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markosmate · 3 years ago

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to the dark side

Pairing; Marko x Emerson!Reader

Summary; Moving to a different state with your younger brothers and mother just to live with your grandfather was hard enough, but falling in love with a vampire and then watching your brother do the same thing? Much different story.

Warnings; strong language + mentions of blood

au:// Part 5 losers, have the whole thing mapped out from here hehe I’m excited for y’all to read everything :))

Part 4 - Part 6

“Be one of us.” David’s words echoed a couple of times through my head. My eyes flickered between Marko and Michael, wondering why drinking from this bottle initiated someone into the group - yet also wondering if Michael was going to accept this invitation they were giving him.

David held the bottle up and out towards my brother, in a silent sort of offering. As Michael stood to make his way closer to David, the other three boys started softly chanting his name in a mocking fashion. My brother grabbed the bottle from David’s hands, and slowly turned it in between each of his own. Star came up right behind him, and began speaking to him in such a low voice that I could barely hear her from where I was sitting.

“Don’t. You don’t have to, Michael.” She pleaded softly and I could my eyes roll involuntarily. Was this her way of trying to tell him not to be peer pressured? It sure didn’t seem like she cared about pressuring him when she was letting her boyfriend lead him to the edge of a cliff.

“Michael.” David whispered along with the boys, eyes piercing into the side of Mike’s head.

“It’s blood.” Star’s voice was louder this time, like she wanted everyone to hear what she had exposed to him. But, after the whole maggots and worms play - he didn’t seem to want to fall for another one of the group’s tricks.

He chuckled nonchalantly and nodded his head in a sarcastic manner. “Yeah, sure. Blood.” And then he raised the rim of the bottle to his lips and took a few big gulps of whatever it was. The boys let out a few scattered cheers, Paul even pumping his fists into the air in celebratory manner.

But the celebration was short-lived, as the four boys’ gazes turned back to me. Marko moved forward quickly, snatching the bottle away from Mike’s grasp before he could chug down all of it and moving towards where I was sitting. He crouched down in front of me before offering the bottle to me with a sly smirk creeping up on his lips.

“Drink some sweet thing. Be one of us, just like Michael.” I still hadn’t the slightest clue what that was supposed to mean - why would drinking some cheap alcohol out of a home-made bedazzled bottle make you automatically apart of the group? The way they were putting things wasn’t making any sense, but I could overlook that for right now. Because in this moment, Marko was looking at me with such hopeful eyes that I almost couldn’t pick up on the deceit hidden underneath it. But I felt like I’d do anything he asked me to, so I reached forward to take the bottle from his hand.

The boys watched on with excited eyes, eagerly anticipating my next moves. I glanced over towards Star, who had Laddie by the shoulder and was leading him away as she watched Michael with a disappointed gaze. Maybe it was blood? Maybe that’s why she looks so shaken right now? Because Michael had drank some even after she warned him not to? I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind - I was probably just overthinking - and raised the rim of the bottle to my lips.

The substance came pouring into my mouth and it burned it’s way down my throat. It tasted nothing like any alcohol I’d ever drank before - it was so much stronger, but at the same time so much more addicting. I wanted nothing more than to keep taking swigs of whatever it was but before I could even process what was going on, the bottle was tugged gently from my lips.

The boys all cheered, their shouts echoing through the cave, as Dwayne and Paul began chanting Michael and I’s names. All of my previous rational thoughts of staying far away from these boys and any of the trouble that came along with them were long out the window by now.

The substance I had drank gave me a drunk sort of feel and all I knew was there was a hot dude giving me what seemed to be alcohol and all of his friends cheering my brother and I’s names around us. David yelled out a “Bravo!”, reaching over to take the uncorked bottle from Marko to hand back to Michael.

Paul let out a loud laugh and momentarily stopped his cheering to lean over and clap me on the shoulder. “You’re one of us, girl! Let the good times roll.”

I wanted to be by Marko’s side, but David had beaten me to it. “Give me a ride, Marko.” The curly blond sent me a quick, mischievous grin before standing up and making his way behind David, beginning to push him around the fountain on the wheelchair.

I didn’t know what they meant by that, but they all kept saying it over and over so it had to mean something other than a cheesy initiation. I ignore the feeling in my chest that I had somehow just made a horrible mistake, and continue on partying with the others. I’m just overthinking it after all, these dudes are cool, what could go wrong honestly?

The answer was a lot. A lot could go wrong. David announced that we all had somewhere we needed to be, and Michael and I blindly followed the boys out of the cave and back up to the top of the bluff. I’d gotten on the back of Marko’s bike without a second thought, and soon the five bikes were racing through the slim trails of the woods once more.

It didn’t take long before they pulled up next to some train tracks - David, Dwayne, and Michael parking their bikes on one side and Marko and Paul parking their bikes on the other. I climbed off with a little stumble, still feeling the tiniest bit dizzy from drinking whatever alcohol was in the bottle that they gave me. The boys began walking on the tracks, out and over the bridge.

“Perfect timing.” David led in the front and Marko grabbed one of my belt loops to pull me into his side as he threw his other arm around Dwayne’s shoulders.

“What’s going on?” Michael’s voice echoed.

“Michael wants to know what’s going on.” David teased the slightest bit. Paul laughed a bit as we walked farther out onto the bridge. “Marko,” He spoke again. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” Marko grinned. “What’s goin’ on, Paul?”

“Wait a minute, who wants to know?” Came Paul’s genius reply - quickly followed by,

“Michael wants to know!” From Dwayne, who had finally spoken up for the first time that night.

“I think we should let Michael, and Ivory,” David paused slightly to begin including me in on their hazing. “Know what’s going on.” The platinum leader stopped a few feet ahead of the boys and turned with Michael at his side, before leaning forward the slightest bit to wrap a cold hand around my wrist. He tugged me gently away from Marko’s hip, bringing me to stand next to him and my brother to watch the three others of the group.

“Yeah.” Paul sung out, body practically buzzing with what I could only assume was excitement for what was to come. David tilted his head with a small mischievous smile and spoke once more.

“Marko?” I turned my head back to look at said boy once more with furrowed eyebrows.

He wasn’t looking at me however, instead opting to stare only at my brother. He lifted his hand and twirled his fingers in a small sort of wave before grinning wickedly. “Goodnight Michael.” Before he dropped with an echoing “Bombs away!” I gasped, my head whipping around to look at David yet his expression hadn’t changed a bit.

Michael’s jaw hung open in pure confusion, only confirming that he too had seen what I had. Paul stepped forward with a similar grin and looked between Michael and I quickly. “Bottoms up, man. Yeow!” He dropped just as suddenly, and was quickly followed by Dwayne who only shot us silent finger guns before dropping down the same opening in the bars that the previous two had. I stared, absolute shock and fear cursing through my blood. Had they just literally jumped to their deaths right in front of us? They couldn’t have, how would that make any sense?

David moved to step in front of us, and with a hand on Michael’s shoulder he leaned in the slightest bit to speak. “Come with us, guys.” Before he, too, stepped off the edge and dropped through the bars. With one short glance at my brother, who was too busy staring at where David had just fallen to notice I was looking at him, I rushed forward and kneeled on the edge to stare down into the fog. A huff of relief left my lungs and I laughed breathily as I stared down at the four boys hanging from the support beams.

The four cheered a bit, finally making some noise once Michael leaned down next to me, curiosity ultimately getting the best of him. “Hey, Ivory!” Marko called up with a grin on his lips, attention then momentarily taken from me as Paul swung his legs up to kick at the shorter boy.

“Michael and Ivory Emerson!” David’s rough voice cut through the other boy’s cheerful shouts. “Come on down!” He taunted, his laugh afterwards cause the nerves in my body to go haywire. I never thought I’d genuinely come face-to-face with the expression about all of your friends jumping off of a bridge, but here we were now.

I grinned at Michael and clapped him on the shoulder teasingly before moving to climb down onto the bar across from Paul. My arm strength wasn’t nearly as good as Michael’s, but adrenaline was coursing through my body at such a rate that I didn’t care. “There ya go, girl!” Paul laughed loudly kicking at my legs this time instead of Marko’s. I reacted just as quickly, kicking back at him in a competitive manner as the grin on my face grew. I saw Michael climb down in front of David out of the corner of my eye as Marko began to shout once more.

“Yeah, let’s play a game! Let’s play a game, baby!” He dragged out each syllable of the last word and my stomach flipped a few times at his voice, but I needed to focus more on not falling to my death than whatever it was he was getting at.

Paul laughed along with his friend. “Welcome aboard, Michael.”

David’s chilling laugh echoed once more, and the wind carried his voice to me though I could tell he was only really speaking to Michael. “Fun, huh?” Suddenly the tracks above us began to vibrate, and not long after they began to viciously shake as the horn of a train blared through the night. I felt my stomach squeeze uncomfortably as the boys continued their obnoxious shouts. I glanced over in Marko’s direction for some reassurance only to see him pulling himself up once through the bars before dropping down to hang once more with a mocking grin on his face. He wasn’t looking at me though, his attention was over towards Michael who I could vaguely hear shouting, “Jesus Christ!”

“Yeah!” Paul laughed, suddenly letting go of the bars and falling into the fog below. As if this entire thing wasn’t insane enough, I felt my heart drop. “Oh my God!” I cried, looking down to see if I could spot him but there was still only fog below us. My arms were burning, and I knew there was no way I’d be able to hold on much longer - never-mind try and pull myself up and over the bars to safety once the train passed.

Marko caught my eye and he sent me a wink, eyes sparkling as if he knew something I didn’t. “Don’t be scared, Ivory!” Then he let go as well, yelling out as he fell the same way Paul did.

“Jesus Christ!” Michael’s voice met my ears again, as suddenly Dwayne fell from my side as well, yelling on his way down.

“Guys!” David yelled to the both of us. “You’re one of us! Let go!”

“And do what?” I shouted at him incredulously, was he fucking serious? Were the other three dead right now? And now he was telling us to let go too?

“You are one of us, Ivory.” He assured once more before falling into the fog as well.

“David!” Michael screamed after him. The train finally passed, and the bars stopped shaking in our grasps. I looked over at my brother with wide eyes, how the hell were we supposed to get ourselves out of this one? I watched as he tried to pull himself up to no avail, and right as I went to speak to him I heard shouts from below us. It was the boys - they were alive! How the fuck were they alive?

I glanced over to Michael who was trying to pull himself up once more and felt my grip begin to slip drastically. “I’m gonna let go.”

“What?” His voice was strained and he glared straight into my soul. “No, are you insane? You’ll die!”

“I can’t hold on anymore, Mike. And they survived somehow, there’s gotta be water or something below.” And before he could even begin to protest more, my hands slipped from the bar. I screamed as I fell, the thick fog enveloping me completely and all my senses seemed to be blocked out.

I could vaguely hear my name being whispered over and over again and I was almost completely positive that I had blacked out and was just hallucinating this excruciatingly long fall. Right before everything went dark, a pair of arms cut my fall short as my eyes fluttered closed.

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fluffonthebunniestail · 4 years ago

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Slip up

Hello lovely people, sorry it's been a while! Also, I've been meaning to change the format to keep reading. Apparently, with what I'm using I cannot do that, but it shall change in due time! Yes, this is another Bakugō fic, I cannot get over myself.

Pairing: Lee!Bakugou/Ler!Kirishima

Summary: Bakugou decided to change up his wardrobe slightly, and that means tighter shirts. With that, Kirishima took it personally.

Warnings: swearing, tickle fic

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Bakugou was really testing his patients.

And he means really testing it.

For the reason Kirishima has no knowledge of, Katsuki had changed his style in shirts: tight and easily riding up.

This shirts weren't a constant; they would come and go, a switch between those and his usual tank tops.

And in all honesty, Kirishima was a bit distracted. He can't blame himself! Even just opening a cabinet and bam: abs on display. Kirishima then took it as a challenge. For what, he had no idea. It didn't matter.

It was perfect when he and Katsuki was alone due to the classmates going out, and the rest going home.

He looked up from where he was sitting (he was watching something on his phone; half of the time looking at other stuff), and he saw Bakugou walking to the kitchen, getting the pitcher of water from the refrigerator.

Kirishima felt his face heat up at the shirt he was wearing. It was a long-sleeved, tightly fitted black shirt. The hem of it ended just above his navel, and it accentuated the hell out of his figure. Kirishima thought it'd be unmanly to continue to stare any longer without at least striking up a conversation. He got up and walked to the counter Bakugou leaned on pouring water into a cup.

"Hey." He said, a little bit awkwardly to his taste.

"Hey." He responded softly without looking up. Katsuki was a lot more quiet and calmer when it was just the two of them. Yet strangely enough, he was more talkative. Those talks were more personal, and Kirishima loved every single on of them.

"You sleep well?"

"Yeah." He finally looked over, giving him a lopsided smile. Kirishima felt his stomach doing summersaults at the gesture. They began to talk, just talk about whatever came up in their heads. Little annoyances, stresses, and even random stuff on the internet.

Eventually, they began to walk slowly back to the living room. Kirishima didn't know what possessed him to be so bold, but he slipped an arm around Bakugou's shoulder. Surprisingly enough, the blonde didn't shove him off.

Bakugou was taken aback once the hand around his shoulder pulled him down to the carpeted floor, Kirishima following.

"Hey! The fuck are you doing?" The blonde exclaimed as Kirishima straddled him pulling his arms in his. Bakugou sputtered at the movement, and unable to keep the rising heat in his face at bay.

"Sorry but you're really asking for this." He chuckled in response, holding the blonde's hands to his chest.

"For what?" Bakugou asked, voice nearly above a whisper, and eyes transfixed on the other. The tone of voice shocked Kirishima.

"You know."

"What are you doing?" Bakugou whispered, ends of his lips turning into a smile.

"Well," he laughed breathlessly, securing the blonde's hands, pining with the left -hardened- hand, on his own chest, "I wanted to know this for a while now." He got closer to Bakugou's face, seeing his cheeks reddening, and his heart racing beneath the hands placed.

"And what's that?" Katsuki felt himself get a bit giddy, he wasn't the only one.

"Are you ticklish?" Kirishima saw confusion quickly cross over his face.

"Wait wha- BWAHAHAHA!" Bakugou exploded with laughter. Unable to react properly, the immediate and unexpected sensations drilling at his ribs drove him up the wall. He leaned to the left, where his ribs were being attacked, kicking blindly behind the redhead on top. "WHAHA-WHAT ARE YOU DOHOAHAHA!!"

"Damn dude, I wasn't expecting you to be this ticklish." Kirishima chuckled fondly, switching his hand to the right side of the hysterical boy's ribs.

Although there was extreme satisfaction with finding out Bakugou was ticklish, he was more focused on his face. Bakugou had his head back, lost in the overwhelming feeling. His eyes were screwed shut, his nose was scrunched adorably, and his mouth was wide with laughter pouring out. It was such a pure and sweet smile you wouldn't expect from him.

"Kirishihimahahaha...." He giggled as Ejiro poked and lightly scratched at his ribs. His body rolling side to side, at a halfhearted attempt to shake him off. He noticed that Bakugou could have shoved him off at any moment now, but he didn't.

"Yes?"

"Mhmhmpfft- hahaha!" He giggled heavily as Kirishima scratched his nails at the blonde's bare sides. He did a funny dance, wiggling like a worm. "You ahahass!!"

"You're not stopping me." Kirishima pointed out, watching his face get unbelievably more red. He used his index finger nail to slowly scratch up and down the side of Bakugou's stomach. The blonde underneath buck hard and shriek; a wave of light laughter following. "Pretty bad here, huh?" He teased.

"Shuhut- AAHAAGH NOHOHOHO!" The blonde practically screaming with uncontrollable laughter; Kirishima generally drilling his thumb at the side of his stomach. He began to squirm heavily; bucking and screaming. "NOT THEHAHAHAHA!! YOU BAHAHASTAHAHAHAH!" He also started to tug a bit at his trapped hands.

"Alright, I'll be nice." Kirishima chuckled. He stopped, placing his palm on top of the shaking abdomen, nearly bursting out in laughter at the fact it caused Bakugou to giggle. Giggle! He never thought Bakugou was capable of such a cute giggle. "Okay," he cleared his throat, "it's kinda obvious you don't want me to stop. Which is cute, really, but I want the clear to continue."

Below him, Bakugou was catching up with his breath, the red remaining on his cheeks.

"Want me to continue?" Kirishima asked calmy, he got a bashful mumble I'm response. "I need a clear answer."

"Do whatever." He grumbled, looking to the side.

"You sure?" He clarified, he got a light nod. Kirishima just smiled warmly, "on it!" His hand twitched, causing the blond to jump.

He then scratched at the abdomen below in a featherlight manner. He was instantly rewarded with high-pitched giggles and squirming. He scribbled at random places on his stomach; the sides of it, the upper and lower part of his belly, and the center of his stomach that gave him the strongest reaction.

He then began to claw at the center of his belly, dragging out a surprised snort.

"Oh my god, that was so fucking cute." Kirishima laughed, watching the blonde attempt to hide his face in the side of his shoulder, giggling.

"Wahahahihihit- nahahaHAHAHAHA YOU FAHAHAHAK!" He exclaimed when Kirishima began to put pressure on his taut stomach, he squealed then laughed the loudest Kirishima has ever heard. He wiggled his torso, the sensations spreading across his belly making his laughter go at a higher pitch.

"SHITSHITSHIT- AHAHAHAH YOUHUHU ASSHOHOHOHOLE!"

Kirishima could help himself but laugh along with the contagious laughter, especially feeling knees on his back; Bakugou trying to curl into himself. He shook his head back and forth, completely lost in laughter. Kirishima switched it up, going back to light tickling. He stroked one finger at the center of the boy's stomach, making him let out the cutest strangled squeal.

It suddenly stopped, some residential giggles slipping out. He hesitantly looked up at Kirishima who had a mischievous glint to his eyes.

"One more thing I wanna try." He said looking at an expectant and giddy Bakugou, who looked ready to burst into laughter at any second.

He lowered his hand down, spidering above the spiked-blonde's stomach. Much to his amusement, he sucked in his stomach and began to giggle softly.

"I'm not even touching you!" He giggled teasingly, making a mental note to how his tease made him giggle harder. He kept tickling the air above the shaking belly below, the string of giggles never ending.

"Stohohop teahahasing me you fuhuhuhuck!"

"Alright."

Nothing prepared Bakugou for Kirishima to sneak a finger in his navel.

"AAAAAGHAAHA!" He thrashed so harshly, he nearly threw Kirishima off him. The boy in hysterics arched his back; it only succeeded with making it easier for Kirishima to wiggle his finger in the extremely ticklish spot a little more. He reacted harshly.

He was screaming more than laughing; his head thrown back, unable to cope with the harsh tingling feeling that tickled him so intensely inside out. It tickled so, so bad. "I CAHAHAAN'T I CAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

His mind melted, in a daze as he couldn't focused on anything besides him reeling over how much it tickled. He went limp, and allowing himself to just laugh and laugh and laugh.

"This is your tickle spot, isn't it? Holy shit man, you have to be one of the most ticklish person I've ever met." He gave him a break once his laughter quickly got silent. He just tapped around the edges of his belly button, it was still enough for him to laugh. "Wow, you're, like, super ticklish."

"Hehehe! Shut uhuhuhup!!" He let out a near ear-piercing screech when Kirishima tapped at his navel. "Pleahahahahase nohoho!" He was squealing as Kirishima continued, "I'm toouhuahahaha- I'm too ticklihihihish thereahahahaha!!"

"At least you admitted it." He chuckled, letting up. He let go of Bakugou's hands, letting him catch his breath, little titters and giggles slipping out here and there. "That was the cutest shit I've ever seen."

