#I'm sure I'm dead wrong and there's facts to how everyone would have hung out

[theminecraftbee]

Joel turns around. Martyn is standing there. His eyes are a burning red that gives Joel the heebie-jeebies. If anyone would know to be scared, it's Joel! He would! He'd recognize a mad dog if he saw one anywhere!

Anyway, all of that is to say that his high-pitched scream had been totally justified. "Oh my word Martyn what are you doing here?" he says, clutching his hand over his heart, several feet further back than he'd been thirty seconds ago.

Martyn snorts. "Is the sign not for me? Figured there was no one else it could be for."

"The what?"

"The sign."

Joel turns around. Outside his base, the other Mounders have hung a helpful banner: "SORRY EVERYONE YOU LOVE IS DEAD <3".

He'd told them it was kind of rude, hanging that up. Sort of made light of the whole thing, really. His wife and Mumbo and Jimmy had died, guys, don't be idiots about it. Bdubs had loudly told him that he was TRYING to be helpful, Joel, geez, why don't you appreciate his efforts? Pearl had shrugged and said they don't exactly make cards for this kind of thing. Joel's pretty sure they do, actually but...

Sorry everyone you love is dead. Hah.

"My wife is dead, Martyn," Joel says.

"Who, Lizzie or Jimmy?" Martyn says, weirdly dark. "Anyway, my husband's dead, so--"

"Your what?"

"Mumbo and I got married one time. Everyone forgets that for some reason."

Joel has to think about it a while. "Huh."

"Yeah. Anyway, you've still got the other Mounders, huh? Don't know what you're crying about. Thought the sign had to be for me. Thought I'd show up. Get cake. Kill some people. You know how it is."

"If there's a TNT minecart in my base, the first thing I do after I turn red is kill you," Joel says.

"That's not really how it works this time," Martyn says.

"Yeah, well, screw you," Joel says. "Also, they didn't make me any cake. I should ask them for that next. Hah. A cake."

"You know, maybe don't ask for that? Parties tend to go wrong in this game."

"And who's fault is that, huh?"

"Hey, don't look at me! Or, do. Since I'm going to kill everyone, on account of everyone I love being dead and all. Really convenient excuse for murder, that. I should use it more often, if it didn't involve the crippling grief," Martyn says.

"Oh, please. At least you tend to have people to love in the first place," Joel snaps.

"Oh, right, that is your curse, isn't it?" Martyn says. "Sorta broke it last time, but you do tend to get isolated and a bit crazy. Hey, I wonder if we're the ones who traded, actually what with the whole wolf thing."

Joel blinks. "What?"

"Oh, we're all cursed," Martyn says. "After all, They like it better that way. Hey, do you think Jimmy's curse transferred to Lizzie, got cancelled out by the fact Lizzie tends to die stupidly, or got broken? Personally, I'm thinking random fluke, when it comes to canary nonsense."

Joel stares at Martyn. His throat is dry. "What?"

Martyn stares back. "Hey, I'm the mad dog this time," Martyn says. "You probably shouldn't be the one growling."

"Well then, you should stop saying stupid shit," Joel says.

"Stupid? Please. It's obvious everyone is cursed. Nothing to be done about it but to play into the--"

"NO ONE IS BLUMIN' CURSED," Joel shouts, his vision suddenly red and blurry in a way it shouldn't be when he's still on yellow. "NO ONE IS BLUMIN' CURSED. THERE'S NO SUCH THING! YOU'RE JUST, JUST MAKIN' UP REASONS IT ISN'T ALL A TRAGEDY THAT EVERYONE I LOVE IS FUCKING DEAD, MAKING UP REASONS THAT IT--NO ONE IS CURSED! IT JUST HAPPENS! IT JUST HAPPENS! IT JUST FUCKING HAPPENS! AND WOULDN'T IT BE BLUMIN' NICE IF THERE WERE A HIGHER POWER BUT THERE ISN'T SO SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT CURSES!"

He's panting. Martyn is staring at him. He stares back, a snarl on his teeth, the echoes of wolves and of grief, grief, grief, grief playing at the back of his throat.

"Joel?" Martyn says, hesitant.

"My wife is fucking dead. My best friend is fucking dead. One of my new possible best friends is fucking dead. Sorry about your husband, I guess? Get out."

"Bold thing to say to the guy who can kill--"

"I SAID GET OUT!"

Martyn stares at Joel a moment longer, and Joel finds he's not scared of the madness in his eyes at all.

Martyn leaves.

Joel realizes he's crying. The tears turn into giant, ugly sobs. Sorry everyone you love is dead. Sorry everyone you love is dead. Sorry everyone you love is dead.

"I blumin' hate caring about people," he says to no one at all through choked breaths, and he kicks a rock at the banner for good measure. It pokes a little hole through it and bounces off the dick-shaped tower behind it.

"Someone really should have made both of us a blumin' cake, they should," he says next, and he sits down until Pearl runs over, having heard the shouting. His face is red and his vision is still swimming. She stares at him, gathers him in her arms, and cries with him, and for the life of him, he doesn't know if that's any better.

[anarcoqueer1994]

Part 1: Steve's POV | Part 2 (Eddie's POV here) | Part 3 | Part 4

Everyone thinks Nancy was Steve's first love, but he had been in love before her. But he can't talk about it, not even with Robin. Doing so would out someone... and he just can't do that, even if the person broke his heart, stepped on it, and smashed it into a million pieces.

When he was a freshman, he had found himself in the woods, trying to be alone, trying to get a way from an angry father and apathetic mother. He doesn't even remember what the fight was about, just that his parents were home and he had a big bruise covering his eye. He would play it off in school tomorrow, not that the popular kids he was falling in with would even care. But right now he needed to clear his head, to be angry, to cry.

He had been sitting alone in some little clearing wrapped up in his own feelings, so much so, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice proving that he was not alone.

"Harrington?" He knows the voice, Eddie Munson. He was a sophomore at Steve's school, and though he never talked him, he knew of him. He was loud and weird and knew how to draw attention to himself. The other jocks Steve hung out with would make jokes at his expense, and Eddie would give it right back. And Steve kind of loves that. In fact, though, he would never admit it, he thought the upperclassmen was cute, and funny, and charming, and, okay, maybe he had a crush on him. But right now, crying in the woods alone was the last place he wanted to see Eddie. He knew Eddie and his friends hated jocks, not that he could blame them. But he knows this is going to be humiliating. So he clears his throat the best he can, trying to mask the sadness in his tear stained face. He grumbles, "What?"

Eddie threw his hands up defensively. "Don't worry, I'm not here to start anything. I was just walking and heard you. Just want to make sure you're okay, man. You look rough." He says softly, no hint of sarcasm in his voice. He steps closer.

Steve doesn’t know why, but he suddenly feels less tense. Maybe because this is the first person who ever asked Steve that. People always assume that Steve, son of the wealthiest people in Hawkins, must be doing okay. Rich kids don't have anything to complain about. But here Eddie was asking him if he was alright. And maybe he is desperate for someone to care, to ask, to want to know. So despite himself, he looks up and meets Eddie’s eyes, and he whispers. "No, I'm not doing alright."

Steve doesn’t know what to expect after that confession came out of his mouth, never admitting he was anything but perfect before. Maybe he expected Eddie to awkwardly leave, unsure what to do when some other kid just says that to you. Or maybe Eddie would laugh, tell people at school that he was some pansy, crying alone in the woods. But neither of those things happen. Instead, Eddie sits down next to him, joining him on the floor of dead leaves and dirt. Steve looks at him, unsure what to say, and Eddie just... smiles sympathetically at him. "You wanna talk about it?"

And Steve wants to say no, but he doesn’t. Instead, he finds himself trauma dumping on some poor kid, who, despite Steve's crush, doesn't actually know him. And Eddie listens. He listens as Steve talks about the abuse and neglect and loneliness. And to his surprise, Eddie can relate to having a bad dad, and a mom who wasn't there. Eddie really listens, and for the first time in Steve’s life, he feels seen.

And after a while, the conversation gets lighter. Steve finds he likes talking to Eddie. Eddie tells him about this weird game he plays. Steve tries to understand but more enjoys how expressive and happy Eddie looks as he talks. They talk for hours in this little clearing, in their own little world. They talk about music, and movies, and things they like to do. And even if their tastes are different, Steve feels this connection to Eddie.

And maybe he is wrong, but he thinks Eddie feels the same thing. He would usually never risk this, risk anyone finding out he secretly likes more than girls, that he likes boys too, but the way Eddie has been talking, and staring at him and watching him, he feels like it will be okay. So he risks it. "Hey, Eddie?" His voice is much shyer then it had been moments prior when he was passionately defending Rick Springfield supremacy over Black Sabbath.

"Yea, Stevie?" Steve can't help but blush at the little nickname

"If this is out of line or something, please tell me and we can pretend it never happened, but umm..." Steve starts anxiously.

Eddie smiles at him, laughing gently as Steve squirms. "I thought you popular kids didn't get anxious." He jokes "Unless there was some hot girl or something." He adds trying to lighten the mood.

"I mean... what if it was like a hot guy?" Steve quickly asks before he loses the nerve. He feels his breath caught in his chest waiting for Eddie to respond.

A beat passes. Then two. Steve feels embarrassment creeping in, worried he has just messed up this brand new friendship.

Finally, Eddie responds. "I mean...if you're asking if I'd be okay with you thinking a guy is hot, I would be." Eddie pauses, but the look on his face tells Steve there is more he wants to say. So, against his better judgment, Steve reaches over and takes Eddie’s hand, letting them both rest in Eddie’s lap. What leaves Steve's mouth next surprises both of them.

"What if...you were that hot guy?" Steve whispers, both of them staring face to face now. And Steve watches as a tiny smile forms on Eddie’s mouth, a light pink blush on his cheeks.

"I'd be okay with that too..."

The next thing Steve knows, he finds himself leaning in, and he kisses Eddie Munson. And Eddie kisses back. Steve later finds out it was Eddie’s first kiss, and somehow that makes him treasure the moment more. And when they are done, neither freak out, they just sit together in the dusk light, happy and content.

Over the next few months, they spend so much time together. They keep it a secret from everyone but Wayne. Kids could be mean to two queer kids, so Eddie tells him it's better this way. But when they were alone in the woods or Eddie’s trailer, or the empty Harrington Manson, they could be themselves, they could be happy.

They would talk and kiss and just be in love. After months together, they were even each other’s first time. And it was clumsy and awkward and beautiful. Afterwards, as Steve laid on Eddie’s chest, he whispers "Love you, Eds..."

And without hesitatation, Eddie replies "Love you, too, Stevie." And in that moment, Steve feels like everything is perfect.

Unfortunately, a few days later, that all comes crashing down. Steve had a big baseball game. He was the only freshman on the varsity team. He asked Eddie to come, and he agreed. And Steve was so excited to have his boyfriend come and cheer him on.

But the day comes, and Eddie is not there. Steve assumes the worst because Eddie would never blow him off. So, instead of going to celebrate with the other guys, he excuses himself and heads to the Munson trailer. When he shows up, though, Wayne answers the door. Wayne looks sad as he gently says, "I'm sorry, son. Eddie doesn't want to see you."

The words hurt, but Steve doesn't argue. He pushes down a lump in his throat as he chokes out. "Oh... okay. Can you have him call me later?"

Wayne half-heartedly agrees before shutting the door. Steve races home on his bike, just in case Eddie calls. But he doesn’t. Steve waits all night, falling asleep with bloodshot, tear filled eyes near the phone. Eddie also doesn't call all weekend, and no one answers at the Munson's residence.

On Monday, Steve tries to catch his attention in the halls, but Eddie keeps looking away, avoiding him. Steve finally catches Eddie alone in the boy's bathroom. "Eddie? What happened?"

Eddie focuses on his hands in the sink, not looking up to face Steve. "Go away, Steve. "

Steve lets out a wounded sound as he chokes, "Eds? What did I do? Whatever it is, I'll fix it."

Eddie takes a shaky breath in and says "You can't because no matter what, I'll be a freak, and you are just some jock. This entire thing we had going on was bullshit. You don't love me and I can't love you..."

Suddenly, it all clicks, Steve went too far. He should have never told Eddie he loves him. Eddie was just being nice saying it back. Maybe he was too clingy, and he ruined everything. So he doesn't say anything. He just turns and walks away, desperately holding back tears until he gets out of school, skipping the rest of the day.

He tries to forget Eddie. He leans into being popular, a ladies man. They don't talk. And maybe its not cool, but though he never bullies Eddie, he does not stop his friends from doing it. He knows Eddie can handle himself. He dates strings of girls, hoping someone will love him the same that he loves them. He thought he found that with Nancy, but soon he realized that his love was bullshit to her too. And it killed him.

After high-school, it hurt him to find out his kids, his little brother, fell in with Eddie. He played it off by being a jerk, calling Eddie a freak. But honestly, he was mad that the person he loved... and part of him still loves, the person who destroyed him gets to share some of his favorite people. It did not feel fair.

But then Spring break happened, and Vecna and he had to be face to face with Eddie for the first time since that day in the bathroom, and it brought back every emotion, good and bad. And then he saved Eddie, carried him out of the Upside-Down. He stayed by his side in the hospital room, and helped him when he was finally sent home a month later. And one day, two months after everything went down, when they were alone in Eddie's trailer(Steve often helped Eddie get around as he healed when Wayne was at work), Steve asked, "Are we going to talk about it?"

Part 2 (Eddie's POV here)

Part 3

Part 4

[skrs-cats]

I have reread sunrise (the first actual wc book I've ever owned) and it's been WILD reliving a few of my memories with all the made up stuff I've accumulated in brainrot over the three, now I have all these thoughts that I have to vomit out. Aka a REALLY LONG incomprehensible ramble post abt the ending book of po3. Mostly about lionblaze though. I'm sory

*IDK how many times I've mentioned this, but chapter 1 starting out w lion leaving the df for good and beating tigerstar in a fight ALWAYS makes me wonder how things would have been affected if he just straight up went for the killing blow. I've only ever read books 1-5 once, so I don't have the best memory, but I think it's interesting to note that tigerstar managed to actually injure him, and lion was scared that if he died here he'd be dead for real, and then lion was surprised to see the wound when he woke up. I'm just wondering if these facts were first introduced here or if I just have tunnel vision towards this book (which is also true)

*'lionblaze always knew there was something wrong between him and ashfur' no shit bitch 😩😩😩😩😩 and then there's lion wondering if cats suspect him as ashfurs killer, something to do about everyone realizing how they never got along. and NOW I'm thinking about lion ending his df dream w tigerstars blood on his paws, and how that might have made the READERS suspect HIM to be the killer (leafpool prolouge chapter contributing to this supicion seeing as lion is also her kit) Only to end as a red herring when Holly is revealed to be the girlie w mascara running down her face (u can't see it clearly but my point stands)

*interesting lines about ashfurs death that I think about regarding what a warrior means for the clan (nonverbatim):

-'Ashfur never mattered this much when he was alive'

-'Ashfur's murder now made the clan determined to make him into a hero.'

*lion is posited to be the brave one of the three, in regards to physical danger and such. I am taking this character trait and cranking it up to a million

*I forgot smoky and floss existed :( IDK if they're still alive in the latest arcs but I hope they're doing ok

*brambleclaw trying 2 be nice to his kids and tell them that they can confide in him bc clearly they're all hung up about something but being denied it is funny and sad to me personally. He didn't talk w Jay, just as leaf didn't talk much w lion in this book, but I think it's given an interesting ending when in the end, its officially revealed even squirrel didn't tell him of the truth, which ends their relationship for the most part. I really do wonder how well he could have taken this if he was in on the secret from the very start.

*outside of that they sure do like to crank up the dramatics and mention bramble / squirrel as their parents any chance they get so that the three can be Emo about it like. 'THEYRE NOT MY MOTHER/FATHER.' 'WHATEVER SKILLS WE HAVE DIDNT COME FROM YOU.' 'WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH? WE'RE NOT EVEN KIN!' last one is abt leafpool which is honestly a lot. I think.

* one of the saddest parts about this book was how lonely they made purdy 😭😭😭 this poor old man. I'm glad they brought him back to the clan. But also I think they just forgot about him bc for someone being so vocal in defending Sol, he was outright just not mentioned when it was revealed Sol 'escaped'

* more lines that I think about regarding clan cats (also nonverbatim)

- Clan cats' instinctive distrust of outsiders

- why do clan cats have to think they always know what's best?

* Sol. He's just there to me ig.

* I liked jingo. I hope she's doing ok even now

*criminal how this book barely has any sibling bonding w the three when that is my blood sweat and tears. Maybes that's why I got so obsessed w the three of them being happy together bc I was STARVED.

* honeyfern 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

* call it the thunderclan bias in me but I was sorta annoyed when the three other clans walked in and told them that they should get rid of Sol or else. But also thunderclans reaction to Sol seemingly having run away is like. Giving back stolen candy to pre schooler vibes. Or something. This makes no sense I'm sorry

*I think it's interesting that Jay and Holly manage to find out who their mother is thru their own way. With the former deducing it on his own (I actually enjoyed the detective esque work he did in doing it) and Holly straight up asking leafpool. So now I propose lion being informed someway or other thru SQUIRRELFLIGHT BC I WANT FOR HER TO TALK W ANY OF THEM AND THAT LION FIINDING OUT THRU HIS SIBS WAS SO BORING OKAY I WANT HIM TO HAVE A SHOCKING REVELATION TOO-

* ahem. Also can I mention Holly confronting leaf abt who their parents were and leaf thinking it was about ashfur is so unbelievably ????? KHADHD, I'm not saying it was bad. but MAN. Talk about awkward huh

* anyways. When they all find out that leaf is their mom and then squirrel and leaf are mentioned to have looked at the three in the same familiar expression they have always had; love. And that line hurt me as much as Holly refusing to acknowledge or listen to it and running away. Lion and Jay werent against listening to what their 'mothers' had to say, but they loved Holly more than to just let her go on her own

* I always blabber about how they should have tried to talk thru their issues but man. They tried multiple times. They tried so hard. I'm not gonna specify who but they tried.

