels like it’s breaking all over again. Travis continues knocking. He even tries calling Nolan. Nothing.

You reach out and grab his wrist to stop his assault on Nolan’s door. “Trav. It’s over, it’s okay. He doesn’t want this.” Before he can say anything, his phone rings. Both of your eyes snapping to it hopefully. You deflate as you see Karlys name flashing across his screen. You sigh and slide down the wall beside Nolan’s door, as Travis answers.

“Hey babe. Well I decided to take Y/n to Nolan’s apartment to try and fix this, but he is refusing to answer his door or his phone.” You groan a little dropping your face into your hands. You feel pathetic. “Are you kidding me right now!” Travis’ last line comes out much louder than the others, and you jump a little. Looking up at him you see an expression you can’t quite read. “Stay there! We are on our way!”

You’re pretty sure he doesn’t even wait for Karlys response before hanging up. “Trav? What’s wrong? Is Karly okay?”

“Karly is fine, but we have to go.” With that he’s grabbing your hands and pulling you off the floor and out of the building. Foregoing the elevator, and instead rushing down the stairs like a mad man.

“Travis what is going on!” You’re frustrated and he’s not responding to any of your questions, as he jumps into his car. You follow suit, grumbling under your breath. The drive isn’t that long, and you spend most of it wondering why Nolan wouldn’t answer the door. How were you supposed to go on seeing him all the time again? He wants nothing to do with you right?

Your mind is still spinning when Travis pulls into his parking spot. Karly is already waiting outside.

“Listen Y/n/n, you’re going to be okay. If things with Nolan were meant to be they will be. Karly and I have to go, but we will be back later okay? Call me if you need anything.” Travis’ voice is soft, but hurried as he leans over and opens your door for you. The confusion is clear on your face as you get out of the passenger seat. Karly sends you a quick apology before sliding into your spot.

And then they were gone. Before you could even ask where they were going, they were gone. You’d never felt more alone in your entire life. The one person you wanted to see wants nothing to do with you, and your support system just up and left you.

As you make your way slowly up the stairs to the apartment, tears fall for what feels like the millionth time in the last 48 hours. Your heart was so unbelievably broken, and you couldn’t even starts to think about how to put it back together. As you finally made it to the door, you unlock it and let yourself in. As you close it, you fall back against it small sobs escaping you into the quiet apartment.

“Y/n?” Your eyes snap up, heart beating a million miles an hour.

“Nolan? What are you doing here?” There he was standing in front of you, dressed up and holding a bouquet of your favourite flowers.

“Well- I uh came to apologize. I’ve been here since Travis text me to say you were leaving the hospital. What took you guys so long?” He chuckles nervously, but makes no effort to move closer.

“We went to your apartment. Nolan I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. God I was so stupid, I don’t know how to make this better.” You’re shaking now, overwhelmed by emotion.

Nolan sees you struggling, and quickly closes the distance between you both. Dropping the flowers along the way his hands find your hips to hold you up. “The past is in the past babe. We can’t change it.” You deflate at his words, fresh tears springing to your eyes.

“But,” he adds, placing a finger under your chin lifting it up so you’re looking at him. “We can start again, and do it the right way. I don’t wanna hide you.” His eyes slip from yours to your lips. Your heart skips a beat, as he leans into you pressing his lips to yours in a kiss like none you’ve shared before. This kiss is not driven by lust, it’s all love. It’s slow and steady, as he pulls you closer to him. You stay like that awhile, both to afraid to stop. Nolan pulls away first though, so you can both catch your breath.

You smile up at him, reaching up to gently touch the stitches above his left eye. You frown a little, as he flinches but doesn’t stop you. “It’s not as bad as it looks.” Nolan mumbles, cheeks heating slightly.

“Really? Because I was just about to say it looks kinda hot.” You smirk up at him.

His fingers flex on your hips, eyes going a little darker. “You’re gonna be the death of me Konecny.” His voice is deep and it sets your whole body on fire.

“Stop talking and kiss me already Nols” With that Nolan’s lips are on yours, and his hands are on your thighs lifting you off the ground with ease. You wrap your legs around his waist as you pins you to the wall. A moan escapes your lips as your hands find his hair, tugging it lightly. The kiss grows needier by the second, and you’re getting impatient. As you push your hips into his to get some friction, Nolan pulls away.

“We should slow down.” Nolan sighs, as he sets you back down. “Why?” You pout, gripping his shirt and trying to pull him back into you.

“Because, I want to do this the right way. Let me take you out first before I fuck you in your brothers apartment” he chuckles.

“We’ve had sex before Nolan. Besides,” you say, running your hands up his torso to the back of his neck. Tugging on the hair a little before you continue. “Wouldn’t fucking his baby sister all over his apartment be a great way to get pay back after he punched you in the face.”

“Y/n. I’d rather not have my best friend kill me before I even get a chance to show you off. He could walk through that door at any second.” Nolan groans glancing over your shoulder to the door.

“You’re right he could.” You smirk as you start kissing his neck.

“Babe-“ he warns, but it lacks sincerity and you take that as a win. “Can it Patrick. Let me have my fun!” You wink, sliding down to your knees.

And just like that, he was at your mercy. He was a total mess above you, hands gripping your hair tightly as you took him in your mouth.

The fact Karly and Travis could walk through the door at any moment to see the two of you. Nolan with his head thrown back, pants at his ankles, and you, hands gripping his thighs tightly and tears forming in your eyes. It had your senses heightened. On edge already, your pussy clenching on nothing.

When Nolan came, his name left your lips followed by many profanities as you swallowed his cum. You smirk up at him, and trace your finger over his tattoo lazily. “Worth it?”

“Fuck, so worth it princess.” He groans pulling you to your feet attaching his lips to your neck.

Nolan pulls away after a moment and you whimper slightly at the loss. He chuckles as he pulls his pants up and you groan in response. “Sorry baby, but standing just inside the door with my pants around my ankles is not a good look.”

“I liked it” you pout, “your legs are nice.”

“Oh yeah?” He quirks an eyebrow at you, a smug grin growing on his face. You nod, cheeks heating up slightly. “Especially your thighs.” You wink.

Nolan throws his head back and laughs pulling you into his chest. “You’re amazing you know that?”

“So I’ve been told.” You wink up at him. His grip tightens on your waist, and his smile grows impossibly wider. Your heartbeat quickens as tears spring to your eyes, and you do everything in your power to hold them back as you press your forehead against Nolan’s chest.

Everything feels so perfect in that moment. You’re not Travis’ sister. Not baby Konecny. Nolan isn’t Travis’ best friend. Not the Nolan Patrick. He is yours, and you’re his. The only think that matters now is how at home you feel standing awkwardly in the hallway embracing each other, with no intentions of letting go.

[fandom-imagines]

Thank you

Fandom: Death Note

Pairing: L X Reader

Warnings: Emotional and physical abuse.

Words: 3k

A/N: I’m in a death note phase again. I wrote this instead of doing my essay oops.

Being the girlfriend of a worldwide, secret detective was hard.

Relationships were hard enough as it is but having to make sure both the partners names were kept hidden made it even harder. Then there’s the constant travelling that takes place along with many other things.

Basically, the relationship between L Lawliet and Y/N Y/S/N was a complicated one. Don’t get me wrong, they were both madly in love with the other, but that didn’t make it any less hard.

“Y/N!” A high-pitched voice sounded from behind the aforementioned couple.

That’s Misa, Y/N’s best friend and often co-worker. The two met at a photoshoot where they became fast friends, the pair being able to work together due to their celebrity status.

“Hi, Misa.” A soft smile crawled onto the Y/H/C-haired girls’ lips.

She usually loved seeing Misa, but today all she wanted was to go back to her house and chill, maybe with Lawliet, maybe not. Who knows? Not her.

“Hi, Ryuzaki.” Misa greeted her best friends’ boyfriend, albeit unknowingly, before grasping her small hand around Y/N’s arm. “Bye, Ryuzaki!” Were her final words as she dragged Y/N away, unaware that she was desperately mouthing “sorry” towards her boyfriend.

~

“Light won’t even take me on a date, Y/N/N!” Misa whined, still talking about her ‘boyfriend’, “Isn’t that so unfair?”

“Very.” Y/N mumbled, turning the page on her magazine which lay in front of her.

She was currently lying across Misa’s bed, the pink sheets creasing beneath her. The girl’s legs were crossed in the air, the entire weight of her body being placed solely on her stomach. The magazine she was reading was something she had bought on the way back to Misa’s, hoping to share opinions on outfits or gossip about latest celebrities, something that the pair had done since they met.

“Are you even listening, Y/N/N?” The blonde continued to whine upon realizing that her friend was no longer listening to her boy drama.

“Sorry, just deep in thought.” Y/N’s words weren’t necessarily a lie, she was deep in thought just not about something she wished to share.

Misa didn’t know about Lawliet and Y/N’s relationship, nobody did. That was how they liked it. No one could intervene, no drama or anything of the sort.  Just the two of them, happy, together.

Oh how she longed to be with him right now. The two of them together, even if they were just sitting in HQ together whilst working on the Kira case that they had been working on for months now. That was how they had met: the Kira case.

Y/N knew of his involvement, her father worked as a detective, similar to Lights. That was how she joined the investigation despite being a student. Both her father and close friend, Light, recommended her.

However, that friendship was slowly fading as she found out more and more evidence that made her suspect Light of being Kira. She’s smart, very smart, that’s why she got along with both geniuses. She fit in well with the two. But the more she investigated the case, the more she realized that Light could possibly be behind the mass murders that were causing terror across the world, especially Japan.

“Ooh! What about? Is it a boy?” Misa was now sat up on the ground, arms wrapped tightly around the yellow pillow that she was previously sitting on. Her loose blonde locks fell down her back as well as over the pillow. She looked absolutely beautiful.

How did Light not love her back?

“Shut up.” The other girl huffed, tossing a pillow from Misa’s bed into the face of the owner, giggling as Misa fell backwards onto the soft carpet before bursting into a fit of giggles herself.

“You have to tell me!” The words left Misa’s lips between giggles as she recomposed herself.

“No!”

“Yes~”

The two argued back and forth for around five minutes before giving up, and bursting into a giggle fit once again, something that was common between the pair.

“So, you like someone?” Misa wiggled her eyebrows in amusement at the fact that her best friend was finally interested in someone other than fictional characters. “Tell me everything.”

Without revealing who it was, Y/N began to tell her about her ‘crush’, despite said crush actually being her boyfriend of a few months now. Ensuring that no significant details were released which could identify the man, she told her everything. Blushing was something new to her, but neither Misa nor Y/N complained. It was a refreshing change for them both.

“Wow,” The model let out a breath she wasn’t aware that she was holding once Y/N had poured her heart out, slightly at least. “I never knew you were capable of such feelings, Y/N/N!”

“Stop teasing me~” Y/N’s hands covered her blushing face, words becoming muffled behind the skin. “This is embarrassing enough as it is,” a groan left her lips as she continued her sentence. “Besides, I doubt he even likes me back.” The final words were mumbled, self-doubt settling in as she realized that her boyfriend might not actually love her.

Logically, Y/N knew that L wouldn’t use her, or at least she hopes, and that he genuinely did value her and her opinion. He enjoyed her company and didn’t find her annoying. He really did love her, despite not having admitted it.

“Sure he does! You’re great, Y/N/N.” Misa grinned at her best friend, unknowingly providing her with a source of comfort.

“Thanks, Misa.” A sigh left the other girls lips, a sinking feeling of doubt looming over her. “I should probably get home, it’s getting late. Goodnight, Misa.”

“Goodnight, Y/N!”

~

Instead of heading home Y/N decided to take a late-night stroll.

The dark sky was littered with bright stars, a nice change from the usual plain nights sky in Japan. It gave an almost comforting feel to the stroller, reminding her of her childhood when she would stay up late to stare up at the midnight sky with a genuine belief that it was the world watching over her, much like the moon which was ‘following’ her everywhere she went to make sure she was safe.

It was childish, yes, but she was a child so what do you expect?

The Y/H/C-haired girl observed her breath as she exhaled. It was cold which wasn’t a huge surprise considering that it was nearing December now; winter time. Despite being extremely cold, she decided that it wasn’t time to head home just yet. Her mind wasn’t entirely clear and it wasn’t exactly in her best interest to go home with an overthinking mind, so he continued her walk.

The sound of her shoes hitting the ground was one of the only things she could hear other than the occasional passing car or truck. The streetlights lit up her view, being the only thing that did so and Y/N internally thanked whoever put them up considering she wouldn’t be able to use the torch on her phone as it had died long ago. The odd passing-by car provided her with some light also, although it wasn’t much.

It wasn’t until around 1am when she finally decided she should head home.

~

The house was deadly silent as she entered, but the lights were still alight, leaving the daughter of the local baker and detective confused.

“Mum?” The girls voice was slightly quiet in case she was asleep whilst still being loud enough for anyone seated downstairs to hear.

“Where have you been?!” Her mothers voice was incredibly loud, making Y/N cringe and wince. “I’ve been worried sick! How could you make your mom worry like this?”

Ah, there comes the guilt tripping. Y/N’s thoughts were awfully loud, and she cursed herself internally.

“Sorry, mom.” A frown had made its way onto her lips as she apologized.

Sure, she probably should have warned her that she was going for a walk, but there was no need to guilt trip her.

“You should be. Now go to your room!”

She simply ran upstairs.

~

The bags under Y/Ns’ eyes almost matched Ryuzaki’s the following day.

She hadn’t gotten any sleep that night as she replayed every bad moment with her mother sine childhood and believe me, there was a lot of them.

Her mother hadn’t been the best parent to say the least. She was never physically abusive, but the mental scars from her words and actions had taken a toll on her daughter throughout the years.

“Are you okay?” Lights words were full of concern upon noticing the girls tired composure. The way she stood further proved that she was exhausted considering how she was slumped over. Hands shaking also, Light was genuinely concerned, despite his status as Kira, something he knew that she suspected. “You look terrible, no offence.”

“I’m fine.” Her words were quiet, almost silent, too wrapped up in her own thoughts to give a completely response but she figured those words would suffice and he would hopefully leave her alone.