"Ahaha... Gohohod... The hell was that?"

"What?"

"You getting up in my face like that." Bakugou almost mumbled.

"I think you're cute." That statement made Bakugou look up at him shocked, yet skeptical.

"Yeah fucking right."

"It's true!" He added by pinching up and down Bakugou's sides, making him jump and laugh harshly. He grabbed at his wrist.

"Kirihihihi!" He wined. He hiccuped, staring at the redhead incredulously.

"I like you." He blurred out. "Like a lot."

"I guess that's one way to tell me." He laughed breathlessly, panting from his earlier laugh-fest.

"Shit I-", he stopped himself, wiping his hands across his face, "I shouldn't have- I shouldn't have done that I'm so sorry. I-I don't know what got over me, and-"

He was interrupted by Bakugou pulling him down for a kiss.

"I wouldn't have let you do shit if I didn't like you dumbass."

"Oh..." He smiled.

It was a good fucking day.

#mha bakugo katsuki #bakugou #kirishima #bnha #bakugou x kirishima #kinda blatant #tickle fic #ticklish!bakugou #lee!bakugou #kirishima is kinda a simp #but respectful becaus he is manly #fluff

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yejiroh · 3 years ago

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Siren Scales & Village Tales

•••

For @chaoticyuna 's Summerween event!

Siren Gojo with a female reader.

Word count: 2.3k

TW: large bodies of water, bullying, blood.

•••

“The water was always murky by the bog trees, billows of dirt and sod and other bits always falling into the water by the pounds. Further down the dirt road that passes through the swamp, and you’d find a well, then a town.

“A merchant’s town, children waddled through the puddles that filled the pit holes- it wasn’t a rich area, despite all the good business. In the center of the town, a big fountain captured the sun’s rays during the golden hour- usually around 5 in the afternoon.

“Now, back to the well- it’s kind of important.

“The well, around 3 feet wide, was built of what was now crumbling bricks- terribly small, but just big enough to fall down; should you be unlucky enough.

“But there was also a rumor- as there is in every town and village. And, like other rumors that resided in other towns and villages, it was that of the supernatural. But in this case…

“Sirens.

“Sirens were fish tailed peoples with webbed hands and glowing eyes. It was said that if you ever heard one singing, you’d be inclined to bring yourself forward, to take their hand and fall.”

“Fall?”

“Yes, fall. Fall down the well, they would tell you. However, once in a blue moon, there’s a survivor, one who crawls their way up from hell and back to the siren as if they were addicted to their voice; coming back every day while the sun is still up, just to leave crying their eyes out as the sun comes down.”

“Why only during the day?”

“Well, no one knows. It’s just something that happens. Like a law of nature.”

***

“Don’t you think it’d be better to just relax once in a while? It wouldn’t hurt you, I promise.”

Despite all the reassurances of saying a story was a story until proven otherwise, better safe than sorry. And the only well in a 15 mile radius was this one.

Curse them for being so cheap.

Your hands burned from the rope as you dragged the bucket up, clear water sloshing around spilling out some.

“Nanami, with all due respect, you are the last one I want to hear the word ‘relax’ from.”

Gravel bits dug into the souls of your shoes, some chunky enough to feel even through the rubber. It kind of stung.

“Y/n, I’m going to be frank with you; mermen? They don’t exist. Neither do griffins, or hydras, or any of that fairy tail nonsense you’re always babbling about. It’s just us two, and old Mr. Gakuganji down the road.”

Sighing, Nanami adjusted his glasses, not bothering to wait for you as he loaded the last gallon onto the wagon, getting ready to go.

***

People surged forward, coins and paper money grasped in hands before thrown at you two, grabbing at the jars of the well water. It was always like this, the town coming up to the well water like it was their life sustainer, and maybe for some, it was.

“Y/n! Welcome back! Did you see anything unnatural today?”

A mocking laugh, a tall man tore his shirt off- Aoi Todo. Behind him, the Zen’in twins chuckled.

“Actually Todo, I haven’t. BUT, I do have something else to note. That well water you’re drinking? It hasn’t been boiled yet.”

Watching his face contort, a smile is set on your face as Aoi began to hurl, tiny worms and water with last night's feast falling onto his feet.

“Y/n! What the hell! Did your siren buddy put you up to this?”

“What happened to them not being real?”

It was the same conversation everyday. And, like everyday, you was met with a horrible answer.

Todo scoffed before spitting onto the ground, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

“No man is every gonna want you, you stupid woman.”

“And if I don’t want to marry?”

***

As the hours passed, dusk came, bringing the stormy clouds with it- but it wasn’t yet raining. A ripple in the lake waters caught your eye- maybe a fish, but the fish weren’t in season, so it was unlikely.

You shouldn’t have been out after curfew- there were rules for a reason, yeah, but what was the harm? Especially after dinner, where you’d only had time for stale bread; chewing down the more than stale pieces was troubling.

The sands of the lake were dry, like all the water had been taken from the ground, pooling into the lake. Odd.

“A law of nature? But that's so…”

“Boring? Stupid? Illogical? Aye, it is.”

Kneeling down, you dipped your fingers into the water. There was something missing from the story the elders told you, you're sure of it; no matter how many times you waved your hand in the shallows, not a single ripple- only from that tail you saw earlier.

Something rumbled, whether or not it was the stormy clouds or your stomach, you didn’t bother to check.

Dipping your feet into the water, a sigh of relief escapes your lips- a breath let go you didn’t know you were holding.

Another roll of thunder- but something caught your eye; the tail again.

It was only for a moment, but you could make out the colors and fin shape. Various shades of blue and silver and yellows, shifting in the light, and the fin, large and (almost) pillowy.

It hit the water, disappearing once again.

“Stran-THE HELL?

Digits quickly grabbed your foot, webbed and slimy, pulling you under before you could scream.

Something pressed into your mouth- maybe seaweed? Bitter and salty, whatever it was was quickly shoved down your throat, forcing you to swallow.

As clear as the water was on the top, it was far too dark and dirty underneath. The vice grip that had pulled you down was now dragging you deeper, the breath you were saving long gone with the swallow, your eyes began to close.

‘Count the digits!’

A tiny raise of suspicion, you felt around for a limb, feeling up before coming to your wrist.

Forcing your eyes to open, the tears that pricked at your eyes were quickly swept away with the current.

Head feeling light, panic was soon replaced with adrenaline, and you raised your legs, knees to your chest, before kicking out hard. Your feet hit the thing holding you, and it let go quickly, allowing you a chance to escape.

Already out of breath, you swam up as fast as you could, finally breaking through the water’s surface. You sucked in a deep breath, coughing violently as you wiped the water and dirt out of your eyes, hurrying to the land.

Behind you, waves crashed, and the water of the lake that seemed crystal clear was now red and thickened. The air became heavy with the scent of iron, and soon the entire lake shifted up, sands and all, dragging you up with it.

“Now, now, it's not strange, is it? I think it’s quite the opposite. Normal even.”

You found yourself in the palm of a hand- or, in the webbing between fingers that curled in, as if to cradle you.

Finally getting a good look at the thing in question, it didn’t take long to put two and two together; the fish from the beginning, the thing that pulled you under...and now…

“I’m Y/n, what the fuck are you, and what’s your name? Also, you’re hot.”

And it was true. Big glossy blue eyes that seemed to be lashed by the purest white doves feathered around,the hair, just as white as the lashes, seemed to trail deep down, and looking down, you leaned over it’s thumb, holding it tight as you peered down. Purple scales glimmered all the way down.

Two fingers grabbed your collar, picking you up, bringing you to face an eye.

“You’re a funny little thing- I could just eat you up”-it opened its mouth, biting the air before laughing”- “I am Gojo. You’ve heard of me, yes? I’m a Siren...but I guess the more accurate description would be to say that I am this lake. And thank you, Y/n. You’re much too kind, considering I was about to drown you. Here, let me brush you off.”

As Gojo patted you down, your insides churned; it was much too fast, and to be frank, it was more like you were getting spanked. It didn’t help that dust clouds rolled off you.

“Y-you-ow-’re a -OW-guy?- STOP THAT HURTS!”

Gojo laughed, smiling as you coughed and waved your arms.

“A guy hmm...I suppose I am. You’re quite big for a fairy. And what the hell are you doing near a lake with no wings?”

“Fairy? I’m a human. There’s a whole ass village down the road through the forest.”

“Human? Oh...Ohh, yeah that makes a lot of sense.”

“Are mermaids- sorry, sirens- -lake dudes?”

“Lake dude, siren, doesn’t matter.”

“Right. Are y’all supposed to be this huge?”

Gojo gasped, a webbed hand on his chest and mouth hanging open before promptly putting you down, laying down himself as his lower half dissolved into water, the pit that was the lake somewhat there again.

“Big? You think I’m big? I’m just a small lake! You flatter me Y/n!”

Propping himself on his elbows, he rested his face in his palms, looking at you with a smile.

“Eh, it wasn’t for flattery- just curiosity.”

“Still...well, now I feel bad. I was gonna eat you.”

“Eat me?”

“Yeah.” Gojo scoffed before looking down, glaring at the ground. “There’s this human who calls himself Todo- a real-

“Pain in the ass? Insufferable? Obnoxious? Egotistic? A liar?”

“YES EXACTLY- you know him?” Gojo put his head down, and you watched in interest as some of him crumbled to sand before promptly climbing up onto his nose.Tapping it lightly, you let out a out a small “oomph” as he rose up, eyes on you.

“Yeah, I know him. He’s actually why I’m here now- kinda. The fucking jerk kept messing with me, talkin’ about how, ‘Oh, Y/n, did you see anything weird? A siren perhaps?’ and yeah, the fucking town laughed at me, but it’s okay, cause the well water he drank hadn’t been purified ye-”

Gojo interrupted you, waving his hands around in the water before bursting into laughter.

“The WELL? Not the one by this place I hope? Oh god, thank Yaga y’all purify that!”

Joining in the laughter nervously, you asked why, which sent the siren bawling into more laughter,forcing him to place you on his head so you wouldn’t fall off.

“Oh, oh my gosh- stop tugging my hair Y/n- that well water is connected to this lake- me! Y’all would have been drinking my piss and body had you not purified it! And I can’t have a pretty thing like you melting from the inside out and drowning in your own blood because of scales or something!”

“So...what I’m getting at here is...Todo is going to die if he hasn’t already? I mean, he spit it out, but he still drank a bit-”

A sudden burst of wind, you tugged Gojo’s hair again, holding on so tight your knuckles turned white.

Gojo hummed, deep in thought before exhaling slowly.

“Well- no pun intended-, I believe he’d turn into a fish. At least, that's what happened to the last guy who did that. Man, he was a crazy one. Called himself Get, going on and on about how everything he consumed he could turn into. Weird shit, Y/n.”

“Turned into a fish but could shapeshift?”

“Ah yeah- you guys know magic and stuff is real right? Anyways, my body, as you can see, is basically this entire lake- not like a lake god or something. Once I die, this place will have never existed. Back to what I was saying, I have a strict ‘no-no’ policy. A little spell just so I could get more dinner. And, I don’t think anyone would want to just be a lake their whole damn life.”

“Huh...that makes sense.”

“Yeah. “

“So…”

The two of you paused for a moment, and you couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly; to think that sirens were only bloodthirsty monsters- well, he did try to kill you, and it was true that they were beautiful, but the fact that you were literally sitting on the head of one now- one who claimed to be small- it was entirely laughable.

Clearing your throat, you crawled over, leaning down to come facing his eyes once again, poking his forehead.

“Say...Gojo, you wouldn’t mind eating Todo if he turned into a fish right?”

“Hmmm...not really. Why?”

“Just asking. I’ll drop by here tomorrow, yeah? It’s getting late, and I gotta make sure no one took my dumplings.”

And with that, you said your goodbyes, promising to meet again, you with your vial of well water and siren scales, and Gojo with a gold coin.

“Payment, my dear. Nothing is free in this life, you know. Hopefully now you’ll have some better village tales to tell now.”

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chefdoeuvre · 4 years ago

Text

Under Control

Kelly Severide

Pairing: Kelly Severide x Sister!Reader

Description: Even when you think you have things under control older brothers always worm their way into helping.

Words: 1,595

Requested: yes by @ticklepete; Okay so can you do a Kelly x Sister where y/n is being seriously threatened by someone who she had a run-in with in the past (like an arsonist or former victim, etc) and of course Kelly's overprotective brother side kicks in. Her being the independent woman she is gets a little annoyed but ultimately is thankful. I feel like #46 and #12 would work with this.

Warnings: mention of minor injuries, blood, fluff as per usual.

A/N: I just love Kelly Severide and his overprotective ways. This can be counted as a stand alone or a part two for Rivalry. I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors.

—

There they were again, flowers sent to the firehouse addressed to you. At first, you thought it was sweet how you had a secret admirer. Now after a month and a half of this you were starting to be fed up with it. Of course, you couldn't throw the flowers away they were too pretty for that, clearly, someone had spent a solid chunk of change to get them for you. Obviously, Kelly offered to tell Jay and get him to find out who they were coming from but being the stubborn Severide you are you declined.

The next shift came by in the blink of an eye and this time instead of a large bouquet of fresh flowers you were simply handed an envelope. The envelope didn't have a return address on it only the firehouse's and your name printed on it. You stuffed the envelope into your locker when the announcement system went off signaling a call. The call was a fairly normal rescue. Thankfully, there was a simple solution to saving the victim and it didn't take long to get them to safety.

After heading back to the firehouse you went back to your locker and pulled out the envelope that's been invading your thoughts since you got it. Ripping it open you unfolded the single piece of paper in it and let your eyes scan the words. Reading over them multiple times you felt a pit in your stomach. It was clear to see that they were threats aimed at you. This only confused you, if this wasn't some secret admirer who the hell was this? The words were generic threats you'd expect from a regular old crime show so that's not what scared you. It was the fact that they went through these lengths just to get your attention. Instead of doing what a rational person would do you stuffed the envelope back into your locker and tried to get your mind off of it.

Making your way out of the locker room you bumped face-first into a hard chest. Immediately two arms reached out and grabbed onto your shoulders to steady you. Looking up with wide eyes you're met with the familiar steel blue ones of your brother.

"Hey, you all right?" Kelly asked as he scanned your facial expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine." You nodded quickly.

You tried to sidestep away from him, but his strong arms kept you planted there. Given the fact that he's your brother, he knew you like the back of his hand and he knew what you were like when something was bothering you.

"No, you're not. Talk to me." Kelly urged as you all but looked him in the eyes.

Sighing you shoved his hands off your shoulder and turned on your heel assuring him that you were fine. In truth, you were far from fine but you'd deal with it your own way. Which was being majorly stubborn about it and completely ignoring the fact that you weren't okay. You made your way into the common room and took a seat in between Herrmann and Mouch who were watching an old movie.

Kelly, being the nosy brother he is took it upon himself to check out your locker. Granted he only knew your combination because it was your birthday and as your brother of course he knew you would use that as the passcode for your phone as well. Pulling open your locker the envelope fell out and he quickly pulled it open. Reading the words across the page he suddenly felt the urge to punch someone.

Soon enough, the announcement system went off signaling a call. Apparently, it was a large abandoned warehouse on fire which meant all of Firehouse 51's help was enlisted.

Pulling up to the scene Boden started giving out directions to each unit. Squad was taking the brunt of the work by checking the building along with some of Truck's help. You and Kelly were paired up to go the furthest into the building, biting back a joke about the sibling power duo the two of you were you headed into the burning building. Kelly stood close beside you with a clenched jaw, still angered by the threats aimed at you.

"We're clear on the West wing." Cruz's voice sounded from your walkies.

"Same on the East." Stella agreed.

"All good on the North wing. South?" Casey asked.

You and Kelly were still making your way through the building about to reply when you heard a shrill scream. Looking up in alarm, the two of you shared a glance before setting toward the sound.

Taking the lead you made your way weaving through the crates to where the sound came from. Another high-pitched sound shocked you into place before you started toward the louder noise again.

"I've been waiting for you." A deep, gravelly voice sounded from behind a large crate.

"We have to go, this place isn't gonna last long." Kelly chided looking between you and the wooden crate.

"That doesn't seem to be in my agenda, Lieutenant Severide." The deep voice tutted.

You and Kelly shared a look of confusion. How the hell did this guy know who he was?

"Oh, allow me to introduce myself." The man all but cackled as he stepped out from behind the crate.

In his hands was a familiar-looking bouquet of flowers. He had a devilish smirk planted on his face and dark eyes that made him look demonic.

"It's Charles, but you can call me Chuck." He greeted with a sickly sweet smile and looked dead at you.

Kelly immediately stood to step in front of you and practically growled at the man.

"Cool it, Kell." You shoved your brother aside with a roll of your eyes.

"All right, Charlie was it?" You crossed your arms nonchalantly, "take your flowers and leave or I promise you I'll let the hound at you." You gestured a hand toward your fuming brother.

Of course, you were naturally sassy, but in times of danger, your sass levels would go up by a hundred. Was this the smartest idea to agitate the guy who lit this place up? No, probably not, but your instincts decided otherwise. The man was rendered speechless, to say the least. He was expecting a sobbing woman not a lady who could even out sass Jay Halstead on a good day.

While the man was a blubbering mess Kelly took the initiative to call it into Boden because of course this had to all go down in a burning building. A few moments later you turned on your heel and began dragging Kelly with you.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kelly berated.

"I'd rather get the hell out of dodge before I turn into a crispy treat." You hissed pulling him toward the exit.

Chuck still stood there trying to mutter out a response when he bolted after the two of you. Pushing Kelly ahead of you, you turned around to see Chuck barreling toward you. Grabbing his wrist in a tight grip you all but dragged him out of the building. Just in time the three of you made it out of the building before a huge explosion erupting out of the ceiling.

Out of the corner of your eyes, you caught sight of the Severide sibling's favorite detective and pulled Chuck along with you.

"I think your package was sent to the wrong building." You shoved Chuck forward as Jay pulled the man's arms behind his back and cuffed him.

"Thanks, Y/N." Jay nodded with a smirk adorning his features.

"Anytime, detective." You flashed a quick smile before heading back to your fellow firefighters.

Letting out a breath you didn't know you were holding you ripped your helmet off and dropped it to the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Kelly placed his hands on your shoulders before pulling you into his arms.

"Oh, come on. That was totally badass." You chuckled.

Kelly stared at you bugged-eyed, tilting his head in confusion.

"Come here, you big teddy bear." You wrapped your arms around Kelly's waist, hugging him tightly.

Locking your hands behind him you pulled back hissing in pain.

"What? What's wrong?" Kelly scanned you for any injuries.

"Damn bouquet had thorns in it. I'm fine though." You scrunched your brows pulling at the thorns embedded in your palm.

"What do you mean you're 'fine'? You're bleeding!" Kelly exclaimed.

"Dude, they're just thorns." You dismissed.

Kelly pushed you toward Gabby and Sylvie wordlessly as you wiped the little bit of blood escaping your hand.

After getting all cleaned up and heading back to the firehouse you went to find Kelly who was hunched over his desk in his bunk room.

"Thank you." You spoke up leaning against the door frame.

Kelly snapped his head toward the sudden voice.

"What?" Kelly asked with a small smirk.

"I said it once, that's it." You crossed your arms with a pout.

Kelly raised his brows and you let out a defeated sigh, "thank you for being my protective brother, even if I don't need you to be." You stepped forward and placed your hands on his shoulders with a small smile.

"It's in the job description." Kelly reached his hand up to ruffle your hair.

"Seriously, how many times do I have to tell you not to touch my hair?" You laughed, pushing his hand away.