* Holly and lion changing their view of Sol in opposite ways in the two instances they meet w him is interesting but also a bit confusing. The last time we get a pov of lion is when he helped Sol escape so we don't really get a clear idea of his own thoughts anymore w everything after. That's why I can't help but just think abt him I guess

* reading Hollyleaf spiral more and more into her grief and despair sure was something.

* out of the three, jayfeather was actually the calmest in this book. Which is saying something, I think. I'm now taking this and making it my mission to have all the three of them as short tempered grumpy schmucks.

there's a lot more to talk about for me regarding these three, but I think I've used up all the words in my brain. My last thought though, is that after going through All That as an ending, it was really funny to just have this as a preview of the next book.

Also a bonus picture of what this book looks like too, sorry if it hurts u but it's testament to me on how much I adored this thing when I was younger </3

[philtstone]

40 (wake-up kisses) Peter/Gamora

i honestly couldnt tell u what this is but i had fun with it. inspired by this amazing fic, which healed something deep inside me. not really spoilers for gotg3 bc this is like, unhingedly removed from canon but also not not spoilers, if u know what i mean

The thing of it is, weirder things have definitely happened to Gamora.

Well -- to her version of Gamora, which is, to use a term, herself. The person whose mind-dream-consciousness she's trapped within is younger, and therefore has had less opportunity to experience weird shit.

Then again, Gamora thinks, there was that whole time travel thing.

"What the fuck," other her is saying. "What the fuck, what the fuck. Get out of my head!"

Ugh.

"I am trying," she says. It's a weird situation. Gamora has always been a little paranoid, to be sure, but even she can admit that her presence in this landscape is quite tangibly not an ordinary dream. She is, literally, in her own head. There are two of them, and it's crowded. She can tell. She can tell. Everyone can tell -- something is very wrong.

And it is not, strictly speaking, Gamora's fault that the fabric of space-time-reality-possibly-also-death is in utter tatters, but it's not like she isn't going to take advantage of it. Her family must be looking for her! Peter must be looking for her! Indeed, she is looking for them! She wants more than anything to be alive right now, and to hold her sister in her arms, and to help Mantis decorate her room, and to laugh over dumb jokes with Groot, and to sing tunes with Rocket, and to kiss Peter on the mouth until she forgets how to breathe and also how to feel sadness. She didn't really think about it too hard when she saw her opening. She just kind of wanted. Full body. Desperately. Death has been super sad, and also super boring.

Oh. Maybe, possibly, that could be a contributing factor to her --their -- sudden predicament. That is, the way she suddenly found herself sharing mind-space with another version of herself, who claims -- irately and with no small measure of panic -- that she was minding her own business, trying to get a decent four hours of sleep in, when she was rudely interrupted by a psychotic parasite.

"Ah!" Gamora makes a loud and offended scoffing noise. "Parasite?! I'm not a parasite, you jerk! I'm me. I'm you, goddammit!"

"No," says other her. "I'm me, and you're in my head! Get out!"

"Why don't you let me out?" she growls back, crossing her proverbial arms. It's weird. Like in a dream, she both does and doesn't have a corporeal body, right now. "You're not even supposed to be here, anyway! This is my timeline!"

"And it's my head!" snarls her counterpart, in a way that is really infuriating if only for the fact that she, Gamora, snarls that way. Who does this idiot think she is, doing it the same?

"Fine," Gamora says to herself. "This is fine. Listen. You wake up from your dream, but when you wake up, instead of being you, you're going to be me. Alright? We understand each other. It'll be fine, because you are me."

"I am not you," snaps ... well, her. "You are dead. You are a weird imposter who has been made up by your crazy friends. You have all these -- these insane experiences and stupid memories! And now they're in my head. I knew I shouldn't have hung around those weirdos for so long --"

Gamora's mouth has dropped open. "Excuse me," she says. "My memories are not stupid. What have you got to offer, death and sadness?"

Other Gamora seems to take great offense at this. "I have great memories!" she yells. "They are very -- pleasant! I feel good things when I think of them!"

Hmph. Please. Gamora was there, okay? So what if there are some new ones sprinkled into the mix. She doesn't have time to explore them now, she's got things to do. Places to be. Peters to kiss.

"Maybe it's a scientific issue," she muses, aloud. "If we got Rocket to zap you with something --"

"I am not being zapped!"

"I would wake up. From this weird dream."

"You are the weird dream!"

She hums to herself; uncomfortably, a small voice at the back of her mind wonders if she really did used to be this transparently aggressive, but she dismisses it, as she has more pressing priorities right now. Animation, for example. Living. Breathing air. Kissing Peter, that is definitely up there.

"Maybe if you pinched yourself," Gamora says. "Oh -- ow!"

Other her looks far too vindictive for her own good. Asshole, Gamora thinks, at the same time her younger self says, "Asshole," aloud.

Well, technically not aloud, as all of this is taking place in her head.

"Stop reminding me," other Gamora grits out.

"Maybe you need to find a tear in space, like a blackhole." That seems too Herculean a task. "Or it's an amnesia thing." No; it's a multiverse, unfortunately. And Gamora refuses to believe she ever used to be such a dick. "Maybe I'm being reincarnated. Denarian Dey once said his cousin believed in that stuff."

Annoyingly, other her has now decided to deliberately ignore her, and is refusing to respond, but instead glaring angrily into the middle distance, which Gamora is realizing is the ugly brown wall of her own bedroom.

Wait -- this is not Gamora's bedroom. Maybe it's just what it looks like in the dream.

"It is mine," over-articulates her evil twin. "And stop calling me that!"

Wait -- but she's just had a brainwave! Evil twins are something that happen in fairytales -- those mythical narratives Peter would relay, that he was told through audiovisual tradition during his childhood on Earth. In Terran myths, the woman trapped asleep in her own body could be awoken with true love's kiss!

Her other self, stuck in this state with her, responds to the slow evolution of this brainwave with a slowly-increasing, compressed, red-hot anger.

"I got it!" Gamora says excitedly, ignoring herself. "Peter can just kiss me awake! He does it all the time -- it'll be easy."

"OH," yells her other self, "WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP!"

Gamora freezes. Through her own muddled emotions she feels the keen and sudden prick of overwhelming negative emotion, so visceral she cannot help but real back. She wasn't expecting such a whole-hearted roar of anger, at any rate.

"What is your problem?" she asks, angrily.

"My problem?" Eyes flashing, tense, curled in towards herself, the bitter tang of something deep within her belly ... "My problem? I just want to live my own stupid life! I'm not you! You're the -- the -- the weird audiovisual myth!"

Gamora blinks, sifting her way through three layers of her own muddled emotions.

A stuttering wave of gentleness seeps into her fingers.

Yes, her younger self was aggressive, and angry, but never more so than when she was jealous, envious, confronted by everything she yearned, so close but so impossibly out of reach.

"Oh," says Gamora.

She feels herself turn away, in this weird dream that is not a dream.

It's still a fucking mess, she thinks. But maybe she can learn to be a little kinder to herself.

"I'm sorry," she says.

Uncomfortably, other Gamora jerks her chin. Then softens by an increment. Then shrugs. Then, finally --

Looks suddenly and oddly guilty.

"Thanks," she says.

"Don't mention it," says Gamora.

"Uh, it's just. Well. About the magical morning kiss thing. I ... might have broken up with him."

And, very instantaneously, all thoughts of self-kindness fly out of Gamora's head.

"You WHAT?!"

[xanthiccircuitry]

From the Emotionally Intense Prompts post, here's

"How bad is it this time?"

Fandom Megaman X -> Megaman Zero; Pairing: ZeroX; Words: 2,339; Status: Complete; Happy ending tag

Summary: X wakes up, which is confusing considering he was dead. It would take time and considerable resources to resurrect him, something that he didn't think anyone would have when he died. There could really only be one reason for that.

Story under the cut!

Light flooded in, a flash of a booting screen, a quick runthrough of primary objectives, and then the view of a lab ceiling snapped into place.

X blinked– blinked.

He lifted his hands and stared for a moment. His original hands– or a replica of them. He shut his eyes again, he was awake, alive, and in a body that appeared like the one he lost. There really could only be one reason for that.

"How bad is it this time?" He spoke aloud, his voice was smooth, this was a brand-new vocalizer.

"Oh, well…good morning, X." The person sounded surprised that he wasn't more confused or asking different questions and he sat up and had a look at who'd rebuilt him.

"Good morning." He stood up out of his pod and couldn't help but take a moment to stretch. Ugh, it felt great to be in his original body. There was so much room. Before the "new" new generation of reploids after the Cyber Elf War, he wouldn't have considered himself a big reploid, but he definitely was in comparison. He settled and flicked his eyes over the person standing by a holoscreen.

While small, they seemed almost "normal", which was a bit of a shock. How long had it been? Better yet, why would they look as they had before rather than continuing along the path of refinement? He guessed they were still smaller than him, but not nearly so much.

"So? What's wrong? Why did you rebuild me?" He asked, firm and serious, he'd satisfy his curiosity later, right now he needed to focus on whatever was bad enough that someone had taken the time and considerable effort to rebuild him.

They flushed.

"Oh, um, uh…" They nervously looked down, turning a darker, hotter red, "I'm sorry– I thought you'd be less intense than Zero but you think there's something wrong and you're so serious!"

X tilted his head, he didn't quite understand what was going on but he recognized that his "mission mode" was scaring the smaller…uh, reploid (?).

"Sorry, I can be stiff at times." He put on a smile and reached out his hand, "My name is X, what's yours?"

They looked from his hand up to his face and turned an even darker red before they tentatively reached out and shook his hand.

"My name is Sakura. I'm, um, I'm part of the Legend Restoration team. There's, uh, not a crisis. Gosh, there hasn't been a crisis in… Uh, definitely longer than I've been alive.. you're back just to…be back. That's what we do, we restore old reploids and robots– mostly famous ones, like you, because it's easier to get a hold of the necessary memories to reestablish– oh, sorry, that won't make any sense to you." Sakura explained and X lifted a brow. Really? That sounded amazing, but…

"So you brought me back just so I could enjoy a peaceful world?" He asked and she brightened with a nod.

"Essentially! You're a Legend! Everyone will be so happy to be able to see you!" Sakura said brightly and X felt uneasy with the wording.

"Am I a.. showpiece?"

Sakura's mouth hung open for a moment and then shut.

"Um, no, not like that. But everyone knows the legend of X and, of course, there will be some desire for publicity… The museum has a place for you to stay and there aren't Maverick Hunters anymore so I'm sure you'd like to keep busy.." Sakura kept talking and X was somehow more and less confused as she did– but he was getting the idea that he was in fact a showpiece, or maybe an exhibit.

His powercore throbbed a bit, being a showpiece probably wouldn't be so bad, he was a public face and liaison before, the attention wouldn't particularly bother him, he didn't think. But what he really wanted to know, what he was hoping for, what would make it worth it was–

"Zero too?"

Sakura looked at him and then down and away.

"They said that you might ask about him… He's another reploid on the Legend project, yes." She said and X's brows quirked. There was something wrong.

"The soul has to be willing and he isn't?" X asked, his gut clenching, reploids having souls was a whole debate for another time but he himself had always had a desire to see peace, but he had always known Zero to reconcile his decisions before he made them, setting all conflicting feelings away– when he was ready to lay down his life, he did it while at peace.

Sakura's eyes went wide.

"Oh! No! That's not the issue! The issue is– well, I don't– we don't– uh…" She looked down,

"He's not great with waking up." She fiddled with an object she pulled from her pocket while X calmly watched.

"Can you explain?"

"Well he's been rebuilt into his "version two" body but has been known– from his legend– to wake up fighting and we–we're not, um, fighters. I don't think even our biggest security guard could do anything close to stand up to him long enough to try and calm him down. We've done everything to try and mitigate the response but the calculations still indicate that he'll wake up aggressive." Her voice was small and X couldn't help a small chuckle coming from his chest, shaking his head.

"He's been through a lot, leaping into combat mode wouldn't be a leap of logic to make– but Zero is just calm as I am." X said, "He woke up poorly once, but after that he only fought when he had to."

Sakura looked like she didn't believe him in the slightest.

"Dahte is rarely wrong." She said measuredly and X did his best to hide a pulsing desperation in his chest. He wanted Zero. He wanted him more than anything else he could think of.

"If you're concerned, I'd be glad to be there. I can handle him if he's upset, he–."

"We're trying both Iris and Ciel to see if the familiar faces will help, there's data suggesting that he had intense and possibly romantic feelings for them." Sakura said, looking at a smaller holoscreen and X strangled back a sharp reply and merely smiled.

"I've known him longer and, with all due respect, neither of them could handle if he was violent." He leaned into the fears of Zero's violence a bit, feeling hot irritation and maybe some intense prickles of jealousy flush through him.

He shouldn't be jealous, he knew what they had was strong, even if Zero forgetting he ever existed was intensely painful. Zero's memories had been a bit like when you damage a computer and salvage it back into a stable state, everything was there but the details were…lost. His strongest memories would be those of the events after he woke up in the future in his new body. But Zero had known him by the end, he was sure Zero had loved him then, too.

Zero had been the last thing on X's mind when he'd died. Unfortunately…X didn't know if he'd been the last thing on Zero's mind.

But

But he was sure that his relationship with Zero was deeper and longer than absolutely anyone else combined. Sakura considered him and smiled.

"Of course I want you there, you two are a 'Pair'! People will be ecstatic if they get to see the two of you together." Sakura said and X nodded.

"Let's go then, it's– I want to see him. I've missed him." X didn't mention that he also missed touching him. Not being able to do so had almost killed him before.

It didn't really matter that Zero was locked and sleeping in a pod, it still made him happy. For a moment it was like nothing had ever happened at all– well, except maybe Zero detonating himself to save him– and they could pick up where they left off back when they were just a pair of relatively low-rank Hunters.

"Oh, wow, X." X stiffened up and turned around to see Iris and Ciel.

"I've never seen you like this." Ciel remarked while Iris chuckled.

"Long time no see." Iris said and he nodded to them.

"Yeah."

"It's nice to see you smile." Ciel said kindly and he nodded again.

"Same to you." He said, a bit stiff. He'd wanted to be alone with Zero.

"In hindsight, X, you were right. It would've been a lot easier to just go into Maverick Hunter HQ and answer questions than have the whole Repliforce be considered Maverick. …And to not fight Zero." Iris said softly, a bit of an awkward topic. Because what else did they really have to say just on sight?

"It's always easier to see mistakes after they've happened. You were distraught." X replied and she nodded.

"You always were really nice. I guess you're here to see your partner wake up, huh? They said he might be aggressive, I'll be glad to have you nearby." Iris said cheerily. She was trying to be nice but it grated against his nerves. He had to breathe out the irrational jealousy while Ciel watched the whole exchange with her large eyes.

"It's good to see Zero's sacrifice come to fruition." Ciel said, also stiff, seeming upset and X wondered what had happened to her. What had happened at all since the last time he was conscious? How'd they get here?

"Yeah." X had to say, it was a bit infuriating for everyone to gloss over the fact that he had also sacrificed himself and done a lot. It didn't really matter now. All there was now was a future where he was alive, there was peace, and he was about to have Zero again.

"Is everyone ready?" Sakura called from where she was with another person with 'Layla' picked out on her white coat. X straightened and went to Zero's side.

"I've been ready."

"Here we go!"

The pod flashed and beeped a few times before opening and revealing Zero to the open air. He glowed for a few moments before it faded and he saw Zero twitch just the slightest bit.

He opened his eyes slowly, that bright, summery blue unfocused and almost sleepy. X lifted his hand to take Zero's, opening his mouth to say something when both femmes bounced up with big smiles.

"Zero!"

"Your eyes are so bright like this!"

The blond lifted his head and looked confused, brows pinching together as the femmes started chatting him up, both immediately regaling him with memories and cheery welcomes and how they were glad to see him. He propped up on his elbows, glancing between them and actually looking…a bit uncomfortable, his expression never shifting from his standard, stoic frown save for his brows being pinched.

X shifted to the base of the pod and Zero's attention was suddenly caught by him. He lifted his head to look at him and his brows lifted, then he smiled.

Smiled.

Not just any smile. The same smile he used to get when Zero was shy but happy to see him–one he hadn't seen in hundreds of years.

Zero got up, heedless of the others, and stood just a mere few inches from X.

"It's been a long time since we looked like this." Zero said, his voice low and soft. X nodded, lifting his hand, where Zero caught it and held it with a squeeze.

"Glad you decided to remember me this time." X said and Zero chuckled– a warm, beautiful sound coming from him. It made X all soft on the inside when Zero did that, rare as it was.

"If I had the choice, I'd never have forgotten." Then his hand was warm on his jaw and a familiar pair of lips slid against his own and his chest ached with love. It melted into these stars and sparklers of joy as Zero slid his arm around his waist and he wrapped his arms around the blond's neck.

He sighed out through his nose as Zero squeezed him extra close, trading soft kisses back and forth before a long, deep one that made his boot tips numb.

"Y'know, I did always think X and Zero were awfully close." Iris commented to Ciel, who nodded.

"This makes a lot of other things make a whole lot more sense."

"Oh. When they said to restore the Legend Pair X and Zero, I don't think this is what they meant." Layla said to Sakura, who hid a laugh.

"Somehow I don't think they'll mind."

They broke and pressed their crystals together, glowing warmly.

"I love you and I'm sorry." Zero murmured and X rubbed their crystals together, sharing some soft electrical pulses.

"I love you too." X replied, "We did everything we could and it worked. You don't have to apologize for that."

Zero pulled back and cupped his jaw, blue eyes sad.

"You say that, but I know what I did. And I know you were lonely for a long, long time." He murmured and X swallowed down a tidal wave of words.

"Everything is over. We've been resurrected as part of a restoration project of some kind. We're "Legends"; sounds like we're a museum exhibit." X said instead of anything else and Zero nodded, accepting it without question– or maybe he had a lot of questions but he wasn't asking X, not when he was able to hold him and not have to worry.