Whilst concerned, Light knew not to push things when someone didn’t want to talk, so he didn’t push it further, favouring to ask if she was going to the HQ later which she was.

“Ryuzaki isn’t in today,” Lights words caught her attention, finally pulling her from her trance, “he’s working on the investigation.”

“Oh,” while her response was short, the criminal still cheered internally, glad that he had stopped her worrying, even if it was for a split second.

~

For the entire day she was completely ‘out of it’, unable to concentrate or even form a coherent sentence and she mentally kicked herself at her so-called failure. However she was slightly grateful that there was no exam today, knowing she would have most definitely failed. She probably wouldn’t have been able to write more than three words.

Y/N’s walk to HQ was lonely as she desperately craved some human contact.

She really needed a hug.

As though in a trance, the girl scanned herself into HQ and headed towards the main room where she knew everyone would be.

“Hi, Y/N,” Matsuda’s cheerful greeting caught Ryuzaki’s attention. Well, more like the name of the person he was greeting.

Nobody could have known however, unaware of the short-lived glance he had spared towards her. This short glance told him a lot: she hadn’t slept, she was deep in thought and she felt… crap.

This worried the detective immensely. He really did care for the girl; a lot more than he would admit. Not that he didn’t want to, he just didn’t know how she would react and didn’t want to risk facing rejection.

It would hurt.

“Hi.” The response she gave Matsuda was blunt, emotionless which L wasn’t happy to hear.

She never used that tone. She was usually cheerful. It must be bad.

“You guys can go for a break. You’ve been here most of today and it’s not nearing 5pm.” L’s words matched his girlfriends tone as usual, uncaring about the relief his words had just provided the others on the case. “Except you.” His gaze was now fixated on his love, making her internally curse at herself for being so obvious about her low mood.

The raven-haired detective waited for everyone to leave, stare unmoving as he observed Y/N’s every move and she walked towards the chair opposite him.

“What is it?” Y/N’s gaze was cast towards the ground, not wanting L to see her like this. “I’m sorry.” Her words were quick, worried that he was going to say something that would simply upset her more. “I-I didn’t mean too.”

L’s cold hand gently grasped her chin, lifting her face so that they could look at each other and he cringed slightly as he saw the tear threatening to fall from her eyes.

Okay, he is now really worried.

“What’s wrong?” His words were quiet but still laced with genuine concern, along with his eyes. “You can tell me.”

“It’s nothing, really.” The words stumbled from her lips, only worrying him more. “C-can I just go today? Please.”

L simply nodded, watching as she dashed from the HQ and out of his sight.

~

“Why do you keep disappearing?” Y/N’s mothers voice was the first thing she heard as she walked through the door.

“Please, leave me alone.” Y/N begged, simply wishing to be alone.

She made an attempt to dash upstairs, only to be stopped by her mothers tight grip around her wrist as she spun her around to face her. A hash slap hit the younger girls face with such a force that they both knew would leave a mark the following day.

“Y-Y/N…” Upon realisation of what she had just done, her tight grip around her daughters wrist loosened, hand dropping to her side.

“Never talk to me again.” YN’s words were quiet yet laced with venom before she finally dashed up to her room, one goal in mind:

Leave.

Her movements were quick as she packed her bag, tears leaking from her eyes in both pain and sadness,

Within minutes her bag was packed, tossed over her shoulder before she ran downstairs.

“Please don’t leave.” Her mother’s plead fell on deaf ears, the only response coming from the closing of the door as she watched her daughter leave, neither of them knowing if she would ever return.

~

It was cold. Very cold and Y/N cursed herself for not bringing a jacket, being in a skirt and t-shirt which was the same outfit she had worn to school today.

Shivering, she began her long walk towards HQ, something she knew would take a long time.

~

“What happened to you?” Detective Yagami’s voice was filled with panic upon seeing the tear stains on her cheeks as well as the bright red bruising hand-mark.

Lawliet payed no attention  to his remark, simply assuming that Matsuda had had a clumsy accident yet again.

“Please, can I just sit down?” Was what captured his attention, the soft and exhausted voice being one he recognised immediately.

“O-of course.” Soichiro’s words were rushed as he signalled towards the seat he had previously occupied which Y/N gratefully took.

L spun on his chair to look at the girl, breath hitching as he took in her appearance.

He caught her gaze and she had looked up after hearing the spinning of the chair and she thanked whatever gods there were that it was simply the three of them.

“Detective Yagami would you mind if we have a moment?” L’s stare was unmoving as Yagami nodded, leaving the room.

“R-Ryu…” Her voice sounded broken, eyes filled with pain and he soon noticed the bag on the ground, quickly coming to the conclusion that something had happened at home, presumably with her mother, and she had ran away.

L quickly climbed onto his feet, opening his arms which Y/N gladly ran into, breaking down into sobs. His hand placed itself on her hair, burying itself into her hair as her face buried into his chest. L was uncaring as her tears soaked through his white tee; he only cared that she was okay. They stood like that for a long time, L providing comfort she didn’t know she needed.

“Come on,” L broke the silence as his girlfriend calmed down, her breath evening out, “lets get you to a room.” He offered her a hand as she pulled away, one she took with extreme gratitude, appreciating that it must have been hard for him to give her any affection.

Their hands never parted as they climbed the stairs of the HQ, heading towards Y/N’s new room. Ryuzaki had thrown her bag over his shoulder, the heavy weight of the bag not affecting him one bit.

The room was empty, and it was clear nobody was staying there.

The noise of the bag dropping to the ground was loud, startling Y/N whilst Lawliet remained unaffected, having been the one that had caused the noise; not that it would have scared him anyway.

Y/N was led towards the made bed by the detective, sitting herself down as he wordlessly instructed before taking a seat beside her.

“I’m sorry for being such a bother.” She apologised, making L shake his head in disagreement.

“You could never be a bother, Y/N. Not to me.” His words were less monotone than usual, less devoid of feeling. There was a genuine tone coming from him. “Matsuda’s a bother, not you.” He spoke which made the shorter girl chuckle, something she felt she hadn’t done in ages, despite it having only been a day, #

“Thanks, Ryu. For everything.”

“It’s my pleasure.” His arm wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her closely towards him until her warmth was felt by him. “I-“ He paused as he began to speak, extremely aware of what he was about to say.

“What’s wrong?” Y/N asked, confused at his sudden silence.

“I love you.” His words were quiet, almost unheard had it not been for the fact that the room was deadly silent.

The pair fell into an awkward silence for a moment before L got up to leave, apologising as he did so.

“Wait,” Y/N’s hand wrapped around his own, “I love you too.”

A small smile made its way onto both of their lips, L walking back over to the girl until he was stood directly in front of her. She watched closely as he bent down, unsure of what he was about to do. The second his lips touched her forehead a huge blush flowed across her cheeks.

“R-Ryu…?” Her embarrassed voice sounded, the only response she earned from him being a small smile before he gave her a pat on the head, turning to leave.

“Thank you.” She called, making him stop in the doorway.

“Anytime, Y/N/N.” The use of the nickname only made her blush harder.

[shootthemessenger]

baby if you’re not the one for me, who is? [a.m-r.]

ally mayfair-richards x fem!reader

requested: an ally fic where she knows ivy is cheating on her but she’s okay with it because she’s secretly with r (hopefully angst) [ anonymous ]

disclaimer: strong language, sexual nature, infidelity, mentions of blood, angst/violence

maybe this is just me projecting my own deep hate for ivy but whatever

gif belongs to @theneonhomo

Ally clung onto you tightly; her fists gripped at your shirt as her tears wet the fabric around your shoulder. “Babe, just breathe,” Ivy spoke from behind her, standing in the doorway to the kitchen, “You’re going to break the babysitter.”

Ally whimpered from underneath you, pulling herself closer into your chest. “She’s just fine.” You argued, your arm snaking around the woman’s waist so you could hold her closer to you.

Ivy scoffed and ignored you as she continued speaking, “Ally there was no clown. I already talked to the officer who was in the park. You need to calm down.” She crossed her legs at the ankle, leaning into the doorframe as her arms crossed over her chest.

Ally, once again, didn’t respond and pulled you closer to her, pressing her ear against your chest to listen to the sound of your heart beating over her wife’s frustration.

“She’s only acting like this because she hasn’t taken her medicine!” Ivy spoke up again, the frustration building and evident on her face.

You narrowed your eyes at her, “Well yelling at her isn’t going to help!” You soothed Ally’s back with your palm, free hand linking your pinky to hers between you. “Ally, tell me what happened?” You whispered to her.

She glanced up at you, mascara painting her face and eyes red and swollen. She fixed her grip on your shirt before leaning back into you. “They were there!” She exclaimed shakily.

“He pulled a knife out, I could have been killed Ivy!” She whimpered loudly into your chest. You could see Ivy moving closer out of the corner of your eye and squared your arms around Ivy.

When Ivy’s hand pressed against Ally’s back, Ally flinched and shuffled away with her eyes closed tightly. Ivy scoffed once again, “I see what’s going on here.” Her stare tightened, she was shooting daggers at you with her eyes.

“You’re fucking her!” Ivy exclaimed loudly, glancing between the two of you with anger in her eyes.

“And so what if I am?” Ally hissed into your chest, turning her head to look at the blonde-haired woman behind her, “You’re fucking winter so what’s the difference?” Ivy’s face dropped quickly.

Ivy stuttered for a moment, looking for something to say back to the woman. Nothing coherent came out, her cold stare holding strong against Ally’s.

“You seriously thing that-...” she huffed, her sentence trailing off as if she couldn’t believe what her wife was saying.

Ally turned her body fully and leapt to her feet, “Cut the bullshit Ivy, you think that cameras are gonna catch what happened with her and I in the bathroom but not you two in the kitchen, or the hallway, or even our bedroom for fucks sake!” She was nearly seething as she lunged forward and swiped a vase off the counter, the anger that had built up inside of her was finally being released.

You flinched as the glass shattered against the floor, shards flying around the room.

Ivy didn’t speak up which only gave Ally means to continue, “Maybe I just wanted someone to love me the way you weren’t! Maybe I was sick and tired of being the victim around here and I wanted to be in charge of something!”

Ivy moved closer, hands balled at her sides as if she was having trouble containing her anger. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” You warned, standing up quickly despite Ally reaching to hold your arm. Ivy glanced between the two of you once more and took a few steps back.

Ivy rolled her eyes, “you think you can just come into MY house and fuck MY wife and get away with it?” She stepped closer with her face bursting an angry red color.

Ally raised her hand as it dripped blood, a large shard of glass held tightly between her fist. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

It was silent for a moment, you standing your ground with Ally on the floor in front of you and Ivy backed into the doorway of the kitchen. “Leave!” Ally screamed at the top of her lungs.

Ivy let out an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes, “whatever.” She turned on her heel and shuffled out of the room, everything was still as you listened to the door click closed.

When you were both sure she was gone, two deep sighs could be heard echoing through the livingroom. Ally turned to you, tears burning her eyes and nearly collapsed into your arms, pressing a kiss to the skin of your shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” She cried, holding tightly onto you. “It’s okay, Al.” You mumbled, tracing shapes on the small of her back. She pulled herself into you, looking up so that her soft brown eyes locked with yours.

Her pupils dilated, causing you to laugh softly. “I’m sorry you had to see all that.” She pressed a kiss to the bridge of your nose. “Sweet girl.” She mumbled.

You laughed softly before leaning forward to connect your lips, her fingers moved to cup your cheek softly as she let out a sigh through her nose. Her lips worked softly against yours, expertly delving into your mouth to her own pleasure.

She pulled away slowly, her eyelids closed and relaxed. She pulled you closer to her and pressed a last peck.

You hummed, taking her hand in yours gently, “Let’s get you cleaned up, darling.”

Taglist: @mssallymckenna , @proudnlittle , @coxmicbabygirl , @sapphicpaulsxn , @its-soph-xx , @fand0m-obsess3d-g33k , @paulsonix , @madamevirgo , @saucy-sapphic , @kikaykimkim , @billiedeansbottom

[unbreathable]

The magpie  ❃ B.Barnes

Summary : As the princess of a prosperous kingdom, you lived a life of luxury and happines. But when war is brought upon you homeland and you find yourself at the mercy of the enemy... just how far would you go to stay alive?

Pairing : Dark King Bucky x Female!Reader

Before you read, please understand that this is intended to be a dark fic. There will be noncon elements, violence, manipulation, lying, blood, gore, death and so much more. If you find any of these disturbing, please click away. 18+ only.

Warnings for this chapter : violence, swearing, rape.

Word count : 2.189

Credit : for the magpie image and the Bucky Burnes gif the credit goes to their rightful creator.

Note : Not me wanting to post something and then remembering I still have exams so yeah... Please take this chapter as a filler. I know it’s a little (ok, a lot) boring but after this, the actual story starts. Please bear with me, ‘cause I still don’t know what I’m doing but I’m trying. I also didn’t have the time to perfect it, sorry. But on the bright side, next week I’ll have a short break, so the next chapter would be better... hopefully. Also I should mention that English is not my first language so please excuse any typos you may encounter.

Thank you! I’m so happy. Really. I did not expect that first chapter to be so well received. Thank you! It means the world to me. I love you all!

 Also, to all the writers from this platform (especially the dark!fic ones) thank you !

❃ ❃

The darkness that surrounded you was terrifying. It was cold and hot at the same time. It also felt constrincting. There was something heavy on your chest that stoped you from getting that deep breath of air you desperately needed.

You woke up with a gasp. For a moment you felt like you were emerging from bottomless waters. It seemed that the world itself was submerged.You blinked, vision coming in and out of focus. Your whole body ached. It was an unfamiliar sensation, one that you were already dreading. You tried to move your hand, but found it way too hard to do it, and that simple move sent a wave of pain through your whole body. You groaned.

As you blinked one more time, your vision started getting dim around the edges. You felt like there was too much happening around you. There were lound sounds, graoning, screaming but there was also hushed ones, voices that were too shaky to even make one coherent sound. You felt confused. There was a numbing sensation that took over your whole body. It also came with a slight ringing in your ear. Someone was speaking to you, but you couldn’t even look at them, let alone make out a single word they were saying. Everything was either too loud or too quit. You wanted it to stop.