"You're gonna be the death of me, I swear." Kelly rolled his eyes playfully.

#request #fanfiction #imagine #one shot #one chicago #one chicago imagine #chicago fire #chicago fire fanfiction #chicago fire imagine #kelly severide imagine #kelly severide x reader #kelly severide x you #kelly severide imagines #kelly severide fanfiction #kelly severide #lieutenant kelly severide

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intheticklecloset · 4 years ago

Text

Haikyuu!! Sentence Starters #11-20

A collection of the Haikyuu sentence starters I've done, compiled for the sake of ease. These are all stand-alone stories.

~~~

11) Lee Suga, Ler Kageyama

“Stop,” Suga pleaded quietly, giggling. “I can’t take it anymore.”

Kageyama held him closer and continued rubbing his nose underneath Suga’s left ear. “I’m barely touching you.”

“But it tickles.”

“Hmm.” Kageyama smirked, sliding his hands under Suga’s shirt and wiggling gently against his sides. “I’ll show you what tickles.”

“Noooo…” The silver-haired setter whined, giggling even harder, trying to arch away from his teasy boyfriend. “Stohohohohohop, Tobio…”

“Why should I? You clearly like it~”

“Mhmhm…no I dohohon’t,” Suga protested, but it was weak at best and both of them knew it. Kageyama sought out the older setter’s navel with this forefinger, circling it gently once he found it. Suga arched away from him. “Nohohohohoho!”

“Relax,” Kageyama murmured, going back to nosing his ear as well. “I’ll be gentle.”

And he kept his promise, wiggling softly into the tiny space that always made Suga cackle like a hyena, and the night was filled with plenty of tickles and cuddles and kisses.

12) Lee Tsukishima, Ler Tanaka

“Little brat,” Tanaka muttered under his breath, turning away from Tsukishima with a grunt.

“What was that?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I stutter?” The second-year turned back to snap at him. “I said you’re a little brat.”

Tsukki was undeterred. “It’s not my fault you expect more of me than I can offer. One can only practice so much before they need to balance it with rest. Ask Daichi. I’m sure he understands.”

“Daichi’s not here right now, genius,” Tanaka grumbled. “And if you keep using that tone with me, I’m going to have to teach you a lesson.”

“You? Teach me a lesson?” Tsukki smirked, looking down his nose at Tanaka. “And how exactly would you do that?”

Tanaka paused. Tsukki definitely had height to his advantage, being the tallest member of the team. And whether he showed it off or not, he was also really strong and quick on his feet. His mind was even faster. So how could he assert his dominance?

Finally, he plunged forward and drilled his fingers into Tsukki’s ribs. “Like this!”

Tsukki shot his arms down protectively, shoving at the smaller boy, but much like Hinata, Tanaka was unbothered by the obvious advantages he had over him. He clung onto the first-year for dear life, digging harder and harder with every second until finally Tsukki was physically unable to hold back anymore.

“S-Stohop it,” he grunted, gripping Tanaka’s shoulders. “Get ohohoff.”

Tanaka smirked up at him. “Was that a giggle?”

“Plenty of people are t-tihihicklish. Why is it a surprihihise that I’m ohohone of them?”

“Andyou just admitted you’re ticklish? Dude!” Tanaka wormed one hand up to the blonde’s underarm. “This is my lucky day!”

Tsukki grunted, then spilled a few more giggles. “Get – get ohohohoff of me, you mohohoron – stohohohop it, I dohohohon’t – Tanaka!”

The second-year grinned wickedly. Oh, he was definitely going to exploit this weakness as much as humanly possible.

13) Lee Hinata, Ler Kageyama

“Don’t! It’ll work this time!”

Kageyama glowered at Hinata. “You’ve said that the last five times you’ve tried it, moron.”

“I mean it this time!” The redhead held out his hands expectantly. “Give me another one.”

With a roll of his eyes, the setter tossed another ball to him as requested, then stood back and watched as the tiny middle blocker set up to serve, hit the ball…and just barely tipped it over the net. Hinata groaned.

“Told you.” Kageyama grabbed another one and walked up to him, thrusting it at the redhead. “Your serves suck. Like, really. They’re awful.”

“Why do you think I’m practicing them, Bakageyama?” Hinata snapped, snatching it from him and turning his back to set up again.

Kageyama grabbed him from behind and dug into his ribs, grinning when Hinata shrieked, dropped the ball, and started flailing helplessly as hysterical giggles poured out of his mouth.

“S-Stahahahahap! Kageyahahahahama!”

“You’ve got to get better. You can’t always rely on Yamaguchi to save your dumb butt because you can’t serve.”

“I knohohohohohohow! Stohohohohohohop!” Instead, Kageyama wrapped one arm around his waist to hold him tightly in place, then used his free hand to knead into Hinata’s bottom ribs. Hinata exploded with laughter, squirming and kicking. “STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“I’m just getting you pumped up to do better,” Kageyama teased, smirking. “What’s the problem?”

“IT TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLES!! KAGEYAHAHAHAMA, STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“Not until I’ve motivated you a little more.”

14) Lee Kageyama, Ler Tsukishima

“You? Saying please? And apologizing? Not the king himself~”

Tsukishima’s taunting words were like throwing gas on a flame, making Kageyama squeal even louder, despite how badly he wished he could keep his reactions inside. He squirmed on the floor of the gym, having been made completely helpless within seconds at the blonde’s precise touch along his sides and ribs. And now his cursed teammate had started scribbling over his belly, forcing him to plead whether he wanted to or not.

“STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!” He cried, hating himself for how pathetic he sounded right now. And at the hands of Tsukishima, of all people. “PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE DOHOHOHOHOHON’T!! I’M SOHOHOHOHOHORRY, ALL RIHIHIHIGHT?!”

“Sorry for what, exactly?” Tsukki demanded coolly, never letting up, showing no remorse.

Kageyama swore he’d kill him when this was over. “FOHOHOHOHOHOR BEHEHEHEING UNCOOPERATIHIHIHIHIHIHIVE!!”

Tsukki started vibrating into his belly. “And?”

“AND NOHOHOHOHOT LISTENING TO YOUR ADVIHIHIHIHIHICE!!” Kageyama screeched, arching his back, laughing so hard tears came to his eyes. “STOHOHOHOHOHOP, PLEASE, TSUKKIEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!”

“Hmm. I suppose that’s good enough for now.” Tsukki finally relented, getting to his feet. “Just don’t do it again, and I won’t have to punish you again. Clear?”

I hate you, Kageyama thought but wisely didn’t say aloud. Instead he groaned. “Yeah, we’re clear.”

15) Lee Noya, Ler Asahi

“Can’t take it, huh?” Asahi murmured, grinning into the back of his boyfriend’s neck as he gently pressed into his lower ribs.

Noya squirmed in his ticklish bear hug trap, digging his heels into the floor and clenching his teeth to hold his giggles in. “S-Stohohop, Asahi, I c-cahahan’t…”

“You’re really ticklish, aren’t you?” The ace continued to tease, gripping him tighter and beginning to lay back on the floor, taking any and all purchase from his little libero. “My sweet, ticklish little Yuu.”

“Stohohohohohohop!” Noya squealed, losing his battle against his giggles more and more with every poke and prod to one of his worst spots. “Asahi! Plehehehehehease, nohohohohoho!”

“But you’re so cute,” Asahi whined, digging in a little harder and kissing his neck at the same time. “I can’t possibly resist~”

“Ahahahahahahasahi! Knohohohohohock it ohohohoff, y-you’re mahahahahaking it worse!”

“How am I making it worse? By teasing you? But I thought you liked teasing~”

“Shuhuhuhuhuhut up!”

“All right, I’ll shut up…” Asahi chuckled, suddenly rolling over so he had Noya pinned to the floor on his stomach, straddling him from behind and skittering all over his back. The libero squealed and finally burst into a long string of bright, bubbly giggles. “…but only to better hear your beautiful laughter, my dear~”

16) Lee Noya, Ler Tanaka

“Dude, you’re super ticklish here?” Tanaka laughed, keeping Noya firmly pinned to the wall as he scribbled all over the libero’s lower back. “That’s freaking hilarious!”

Noya bit his lip on a squeal, but couldn’t hold back his giggles. “S-Stohohohohop, please, it t-tihihihihihickles so bahahahahad!”

“I can tell!” Tanaka snatched up both of his wrists and pinned them above his head, then slipped his free hand under Noya’s jersey and skittered along the bare skin.

Noya sputtered and squirmed. “Nohohohohohohoho!”

“Oh, yes.” Tanaka smirked. “I wish the others were here to see this.”

“Shut uhuhuhuhup, you bihihihihihig idiot!”

“How dare you?!”

“Nonononono wahahahaha-AHAHAHAHAHAHAIT!!” Noya screamed and exploded with laughter when Tanaka moved further up and started pinching along his back ribs. The libero squirmed helplessly against the wall, hysterics bubbling out of him faster than he had a hope of stopping them. “PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE DOHOHOHOHOHON’T!! I’M SOHOHOHOHORRY, OKAHAHAY?! TANAKAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

Tanaka laughed. “Dude, you’re the most ticklish person I’ve ever met!”

“PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE!! STOP TAHAHAHAHAHALKING!!”

“All right. I’ll just keep tickling, then.”

“NO THAT’S NOHOHOHOHOT WHAHAHAHAT I MEHEHEHEHEANT--!!”

17) Lee Kinoshita, Ler Noya

“Stop whining.” Noya nudged Kinoshita playfully. “It’s just measurements.��

“Y-Yeah, but I’m…” Kinoshita ducked his head. “I think I might be too ticklish for this, Noya.”

“Dude, if I can do it, you can do it.” Noya held up the measuring tape and grinned. “Come on.”

Kinoshita braced himself as he raised his arms outwards in a T-formation, trying to take slow, steady breaths as the libero wrapped the tape around his chest, jotted down the number, and returned to his waistline.

He giggled as the tape closed over his hips, making Noya smirk up at him. “Seriously, dude?”

“I told you,” Kinoshita shot back, instantly bringing his arms down as soon as he was able to. “I’m really ticklish.”

“No kidding. How sensitive are your hips?” The libero ditched the tape, grabbing onto Kinoshita’s waist with his hands and squeezing.

“AIEE!!” Kinoshita yelped, grabbing Noya’s shoulders and pushing desperately. “Nohohohoho, get awahahahahahay!”

“This is hilarious, Hisashi!”

“I’m g-glahahahahahad you thihihihihink so! Now stahahahahahap!”

Noya let up, grinning as he grabbed the tape measure from the floor. “Cute.”

18) Lee Iwa, Ler Oikawa

“Act your age for once, dang it!” Iwaizumi snapped, grabbing Oikawa’s wrists and shoving them away before they could make contact with his sides.

“Aww, but that’s no fun,” Oikawa pouted, making himself comfortable on Iwa’s lap on the couch.

Iwa was nervous. He was – for all intents and purposes – stuck here, and if Oikawa got it into his head to start playing around, there really wasn’t much he could do about it other than fight with his words. So fight he did.

“That’s such a childish thing to do. Knock it off.”

“Childish? Are you calling me a child, Iwa-chan?”

“You area child.”

Oikawa pouted again, but there was a twinkle in his eye. He reached for Iwa’s sides again, and when Iwa moved to stop him again, he snatched up both wrists and pinned them to the couch above his head, leaning in close to his face with a smirk. “You don’t really want me to knock it off, though, do you?”

Iwa’s face turned dark red. “Shut up.”

“Because you like being tickled, don’t you, Iwa-chan?”

“Shut up, Toru.”

“Poor, ticklish little Iwa.” Oikawa chuckled, reaching to grab a thigh, enjoying the sharp jerk he got in response, how he had to fight to keep his friend pinned in place, helpless to the laughter that was coming his way. “All dressed up and nowhere to go.”

“I-I’m in my PJs, genius,” Iwa spat before tossing his head back with a shriek of involuntary laughter.

Oikawa kept kneading his thigh. “Your Sesame Street PJs. Who’s childish now, hmm?”

“Toru, I s-swear to g-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

19) Lee Oikawa, Ler Iwa

“Where did all that confidence go?” Iwa asked, smirking.

Oikawa pressed his lips together. His heart was racing. Iwa took charge on the court sometimes, but almost never off of it, and certainly never like this. The setter had quickly gone from being his normal smooth, teasing, flirting self to this – pinned to the bed with his wrists in Iwa’s grip, the ace looming over him with a smile. And god, if it wasn’t making him flustered as all get out.

“I’m still confident,” he managed, swallowing. “Confident that I’m about to regret everything.”

Iwa chuckled. “You’re right about that. Let me ask you something, Toru.” He pinned both wrists together with one hand and used his other to gently squeeze the setter’s hip. “Are you still ticklish?”

Oikawa’s blush was all the answer he needed.

“W-Wait, wahahahahahait, Iwa,” he sputtered, a huge smile spreading across his face without permission. He squirmed helplessly. “D-Dohohohohohon’t do thahahahahat!”

“Why not? You deserve it, you know.” Iwa found the hollow of Oikawa’s hip with his thumb and pressed in deeply.

Oikawa jolted, trying to twist his body away from the ticklish touch. “Nohohohohoho! N-Not thehehehehehehere!”

“Not where? Not here?” Iwa pressed in again, enjoying how his boyfriend squealed and arched his back at the touch, helpless to the flood of giggles leaving his mouth. “But you’re just so sensitive here. How can I not play with you just a tiny little bit?”

Oikawa groaned, face and ears bright red. “I hahahahahahate you.”

Iwa chuckled. “I’m sure you do.”

20) Lee Tsukishima, Ler Kuroo

“It’ll give you motivation!”

“It absolutely will not.” Tsukishima glared at Kuroo. “Don’t touch me.”

Kuroo gave him a lazy smirk. “I’m perfectly capable of taking you down if I have to, you know.”

Tsukki paused. There weren’t many people he was nervous around, but he had to admit, Kuroo was one of them. Especially when he was being threatened like this. “Just don’t. It will only make me angry.”

“How can you be angry if you’re laughing?” Kuroo teased, and lunged for him.

Tsukki fought the entire way to the gym floor, causing Kuroo more problems than he’d originally anticipated, but eventually the upperclassman won the battle and rolled the blonde over onto his front, straddling him and pinning him in place.

“There now, was that so hard?”

“Screw you!” Tsukki snapped. “Get off!”

“I’ll get off once you lighten up a little.” Kuroo scribbled his fingers along the blonde’s sides, ribs, and back, searching for giggles that Tsukki successfully held back. “Oh, come on, this is no fun. Laugh a little, Tsukki!”

“I w-will not l-laugh,” Tsukki growled, but his resolve was quickly broken when Kuroo reached up into his underarms. He shot his arms down protectively, but it was too late. The Nekoma captain had found purchase and was now digging, and any resistance the blonde had left crumbled when his body betrayed him and he started giggling quietly into the floor. “Nohohohoho!”

“There you go,” Kuroo teased, pressing harder. “Just let it out, glasses. You’ll feel better, trust me.”

“Nohohohohohoho, I h-hahahahate—” Tsukki bit his lip hard to hold back a squeal. Kuroo had started drawing tiny, precise circles right in the crease where his underarm met his shoulder, and it wa driving him up the wall. His giggles quickly gave way to soft laughter. “Nohohohohohoho, dohohohon’t do thahahahahahat! P-Plehehehehehease, Kuroo…!”

#fanfiction #tickle fic #tickle drabble #compilation #quick prompts #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#hq #sentence starters

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watermelonlipstick · 4 years ago

Text

Blood

I was thinking it might be cute to do a little moment with Sam and Dean being sweet about getting your period. It doesn’t really matter when this would take place, but I mention Dean being 34, so I guess it’s around season 8! But I think they’d be like this pretty much anytime.

Thanks so much for reading!! I’d love any advice or critiques if you have them.

Title: Blood

Pairing: Winchesters x Reader, mostly platonic

Word Count: 974

Summary: The reader gets her period on a hunt, so Sam and Dean try to help.

Warning: mention of periods, blood, etc

gif from bilosan!

“Dude, it’s just blood. Don’t act like such a fucking virgin.”

“I’m not acting li—I’m not getting into this with you, Dean. Can you just ask her?”

“It’s not rocket science, college boy. Leak, plug. What’s she going to illuminate?”

“Give me the phone,” you said, yanking it out of Dean’s hand. “Yeah, Sam?”

His voice was tinny over the burner’s line. “So I know you usually get the ones without applicators because they’re better for the environment but I’m not seeing any here. Do you have a second choice?”

“Whichever box is the smallest; I don’t have a ton of room in my bag.”

“Ah, okay, got it.” You heard the faint sound of cardboard sliding along a metal shelf. “Want anything else, while I’m out?”

“Yeah, if they have scalpels grab a couple of those, you’re giving me a hysterectomy when you get back,” you groaned drily into the cell.

“How about gummy worms and Tylenol?”

It wasn’t hard to imagine Sam’s smile when you only grumbled in response.

“I’ll be back in a minute. Hang in there babe,” he said, ending the call.

Dean was standing at the sink in the motel bathroom, trying to flatten out a defiant cowlick he’d gotten from napping in the car earlier. A wave of pain-induced nausea hit you so fast you almost didn’t have time to yank the back of his shirt to switch places with him, slamming the door behind you as you threw up into the echoes of the dated avocado green toilet.

“Christ, it’s really that bad?” Dean called, muffled through the cheap hollow particle board.

When you caught a breath, you answered him sarcastically. “No, I just thought yakking might be fun.” You cleaned yourself up and brushed your teeth thoroughly before going out to meet him. “It’s not always this bad, obviously. I must have some extra good karma this month.”

Dean winced in sympathy from his new post, sitting against the headboard with his legs crossed over the length of one of the motel’s double beds. “Well, I’m sorry kid. Come here.” He patted the mattress next to himself, and you crawled in next to him to curl into the fetal position with your head on his chest. Dean wrapped an arm around you to rub firm circles into the taut-rope muscles of your lower back. The pressure helped and whatever syndicated show he was watching on the slightly fuzzy TV was just distracting enough to let you unclench your jaw.

Sam returned a few minutes later bearing gifts. He threw the gummy worms on the other bed and deftly cracked open the small bottle of painkillers before handing it to you with a bottle of Dr. Pepper. When you’d thrown back a few, he pulled a petite box of tampons out of the plastic bag. He gave them to you, balling the bag in his palm before tossing it across the room into the wastebasket. Folding his long legs to sit opposite you on the other mattress, he braced his elbows on his knees. “Are you hungry?”

“Always—” Dean answered, cut off by Sam’s exasperated look over your shoulder to his brother before he turned his gaze back to you.

You unfurled yourself and sat up straight through the thick ache gripping your abdomen. “You’re sweet, but I’m not sick or anything, I’ll be fine. I don’t want you guys to think I’m a baby. Give me like five minutes and we can head out.” You grabbed the box and went to the bathroom.

When you came out the boys weren’t suiting up like you’d expected, still where you’d left them on the plasticky paisley quilts. “It’s late, the sheriff can wait until tomorrow,” Dean said, motioning for you to refill your spot next to him. You quirked up an eyebrow in question.

“Chinese food is on the way—got veggie lo mein and fried rice for you because I didn’t know which one you were in the mood for,” Sam offered, finally getting up to shuck off his jacket and boots.

“Guys, come on, I’m okay.” You rifled through your duffel bag to pull out the all-purpose pumps you kept for pretending to be someone who didn’t wear work boots 90% of the time.

“We know you are, killer. You’re forgetting who stitches your stoic ass up; you’ve got nothing to prove. Let a couple old men have a day off.”

“You’re 34.”

“Even more reason I need a night off, I feel like I’m 70.”

Sam smiled at that one just as you did, tossing a beer to Dean from the minifridge in the corner. He held another up in a silent question and lobbed it when you opened your palms to catch. You looked between the brothers from next to your duffel, straining to see frustration or pity in their eyes and finding nothing as Sam crossed the room to sit opposite Dean in a few lazy strides.

A beat of waiting didn’t help you come up with a reason to get back to work, so you kicked off the unlaced boots on your feet and cracked open the can feeling both thankful and reluctant. When you followed Sam over to the beds, you leaned over where he sat to kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you,” you half-whispered, your voice low near his ear. His shy, empathetic half smile was all the ‘you’re welcome’ you wanted, and you flopped down onto a bed.

When the takeout came, Sam doled out chopsticks (and a fork for Dean) and food. You stopped to think about how nice it was; how much beer, TV, salty food, back rubs, and your boys really were what you wanted, not just now but every day. Maybe not everything about being on your period was so bad.

Thanks again for reading! If you liked it, check out my Masterlist or send me a request! Tags are always open.

Tags: @sams-sass , @jarpadjenackles , @anxiousbarnes , @akshi8278 , @whatareyousearchingfordean , @deanwinchesterswitch , @flannellover67

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toothpastecanyon · 3 years ago

Text

We Creatures, Chapter 3

When Alcor felt Mizar calling to him, he came to help. Perhaps, this one time, he should have stayed asleep.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