"Yes! (Well you're not an exhibit per se) You two are actually a "Legend Pair". There's other notable pairs that we've 'restored' already– you might know "Rock" and "Roll"– especially you, X, since you're 'Megaman' too!" Layla said excitedly.

"Mmm, yeah I don't think they're listening." Sakura said with a soft laugh at the mechs looking into one another's eyes and nothing else,

"Guess my data was wrong." Sakura hummed thoughtfully and Layla elbowed her.

"So was Dahte. He didn't even breathe aggressively." Layla grinned, "And you owe me a tea for you both being wrong."

"Fine. Rose or lavender?" Sakura sighed.

"I think we're being stared at." X said softly and Zero's lips pulled into a little smirk that he was familiar with– just from a long time ago.

"I don't care if the whole world watches." And then X was being kissed again.

[keefwho]

October 21 - 2023 Saturday

10:45am

My life doesn't have to be a tragedy.

12:27pm

I find myself doing a lot of talking here and not enough doing. Thats always been the problem. Thats what I'm doing right now, I'm basically just here to complain about the same old feelings and problems again. Not that they are especially acute right now. It just gets agonizing living in the same self made minor hell. It's like I'm never truly happy or I never truly feel secure. There's always something eating away at me, a feeling of dread and failure. Maybe I base my self opinion too much on what I'm doing and not enough on how hard I'm trying. And maybe I'm also not trying hard enough, not enough to make me proud of myself. Really all I can do it my best but I'm not even doing that right now. I'm wallowing, I wallow a lot. I want to be sad and helpless because deep down it's how I've learned to get the human connection I crave. But it doesn't even give me that, it gives me sympathy that I can't even appreciate because I'm literally not trying to get out of it. Even when I'm brutally honest with myself about this fact, I keep doing it. Thats what makes me feel like I'm broken. I know the problem but I haven't been able to make it go away. It's like I can't change. But I know if I keep trying, something will click.

I just took a hit and I'm going to do Inktober while it kicks in. Then I planned to play Legendary Tales until I sober up. This is something I wanted to do yesterday, I want to get immersed in this game for awhile. I think it'll be fun. I want this.

Also I admit this time I'm getting high because I'm trying to avoid my feelings right now. I shouldn't do that and don't intend to make a habit out of it. I'm just trying not to do the same thing I do every weekend.

12:01am

This morning I woke up with Daisy in call. It didn't last long though, she had to do some chores on her own. Right after, I showered and made sausage with rice, an oatmeal cookie, and a pear cup for breakfast. After that mom took me to Seeley to pick up a pumpkin at the store. I also got a meat stick and some gummy worms. And chips. I fumbled at the checkout multiple times but I didn't feel too awkward about it, they were honest mistakes and I was just trying to figure out what I did wrong. That cashier wasn't having it though, I'm upset I had to be "that" customer.

When I got home I took a small hit and did Inktober which it hit in the middle of. I had planned to dungeon crawl and I did but I spent a good half hour watching a youtube video about exploring dead games. When I did dungeoning I hung out in David's server and listened to them talk about drama that happened last night were someone had snapped at everyone and it was apparently a very big deal. I didn't really say anything, I was just there. I got off to make homemade soup for lunch which turned out good, 6/10 at least. Daisy was free towards the end of that so we hung out until I was done eating and carved pumpkins together. We watched Over the Garden Wall while carving. I attempted nightmare moon's moon and Daisy did a generic celestial design. Her's turned out great, mine was very rough. Mom was even questioning what it was supposed to be. Maybe tomorrow I can tidy it up with this machine mom has that's like a drill so I can smooth out the inner edges. When we were done she went to pick up her mom at the airport. I opened a drink and watched twitch/played TOTK untill she got back. I switched over to dungeoning and we hung out until bedtime.

Today I felt very depressed and was worried it would affect others, thats why I didn't speak in the group VC earlier. I also didn't want to affect Daisy's night so I didn't say anything about it. All day though I just wanted to talk about it because I feel insecure. I want to make sure I'm accepted even when I'm depressed about dumb things even though I know the answer already. Maybe I'm just farming sympathy though. I try not to bring anything up unless it's prompted. I'm just so out of touch with myself lately. I don't understand myself so I fail to understand others. I lowkey hate myself so I lowkey hate others. I feel alone because I am, I'm locked in my own mind behind my own defense mechanisms. I always feel like talking about it will make it better, especially with the person it directly effects. But I'm not sure it does, at least for very long. I'm always afraid I'm only doing damage to the relationship like I subconsciously try to do constantly. Is this just another way to intentionally destroy everything?

[emile-hides]

Last night I was overwhelmed with the need to talk about my headcanons for what the DR1 and SDR2 kids relationships in regular high school would be so here’s that.

This is some magic AU where Junko acts like a normal god damn person and is more like how Mukuro played her at the start of DR1, so everyone gets a nice, normal high school life.

If you have your own ideas please share them with me, I’m having a lot of fun. And if you want head cannons for a specific character send an ask and I’ll totally have some for you.

The school allows Students to make their own clubs, allowing ultimates to merge interests and get to know one another and their hobbies better.

Nagito joins every club to learn more about Ultimates abilities.

Kiyotaka runs the Student Council, he is the president

Chirio is the Vice President, though most of her job is helping Taka clean

Byakuya is the treasurer and does not show up for many meetings

Mondo is part of the council but doesn’t do much aside from sleep at Taka’s desk

Nagito takes time/notes during meetings

Teruteru made a cooking/baking club almost instantly.

The members of Teru’s cooking club are: Aoi, Sakura, Taka, Akane, Nekomaru, Nagito, and Mondo.

Teruteru learns very quickly he’s not only the ultimate cook, he may very well be the only person in the school who can cook at all.

Sakura makes very good, and extremely adorable, traditional Japanese sweets.

Akane and Nekomaru get too fired up and by that I mean they light a stove top on fire and burn everything

Taka follows every recipe to the letter and while that’s practically okay it really takes the joy out of cooking for Teru to watch

Mondo also is good at sweets, he’s also pretty good at candy art, mostly chocolates

Nagito lit his hoodie on fire once and the very next day made a perfect apple crumble and shared it with his whole class

Leon and Ibuki started a school band.

Nagito can’t play an instrument but joins anyway

Leon also cannot play an instrument

Celeste joins for the sole purpose of playing a black rose pattered violin

Sonia also joins and also plays violin

They go from punk rock to classical very quickly and Leon complains about it constantly

Chihiro and Kazuichi started a robotics club together

They’ve built basic machines together and are working on a full scale working butler bot

They use Nekomaru as a model

Minimaru exists but he was immediately stolen by Akane

They talk hit-tech nerdy jumbo that hardly anyone else can understand

Byakuya joined their robots club due to interest. He’s not an active member, but he pays for what the school won’t and has put the Togami brand on everything they create

Neither of them really want him there, but he’d buy them an atom bomb if they asked so...

Mahiru started a girl’s only reading club specifically to try and get Toko out of her shell

Sakura really enjoys book club and comes to every meeting

Aoi joined just because of Sakura and very rarely reads the book they’re assigned

Nagito begs and begs until Mahiru let’s him in. He immedetly gets his book eaten by a dog

Chihiro is also in the club and has a lot of fun

As you can guess, anywhere Mahiru goes, Hiyoko goes as well. She behaves herself for the club

Sakura, with Aoi’s encouragement, starts an Exercise club

They do morning exercises in the gym every day before breakfast and meet after school to try and new form of self defense

The club members are exactly who you think it’s be: Sakura, Aoi, Taka, Peko, Akane, Nekomaru, and Nagito

Fuyu and Mondo sit in on practice very often

They teach each other different forms of self defense and martial arts

They also all spar and encourage each other

It’s really a wonder to see and a lot of students sit in on their club activities from time to time

They have to be careful though. If Nekomaru catches you, you join the club activities for the day

Teruteru has repeatedly been dragged into club activities

Gundham, Hifumi, and Celeste are best friends, no one knows how this happened

Gundham and Celeste are cut throat rivals and no one is really sure why

Celeste detests Sonia to an extreme and is passive aggressively very vocal about it.

Nagito and Hiro are instant best friends and have deep talks on all sorts of conspiracy theories

Hiro is, somehow, almost always right when reading Nagito’s future

Mukuro was actually the first person to be nice to Mikan, thus leading Mikan to follow her around like a lost puppy. Junko thinks this is hilarious

Chihiro and Peko are very close friends. Peko has commented serveral times comparing Chihiro to a small animal, most likely a squirrel or a mouse

People outside the school think Chihito and Fuyu would make the world’s cutest couple, while also being easily the most dangerous. They’re considered a power couple who could easily rule the world

Fuyu hates these people and takes his anger out on Chihiro like the Tsundere he is

Leon and Junko dated for all of about 2 weeks

Leon has also tried to date Ibuki but she turned him down. They’re still rock buddies though

He has, sense then, asked out pretty much every girl in the school at least once

Hiro, being a legal adult, has bought adult magazines for Teruteru and Kazuichi before but he makes them share them

You’d think because there’s two of them, the Ultimate Lucky Students would hang out all the time, but Makoto actually find Nagito a little much and tends to avoid him

Nagito actively HATES Makoto and is convinced he somehow cheated his way into the school

Mahiru, Hiyoko, Aoi, Chihiro, Sakura, and Toko all hang out and have girl’s days

Hiyoko and Toko have a very hateful friendship and are almost always right next to each other

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

Hi!! This blog is a life saver, I love it so much, thank you for all the hard work you do!! I was wondering if you knew of any fics that tackled Derek’s issues with consent? like him and Stiles navigating a new relationship etc?? Any help would be amazing!!

Yeah!

Baby, Even On Our Worst Nights (I'm Into You) by Kareh

(1/1 I 1,326 I Teen)

‘Are you sure?’ Derek mumbles, ‘That this is – that you want this? Forever? Me?’ What? Stiles hadn’t been expecting that. In the six years they’d been together, every anniversary of the Hale fire had gone differently. There’d been tears, full blown rages, stony silence, acting like it’d never happened, breakdowns... But it'd never been like this.

In which Derek and Stiles have been together for six years and they're engaged but Derek is insecure and he doesn't understand why Stiles is with him and Stiles is like dude wtf have you seen ur ass i mean damn

That's Just How The Game Is Played by sottovoce81

(1/1 I 2,432 I Not Rated)

Then some lady at the store gives him that look. Like Kate. Her eyes are interested, and her grin is predatory, and Derek just knows she wants him. So he thinks to himself if he initiates it maybe it won’t leave him feeling so wrong. So he does. He lifts an eyebrow and pretends to want to look at her. She smiles and he thinks of predators in the wild, baring their teeth at prey.

He’s never understood why people can take one look at someone and want to have sex. But then, maybe it’s just something that’s broken in him. So he pretends to understand. Better to pretend than admit something’s wrong...right?

Derek’s Holiday Blues by sterekismyotp24

(1/1 I 5,271 I Explicit)

Derek is depressed at Christmas, blaming himself for the Hale fire and stuck in his own head, until Stiles finds him and gets him out of the peak of his depression on Christmas Day.

With Delayed Expression by Idday

(1/1 I 10,397 I Mature)

"I have… well… she said that she thinks that I maybe have… PTSD?”

The line goes so dead that Derek almost thinks Stiles hung up on him. He waits eight very quiet seconds, and says softly, “Stiles?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Stiles says, breath whooshing back over the phone line.

“I have PTSD,” Derek says more firmly. It’s the first time he’s said it out loud, not as a question. It hasn’t really seemed real, until now. He’d spent the whole of his last session arguing that Tamara was wrong about him, and saying it out loud is like admitting it’s true. “Post-traumatic stress dis—”

“I know what it means,” Stiles interrupts, “I just didn’t think I’d heard right. Oh my God.”

walk me down your broken line by geordielover

(1/1 I 18,411 I Explicit)

The kissing. That’s important, very important. Not that the homicidal lycanthrope dragging him through dirt and fallen leaves isn’t important, but the kiss that follows? The path to this monumental push of lips on lips began even before this ill-fated venture to the Hale house.

The douchebag manhandling him through the forest, hand clamped tight around Stiles’s throat to keep him from screaming, is just a bonus.

The Unicorn In Me by Emela 

(1/1 I 18,570 I Explicit)

Derek touches a Unicorn and it doesn't try to kill him, despite the fact he is no longer a virgin. When Peter tells the pack about Kate, Stiles makes it his mission to give Derek the kind of relationship he deserves.

Soul Sparked by sapphireginger

(15/? I 40,449 I Mature)

Everyone is born with a mate. The only clue that each person gets is a soul mark that makes its first appearance on their tenth birthday. The mark interacts with each person because they are a piece of the person, they will one day bond with. Derek has always longed for his mate after seeing his mama and papa so happy together and hearing the story of how they met. When he gets his soul mark it's the happiest day of his life. Then comes a day when the mark no longer brings him happiness and hope as it once did. Instead, he's reminded of the so-called loves that didn't work and he no longer wants to be reminded. So, when he turns eighteen, he takes a friend up on the offer to rid him of the mark which is legal once a person reaches that age. Derek had no way of knowing what effects his mate would endure because it was supposed to be painless.

When Rome's in Ruins (We are the Lions) by Kedreeva

(14/14 I 209,089 I Explicit)

Humankind has turned arena battles between supernatural creatures into its largest form of entertainment. Stiles Stilinski is a well-known warden who comes to arena-fighter Derek Hale to make him an offer.

As Ordered by KattsEyeDemon, seekeronthepath

(117/? I 608.801 I Explicit)

During the year in which they turn eighteen, all American citizens are tested to find where they fall on the Dom-sub scale and are assigned to a Dom - either to mentor them as they learn how to be a Dom themselves, or to look after them and make sure their needs as a submissive are met. When Stiles tests as a sub, he’s assigned to Derek Hale, and the two of them gradually learn to rely on and love each other.

[bbyheedeungie]

Fluttering Machinery | Robot! Sunghoon AU

Genre: Fluff, mild angst

Pairings: Robot! Sunghoon x Reader

Warnings: Character death, little suggestive content

Synopsis: Sunghoon was a humanoid built by your father, with the sole purpose of taking care of you once he passes away. But it seems like taking care of you came with discovering emotions that wasn't necessary for cooking, cleaning, and keeping you safe. What is this warm fuzzy feeling that resonates deep inside Sunghoon's mechanism?

It's been months. 6 dreadful months since your father has passed away. The doctors have warned you that he didn't have much time left, but that didn't make the goodbyes hurt any less.

You were 4 years old when your mom left you and your father for another guy. A more successful guy. Your father was bright, with an insatiable hunger for discovery and invention. But his field of work didn't always bring food to the table. And so on most days you had to, well, compromise.

But you loved your father so much, and still do. Although you didn't grow up to be a scientist like him, you knew the basics on automation and robotics. You were 11 years old when you first saw it, the humanoid that he worked on for years came to life before your own very eyes.

He had no skin nor face that made him look human yet. Just a chunk of metal with a head, arms and legs that moved mechanically. Nevertheless, you will never forget the joy and pride in your fathers' face as he watched his creation. The humanoid was a work in progress and you knew one day he's going to change the world. Unbeknownst to you, he was going to change your world.

And now here you are, years into the present as you stood infront of the humanoid who had his eyes shut. Yep, he's a he now. He is Humanoid SH-1282. Your father made him for the purpose of serving the community, to help people. But when he discovered his illness, he started making alterations to his design. He made SH-1282 to serve as the perfect companion, but only to you.

He filled the humanoid's hard drive with everything that he'll need to help you and take care of you. He input cooking, cleaning, and even martial arts. You sighed, remembering your father's last words.

"I'm gonna leave him in your care now, err leave you in his care or whatever. Take good care of each other okay? I love you both so much."

You were such a crybaby, holding on to your father's arm as the nurses were ushering you to wait outside because the doctors are about to perform surgery.

"You'll be okay." Your father mouthed as he smiled knowingly in content.

You reach for the humanoid's neck to find the power button, finally deciding to activate him after holding it off for months.

You held your breath as his eyes open, immediately scanning his surroundings. His eyes land on you, a smile forms on his lips.

"Hi, I'm SH-1282. It's nice to finally meet you, Y/N." He said naturally, offering his hand. If you didn't know any better, you would think he was a normal boy.

You let out a shaky breath as you accept his hand. He frowns, it seems like he is studying your facial expression and posture.

"You seem like you are in distress. Are you alright?" He asks in concern.

"Yeah, I am." You reply weakly.

"Will a hug improve your mood?" He asks. He was programmed to know about the benefits of physical intimacy, but he was also programmed to know consent and so he will not do anything unless you want to.

You contemplated, biting your lip.

"No, thank you." He simply nods, stepping out of his charging port.

"Will you show me around the house?" He asks and you nod.

"Damn this feels so awkward." You think to yourself.

"So here's the living room." You say as SH-1282 takes a good look around the area, his eyes falling to the dirty coffee table with tons of papers stacked messily. The couch looked greasy, with breadcrumbs stuck to the sides of the couch cushions. He scrunches his nose, involuntarily adding a new emotion to his database: disgust.

And as you led him to the kitchen, this emotion intensifies as he sees the containers of Chinese takeouts and cup ramen littered around the counter. He walks to the fridge and finds it empty except for a carton of milk that you put into your cereal for breakfast.

This awakens another emotion for the humanoid, frustration. He pinches the bridge of his nose as he contemplates on what to do with the mess, aka you.

"This won't do. You have been living unhealthily which may reduce your chances of living a long life."

You scoff, "Excuse me?" He gives you a dead stare, an eyebrow raised.

"No, excuse me while I clean up all this. I'll leave you to your own devices, thank you for showing me around today." He says sassily as he goes to find where you hide your cleaning utensils. You stood there dumbfounded.

"Unbelievable." But you let him be anyway. He wasn't wrong, you've been a total mess this past few months but that was all because of the grief. You basically had no family now.

And so for the rest of the day, you lock yourself in your room and do homework. About 5pm, you hear a soft knock at your door.