”It’s allright, child. Take a deep breath.”

Somehow, through all the fog that clouded your mind you understood the gentle comand. The buzz of the crowd started to register and as you fought the dizzness and nausea, your senses started to come to you. The first thing you took notice of, was the ruptere of moonstone yellow that illuminated the bat black sky. The second thing was the groaning and laughing of men and the cries of women. You tried to move you head but it made you too dizzy.

A hand rested on your head. You flinched. Even as familiar and gentle as it seemed you couldn’t help it. Your vision was still blurry, but you tried with all your might to focus it.

“Shh!” the old woman whose hand caressed your head, spoke in quiet voice. ”Don’t say a word.”

You furrowed your brows. You were sure you knew her, but the throbbing in your head didn’t let you remember every detail. Even so you felt like you could trust her, you felt somehow safe around her. You felt the same way one would feel around his mother.

Your eyes widened suddenly and your whle body lunged forward on it’s own accord. Your mother, the queen, the war, the king, the invaders. It all came back at once. A nauseating wave took over and you started to throw up. There was a hand at the back of your head, helping you mentain your equilibrium. You grimanced as you felt the bitter acid taste in your mouth and the burning sensation left in the back of your troath.

”Easy there child!”

You weren’t exactly paying attention to whoever was speaking, instead your still blurry eyes took in your surroundings. You were inside the citadel, you could tell that much. The light given by the torches was enough to see the ground that was polished with guts. A vile smell rose up from it. You wrinkled your nose in disgust. Moving you head a little, your breath caught in your throat. Hang all around the walls of the citadel, were heads of men that you knew. Of men that fought bravely to protect their homes and families. You felt sick. And as your eyes fell on the hanged head of Sir Gregor, you felt your heart stopping. If you could you would have screamed, but you were too numb all of a sudden.

A movement caught your eyes. Blinking the blurriness away and ignoring the ache you felt, you turned your face towards the foreign men. It was then, you realized the situation you were currently in.

Lined along the citadels walls were all the girls that were so unfortunate to be caught alive. Some of them were bound, while others were too terrified to move even one single finger. You watched them, even recognized some. Young, beautiful girls laidies and maids alike. At least, some people you knew were alive. You felt a little bit of hope making it’s way in your heart, only to disappear the next second.

Barbaric men were circling the girls like a wolf would his prey. Their hungry eyes were taking in their young bodies as if they were starved. You recoiled when you saw their hand touching their lower body parts through the clothes they were wearing. As a loud scream made itself herd, you averted your eyes.

A little too late though. You already saw that man tearing the top of one girl’s dress. You already saw her scared face as she made to cover herself. You already saw her being thrown to the ground, and her dress torn. You already saw the outline of one’s erect cock entering her without a second thought. And she wasn’t the only one. The screams were horrendous.

You moved back, pressing yourself against the cold wall of the castle, a sharp stone diging into your side. You were petrified. Your breath was too fast and too hallow. You felt like you could faint.

Strong, gentle hands squeezed your shoulders.

“Take a deep breath, princess!” the gentle and quiet voice made itself herd again.

You whimpered as you turned your eyes to the woman in front of you, without really seeing her. She mimicked your breathing till you understood and slowed down with her. Her hand took yours and she offered a sad smile.

”How did I get here?” you suddenly found your voice.

The woman you now recognized as lady Alice, looked away for a moment. She have been the wife of a lord, you remembered. She also have been there the day you were born, the day you painted your first portrait and the day you first learde how to dance. You remembered her as the one that teached you embroidery. A kind and beautiful lady. She was also the one that always stood next to your mother and supported her.

”I’m not sure.” she said as she looked around with teary eyes . ”If I were to guess I’d say you were lucky”

Confusion still filled your mind. But you remembered the way that man rised his fist. You didn’t remember him hitting you but the pain in your body was enough to tell you everything. You never felt anything like it. In a way you were indignated. You were a princess. No one had the right to put his hands like that on you. But as the girls screams started growing louder and louder, you realized that maybe you were indeed lucky.

You wanted to laugh. If this was what luck looked like, you didn’t want to know what no luck was like.

”They found other girls running in the tunnels, so they didn’t think twice about you.”

Something clicked. Now you understood why they didn’t ake an assumption of you coming out of that tunnel. You understood why you were here right now. They didn’ t think you were nothing else but a maid. But that didn’t explain who stopped that brute from killing you with his bare fist. At the reminder of what that man did to you and at your own helpness you trembled. Your head felt fuzzy and you felt like trowing up again. It was too much. You wanted it to stop.

And suddenly it did. All the buzzing, all the mocking laughter, all the grunts of the disgusting man, everything stopped. Only the cries and hiccups of the girls remained. But even those were silenced as one of the savages, annoyed by the cries, smashed a poor girl’s head on the cold ground.

“Shut it, you whore!”

You felt anger taking over you. Oh, how much you wanted the tides to be different. Your father would have head his head, and you would have had the pleasure to watch as his qrotesque face would have asked for mercy. You would have watched as his head fell beside his body. At the image you felt an odd satisfaction. Then you recoiled. What were you even thinking? You never thought about hurting a fly and now you felt strangely euphoric as you imagined someone’s death.

”Try to stay calm” the old lady spoke again, as her eyes were fixated on the main gate of the castle.

As it opened, all the thugs that were literally enjoying themselves not moments ago, kneeled. You raised your brows. The man that brought all of this upon you emerged from inside the castle.

Your castle. Your home. Your safeplace.

You felt again, the now familiar, sentiment of anger. Oh, how you wanted to wipe that mocking smirk from his face. You made to move forward, anger fueling your body and clouding your mind. But you had no power and as aching as your body was, you realized you’d have no chance. So when a hand tugged you back, you were actually thankful.

Cradled into lady Alice’s arms, you watched the king making his glory march. Seeing him so confident and being worshipped by his men made you realize that everything was over. That was it. Everything you knew was bound to change, and what made you want to cry was the fact that you could do nothing about it.

”It was a long fight… ” lost in your thoughts you nearly jumped when you heard the deep loud voice. ”One that could have been avoided if your old crazy king would just have accepted  that it was his time to go”

At the mention of your father you squeezed your eyes shut. How could this man even talk about the king of the most flourishing kingdom in that manner? How could this man even pretend that he would be better? You wanted to scratch his eyes out.  You wanted to see him bleed. You wanted …

”Do you want to know the fate of your precious king? Do you want to know what happened to the one you followed so blindly?” he jeered.

As he moved to one side , your eyes followed him. You saw him grabbing a sack and as he placed on the ground, you squinted your eyes to see whatever was inside. But as he took it out, you wished you had never been born. Your fathers head was held high in the air, by the one that killed him. You gasped for air. And as the men cheered you threw up for the second time. Tears were running down you cheeks, and you wanted to rip everything apart.

”Look at your king!” he laughed again like a maniac. It was a cruel, cruel laugh, one that you were sure would fallow you in your nightmares.

You trembled, and as king James threw the head away without a care, lady Alice’s hand covered your eyes. She whispered words of comfort in your ear but you were lost. Your hands found the ground beneath and you started clawing at it. You didn’t know what to do. You felt nothing and everything at the same time.

There were cheers from every men that was there and a mockery of laughter. You wanted to scream. To take a sword and put it through that man’s black heart. You almost wished you never woke up from that beating. This was unberable. The tears runned dry on your face. And as you let your head rest against the rocky wall, you hoped that this all was nothing but a nightmare. Maybe you were still there, at the back of the castle left for the wild animals to feed on. At that moment you preferred that. You would actually have been thankful for that. But you knew. The throbbing in your head and the pain your body was in, told you that you were very much alive.

”My men, you fought hard, and you deserve to celebrate!” you heard the dreaded voice again, but at this point you weren’t sure if it even stopped. ”So let us begin!”

There were cheers again, but they were merged with screams and cries. You somehow knew what that kind of celebration meant. The girls were dragged to their doom. Some of them were already sporting nasty bruises along their faces, but the savage men didn’t seem to mind as long they rutted into a young body. You turned your head towards lady Alice and her from her face expression you knew she had the same thoughts as you.

“Go princess!” her voice was nothing more but a whisper but somehow you heard it.

You made to stand up, hoping that in all that madness you would, by a miracle, go unnoticed. You had to get away, you knew that much. You had a promise to keep. Trying to mantain your equilibrium you made a step. But that was it, you didn’t get to take another. There was a hand on your throat and you felt yourself held up against the cold war. You coughed. Laidy’s Alice screams were cut short by the sword that turned her head to the side. You watched her hit the ground and when you felt you were running out of air, you meet the cold blue eyes of your captor. The same bastard that hit you, now was toying with your life for the second time.

”Hello, little bird!” you opened your mouth, wishing that you could tell every little thing you thought about the blond in that moment, but when the only thing you did was gasp for air, he continued. ”You know, you’re lucky you’re pretty or otherwise I would have made an example out of you” he laughed.

You started to feel dizzy and your vision was starting to blur again. You brought your hand up to his hoping to take a little of the pressure but he didn’t bulge.

”Now now” he tutted. “I do hope you’ll be a good girl” he tightened his grip as you fought for your last breath. ”You know, he wants the best, and you’re a true beauty even with that bruise I left on your face.” with his other hand he touched your cheek,dragging his fingers across your skin. ”Hell, I would have kept your for myself.”

When he finally lossened his hold you found yourself on the ground gasping for air. There was a burning sensation in your whole body and you felt like your heart was beating in your head. You bit your lip. And when the blond brought you to your feet by your hair, you held back a whimper .

”Aww, don’t be like that.” He smirked. ”You’re gonna get the chance to touch a king, you should feel honored.”

[sergeantsporks]

Do You Want the Knife You Left in My Back, or Can I Keep It?

Rating: Teen and up, Gen

An injured Hunter wanders into Hexside. What was Luz supposed to do, just let him bleed out on the floor?

Ch 3/5: Fevered Dreams

Ch 1, Ch 2

Ao3

Eda stalked through the living room, glancing at her unwanted guest as she passed the couch. He’d fallen asleep on his stomach, his face turned to the side. She had to admit, he was pretty cute when he wasn’t being an annoying brat. He looked so… vulnerable. And small, wow, he was small. He inhaled and exhaled in little puffs, his brow furrowed like he was busy chasing down wild witches in his dreams.

Eda shook herself. “Whoa, there, owl lady,” she told herself, “He’s Belos’ stooge. You are absolutely not allowed to like him in the slightest. Nope. That’s Luz’s little pity project. He’d arrest you in a second.”

She caught King as he attempted to make a flying leap onto Hunter’s back. “Nu-uh, what do you think you’re doing?”

“He called me a rat. Therefore, he is now my personal heated beanbag. Lemme go.”

“King, you can’t jump on top of him, you’ll hurt him.”

“Yeah? Why do you care all of a sudden, Miss I’m-going-to-tackle-him-to-the-ground?”

Eda set King on the ground. “The sooner he heals, the sooner he’s out of here. Besides, I think the kid’s been through enough. Leave him be.”

“I think you’re going soft.”

“I am not! Shoo! Go find someone else to bother!”

King scrambled off, and Eda shook her head, glancing down at Hunter. He’d started to shiver, and she shook her head, tracking down a blanket and draping it over him. King was right. She was going soft.

Xxx

Luz made shushing noises at Gus and Willow as they approached the owl house. “You gotta be quiet, Viney said he needs to rest!”

“You have the Golden Guard in your house!” Willow yelped, “I am not going to be quiet!”

Luz pushed the door open. “Okay, okay.”

Gus and Willow stampeded in. “Awwww, he’s asleep!” Willow murmured.

“’Bout time,” Luz grumbled, “I was starting to wonder if he even ever slept without getting knocked out.”

Gus poked Hunter’s face. “Whoa. I still can’t believe you’ve got the golden guard sleeping on your couch.”

“Hey, don’t poke him, you might wake him up!” Luz looked down at Hunter. Something… wasn’t right, here. His breaths were coming in short pants, and his face was flushed, despite the fact that he was shivering under a blanket. She felt his forehead, and winced. “EEEEEEDAAAAAAA!” she called, pounding up the stairs. She should have known that something was off by the fact that he hadn’t woken up—he didn’t exactly seem like the type who’d be a sound sleeper.

“He’s your pet, you clean up his messes,” Eda responded from where she was rearranging the bedding in her nest, “You promised he’d be your responsibility.”

Luz grabbed her arm. “I know, I know, I know I promised, but he’s sick, Eda!”

“Sick? What do you mean, like a mold?”

“I don’t know, he’s got a really bad fever, and he didn’t wake up when Gus poked him—” Luz felt tears spring to her eyes. “Did I do something wrong? Does he have medicine he’s supposed to take or he gets sick?”

Eda sighed and clambered out of her nest. “Alright, alright, I’ll go check on your pet project. Don’t panic.”

They traipsed down the stairs, and Eda glanced down at Hunter. “Boy, he really does never relax, huh? Even when he’s asleep. Alright, what do we have here?” Fever, not waking up—I think he’s just sick, Luz, everyone gets sick. Just keep him warm, keep him hydrated, there’s not much else you can do but wait it out.”

“But Eda, he got stabbed!”

“Hmmm, you’re right, could be an infection. You should probably call up your healer friend to check, then.”

Luz raced towards the door. “Going! Gus, Willow, you coming?”

They nodded and followed her, but when Luz opened the door… something was wrong with Hooty. He was looking off into the distance, eyes glazed over, and he didn’t even notice them.

“Hooty? Hooty!”

Kikimora stepped out. “Hand over the Golden Guard, and no one needs to get hurt.”

Luz whipped out a set of glyphs. “I’m never going to give him to you. Put Hooty back to normal!”

“Well, as normal as he gets,” Willow amended.

“I won’t ask again. The Golden Guard belongs at his coven. And you are keeping him prisoner. Emperor Belos will not let you go twice, especially not after you kidnapped one of his own. Release him to me.”

“I’m not keeping him prisoner, I’m keeping him safe! From you!”

“What could he have to fear from me? I’m his coven-member.”