“I spy with my little eye… something beginning with e.”

“Is it elves?”

“What? No!”

“Just checking,” Mizar sat back in her seat. “Just checking, uh… electricity! From the lights?”

“No.”

“Elm tree! I see some elms over there.”

Alcor grinned. “Nope.”

“Okay… fuck, I give up. What is it?”

“Okay, are you ready? You’re gonna kick yourself: Everest.”

“Ev… Everest?” She raised an eyebrow. “Like the mountain in the Himalayas?”

“Yeah!” He chuckled to himself. “You know, I’ve gotten a not-insignificant number of summoners over the years who wanted me to teleport them to the top of Everest and back. Some of them worded it better than others, but you humans are just obsessed with that place - it’s so funny to me!”

“That’s great, but this is the third time you’ve named something only you can see.” She crossed her arms. “I don’t think this Eye Spy game is working.”

“Oh… that’s okay! I have other road trip games! How about twenty questions - we pick something in the environment and, uh, the other person asks you twenty questions about what it could be…”

He launched into an explanation. In the back, Mizar rolled her eyes. She was grinning, though.

______________________________________________________________

They rounded a curve on the interstate, radio blasting.

“We gotta hooooold on to what we got!”

“It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not!”

Mizar was using a soda can as a microphone. “We got each other, and that’s enough for noooow, we’ll give it a shot!”

“OHHHHH, we’re halfway there!” Alcor swerved in time to the music. “OOOH-OHHH, livin’ on a prayer! Liiivin’ onnn a prayyyy-aaa-err!”

______________________________________________________________

“And so I told her, you can’t ride a pig into battle, Mabel. Waddles - his name was Waddles - is too small, and let’s face it, he’s not really a fighter. He rolls - rolled - in the mud all day, he ate carrots, he’s not really down to charge through a cultist’s basement and strike fear in their hearts”

Mizar was slumped in the back, methodically ripping up gummy worms. “Mmmhm.”

“But, uh, a bit of a size change, and boy was I wrong.” Alcor chuckled, one hand on the steering wheel as they cut through a forest. The sun was still up, but it was blocked by the trees; every so often he’d squint as a ray peeked through. “Kind of glad that didn’t become a regular thing. A horse-sized pig is, uh, more intimidating than you’d think.”

“Mmmhm.”

“But yeah, she did funny things like that… all Mizars tend to do stuff like that… but always a different thing, you know?”

“Yeah…”

“I dunno, maybe I’m explaining it weirdly.” His smile faded a bit. “It’s been a long time since I thought about her… too long. I just… I sort of forgot, I guess? It feels like I can’t’ve - she was my sister, but… I guess time does that to you.” Alcor stared forwards. “Everything fades. In time.”

The silence stretched, and Mizar frowned a bit. She glanced over at him.

“Dude?”

“Huh?” He blinked. “Oh, sorry! Think I blanked on you for a second there.”

“Always encouraging to hear that from your driver.”

“Heh, yeah…” Alcor nodded, and then looked back at her. “So what about you?”

No reply. He looked back, and saw she’d gone still.

“Mizar?”

“What do you mean, what about me?” Ostensibly nothing had changed about her, but Alcor could feel a sort of carefulness in her choice of words now. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, and Alcor made a face.

“I didn’t mean anything serious by it. I just thought I’d get to know you a little bit more!” He shrugged. “You know, uh… oh, what’s your name? I never asked you that.”

“You’ve been calling me Mizar, right? That works.”

“Well, Mizar’s your soul’s name. You have a name apart from that, right?”

“Sure I do.”

“Yeah?” There was a pause. “Uh, what is it?”

“…Smith.” Mizar ripped a gummy worm in half. “John Smith, there you go.”

Alcor struggled to keep a smile. “Okay, Mizar, uh… so you lived in New York, huh?”

“Yeah. You gonna make me give you an address now?”

“No, I- ugh. Forget it.” Alcor rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t trying to pry, I was just trying to get to know you. Why are you so against that?”

“Why do you want to know so bad?” Mizar sat up a bit. “Look, genuinely? I’m sorry that’s frustrating for you. When I summoned a demon, I wasn’t exactly thinking I’d have to make small talk with them.”

“What does that mean?”

“Means I actually kind of like you, dude! And I feel bad, but I can’t risk…” she trailed off, then cleared her throat. “How about this. Once we get to the desert, you can ask me anything you want, okay?”

Alcor frowned. “Okay… I’ll wait for the desert, then.”

“Thank you.” She sat back a little. “Thank you, Alcor.”

He didn’t quite know what to say to that. The conversation seemed like it had reached its end, and he started fiddling with the radio again. Most of it was adverts, though; it felt like sometimes the stations were coordinating to all go on break at the same-

“Look out!”

Mizar’s voice shot through him like a knife. He looked up and noticed there was something in the road - a deer! He swerved hard, and then he tried to swerve away from a tree right at the bend in the road but it was coming up too fast and-

The impact broke on him like a wave slamming against a hard cliff, and the sound of glass and metal shattering split his body’s eardrums. He felt his head crack against the steering wheel, and when he looked up he had to blink through the blood.

There were… legs? Legs through the windshield, and a sweatered body wrapped around the tree, and Alcor felt a raw fear flood through his being.

“Mizar?” He tried to get up, get out of his body, but something held him in place. “Mizar!”

And then she moved. He froze.

“Ugh…” Mizar shifted, and moved her neck off the right-angle it was making with the tree’s trunk. She rubbed her head. “Ow.”

Alcor watched with wide eyes as she shook herself off, and started extracting her legs through the opening. All the broken glass on the hood hadn’t left a scratch on her, it was…

“Impossible,” Alcor breathed. He saw her eye settle on him, her face flash through a million expressions before turning carefully blank. “You’re not human.”

“It…” She hesitated. “It doesn’t matter right now. We need to go.”

He tried to sit up, but something was keeping him rooted in place. It was more than being trapped; he tried to step into the Mindscape, but something had tethered itself to his very soul and bound him to the Earth.

“I can’t.” He frowned. “I’m… trapped?”

“You’re trapped?”

Bound to the Earth… Alcor lifted up his shirt, and found a branch impaled through his abdomen, skewering him to the seat. It was young, thin, but before his eyes, he watched it grow thicker, watched bark form on its trunk, and creep up his skin.

Mizar saw it too. “Shit,” she said, and backed up. “They’re here. They want you.”

“The elves?”

“Yeah… I have to go now.” She jumped off the car’s hood. “Sorry, dude.”

“Mizar? They want me? Wh-what does that mean? Mizar!”

But she was gone - vanished into the darkness. Alcor gritted his teeth, then he summoned a flame and tried to burn the branch. Nothing happened; if anything, a couple leaves sprouted where it should have turned to ash. The bark kept climbing up his chest, and he felt… strange. A little drowsy. It was easy to resist - for now.

But there were voices, and he pushed all that to the side.

“...No, child.” Elvish - spoken softly, like a song. “Do not chase the startled bear into its cave. Have patience, patience…”

He could see three pairs of feet, approaching. Two of them were clad in bark armour - the middle wore a long, flowing robe, and continued forwards where the other two stopped. It walked right up to Alcor, and for the first time in a very long while, he could feel a little bit of apprehension.

It was just an elf, he told himself. Just a mortal. Whatever it was, he’s a demon, he could take it…

The feet stopped in front of a mangled car door. Then they leaned down a little, and a face appeared through the broken glass. By the ears, they were elven, and by the locks of brilliant white hair framing their face, they were ancient indeed.

“Greetings, demon.” said the elf in a quiet tone. “You’ve made a mistake.”

Then they smiled. Alcor did not like the way they smiled.

“You’ve made a mistake,” He growled. “I don’t know how you’ve got me bound, but you can’t keep it up forever. If I get out and you’ve hurt one hair on Mizar’s head… what are you doing?”

The elder was waving at the other two. In unison, they kneeled on the ground, and started whispering to it. The bark creeping up Alcor’s chest started accelerating.

“Alcor the Dreambender,” the elder turned back to him. “You don’t know what a Sanctuary is, do you?”

“Wh-”

“No, you wouldn’t. Thus far, you’ve been a wise demon; you’ve stayed out of our affairs, and we’ve stayed out of yours.” They smiled. “Or perhaps, you’ve just been a lucky one. If you were wise, you wouldn’t have meddled last night, would you?”

“Meddled?” They leaned back as the elder leaned in close. “You were trying to kill Mizar, you- get back!”

“Let me educate you, child.” They whispered in his ear. “We will grow a great forest over your body. We will live in this Sanctuary, we will walk these woods, and our every thought will keep you bound, will keep you aslumber. And your wistful dreams will cause flowers to bloom in the springtime.”

With a smile, they stepped away, and spoke again.

“Now, do you see? Do you see why you should have been wise, demon?”

Alcor growled. After a moment, he got his claws under the bark encircling his neck. With a little effort, he ripped it away, and glared up at the elder.

“You can’t bind me forever. I’ll get out - you’ll regret this!”

“Hmm… perhaps. But not in time to protect that which you travel with. This… Mizar, you say?”

“Don’t you dare.” Alcor lunged at him. “Don’t you dare! D̞̖̟̱͉O̡͖͇̫N̳̦̳̫̮͎̯'T̹̼̮̤̠͢ͅ ̻̼Y̮͖̜OU҉͙̠̪̭̞̭ ͙̥͍̙͚̹̻D͈A̵̞̠̫̙̲̝R̠E͚̜̺̫̬!̦̤̬͉̪”

“A Mizar…” They stroked their beard. “So that is how it enlisted your help.”

“She҉ is̡ ̵mi͠ne͘!͜ S̸h̸e ìs mine̢!̕ ̷You̧ ̷hu̴rt̢ my̕ Mi͘zar,̴ ̸I ̢W̨ILĻ ͢ḰĮLL͢ ̨Y̵OU̧!”

“But she is not your Mizar.”

Alcor frowned. “Don’t you tell me who my Mizar is - I can feel it. I know!”

At that, the elf… laughed. He growled.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“Oh… it’s not funny.” They sighed; for once, the smile seemed to dip. “It’s not funny. I suppose it just… to see it happen again, it’s strange, is it not?”

Alcor watched the elf look into the distance. In their eyes were a thousand memories, and in their furrowing brow, a thousand pains. It seemed like an eternity before they spoke again.

“I had a daughter, once,” they started. “Long ago. Before I was one of the elders. Before the Transcendence. Shalana, her name was.”

Alcor watched the elf smile.

“And she was so full of life. She loved to dance with the wind and the leaves. And she loved everyone around her.” They shook their head. “She trusted everyone around her, and… she was mistaken.”

Alcor frowned. “What happened?”

“This is why you outsiders shouldn’t meddle.” They glanced up at him. “You ask me what happened - any elf would know what happened, but you are…” they sighed. “You don’t know of the Blighted Ones - they are hunters of us. Very specialized hunters; humans would see through their tricks, but we-“ they gestured at their visor. “We cannot. And you cannot, either.”

“What do you mean?” Alcor raised an eyebrow. “I have enough magic to see through any illusion-“

“And it is your magic that prevents you from seeing the truth! These creatures feed on magic - they twist your Sight, you cannot trust what you see!” The elf clenched their fists. “Just like Shalana could not See. She thought it was a friend who wanted to walk the forest with her; instead it was her doom.”

Alcor made a face. “I’m… so sorry to hear that.”

They looked at him, and did not smile. “You dare apologise to me?” They hissed, and leaned in closer. “You dare apologise to me when you saved her murderer last night!”

Alcor felt the elder grab his suit and wrench him in close. He was too stunned to resist.

“I spent millennia pleading with the Elders to hunt this creature down! Now I am one, and you dare interfere? You dare deny her justice? And for what?” They dug angrily in his suit pocket, and drew out the dewdrop. “For this?! This is what I’ll lose my retribution over?!”

Alcor couldn’t respond. The bark creeped up his neck, and he was fighting to keep his eyes open. The elder was only a blur as they pushed themself off of him.

“No…” they said. “Calm. Be calm. The mountain does not sway like the wind around it.”

He tried to sit up, but he was rooted to the seat. Nothing budged.

“I should not be surprised by this,” said the elf. “I should not. After all, what does a demon know of love?”

The bark was stretching over his jawline. Alcor could hardly summon the strength to panic anymore.

“Sleep well, Dreambender. You will wake to a better world- what is that?”

His closing eyes rolled over to look, and he saw something drop from the trees. There was a snarl, a cry, and the two elves stood up; suddenly the sleepiness fell away from him, and he jolted awake.

Mizar - or whatever she was - was the first thing he saw. She had the elder pinned, and with the back of her hand she slapped the visor off his face. They pushed her off and jumped away, covering their face.

“No! No! My eyes deceive! You’re not her!”

The two elves drew their swords and closed in. Mizar danced back as they slashed, glanced to the car, and then ripped off the side door and used it like a shield. One elf stabbed and stuck their sword in; she twisted it out of their hand, bashed them to the floor, then pounced on top and ripped out their throat.

The other elf raised their sword and drove it down through her back. She let out a cry, but in a flash she was on her feet again, eyes on the blade. They tried to slash at her; she caught their arm, twisted it back, and slammed them into the dirt.

Then it was silent, but for the quiet whimpering of the downed elf. Alcor watched her slowly, slowly kneel down to their level. She gripped their shoulders, and turned them over to face her.

He couldn’t see their face - only a sweater, and jangling bracelets on her arms. But the elf saw something else; he saw them go rigid, saw their feet kick up leaves as they struggled to get away, heard their groans turn to a desperate cry -

“No, no! No! Help! Tarathiel, aid me! I-”

Then Mizar struck. Alcor flinched at the scream, at the crack of bone and gristle; a deep pit formed in her stomach as he heard her begin to eat. Yet the more he watched, strangely, the fuzzier she seemed. Whatever she was doing, it was like the world around him had formed a kind of censor, and even the sounds of it faded sharply.

Like something was twisting his Sight… Alcor looked down at the visor that had landed on the front seat. He took a deep breath, and then ripped his hand out of the bark that had encased it, grabbed the visor, and put it over his eyes.

Now he saw without Sight. Now he saw the Creature that he had called Mizar.

It wasn’t human, no. It was much taller, and so, so thin. It was covered in a layer of fine yet shaggy hair, lending a greyish tint to the pale skin beneath; around its legs it was matted and grimy with dried sewage. Its hands were curled, clawed things at the end of its sticklike arms, and it was digging them into the elf to scoop out meat and dripping organs.

It was… oh, stars. Alcor felt a rush of primal fear at the sight of it, and he couldn’t help but gasp.

The Creature heard that; it froze, and then its head snapped around. Its face: its eyes were up where its forehead should’ve been, and the rest was all mouth, dripping with blood. Its jagged teeth glinted like broken glass as it turned and knuckle-walked towards him.

Alcor couldn’t help it; he growled, he leaned away as far as he could. “No… stay, stay back!”

He threw a blast of fire its way. It melted the side of the car, but nothing happened to the Creature - no, worse than nothing. His fire swirled around the narrow, bloodless hole in its chest, and sealed it.

“I’m warning you!” Alcor watched it squeeze itself through the opening in the car; it was so much larger than it looked. “Don’t come any closer, don’t - d-don’t touch me! What are you...”

It was reaching its filthy claws towards his face. He stiffened as they scraped against his forehead… then carefully closed around the visor, and took it off. The glow-eyed, primally terrifying being that hunched before him suddenly-

-just looked like a Mizar again. Felt like a Mizar again. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, there wouldn’t have been a doubt in his mind that this was his sister smiling sadly at him.

“I’m sorry,” said the Creature, with her voice. “I did lie to you. But… look, if I’ve built up any goodwill with you since we met… can you just hear me out? Please?”

Alcor didn’t move, didn’t speak. He didn’t know what to say. He watched the Creature’s eyes flit down, and fix on the branch that was keeping him in place. It reached out a lie of a hand.

“Here, let me get you out of that.”

#transcendence au #alcor the dreambender #magic lore #elves #worldbuilding #toothwrites

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pmiller1 · 3 years ago

Text

Bird out of a Cat Bag! [N:TWEwY/Neo Zeta Earth]

"Say Rindude." He ask Rindo when him, Rindo and Shoka was heading to school. "Did you ever find out who Swallow was?"

This make Rindo and Shoka stop mid track, he knew her forget something once there came back to RG. He look at Shoka who was giving him a 'Seriously?' look.

"Em. about that..." He said, about to tell him, only for Shoka to ask. "Who's Swallow?" He then look at Shoka with a 'What are you doing?' look at her. Seeming that hiding her amused smirk on herself.

"Oh just someone Rindo was able to text when we was in the Game." Fret said, "Did you ever wonder why Rindo was glue stick to his phone? He and this Swallow person was text buddy."

"Ah I see. I always wonder about that." Shoka said. Playing this game with Fret, as give a glance at Rindo. "You kind of a phone hoarder." She told him.

"What can I say? I'm more open with a phone then without." Rindo said.

"So who was it?" He ask him, "I mean, you gotta know by now. You had contact them right?"

"I mean." Rindo said "I had contact them." "And?" He ask Rindude.

"Well there one of the player." He told him. "Or at least was one."

"A player hah?" Fret said "Guess that how you able to text them." "Yep. That how we able to texted." Rindo said, Shoka making a small giggle.

"Well it can't be one of Rivers people." Fret said "You been able to text them after they been gone." "Not to forget that all of them where fan of those Rivers idol." Rindo said. "It can't be one of them."

"Wait! Maybe it was Tsoogy Woogy!" Fret said. "Really?!" Shoka burst out. "Dude, She was like a robot at the time, she may not been able to pass the I am not robot test." Rindo said. "Plus, she’s a Reaper. So She wouldn't counted." Shoka added

"Okay, Okay maybe not her." Fret said "Maybe one of the Purehearts?" "No. It wasn't one of them." Rindo said.

"So there one of the Varia?" Fret said. "Nope. Not them." Rindo said, starting to enjoy this.

"Wait, I'm lost, there not part those team." "Nope." "Not even the Ruinbringers?" "Nah-ah." "Then who?"

"Tried Wicked Twisters?" Rindo told him. "Wait, they was in one of us?!" Fret yet out. "I know right? What a shock."

"Wait, was it Beat?" He ask. "No, at least, there text isn't as bad as his." "Neku?" He ask. "He wasn't really around, remember." "Boss?" "I'd think she would come out if she was Swallow." "Mr. Minami?" "Zero."

"Well it not me and there no way that you make a ali account to so that leave..." Fret said, and he eyes was white, as he fall back in shock, he look at the girl in the hoodie.

"Oh my gods, this is so priceless!" She said, already taken a snap at him. "Shokie!" He yelp out, pointing at her. "She's Swallow?!"

"Bingo!" She chime in. "Yeah, Turn out to that Shoka had been my online friend all this time." Rindo said. "Dude! You could had told me sooner." Fret said. "Yeah, I forgot to tell you guys about it." Rindo said. "Yeah, nice going there Rindy." Shoka said.

"Greeting my fellow humans." Nagi said, walking toward them, as her way to collage was across here. "Boss!" Fret said rushing toward her. "You will not believed what I just discovered."

"Remember that Rindo had a online friends that he been able to context with." Fret said. "Yes. And?" Nagi said, holding both of his hand. "Well it turn out that it was Shokie all along!" He told her. "Hah. Tis knew it." Nagi said.

"Wait, you knew that I was Swallow?" Shoka ask her. "Tis suspect that you was behind it milady." Nagi said. "You had aided us behind the scenes. Sure." Nagi said "But I never got the motivate behind it all. Beside what you said before, tis doesn’t cut it." "Why would a fellow Reaper work behind the scenes to aid us?" She explain "Must less betrayed her fellow Reapers?" "Tis’ve saw that you had a strong affection for our leader Lord Rindo, when he welcome you to the team fully on our 3rd week." Nagi explain "Once that does not developed in a short time, meaning it was long turn." "But I turn to think about Rindo online friend, whom able to contact us in UG." Nagi said "After all, he had been contacting Swallow when he need to conformed an answer. And you had been aiding out. So, Tis’ve connect the dots, and discussed that you was Shallow, his online friend and aided us in order to aid your friend out of a rigged Game."

"Em..." Shoka now face red, she then cover her face with the hood. "She's good." "And how come you never told me? I only knew from a fallen timeline." Rindo ask her. "How would tis able to prove it with no evidence?" Nagi said "She's a tsundere Lord Rindo, or at least one that not as open for there emotional affection."

"I mean... She not wrong." She mutter.

“Plus, if she wouldn’t tell, then shall not tell too.” Nagi said “Sisterly honor and the take.”