"Hello, it's me. Can you spare me a minute? I have something to ask of you." You inwardly groan, not really wanting to face the humanoid.

"Can you accompany me to get groceries? I swear this will only happen one time. It is only because I am not yet accustomed to my location. But after I mentally note the directions, you won't have to come with me next time." He didn't really want to bother you, but he knew that going out by himself and getting lost will be much more bothersome for you.

"Sure thing, just let me change into— oh no, you have no other clothes. It's kinda chilly outside today." You mentally facepalm yourself. Why didn't I go shopping for men clothes first before activating him?

"That is fine, I am immune to any temperature." He says as-a-matter-of-fact. You roll your eyes.

"I know that but people will probably get suspicious to see a man walking around in a shirt and jeans when everybody else has coats on. We need you to fit in as much as possible."

You search for your father's old coat that you refused to throw away even months after he's passed.

"Sorry dad, but he kinda needs this right now." And so you dress the humanoid in your oversized university sweatshirt (which surprisingly fits him perfectly) and your father's old coat.

"How do I look? Will I fit in now?" He asks as he scans his appearance in the mirror.

"You look—" absolutely breathtaking. You had every urge to slap yourself. Your father really didn't play around when he made the humanoid's face. He could pass up as an idol. And the cute little mole on his nose was a good addition to his features that made him even more realistic.

"Great. People won't suspect a thing."

The two of you head out. Contrary to your expectations that he would marvel at everything he sees outside, he just casually looks around. You ride the bus together, and the humanoid processes everything that you do, noting how everything works.

What caught you by surprise though, is how he immediately stands up in instinct to let an old lady sit down in his place. He sure was programmed with manners and chivalry. You smiled at the thought.

You made your way inside the grocery store, only intended to grab a basket but the humanoid insisted on a push cart.

"We have so much to buy, I've taken a mental note of everything we'll need." You simply roll your eyes and let him push the cart around as you wandered behind him. You look around as he reads the nutritional facts of every single thing he sees.

"This is definitely going to take a while." You muttered.

"Y/N? Is that you?" A voice squealed. You hissed and attempted to turn away, pretending you didn't see her. The humanoid saw how you reacted and swiftly rushed to your side in a protective stance. The stranger eyes the humanoid, her eyes sparkling at the sight of such a gorgeous man.

"Why hello there. Y/N you didn't tell me you've been busy with your boyfriend, we haven't hung out in a while." Both of your eyes widened at the misunderstanding.

"Oh, no he's not— we aren't—" You tried to explain but she just laughed out loud.

"Look how flustered you are. You know what, it's okay. But we have a lot of catching up to do!" She said, squishing your cheeks in a playful manner.

"So what's your name, handsome stranger?" She asks, turning to the confused humanoid.

"I'm S—"

"Sunghoon! His name is Sunghoon." You blurted out. Sunghoon was the name of your childhood crush when you were like 7 but that'll have to do. Unfortunately, it seems that the humanoid got even more confused.

"I am Y/N's—"

"Neighbor. He lives next door to my apartment. I was just showing him around because he just recently moved into the city." You say quickly. She can't know that you're living with a guy. Even if said guy wasn't human.

"Awww how sweet of you to go shopping with your neighbor." She said, winking at you. She's definitely not convinced.

"I'm Yeonmi, Y/N's friend." She introduced, offering her hand to Sunghoon. He took her hand reluctantly.

"You mean my super obnoxious friend." You roll your eyes.

"Shut up, you love me." She teased. Admittedly, you've been avoiding her for months now. Ever since your father passed, it was as if you didn't want to deal with anyone anymore, with the fear of being left behind again. So you shut everyone out. You know it was a very selfish move and must've made everyone worry, but you have yet to figure out how to fix things back to how it is.

You said your goodbyes not without a long, tight hug from Yeonmi and Sunghoon noticed from his scanners how your vitals greatly improved from it. This made him feel another new emotion: relief. He was very thankful for your friend who made you feel better.

You continue venturing down the aisle of food, and you find the humanoid smiling to himself. He notices your attention on him and he shakes his head, as if shrugging his thoughts off.

"What?" You asked.

"You gave me a name. Although I'm unsure if it is necessary, thank you." He says genuinely as he smiles at you, your heart skipping a beat.

"You're welcome, Sunghoon." You smiled back.

He picked up lots of fruits and vegetables, with you whining the whole time. Your whines unlocked another emotion of his; annoyance.

"No wonder her father thought she is in need of taking care of, she acts like a child." He concludes, running his fingers through his hair as he lets you get an ice cream of your choice. Oddly, seeing a bright smile on your face as you show him what flavor you got seems to put him at ease.

The two of you got home at dawn, with quickly stacking up the groceries into the cabinets and fridge, with you slumping down on the now squeaky clean couch.

It had been quite a long day and you found yourself dozing off. You woke up from the light tap on your shoulder, eyes fixating on Sunghoon with your apron wrapped around his torso.

"I could get used to this." You thought, admiring how adorable the humanoid looked but quickly pushing the thoughts away.

"Sorry to wake you, it's time for dinner." He announces and you lazily nodded, not before yawning and stretching your arms.

"Uhh, what is this?" You asked, eyeing your plate.

"It's your dinner." He says nonchalantly, expecting you to start eating. Your face shows utter disgust at the plate of vegetables.

"Please don't make me eat that." You begged. Sunghoon rolls his eyes; a trait he adapted from spending just a day with you.

"Don't be dramatic, vegetables are good for you." He states, taking the plate from you and attempting to feed you.

"Come on, say ah." He says playfully. After realizing how much you acted like a child, he researched on how to take care of children and downloaded it into his database. You scrunch your nose, leaning away from the food and shooting him a glare.

"Sunghoon, I'm not a kid." You deadpanned.

"Oh, but you won't get your ice cream if you don't eat this." He says, pouting at you teasingly. He's really good at this. With a sigh, you open wide and allow him to feed you.

"Yep, definitely a kid." He thinks to himself as he smiles in satisfaction, another emotion unlocked.

That night, you decided to move his charging port (with his help) from the lab into the spare room of the apartment.

"You know, I'm completely okay with staying at the lab." He reasoned but you quickly hush him.

"Nope. That is no way to treat a person. You deserve your own room, okay? A room that you can fill with your own stuff and decorate with your own preferences. End of discussion." You sassed as you fix his charging port into place. Sunghoon blinked at you, unable to express how grateful he is of how kind you are to him.

"She wants to treat me like a real human being." He thinks, his mechanical heart overwhelmed with gratitude.

Days went on with a routine, with him cleaning all day and you attending online classes. There were occasional bumps in the road, with you getting annoyed with how much of a neat freak he is and him getting irritated with how lazy you are at taking care of yourself. You've also taught him how to watch tv, deciding not to let him use the internet yet because he might gain too much unnecessary information online.

And so on a saturday night, you sat together on the couch as you watched figure skating competitions. Sunghoon was at complete awe the whole time, studying how the skaters moved through the ice.

"I want to skate too." He states absentmindedly, attention still on the television. You smiled, thinking how it was the first time he actually said he wanted something.

"Then let's do it, let's go skating tomorrow." You say, his head immediately shot to you.

"What, really?" Sunghoon asks in disbelief, his eyes widening.

"Yes, really. Although I'm warning you, I don't know how to skate." You laughed, with him chuckling as well.

"Then we'll learn together." He promises.

What a total lie that is. He didn't need to learn, as you watched him move swiftly against the ice, the wind in his hair as he circled around, his focused eyes twinkling in the fairy lights. He looked ethereal. You could have sworn there were tears there as you cheered him on like a proud momma. Ah, they grew up so fast.

People at the park also stopped to watch Sunghoon, whispering about how talented the young man is. His eyes caught yours, and you weren't sure if you were seeing things but you thought you saw him send you a wink and smile.

"The TV been teaching him things." You muttered, blushing but not from the cold. Sunghoon skates towards you, pulling you with him. You're eyes widened in fear.

"N-no Sunghoon I can't—" but he was already leading you through the ice, eyes never leaving yours.

"You can." He whispers, taking you by the waist as he spun you around. You giddily laughed as you threw your arms out, savouring the chilly air. You didn't even notice the people watching and cooing at you as some joined in as well.

That night, Sunghoon felt something he never felt before, and you in a long time. You felt happy.

"Say aaaah~" Sunghoon said as he fed you chicken soup. You caught a cold from skating yesterday and now you're wrapped in a super cozy blanket with Sunghoon worrying about you.

"You know I can feed myself right?" You said, swallowing the food.

"I know, but I just feel responsible because I was the one who wanted to skate. You got sick because of me, and that kinda defeats my purpose because I'm supposed to be keeping you healthy." He rambled. You roll your eyes at him.

"Colds are normal, okay? Besides, I haven't had that much fun in a while. Thank you for that, Sunghoon." You say, reaching up to tussle his hair playfully. He froze, cogs in his mind unable to process as something inside him stirred, but in a pleasant way.

--

"So you dance while rubbing your body on a stranger?" Sunghoon questions, but he's not sure if he wants to know the answer. Tonight, you wore a simple black dress that teasingly showed a little bit of cleavage and a decent length of fabric that hugged tightly around your upper thighs but had a daringly high slit. Sunghoon approves and disapproves at the same time.

"Yeah, it's kinda like that. But don't worry, I won't be doing that. I'll just stay by the bar the whole time." You reassured as you struggled to put on your strappy heels. Sunghoon kneels down infront of you and helps you clasp the straps around your ankles, handling it very delicately. Your heart thumps as he looks up at you.

"Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you?" He asks for the fifth time as he follows you around the house like a puppy. You sigh, actually considering it. Although it was supposed to be a girl's night according to Yeonmi, you thought maybe having Sunghoon tag along wouldn't do harm.

But it did. It did harm to you, alright. And you wanted to harm those girls who kept on grinding their asses onto Sunghoon as slow, sexy music played. You were fuming, regretting dressing Sunghoon in such fashion that screamed big D energy. Why am I being so possessive? But then again, Sunghoon does look uncomfortable. I should go save him. Yeah, I'll do that.

"Hold my drink." You tell Yeonmi as you made your way to Sunghoon.

"You go girl! Get your man!" Yeonmi cheered drunkly.

Your train of thoughts were blurred by the alcohol as you struggled to walk straight. You had only one clear thought in mind: Sunghoon. I need to get to Sunghoon.

Sunghoon stood uncomfortably, eyeing the girls who rubbed their bossoms and derriere all over him. Is this supposed to be fun? He thinks innocently. He sees you walking towards him, swaying your hips side by side as you strode towards him like a predator.

Girls hovering around him going unnoticed as you were the only one he could see.

Stunning, beautiful. He thought.

"Hey handsome, care to dance?" You asked, pulling him to you before he could even answer. The girls spat at you, telling you to 'get in line' but you just shot them a smug look.

"Sorry ladies." Sunghoon apologized, but his smile told otherwise as he let you pull him away from them.

"You don't know how badly I wanted to get away from—" He froze in his spot as you wrap your arms around his neck, inching closer than ever before. You felt bold, but maybe that was just the alcohol in your system. And as you started moving your body against Sunghoon, you knew it wasn't just you who felt the heat. His large palms go down south, resting on your swaying hips as both of you moved to the sultry rhythm.

His mechanism was going nuts, threatening to malfunction as his sensors detected your very close proximity to him. Whatever you were playing, it was dangerous. But Sunghoon couldn't help but to want more, to desire more.

"Y/N." He whispers, and you look up at him with half lidded eyes. And damn did he find you so sexy right there, under the strobe lights. No girl in the club could ever compare.

"Home?" You suggested.

"Home." He agrees.

As you got in the cab, you immediately find yourself half straddling Sunghoon's lap as you attempt to kiss him. Luckily, Sunghoon can think clearer now and concludes that a drunk Y/N is a very horny Y/N. And though the thought that it was only the alcohol that made you want him made him feel sad, he knew it was wrong to demand such things from you.

And so with your futile attempts to get into his pants, he gently lays your head on his shoulder and hugs you to keep you still. But even that couldn't stop you from squirming to get away from his hold, trying to get some action. He chuckles as he held your hand tightly in his to prevent it from landing into his crotch.

"Now now, you have to stay put. I won't be taking advantage of your state." He scolds gently. And by the time the cab had stopped in front of the building of your apartment, you were fast asleep in Sunghoon's arms.

Times like these were when Sunghoon is glad he was made of aluminum. He scooped you up in his arms like a pillow as he walked up to your apartment. You snuggled up into his chest, looking so innocent as you soaked up his warmth. Sunghoon cooed about how adorable you are, talking to you in your sleep.

He placed you delicately on your bed, contemplating whether to change your clothes or not. He decided not to, noting how your privacy is important to you. You're too drunk and asleep to give him permission right now anyway. He took off your heels and wiped your makeup off very gently, and tucked you in properly.

Long minutes pass as he studies your face, stroking your hair softly as the corners of his mouth lift up unconsciously. He really loves taking care of you. He loves you.

This realization hits him like a truck of overwhelming emotions, but it all makes sense to him now.

"I love you, Y/N." He whispers, leaving a soft kiss on your forehead before retiring to his own room.

[londonalozzy]

Stop Pretending (TFATWS)

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Genre: Romance, Angst

Summary: The reader thinks she's doing a stellar job of keeping her feelings for a certain soldier buried deep inside. Turns out, all it takes is an observant new friend to begin the unraveling of her most precious secret (Spoilers for TFATWS)

Masterlist

Word: Pretence

Definition: A way of acting that is intended to deceive people.

Example: Saying that he's just a friend when he's really the love of your life.

Your POV

Being caught in the midst of war is something that I, (Y/N) (Y/L/N)  know all too well. As a war vet, former shield agent, and now Avenger I'm used to being centered amongst conflict. When the fight begins within me though, a battle between what I want and what I think is right, how will I react? Will I listen to my heart, my head, or will the winner be chosen for me?

Delacroix, Louisiana.....

I love my sleep, always have, always will. It's not necessarily the comfort of the bed, the quiet or even the rest. It's the fact that I'm at peace when I sleep. My life has a tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, so anything that will put that off for as long as possible I savor.

I wish it were the same for a certain super soldier in my life. I look forward to going to bed, everything calms down then, and for most people it's the same. For Bucky however, it's when everything starts, the nightmares, the terrors, the seemingly unending darkness. If only I could take his pain away like he has with mine.

For the last few weeks, my life had, for want of a better word, been hectic. Hectic to say the least.

After the eventual defeat of Thanos and the loses we endured as a result, I thought naively that life might calm down a bit, that I'd have time to breathe, to live. How wrong I was.

It all began with John Walker being announced to the world as the new Captain America.

I was baking cookies with Morgan in the Stark family kitchen when it came over the radio. As that latest turn of events sunk in, my first thoughts were of Bucky, what that would do to him. Not even an hour later I had said my goodbyes and was on my way to help him get the shield back.

Since then even more had happened. We'd regrouped with Sam, busted Zemo out of prison which in turn ruffled the feathers of Ayo and the Dora Milaje. We came face to face with Morgenthou and the Flag Smashers, and finally witnessed the man who thought he could even compete with Steve, make himself judge, jury and most significantly executioner.

After that went around the world we knew we had to end it sooner rather than later. It couldn't get much worse than Captain America becoming a murderer. We got the shield back, which was a fight all in itself. Handed Zemo over to Ayo, to try and recompense for the distrust we'd instilled in the people who'd helped us so much. Then we travelled to stay with Sam and his family in Louisiana whilst we waited for Karli's next move.

This is where we found ourselves now, in the eye of it, the calm before the storm.

Waking up in the Wilson households guest room, I was greeted to the golden hue of the rising sun penetrating through the single glaze windows, and the melodic sounds of gulls on the hunt for their morning meal down by the docks.

Actually, no that's not right. What I could hear was most certainly not birds, and it was definitely not melodic. What were those boys doing?

Quickly and quietly I threw on the first clothes I could get my hands on and made my way downstairs towards the noise. What caught my attention when I discovered the source, was not the two youngest Wilson boys playing with our newly reacquired shield in the living room, but the super solider who was blissfully ignorant to it all, sleeping peacefully on the couch in front of them. I don't think I'd ever been so happy.

"Right you two, if you're determined to play Avengers all morning then I suggest you re-assemble in the back yard. You're gonna wake Bucky up," I whispered out in one breath, stepping between the boys, then placing my hands on their backs and tip toeing them towards the door.

"So what if we wake him up? It's gone 10am," Cass questioned in protest, pulling on his sneakers and jacket.

"Exactly! Which is why if you do as I say, I will make you the biggest plate of waffles for breakfast that you've ever seen."

The boys eyes lit up. "Can we have ice cream with it? Mum never lets us have ice cream for breakfast, and I'm sure there's a tub of Stark raving hazelnuts in the freezer," AJ clapped in muted excitement. "Oh, for God's sake.....Yes. You can have whatever you want if you get out of this house now and keep the noise down."

Once the boys were outside, I made my way over to the kitchen, stopping on the way to lean over my favourite senior citizen and make sure that he was still peaceful in his slumber. He'd never looked so relaxed, so at ease. It was a brand new Bucky I'd never seen before, a Bucky that had my heart pounding for him even more than it normally did. Not that he knew any of that.

Half an hour later and up to my elbows in waffle mix, I failed to notice my new friend and host Sarah making her way to my side at the counter, the huge smile on my face not going unnoticed. "What's got you grinning like the Cheshire cat, like I need to ask?"

"Bucky's sleeping. Isn't it amazing?" I spoke softly, bouncing up and down on my feet as I did so.

"And why is that?" She couldn't looked more confused if she tried.

"In all the years I've known him, I don't think I've ever woken up before he has. If his nightmares don't keep him awake all night, they normally have him up before the crack of dawn. I don't think I've ever seen him so still."

"Good answer," Sarah nodded in a hush, understanding why this meant so much to me, but not done yet with her morning interrogations, "Now on to my next question......"

"I'm already not liking the sound of this."