“Fat chance. I know you tried to kill him, twice.” Luz slammed an ice glyph down on the ground, and a spike shot out, stopping just inches from Kikimora’s face. “Leave. Now.”

Kikimora glanced at the spike, unflinching. “I will be back. And I can get past your house demon, remember that. It’s only a matter of time before the Golden Guard is mine.”

“I said, leave!”

“Very well. Tell me one thing, though; is the guard well?”

Luz froze. She knew, didn’t she? Hunter had said he’d seen a projection of her—maybe she should have taken him a little bit more seriously.

Kikimora snickered and turned to go. “I’ll be waiting out here for you and your friends, human. Never forget that.”

She disappeared into the trees, and Luz whirled around, storming back inside and slamming the door shut. “She won’t let us get help,” she growled, “She’s going to stand out there, and if she doesn’t get Hunter, the fever will!”

Eda shook her head. “You don’t know that. It’s just a fever, Luz.”

“But he’s hurt, and he’s lost a lot of blood, and I know fevers usually aren’t a big deal, but what if this one is?!”

“Okay, so what are you going to do about it?”

Luz sat down next to Hunter with a whump. “I…” Lil Rascal hopped up on her lap, chirping anxiously. She scratched the palisman’s head. “We need a healer. We just don’t know enough about what’s going on.”

“Yeah, but Kikimora’s out there,” Willow reminded her, “She’s not going to just let us go get one.”

Luz looked down at Hunter. He was still shivering, still sweating, and the heat radiating off of him was strong enough that she could feel it even without touching him. He needed a doctor, or medicine. Now. “Gus, Willow, I know it’s a lot to ask. You don’t know Hunter, and… I can’t expect you to drop everything to help him. And if you say no—”

“We say yes,” Gus interrupted her.

“Even if we don’t know Hunter, you’re still our friend, Luz,” Willow agreed, “We’ll help.”

“Okay. I’m going to go confront Kikimora. I’ll distract her, keep her busy, so you two can go get Viney, or another healer.” Luz turned to Eda. “I’ll be careful, I promise. No unnecessary risks, I won’t lose control, no matter what she says or does. I know I said I’d take care of him by myself, and I know you don’t like him. But… can you please keep an eye on him?”

Eda sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll take care of him.”

Luz set Lil Rascal on her shoulder. “Okay, you guys ready?”

“Ready.”

Luz threw open the door. “That demon is going down.”

Xxx

Eda sat next to Hunter, gently shaking his shoulder. “C’mon, wake up, kid, we need to get you somewhere more defendable than the couch. There’s a crazy demon out there screaming for your head.

His eyes opened just a bit, bright from the fever. “…Lilith? What’re you…”

Eda snorted. “You mistake me for my sister again and I leave you out for Kikimora. C’mon, we’re gonna get you upstairs.” His eyes slid shut again, and she shook him again, ignoring his whine of pain. “Hey, stick with me, here, I don’t know if I can carry you.”

“Dddddon’t wanna,” he mumbled, snuggling further into the couch.

Eda sighed. Oh, she was going to hate herself for this. “Golden Guard,” she snapped, doing her best impression of her sister, “the emperor requires your presence. Now.”

If he’d been a little more coherent, it probably wouldn’t have worked. But as it was, he blearily opened his eyes, grabbing her arm with a hot little hand. “Wait… ’m… coming…”

Eda helped him off of the couch, one of his arms around her shoulder. “Alright. That’s it, here we go.”

“Hnnnnghh…” Hunter whimpered as she half-carried him up the stairs, shivering, his little body burning hot against her.

“Okay, almost there.”

He collapsed with a whine when they got to the top. “Don’t… tell him… I can… I can do it… Just… a…”

Oh, okay. Ouch. That hurt. Eda scooped him up, trying her best to avoid putting pressure on his wound. “Emperor changed his mind, he said you can take a break.”

He clutched her shoulder, huffing. “No, I can—I can—don’t switch me, I can—”

“Hey—whoa, calm down. You’re not getting replaced, Belos just decided that mission actually needed to be done next week, not today, so… you’re good!”

He relaxed. “Wanna… go… bed…”

“Yeah, okay. Okay, kid.” Eda carried him into Luz’s room, setting him down gently on her sleeping roll. He whined again and yelped.

“Ah, right—” Eda turned him over so he wasn’t on his back anymore and draped blankets on top of him. “Sorry, kid.” She peered out the window. She didn’t see any disturbance—hopefully that just meant Luz hadn’t found Kikimora yet, not that Kikimora had already won. “What’s everyone putting up such a fuss about? You’re just some kid, what did you do that made Kikimora so determined to kill you?

He predictably didn’t answer, and Eda sighed, sitting back down next to him. “Belos really did a number on you, didn’t he?”

Hunter squeezed his eyes shut tighter, turning onto his side and curling up into a ball, still panting like a dog.

“Ooo, that can’t be good for your back.” Eda stood up. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

She went back down the stairs towards the kitchen. “Ahh, look at me. Being all… motherly. And to the enemy. Luz really did a number on me, huh?”

Xxx

“Golden guaaaaard. Golden guard, wake up.”

Hunter didn’t want to open his eyes. His head felt like it had been wrapped in cotton, and breathing was hard, and he was just going to lie here forever. Yes. That sounded good.

“Lazy brat.”

Hunter cracked his eyes open just a bit at that. “Hngh?”

A Kikimora illusion appeared in front of him, Luz behind her, wrapped in glowing magical bonds. “I caught your little human friend. Come on out before I burn the owl house down to get to you.”

Hunter struggled to get up, but a wave of dizziness swept over him, and he fell back down. “Hnk—I—”

“Pathetic. Truly. If the emperor could see you right now, I wouldn’t have to worry about him favoring you again. Come find me, or I’ll kill the human and then come for you.”

The image fizzled out, and Hunter’s head thumped back down to the pillow, spinning. He needed to get out of here—Kikimora would kill Luz whether he came or not, but if he could just get the drop on her… yes. This would work. He was a sitting duck here, but if he could get to Kikimora first… He struggled up to his feet, and made it, inch by painful inch, to the window.

“’m coming,” he mumbled, “Jusssst… hang on…”

Xxx

Eda swirled the content of her potion around in its bottle. Painkiller, if she’d done it right. She might not know how exactly to help Hunter, but she could do this, at least. She pushed open the door to Luz’s room, kneeling next to the pile of blankets.

“Hey, Hun—” as she nudged the pile of blankets, she realized that they were too flat. She whirled around to see the open window. “Oh, no. No, no, no!” she checked under the blankets just in case, but her fears were correct.

Hunter was gone.

Xxx

Luz stepped back on the path to the owl house, shaking her head. Willow and Gus had made it safely out, and she hadn’t seen a single sign of Kikimora. Maybe that should make her suspicious, but mostly she was relieved that Gus and Willow would be able to find Viney.

That relief immediately vanished when Eda came swooping down from the sky towards her. “Luuuuuz!”

“Eda?! I thought you were staying at the house with Hunter!”

Eda landed and folded her wings with a whoosh. “I was, but Luz, I left him alone for, like, ten minutes to make a painkiller potion, and when I got back, he was gone!”

Panic swept over Luz. “Gone?! How?! He couldn’t even move when I left!”

“Yeah, I know, and he was pretty solidly out of it when I left him, but when I came back up, the window was open, and I didn’t see him anywhere!”

“He climbed out of a window?!” Luz ran a hand through her hair. “But why would he do that, there’s no…oh. Oh, no!”

“What? What is it?!”

“Hunter had been seeing Kikimora—I never saw her, but she might have been using illusion magic to communicate with him!”

“What could she have possibly said that would get that boy up?! He’s a mess, he couldn’t even make it up the stairs!”

“I don’t know, but we have to find him!”

“Luz, I hate to say it, but you don’t think that he… left to go with her? Back to the coven?”

“No WAY, Eda, he definitely wouldn’t go back with Kikimora—they hate each other. Wherever he is, she’s looking for him, too. We have to find him before she does.”

Ch. 4

[cruisinwritealong]

R/S CandyHearts Challenge

Thank you @goodboylupin​ for this wonderful challenge! I had so much fun thinking this through. I hope you enjoy it! ♥♥♥

Thanks to @starstruck4moony​ and @kattlupin​ for the beta 😘

Remus hauls his backpack strap back up his shoulder with a frustrated groan, tightens his scarf around his neck, and then shoves his mittened hand back into his coat pocket. The bitingly cold wind blows hard and he hunches his shoulders against it. 

AAah-choo!

Shit, he feels like death. His throat is on fire and all his joints ache. His nose is raw and red, his eyes are puffy and heavy, and all he can think about is the warm blankets draped over his comfy sofa that he crawled out of this morning to trudge across the freezing campus to this fucking final. 

Last. One. 

He just has to get through this exam. One last final exam and then he’s free to sleep for the rest of his life...or until next term but still. If he was feeling well he’d be all but skipping to class. He knows this material backward and forwards. But his head is swimming and he keeps on snee- sneez-

Ah-CHOO! 

Uuuuugh.

He just has to get there, regurgitate it onto the page, hand it in, and then he can go home. He can do this. 

The snow crunches under his boots as he trudges along, forcing his feet to move one in front of the other towards his building. He’s probably sick enough to call in, but this test is with Professor McGonnagal and she only accepts death as an excuse to miss her class so she’ll definitely fail his exam if he doesn’t show and then he’ll fail the class and he could lose his scholarship and have to drop out. Then he’ll never get a job and end up on the streets and then people will look at him with pity in their eyes and hopefully toss him a coin and—oh, the coffee shop. 

Tea.

Fuck yes. A huge ass cup of tea will get him through this. That’s exactly what he needs...aaaaand if he gets the chance to see Sirius Black real quick well, that’s always good medicine—even if he doesn’t know that Remus exists. 

Sirius Black has only said six words to Remus in his whole life—“Would you like a honey bun?” And Remus had stared at him for an alarmingly long time just thinking to himself, “As long as it’s you,” but then Sirius looked confused and all Remus’ blood rushed to his face and he only mumbled a quick no thank you, grabbed his tea, and ran. Sigh. 

That was exactly 5 weeks and 3 days ago, not that Remus is counting. Or going to the coffee shop on the daily to see if he’s working. Or ordering a honey bun almost every time. Or dreaming about calling Sirius his honey bun or—

Cough Cough COUGH

Ouch. 

On second thought, maybe a coughing, snotting, feverish mess isn’t his best look. But fuck it’s freezing and he needs that tea. What time is it? Yes, he’s got plenty of time to duck in, warm-up, and make it to class. 

As soon as he’s inside the shop he pulls off his mittens, loosens his scarf, and unzips his coat a bit, all while stomping the snow off his boots before walking further in. The heat from the cozy little coffee shop defrosts his bones and hugs his aching muscles and it feels so nice that Remus moans out loud before he can stop himself. He hears a throat clearing from behind him.

Shit.

“Come on in, I got the heater cranked nice and toasty just for you.”

When he looks up, none other than Sirius Black himself is standing there in all his glorious perfection. How he can even make a barista apron look sexy is beyond Remus’ comprehension and really, really unfair.

Everything about Sirius Black is simply gorgeous. Every inch of him, down to the last detail just does it for Remus. The wisps of hair that fall around his temples, the silky look of his longer raven hair, the piercing, unique silver-blue of his eyes outlined by the curving, eloquent lashes. Remus could and has written poems and pages about just his face. Not to mention his sharp, stubbled jawline and pouty rose colored lips. And then there’s the strong, wide shoulders and strong, toned arms, and long fucking legs and that goddamn body and OK Lupin focus! He’s talking to you!!

“Umb, h-hi. It’s really cold.” Remus internally cringes at his horse and stuffy sounding voice and lack of intelligent conversation and when he looks to Sirius’ face he sees his easy smile falter a bit.

“Hey, are you ok? Don’t take this the wrong way please but, you look miserable.”

“Oh. Yeah,” he tries to laugh it off, “I habe a co—a col—AH-CHOO!” He lowers his handkerchief, “A cold. Sorry aboud that. I—”

“Remus, you should be home in bed. What are you doing out?”

“Well I juss needed some tea before my final. Trust me, I’d much radder be in bed—wait. You know my nabe? How do you know my nabe?”

“Oh, um,” Sirius’ laugh sounds forced and almost embarrassed. He scratches the back of his neck. “The red head you come in with sometimes is sort of hating, sort of dating my best friend. So...I um, I asked her who her cute friend was.” He swallows hard.

Remus has forgotten how to have a coherent thought and just stands there in silence with his jaw dropped open a bit. He blinks. 

“Buuut I’ll just get you that tea,” Sirius spins away on his heel, completely misinterpreting Remus’ silence. “Still on a cinnamon kick? I can make you your usual. Or I could make you something herbal with some ginger. I hear that helps with a cold. But I’m sure you know what’s best.” Sirius talks rapidly as he walks behind the counter and fusses with the equipment. 

Remus realizes Sirius is trying to fill the silence and quickly move on from what he just said. Because Remus is still gaping at him with his mouth open and still hasn’t said anything because motherFucker he thinks I’m cute! Cute. I’m cute. Cute friend? Oh, that’s me. Nice to meet you.

All he’s ever said to me is “honey bun” and now he knows my fucking name and I’m the cute friend and am I awake? Maybe I’m still on the sofa at home? I must be asleep because he knows my fucking name. He said… shit breathe. I have to breathe. I have to breathe and I have to talk!

“Honey bund,” blurts out of Remus’ stupid, traitorous mouth. Fucking hell.

Sirius stops the frantic tea making and lifts an eyebrow in confusion, “Honey bun?”

“I mean... I didn’t dow you dew my namb. And you asked me if I wanted a honey bund. Before. When I came in before, but that’s it.” Remus scrunches his face and tries again. “Sorry, I took bedication and I think it’s eating my brain. You said …I’m cute?”

A smile unfolds on Sirius’ face and it is like sun rays breaking through the clouds. It is breathtaking and Remus can only stand there and bask in him. Without conscious thought the corner of Remus’ mouth pulls up a bit too.

“You’re sweeter than a honey bun. And very cute.” 