"Yo Twister!" Beat said running in, along with Neku was walking with him. "What are guys doing, shouldn’t you be at school by now?" Neku said "And you at collage?"

"Maybe." Fret said, "But you'll never believed it, but we just find out who Swallow is?"

"Swallow?" Neku ask. "Oh there Rindo's online mate that been about contact him in the Game." Beat told him. "The other told me when I ask why he was looking at his phone."

"Ah, So he had other aid?" Neku said. "Yeah and it turn out it was Shokie all along!" Fret said.

"Wait, Kitty girl?" Beat yelp, flabbergasted, "Aren't she like not a bird?!" "What, what wrong with me having Swallow as my account name?" Shoka ask, arm crossed. "Beat, I don't think she was really a swallow bird." Neku said. "Well, she could had fool me." Beat said. "Anything could had fool you Worms-for-Brains." Shoka shale back.

"I'm guessing that account was made before you dub the Mr Mew Hoodie?" "Yeah, Kaie give me account to help me interact with the people at my age." Shoka said "Help me to made friend around Shibuya, to help me fit in a little."

"Dang, Rhyme wasn't kidding about Text-Man being a swell guy." Beat said out. "He made a good call Shoka." Neku said. "Yeah he sure did." Shoka said.

"Too bad she can't access that account anymore." Rindo said. "Say what?" Beat and Fret said. "Yeah, when I been kick out of being a Reaper, my Swallow account got suspended as well." Shoka said.

"I see." Neku said. "Man that suck." Fret said. "I say, I had most of my best mon on there." Shoka said "Some of the was Special event Mon, including Mr Mew as Cait Sith, he was my main."

"Maybe Beat's Hacker sister can help out?" Fret said. "I don't know yo." Beat said "Rhyme already had a hard time hacking into Reaper Network, asking her to hack into some old account from that network got grab some mon into a new one would be hard word for her."

"And I ain't letting her getting too work over it." Beat add.

"Honestly, I'm not too salty over it." Shoka said "That account may as well be the Old me. I get to start fresh with myself with you guys around." "Kind of Symbolic." Rindo said. "It sure is." Shoka said.

"Still, Once day I'll get myself a New Mr Mew Sith and move on of my old life." Shoka said. "Well enjoy the moment, Shoka." Neku told her. "Oh, I think I will. With you guys beside me." She repay back.

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severalcakes · 4 years ago

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Just Read Arc 20 of Worm

Thoughts:

1. First the S9, then Ballistic, now the Teeth? How is Dolltown not, like, a crater at this point? When did all the supervillains besides the Undersiders and Ambassadors (maybe) enter the Parian Kicking Tournament?

2. Are there actually schools with Faraday cages in the walls to stop kids from texting? “It’s just one of those schools,” no, Taylor, explain!

3. Emma’s dyed her hair blonde. Clearly in an effort to be more like her idol, Regina from Nasty Women.

4. No, Greg, you’ve got it backwards. You eat the hair, then you get her powers. That’s how Taylor inherited Bugs For All from Clancy on Ben 10.

5. Wow, Emma sucks now. Taylor owned that debacle.

6. Okay, Armsmaster’s back in business as presiding Skitnemesis, with Dragon for backup. I hate the mystery wheel, the mystery wheel never works correctly. He seems less trigger-happy than before, though. Character development?

7. I had hope with her showing faith in the principal in cahoots with Tattletale, but it looks like Taylor’s “dying-to-bugmurder-authority-figures” mindset has returned with a vengeance.

8. Ayup, character development. You’re doing great in a terrible situation, Colin.

9. Is Piggot sticking up for Taylor? What’s the world coming to? Well, this is Worm, and an Endbringer is due to attack no matter what, so that question never has a good answer.

10. Dear God, if Worm were a major Tumblr fandom when this donation interlude came out, people would be losing their minds over Jack Slash stripping nude.

11. Danny, what you’re responsible for is Skitter’s mercy. Her compassion. Her morals. You didn’t raise a monster.

12. Dude. What the fuck is Gray Boy, even? He scares Jack.

13. I’d kind of feel sorry for Accord, if he wasn’t all too willing to have people killed for the pettiest of reasons. His power must make life into a nightmare, and no one listens to him because his brain being hard-wired to solve problems has totally warped his mind. And worst of all? Humanity doesn’t have 23 years. Either Jack ends the world, or the entities do.

14. “I was an insect that dreamt he was a man, and loved it. But now the dream is over. And the insect is awake.” Goodbye, Taylor. And hello Skitter. Honestly heartbreaking.

#worm spoilers #parahumans #me

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robiinjason · 4 years ago

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What are your favorite and least favorite ttg eps. i need food

OH WORM? talking about ttg is fun so i am happy to provide OKAY SO

Favorite TTG Episode - tbh my answer will probably be different on this one at any given time because I don’t really have One favorite ttg episode, partly cause there’s So Many and partly cause I have assorted favorites for different reasons (such as being particularly hilarious, having cute moments, having a fun artstyle switch or having an interesting premise, so whenever asked i’ll talk about a favorite I feel like talking about.

THAT SAID (is a two-parter cheating) right now I’m gonna go with the two-parter Flashback (S4E48&49)!

I have a bit of a soft spot for this one cause it was among the first few episodes I watched before I started watching the show in order and I had a great time with it. Origin episodes are fun and it was entertaining to see how this version of the Titans came to be, and it has plenty of funny moments imo!

But ALSO this is a delightful episode if you enjoy Looking Too Hard into things that aren’t meant to be looked too hard into. While Teen Titans (2003) actively shows you how this team is also a close group of friends and like a family, Teen Titans Go! generally spends more time showing them being mean to each other much more often than having fuzzy wuzzy moments - which means if you still want to see this ruder and wackier version of the Titans as Found Family (like me!) it’s gonna require a lot more mental gymnastics on your end.

Under the cut because I went ham and WILL show you my mental gymnastics on how They Really Do Care About Each Other

Like, if you look at some of the other episodes where Robin is acting overly authoritarian and the Titans temporarily leave the team or get a different leader or just complain about his leadership, it can give off the impression that Robin was the one who shoved them all into the team and declared himself the leader.

EXCEPT here it turns out it wasn’t quite like that! They get annoyed with Robin often because of overexposure since they live with him and he's A Lot, but when the team was formed it wasn't Robin who forced them to join his team: they were the ones who quite literally found him in the garbage and went, “We want THIS GUY to be our leader!”

For some context, Robin held tryouts to form a team and these guys plus the Titans East and Kid Flash took part in it. However, the soon-to-be-Titans kept driving Robin up the wall until he eventually lost it, screamed at them and dismissed all four of them. To the ones who remained he went “okay you guys are on the team! :)”

Until Kid Flash proceeded to crush his dreams by going “hey this guy has a real temper, raise your hand if we should kick him out and I should be the leader” and all of them raised their hands. As he was still a pushover and not feral - yes, there was a point in Teen Titans Go when Robin was not yet feral -, though Robin was clearly unhappy with this development, he didn’t fight it.

And so, Robin was out of a team and lost his tower.

After Robin got kicked out of his own tower, the previously disqualified Titans found him living in the garbage like "yes I got kicked out of my team and tower! this is fine! It's not a big deal please stop talking about it!" (this Was Not fine) and they got pissed on his behalf. Then they were like, “we all got kicked out, WE should be a team!” and challenged Kid Flash to get back the tower, even though Robin didn’t want them to.

They then proceeded to give Robin an updated look and went are you tired of being nice? Don’t you just wanna go apeshit? And tired of being nice Robin was, so apeshit he went, which made them go "now THAT'S leader material"

By the way they lost the challenge but Robin was no longer nice so he broke Kid Flash's leg, kicked them out and took back the tower

My point is that the Titans may complain about Robin being Like That but before them he was just a pushover with a lot of issues and repressed rage and They were the ones who enabled him to be unhinged. Robin's like "you guys bring out the worst in me >:(" but they're like "your worst brings out the best in us :D" and I for one appreciate this delightful bunch of clown misfits who found a weird little family in each other

The movie backs me up on this which is nice :’)

Least Favorite TTG Episode - i’m gonna say,,,, Más y Menos (S1E48). I don’t mind the So Bizarre It’s Funny episodes bc they’re fun to bring up at random in conversations and i tend to just forget the ones of the Nasty but Forgettable variety, and I am of course used to the Titans (and most characters tbh) having a meaner streak than in, say, the 2003 cartoon.

BUT while in general the Titans being jerks to each other can be funny, since all of them have Clown Moments and they’re all equal (Robin is their leader but he’s also a little dude with no powers and they could put him in the dirt if they really wanted, tho he’s also capable of beating them up when going apeshit), Robin’s treatment of Más y Menos here just feels,,,, overly mean??

It feels like an actual teacher discriminating between students who didn’t do anything wrong and making them feel bad for no reason and i Don’t Like it 😔 Robin being an asshole to his friends and peers who are also assholes sometimes can be entertaining, but him doing so with innocent younger heroes he’s mentoring I Do Not vibe with

On the bright side Más y Menos are super cute. Love them

#robin #raven #starfire #cyborg #beast boy #teen titans go #ttg #toma talks #anon #asks #meta #I GUESS?#i went. a little apeshit w this #(in a good way)#i was thinking abt this the other day and this gave me an opportunity to flesh out my thoughts #yes my hobbies include overthinking teen titans go what about it #anyway the ttg titans are a valid if often cursed form of found family i won't take criticism #also theres probably worse eps than that one i just went w that bc i remember going :( while watching it

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wheresmynaya · 4 years ago

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Lost in the Lights Ch.2 | Brittana

Okay so I’m breaking routine here by posting another chapter so soon but I’m just blown away by the response so far and I got excited. LIKE WOAH, I really thought I wasn’t going to reach many people with this bc like...sports. Guess we all just really love Brittana, huh?

Also, 9-0 baby! ��

Available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x)

No one is more surprised by the discovery of the Titans’ new quarterback than Santana. Actually, surprised doesn’t even begin to cover it. Santana’s flat out dumbfounded by the news.

Is it the fact that they’ve never had a female Titan, let alone a female QB? Is it the fact that she’s actually really good? Is it the fact that it’s Brittany?

Santana’s at a loss.

The blonde just didn’t strike her as the type to play such a rough sport. She’s like this walking ray of sunshine that irks Santana to no end and she’s only had to deal with her for like a week! No one would’ve ever guessed that Brittany was the one to lead the Titans to their first win but maybe that’s because there’s apparently this side of her that Santana just hadn’t seen yet?

Judging by the way Brittany dominated on the field, Santana had her all wrong.

Santana spends her entire weekend trying to stay on top of her tan before the Autumn chill sets in, but in between sips of cold sweet tea and scrolling through her social media feeds there’s Brittany. Again, she doesn’t know why the quarterback keeps disrupting her thoughts, but it seems like she can’t outrun the girl.

At the moment, Brittany’s everywhere Santana looks! Mainly on social media; one minute Santana’s liking a picture Quinn posted of them before the game on Friday and the next she’s being bombarded by shots of Brittany posing with her teammates. Mike and Sam basically make the same exact post with the whole New Year New QB, but what surprises her is that even Puck is on her feed doing the same thing!

To think that the guys would even allow having a female quarterback is beyond her, because the last time she checked they were all a bunch of sexist pigs. Then again, maybe Coach Beiste has finally taught them all a thing or two about respecting women enough to be okay with playing alongside them?

Santana has no idea.

It’s just crazy how this girl seems to have popped up out of nowhere and now Santana can’t get away even when she’s not at school. The weekends are sacred to her, it’s her time to relax and reset before having to deal with all the McKinley High imbeciles but seeing so much of Brittany has her thoughts running nonstop.

What’s worse is that Santana can’t describe why she’s so annoyed by it all!

It isn’t until Monday rolls around that things finally start to come to a head.

The Titans’ recent win still seems to be the only thing anyone at McKinley wants to talk about, but Santana manages to evade all those conversations. She doesn’t know anything about the game other than the Titans have sucked for most of her high school career but she’s still obligated to cheer for them.

It’s a small price to pay when you’re a real winner. The Cheerios have way more titles and that’s really the only thing Santana cares about.

It’s all apart of her master plan to get the hell out of Lima once she graduates. With several National Championship wins under her belt, along with being Co-Captain since Sophomore year, Santana’s hoping it’ll help to expand her university options.

Although, she knows her future is practically mapped out for her – deep down she still has hope for a miracle. Until then, she just wants to make sure she’s well-prepared for anything which means retaining her position on the squad and making good grades.

Santana goes through the motions of the school day as usual, and as usual she fights the inescapable feeling of giddiness as she makes her way towards her final class of the day. She doesn’t actually mind the class – Miss Holliday is secretly one of her favorite teachers at McKinley – but she’s not the blonde that’s making her stomach fill with fluttery things.

She’s barely taken two steps into the room when she spots Brittany already sitting at their shared desk. She had been resting her chin in her palm looking bored as ever until Santana walked in. That’s when Brittany perked up and turned on her signature mega-watt smile.

It was getting harder and harder for Santana to scowl at the sight of it.

“Hi!” Brittany greeted happily as Santana took a seat next to her, “How was your weekend?”

It was always the same with Brittany, no matter what kind of look Santana threw her way. Brittany never seemed to be fazed by her grumpiness. She just took it in stride and continued to try and make conversation even if Santana never gave her much to work with.

Maybe that’s why Santana’s drawn to the blonde? She doesn’t scare easily unlike most at the school who wouldn’t dare be so persistent.

“Fine,” Santana answered with a sigh of indifference while she got settled and took out her binder and pen.

“Awesome,” Brittany nodded and picked up her own pen to start doodling, “I had good weekend too. I went to the park, did some chores around the house, hung out with some guys from the team and – “

The team caused a crack in Santana’s façade.

She looked to Brittany, trying to figure out how the girl sitting next to her was the same fierce player she saw Friday night. With the confusion and curiosity that’s been building ever since, the words just came tumbling out of her before she could catch them.

“You’re our new QB,” Santana stated but it sounded more like an accusation than an observation.

Brittany’s brows rose and a coy smile began to spread across her lips, “So you can say more than two words?”

Santana rolled her eyes at the sarcasm but even more so at how that smile made her stomach flip. She really needed to get her shit together.

“But yeah,” Brittany added coolly, “Seems like I am.”

Santana looked down at her binder, “You didn’t say.”

“You didn’t ask,” Brittany replied just as quickly.

Before Santana could get wrapped up in that giddy feeling again, she hardened herself. She was starting to see how Brittany could keep up with the guys on the team, the girl was quick and she had confidence.

Santana liked that…or whatever.

“Sup dudes!” Miss Holliday greeted the class as she strolled in just after the bell, “Is this Monday dragging or what?”

Some kids grunted in agreement. Brittany chuckled away and Miss Holliday smirked up at her.

“Awesome game, Chica!” Miss Holliday complimented as she walked down their row closest to Brittany. She held out her fist for Brittany to bump, “You kicked butt out there.”

“Thanks,” Brittany replied sweetly as their fists connected, “It was a team effort.”

“Spoken like a true leader. About time we got a little girl power in this school,” Miss Holliday nodded approvingly before moving down the row.

Santana watched Brittany giggle then get swept up in listening to Miss Holliday’s instructions for the warm-up activity. Again, Santana found herself in awe of how Brittany was the same girl who could break tackles and fire a football downfield. Brittany was friendly and soft and diplomatic, nothing like any of the guys on the team.

“You’re staring,” Brittany pointed out although her gaze remained on Miss Holliday now standing at the front of the class setting up the projector.

Santana doesn’t know why, but Brittany’s comment makes her cheeks burn.

She was glad when one of the kids closest to the door was asked to turn off the lights. In the darkness, she found some comfort and a little confidence. She was able to get a grip and act like a normal person.

“We’ve never had a female QB before,” Santana whispered. She had her pen in hand, trying to follow along with everyone else by doing the activity but her focus was elsewhere.

“So I’ve heard,” Brittany replied just as softly.

Santana didn’t know what to say next; this was the most they’ve spoken to each other thus far and she really didn’t know where the conversation was going.

What she didn’t anticipate though was fucking it all up with one sentence.

“Girls,” Santana breathed out and for some reason the word made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She didn’t realize she hadn’t said it in awhile, maybe not since seeing…

Santana swallows hard at the memory trying to worm its way in. She pushes it to the back of her mind; now isn’t the time for it.

“Girls,” She repeats herself with a steadier voice, “They aren’t supposed to play football.”

When Brittany looks at her, the friendly smile is gone and her pretty blue eyes are darker and fill with disbelief.

Santana knows she said the wrong thing the second the words leave her lips. It’s not exactly what she meant, but it’s too late to take it back now. Her words have already done the damage.

“Huh,” Brittany scoffs and averts her eyes back to her work, “Didn’t expect to hear that coming from you.”

Santana frowns – mostly out of guilt – but her instincts have her on the defense, “What’s that suppose to mean?”

She watches Brittany’s jaw tighten before she’s turning to look at Santana again. Her brows knit together, “It means I didn’t think you were the small-minded type.”

Santana feels winded.

She’s been called many things in her life and has heard some creative insults aimed at her, but never has she ever been called small-minded. She’s surprised by how much that one actually hurts. After everything she went through last year, after all the backlash, after having to deal with real small-minded people she feels a little offended. She can’t be lumped in with them. It’s not possible, because she’s…

The word gets trapped her throat and Santana has to swallow hard again to steady herself.

She isn’t like everyone else.

On second thought, maybe she is if she’s still saying something like that?

“I’ve always been told that those who can play the game well should,” Brittany tells her firmly, “I think I’m someone that can and judging by your team’s standings for the past three years, you could use someone like me on that field.”

Santana gulps. She can’t remember the last time someone at this school spoke to her the way Brittany is. It’s not a tone she’s familiar with, but she knows she deserves it.

“I don’t know you very well, but I thought – I don’t know – I thought you’d at least be a little more accepting than the hicks I’ve come across in this town,” Brittany continues, “I guess I was wrong.”

Santana’s lips part to defend herself, but nothing comes out.

Brittany doesn’t notice, “It shouldn’t matter if I’m a girl or a boy or a damn alien from outer space. If you can play – if you want to play – then you should, no matter what the sport is. Anyone that thinks otherwise is just…well, they’re stupid.”

The last word has Brittany’s voice cracking and the sound finally has Santana sputtering for an explanations, “I – I didn’t mean to – “

“You should probably just pay attention to the board, Santana.”

Santana bites her lip at Brittany’s clipped tone – that might’ve been the first time she’s ever heard Brittany say her name. She does as she’s told though. It’s best if she doesn’t dig herself a deeper hole.