"Sleeping Beauty over there follows you around like a little puppy dog. He hangs on your every word, looks at you like you hung the stars or something. It's pretty obvious how crazy he is about you, so when are you gonna stop pretending that you're not head over heels in love with him?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Wilson," I smiled forcefully, making out like the waffle maker deserved my attention way more than the conversation I was being made to have.

This was all Sam's doing, without a shadow of a doubt. He'd tried to have this conversation with me on multiple occasions and I shut him down every time. He obviously hadn't given up like I thought he did, and decided to draft in his sister. He is seriously gonna regret it when I find him.

"Sure you know what I'm talking about. Sam sees it, I don't even know you that well and I see it. The only reason Bucky doesn't, is because he doesn't believe he could ever be that lucky. You're a smitten kitten." These Wilson's are all as annoying as each other.

Knowing I wasn't getting out of this one, I grabbed Sarah by the arm and pulled her right into the corner of the room, trying my best to keep this convo as private as possible. "Look, I'm not pretending.....I'm ignoring. There's a difference."

"Care to explain what that difference is?" Sarah spoke softly, but with a sarcastic air.

Turning to look over my shoulder at the subject of our conversation, making sure he was still safely in the land of nod, I decided to just be honest. Sarah was much like her brother. Once she wanted to get to the bottom of something she wasn't about to give up.

"I love Bucky, more than I've ever loved anyone...and that terrifies me," the rawness of finally being honest making my voice shake, and tears come to my eyes. "Nat was like my sister, and she's dead. Tony was the closest I've ever gotten to having a Dad...and he's dead too. Then there's Steve, Vision, God knows where Wanda is....Everyone I love, either leaves or dies. If I admit my feelings for Buck then I face the risk of losing him too."

"Do you have any idea how crazy you sound right now? He's not going to die because you love him (Y/N)."

Silent tears were falling now. I was revealing my deepest fears to a woman I'd only known a few days, and I'm not underplaying it when I say it was like a colossal weight off my chest, a release I didn't know I needed. "Believe me...I know, but I can't take that risk. I can't lose anyone else, especially not him."

"Let's just say for a second that you're right, that there is some higher power somewhere, set on destroying everyone you love. Do you really think ignoring your feelings is going to make them disappear?" I didn't know what to say to that. "Natasha and Stark died so that everyone could continue living, and (Y/N) you're not living as long as you keep this to yourself. They wouldn't want that for you."

"But what if I lose him?" I whispered with a choked sigh.

"Then at least he'll die knowing how you felt about him. After everything he's been through don't you think he deserves to know there's someone out there who loves him like you do?"

"Of course..."

Sarah's lips pulled upwards in a satisfied smirk, wrapping her arm around my shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze, "then you owe it to yourself, and to him, to tell him the truth."

"Why do all you Wilson's have to be so clever?" I voiced in mock irritation, pushing her away from me and acting like I was annoyed she had gotten one up on me.

"I don't know," she thought aloud and with a cheeky grin, grabbing a plate to start piling on the long forgotten waffles, "I think it might be the sea air or something."

"Nah, it's in the genes," I chuckled quietly, grabbing my jacket and deciding it was time to get this conversation wrapped up. "I'll go find Sam and the boys for breakfast. Clear my head a little bit."

"You promise you're gonna tell him?" Sarah stopped me as I went to push the door open.

"I'll think about it."

3rd person POV

Once (Y/N) was out of ear shot, Sarah couldn't help but start jumping up and down in excitement, clapping her hands loudly as she did so. That went even better than she thought it would, and she was so proud of herself. Sarah Wilson could now add matchmaker to her resume.

"Coast is clear Barnes. You can open your eyes now."

(Y/N) had no idea what she had metaphorically walked into just minutes earlier, entering that very revealing conversation with her overly inquisitive host.

What drew Sarah to come down that morning was the sounds of both the front porch door opening and the smell of homemade waffles wafting up the stairs. As she entered the kitchen she was met with two sights. One being (Y/N), facing the counter and looking very smiley, the other being a wide awake super soldier who was just laying on the couch and staring at her, the sole object of his affection. Sarah could work with this.

Every time (Y/N) turned back in his direction, Bucky would close his eyes and pretend to be asleep again. He had never slept so soundly, so peacefully, thoughts of (Y/N) and his new friends filling his nightmare free dreams.

He'd initially woken to (Y/N) ushering the boys outside because she was afraid they would wake him up. He didn't want to disappoint her by proving her right. Besides, he liked just watching her move around the kitchen, completely unaware he was observing her the whole time. He had no idea about the conversation that was just about to happen.

After (Y/N) had left and Sarah had confirmed so, Bucky sat himself up, his body shaking with adrenaline and a look of complete shock fixed on his face. Had he definitely woken up, or had the whole thing been a part of his dream? Did (Y/N) seriously just admit that she was in love with him?

Bucky didn't know how to react, didn't know what to say as he looked up at a smug Sarah from his spot. All he'd ever wanted was for (Y/N) to feel the same way about him as he did about her. Now he knew that she did.

"You're welcome by the way."

[downwiththemutantnjnjaturtles]

We Met Within This Screen [chapt. 7]

[Donnie x reader]

chapter 6 here

"Nothing gets past me, especially not you and your nervous habits, Donatello," Splinter's voice bounced around Donnie's head. 

The brothers all looked at each other incredulously, Donnie's anxiousness replaced by complete bafflement. Everyone was wondering the same thing: How did he know?

"You wonder how I knew," Splinter said pointedly, "as if you four are any good at keeping a secret."

They waited for him to go on, but instead there was another uncomfortable pause, Splinter assumedly expecting them to say something. It was Mikey who finally broke the silence. "Are you gonna, like...tell us what we did wrong? How you knew? So next you can't—"

Splinter scoffed and brought his staff down on the youngest's foot. Mikey yelped, bouncing away on one leg. "Teach you how to lie? I have taught you many skills, but one that will always elude you is how to keep something from me. Parents have a sixth sense, you know." He turned to Donnie, regarding the rest of them with a dismissive wave of his hand, "You three, to your rooms. Come to the dojo with me, Donatello." 

The three were quick to scatter, Mikey whining into Raph's ear about being sent to their rooms so early, and Raph huffing that he'd been dragged in too. 

Swallowing, Donnie followed behind him a few paces, not sure what to expect but nervous all the same. He was lead in and instructed to sit down on the floor, Splinter settling down in front of him. Donnie's fingers brushed along the ridges of the knuckles of his other hand again and again as he tried to find something to occupy them with. 

Resting his palms in his hands, Splinter began to talk, voice less harsh than Donnie had anticipated. "I know that we lead a very isolated life, my son. But you must keep your priorities in perspective. You four need each other, and betraying one another's trust does not help that case."

"I'm sorry, Master Splinter," Donnie apologized and hung his head. 

"Perhaps you should apologize to your brothers, just as they should to you." 

I did put them on the spot, especially Leo, thought Donnie, considering now that he had put him and Raph in a weird position. They had to choose between ratting on him to Splinter and keeping it under wraps for the sake of not stirring up the pot needlessly. As much as Leo was a stickler for the rules, he didn't want to create dissension between him and Donnie. So, they chose the latter option, and now all four were in trouble with their father. 

"Okay. I guess...but, Master Splinter, how did you know?" 

"About your secret antics?" 

Donnie let out a humorless chortle, feeling a twinge of embarrassment that he had actually thought at some point, he was getting away with anything. "Yeah, it...it wasn't very much of a secret."

Stroking his chin, Splinter plainly said, "It was only a suspicion, until you confirmed it."

That night a few weeks ago when Splinter came to him in his lab. The way he squeaked when he was confronted just prior to them going to talk alone. Why didn't I think of that? It was a classic trick, one their father had deployed quite a few times on them. He'd been baited into giving himself away. None of them could tell when he was bluffing or if he actually knew. Save for Leo, who managed only twice in their time to make heads or tails of it. 

"I really walked right into that one," Donnie whimpered under his breath, palms pressing down on his knees. 

"You did. But," his tone turned more serious, looking him dead in the eye, "you must fix your mistakes, son." 

 "How?" asked Donnie softly, searching for his father's guidance, but it would find no purchase. He was hard pressed to find a solution immediately. 

Splinter shut his eyes and thought. It was a tricky situation, indeed. He gathered that if anything, this was an excellent lesson for Donnie, as well as the others. Under his own supervision, of course; there wasn't room for any more blundering. 

Standing up, he placed his staff under his hand. "I trust that you will find a way. You have a brilliant mind, Donatello. Use it well," he told him, and went to leave the training room. 

Donnie was still sat on the floor contemplating Splinter's words, honored yet uneasy at the same time that he was being entrusted to fix things. How, he didn't know. Truly. He was at war with himself trying to balance his logic with his emotions, trying to make the two meet gracefully, but it felt impossible. Whichever road he chose, it was a betrayal to the other. One left behind while the other took the wheel. And thoughtlessly, he blurted out, "What if your heart is telling you something completely different, Sensei? What if everything feels contradictory, and—and like there's no right answer, even though you do have this mind, you just can't seem to…" 

Donnie's voice tapered. Slightly surprised, Splinter stopped in his tracks, brows high as he looked back at him, who was so clearly riddled with a deeper kind of conflict. Critically discouraged, but still the sliver of will in those eyes of his. His heart went out to him. 

Splinter had known that Donnie was interacting with a human. What he hadn't known was that he was in love with the human. 

There was a moment of understanding, and Splinter realized that Donnie could not do this on his own. It reminded him of the times the turtles had all been children, the way Donnie looked to him for wisdom as he grappled with himself. Sighing, Splinter sat back down, this time close to him. Donnie was despondent, reverting to staring at the edge of the mat he sat on. "I know your struggles, my son. It seems like there's a sacrifice no matter what you choose, does it not?" 

"I don't want to let you guys down. But, I...you know, I'm sorry, Master Splinter, but you don't understand." 

He didn't want to say bluntly that he wanted to think of himself and his needs, unlike usual. He knew Splinter would probably not approve of that. None of them had much of a chance to make a selfish decision, aside from everyday things such tucking into the pizza before it even made it back to the Lair. So far, the number of times he could recall making a consequential choice for the sole purpose of indulging himself, was an astounding zero. 

"What makes you think I would not understand?" questioned Splinter, and Donnie regretted that he'd said it. He didn't miss how Donnie looked to be becoming mildly sour (among other things), though not at him specifically.

It was then Donnie clammed up, shut down the conversation, he was not going to say it. "It" being what he assumed Splinter wasn't privy to, that he had undoubtedly fallen hard for his friend. But knowing his father, he could totally have had a clue. Splinter didn't always need the details to make an assessment when it came to his sons, whom he knew all too well.

Letting out a crestfallen huff, Donnie rested his chin on his knee, arm obstructing the better half of his face. "It doesn't matter," he mumbled. 

Splinter stayed quiet. He didn't want to drive Donnie off—not when he was in such a turmoil. The atmosphere changed to a cold one. Donnie didn't acknowledge him until he put his hand on his forearm, giving it a gentle squeeze and saying, "I will tell you again: I trust that you will figure it out." 

What if I make the wrong decision? 

"For all of our sakes, I hope you're right, Sensei," Donnie responded. Splinter smiled and got up, prepared to leave the matter at that until any further updates. Until the phone in Donnie's back pocket began to vibrate out of the blue. He wanted to answer, but what, at that point? What should he say? 

A minute went by of more persistent vibrating, and Splinter's ear twitched, certain he knew who it was. He was disappointed with the carelessness that had brought them to that moment, but what was done was done. None knew if the girl had any suspicions. "Are you going to answer it?" he asked, sort of prompting him to pick the phone up. 

"May I?" Donnie thought he might have sounded a little eager.

Splinter let out a calm hum and motioned for him to do it. Donnie lifted his finger to press accept, but Splinter interrupted firmly, "Speaker, Donatello."

Eyes flitting to Splinter, he accepted the call and reluctantly turned on the speaker. 

"Bo, what was all of that earlier, dude? You had me worried sick!" spoke [y/n], more concerned than angry (which Donnie was somewhat relieved about), but he sunk down sheepishly upon seeing the look on his father's face. He gave Donnie a questionable glance at the word "Bo", as he wasn't aware of the details. Donnie wasn't about to correct her right now. 

"I–...hey, [y/n]," he said, forcing himself to turn to the side so he wouldn't have to look at Splinter. The eyes on him made him feel put off to the point he couldn't focus on her voice, but the fact that Splinter was right there, listening in, and both were fixing to find out just what kind of mess they had on their hands. "Believe me when I tell you, you don't want to get caught up in this," he told her, "I can't—"

"Listen," she started, exasperated, "I've heard it before. 'I can't tell you this', and 'I can't tell you that'," she went on, "Be honest with me, Bo; is it that you can't or you just won't?"  

Splinter's thoughts were undetermined. Donnie couldn't read anything from his stoic expression. 

"It's not that I won't," he rebutted, pitch going up involuntarily, "Why won't you listen to me when I say I can't?" 

"Because there's something going on, with you, and I know my eyes weren't just playing tricks on me. I saw something crazy—I heard it, too, when I called you the other day!" 

I am so dead. Donnie's stomach did a flip. He couldn't face his father, but behind him, Splinter placed his hand on his face, covering his eyes. He shot Donnie an intimidating glance, and Donnie waved his hands nervously, listening to her go on as he backed up. Pivoting around from the jabs sent to his side by Splinter's staff, he jumped away with his comically long stride, trying to avoid the onslaught while juggling the phone. He muffled a grunf of pain when the cane managed to whack his head. 

"Hold on!" he said, and Splinter stopped and narrowed his eyes, the voice on the other end of the phone also going silent. Donnie couldn't regain his composure while being chased around the dojo, so he finally was able to sputter out, "W-what did you see?" 

"I was on the balcony, 'Don'. I heard your voice on the phone and saying the same thing from the roof, and saw two giant...turtles! With weapons, fighting what looked like ninjas?! What even is this?" she yelled. 

She'd put two and two together. There was no fixing. 

Only acceptance. 

Blinking, Donnie nearly dropped the phone. Splinter shut his eyes, slowly shook his head, and turned around. The sound of his cane tapping the floor as he walked was the only thing he could hear after he tuned out the speaker. 

He was now alone in the dojo, under the light that streamed through the grate above him, standing in the hush. 

He turned the speaker off. She, on the other end, was quiet, too, in disbelief. And probably rightfully feeling betrayed, in a way, Donnie thought. The friend she'd come to care for so much turned out to be someone she couldn't have even imagined. 

Licking his lips, he put on the most level tone he could and said in a struggle, "You can't tell anyone. I-if you say something, I'll... we'll…"

I could never threaten you, [y/n]. 

"You'll what?" she asked, voice low.

Then, all the could hear was her breathing. The dojo was completely quiet, the room was large, and there he was, in the middle. Donnie liked smaller spaces. Darker spaces, like his lab. He felt exposed in that moment, even when no one could see him.

"Be in danger," he said in earnest.

There was some rustling, then the sound of wind on her end. He barely heard a sliding door shut.

"Come here," she told him firmly. 

His eyes went wide. "What?" he questioned, stupefied.

She sighed, "No more lying, Bo—Don—I don't know. If what we have really matters to you…"

A mix of emotions swirled in him as he waited for her words. She hesitated.

"I'll come," he whispered, finishing her sentence. 

"You'll come." 

Blowing a breath out from between his lips, and nodded. Sorry, Master Splinter. 

He snuck through the Lair to the exit of the sewers.

[professorsnape394]

The Potions Master’s Apprentice

Chapter Fourteen: Friends

A/N: This is the fourteenth part to my fanfiction ‘The Potions Master’s Apprentice (Severus Snape x OC)’. Chapters 1-16 can be found already uploaded on Wattpad under the same name. Feel free to leave requests in my inbox for anything Snape related you want me to write. Leave a comment below if you wish to be added to my tag list.

Pairing: Severus Snape x OC (Dumbledore’s Granddaughter)

Summary: A talented young witch is employed as an apprentice professor at Hogwarts, but who will she be working under? Severus Snape is not best pleased with his new responsibility of taking on an apprentice, however she is relentless to create a friendship between them. Will she be successful? Or might the friendship just go a little two far? With the eyes of her grandfather constantly watching over them, an attempt at a relationship might not be in the cards for Aria Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

Word Count: 2779

Warnings: n/a

Credits to Gif Creator

To the other professors, breakfast came and went just as it did every other day. But Aria could sense the difference in tone from the students. To the other professors the students chatter was just as excitable as it always was. But Aria could tell it was more hushed and secretive. To the other professors, today was just a normal day, they would have gone about their day blissfully unaware of the situation that had occurred at the Three Broomsticks. Had it not been for the huge elephant in the room.

As he entered the hall that morning for breakfast not a soul in the room missed the swollen black and blue lump in place of where Snape's eye should be. Not a soul in the room missed the way he stormed in, in a fit of rage, knowing that the whole school would be talking about him. And not a soul missed the glares he sent their way daring them to confront him on the matter. But only Aria Dumbledore could see the hurt in his eyes, the embarrassment he was feeling and the pain he buried deep down for the way he had treated his friend last night.

Of course, she was angry at him. All of this was his fault. But the sadness she felt for him overcame her own dignity and she wanted to find out what it was all for. What hurt him so badly, that he felt the need to make her feel as low as he did. Aria knew this was yet another mystery of the great Severus Snape which would remain unanswered. The man was an enigma.

*

As expected, the potions master and his apprentice were curtly invited to Headmaster Dumbledore's office after breakfast to explain themselves. It had not taken long for the rumours to spread from the students all the way to the top, and it was clear Aria's grandfather was less than pleased to hear them.

"You will both be well aware of why I called you here this morning, I am sure." Dumbledore begun when the pair entered the Headmasters office. The two merely nodded, letting the old wizard speak.

"Firstly, I must begin by saying how utterly disappointed I am in the two of you. Not only in the events that transpired last night, but moreover the fact that neither of you were professional enough to come to speak to me about this first, before it got out of hand." The headmaster started, taking a seat behind his large oak desk.

Both Aria Dumbledore and Severus Snape bowed their heads in shame, as they stood side by side awkwardly, neither of them daring to look at the other.