“I...No that’s...You—Ah-Choo!”

“You’re also pretty sick. And as much as I want you to stay, I’m thinking you should probably be resting, yeah?”

“You’re sweet doo.” Remus smiles. “Um. I have to go take this stupid test and then sleep for a few days but...um, could we maybe, um—”

“Yes.”

They both laugh and smile at each other.

“I’d love to go out with you Remus. As soon as you feel up to it of course.”

“I’d really like that Sirius. May I habe—hab—Ah-Choo!”

Sirius frowns in sympathy. “Well I hope you can rest really soon. Here. It’s not actually tea, just um, just hot water with some cloves, lemon and ginger because my friend swears by this when she’s sick. I hope you like it. I can make something else, I just thought—”

Remus reaches out to take the cup but when his fingers wrap around the cup and Sirius’ fingers, he doesn’t let go. “This is perfect. Thank you.” 

“Good. ...Good.”

After a moment Remus lets their fingers slide apart and wraps both his hands around the steaming cup. Now he’s warm for more than one reason.

“Oh,” Sirius says, “I um, I wrote my number on the cup. You can call me if you need more tea or anything. Soup even. Or a date. Whatever you need.”

Remus laughs. “Sounds good...I’b glad I stopped in.”

“Me too.”

“See you soon Siri—Siri—Ah-Choo! Uugh.” He does his best to smile back at Sirius while he bundles up again. “Bye Sirius.”

“Feel better, Remus.” 

Sirius’ sweet caring face consumes his mind as he walks to his building, somehow not as cold as he was before. When he enters the classroom he nods hello to Lily and she waves him over to his saved seat. When he reaches his desk he sets down his tea, pulls off his mittens, scarf, and coat. Lily begins giggling to herself and Remus is very confused.

“What?” he asks her quietly. All she does is rotate his cup around so he can see the writing on the side and gives him a very knowing look.

438-9713

Feel better soon Honey Bun 

xo SB

[love-toxin]

may challenge; natsuo.

a/n: may challenge day 8. drinking/drunk natsuo, tw: vomiting, obsessiveness, med student!darling. 

word count: 1.1k

From the first moment Natsuo saw you, he knew you were an angel walking the earth. 

Even though the first moment he saw you, he was hunched over the toilet of a bathroom he didn’t recognize, puking his guts out while music blared from the other side of the wall, and he listened to the muffled sounds of dozens of people drinking and shouting and dancing in a raucous crowd. One too many frat parties had led to ten too many drinks, and with his quirk in effect he already couldn’t stomach too much alcohol--so in essence it felt like his guts were turning themselves inside out, until you appeared by his side and laid a gentle, heavenly hand upon his arm. 

“Are you okay, Natsuo?”

He liked to think of himself as being well put-together most of the time, but at that moment he knew he must have looked like a completely sloppy mess. You told him your name, though he struggled to remember who you were, until he realized in his liquor-addled brain he had never spoken to you before this unfortunate incident--you treated him like a friend, though, and raised a bottle of water you had carried in to offer him a drink. And take it he did, plucking it carefully from your hand and gulping down as much as he could, before taking a deep breath and finally feeling his stomach begin to settle. 

“I’m in your biochem class, but I don’t think we’ve been introduced...one of your roommates asked me to take you back to your dorm. Do you think you’re okay to walk, or are you still gonna be sick?”

He couldn’t really be sure of anything at the moment, but he knew two things for certain--one was that he was ready to get the hell out of this bathroom, and two was that you would make an amazing doctor. So sweet, your voice so gentle and soft...and you were kind, listening for his answer diligently before slowly helping him to his feet, and steadying him by the arm to lead him out of the brief chaos of the house and finally into the quiet of the street. Luckily for you his residence wasn’t all that far, and the coolness of the night air helped to sober him up a little bit, at least enough for him to be semi-coherent. 

Once the brief walk was behind you, it was just a matter of him fumbling around in his pockets to find his keycard, and climbing up a set of stairs before you pushed the door to his dorm open, and led him over to lay on the couch while you checked the kitchen cabinets for a glass to fill with more water. 

“Have you eaten anything, Natsuo?”

Honestly, he felt bad only grunting in response, being so inebriated he couldn’t gather the strength to even speak--but he heard only a soft chuckle from the kitchen, along with the sounds of you crushing up an aspirin to mix into his drink, hopefully to combat the inevitable headache he would suffer soon. All he could focus on was how incredible you were, and he swore he saw a halo floating over your head as you walked back towards him with a glass in hand, taking the initiative to lift it to his lips and wait for him to drink it all. He half-listened as you asked if he could stomach some toast, and only mumbled as he replied that he just wanted to go to bed for now--and once again he got to feel your hands on his cool skin, hazily grateful that you closed the door behind you as you got him in his room. Though the others were undoubtedly still out partying, he didn’t want any of his roommates walking in while he had some alone time with your beautiful self. 

“So, do you need anything else, Natsuo? I can bring in a wastebasket in case you get sick again-!”

You’d turned away momentarily to flick on the light, but you cut yourself off mid-sentence--no doubt because he’d taken the chance to pull his shirt off over his head, his muscles flexing as he stretched and dropped it carelessly to the ground. Fortunately he was far too drunk to grin at your reaction, knowing you were probably blushing as you stuttered and tried to retrace your steps of what you were saying. 

“Think m’okay, jus’ tired..”

He sighed, turning and taking a seat on his bed, and waiting for the perfect opportunity for the plan he’d half-baked in his head. Who knew when he’d get another chance for you to dote on him like this, for all he knew you might never get the chance to speak again, or you might get a boyfriend and he’d be left behind--and so once you stepped forward to stand in front of him, and give him one more assessment on whether he was really okay, he raised his muscled arms and wrapped them tight around your waist, before turning over to lay down and ignoring your startled shriek as he pulled you down into bed with him.

“N-Natsuo-! What’re you-”

At once it was clear to you that he had no nefarious plans for you--because as soon as you were on the bed beside him, he pulled you close to spoon you, and nuzzled his face into your shoulder before promptly falling asleep. Or, at least he appeared to be sleeping. And after a few moments had passed, you let out the breath you’d been holding and slowly put your hand over his, that rested on your belly...his skin felt cool against your own, but it was oddly refreshing, and you eventually let yourself settle in to the arrangement and relax against his body. 

You didn’t know Natsuo terribly well, only by proxy from his roommate that you were friends with, and from the news about his famous father...but when you’d been asked to come take him home by his equally drunk friend, you certainly weren’t expecting him to be...like this. He seemed gentler than Endeavor, yet still strong and imposing in an impressive way, and you certainly couldn’t deny that he was on the above-average side of the attractiveness scale. 

Besides, he was comfy to lay against, and you had an intuition that he’d be sincerely embarrassed about his actions when he woke up sober...and you were looking forward to that just a little bit, even if only to see him be as flustered as you had been to be his cuddle-buddy for the night.

[fighterkimburgess]

💜 and ⭐️ for the fic ask game 🙂

💜 What is the most heart wrenching passage you've ever written?

This one from Unintentional. I didn't even have to think.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Whatever you want, Kim, you know even without anything else I’m in your corner. Are you…do you know what you’re doing yet?” Even when she was ending things he was still sweet, because that was who Jay was.

“I’m keeping it. I have to tell Voight tomorrow, it’ll be desk duty from then I guess. I don’t know if I’ll be in Intelligence or get moved yet. Hopefully not, but who knows?” She shrugged, standing so she could leave. The tears were going to come unbidden, and she couldn’t do that here. She needed to get out. Needed to cry. Needed to get rid of her emotions so that tomorrow she could pretend that they were just friends, always had been and always would be.

Jay stood as she did, ignoring her motions for him to stay sitting. “Is it weird to give you a hug?” He asked, holding out his good arm and Kim walked straight into it. He’d always given the best hugs, and Kim took the last hug she knew she’d get from Jay Halstead with comfort. At least she could memorise this one as the last one. His lips touched her forehead in a silent goodbye and she nearly broke, nearly screamed the truth at him like her heart was telling her to. That she’s having his baby. Of course it’s his because she loves him and the thoughts of another man touching her the same way he did made her want to get sick. He’d made a joke before that he’d make her forget any other man, and she had.

But she’d seen Vanessa’s face, seen Hailey’s sorrow. She’d heard her best friends words, “of course I love him”. Of course Hailey loved him. How could anyone not love Jay? She’d talked to Jay before, about how he’d fallen for Hailey and she knew she couldn’t compete. It was the right decision in the end. She pulled all the comfort she could from his simple actions before letting go.

⭐ What part about writing do you struggle with the most?

Trying to make it all sound coherent. I know what I want to write, I can have a million and two moments that I want in it, but actually making it flow is tough. It's getting easier for sure, but still tough!

[catgirls4misa]

g!p mina x trans boyfriend

a/n: i’m sorry for the long wait with this (＞﹏＜) this draft ended up magically disappearing earlier in the week and it was tough for me to find time to rewrite it with all the schoolwork i had! nonetheless, i hope you enjoy this (.❛ ᴗ ❛.) thank you for the request <3

you and mina have been together for a couple of months now, and your relationship was everything you could have asked for and more. one of the best parts is that she’s incredibly supportive and understanding of your transition, and even though that’s the least someone could do, it still means a lot.

you’ve had a couple of experiences with potential partners that have still leave a bad taste in your mouth, but the love mina showers you in manages to make all of that go away. being with mina is like a dream come true... but if there is something you had to change it would be your sex life, or in this case the lack of it.

you get it, you really do. mina wants to be respectful of you and your boundaries and you guys have never really talked about having sex, but you have needs and you know that she does as well. which is why hopefully tonight the two of you can take your relationship to the next level.

“i thought the movie could have been better, i’m kind of sick of cgi, do you know what i mean?” mina rambles from the kitchen, the faint sounds of glasses clinking as she looks through the cupboards.

“yeah totally,” you say absent-mindedly as you watch your girlfriend come into the living room with two glasses of wine, one of which you gratefully accept as she sits to the right of you to cuddle up with you on the couch.

“and i’m a little iffy on the ending, i’m not sure how to feel about it.” mina continues, taking a sip from her glass, and immediately you follow suit, taking a sip of your own as well.

“it was still fun though, i like going to the movies with you,” you hum.

mina rolls her eyes at you playfully, “you just like going because you like to hold hands and makeout.”

“true, true,” you admit shamelessly, causing mina to let out a small laugh.

“you don’t have to take me to the movies to do that though, we can do that here for free.” mina says, looking up at you with hooded eyes, prompting butterflies to erupt in your stomach.

“oh?” you manage to croak out dumbly.

“mhm,” mina hums in confirmation as she takes the glass from your hand and places both yours and hers on the coffee table, turning back to you when she’s back in her original position.

you blink at her a couple of times before you’re able to form a coherent sentence, “is this the part when we hold hands and make out?”

“if you want it to be, yes,” she replies, intertwining her left hand with your right one as she leans towards you and places her right hand on your chest.

instead of offering her a proper response, all you do is lean in and place your lips on hers. and almost immediately mina responds the hand on your chest snaking up to the back of your neck to bring you closer.

the two of you continue to exchange heated kisses until you bite down slightly on mina’s lower lip, causing her to let out a moan. shifting your body to get a better angle, you begin to direct your kisses down to mina’s neck, biting down tenderly on her pulse point.

mina throws her head back, letting you continue your assault, “m-maybe we should slow down?” she asks.

you pull away to look her in the eyes, “if that’s what you want, we don’t have to go any further if you’re not comfortable.”

“it’s not that, i definitely like where this is headed, i just don’t want you to feel pressured like we have to do this.” mina replies, looking at you with all the adoration in the world.

“i-i really want to go all the way with you mina,” you say, cheeks bright red.

mina smiles softly at you, pressing a short but sweet kiss to your lips, “i want to go all the way with you too y/n.” she mumbles on your lips, “but maybe we should go to the bedroom for this.”

your heart thumps loudly in your chest, “okay” you exhale shakily as you follow mina to her room. she leads you to her bed and the two of you sit next to each other, mina’s hand still holding onto yours.

“are you sure about this?” she asks softly, searching your face for any signs of discomfort. you nod eagerly, causing her to laugh under her breath, “okay then,” she murmurs before laying you down.

pulling away from you, mina begins to undress, starting with her shirt then following with her pants, leaving her only in her bra and boxers. you stare at her body for a moment before removing your clothes in the same order. mina smiles at you lovingly before moving in closer to plant a kiss on your lips.

she continues her kisses downward, stopping at your chest to gingerly kiss your scars before moving lower to your stomach, only stopping her descent when she meets the elastic band of your underwear.

“is this okay?” she asks.

“more than okay,” you provide, and she kisses at your hipbone before pulling your underwear off.

mina pulls away to take off her own underwear, and heat rushes to your face at the sight of her length. settling in between your parted legs, mina comes close to you, pressing her forehead to yours, and a shiver runs up your spine at the feeling of her member against your center.

“are you sure you want to do this?” mina asks once more.

“i’m more than sure.”

placing her hands on your hips to keep you steady, mina starts to slowly slide into you, searching your face for any signs of pain or discomfort. and a few moments later, mina manages to bury herself to the hilt, both of you gasping at the feeling.

“y-you can move,” you stutter out.

planting a kiss on your lips, mina starts to move her hips, the feeling of her so deep inside of you sending shocks up your spine.

“you feel so good,” mina mumbles, her eyes closed in concentration.

picking up her pace, she starts to thrust into you quickly, each thrust managing to draw a noise from your lips. hands shooting up to grip onto mina’s biceps, you let out a particularly loud moan when she shifts slightly to reach a certain spot you didn’t even know existed.

lifting up your leg, mina presses deeper into you, making sure to thrust repeatedly into the spot that drew such a reaction from you.

you let out a sharp gasp, “i- i think i’m close, mina.”

“me too,” she groans out, “cum for me, baby boy.”

her words combined with her relentless thrusts sends you over the edge. your body tenses up as a wave of pleasure washes over you, your own orgasm managing to send mina into her own as her hips begin to stutter and she releases her load.

mina presses herself against you while the two of you ride out your highs, both of you gasping for air. lowering your leg, mina gingerly lays on top of you, resting her head on your chest as you both calm down.

turning down to look at your girlfriend, you nudge her slightly to get her attention, “i love you,” you say drowsily.

mina lets out a breathless laugh at your current state before replying, “i love you too.”