Santana spends the rest of the day mulling over Brittany's words. Even through Cheerios practice after school, Santana can’t seem to get her head on right.

Maybe she really has become a product of her environment? Maybe all the small-minded people she's surrounded by have somehow managed to rub off on her after all of these years?

That can’t be the case, can it?

She hates that she has to ask herself that. Usually, Santana’s not one to have any regrets or remorse once she spits out her vicious words but this time she finds herself backpedaling when it comes to Brittany. She wasn’t trying to be a bitch, it just sort of happened and for once in her life she feels kind of horrible about it.

“You okay?” Quinn asks hesitantly after she dismissed the squad for a water break. Santana was meant to lead warm-ups today but Quinn seemed more eager to take over and Santana didn’t mind considering she’s so distracted.

“Yeah,” Santana shrugs, “I’m fine.”

“You’re quiet today,” Quinn notes, “You didn’t even laugh when Bec accidentally called Coach Sylvester sir.”

Santana tries to mask her worries and shrugs again, “She’s not that far off, have you seen Coach lately? Very mannish.”

Quinn smirks, pleased to seemingly have her best friend back, “So true.”

Just then Coach Sylvester blows her whistle and barks orders at the squad. Santana’s reluctant to move, but she pushes herself up anyway.

“God,” She groans as they walk over to the others, “I’m over this year and it hasn’t even started.”

“Same,” Quinn chuckles, “Let’s go make fun of the JV squad later? I hear they need a ton of work and their practices runs longer than ours because they suck so much.”

If it were any other day, that suggestion would have Santana eager to get a front row seat but even that doesn’t help. Still, she has to retain some sort of normalcy even if thoughts of Brittany are trying their hardest to disrupt that.

“I can’t wait to see that train wreck,” Santana quips and together, she and her best friend fall in line with the rest of the squad.

The remainder of the week is more of the same: class, Cheerios practice, homework then repeat. The only thing that’s out of the ordinary for Santana is the icy, cold shoulder Brittany’s giving her now.

Or maybe Santana’s the one avoiding her?

It’s all minor details. What’s important is that they aren’t speaking to each other anymore and Santana’s starting to miss Brittany’s usual cheerful greetings.

She knows what she needs to do to fix this. It doesn’t make it any easier for her to actually do it though. To admit that she was wrong, to apologize for her words, to accept responsibility for her actions? Santana’s not use to most of that!

It’s a weird kind of tension though between her and Brittany, so Santana’s not sure how much more she can take. Instead, she steals sideways glances in the dark and hopes Brittany takes pity on her and makes the first move.

Brittany doesn’t and soon one week’s worth of silence ends up turning into two.

Santana had every intention of making amends by last Friday’s game, but things just kept coming up. There’s class and Cheerios practice, but now she actually has to study for upcoming quizzes and assignments. She can’t fall behind again so once practice ends, Santana usually gets changed right away and heads straight for her car without even glancing in the Titans’ direction.

Is she using schoolwork as a lame excuse to avoid dealing with her shit? Of course, she’s a teenager. Procrastination comes naturally to her!

Later that night, Santana sits with both of her parents at the table for dinner. It’s a rare occasion to have Maribel and Hector home at the same time, but that quickly loses its novelty when Hector starts to grill Santana on her studies.

“Papi, it’s only the third week,” Santana gently reasons.

“And?” Hector gives her a stern look, “You need to stay on top of things, Santana.”

It’s a simple sentence, but Santana feels like there’s way more beneath the surface. Sometimes it’s hard being the daughter of a successful doctor whose father was also a doctor and his father before him. There is a long line of them in the Lopez legacy and that looms over Santana like a dark cloud, especially now that she’s in her Senior year.

It’s gone without saying whose footsteps Santana will follow, but it’s still a lot of pressure for her. It’s only a matter of time before her dad begins to lecture her again about college and the importance of good grades and extracurriculars while her mom tries to elevate some of that stress.

She’s never met two people who show their love for someone so differently.

“Don’t put too much pressure on her,” Maribel says and squeezes Santana’s hand from across the table lovingly, “You’re doing fine, mija.”

Hector frowns at his wife, “Fine isn’t enough. You think any of these Ivy League schools care about fine? Of course not. They’re going through thousands of applicants a year and fine doesn’t stand out. Fine doesn’t get into Harvard.”

Maribel narrows her eyes at his rambling.

“Don’t give me that look,” Hector huffs but his voice softens as he looks to Santana, “You know what I’m talking about.”

Santana can already guess what he’s about to say. She’s heard it so many times before.

“You can’t get complacent, Santana. You have a lot to make up for,” Hector adds just as Santana knew he would, “Especially after the year you’ve had.”

“That’s an understatement,” Santana mumbles as she pushes food around on her plate.

“What was that?” Hector raises a challenging brow.

“It’s nothing,” Santana dismisses and smiles reassuringly at her dad, “I’m on top of everything this year, Papi. I promise, you don’t have to worry. I won’t disappoint you.”

When Hector matches her smile, Santana feels a little relief even if it only lasts for a moment.

It isn’t until they’re nearing the end of the third week of school when things on the Brittany-front begin to shift for Santana. They still aren’t speaking to each other, but the blonde practically pops up everywhere she goes – if not physically, then someone’s bound to be talking about her.

After securing a second win for the Titans, Brittany has quickly climbed the ranks on the popularity ladder. The buzz around her grows, but what’s odd is that despite her obvious talents and annoyingly charming smile the students of McKinley have mixed feelings about her.

More importantly, about having a female quarterback.

On her walks to class, Santana has overheard the murmurs of doubt in Brittany’s abilities. Some are frustrated at how a new kid was able to dethrone Finn Hudson who has been leading the team all of her high school career. Some think Coach Beiste is getting soft. Some think it’s all a hoax, but Santana doesn’t really understand that one.

Regardless of how they feel about her though, Brittany’s still able to part crowds any time she walks down the hall. It doesn’t look like she pays them any mind, but Santana’s been wrong about her before.

But with popularity comes the irritating gossip mongers and Santana happens to overhear Brittany’s first encounter with McKinley’s most annoying: Jacob Ben Israel.

\\\\\

Between her morning runs, class, football practice, weight training, homework and helping out with Pete, Brittany’s having a hard time finding a moment to relax. She should be use to the hectic schedule by now, but making the change from her old school’s system to Lima’s is throwing her off a little. The school days start earlier, football practices run later and the work is a little harder than she use to.

Then there’s everything going on with Santana and that might be the most frustrating.

For nearly two weeks, they’ve kept this thing between them going. Did Brittany overreact by saying what she said? She doesn’t think so. Maybe Santana didn’t think what she said to her was a big deal, but to Brittany it was. The things people say to her in Lima aren’t anything knew, but that doesn’t mean she’s immune to their sting.

Most times, she’s able to ignore them but it just hits differently when she hears the utter disbelief coming from a fellow female. It’s like, whatever happened to empowering and uplifting each other? Did Santana not grow up listening to the Spice Girls? Has she never watched She’s the Man? Bend it like Beckham? A League of their own?

It’s so irritating because she can’t even ask Santana, the girl avoids her like the plague! The only time they’re ever close enough is in English class and that’s only because they have to share a table.

Brittany’s tired and achy and she’s so wrapped up in her thoughts as shuffles through her locker for her textbook for next class that she doesn’t notice she is no longer alone.

“Brittany Pierce!” Brittany hears someone say and the sound makes her flinch, “You’ve become quite the celebrity.”

She leans back slowly and peeks around her locker door to find a rather dorky looking guy with a huge cloud of hair. She notices the mic in his hand next and is instantly confused.

Is she on tv?

“Who are you?” She asks and glances around unsurely for a camera.

“Jacob Ben Israel,” He says and holds out his hand for her to shake, “Some call me JBI for short. I’m McKinley’s #1 source for news and the hottest gossip.”

Brittany shakes his hand; it’s grossly warm and sweaty as hell but she’s not surprised judging by the look of him. He certainty isn’t dressed like a journalist or one of those news reporters she has seen on tv.

She can hear her dad’s voice in her head chastising her for judging a book by its cover so she gives JBI a polite smile, “Oh okay. Nice to meet you.”

She goes to turn back to her locker, but JBI is quick to start the questions.

“So you’re the first female QB here at McKinley High. You’re new to the school and you’re the first to ever bench Finn Hudson and you’ve already led the Titans to their second victory this year. Hoping for a third this Friday?” JBI pauses and holds out the mic for Brittany.

She clears her throat, she’s not sure where the camera is so she just looks at him, “Of course. There are a lot of really great players on the team and I’m confident we can win a lot more games this season.”

“Awesome,” JBI replies enthusiastically, “A winning streak isn’t something a lot of the students here have experienced. You’re off to a great start this year. You’re bound to be nominated for Homecoming Court!”

Brittany almost laughs at that.

She’s been nominated at her old school before – even won a couple times – but that’s because she was voted for by her peers, peers who have known her for years. She doesn’t expect any nomination this year, the only reason anyone knows her is because she plays football. If she were to be nominated, it wouldn’t be because she’s well-liked or something like that. It would be because she sticks out like a sore thumb.

“Sounds cool,” Brittany replies despite disagreeing with him.

“So tell us,” JBI’s voice takes a dip. It’s sneaky, almost mischievous, “Would you rather be crowned the King or the Queen?”

Brittany’s stomach flips. She doesn’t like this interview thing anymore.

“What?” She asks because the question confuses her but she finds him wearing this sly grin like he’s just found her weak spot.

He hasn’t, but Brittany’s guard instantly goes up.

“Don’t be shy,” He coaxes with the wag of his brow, “You know what I’m talking about. You’re a female QB, no way you’re strai – “

“Hey!” Suddenly Santana’s there, of all people, and there’s fury in her eyes as she shoves JBI’s mic to his chest, “Fuck off.”

Brittany blinks like she’s caught in a daydream. Her eyes shift from Santana to JBI whose grin widens upon seeing the Co-Captain.

“Now this is a pairing I’m sure everyone would love to see,” He says as he talks into the mic again like nothing’s happened, like Santana isn’t about to beat him over the head with it. He looks to the camera – the kid’s been lingering over Brittany’s right shoulder thus far – and says, “It’s the infamous Santana Lopez, gracing us with her presence.”

Santana rolls her eyes, “I’m not gracing you with shit. Your little show sucks.”

“That’s not what my viewer count says. I’m sure you remember,” JBI quips as he turns back to the pair, “So Brittany, you didn’t answer the question.”

Brittany feels like a deer caught in the headlights; she can’t even remember what the question was, but thankfully Santana interrupts again.

“I said beat it, loser, before I shove that camera so far up your dumb ass you’ll be spitting out polaroids,” Santana snaps.

To Brittany’s surprise though, JBI doesn’t move right away.

“That doesn’t make sense, we’re not even using that kind of cam – “

Santana grits her jaw and takes a threatening step forward. Her voice dips low and gravely, “Try me, Jewfro. Please. I’ve been itching to kick you square in the nuts.”

That threat has JBI reaching to protect his crotch before he turns and runs down the hall with his camera-friend following him.

Brittany watches Santana smirk like she’s so proud of herself for being able to instill the fear of God in someone before she’s averting her gaze. When her stormy brown eyes land on Brittany, the blonde feels a cold chill.

The smirk’s gone and in it’s place is a familiar scowl. Brick by brick, her wall goes up.

“I know you’re new here, Pierce, so a little word of advice,” Santana warns as she turns to the lockers, “Don’t talk to him. He’s a wannabe journalist that reports nothing but bullshit. He’ll twist your words if you let him, trust me. I’ve seen it happen many times and I don’t want you to get caught up in his shit.”

Brittany’s at a loss for words.

Santana hasn’t spoken to her all this time and now all of sudden this? Why would it matter to Santana what she did or said or who she spoke to? Why would she care, she doesn’t even know Brittany?

There’s so many questions beginning to swarm her, but none make it out of her head.

“Thanks,” Is the only word Brittany ends up saying around a shy grin.

There’s a hint of smile on Santana’s lips when their eyes catch for a quick second, but it disappears just as fast.

“It’s whatever,” She says and Brittany hears a locker door slam, “I’ll see you in class.”

It isn’t until Santana’s halfway down the hall that Brittany finally realizes that their lockers are right next to each other’s. She can do nothing but laugh at the small coincidence.

The second time Santana speaks to her, it’s because Brittany accidentally scared the crap out of her.

It’s Thursday now – the last day of practice before the Week 3 game – so Brittany wants to get a jump on warm-ups. She knows there’s a thirty minute buffer between Cheerios and Titans practice, but she has to account for the extra time it takes to pick up her gear from Coach Beiste’s office first since everything’s stored in the boys’ locker room.

Usually, she gets the whole room to herself and plays a little music from her phone to get amped up. This time though, there’s one Cheerio that’s already there and this particular Cheerio surprisingly has a beautiful singing voice.

Brittany feels like she’s being lured in by one of those sirens she has read about in Greek mythology. She thinks she should probably make her presence known because creeping around a locker room is kind of weird, but she’s so in awe of the girl’s voice.

More importantly, the owner of that voice.

“Jesus!” Santana gasps when she rounds the corner to find Brittany lingering by the hampers. Her hand flies to chest to steady her beating heart, “What the hell are you doing, Pierce? Trying to give a girl a heart attack?”

Brittany thanks the heavens when she finds that Santana’s fully clothed already.

“I’m sorry!” Brittany blushes, “I didn’t think anyone would be here.”

Santana just shakes her head before eyeing Brittany again. There’s a flash of concern when Santana says, “You look like shit, worse than yesterday when I saw you with JBI.”

Brittany’s not sure how to take that. She hasn’t been sleeping well, that’s for sure, but it worries her that her tiredness is beginning to show. At least, that’s what she hopes Santana is talking about.

“I’ve been super busy lately. Guess I’m just ready for the weekend,” She says instead as she fumbles with the shoulder pads in her hands, “Sorry for interrupting you.”

“Interrupting me?”

“Yeah, you were singing. It sounded really pretty.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Santana brushes off before crossing her arms over her chest, “Why are you in here so early? Doesn’t your practice start at 4?”

“Why are you in here so late?” Brittany challenges, “Didn’t your practice start at 3:30?”

Santana cocks her head to the side, “I had to talk to Ms. Pillsbury about something.”

“Who?”

“She’s the guidance counselor. You’ll probably meet her soon, she’s on all the Seniors about their college application due dates. Figures, she’d want to start off with me.”

Brittany wants to know more. Afterall, she’s naturally curious when it comes to getting to know new people so the questions build but she doesn’t voice any of them. Not that Santana would give her any answers anyway.

Santana’s looking at all the gear Brittany’s toting along with her duffle bag and her brows furrow, “Did you carry all of that here?”

Brittany looks down at her gear and nods.

“Why?” Santana scrunches her nose, “Don’t you have a locker or something?”

Brittany shakes her head, “I was never given one. Coach Beiste said Coach Sylvester is meant to assign one to me, but I guess she’s been busy.”

“Doubt it. She hates Coach Beiste so in turn, she hates you.”

Brittany frowns; what’d she do?

“She’s probably just giving you a hard time because you’re a Titan instead of a Cheerio,” Santana answers then walks off. She goes to grab the clipboard that hangs above the hampers, dangling from it is a key, “I can assign you one, it’s part of my Co-Captain privileges. This side is reserved for the squad, obviously, but the set by the showers are all free. You can leave your football stuff there too, doubt anyone in here is going to want to steal it.”

Brittany’s taken aback by Santana’s random act of kindness for a second time that week. She let’s her smile shine, “Thanks. It really helps having everyting in one place. I don’t have to waste so much time walking back and forth.”

Santana nods and there’s that hint of a smile again before she’s leading the way over to the section of lockers that’s now become Brittany’s.

“Top or bottom?” Santana asks as she scans the list attached to the clipboard. Brittany smirks and notices the moment Santana realizes what she has said, “As in locker preference.”

“Duh,” Brittany jokes with a straight face, “What else would you mean?”

Santana’s face is flushed now and Brittany tries her hardest not to laugh. She’s kind of cute when she’s flustered like that.

“I’ll put you down for top,” Santana answers stiffly. Now her eyes are solely glued to the clipboard in her hands, “I guess I can unlock the bottom one too though so you can have the entire segment. You can – uh – decide which you want to use or whatever.”

“That works for me,” Brittany replies casually before she starts to undress.

Santana practically runs into a wall when she sees Brittany pull her top up over her head and let it drop onto her open duffle bag.

“I’ll just leave you to it then,” Santana calls over her shoulder as she scurries off.

Brittany watches the whole thing curiously. Has Santana never changed in front of other girls before or something? That’s the only explanation she comes to for how awkward she’s being.

Brittany doesn’t dwell on it, just continues getting dressed.

By the time Brittany’s got her practice gear on, Santana appears again. She looks a little shier than before and she’s fiddling with her hands.

Brittany just smiles and reaches down for her helmet, “You going now?”

“Yeah,” Santana answers, “Just trying to enjoy the last bit of A.C.”

“It’s not that hot out,” Brittany chuckles and motions to her pads, “At least you don’t have to wear all this.”

“True,” Santana smirks, “Now that would suck.”

Brittany chuckles again. She likes this version of Santana, she hopes she can see her more often but there’s still a giant pink elephant in the room so Brittany doesn’t get too excited.

“I’ll see you out there I guess,” Brittany says.

Santana nods and turns to leave, but then stops and turns back to face Brittany again.

“Actually, I just wanted to say,” Santana starts.

Brittany wonders if this is it. If she’s finally going to get an apology after what Santana said to her the other week, or at least the start of a conversation about her opinion? Anything would suffice by this point.

Brittany waits.

“I just wanted to say,” Santana repeats and her voice is so shaky. It’s completely unlike the confidence she possessed when she told off JBI, “Have a good practice.”

It’s not what Brittany was anticipating her to say – and judging by the uncertainty on Santana’s face, it wasn’t what she was anticipating to say either – but she’ll take it.

“Thanks,” Brittany grins as she walks by her to leave, “You too.”

By Friday night, Brittany’s feeling better than she has all week. Although they’ve yet to acknowledge Santana’s misjudgments, baby steps in the right direction have been taken.

Kind of.

First Santana defended her against JBI then on Thursday she assigned Brittany a locker and today? Today Santana brought her a drink from the Cheerios special lounge while Brittany was getting ready for the game.

“What is it?” Brittany asked hesitantly as she eyed the color of it. She’s sitting on the benches in the locker room completely dressed now in her uniform. All that’s left are the final touches like a quick dance party to get her pumped and applying a little Game Day eye make up.

“It’s a bunch of healthy stuff like fruits and veggies. All fresh so that explains the color, no preservatives. There’s some vitamin supplements in there too,” Santana explains like it’s all a bother.

Brittany’s beginning to see through that though.

“I don’t take drugs,” Brittany replies and tries to give the bottle back.

Santana rolls her eyes and there’s that hint of a smile again, “Does Vitamin D count as a drug? If so, then Puckerman is definitely on something stronger.”

Brittany frowns at the accusation, “Wait, seriously? The team can get in a lot of troub – “