"Grandfather I-"

"Miss Dumbledore, in this current professional capacity, I would appreciate if you addressed me as your rightful superior."

"I'm sorry." She replied sheepishly. "Headmaster Dumbledore, I want to apologise for not informing you of what had happened at the Three Broomsticks but as you can see Sever-, Professor Snape did have some injuries that needing tending to and in the state that he was, I didn't think him fit enough to be left unattended to."

As she spoke Severus let out a grunt of disagreement in an attempt to mask his embarrassment.

"Whether that may be the case, Miss Dumbledore, if you are being harassed by another member of staff, your priority should be to inform me, not assist your harasser." Albus scorned.

Snape remained silent, waiting to be spoken too before opening his mouth. He was mortified by his actions in the Three Broomsticks, but even more so by what happened later that night.

"Now, which one of you would like to explain to me what happened, so I can distinguish the truth from some of the student's wild imaginations."

Aria turned her attention to the Potions master who continued to keep his head down, not willing to recall his cruel words.

"I think Professor Snape is best for that job, headmaster." Aria confessed, unwilling to let the man get off so easily.

"Very well. Aria, you may leave us." Dumbledore announced.

"What? But why?" She objected.

"As you so graciously volunteered Severus for the job, I no longer have a reason to keep you back from your duties as a professor." Dumbledore informed her calmly. "Speaking of which, you will be taking all of the potions classes alone for the time being. Professor Snape will be taking a short sabbatical."

Snape's face turned grey at the thought. Not only did he not want this young witch teaching his students, but the mention of a sabbatical made his stomach drop. He knew how he had acted was wrong, but never had it crossed his mind that he could possibly lose his job for what he had done.

"What!?" Aria gasped. "But you can't do that, he-"

"Relax, Aria dear." Dumbledore interrupted. "It is only until I get this business cleared up. With his eye looking as it does the excitement will never settle, you know how students like to gossip. Besides he can take some time to reflect on his actions while it heals." Dumbledore shot Snape a disapproving look.

Aria made to object once again, but this time Severus took the opportunity to shut her up.

"Go, Miss Dumbledore. Do not keep my students waiting." He commanded sourly.

Finally, Aria obeyed, leaving with an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach as she left the two men to talk.

Dumbledore clasped his hands on the desk in front of him and waited patiently for Severus to confess his wrong doings.

"I will not insult you, headmaster, by downplaying my actions from last night. I stupidly let my emotions get the better of me and I thought I could find a solution at the bottom of a bottle of Fire Whiskey, I was wrong. I said disgusting things to your granddaughter and believe me no one can judge me more than I am judging myself right now." Snape could not bring himself to meet the old wizards disappointed gaze.

"And your eye, how did that situation occur." Albus questioned, feeling slightly sorry for the professor, despite the trouble he has caused.

"It was well deserved." Snape admitted. "A 'friend' of your granddaughter's rightfully put a stop to my embarrassing display. I apologise whole heartedly for every mistake I made last night."

"That is all very good and well, Severus. But have you said this to her?"

Severus hung his head.

"I see. May I suggest that be your first port of call." Albus advised.

"Of course."

The Professors sat in dead silence. It was clear both of them were in their own heads more than the conversation.

"Is there something more I should know, Severus?" Dumbledore eyed the man skeptically.

Severus paused for a moment, debating whether to confide in his friend.

"No, sir." He lied. His voice remained void of all emotion.

"Aria could be a great friend to you, Severus. Do not throw that chance away, again. Learn from your past mistakes." The Headmaster warned.

Albus Dumbledore's words resonated with Severus all day. The old man was right. He had once lost his only friend due to a small moment of emotional vulnerability paired with the harshness of his words, he could not re-live that experience. There was only one way to avoid losing Aria from his life completely, any feelings he may have had for her now had to be buried entirely.

*

Storming into her first lesson of the day, the room fell silent upon Aria's entry. The students waited a minute or two, expecting the presence of their most feared professor, which never came.

Aria begun the lessons as Severus always did; silently writing out paragraphs of information for the students to copy. It didn't take long for the fifth years to realise Snape would not be joining them this morning and so they set about asking their more relaxed potions professor all of the questions they were just dying to know the answers to, regarding the events of the previous night.

"Professor Dumbledore, where's Professor Snape, isn't he going to teach us?" It began.

"Unfortunately, today I will be solely be teaching Professor Snape's classes." Aria answered, turning her back on the classroom of students and continued to scribble on the chalk board.

"I heard he shouted at you in front of everyone in the Three Broomsticks yesterday Miss, is that true?" One of the Ravenclaw girls dared to ask.

"You should have seen him." Another laughed. "He was absolutely wrecked, knocked back almost a full bottle of Fire Whiskey apparently."

Aria chose not to respond.

"You were there? What did he say?" A curious Gryffindor inquired, wanting to hear the full story for himself. The two started quietly conversing up the back of the class, letting some more students get their accusations in.

"Is it true you are Karkaroff were caught going at it in the potions cupboard, Miss." Another boy bravely chuckled. "Is that where Snape found you?"

"That's can't be true." Someone else defended, shaking their head in disbelief.

"It is so, didn't you see the two of them at dinner yesterday? He could barely keep his hands off of her." Another whispered.

A few gasps and giggles broke out among the students as they continued to speculate.

"I heard she's the one who punched Snape, did you see his eye today?

"To be fair I don't blame her, he is a bit of a wanker, he probably deserved it."

"Don't be so stupid. It wasn't her; it was her boyfriend, I saw it myself."

"Did Snape actually call you a Slut, Miss?"

The room went quiet anticipating their teacher's response.

"Enough!" She yelled, slamming her hand on the desk as she turned to face them. The class stared at her, stunned.

"I don't want to hear any more of this." She started, putting down her chalk. "I am well aware that some of you may have witnessed the incident that occurred in the Three Broomsticks last night and while Professor Snape's little outburst may have happened extremely publicly, this gives none of you the right to make things worse by making up these stupid stories. I am going to settle this once and for all and I want to hear no more of it, do you understand?" The class nodded silently.

"First off; no, Professor Snape has not been fired, nor would I want him to be. He will resume his position as your potion's professor in a few days' time, and I warn all of you that this nonsense better be done with by then. He will not let you off as lightly as I have done." Aria walked around her desk, resting on the edge as she spoke.

"Secondly, any rumours you have heard regarding me and Headmaster Karkaroff are completely false. Professor Snape got the wrong impression and has now been informed of his mistake. In addition to this, anything you may have heard surrounding me and any other member of staff, or indeed students..." She said through gritted teeth. "... is also false. This includes Professor Snape."

A moment of chatter bubbled among the students, before once again falling silent.

"As for the man I was with, he was nothing more than a friend. And after the way he treated Professor Snape, he is no longer even that. Violence in any form will not be tolerated, no matter the circumstances. I will personally deal with any student supporting the actions of this man or the harming of Professor Snape, regardless of anything he may or may not have said." Aria finished.

"Is all of this abundantly clear?" She asked the class, receiving a chorus of agreement in response.

Aria let the students know to spread this information throughout the school to combat the rumours surrounding her and Severus Snape's altercation, and they graciously obliged. She received very little harassment or questions for the rest of the day, although she knew it was almost impossible to put an end to all of the speculations this early on.

*

Whilst packing up her papers to return to her quarters for an early night, Aria was startled by a sharp knock on the door.

"Come in." She called, not bothering to stop what she was doing. It wasn't until he was standing right in front of her did Aria even recognise who it was. "Severus." The professor said in shock. "Knocking to get into your own class room now?"

"As it were, this appears to be your classroom for the time being, Miss Dumbledore." He droned, watching her intently as she went about her business.

"For a few days at least, it seems." She shrugged. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I came for an update on my classes' progression. While I might not be teaching them, this does not mean I am willing to relinquish all of my responsibilities quite yet. I don't imagine you have anything prepared." He sneered, continuing to analyse the desk.

"Actually, Professor Snape, I have." She retorted, handing him a small binder. "There you will find every class organised by year and then by level of difficulty; I have written a small summary of what we covered in the classes and how far we hope to progress. All students are listed individually and sorted by house, each detailing how well they coped with the lesson and what they need to work on. I shall give you another update tomorrow, and each day after until you are back. Happy?" She smirked.

"Very impressive." He hummed, unamused, snatching the binder from her and making to leave.

As Snape reached the exit, one hand holding the door ajar, he let his fingers tap on the wood indecisively. Letting out a small huff of breath Severus turned on his heel, re-entering the classroom as he remembered his promise to the headmaster.

"There is one more thing, Miss Dumbledore." The potions master announced, bringing her back to his attention.

"Mmhmm." Aria hummed, continued to flick through her papers, making sure she had what she needed.

"If you could actually pay attention, Miss Dumbledore, I would be able to get out of your hair much faster." Severus hissed through gritted teeth, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

"What do you want, Severus." His apprentice huffed. "I do have things to be getting on with. Spit it out."

Snape clenched his jaw and pursed his lips, trying his damn best not to insult the girl.

Couldn't she just listen for five seconds when he was actually trying to be nice to her? He thought.

"I... I want you to know." Snape stuttered, coughing to clear his throat. "I need you to know. Everything I said last night, I didn't mean any of it. I was drunk, and sometimes emotions that we would all like to keep hidden show themselves, do you understand?"

"I get it, Severus. I know you wouldn't have said those things under normal circumstances. You were stressed." Aria accepted, immediately going back to her piles of parchment.

"Look at me." Snape snapped. "You do not understand. I am apologising for my actions in the Three Broomsticks, of course I am. But the point I would most like to stress is... Can we just forget yesterday never happened? All of it."

Aria stared deep into the Professor's eyes knowing he was desperate for her attention. Ignoring the fact he was battered and bruised, she could see the pain in his eyes. The desperateness for her to agree with him, to forget that anything ever happened between them, or rather could have happened.

"Don't worry about it, Severus. Nothing happened as far as I am concerned." She reached out to him, resting a hand on his bicep and flashing a comforting smile.

A hint of a smile threatened on Severus' lips. But as soon as it came it was gone once again. Snape stepped away from the woman, letting her get on with her work.

"Can we agree on one thing, Severus?" Aria asked, keeping her attention on him finally. Snape nodded, allowing her to continue. "The students are having a field day with all of this. I think it would be in everyone's interest for us to try and get along. Hopefully it will dull down a lot of the rumours if they see us acting civil. What do you think? Friends?" She proposed.

Snape let out a small huff of amusement, letting the sides of his lips curl up, contently.

"Friends." He agreed, stepping out of the room quietly.

Taglist: 

@ayamenimthiriel @lizlil

[pippytmi]

Celeb au + exes + if you're happy then I'm happy

How does that make you feel?

It’s an odd phenomenon, really. It seems like Lena can’t go anywhere without getting any variation of that question. If she were wittier (in her own public image, at least) she would start giving funny replies. Shitty, thank you, she would say one day. Then pretty damn good on another, just so she could really stir up the tabloids.

But even though Kara wouldn’t care (hell, Kara would laugh about it), Lena doesn’t want to be that ex, the one still hung up on a love that has clearly run its course. It’s bad enough that she is still in touch with Kara—that she still hangs out with her—that she still pretends they’re friends—that she still meets her on the beach front as they talk about whether or not to give that new insufferable director a shot.

Kara never dresses properly for the occasion. Her sunglasses are perched on her head even though the sun is bright, hot; she is so stupid, never able to disguise herself. Already she’s getting double-takes, second looks, beachgoers all wondering the same thing—is that Kara Danvers?

So how does it feel, knowing she’s moved on? Fine. Just fine. Ask another question, please, and it can be anything. Anything but that.

“Coke or Pepsi?”

Or that one. “I don’t know why you even ask,” says Lena, and when she takes the sweating Pepsi can she revels in its chill. “What’s up with your look today?” 

“What do you mean?” As Kara cracks open her Coke can, it spills over her hand. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” she adds absentmindedly, wiping at the lid of her drink with the sleeve of the shirt tied around her waist.

“You’re not wearing a bathing suit, for starters,” Lena says. “People are staring.”

Kara leans in close. “Actually, they’re staring because I’m standing with the Lena Luthor,” she whispers. She nearly takes out her own eye on the corner of Lena’s glasses because of her proximity, which further proves how idiotic she can be.

Lena rolls her eyes. “Let’s go before they start asking for autographs,” she says, and pretends that her heart has not since started beating at twice its normal speed.

How does it feel to be single? It feels like this—they head to Kara’s car, drive to a cliffside, and the only thing Lena can think about is the urge to reach over and brush away the flyaway hairs that have escaped Kara’s messy bun. The wind whips around Kara’s face in a manner that makes her grimace, but she does not make an effort to fix up her hair; instead she complains about it, dramatically enough that Lena has to resist laughter.

“Okay. Imagine this. I have to get to hair and makeup by four in the morning, and Nia is supposed to get there even earlier. So instead of doing the rational thing and waking me up to go with her when she gets up, you know what she does? She leaves! She leaves in my car, Lena. Left me stranded at three-thirty in the morning, twelve miles away from location…”

What is it like, seeing your ex with someone new? It is just like holding an unopened Pepsi can while your ex talks. Kara’s story—amusing as it is—quickly loses its humor at the conclusion.

“Andrea dropped me off only ten minutes late,” Kara finishes, “but everyone still blamed me for it, can you believe it? They think I should’ve woken up at two in the morning myself!”

“Clearly they don’t know how you sleep like the dead.” Lena’s attempt at a light tone doesn’t quite work. Kara, at least, does not comment on the fact.

“Right?” Kara takes another sip from her coke. This is her second can—she always says she’s going to give up sugar, but never actually attempts to. “I told them they were lucky I was even there at four.”

“One of these days you’ll be fired for your sass, and it’ll be warranted.” Lena turns over the can once, twice, three times in her hands. It is no longer cold to the touch, warmed enough that if she were to open it now it would be room temperature.

“Whatever,” Kara chuckles, mouth pressed against the rim of her can. Eventually she pauses, glances over at Lena, then down at the can in her hands. “So…what’s up with you? How are you doing?” 

How are you? Frankly, she is missing shitty radio station 108.9, which played either a-ha’s “Take on Me” or Usher’s “U Got It Bad” no matter the hour or the day. Without fail, Kara would serenade Lena with both—albeit with varying success.

“I’m okay,” is what Lena actually relays. “I’m working on a film with Sam. No makeup mishaps like yours yet, but, time will tell.” She wishes she could peel away the Pepsi label in this instant; wishes she could splinter the label from the metal, crumble it to powder. Her fingernails, a ruby red to match her lipstick, press against its letters and she wishes she could dismantle it personally. “Beside having to drive you places, how’s…Andrea?”

She wishes she could go one meeting without asking about her. Judging by the way Kara’s smile slowly fades, she feels the same way.

“She’s good,” Kara says. “Great, really, just—busy when she’s not driving me to work at four in the morning.”

“That’s nice.” Lena tries to mean it. She really, really does.

Kara rubs at the bridge of her nose absentmindedly. “Yeah,” she says. “We’re happy.” This she says quieter, like she is not sure if she’s allowed to say so or not.

Lena swallows thickly. “Good,” she says. “I don’t know if you saw that dumb…I don’t know. Some article that twisted my words, saying that I hate Andrea.”

“No, definitely not,” says Kara quickly. “I mean, I did see it, but I know they totally reported it wrong.“

“Yes, they certainly did.” And because she has to—because Kara expects it—Lena says, “If you’re happy then I’m happy. You know that, right?”

The corner of Kara’s mouth twists; it is almost a smile. “I know,” she says. “But it…it goes both ways, too. Are you—are you happy? If that’s not a weird question to ask, I guess.”

Kara might as well be asking how do you feel about us?, and that is not a question Lena is equipped to answer. She drums her fingernails against the warming can, exhales slowly and evenly. “I am,” she says. Kara does not address this lie either, nor does she look particularly surprised to hear it.

Instead she reaches for a third soda. This time, it’s a Pepsi.

[simons-calling-the-127-squad]

First Impressions - YangYang

Warnings: drug usage, cursing, and violence

Credit to the original owners of the images.

GN "Bad Kid" Reader x "Good Kid" YangYang

Soulmate Au: First words to each other

"Y/N, are you paying attention?" Mrs. Song questioned from her position in front of the board.

"Yes ma'am", you said, trying your hardest not to roll your eyes. She looked at you for another moment before her eyes turned back to the notes written on the board, which you had already copied all of them down. You felt a poke in your ribs, your eyes moved over to your right where your friend Andy sat. Before she could speak the bell rang. You instantly moved to put your binder in your bag and waited for Andy to do the same. The two of you quickly walked out and waited in the back of the parking lot for the rest of your friends.

"I swear that woman has it out for you", she says pulling a bag out of her backpack.

"So help me you get us caught-"

"Don't worry", she cut you off, "I'll be careful."

"You better be sharing", Darren said as he walked over motioning for Andy to hurry up. She rolled her eyes and passed him the pipe. He instantly took it and inhaled, handing it to you who did the same.

"How dare you start without us?" Ryder said as he and Bridget joined your group, stealing the pipe from your hands.

"Hey no smoking, you have to drive your cousin home and your aunt will kill you if she finds out your high", Bridget said as she took the pipe from him.

"Speaking of which, where is the little shit?" He said, his eyes moving around the parking lot.

"That reminds me, anybody wanna gimme a ride? My sister has to work so she can't pick me up", you asked the group.

"Yeah sure. I'll need someone to keep me sane after I take Bridget home", Ryder said.

"Trust me. I'm not too happy about riding with you either", a voice said from behind him.

"We'll leave in a few. First, lemme introduce you to the gang. The blue-haired girl is Andy. The one with all of the piercings is Y/N. Green haired dude is Darren and you know Bridget. Guys this is YangYang."

"Sup", Darren told him as he took the pipe from Bridget. YangYang just nodded, it was obvious he was uncomfortable. You felt a bit bad for him, but that didn't stop you from taking another hit before leaving. Bridget got in the passenger seat, leaving you and YangYang in the back. It didn't take long for the two of you to arrive at Bridget's. She kissed Ryder and told you all bye before getting out.