[bundleofyarrow]

Chapter 8 - Motostoke is here!

it took me a while but finally chapter 8 is finished! so much happens, and hopefully there’s enough surprise in there for you all <3 you finally arrive in Motostoke and there’s barely enough time to make it to the opening ceremony! here is the link to read it on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29087343/chapters/71401200 but you can also read it below the cut! would absolutely love any and all feedback <3

Motostoke

The entrance to Motostoke was a grand, brick-lined staircase, like a bridge into a fortress. It’s intimidating. Coming closer to the steps, you realize how this feels like a gate to the rest of Galar, and you’ve been contained to a little tiny pocket this entire time. Your thumbs graze the straps of your bag hanging from your shoulders as you contemplate this. Things are going to get more serious from now on, aren’t they?

A chill runs up your arms, the cool morning air brushing past you. The sun hasn’t yet peeked over the cliffs of the Wild Area, casting sleepy shadows across the field.

“We’ve made it!”

Milo clearly is used to being awake right at dawn, and has gently ushered you from your sleeping bag while it was still dark and along the walls until you reached the stairs of Motostoke. Most of your Pokemon were too sleepy to do the walk, only Wooloo, Milo’s Pokemon, and the wild Pancham followed along with you. Wooloo refused to not walk pressed up against your legs, and not being particularly agile this early in the morning, tripped you at a pretty consistent rate. Instead of saying something to the Wooloo, Milo instead opted for you to hang onto his arm.

But here you are, literally steps away from civilization. You take out your phone to text Leon that you arrived, and he quickly replies that he’s getting Charizard to come retrieve you.

Your mind was preoccupied wishing for a warm shower when you hear some shuffling behind you. Turning, you see Pancham kicking her feet a bit. Wooloo turns with you, and decides to sleepily trot over to her. You crouch down in front of her, not feeling particularly coherent, but knowing you should say something.

“It was so sweet of you to join us for some camping. Did you enjoy yourself?” You offer you hand, and she brushes her check against it, nodding. “I can tell you made friends with my Pokemon, right Wooloo?”

Wooloo nuzzles against Pancham, making her eyes glisten. From your periphery, you notice Milo intently watching your exchange, keeping quiet. Reaching to one of your bag pockets, you fish out a Pokeball, and show it to her.

“I won’t force you to come with me, but if you want, you join .” Your eyes still squint in tiredness, but you’re able to muster a genuine smile for Pancham.

The Pokemon takes the device into her paws, staring at it for a bit. She stares across the lake, probably back to where you found her. Wooloo gives an encouraging baaah, nudging Pancham. You gesture to the knob. “Just press that button, but only if you want.”

With a few more moments of contemplation, a bright flash of light envelops Pancham and she enters the Pokeball. There aren’t many more movements, and it clicks into place. You’re quick to let her back out, giving her a hug. “Welcome to the team!”

You stand as Wooloo takes over hugging duties, and Pancham looks happy. You look over to Milo, who has a more serious look on his face than you were expecting. His brow is scrunched and it looks like he is really considering something.

“Everything okay, Milo?”

He jumps a bit, clearly lost in thought. Milo blinks a few times and presses his lips together, like he’s steeling himself for something. You didn’t notice it before, but he was clasping an envelope in his hand. First, he whispers your name, then quickly shakes his head and steps closer to you.

“I know this is sudden but-” You notice he’s turning red. “I have to hurry ‘n meet Nessa for somethin’. I hate rushin’ off like this, but, I could also use a favor.” He offers the envelope, which you assume inside is a letter, to you. “You’re goin’ to the openin’ ceremony, right? If you’re gettin’ there early, can you give this to the person at the front desk?”

You take the letter from him, flipping it over to notice green stamp in the shape of a leaf. “Sure, of course! It’s the least I can do for all the help you’ve given me. I’ll make sure to arrive early.” You pocket it safely. “I guess this is goodbye?”

He gives you a quick nod. “For now, I’m sure we’ll see each other soon!” Milo begins to move backwards towards the stairs, waving. He really seems to want to run off, turning and scaling the steps towards the city, his Pokemon floating around him and making sounds as if they were chiding him. It was much like how it happened over at Route 1, breezing into and out of your life. You wish you were able to get his number, or any other sort of contact. You make a mental note to visit Turffield, once you learn where it is.

Returning your Pokemon to their Pokeballs, you begin to climb the steps. Ambient noise of both the river and the city ease into your senses as you progress upwards. You hear what you come to see are large rotating gears and streams of steam leaking into the sky above. A feeling of excitement rises from your chest as you finally make it to the top, taking in the view of a bustling city. It’s such a contrast to the quiet of Postwick and Wedgehurst and the utter remoteness of the Wild Area. People mill about on the bridge crossing the river and in the distance more dense crowds hustle to their destinations.

The sound of your name breaks your reverie, and in the middle distance you see someone sprinting towards you. You barely have the time to react before Leon nearly crashes into you, pulling you into a big bear hug. Shocked, you gently place your hands on his back. Behind him you see onlookers starting and Charizard making his way over.

“You’re here! Thank Arceus you’re actually alright.”

Smiling, you close your eyes and give him a proper friendly squeeze. “I promised, didn’t I?” Your face was pressed into his shoulder, and you can feel his heart beating from presumably his run over.

“I know but… I just had to see you myself to believe it.” Leon pulls away, and begins to realize the closeness of your bodies before letting go quickly. “Sorry- didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay, Leon.” You smile softly as you both tear up.

A huff comes from behind him, and Leon makes room for Charizard to say hello. You pet him, but you can’t help but notice people are gawking a bit.

“Shall we get out of here?”

You nod enthusiastically. “Please, I need to shower so badly!”

“I wasn’t going to say that out loud, but-” Leon’s cut short by you poking him in the side in retaliation. When he reacts strongly, you do it a few more times. “Stop! That’s my type weakness!” Who would have known the Champion of Galar was ticklish?

Rolling your eyes and petting Charizard one more time, the three of you crossed the bridge into Motostoke proper. However it became clear navigating through the city wouldn’t be as straight forward as you thought. Leon was attracting a constant influx of fans, probably because more trainers and sports fans are in the city than usual because of the ceremony. You could tell that it pained him turn down autographs and selfies, he would only stop and do a few at a time before apologizing.

“Sorry everyone, I have to get her back to the hotel.” This drew more curiosity your way. You weren’t sure how you felt about the attention. “But after the opening ceremony, there will be plenty of Champion Time!” He strikes that dramatic pose of his and the crowds cheers. Leon nods at Charizard. “Lead the way, mate!”

Charizard takes off and Leon runs after him, leaving you to scramble keeping up. Every once in a while Leon would look back over his shoulder at you, as if checking that you were actually there still with him.

Motostoke was characterized by its red bricks and industrial metal, giving you the feeling that even though this was a city, it was full of working class folk and had more of a big town vibe. You noticed people in what looks like mining overalls, and plenty of off-duty watt traders. There were more second-hand stores and plant nurseries than anything fancy. It was an interesting contrast with the trendy stores on the main thoroughfare in the center of the city. But there was still plenty of motion, much more than you usually see in Alolan cities. The train cruised through the city at timed intervals, and large flying Pokemon you’ve never seen before pick up and drop off passengers in compact cars. You tried to remember some stores for visiting later before you got on the moving platform that brought you to the second level of the city.

“Woah, this is so cool!”

Leon couldn’t help but smirk at your reaction. He’s been focused on making his way through the crowd after Charizard, waving at people who call out his name, signing a shirt or two along the way, but trying not to get too distracted.

“I used to ride this all the time as kid whenever my family visited. Mum would yell at me for pressing the button too many times, said it made her motion sick.”

Charizard shook his head, leading the two of you off the platform. You see crowds lining up to enter a large building, with intermittent cheering and Pokemon cries. In particular, there was a loud group of fans in black and pink yelling the loudest for a particular challenger they had banners for. Galar… really takes this gym challenge seriously, doesn’t it? There was even a figure dancing around in what you assumed to be a Pokeball costume, handing out Pokeballs to everyone and encouraging children to enter the challenge when they were older.

“That’s Motostoke Stadium, where the opening ceremony is. I’ll be able to get us through when we come back.” Leon scans the situation before Charizard huffs again for him to follow. He could tell Leon was prone to getting sucked into crowds of adoring fans if left to his own devices for too long.

The Budew Drop Inn wasn’t too far away, a straight shot from the stadium. You notice trainers leaving it heading towards where you just came from.

“The League put us all up here, so if they are running late, we might run into Hop and Gloria! Unlikely though, Hop was probably bouncing all night.” He chuckles to himself as you both enter.

Indeed, moving through the lobby you don’t spot any familiar faces though, of course, the young trainers are reacting to Leon. You also feel like they are reacting to you, not knowing who you are or why you’re with Leon. Their eyes begin to feel like weights pressed on your body, and you couldn’t be happier when the elevator doors closed and it was just you, Leon, and Charizard. There’s something comforting about the low hum of the machinery lifting you upwards.

“I’m so glad you’re safe.”

You turn to Leon, surprised. It seems like you’ve had enough time to process your encounter with danger in the Dappled Grove, but it must still fresh for him. He’s leaning back with arms crossed over his chest, looking over to you… wistfully?

“Sorry Leon. I just… wasn’t thinking right.”

Charizard seems to busy himself looking at the elevator controls as the two of you talked in hushed tones.

“I don’t know what came over me. I shouldn’t have been so rude to you.” You lock eyes with his golden gaze. “Do you think you can ever forgive me?”

His expression softens, maybe even looks a bit sad.

“Of course I do. I was acting all weird around you, because… because…” Charizard casts Leon a look, and he gulps, looking incredibly flustered.

There’s a chime, and the elevator doors open. Trainers file in, recognizing the famous duo. Trying to talk with Leon prompts him to grab your sleeve and lead you onto the floor instead of finishing what he was going to say. You hear Charizard exhale a disapproving grunt.

Soon you were in the room you saw through the phone, seeing a scattering of Sonia’s and Leon’s things all over. Both probably are a bit of a mess. Leon flops back onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

“Okay, I’ll take a quick shower and change into something fresh.” You set your bag down in a corner, grabbed what you needed from it, and slipped into the bathroom. Everything felt both strange and familiar, not having things like running water and electricity for the past few days almost made you feel like you regressed in some way. But the moment you stepped into the heated spray, you felt all the discomfort in your body melt away. The film of sweat and dirt on your skin finally washed off with a good scrub, and the steam smelled of your body wash, honey with a range of floral notes.

Reaching out of the shower to grab something for you hair, you catch conversation through the thin wall. It sounds like Leon is talking his Charizard.

“Don’t give me that look.”

You hear Charizard give an exasperated sigh.

“I’m just waiting for the right moment!”

What is Leon talking about? You can hear him groan.

“Arceus- Raihan’s right, I have zero game.”

You begin to feel a bit guilty eavesdropping, so you return to your shower. You guess he might be talking about Sonia, and imagine there’s a lot to catch up with once you all get some time to yourselves.

Eventually you get through the motions of your shower and exit it, feeling better. You’ll never take a functioning bathroom for granted ever again. Quickly slipping into clean clothes and leaving the bathroom, you look into the mirror and attempt to, in vain, tidy up your hair. You hear Leon rising from the nearby bed and leaning on the threshold to the vanity area. He sounds like he’s going to say something, but hesitates. You can see him in the reflection of the mirror, and he’s tapping the sides of his face with his hands for some reason.

“Is something wrong Leon?” You’re applying a quick amount of lotion before hurrying to slip on shoes that aren’t caked in mud and grass.

“O-oh nothing! Just wanted to be ready to leave soon.” He coughs a bit, strangely at the same time Charizard makes some noises.

“Okay okay, I’m almost done.” Reaching for your phone in your bag, you remember your promise to Milo and grab the letter to slip it into your back pocket. “Alright, I’m all set to go!”

“Let’s go!” Leon is quick to throw open the door and lead everyone out of the room.

Soon you all exit the hotel and Charizard leads you down the path to the stadium. Crowds clogged the streets and blocked the path forward. You easily got jostled by hyped up sports fans, especially ones that noticed Leon and his Charizard. And considering how much they stuck out like a sore thumb, a long shock of purple hair over a cape with a flame orange companion, that was everyone within a mile. Fans tried to get in some Champion Time and mostly saw you as an obstacle in the way of getting a moment with Leon. It’s not long that you lose sight of the two as you’re pushed back and away from them.

You call out Leon’s name, but all you can do is hear him try to calm down excitable fans. It must be tough having to put up an image constantly, and needing to cater to fans whenever he steps outside. He seems to enjoy though, at least, that’s what you see from the outside. Leon seems at his best when he’s among his fans, talking to them about Pokemon battles and striking poses. All the times you see him in private he seems off, maybe because you don’t treat him like a champion. You’re not really that interested in becoming The Best or getting his autograph. No desire to fight him and become champion yourself. Maybe it was selfish of you to basically ignore that Leon was The Champion of Galar, not putting much importance into it, because that makes up for so much of who he is.

A hand appears from the crowd and grabs yours. You try to stammer out a sound of surprise, but you’re pulled in as some of the fan part to make room. Soon enough you see the arm belongs to Leon, and you can’t help but notice how well-muscled it is. You fingers instinctively tighten and his rougher palm brushes up against your softer skin. Warmth creeps into your face as you lock eyes with Leon, who looks both determined and concerned.

“Hold on tight, we’re just going to push through!” He doesn’t seem to notice your reaction at all, and turns to move through the crowd.

Leon politely tells people to move aside, or that he’ll sign their grandma’s Alcremie’s Pokeball some other time, trying to stay a cheerful champion but getting more forward when fans don’t listen. You’re definitely noticing the amount of eyes on you, and wonder if the flashing you’re seeing is your anxiety or Rotom Phones. You feel Leon’s grip tighten as he begins to shoulder through people to get to the front doors of the stadium.