“Easy, Pierce, I’m sure he’s just all-talk,” Santana amends, “I wouldn’t open an investigation on him or anything.” Then there’s a pause and for a second she looks a little shy as she motions to the bottle in Brittany’s hands. Her voice comes out softer, “Drink that. It’ll help with the tiredness and it’s good for your immune system too incase you’re about to come down with something.”

“You think I’m getting sick?” Brittany chuckles and turns back to apply thick black stripes to the apples of her cheeks.

Santana lifts a shoulder casually before standing, “You almost fell asleep in class today.”

Brittany blushes. Did she really? She’s so tired, she can’t even remember.

“What does that have to do with getting sick?” Brittany wonders.

“It’s almost that time of the year and bugs move quick,” Santana explains, “A lot quicker if you’re not taking care of yourself…for example, not getting enough sleep.”

That takes Brittany by surprise. Santana caring about her? Why? But despite the surprise, Brittany feels warm and fuzzy all over.

“Alright Doc, I’ll drink it,” Brittany jokes as she finishes up drawing on the left stripe. She turns to Santana as she twists off the lid and makes a show of taking a long drink.

Santana actually laughs this time before she shakes her head.

“I feel better already,” Brittany beams as she stands. They’re close now and it’s then that Brittany really notices the height difference, “Thanks for this. What do I owe you? Pressed juices like these probably cost an arm and a leg here.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Santana dismisses and takes a step back to put some distance between them, “Just bring home another win.”

“You got it,” Brittany winks and goes to take another swig while she watches Santana leave the locker room.

Unfortunately, it’s a rocky start this time for the Titans. It’s not that Brittany isn’t playing at her best because she always brings 110% to the field no matter how she’s feeling. It’s actually her teammates who aren’t as focused as she is for some reason. There’s still a lot of work to be done when it comes to being a cohesive unit, but today they’ve really taken a step back.

They’re down by 17 points when the half is called.

“Alright, what’s going on out there?” Coach Beiste questions. She’s fuming as she eyes everyone for an answer, “What I’m seeing is that Pierce is the only one here that’s come to play.”

Karofsky scoffs and folds up his arms, “I’m so over hearing about her!”

“Me too!” Azimio chimes in, “First we let in Hummel and now her? What’s next? She gonna join the Puck Heads in the off season and change the game for them too? The rest of us are chopped liver now. It’s not good for my reputation!”

“Your reputation? You were a loser just like the rest of us before Brittany came,” Mike replies but the two don’t take kindly to being called a loser and start shoving at him.

“Cut it out!” Sam tries to breaking it up.

Brittany looks over at them and grimaces. Dave and Azimio both have been a pain in her ass since she’s joined the team, but she thought they were past this by now? They’ve got a winning record, they’re actually improving on being a better team, so what’s the issue all of a sudden?

Coach Beiste shakes her head at them, “Give me a break! One person doesn’t win games. You don’t have to like Pierce but you’re going to give her your respect if you want to play on my field. It’s as simple as that. You work together, you listen and respect each other. That’s what it means to be a team, is it not?”

Brittany eyes her teammates. Aside from the select handful that actually like her, the guys look at her like she’s the enemy. It makes Brittany feel really unsettled.

“Is it not?” Coach Beiste presses.

There are mumbles amongst the squad but it’s not enough for Coach Beiste.

“Louder!”

“Yes, Coach!” They say in unison.

“Okay then, let’s starting acting like a team out there and win this game!” She says with the clap of her hands.

They’re in the fourth quarter now and the Titans have managed to make it a close game despite their rough start. Coach Beiste’s pep talk must’ve worked because the team is playing harder than the first half, but Brittany still senses the undertones of resentment.

She packs it away for now and just focuses on making plays. Afterall, she’s meant to be winning this one for Santana. Well not for Santana; it’s more like paying her back for the drink earlier.

Brittany nods resolutely and looks to the sidelines to see the Co-Captain shaking her pompoms. She does a high kick and yells out a cheer in time with the others, but the smile she’s wearing is what catches Brittany’s eye.

She shakes her head and focuses on the snap.

“Down!” Brittany calls out. She catches the other team’s Line Backer’s movement from the corner of her eye. The defense looks hungry, but so are they. She smirks and braces herself, “Hut!”

The ball is snapped and Brittany quickly hands it off to Puckerman. So far their run game has been pretty weak tonight, but Puckerman surprises everyone and kicks into gear. He plows through the defense at full speed, breaking tackle after tackle, until he crosses over for a first down and steps out of bounds.

He spikes down the ball and makes a sawing motion with his arm while the crowd goes wild. Matt runs up to congratulate him with a hard pat on the back.

“Yes!” Brittany jumps up and down as she cheers.

Over on the sidelines, the Cheerios are just as excited as they chant:

“First and ten, first and ten! First and ten, let’s do it again!”

Brittany sees Santana watching her with a huge grin and it makes her feel warm all over again. She knows it’s silly to think that Santana’s cheers are just for her – same goes for that smile – but she can’t help but dream.

Yeah, she’s decided. She’s really going to win this game just for her.

Brittany quickly runs up to their new line of scrimmage and everyone starts to take their position. She smacks Puckerman on the back when he jogs up next to her to get in formation.

“Nice carry, Puckerman!” She compliments.

“Sawed right through them!” Puckerman shouted excitedly back.

“Let’s keep up that energy,” Brittany praised and called out another play. They were in field goal range now, but like always – Brittany wasn’t here to play it safe especially with the new set of downs.

This time she wanted to try another play-action route since it worked pretty well in the pre-season game. Mike and Sam have proved to her that they have great hands, but they needed to work on their speed and timing. Now was a perfect time to test that. With Puckerman on a roll, the defense was sure to up their coverage on him rather than the receivers which would work perfectly in Brittany’s favor.

“Blue 82!” Brittany repeats and looks to her sides for confirmation that they’ve picked up the slight change.

Mike and Sam give her the barest nod before they’re glaring at their defenders. Brittany kicks up her foot and Mike quickly changes position so that he’s next to Sam now on the right side of the field.

“Blue 82!” Brittany calls out again and readies herself for the snap, “Down…Hut!”

The ball is hiked and she fakes the hand off to Puckerman so smoothly that the defense follows after him just as planned. While they chase him down to the left side of the field, Mike and Same cut up the right. Brittany holds onto the ball longer than she likes, making sure she gives her receivers enough time to breakaway from their defenders.

The other team’s Line Backer is trying his hardest to break through her O-Line though. Thankfully, Matt ends up making a key block for Mike and Brittany’s able to step up in the pocket and fire down a quick pass. It’s a little lower than Brittany wanted, but Mike makes the catch and pushes past a defender for another first down!

Everyone went wild, but the play clock was still going since Mike hadn’t made it out of bounds.

Brittany motioned for everyone to hurry into position – this time she was going for a slant route with Matt being the intended receiver. She kept her eye on the seconds ticking away, but the team was able to make it in time to get set.

“OG 30!” She called out. She was really starting to feel that adrenaline kick in but she kept her cool and held out her hands, “Down…Hut!”

Again, Brittany caught the ball and dropped back as everyone began to move. Despite the grumpiness during half time, the guys that made up her O-Line – mostly Dave and Azimio – did their jobs correctly and held the line. Brittany looked to her right and faked a throw before turning to her left and firing at Matt.

He juggled the ball in the air, but ultimately was able to secure possession of it and ran up the side of the field for an easy touchdown!

“Let’s go!” Brittany pumped her fist in the air. That was their best drive all game and now with the new points on the board, they’re finally up by 6! With just a little over ten minutes left in the final quarter, Brittany’s feeling good about their odds in coming away with another win.

She was right to feel confident; Titans end up winning the game 27 – 21. When the final whistle was blown, everyone was cheering and some of her teammates rushed to congratulate her efforts. She happily returned the sentiments, but she couldn’t help but glance over at the sidelines to see if Santana was watching her again too.

And she was, alongside Quinn and the rest of the Cheerios.

Brittany just grinned as she pulled off her helmet and let down her hair, happy that she was able to make good on her promise to Santana.

Despite how great she felt after Friday’s win, Monday morning was a different story.

Everything hurts and she was so exhausted that she didn’t even go for her usual morning run which is telling because she’s one of those rare people that actually works well with routine exercising. She guesses all those late nights studying combined with her patchy sleep schedule have finally taken its toll on her body.

She thinks back to what Santana said Friday about getting enough rest. God, she hopes she isn’t coming down with anything. Getting sick is just not what she needs right now.

“Hey mom?” Brittany taps on Whitney’s bedroom door. The curtains are already drawn and welcome in the morning sun so she knows her mom’s awake already. Whitney appears in the doorway of the master bath in her work uniform and instantly looks worried.

“You feeling okay, kiddo?” She asks as she crosses the room to press at Brittany’s forehead.

“I don’t think I’m sick, but I feel horrible,” Brittany explains.

“Yeah, you don’t have a fever. Have you been getting enough sleep?” Whitney asks.

Brittany shakes her head. Whitney eyes her with concern.

“It’s not the dreams again, is it?”

Brittany shakes her head again, “No. I haven’t had one since the last time I told you. I think I’m just worn out.”

“You’re a busy girl,” Whitney nods.

“Is it okay if I stay home today?” Brittany asks hesitantly, “It’s the only day of the week that I don’t really need to be at practice. I think I can access most of my schoolwork online so – “

“It’s okay, Britt. Just rest today,” Whitney says, “Missing a day isn’t going to break you and I know you’ll catch up when you’re feeling better.”

Brittany fills with relief and gives her mom a weak smile. She’s so happy that Whitney’s so understanding, but she guesses that’s come from experience with everything that happened at the beginning of the year with her dad’s passing. Many mental health days were taken, but Whitney never made her feel bad for it. If anything, she always encouraged them.

“Thanks mom,” Brittany says before taking herself back to bed. She’s able to fall asleep fast for once and she doesn’t wake again until she has to use the bathroom.

When she wakes up the third time, it’s just after three. She sees a text from her mom saying that Gran has Pete and she’ll pick him up once she gets off of work so that Brittany can continue resting.

She smiles and sends a text back to thank her before getting up. After a quick snack and a big glass of OJ, Brittany heads to the couch for another nap.

This time, sleep doesn’t find her as easily as it did the other times so she turns on the tv and tries to find something to watch. She decides to put on something she considers boring in hopes that maybe it’ll bore her right to sleep.

Miraculously, her plan works and she settles in for another nap.

An hour or so goes by when Brittany begins to stir because Pete’s trying to squeeze onto the couch next to her. His cold feel touch her bare ankles beneath her blanket and she flinches at the feel.

“Honey, what did I say in the car?” Whitney whispers, “Let your sister rest.”

“I am,” Pete pouts, “I just wanted to sit with her.”

“How about you come help me with – “

“It’s okay, mom,” Brittany pushes to sit up. Pete instantly beams at her, “I’ve slept enough I think.”

“Feeling better?” Whitney asks and brushes her hand over Brittany’s wild hair.

She nods and does a little stretch, “Much better.”

“Good to hear,” Whitney says and bends down to press kisses to Brittany and Pete’s head, “I’m going to make dinner then. Just leftovers so it shouldn’t take long.”

When she heads off for the kitchen, Pete snuggles in closer to Brittany.

“Did you get to watch cartoons all day?” He asks curiously.

Brittany shakes her head, “Nope, but I did take many naps.”

“Nice!”

“Totally.”

Brittany and Pete are watching tv together a moment later when Brittany hears a knock at the front door. Pete jumps up at the sound and rushes to see who it is.

“Don’t open that door, Peter!” Whitney calls out from the kitchen, “Let your sister get it.”

Pete pouts and hangs back as Brittany moves to get up. She chuckles and ruffles up his hair as she passes by. When Brittany takes a peek, she’s shocked by what she sees and quickly opens the door.

“Santana?” Brittany greets. She’s both confused and pleasantly surprised.

“Who are you?” Pete asks curiously with his head tilted up at the Co-Captain.

“Hi,” Santana smiles kind of nervously as she glances between the two. She’s dressed in her Cheerios warm-up gear – she must’ve just finished practice – and has her binder tucked under her arm.

“Uh…I’m Santana,” She answers softly, “And you are?”

“I’m Peter!” Brittany’s brother holds out his hand to shake, “Everyone calls me Pete though, so you can too if you want.”

Santana quirks a brow at him but smiles as she shakes his hand anyway, “Nice to meet you, Pete.”

“Pete, can you go help mom?” Brittany instructs. She waits until he’s run off then asks Santana out of disbelief, “What are you doing here?”

“You weren’t in class today,” She says.

“Yeah…I didn’t feel well.”

“Didn’t I say you were going to get sick?” Santana smirks.

“I’m not sick,” Brittany sighs, “I was just tired.”

“Right,” Santana keeps the smirk and motions to her binder, “Well, I brought you the work you missed. It’s kind of important for the paper due in a few weeks.”

Brittany just blinks. Maybe she’s still asleep and this is all a dream?

“Here,” Santana offers and goes to flip through her binder for a couple handouts to give to Brittany.

The blonde accepts them although she’s still trying to grasp the fact that Santana’s standing on her doorstep, “Thanks.”

“Sure,” Santana nods and it looks like she’s about to turn away.

“Wait. How’d you know where I lived?” Brittany quickly asks before she can run off.

“Mike told me,” Santana shrugs, “Actually, Mike told Quinn and Quinn told me. Apparently you two are neighbors?”

“Yeah, he likes to tell everyone that,” Brittany chuckles before she gets a sudden burst of confidence and asks, “Did you…want to come in?”

“Uhhh,” Santana looks unsure but then she gives Brittany a small smile, “Okay.”

Brittany opens the door a little wider and leads Santana into the living room. She pushes the blanket she brought down from her room to the side so they can both sit on the couch. Brittany starts to flip through the packet Santana gave her and she’s already dreading the assignment.

“Woah,” Brittany gasps, “This is a lot.”

“Yeah,” Santana nods, “I can help you with it though if you want? Miss Holliday said we can work in groups if we wanted, but we’ll be graded individually.”

Brittany blinks blankly again, “Huh, that’s funny.”

“What?”

Brittany just shakes her head and shrugs, “Just the other week you were insulting me then you stopped talking to me for awhile and now you’re being super helpful. I just can’t get a read on you.”

Brittany wasn’t trying to make Santana feel cornered, she just wanted to open up the conversation. She was over ignoring the obvious, so she went straight for the kill and brought it up head on.

Santana’s shoulders dropped, “Look, I’m…I’m really sorry about that. I was so out of line.”

“Yeah, you really were,” Brittany replies but she isn’t trying to rile Santana up by being argumentative, “You know how many times I’ve heard something similar over the years? Ever since I started playing sports it’s always been: you run like a girl, you throw like a girl, you’re pretty good…for a girl.”

Santana looks apologetically at Brittany and goes to fiddle with her hands in her lap. Brittany notes the familiar motion and decides its something she does when she’s nervous.

Brittany adds, “Like being a girl that plays sports is somehow less than, like it’s a bad thing. I’ve never understood it. I’m just as good as they are.”

Santana shakes her head, “No. I’ve seen you play. You’re so much better.”

“Thanks,” Brittany chuckles weakly, “You know, when I first started I wasn't trying to make some big statement. I didn't want the pressure of being the first female whatever, I just wanted to play. And my family, they've always been super supportive no matter the sport, especially my dad.”

Brittany feels the lump in her throat slowly start to form at his mention and takes a deep breath before speaking again.

“He use to come to every game. But people are so stuck on how I've disrupted their precious norms and it makes things harder than they need to be. No matter where I go, the people will either love me or hate me for this. It's crazy. I'm just a girl who loves playing football, why's that so odd?”

“It’s not,” Santana reasons, “You’re a good different, a kind of different a place like this needs.”

Brittany smiles fondly at Santana’s kind words, “Then why did you say what you did?”

Santana pauses for awhile trying to find the right words but in the end she just shakes her head and sighs, “Probably because I’m a bitch?”

Brittany flinches, she doesn’t think that’s the case.

“You’re just…you’re not what I imagined. I thought football players were rough and you’re not like that at all. You’re soft, delicate. You treat with kindness.”

“So does Kurt,” Brittany offers kindly, “And Mike, Sam too.”

“You know what I mean,” Santana replies.

“Yeah, I do. It’s called a stereotype,” Brittany smirks, “Football players happen to come in all shapes and sizes though. Some are soft and delicate like you say I am and some aren’t, but out on the field we’re all the same. We’re one team.”

Santana nods, “I’m sorry about what I said. You have every right to be on that field, same as the guys. I’m sorry if I made you feel otherwise. I guess I’m still trying to adjust too. It’s not really something you see here…”

“I accept your apology,” Brittany grins.

Santana lets out a deep sigh, “This town can be so old school sometimes and it sucks how there are younger generations out here that don’t know any different. They don’t see how wrong it is to have such a shit mentality. I guess I forgot what progression looks like until you came.”

Brittany knows Santana’s being genuine now and it makes the wait for this conversation worth it. She goes to joke, “Well it’s a learning process. Now you know for the next time you come across someone who doesn’t fit the status quo.”

“Yeah,” Santana matches Brittany’s grin, “I really do.”

“Well hello,” Whitney greets as she enters the living room. She glances between Brittany and Santana as Santana rises to her feet. She stands up straight and proper, “You going to introduce me to your friend, Britt?”

Brittany gulps at the label. She doesn’t know if she’d call Santana a friend just yet.

“This is my mom Whitney. Mom, this is Santana,” Brittany says while Santana gives a polite smile, “We have class together. She was just bringing me some work I missed today.”

“That’s so kind of you,” Whitney compliments Santana.

“It was nothing,” Santana replied and glanced to Brittany, “I tried to warn her about the risks of over-doing it. I can’t imagine having a schedule like hers.”

Brittany’s brow rises at the overly polite tone. Who knew Santana was a little suck up when it came to parents. She smirks as she watches it unfold.

“Stubbornness, she gets that from her dad’s side,” Whitney jokes, “Would you like to stay for dinner? We’re just having leftovers but there’s plenty to go around.”

“Lasagna!” Pete cheers as he runs in from the kitchen.

Santana chuckles but shakes her head, “Thank you, but I should probably get home before my mom starts to worry.”

Whitney nods, “Of course. Well, it was lovely meeting you. Come on Petey, let’s make our plates.”

When they both wander off, Brittany’s again standing alone with Santana in the living room.

“So you’re a kiss-ass,” Brittany jokes, “Never would’ve guessed it.”

Santana rolls her eyes despite smiling, “I have a thing with parents. They love me, okay?”

“Sure, sure,” Brittany giggles, “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone that you’re secretly kind. Wouldn’t want to ruin your rep.”

“I appreciate it,” Santana quips playfully before gathering her things, “Well, I really should head off before my mom starts blowing up my phone.”

“Cool,” Brittany nods and leads the way over to the front door to walk Santana out, “Well. Thanks again for bringing over the work I missed.”

“No biggie,” Santana waved off as she turned to leave, “Glad you’re feeling better. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Brittany waved and watched Santana make her way over to her little red Mazda with a pleased smile.

Maybe they weren’t exactly friends yet, but compared to the downward spiral they’ve been experiencing…they weren’t enemies either.

And in football terms, that’s called forward progress.