"I need gas and snacks, so we're making a pit stop", he said as he pulled back onto the road. He was in and out of the gas station passing you a bag of chips and YangYang a candy bar.

"So I gotta ask. Why do you guys smoke?" YangYang inquired to his cousin after a bit of silence.

"Numbs things a bit. And with it, things hurt less. Y/N is better at describing it", Ryder replied. YangYang turned to you.

"Let it hurt until it can't hurt anymore. That's what it's like without it", you said. He nodded and turned back to look out the window.

"That answer your question?" Ryder glanced in the rearview mirror to look at YangYang, who nodded. The moment the car arrived at his house YangYang thanked his cousin and jumped out of the car.

"Hopefully I don't have to give him a ride again", he said as he backed into the road.

"Eh, he didn't seem that bad."

"Let's just hope he doesn't tell my aunt I'm a stoner", he whispered. You let out a little laugh and continued to talk until you got back home.

------

It became a tradition for Ryder to take you home, and for him to drive YangYang home on Thursdays. It had been a month since the first time you had met him, and he still hadn't talked to you. But you couldn't really blame him, you were the classic "bad kid" that literally got stoned in the school parking lot, and he was the "good kid" that had the perfect record. It still amazed you that he and Ryder were even related at all. Just like the first time you rode together, Ryder had to make a pit stop at the gas station, though this time he was taking much longer. You found yourself growing more and more tired as you waited. It didn't help that you were unable to sleep last night and had smoked some with the group before leaving. You forced yourself to stay awake and pulled out your phone, hoping to distract yourself from the temptations of falling asleep.

"Awake and unafraid", YangYang whispered, so low that you almost didn't hear him. Your eyes widened and they moved to your wrist, which was covered by your sleeve. The exact same words were etched into your skin. The words that had been there since your birth and would be the first words your soulmate told you.

"Talk about a plot twist", you mumbled, causing YangYang to laugh.

"I wasn't expecting it either", he admitted

"Wait a second", you said upon realization, "I talked to you the first time we rode with Ryder. You've known for a month that we're soulmates and didn't say anything?"

"Admittedly I was a bit concerned when I figured out that we're mates. But then I realized, things aren't that simple, that I know nothing about you and have no reason to have concerns. But I wasn't sure what to say, so I waited for the right time."

"I hate the fact that is reasonable. Second off, what the heck did you mean by unafraid?" Your torso moving to face him.

"You're unafraid of what others think. And to say what's on your mind. I've noticed that after learning we shared some classes."

"We have classes together?" You asked, your face twisting in surprise.

"Several", he answered with a laugh.

"Dang I'm blind."

"To be fair most times you're stuck in your head. And most likely stoned during class", he responded.

"Okay, you're not wrong on that. But lemme guess, you don't want people to know we're soulmates?" As you asked the question the driver's door opened.

"Hold the phone. Y'all are soulmates?" Ryder asked as he entered the car. Tossing candy at you two. The two of you nodding in response.

"And to answer your question. I'd much rather people know we're soulmates."

"Why though? You're the golden boy and I'm one of the resident stoners", you inquired as you opened up the chocolate.

"Because we're soulmates? The differences will definitely cause some trouble, but we'll be able to get through them", he told you.

"I still can't believe you two are mates", Ryder said as he started the car. The conversation was then put on hold, you assumed it would most likely be continued tomorrow.

---

It was lunchtime when you finally met up with YangYang.

"Sorry I'm late", he said. He dropped his bag onto the floor and sat next to you. He kept his head down and eyes trained on the table.

"You good?" You asked.

"Uh yeah, fine."

"YangYang, you do realize that I can tell your lying, right?" You said as you leaned closer to him. He finally peeked up at you, his eyes were a bit red.

"I hate the fact that I can't lie to you", he said with a slight pout.

"What happened?" You questioned.

His shoulders sagged as he mumbled something incoherently. You raised your eyebrows at him.

"Just Blake and Liam being their usual selves." That's when you noticed the scratch on his cheek.

"Woah hold up. They did that?" You could already feel the anger rising in you. YangYang must've seen it in your eyes and began rambling about how it usually is worse, but as your fists clenched in anger he knew he messed up. Instead, he started backtracking, but it was too late, you were already storming out of the cafeteria to behind the gym. You knew the two boys hung out there during lunch, as cliche as it was. You could hear YangYang trailing close behind and begging you not to do anything.

"Y/N, what's up?" Blake greeted upon seeing you. Before you would've returned the greeting, but now you just grabbed him by the collar.

"Hey what fu-" Liam started, as he moved to you. But you glare turned to him, he immediately paused.

"Wanna tell me what you did to YangYang?" You asked, backing Blake up until he hit the wall.

"Why do you care?" Liam asked.

"One chance to tell me. I might not hit as hard if you answer", your grip tightening.

"Okay we roughhoused a bit, so what?"

"Is this the first time?"

"Yes?" Your right knee jerked up to hit I'm in the stomach. He groaned in pain and would've doubled over had it not been for your hold on him.

"What the hell Y/N?" Liam asked, his eyes widened in shock.

"Shit, fine. We've done it before", Blake panted.

"Oh so now you wanna tell the truth?" You asked rhetorically as your left fist reeled back and connected with his jaw. You dropped him from your hold as you heard Liam rush over to you. His knee made contact with your ribs, but you lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. As his back hit the concrete he let out a huff. You wasted no time on landing the punches. You rolled off of him when Blake attempted to yank you off. Your right foot landed on his chest and he stumbled back after the kick. You stood up, as he hobbled back towards you, and you grabbed onto his hair. He yelped at the pain of you pulling him up by it. You landed a final punch on his cheek and let go before shoving him to the ground where he sputtered up the smallest amount of blood.

"Bully anyone else and you probably won't make it out of the hospital next time. Understand?" You informed them as you moved to stand in front of them. Blake nodded and Liam groaned.

"And tell anyone that if they touch YangYang they're dead. Spread the word that if they mess with my soulmate, I will find them", you told them before grabbing YangYang's hand and walking back to the cafeteria.

"Where were you guys?" Darren asked when you sat back down.

"Had to take care of some assholes. And Andy blacklist Blake and Liam from your selling list." She nodded.

"So what'd they do?" Bridget asked.

"They messed with my mate", you told her as you pulled a blushing YangYang into your arms. Everyone at the table was surprised to say the least, well besides Ryder who was dying of laughter.

----

YangYang had decided to ride with Ryder again, he had asked his cousin to drop the two of you off at a local park. You waved Ryder off as he and Bridget backed out of the parking lot and walked with YangYang to a nearby bench. The two of you didn't get to talk after getting back to the cafeteria and you knew he had something to say about the whole situation.

"Alright, go ahead and say it", you told him. He gave you a confused look.

"That you don't wanna date me after the whole lunch fiasco."

"That's not at all what I was gonna say. I was gonna say that A) next time please give me a warning if you're gonna kick someone's ass. B) that was awesome. And C) let's go on an official date and actually start dating." It was your turn to be confused.

You could feel your eyebrows pull together as you asked him, "You still wanna date me?"

"Uh yeah?"

"Why?" You blurted out, prompting the boy next to you to laugh.

"Well I know you'll always protect me. And you're fun. And my soulmate."

"Well, I didn't expect that." He laughed again and stood up, pulling you with him as he walked to a nearby bakery.

"Now let's go on our first date, soulmate", he winked. You smiled, thinking about how it was definitely gonna be interesting to see everyone's reactions on Monday morning. And how the two of your story plays out, but you're looking forward to it.

-🃏

[tk-productions]

Mystic Sisters- Ch. 21 Bitten

Masterlist🌙🌹

Riyoshi’s pov

I laid in bed waiting for Akio to get ready. I low key felt bad for the girls who were sleeping in the room across from us. They really had no idea where they came from or who they are. All this time we spent watching them and trying to capture them they didn't even know they were vampires. While the girls were still asleep Akio and I went to the store as soon as it opened so no one would notice us in case more VHA members were close by. We kept the safe house a secret from everyone there so it would be hard to find. They might be able to pick up on our scents though. We got enough to last for a while seeing we were going to stay here for the time being. A little while later we sat at the dining room table eating breakfast.

“We should probably help you train, you know in case we get attacked again.” I said after eating. “Get changed and we’ll meet you in the back.” The back led to a forest that had a clearing. Akio and I would come here to train from time to time.

“We’ll train you individually. We both specialize in something different so you have a lot to learn.”

“I'll train with Akio.” Hikari said, stepping closer to him grabbing his hand. I could see his cheeks turn a light pink shade. Akio rarely got flustered. “I'm sorry Riyoshi but you terrify me.” Hikari said. Akio turned to face her. “And what I don’t?”

“Not as much.” she replied, dragging him along the path away from us. I could see them heading to the other clearing and still holding hands.

“Looks like I have no say in this. I’m stuck with a guy who doesn’t know when to not be a asswhole” Yua complained with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Really princess just when I thought we were getting along.” I said sarcastically, giving Yua a devilish grin.

She cut her eyes at me before speaking again. “ There you go again. Do you ever stop, we've been arguing forever but I can go longer.”

I sighed. “Look Princess, that's just me and you're gonna have to get used to it. If it makes you feel any better I do feel bad for hunting you down after realizing you guys didn’t even know what you were.”

“Wow you're capable of feeling bad?” She asked sarcastically.

I smirked at her. “Yes, I am. Don’t make me take it back.”

She nodded her head giving a small smile. “Ok then.”

That small smile she gave caught me by surprise. She was beautiful. I couldn’t lie about that. Snapping out of my thoughts I cleared my throat. “Alright how’s your upper body strength?”

“I don’t even know if I have upper body strength to be real with you. My legs are very strong though.”

I nodded. Then walked over to the doorway to the house and tapped the training bar I had attached to it. “Think you can do at least ten pull-ups?”

“I mean I can try.” She said as she walked over to me and put her hand on the bar handles.

“Switch your hands the other way.” I instructed.

“Ok.” She said following my instructions and slowly lifted herself up. She was doing fine for the most part until she got to six and was ready to quit. “ I can’t do it anymore, my arms hurt.”

As she tried to drop down I grabbed her waist. I felt an electricity shoot through me as my hands touched her skin. “Keep going and make it to ten.”

“I can’t.” She whined

“Never say you can't, you have four more tough it up.” I let go of her waist and she worked up the strength and did the last four before dropping down and groaning as she hugged her arms together.

“See you did it.”

She glared at me. “My arms are killing me.”

“You’ll be fine. All you need is practice and with me helping you--”

“I’ll be dead by next week with you helping me. I want a new teacher.”

I laughed at her whining. “You're stuck with me princess.”

“Why do you keep calling me princess?”

I was caught off guard by that. I cleared my throat. “No reason.” I said as I walked away

I felt someone kick me in my back. “Were you going teacher?”

I just raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

“You know what I think?”

I shrugged. “What.”

“I think you like me which is why you're a jerk ninety percent of the time.”

“What gave you that idea.”

“Hikari. And the fact that you call me princess all the time.”

“Huh Interesting.”

“Don’t worry I think it’s cute that you have a crush on me. I mean I am very pretty, however I am a taken woman.”

“I never said--”

“So what’s the next drill.”

This girl was something else. I liked the fact that she was confident and strong headed. “ Let's test your core.”

“Ok, sit ups?” She asked and When I nodded she started almost immediately.

3 hours later…….

Yua and I were wrapping up our training when a dagger came flying in my direction and sliced the side of my neck.

“Ahh.” I hissed as I touched my neck and then saw blood. “Where the fuck?”

“Oh my god! Are you ok?” Yua asked as she got closer but then she gasped and suddenly took a step back.

“I’m fine, just a little scratch is all.” I looked Yua in the eyes and noticed her eye color was changing to a bright red. “There's that bloodthirst I was talking about.”

“Why am I suddenly so thirsty? And why do you smell so good?” She began to walk towards me one more time. I stayed put curious at what she would do.

The closer she got the hungrier she looked which made me wonder how long it had been since she started feeling this way. I wanted to see how long she could go. “ When did you awaken your powers again?” She didn’t answer as she stopped right in front of me staring at the blood dripping from my neck.

“Yua.” I called her name and she looked me in the eye. This time I didn’t see just her red eyes, I saw her fangs. I slowly took a step back before speaking to her again. “You're not in your right mind now.”

She moved faster than my eyes could blink which told me her vampire instincts were fully active at the moment and she had her fangs in my shoulder. Two minutes later she let go practically jumping away from me and she was breathing frantically.

“Oh my god i’m sorry I didn’t mean to-”

I put my hand up to stop her rambling. “It’s fine, it didn't even hurt.”

“It’s not fine.” Yua said, her eyes tearing up. I took a step toward her and she instantly backed away and ran into the house.

“Yua!” I called after her but she ignored me and kept going.

I sighed. “I guess she’s taking being a vampire harder than I thought.” I looked towards the door she disappeared behind. Then I decided to go bandage my bleeding shoulder. After I walked out of the bathroom I found Yua sitting on the couch wiping the tears off her face. I sat next to her and she looked up.

“I'm sorry.” she mumbled looking down again.

“I told you it’s fine. You’ll get used to it. Plus if I wanted to I could have stopped you.” she snapped her neck in my direction.

“You let me bite you? What’s wrong with you?”

“I needed to see how far you would go. I could have snapped you out of it.”

“You're a nut.” she got up running upstairs.

Akio’s pov

We decided to eat dinner outside tonight. Riyoshi and Yua had already gone to bed leaving Hikari in the back alone. She was sitting on one side of the sofa reading a book while I was on the other end. She smiled from time to time enjoying her book. Earlier when we held hands I felt something differently. I feel the connection. Being at the VHA for so long you learn a lot about our kind. Some vampires have the ability to sense their soulmate through feeling and instinct. Maybe that’s why I was so protective over her. I was physically drawn to her and couldn't stay away. I barely knew her and was ready to risk it all. Damn maybe Riyoshi was right. Maybe I was whipped.

“Why are you staring at me?” she asked, smiling. I was so focused I didn't realize she had stopped reading and was looking back at me.

“I wasn't.” I mumbled turning away from her.

“Is something bothering you? You were staring at me for like 5 minutes.” she laughed.

“Im fine.” she moved closer now sitting face to face almost a little too close. “Tell me. What’s up?” she asked, concerned. She waited for me to reply and when I didn't say anything she spoke up.

“Were you thinking about me?.” That caught me off guard. By the way she was smiling I couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

“Why would I be thinking about you?”

“Well according to Riyoshi you have a crush on me. Is that why you're out here with me and not inside? Because you want to spend time with me?”. I quickly stood up turning away from her. I could feel my cheeks heating up again.

“Come inside, it's getting cold out here. I don't need you to freeze.”

“I'll come in when i'm done with this pa-.”

“Now!” I told her turning back to look at her. She quickly got up and made her way to the couch.

“I'll go to bed when I'm done with this part. I promise.” I nodded.

“By the way do you know where that dagger I lost earlier went?” She shook her head. “No but I think I smelt blood earlier but I'm not sure.” Hmm if something happened Riyoshi would tell me. I walked into Riyoshi and I’s room being quiet so I wouldn't wake him up. I shut the door behind me and the lights turned on causing me to jump back.

“What the hell. I thought you were asleep.” I told Riyoshi who was staring at me annoyed. Did I do something wrong? Who knows what I did this time to piss him off.

“I had to make sure you didn't try anything with Hikari.” I rolled my eyes at him sitting on my bed.

“Nothing happened so you can go to bed.”

“Aren't you missing something?” He threw my missing dagger on my bed.

“Why are you always getting me into trouble huh?”

“No why are you always getting me into trouble!”Riyoshi  snapped and then showed me his shoulder and my mouth just hung open.

“She went straight for my neck then cried about it.”

“I'm sorry man. I was looking for that dagger though.”

“How did this dagger make its way to my neck? That's all I wanna know.

“Hikari doesn’t have the best aim. It must have slipped.”

“Slipped huh. If I punched you and said my fist slipped I would be wrong.”

“I said sorry man why are you trying to assault me?”

“I got cut by a dagger and my blood drank.”I got in my bed and turned away from him pulling the blankets over me.

“Go to bed and turn off the light.”

[literary-spirit]

"I'm sorry we couldn't offer you little more comfort while residing with us." Genuineness threaded itself through Torvi words as she watched while Bonnie settled herself behind Hali underneath the furs of unknown heritage.

A gratitude inspired smile made a conquest of Bonnie's lips. "No need for apologies, Torvi. Fact is, I'm grateful that you've allowed me somewhere safe to lay my head. Especially with everything being so new and unfamiliar."

Truth be sold rather than told, Bonnie didn't understand one damn thing about her predicament. One moment she lay bleeding out in her fiancé's arms in 21st century New Orleans, and the next she lay sprawled on Bjorn's ship during the freaking Viking Era. After some thought she'd begun to believe herself to be on the other side she'd created for Enzo, but there was a few sizable holes in that working theory. One, Enzo didn't hail from the ninth century so why would she tailor the world he'd spend his afterlife in after it? Two, she'd had the displeasure of being dead stranded on the other side a time or two and neither time did the imitation of life after death explode with a passion that could only be rivaled by reality.

No, Bjorn, Ivar, and Kattegat was real. It was all real! But on everything and everyone she loved she couldn't understand why. What did her giving up her mortality to become the immortal witch and finally embrace the prophecy have to do with this particular place in time?

"Bonsie?" The dulcet cadence of Guthrum's voice snatched her away from her thoughts. "Can you tell us a saga about your land?"

He and Hali stared up at her. The gleam of excitement tinkled bright in both of their eyes. She faked a sigh and played at reluctance with a roll of the eyes, all the while a smile twitched at the corners of her mouth for freedom. "Are you sure? Because you and Hali look really tired," she began tickling Hali who squealed and squirmed to get away, "And I don't wanna start one of my dull stories only to bore you both to sleep."

"Please!" They both squeaked in unison. "You have our vow we won't slumber before the end of your tale. Right Hali?" The blonde cherub face child with eyes just like his father nodded.