What look like event coordinators are trying to corral people into orderly lines and only let some in at a time. They stiffen a bit when they see Leon suddenly among the people they are trying to hold back.

“Ch-champion Leon!! What are you doing out here? Oleana has been looking for you!”

He puts back on that Champion Smile. “Sorry, I got a little lost on the way! You know me.”

The staff let out an exasperated sigh, then look over to you, eyes trailing from your face, to your hand being held by Leon’s, and back to your face.

“And who’s this?”

Leon suddenly becomes very aware of holding your and drops it.

“A f-friend! Sitting with me.”

He quickly waves and moves past them, signaling you to follow. When you enter past the doors you both arrive in what looks to be the lobby of the stadium. Is there you notice the front desk, and remember what Milo told you.

“Leon, one second, I need to deliver something to the front desk.” You beckon them to follow over as he and Charizard were about to go off in a different direction. Mercifully, there’s no one else needing to take up the attendant’s time, so you hope this goes quickly. “Excuse me, is this front desk?”

The man behind the counter looks up from the computer he’s typing on and nods. “May I help you?”

“Yes, I was asked to deliver this letter to you.” You take out Milo’s letter and give it to him. Leon sees it and his eyebrows scrunch in confusion. You must have forgotten to mention it to him in the rush of everything. “Hopefully everything’s all there.”

Business done, you turn to Leon. “Alright, that’s all! Ready to go? I’m so excited to see Hop and Gloria out there!”

You’re about to step away when you hear your name being called. Confused, you turn back to the man at the front desk, who is reading the letter that was in the envelope. “I’m sorry, how did you know my name?”

“It’s right here.” He shows you the letter, but you don’t understand why it would be there. “It’s an Endorsement Letter for the Gym Challenge. And not just any endorsement.” He points down to the messy signature at the bottom of all the writing. “This is from Milo, Turffield’s very own Gym Leader.”

It takes a couple seconds for you to notice your mouth is hanging open.

“Milo is a WHAT!?”

~*~*~*~

There he is on the big screen. Kind but goofy grin, messy peach hair, noticeably jacked silhouette. That’s Milo alright, and he’s waving to the entire stadium in an outfit you haven’t seen him in before, along with the other Galarian gym leaders wearing similar ones. And not only that… right next to him is a face you recognize. The model Nessa. Milo’s girlfriend Nessa.

You’re standing in a locker room with other Gym Challengers watching the screens of what’s going on out on the stadium pitch. The man at the front desk hurried you away from a confounded Leon, grabbing a uniform that looked your size, and escorted you to the room where new challengers would be waiting. And here you are now, wearing the numbers 168, standing between Hop and Gloria. The look on their faces when you appeared was priceless, but now they were mostly excited for you be there.

It is a mystery as to why Milo endorsed you to do the Gym Challenge, especially when you said you weren’t really interested. Pokemon battles don’t excite you, and you aren’t looking to beat Leon and become the next Champion. And he never mentioned that he was a gym leader the entire time you were with him! You suppose that you never asked, but isn’t it pertinent information for when you’re handing near-strangers letters of endorsements for the biggest sporting event in the nation!?

Everything was still processing through your mind when the event coordinators began to herd all the new challenges out of the locker rooms and into the tunnel that led towards the field. The noise from the crowd was overwhelming, thumping in your chest where your heart should be. A wave of anxiety churns through your torso as it hits you what is happening. This entire time you were confused about how you arrived at this point, but now you’re being asked to take your own steps forward. Hop is dragging Gloria forward who in turn pulls you closer to the pitch, only letting go once you arrive and see the crowds cheering.

How did you get here? You didn’t even want to be here. And now everyone sees you, both with their eyes and cameras, and it’s like there’s no turning back. You can’t run.

They eventually line you all up to go and shake hands with the gym leaders. Milo is first, and your heart beats faster as you approach him. Eventually, you’re in his periphery, and if you didn’t know any better, you would say he was beginning to stutter and turn a shade redder. Maybe that was just the effect of the stadium lighting.

Eventually, it’s your turn. You step in front of him and see that his emerald eyes are downcast and his face his completely red. He grasps your hand, but doesn’t really shake it. It’s almost as if he’s looking for an apology.

“Q-quite the surprise, huh…?” He’s able to get out at least that much, though you barely heard him over the din of the stadium.

“Milo, what is going on??”

You can’t continue the conversation because of the flow of the line, you’re quickly nudged over to face the next leader:

Nessa.

Shaking your hand, she looks you dead-set in the eye. You can’t help but notice how elegant she is, even in the sportswear. She leans in closer to you.

“Interesting.”

That wasn’t what you were expecting to hear from her. You notice Milo looking over to the both of you from the corner of his eyes.

“Make sure to beat Milo, I want to know what he sees in you.”

And with that, the line forces you to move on to the attractive older man next to her. You continue down the line, shaking hands with all the gym leaders, and only when you near the end do you see that Leon has also joined the gym leaders in the event. When you arrive in front of him, he gives you a look. You don’t know what it means, but instead of shaking your hand, he gives you a quick hug. You feel his warm breath on your neck as he whispers into your ear:

“Wait for me in the lobby.”

And with that, he sends you off with the rest of the line, back to his Champion smile and handshakes.

~*~*~*~

After being forced through some photoshoots with the League’s PR people, you change out of your uniform and head back out to the lobby with Gloria and Hop. The three of you chat before you’re approached by Leon, and by his side is a fashionable-looking man in a business suit.

“Congratulations again! You all looked great in your jerseys.” Leon high-fives the kids, and direct a small smile your way. “I wanted to introduce you all to Chairman Rose, he’s the head of the League!”

The chairman waves his hand in modesty. “It’s good to meet you all! I was curious to see who was able to get the Champion’s endorsement.” He then looks over to you. “And Gym Leader Milo’s! Very unusual and rare indeed.”

There is something about the chairman that makes you nervous. All that you know of him is from TV and passing talk, and it makes him seem almost god-like. At the vary least, the patron of all of Galar. He sees the Dynamax bands on the kids’ wrists and brings a hand to his chin.

“If you all have those, you must have been guided here by the light of he Wishing Stars… Auspicious indeed.” Rose turns to Leon. “I must be off, and I’m sure you have to get to things as well.” And with a friendly nod, he departs.

Leon crosses his hands over his chest with a smile. “That’s the Chairman for you, he’s always pushing himself for Galar’s sake! I learn so much from him.”

“And I’m going to push myself too! Just you watch, Leon!” Hop thrusts a finger at his brother. “I will be the next Champion of Galar! C’mon Gloria, we need to hurry to Turffield and get our first badge!”

Hop bolts off to the exit, and Gloria is shaking her head. “It turns out not matter how fast he runs off, no matter how long I take, he’s waiting for me.” Gloria is either just observant or already a fine manipulator of men. She comes over to hug you, squeezing tight. “I’m so happy my cousin is coming on this journey too! It makes it less lonely.”

“You always have my number, feel free to call if you’re ever in trouble, okay? ” Your eyes look up to Leon. “I have Pokemon now, that means I can help people.”

Leon returns an expression of curiosity, uncrossing his arms and smoothing his beard in thought.

Gloria pulls away from you. “Okay, I better follow Hop before he gets into trouble. I hope to see you in Turffield!” With a shy wave to Leon, she’s off through the doors.

The lobby is actually pretty quiet since most of the crowd of fans were moved out of the building as the challengers changed and were given instruction on what they needed to do. You were given a tour of the map of Galar, seeing the order of the gym you had to challenge before competing in the Champion Cup at Wyndon. You learned that the first gym you were to visit is Turffield Stadium’s. Milo said he was from Turffield so you imagined he would be there. You were hoping to see him out here in this lobby, but he must have slipped out some other way.

“Leon, I’m sorry, I had no idea what was in that letter!” This is the first time you’ve been able to speak with him one-on-one since you were suddenly pulled into the opening ceremony. “I told Milo I wasn’t interested in the gym challenge, so I have no idea why he did that. I almost want to drop out, it just feels wrong for me to take up a spot…”

“No.” Leon steps closer to you, closing the distance between you enough for you to tilt your head slightly upwards to meet him in the eyes. “I’ll admit that I was hurt at first… I thought you didn’t want my endorsement. That Milo was special to you.”

Your face begins to feel a bit hot, you’re not sure such strong emotions like this exists over sports.

“And to think he was the person you happened to encounter in the Wild Area this whole time, and you had no idea he was a gym leader.” The gears are turning behind his gaze. “He must have seen something special in you. As Chairman Rose said, you’re being guided by your Wishing Star… I was there, I know what your wish was.” He hits a closed fist in an open palm, like he just decided on something. “No, you’re supposed to do this, don’t drop out. I think I can do it by the time you get to Wyndon, if you’re able to push through.”

That last part makes your brows knit and head tilt to the side. “Do what??”

Leon looks like he said something he shouldn’t have, backing up from you. “Nothing, absolutely nothin-”

“There you are!”

A hug glomps onto you from behind, and the impeccable turquoise nails on the hands clasped around your shoulders signal that it’s Sonia.

“What a total shocker this is! You should have seen Leon panicking earlier when he told me the news.” Sonia giggles in your ear, her breath tickling at your neck.

The Champion of Galar fidgets in front of you. “ANYWAY,” It seems like Leon doesn’t wish for Sonia to elaborate further. “I have to get to some work for the Chairman. I’ll text you two later, the gym leaders always have a get-together before heading off to their gyms.”

He waves and dashes off to the entrance, seeming to steel himself before going out to the public.

Sonia lets go of you and turns you around to face her. “It’s been a sec since I’ve last been to Motostoke, or hung out with any of the gym leaders in fact.” As if being reminded of something, she lets go of your shoulders and begins to text on her phone. “Actually my best friend is a gym leader, I’m sure she’ll be down for a cuppa before we head to dinner.”

She begins to walk absentmindedly towards the door as she texted with her friend, and you followed, feeling more lost than you did before. At least you could see all of Postwick, and everything seemed predictable and quiet. Now are you not only out traveling a country you barely know, but are participating in its most important sporting event without a clue of what you were doing. Everyone else moved around so naturally, and to you, everything’s foreign.

“Alright?”

You didn’t notice that Sonia finished what she was doing on her phone and looked over to see how overwhelmed you were feeling. Giving her a weak smile didn’t do anything to convince her that you were okay.

“I got it!” Her eyes sparkle a bit as she grabs your hand. “You know what you could use? A bit of shopping!”

~*~*~*~

You have to admit, shopping and gossiping with Sonia does make you feel better. She mostly talks to you about their time in the Wild Area after you separated, wisely gliding around moments that would remind you of the worry you put them through and highlighting the amount of times Leon would get lost. Things begin to feel normal again. Sonia is mainly looking through the glasses collection, asking which pair makes her look the most professorial, if that’s a word. You’re feeling like you should look more the part of a gym challenger, you buy some track bottoms and a matching cap, along with a pair of purple sunglass Sonia slips on your face to match your yellow jacket. You had quite the fashionable and colorful getup for a gym challenger, you think, looking at your clothes in a mirror. The less this is about getting lost and grimy in the Wild Area, the better.  

Just as you both exit the store, Sonia’s Rotom Phone pops out of her bag and shows her a new text she received. “Brilliant!” She makes a couple taps before Rotom buzzes happily and flies back where it came from. “She’s meeting us at a cafe down the way! Just follow me~”

You stroll down the boulevard with her, looking around and taking in the scenery. The both of you pass buy vintage record shops and bookstores, all in their own ways inviting. Everything has been a rush since you arrived, but you hope to find an excuse to just look around Motostoke by yourself.

Eventually the two of you enter a trendy looking cafe, somewhere you could totally imagine Sonia meeting with friends of her. You scan the tables looking for a spot to sit when you see her:

“Nessa! Darling~”

Sonia moves to hug the gym leader, who was out of her league clothing and in fashionable clothing not too unlike the ones you’ve seen her model. Nerves all of a sudden wrack your body as they separate, and Sonia turns to introduce you.

“We’ve shaken hands before, but are you good with hugs?”

You’re shocked but begin to relax a bit when you give a friendly greeting hug to her. It makes you think, why are you nervous around her anyway?

Nessa gestures to the table she’s sitting at, which already has mugs of tea for each of you. “I got us all some Calm Mint tea, I hope that’s alright. I know I could use some calm after today.” She tests the temperature of the tea with a small sip before looking over to you. “You’re quite the interesting one, aren’t you? Wouldn’t have guessed you were acquainted with Sonia and Leon.”

You bring the tea closer to your noise so you can smell it. It indeed smells like what you imagine calm to smell like, soft floral and herbal notes stand out of the usual minty taste. “It’s all by chance really. I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time.” You think back to the dinner conversation you had with Leon back in Postwick, your first chance encounter with Milo, and shopping with Sonia.

Her eyebrows raise a little in response. “I guess I didn’t notice it during the ceremony, but that accent is Alolan, is it not?” After you nod, she sits back in her chair. “That makes more sense, you seem to both stick out and not really know what is going on.”

Unsure of whether she meant that as a critique or passing observation, you look down a little embarrassed. “I admit, I do feel a bit in the deep end at the moment. All of this is rather sudden.”

“Milo told me about what happened in the Wild Area. I guess you don’t really have places like that where you’re from.”

You get flustered under her gaze as she sips some tea, like she’s evaluating you. Sonia seems to pick up on this and changes the subject. “So Nessa, how are you and Milo doing? I know you both haven’t seen each other for some time, preparing your gyms for the challenge and all.”

“Oh yes, I meant to mention.” She sets down her cup on the table. “We broke up.”

What? Sonia is similarly shocked so you know this must be news to her.

“Really? When?? You were just talking about how you wanted to see him last night!”

“Just after the opening ceremony and before I came over here.”

She doesn’t seem said or upset at all, which confuses you.

“Nessa this makes it, what, the third time you two have broken up this year?” Sonia rolls her eyes and looks a bit unamused, but it seems more out of concern for her friend than any actual judgment.