"Alright, but the vow I want from you is, that if slumber comes for you or Hali while I'm telling you the story you won't fight it," she said, her gaze moving from one boy to the other. "That's the only way I'm going to speak of this saga. I won't waste words on tired ears."

The boys stared at each other for a moment, before Guthrum looked back at her, "If our slumber takes us before the conclusion, will you continue when we rise?"

"Maybe not when we rise. You know, because we'll have to break our fast and I'm sure there'll be chores needing to be done-"

"There will definitely be chores needing to be done," Torvi confirmed as she watched from the bed.

Bonnie shrugged, tapping her chin while staring up at the ceiling of the keep. Her eyes flared as if the proverbial light bulb had erupted into a thousand ideas, "I know! If you fall asleep before the saga is finished, then I'll continue it tomorrow before we go to bed."

Guthrum looked to Hali, who nodded his head, "You have our vow, Bonsie."

"Okay," she held up her pinky. They stared at her finger for a moment then gawked at her as if she'd open a third eye on her forehead, "Well if you're giving me your vow boys, I'ma need a pinky swear to consummate your sworn oath."

"How do you perform such a ritual?" Guthrum asked, cuddling in closer.

"Hold up your little finger just like this." She wiggled her pinky. Once Guthrum and Hali raised their fingers, she entwined both of her pinkies with theirs, tugged and pulled away. "And just like that we have consummated our oath with a pinky swear."

"So, what of the saga?" Guthrum questioned.

"It's a story that takes place in a land where my ancestors once thrived. A continent called Africa," she began, "There a wise lion king was blessed with a cub who too would one day be king of everything the light touched in that land."

For the next thirty minutes or so Bonnie retold the story of the Lion King. By the time she reached the part about Scar throwing Mufasa off the cliff into the surge of stampeding antelope she noticed the boys had fallen asleep. Lowering her voice, she allowed her words to trail off, to avoid awakening the kids.

"Ack! Why'd you stop?!" Bjorn snapped. "Did Mufasa find a way to save himself so that he could exact revenge over his treacherous brother?"

"And what of poor Simba?" Torvi grilled, "What will become of him now?"

Bonnie's brows collided. She hadn't realized that they had even gave her a benefit of an ear let alone hung on to every word of the story. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you guys were paying attention."

"Why wouldn't we attend you, Bonnie?" Bjorn shot her one more unit before settling back on the bed to stare at the ceiling. "Are we not sharing the same space?"

"Bjorn," Torvi lightly scolded, cuddling down next to him.

"It's okay, Torvi," she said, rolling away to face the wall, "Bjorn's right. I'm wrong for not considering you both may wanna hear the ending of the story, but even if I wanted to finish it my sacred oath with the boys wouldn't allow me to continue until next eve. So, have a good night's rest and I'll see you both in the morning."

Bonnie allowed her eyes to close and not much later she dosed until squeaks, moans, and grunts ripped her from the verge of a deep sleep. Confused about why the hell she was on the floor instead of in Klaus' Californian King, her eyes darted around and then finally collided with a folded up Torvi getting piled drove by Bjorn.

When Torvi noticed her watching, she blushed and attempted to stifle another moan, "Apologies, Bonnie. We didn't mean to wake you with our coupling."

"It's fine," she said, not knowing what the hell else to say. It's not like she could go in about them banging one out in their own keep. Bjorn's lava hot blues bore into her, while he began to grind slow circles into Torvi. Bonnie attempted to clear her throat, but only managed a super dehydrated cough, "P-please c-continue—I-I mean if that's what you both wanna do. Not that I'm gonna keep watching or anything."

"Would you like to join us?" Torvi offered between gasps and moans. "Bjorn's vigor is insatiable. He would have no issues pleasuring you as well."

"T-That's not necessary!" Bonnie flopped back over on her side to face away from them, "You two enjoy, I'm good." She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to ignore the snickers coming from the bed as she willed herself to go back to sleep.

****

After daggmal what Bjorn called breakfast, Sigurd offered to be her guide while she explored the forest. They spent almost half the day trekking through the woods gathering recipes she would need for hygienic purposes and basic spells. For the first half of their outing, Sigurd merely helped and watched her without saying anything. When she'd had enough of him side-eying the hell out of her she spun on him without warning and he almost ran her down.

"What's wrong with you? Why do you keep watching me like I'm gonna turn you into horse shit or something?" She snapped.

His eyes flared, and he took a step back. "Can you?"

"Sigurd!" Bonnie stared at him for a moment like he'd left his mind back at Kattegat, before whirling around to continue her descend down to the cove. "Why did you come if you're so scared of me?" She tossed over her shoulder.

"Because I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen and I was hoping to plow you," he replied, following behind her.

"Men," she mumbled to herself. Then she raised her voice loud enough for him to hear. "So, I guess Ivar's telling anyone who will listen I'm a witch, huh?"

"Ivar?" He questioned as if he didn't know how one thing had to do with the other. "No, what's he to do with anything? It's Margrethe."

Bonnie stopped once more to turn and look up at him. "Margrethe? You mean the poor servant girl you all pass around like a waste bucket?"

"We don't pass her around and she says when you appeared out of air the gods let their displeasure be known by sending a storm to upset the sea," he walked closer, plucked the basket from her hands, intertwined their arms and guided her towards the cove. "She also said that the storm only went away when she mentioned throwing you over."

"You do understand Margrethe is madder than a bag of cats tossed in a barrel of water, right? Anything that comes out of her mouth is nothing more than rantings of the certifiable," she said, filing Margrethe away for a later day's problem.

Sigurd laughed. "Your turn of phrases are cutting. I've noticed that you wield your words the way Hvitserk swings an ax."

"Runs in the family," she said, distracted by the splashing she heard coming from the cove. "Shh," she stopped, halting Sigurd along with her, "someone's down there."

Stunned disbelief flared his eyes and dropped his jaw, "Really? Well, we should go-,"

"Yeah," her head bobbed in utter agreement, more than ready to turn around, "we should."

"And cut down the trespassers!" He finished.

"Wait, what?"

Without even a notion of a warning, he scooped her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and ran down the rest of the way to the cove. Once they cleared the woods and stepped into the enclosure of the inlet, he strode into the water with her. She caught an upside-down glimpse of Ivar sitting on the bank, while Ubbe and Hvitserk chased each other around in the water with long skinny sticks.

"Brother, what took you so long?" Hvitserk snickered as he bent sideways to stare her in the face.

Sigurd smacked her on the bottom. "This one wanted to pick every smelly flower in the forest."

"Sigurd, take me back on dry land," she said, pounding him in the middle of his back with her fists, "So help me, if you fuck around and drop me in this water and my hair gets wet, it's gonna be hell to tell the captain. And just in case you haven't figured it out I'm the motherfucking captain!"

"What's she going on about?" Ivar called from the bank.

Sigurd laughed, "She wants to swim."

Then he tossed her into the biting chill of the water. She emerged sputtering water and spitting mad. Their laughter only served to piss her off more. Hatemakers shot from her eyes like hollow points leaving the barrel of a glock. When she finally had Sigurd locked and loaded in her sights, she treaded water like she had an engine shoved up her crack and Bobby Boucher'ed his ass so hard he hurtled through the air. He smacked the water harder than Angela did Marcus, and he went under. Now it was her turn to laugh and do the fool she did. Ubbe and Hvitserk gawked at her as if she'd sprouted wings and a tail.

Sigurd clawed his way back to the surface gasping and coughing. "Who in the name of Odin taught you how to swim, Thor?"

The sound of laughter and clapping floated from the bank. Bonnie turned to see Ivar's incandescent methane orbs flashing hella bright. Yet somehow the brilliance of his smile rivaled even the bewitching dazzle of his eyes. He'd baited and hooked her without even casting the lure. Now the unexplainable pull between them would reel her in. Pushing the mass of dripping curls from her face, she began to walk toward the shore.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hvitserk whispered next to her ear, before scooping her off her feet, "You've a lesson to learn."

"Oh, Hvitserk, you just better bring it!" She yelled as she bucked and squirmed in his grasp, "That goes for your sisters too."

With that said he dunked her in the water, when she reemerged Ubbe had a hold of her, "Many apologies, my lady. You were saying?" He questioned, regarding her with eyes the same shade as a cloudless sky.

She gave him a closed lip smile, and then slapped her cheeks, allowing all of the water in her mouth to spray him in the face. When he released her, she dove under the surface, grabbed him by the ankles and snatched him off his feet, literally. Then she went after Hvitserk next. Anticipating an attack, he and Sigurd took on a defense stance. So, they planned to make this a joint effort. She gave herself a mental nod, noted. Tired of playing around, she hiked her skirts up just beneath the curve of her ass and knotted it high on her hip. Sigurd and Hvitserk exchanged a smirk. Not wasting a second she struck. First, she climbed, and then wrapped herself around Sigurd. In a maneuver reminiscent of the Black Widow, she used his body weight and gravity against him. Once more he soared through the air.

She turned to Hvitserk and he gave her the smile which let her know he thirst for blood and the rush. Yep, she'd saved the most savage for last. Leaping on him, she wrapped her legs around his waist. He automatically grabbed a fist full of ass. Sexual lust overpowered his blood lust. Big mistake. She snapped backwards in a back bend, the memento snatched him off his feet and he went free falling face first into some rather high-quality H2O.

While the brothers attempted to figure out which step led to their downfall, Bonnie left the water to find Bjorn standing on the bank. His look of indifference remained true to the inner workings of his mind.

"You move well," he said as he reached down to place one hand on a bare hip and the other on the knot that secured her skirt. In a swift tug he released the drenched material. "I've never seen anyone fight that way or toss about men twice their size."

A memory of Bjorn giving Torvi the business end of some serious wood flashed at the forefront of Bonnie's mind. Unable to maintain eye contact, she dropped her gaze to the ground, "It's nothing. We were just messing around; I'd hoped to learn how to manage one of their sticks." Ivar snickered and that's when she realized how it sounded. "You know...for fishing." She added to be Visine clear.

"If you're to learn to manage anyone's stick, it'll be mine," Bjorn stepped closer and crowded her personal space.

The heat which came off of him reminded her of the predicament she now found herself. She was drenched and it had to be every bit of fifty-eight degrees out and dropping. The boys came trudging out the water behind her.

Ubbe walked up on her until the hard press of his chest collided with her back. One of his hands moved to grip her neck, while the other rose to lay possessively across her belly. He lowered his mouth next to her ear, "The gods were with you this day, Valkyrie. Yet, we'll see what the morrow brings." He then released her and moved around her to sit next to Ivar.

"You think yourself clever with that trick in the water, do you?" Sigurd asked, while tugging one of her curls as he passed. "Well, I know a few tricks too and mine are sure to put you on your back as well." With his gaze still locked on her, he dropped down on the other side of Ubbe.

Hvitserk spun her around to face him. "One detail," he snatched her skirts up around her hips and lifted her. Her legs wrapped around his waist. A sliver of space remaining between them provoked him to tug her closer until her naked sex pressed firmly against his bare lower abdomen muscles. On contact, the sinewy tissue flexed against her clit and try as she might, she couldn't stop the groan that burst from her lips. His eyes rolled closed, and gasps of air rushed from his mouth as he rested his forehead on hers. "I had to be certain." After a moment he allowed her body to slip from his.

"Of what?" She questioned, slightly swaying as she shifted her skirts back in place.

"I was home," he said, before stealing a kiss and darting away.

Something a breath away from recognition flared within her. She pressed to fingers to her lips to help preserve the feel and weight of Hvitserk's mouth on hers. Where the hell did she know his kiss?

Bjorn shot his younger siblings hell bred units. "Come, Bonnie. It's almost time for second meal and Queen Aslaug would like for us to attend her in the great hall...again." She didn't miss the annoyance which saturated his again.

"Alright, let me just grab my basket," she strode to pick up the wicker carrier and the world turned upside down.

Then it overturned and became consumed by Ivar's sculpted to perfection features. When she'd sacrificed her better judgement and walked too closed to him, he'd snatched her off her feet by an ankle. Once down on his turf, he'd flipped her over and yanked her to him like a virgin slated for sacrifice. Now he loomed over her larger than life. She'd played herself by forgetting he was the one to watch. The most dangerous of them all.

"I can see in your eyes you know your error is grave," he spoke to her in that soft accented tone that all ways fucked over her senses. "Next time you will not dismiss me so effortlessly because you believe me to be at a disadvantage, hmm?"

The sheer beauty of him outshined the ever-radiant torch she still carried for Niklaus. And Ivar the Boneless was right there! Right there in front of her! If ever there was a pass to be given for one indiscretion in a relationship, surely this was the time. Ignoring all the legitimate reasons as to why she shouldn't, she reached up and ran the pad of her index finger over one smooth brow. The perfectly arched hair felt silky to the touch.

Stunned, he stared down at her, confusion bunching those very brows while slightly parting those luscious lips. Her gaze flicked to the bottom one. It drew her thumb like a super magnet attracted to a pile of scrap metal. First contact almost made her swallow her tongue. Nothing could've prepared her for such fleshy softness. You'd think his lips had never known a day without Carmex. Damn, she had to know what it felt like to have his mouth on hers! Cupping her other hand around the nape of his neck, she used the hold to guide his lips towards hers even as she arched upwards to meet him halfway.

"Ivar, we have spoken much on you remaining free of mischief," Bjorn said, yanking Ivar off of her and plopping him back down on the plot of grass next to Ubbe.

Bonnie climbed to her feet, dusting herself off as she went. For a moment, their she'd almost pulled a damn Elena. Acting first and thinking never. Difference was she didn't have a scrappy side-chick running to have her back when she wrote a check her ass wasn't equipped to cash out. No! She needed to stay focused and figure out why the hell an immortal witch spell brought her all the way back to the Viking era. And it wasn't even the real Viking era. She was trapped in a television series loosely tailored after a raider who lived over a thousand years ago.

"Thanks for helping me today, Sigurd," She said, while allowing Bjorn to take her hand. "It would've taken me longer to locate the things I needed without you.

"You're welcome to my help whenever you have need of it," He said, grinning up at her.

Bonnie nodded then looked to the other brothers. "Ubbe, Hvitserk...Ivar," she held Ivar's gaze a moment longer than called for, before continuing, "thank you for being superb stress relievers." She wound her shoulders in counterclockwise circles as she cocked her head from one side to the other until she heard the pop. "Didn't realize how backed up I was until you guys worked me out a little."

"Then you should prepare yourself," Ubbe said, giving her a sideways glance, "for stress will no longer be a worry of yours." His bottomless cobalt glare, glanced down the length of her body before returning back to her face. Hvitserk and Sigurd snorted.

She held his gaze until Bjorn guided her from the enclosure of the cove back into the woods. Once out of his and Ivar's soul disturbing stare, she exhaled. For the next several minutes, she and Bjorn walked back to Kattegat in silence. After fiddling with the handle of the basket, attempting to work up the nerve to find something to say, Bjorn spoke first.

"I spoke with Floki today and he told me the fleet I commissioned won't be ready to sail until next Spring," he said, bending to pick up a stick from the path, "which is just as well, since Torvi is carrying again. I've already sent a messenger to King Harald."

"Wait," she stopped mid-step, "Torvi's pregnant?"

He walked a little further before he realized she'd halted. Once he did, he turned back to face her, his expression unreadable as ever. "Yes."

"C-congratulations, Asa's gonna be beautiful," she said, without thinking. Her mind to set on the fact she was adrift somewhere between season 4 part 1 and 2. How the hell would she navigate over the course of the year without knowing what happens from one moment to the next?

Bjorn cradled her face in his hands. "Are you saying this babe will be a girl?"

Damn! Well, the cat has left the bag. She nodded and a brilliant smile that could put the sun out of business blossomed on his face. His joy even provoked the corners of her mouth to travel north. "I'm very much proud to have boys, but after what happened to my first child...Siggy, it is my belief that by blessing me with a girl this time, the gods have shown me favor."

The blend of his happiness and vulnerability disarmed her defenses. She leapt into his arms, hugging him tight to her. The best her lack of height would allow anyway. All she wanted was to give him the comfort and support he'd shown her since her world went bat-shit. Bjorn, however, must've misread into things, because he had her pinned to the nearest tree attempting to raise her skirts.

He pressed kisses into the side of her neck as he worked to hike up her skirts and wrap her legs around him at the same time. "My man stand has nigh burst awaiting consent to plow you." He grind an oversized bulge into her bare center, and she squealed, not sure whether it was in delight or protest.

"Bjorn, I'm so sorry," she gritted through clenched teeth. Not trusting what would come flying out of her mouth if she opened it fully. "I didn't mean to lead you on. I'm a hugger." She babbled. "I only meant to offer you a hug of friendship."

He stilled and leaned away to peer down at her with a scrunched red face. "What?" Backing away, he let her feet drop to the ground. "Who in the name of the All-Father offers passionate embraces as a form of friendship?"

"Look, Bjorn," she lifted her chin, ready to no means no, his ass. "I'm sorry if you misread things, but you're married-,"

"Misread?!" His eyes nearly leapt from their sockets as he snorted his disbelief. "And what of all the lusty ways I notice you watching me when you think I don't see?"

She lied with a straight face. "You're mistaken."

"I'm not mistaken," he backed her into the same tree, "just last eve your eyes pleaded with me-,"

"And that's another thing," she said, cutting him off. "Don't take this wrong, because I'm grateful for you and Torvi's kindness, but when can we start on the restoration of Rollo's house?"

He stared at her a moment without saying anything. "We can begin soon after we finish daggmal on the morrow." Her head bobbed, and then she moved to step around him. He grabbed her arm to halt her movements. "Are you leaving my keep because I chose to lay with my wife?"

Her eyes bucked and she shook her head until she thought it would fly off her neck, "Of course not. I'm leaving because you both deserve privacy and not some stranger interrupting your lives."

"You're not a stranger, Mystical One," he rested his forehead on hers, "we're bonded by the oath we swore. You and I are a part of each other until one of us enters Valhalla."