“I think it’s for good this time. No really!” She responds to Sonia’s clear expression of disbelief. “We’re just really good friends and there’s nothing wrong with that. Just because we’re close doesn’t mean we need to be in a relationship. I mean, it doesn’t even feel like we are in one, things are just, well, normal.”

Sonia rests her chin into her palm and nods, as if she’s heard this before. “But you’re the one who keeps starting and breaking things off. Are you sure you’re not going to change your mind about it?”

“It’s for good this time, I swear!” She looks a bit indignant, which actually amuses you. It’s nice to know there’s a human behind what you see as a perfect mask. Nessa crosses her arms, looking more serious. “I told him that we’re rivals. No one sees us as a real challenge, and we’re not going to be taken seriously if we don’t get stronger. A Grass-type specialist is the perfect rival to help me rise to the top, and he could use any excuse to get more serious as a gym leader.”

“You’re serious? What did he say to that?”

Nessa frowns and picks her tea back up. “Oh you know, he just sort of laughed it off like he usually does. He said his only rival is himself or some nonsense like that. I think Milo feels nothing is really going to change between us, but it really is going to be different!”

You’re quiet for the most part, sipping on your tea as the two go back and forth. You can tell they’ve been friends for a bit. It felt good to be included, it’s nice to be around familiarity. Though it isn’t long until Nessa looks to you with a bit of a mischievous look.

“And what’s going on with you and Leon?”

The question hits you like a Wooloo Tackle from the side, making you sputter in your tea a bit. “I’m sorry?? What do you mean by that?”

Ness takes out her Rotom Phone, gives it a few taps, and shows you the screen. Opened up is the popular social media app Pokegram, and your eyes see pictures of you and Leon. “This is blowing up all over the place. Did you really not know?” In a post captioned Is Champion Leon Dating a Gym Challenger!?, there’s a few purposefully chosen pictures to make it seem you and Leon were intimate. The first was him hugging you at the entrance of Motostoke, then there ones of you entering the elevator at Budew Drop Inn together, him holding your hand going through the crowd outside of the stadium, and of course, his hug during the opening ceremony. Your eyes widen when you see the amount of likes, reposts, and comments.

“Oh my god.” Sonia gasps, looking at it from her phone. “We’ve been shopping all day, and no one knows your social names because you’re new here. So we’ve been oblivious this entire time!”

You’re stunned, sitting back in your chair. “How did they get all those pictures?”

“Sports fans are nuts here in Galar.” Nessa takes back her phone and scrolls through it some. “It’s not uncommon for us to have a stalking incident once in a while, all the gym leaders and Leon have to be extra careful of what we do out in the open. Especially Leon, who obviously has the most fans. I wouldn’t be surprised if Oleana is giving him an earful right now. The League is very controlling of our public image.” She looks over to you. “But it surprises me seeing all this, and it’s Milo of all people endorsing you for the gym challenge. Why didn’t Leon?”

It takes you a couple of seconds for the reeling in your brain to slow down enough to respond to her. “He did offer, but I said no. I wasn’t, and technically sorta still am not, interested in doing the gym challenge. I told that to Milo as well. So it was shocking to find out that he endorsed me. He just asked me to deliver a letter to the person at the front desk, he never told me that what was inside! I didn’t even know he was a gym leader!”

To your surprise, a small smile forms on Nessa’s lips. “I see, now I understand.”

You blink a few times under her gaze. “Understand…?”

Before she could reply, all three of your phones buzz. Your Rotom Phone zips out of your bag and opens up a text for you to look like. It’s a group text of mostly Galarian numbers you don’t recognize, from Leon and including Sonia. Seeing that Nessa got the text as well, you assumed it was to all the gym leaders.

It’s that time again everyone! Head on over to Huo Guo Hot Pot for our yearly celebration! Let’s start this year off with a Champion good time!

Don’t forget to thank our sponsors, Huo Guo Hot Pot, and take plenty photos for Pokegram!

(Oleana forced me to write that)

That’s right, Leon mentioned before there was a gathering happening. Given what you’ve just found out, you’re surprised he’s inviting you. Wouldn’t that just create more controversy?

~*~*~*~

Nessa leads the both of you to the restaurant, being the most familiar with Motostoke. You all chat pretty fluidly, any reservations you had being around Nessa washing away. It’s an important lesson about appearances, and giving everyone a chance.

You all eventually arrive to a restaurant with wooden finishing and lanterns, giving it a rustic and traditional style more akin to the Johto and Hoenn regions than anything in Galar.

“Despite being sponsors, everything here is really good. Kabu recommends this place whenever there’s a bunch of us in Motosoke.” Nessa mentions as she waves to the League official, who casts a suspicious look your way. “Both are with me.” They nod and hold the door open long enough for the three of you to enter.

Inside is actually quite spacious with many tables, but the only people inside seem to be associated with the League in some way. In the back corner of the restaurant you see some people waving, beckoning Nessa and Sonia over. You follow with a stone of anxiety in your stomach. In no way where you expecting this especially with everything that’s going on.

“Hello, hello! Make room for us why don’t you?” Sonia greeted, smiling and giving some shoulder pats and hugs. It seems like she’s already acquainted with most of the leaders, probably because she’s close with Leon and Nessa. As the text mentioned, it was a hot pot restaurant, and the current setup had four people sharing the same simmering pot.

“Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to a new friend!” You’re certain you blushed when Nessa announced that, both because you were hoping to maintain a low profile and also you didn’t realize she felt so friendly towards you already. Most people were polite, giving smiles, nods, and basic greetings.

“Oi! Yeah you, come sit with us!” You notice a rather tall man grinning and waving at you, and if you remember correctly, he was the furthest down the line of gym leaders when you were shaking hands, just before Leon. In fact, at his table were two, quite interesting people: Leon and Milo. “Just want to get to know you a bit.” He winks as you eventually nod and separate from Sonia and Nessa.

You sit down at the table with a bubbling pot that smelled of mushrooms and spices, next to the stranger and across from Milo, with Leon on the opposite corner of you. Both of the men you know looked incredibly flustered, with Milo looking down at his plate and Leon staring somewhere off in the middle distance. Things definitely feel… awkward.

“’Name’s Raihan, I’m the sorry bloke that has to clean up all of this guy’s,” He jerks his thumb towards Leon. “messes. I also have the best ‘gram feed in all the League.” He winks at you again, leaning back on his chair and draping his long arms on the back.

After introducing yourself, Raihan insists on following each other on Pokegram. You look up to Leon and Milo, who are still shifting uncomfortably on the other side of the table, busying themselves looking at the menu. “What’s wrong with them?”

“That’s what I wanna know, luv.” He peers at them over his phone, still scrolling. “They’ve been acting right daft all day, one thing after another. Figured you would be able to help me out here.” He looks back to what he’s looking at on his phone, eventually stopping on something. “You’re from Alola, right? Accent fits, you have that look to ya.” After you nod, he shows something from Pokegram to Leon and Milo. “Is this what’s got your fancy, mates?”

Both of them turn red. When you look, it’s just a normal picture of you at the beach back on Melemele Island. Sure you have a swimsuit on, but so does everyone at the beach?

“Raihan, stop.” Leon swats the hand holding up the phone, causing the Rotom to zoom away and float by Raihan’s head with a buzz.

“Oh now you want to speak up. Tell me why you got hands all over this bird out of nowhere.” He looks to you. “You’ve seen the pictures, right? I mean, you were there, given, well, you’re the bird.”

You blink a few times being asked so forwardly. “It’s all still a shock to me too. Leon was just being friendly, we were separated in the Wild Area and by the time I arrived here, I was running late to see my cousin in the opening ceremony. I don’t understand what all the fuss is about.”

Raihan smirks a bit, revealing his one sharp tooth that reminded you of a beast. “I see, I see. And Milo’s endorsement of you?”

Looking over to Milo, it seems like he wants to be anywhere but here.

“Not only did he endorse a complete random, no offense, but breaks up with Nessa on the same day. When they didn’t walk out the stadium together, fans went rabid with speculation.”

“She broke up with me. N-not that it’s a big deal!” Milo finally chances looking up at everyone. “We’re still good friends, there’s nothin’ awkward or anythin’.”

“Right, right farm boy, we get it. But why did you endorse this bird over here? Have you met before today? You know the League, and the fans, dig into the lives of challengers endorsed by League representatives.”

“I’d like to know too, Milo. I was so shocked.” Your voice is soft, almost like how you would talk to your Pokemon. “I’m not sure what you see in me to use your own name to endorse me.”

Milo shifts his weight in his seat, breathes in some air, and looks up at you through his bangs. “I’m sorry, I shoulda told you. But the way ya handled Pokemon out ‘n the Wild Area is remarkable! Watched three different Pokemon accept your ownership without battlin’. That’s rare and unusual! And…” He fidgets some more instead of finishing.

Both Leon and Raihan raise an eyebrow at you. “Three Pokemon? Which ones?” Leon asks, not having seen it for himself.

“Umm, let’s see, I think he means Wooloo, Lotad, who’s now a Lombre, and Pancham.”

Leon is shocked, and looks to Milo. “So you were with guy with the Wooloo? And who defeated the Seismitoad??”

Milo bashfully nodded, stealing a look at you before looking quickly back down at the menu as a waiter stopped by the table. It seems like someone put in an order for you all already, and various vegetables, meats, and dipping sauces were placed around the pot. “Sake for the table?” When you all nod, small tumblers are placed in front of you and filled up. “Please let me know if you all would like anything else.” They take the menus, bow, and leave.

Raihan is the first to speak, lifting his cup. “To a new gym challenge, yeah? Here’s hoping none get through me and I beat the pants off Leon.”

“Hey, wait-” Leon’s brows furrow, hand halfway to tapping Raihan’s. “I don’t want to cheers to that!”

“And what bollocks do you wish for? Is it…” Raihan looks over to you.

Before he can say anything else, Milo thrusts his cup in. “Cheers to that!”

You play along, not knowing what is going on with these three, but smiling as Leon and Milo begin to open up and talk about this year’s challenge. It’s obvious things aren’t resolved, and there’s more going on behind the scenes, but you put that aside as you remember how much you just enjoy their company. Raihan is an entertaining contrast to their personalities. Where they are earnest and fumbling, he’s smooth and brash at the same time. He easily convinces you into selfies, and you can see that the other two are staring.

The food is indeed delicious, and sharing dinner with the boys is fun. Sometimes funny moments will come up, like both Milo and you attempting to grab the same lotus root, and spending an entire 5 minutes offering it to the other. Or Raihan overzealously dipping his pork into soy sauce and splashing who you learned to be Gordie sitting at the table next to yours. You realize, when you just let go, things work themselves out, and all the tension melts. Yes, things aren’t resolved. But as you look out to this group of people, you sense a feeling of belonging, and you know they will be, in time.

~*~*~*~

After dinner, the group splits in different ways. Some call flying taxis, others head back to Budew Drop Inn, and some even walk off into the city without really saying where they’ve headed. You head back to the hotel, the group boisterous with a healthy amount of sake in them. The rest of the city is quiet but has a low hum with all of the steam-powered machinery at work. The train has stopped by now, but steam lazily hisses from various vents on the streets. Looking up, you can only see a few stars. You realize you haven’t seen a clear sky since you’ve left Postwick. Only fitting given how cloudy your path seems.

Early in the walk, you feel a tug on your sleeve, and you turn to see Milo trailing behind the rest of the group. You hang back until you’re matching his pace.

“Hey.”

“Evenin’.” He’s not looking directly at you, but you can tell he’s a little more at ease. “How are you feelin’?”

Walking with him reminds you a little of the time you spent together in the Wild Area. “Hmm, lost, but holding faith that I will find my way.”

The both of you walk a couple of paces without saying anything.

“I owe ya a better explanation for everythin’. Just been a bit out of my element today.” He exhales, looks at you, and then back forward. “While it’s true I’m impressed by your ability to attract Pokemon, there was another reason I gave you my endorsement.”

You can tell he’s trying to work up to something. Instinctively, you reach out to his shoulder. “May I?” When he nods, you place your hand on it. Like the rest of his body it’s well-built, your fingers lightly rub the muscle you find there.

“I also did it because…” You can hear him gulp a little. “I wanted us to have an excuse to see each other again. ‘n for you to come to Turffield.” He looks to you, searching your face for a reaction. “I’ve enjoyed the time we spent together so far.”

That’s when you begin to realize something about Milo.

He’s cute.

Like, really cute.

“So did I Milo. I’m happy to hear you feel the same.” Whenever the two of you pass by a street light, you try and take in all the feature you can see. The soft qualities of his face, the hard qualities of his body. Everything you’ve felt about Milo rolled into this experience you’re having now.

“Really?” He’s being bashful, which makes you want to tease him a little.

“Of course. And you didn’t have to go through all this to see me again. You could, you know, ask for my number.”

“R-right!” A few moments pass in contemplation. “May I have your number? Jus’ for keepin’ in touch ‘n all!”

Smiling, you offer Milo your phone, and he puts in his information. When he hands it back you send him a quick text.

so glad i met you, all the way back at route 1 <3

By now you’ve reached the Budew Drop Inn, and all that remains is Sonia, Leon, Raihan, Milo, and yourself. Others, Leon in particular, grab your attention away from Milo, tipsy and full of low giggles. Riding the elevator is when you find out Milo is staying with Raihan. When they move to get off, giving their parting goodbyes, the sake in your system emboldens you to hug Milo. You can feel he’s surprised, but eventually he returns the gesture. It’s possible he said something to you, but it was too soft for you to hear. All of you wave goodbye as Raihan drags him away from you and the elevator.

Feeling a pair of eyes on you, you turn around to your friends remaining. Sonia is fighting persistent yawning while Pokegram is showing on her phone. Shifting to look at Leon, you see that he’s been observing you for some time now. His expression is a mix between sleepy and conflicted, like he’s trying to figure something out by just understanding your features. Something in your alcohol-influenced brain decides that Leon also wants a hug, so you step over and wrap your arms around his middle.

His body stiffens for a moment, before relaxing and hugging you tightly. You only now realize how comfortable Leon feels, since he’s usually so uptight around you. Maybe it’s the exhaustion from the day, but you begin to drift asleep, closing your eyes and listening to the stead rhythm of his heart.