#Lost in the Lights #Brittana #Brittana fanfiction #QB!Britt

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yodawgiherd · 4 years ago

Text

Unpleasant News

>>>Read on AO3<<<

Unlike 136, I'll focus on some P L O T :D

“We have to tell him.”

“No, we don’t.”

Mikasa stopped her pacing, fixing Eren with a completely serious stare.

“Eren, we do.”

“You remember how he acted last time she hurt him! You know what happened! Armin almost… he…”

His voice faltered. It was months ago, when the tragedy took place, but it would be a stretch to say that they were over it. The shadow of almost losing their friend still hung heavily over them both.

Seeing his pain, hearing it in Eren’s voice, Mikasa came to sit next to him on the couch, taking a gentle hold of his head and pressing their foreheads together.

“I know that it’s hard.”, she said, staring into Eren’s green eyes, “But there is no other way. What else can we do?”

“Hope that she won’t make it to the finals?”, he offered, but Mikasa shook her head.

“I’ll bet that Annie is determined to prove herself. After all, fighting was the reason why the whole drama between her and Armin started. You know her, but you didn’t fight her, I did. If she is hell-bent like I imagine she is, there is no way she won’t make it to Vegas.”

Pulling back, Eren leaned back against the sofa, rubbing his eyes.

“God fucking damn it.”, he sighed, “Guess we can’t just lie and say that we had no idea, can we?”

“Hardly. You know Armin, he would see right through us both.”

“Fine, let’s break the news to him then.”, Eren half reached for his phone before Mikasa’s gentle yet strong hold immobilized his wrist in place.

“I think it would be better if we did it face to face.”, she said, “Even with the therapy, I don’t want to tell him with this much distance between us.”

“Right….”, he agreed.

But when neither of them moved for a second, Eren reached out with his other hand, gently rubbing the tattooed mark on Mikasa’s wrist.

“You know, I still have to call him to set up the meeting.”

“Oh, right, sorry.”, immediately releasing his hand, Mikasa gave him an awkward smile.

Despite being the one pushing for this, she was not exactly looking forward to the thing itself. Annie was a big dangerous area in Armin’s life, and that was not all. She still remembered how angry she was, blood boiling white and hot, during that night. She remembered almost beating Annie to death, completely surrendering to the savage side of herself. It was not a nice memory.

“How do we do this then?”, she asked, half to stop herself from thinking about that night.

“Do we invite him out?”, Eren suggested, but Mikasa was already shaking her head.

“No, a public place is no good. We don’t know how he will react.”

“Then I guess we go over to his house, and… I don’t know, tell him?”

“We could pick up some food on the way, maybe… gifts? I don’t know…”

While Mikasa’s words were clumsy, Eren understood perfectly what she meant. They both wanted their friend to be as relaxed as he could when they would tell him. He was dear to them both, and neither of them wanted for him to do anything rash.

Eren was the one to break the silence.

“I don’t think we’ll get anywhere by sitting around.”

Despite the worm in her stomach, Mikasa had to agree with him.

“Let’s go then, waiting will only make it worse.”

“No phone calls then?”

“Nah.”, Eren put his phone back in the pocket, “Let’s give him a nice surprise.”

Doubting that the surprise they were bringing would be nice, Mikasa joined Eren as they left for Armin’s place still feeling somewhat doubtful about this whole thing. Yet she was the one who put it the best: What else could they do?

Armin opened the door almost right away, looking at the Chinese takeout they brought with a surprise on his face. To avoid the obvious question, which was what were they doing here, Mikasa pushed past her friend with Eren in tow.

“You’re hungry, right?”, she asked, willing her voice to drop from that annoying high it reached when she was nervous.

“Well I was just about to cook…”, Armin shrugged, “Guess I don’t have to anymore.”

They ate in awkward conversation, with both Eren and Mikasa doing their best to talk to Armin without bringing that one burning topic, the reason why they were here really, up. It sucked, and all present at the table realized it. Armin mulled the thing around in his head while chewing his noodles. It was obvious to him that there was something, the elephant in the room, but for some reason, his friends were making it all secretive. So what could make them behave like this? Turning the various possibilities in his head, he stuck with one that could technically be correct. To try it, Armin turned to Mikasa with a beaming smile.

“You’re pregnant!”

It took a moment, and then both Eren and she started to talk over one another.

“N-No... Th-“

“What? Dude I…”

“We don’t…”

“We didn’t…”

“An implant…”

“Countermeasures…”

“No?”, Armin’s smile somewhat faded, “Then what is the big thing you are not telling me about?”

Mikasa and Eren exchanged a look, horrified how easily Armin read them both.

“Well, you see..”, manning up, Eren took the word, “You know about the tournament that’s going on right?”

“Colosseum? Of course, I do, Mikasa has been kicking ass there.”, he pointed at her with his fork, “You are amazing Mika.”

The praised party managed a very tight smile, awkward as hell. To bail her out, Eren continued.

“And once the first rounds that she is fighting in now ends, there will be a final.”

“In Vegas.”, Armin finished for him, “I’m looking forward to that and….”

The cheerfulness in his voice. The joy in his eyes when he spoke. Mikasa couldn’t take it anymore.

“Annie will be there!”, she pushed it out in one breath.

There was stunned silence after.

“A-Annie? But I… But she…”, Armin’s gaze slid down to the floor, his whole body hunching down.

He needed them, he needed their support. Reaching over, Eren put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly.

“Listen, buddy, if you don’t wanna go that’s fine, you won’t even have to see her.”

Hearing that, Armin shook his head.

“No. I want to go, I want to see her.”, looking up, he met Eren’s eyes, “I’ll tell you the same thing I told Hitch – I want to talk to her.”

Mikasa slid down from her chair, rounding the table to hug her friend from behind.

“We don’t want anything bad happening to you.”, she whispered, tightening the hug slightly, “You know that we love you, right?”

Armin put his hand over hers, not saying anything yet, slowly digesting the information. He wasn’t lying, he did want to talk to Annie, but the prospect of it happening was scary. Hitch said during their sessions that he would be the one to make the final decision, whenever to cut Annie clear out or try to reconnect. In their talks, he always chose the latter. Armin needed time to think it over, time with peace and quiet, time to be sure himself.

“Listen guys,”, he spoke up, “Thanks for coming and telling me, but I would prefer to be alone right now.”

He saw that quick look Eren and Mikasa exchanged.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine, nothing drastic will happen. I just need to think”

Mikasa was the first to move, probably understanding him better than Eren right now.

“Right, of course. We’ll make ourselves scarce.”

She detangled herself from the hug, taking her boyfriend’s hand and pulling him along. He followed, but his eyes never left Armin’s, the worry in them visible. Outside, he turned, fixing Armin with a stare.

“If you feel bad or something, need to talk, please give us a call. Or call Hitch if you would feel more comfortable talking with her.”, he said, “Okay?”

“You don’t have to worry, I’m good.”

“Promise us anyway.”, Mikasa spoke up, “Please.”

Assaulted from both sides, Armin could hardly say no.

“Okay. If I feel like doing something stupid, I’ll call first.”

They nodded at that but were hardly relieved.

“I’ll see you soon, Eren, Mikasa. And thanks again for telling me. I mean it.”

The door closed and the pair remained outside, staring at the wood.

“Do you think that we did the right thing?”, Eren asked.

“I think so, but I’m not sure. Time will tell.”

They both knew that keeping it from Armin would be way worse but telling him didn’t feel that good either. He took it better than expected, Hitch certainly did some real work with him, but Armin was still visibly shaken.

“Do we just leave now?”

“I guess so? What else can we do, stand here in the cold staring at his door? Armin said that he wants to be alone, so we should respect that.”

Mikasa was all for respecting wishes, so with the last look, she followed Eren to the car.

If there was a person that Levi didn’t expect to see in his gym, it would be his estranged uncle Kenny. Second in these rankings was the president of the United States, and the third place was ambiguous. Maybe Yelena wasn’t that high up, but she was in top ten, so seeing her waiting for him outside of his office made Levi’s brows ride up.

Was this about the increased training load? He wondered, scratching his chin. It was true that Mikasa was practically living at the gym right now, her modelling job cut short and pushed into a much smaller time window. Then again, if Yelena was here because of that, she had to realize a few things about his sister. Mikasa was a martial artist first, model second. She wasn’t that type of a woman who liked getting things handed to her for free because of her appearance. Sorting these thoughts, Levi crossed the short distance, nodding at the woman in greeting.

“Yelena, was it? To what do I owe this honor?”

“Mr Ackerman, I’m here on behalf of Hizuru Ltd.”

That was obvious, Levi knew that she wasn’t here to work out.

“I see.”, he said, biting back the ironic remark. This was Mikasa’s boss he was talking too, no need to make things harder for his little sister.

“We have an offer for your sister that I would like to discuss with you.”, Yelena stepped aside, letting the path to Levi’s office door open, “Shall we?”

A minute later, they were seated, watching each other over the table.

“Let’s cut to the chase,”, Yelena began, “We know about the tournament Mikasa is taking place in.”

“Is that a problem?”, Levi asked with his speech of MMA first, fashion second ready to go.

But Yelena surprised him by a shake of her head.

“No, of course not. We don’t have any problem with her doing what she wants. In fact, we want to support her on the journey.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s only logical. We are her employers, so we should sponsor her at this tournament.”

If he was being honest, Levi liked dealing with Yelena. Unlike her boss, who got easily excited, she drooled over Mikasa damn it, Yelena was completely calm and businesslike. Even now they were watching each other with completely emotionless eyes, two people doing business, nothing more, nothing less.

“How much money are we talking about here?”

“Enough to cover her tournament expenses. And of course a certain performance bonus, should she reach the top.”

Levi grinned.

“Should she? You don’t believe in her?”

“I don’t believe in anything Mr. Ackerman, I think that if something can go wrong, it tends to do so.”

“That’s fair. What about the representation, what would Mikasa need to do? She can hardly give your brand a shoutout in the middle of the match.”

Yelena’s lips twitched.

“Nothing so radical. She would have our name and logo on her fighting uniform, on the car that would bring her to the matches, and maybe say a few words about the company during the winner interviews.”

“Such as?”

“Such as how easy it is to work with us, how flexible we are with our schedules so she can keep her training going. Mikasa doesn’t have to talk about our clothes, we want her to give Hizuru a humane, warm feel.”

“The offer is tempting,”, Levi admitted, “But I have to ask Mikasa first. You understand that, right?”

“But of course.”, Yelena stood up, offering him her hand.

She had a firm grip, Levi noticed.

When Eren’s phone rang at the hospital, the cold fingers gripped his stomach immediately. Was it Armin? Did something happen? But looking at the screen, he saw an unknown number calling, plastered right over Mikasa’s smile that was his lock screen, so with a frown, he answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi! Kiyomi Azumabito here.”

He knew who Kiyomi was, Mikasa told him enough stories for Eren to have a faint mental image of the fashion mogul. Incredibly energetic despite her age, somewhat easily excitable and yet carrying herself with an air of dignity. Yeah, he knew her, but that did not explain why she was calling him. That was until Kiyomi told him herself.

“I’m so looking to us working together!”

“I’m sorry, but what the hell are you talking about?”

“The contest, you won!”, Eren could hear the chair creaking on the other end, as Kiyomi sat up, “If you are anything like your fiancé, the photoshoot will be a BOMB!”

“I.. Uhmm..”

Kiyomi was like a force of nature, and it was somewhat amusing hearing the old lady being all excited like this. Adding to that, this was all so out of nowhere and sudden too. He sort of forgot about the whole competition, about the magazine and everything. Luckily, Eren was saved from any future conversation by a beep in her phone, announcing that she had another call waiting.

“I’m so sorry Eren, can I call you Eren?”

“I…”

“Great, so I have to run now, but Yelena will be in touch with you soon to set the details. I’m so excited!”

And she was gone, and Eren was staring at his phone. If this was what Mikasa was dealing with in her second job, his admiration of her mental strength was bumped past the infinity it was already sitting at. Just then, a new person walked into the break room.

“Yo Eren!“

“Onya, good to see you man.”, walking over, they exchanged a practiced fist bump, “What’s up?”

“Me and Ymir are heading over to the bar after work. You wanna join?”

“I should…”

I should go home, was the sentence on Eren’s mind, but it died on his tongue. He should go home and do what? Stare at the wall wondering how Armin is doing? Or better, stalk him like a creep instead of trusting that his best friend and the smartest guy he knows can figure this out on his own? No, there was no point.

“I mean, I would love to.”, he corrected himself.

“Amazing!”, Onya’s face split into a shining smile, “It’s been some time since we last drank together. I have so many stories to tell you?”

Despite the Armin situation still in the back of his mind, Eren returned the grin.

“How many of those are about your tinder dates?”

“You know me, my friend.”, throwing a hand over his shoulders, Onya winked at him, “All of them.”

“Nah but think about it.”, Ymir had a dreamy look, “Getting tied up by Mikasa, that would be the stuff.”

Krista raised an eyebrow on her girlfriend over the file she was reading.

“You came all the way here to share your horny thoughts?”

“Sorry, sorry, but after Eren told us all these things I…”, she exhaled, calming herself a bit, “I feel like it would be amazing you know.”

But as soon as those words left her mouth Ymir realized that they were not exactly sensitive towards Krista.

“I didn’t mean that you’re not amazing or anything, it’s…”

Krista spoke up before she could finish.

“Please. You think I’m getting jealous or something?”

“Aren’t you?”

The blonde snorted.

“If I was nearly as tall as you and could pick you up with one hand, maybe I would be. But no, I understand what you’re fantasizing about, although I have a counterpoint.”

She raised a finger.

“What about, tying Mikasa up instead?”

Now that was a language Ymir was speaking fluently.

“You think she would let anyone tie her up?”

“She lets Eren if you believe what he said.”

“I don’t know. Hard to imagine someone like her being… helpless? She’s always in control, so strong and cool and… dominant I guess.”

“True, but doesn’t that make it hotter? That such a powerful woman will submit to you because she likes you that much. Because she knows that you will make her feel amazing.”

Ymir sighed, the mental image very pleasing to look at. If she was a man, she would have a hard-on right now. Still, Krista kept the conversation going down that infernal path.

“Oh, do you think that they use pet names?”

“You mean like… err… babe?”

“No, not that.”, Krista shook her head, “I was thinking more like princess, or… kitten?”

Ymir exploded in laughter, wiping her eyes.

“Oh god, can you imagine! Mikasa being called kitten, I’d pay good money to see her breaking the neck of whoever called her that.”

Yet the blonde was on the fence.

“I dunno. I know that we mostly get that hard-assed, tough MMA warrior side of her, but we both know that she can be super soft on Eren. You remember the parties, so you know how clingy to him she gets once she’s a bit drunk.”

“Pretty sure she has to be soft on him.”, Ymir chimed in, “Otherwise he would have shattered pelvis after one night of letting her be on top.”

Whatever she wanted to say next was interrupted by her pager, beeping. Ymir picked it up, looking over it with a tight expression.

“Looks like I have to go.”, leaning over the counter, she pressed a sweet kiss to Krista’s lips, “I’ll see you after work, kay? Once we hit the bar, we can continue our fantasies there.”

Krista said her goodbyes and sat back in the chair, doing her best to clean her head. It was difficult to focus back on work stuff after filling her mind with things like Mikasa, Ymir and restraints. Yet she had to, so opening the file, Krista eyed the black text and immersed herself in the job.

Entering the bar with his friends, Eren waved to Connie behind the counter almost claiming a free table for the group until he saw that there was someone here already. Jean looked the same as ever, half-full glass in front of him, staring at his phone with a faint smile. Probably texting Hitch, Eren figured. Onya, being as social as he was, walked over and clapped Jean on the back, and their party got a new member.

“Mikasa not holding your leash tonight?”, Jean smirked over his glass, sizing Eren up.

“She’s cutting down the alcohol because of the tournament, so no.”

“Shame.”, with that Jean turned to Onya.

Eren did ask Mikasa if she wants to come, of course he did, but she sent him a sweaty selfie from the gym and a quick text that she’s good, but he should have fun for them both. Eren thought about ditching the bar and joining her, but in the end decided against it. Mikasa was in a full-on tryhard mode right now, so he would probably just slow her down.

He was alone for tonight, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t have fun. Most of his friends were here, and the bar was nicely packed by other guests as well. Eren had to admit, despite his better judgement, that Jean was a marketing genius. He swam through the confusing waters of social media like a shark, knowing exactly when and how to strike. It was entirely his doing that The Third Wheel was as popular as it was today, his carefully crafted campaign striking gold. Even Levi’s gym got a boost lately thanks to Jean’s efforts.

Ymir and Krista snickered were they were sitting, very close to each other, eyeing Eren for some reason. When he met their gaze, the blonde blushed and looked away while the freckled girl winked at him before shifting her attention back to her girlfriend. Eren sighed. It wasn’t hard to guess what the two of them were most likely talking about, and while Ymir kept her word and haven’t told anyone about his small secret, there was always the possibility that her tongue might slip. It’s not like they were doing anything illegal with Mikasa, but certain things are better if they stay private. To drown that worry, alongside the thousands he already had, Eren raised his glass.

The night progressed positively, and as the hour grew late the tongues loosened, and Eren found himself once again in an argument with Jean. He couldn’t even remember how it began, but arguing with him felt good, like a pleasant habit.

“I see your mouth opening but I don’t hear anything.”, Jean was saying, words tumbling thanks to the alcohol in his system.

Not like Eren would let that one stand.

“Here: You’re a bitch, heard that?”

Jean shrugged.

“Nope, not a word.”

For whatever reason, Eren was hit by a massive wave of nostalgia out of nowhere, making him forget the next insult on his tongue. Instead, he hunched down, hooking his arm around Jean’s neck and pulling him down to his level.

“Listen, Jean, don’t say this to anyone but…”, Eren looked around nervously, but nobody was paying any attention them, “You’re okay.”

“What? Did you say that I’m gay?”

“No dumbass. I said that you’re OKAY.”

“Oh... Thanks, I guess.”

“Yea. But don’t tell anyone.”

Letting go of Jean’s neck, Eren sat back up, satisfied with himself. Damn, but he was such a good friend. Back home hours later, he joined Mikasa at the couch where she was lying sprawled face down. He was glad to see her relaxing for once because she had been destroying herself at the gym lately, so much that it made Eren worry a little bit. And then she yawned and asked if he had a good time.

“Yeah. I did actually.”, he poked her fallen form, gently, “You should try it too sometimes, it’s fun.”

“Eh, after the preliminaries I promise that we’ll celebrate. Now tell me about your day, I want to fall asleep listening to your voice.”

That was such a cute request that even buzzed as he was, it made Eren feel incredibly warm inside. So he talked and was soon rewarded with soft snores, making him successful in his mission. You know what, he was not only a good friend, he was pretty okay at being a boyfriend too.

Her opponent lay crumpled in the other half of the cage, being carefully checked by his couch. At the same time, the referee was holding Annie’s arm up, announcing her as the winner of this bout. She hardly cared. This was another step she had to take to reach her goal, it wasn’t anything special. The fight was pretty good, it got her blood pumping, but from the first time their fists made contact, Annie knew how this is going to end.

“Congratulations, you’ve qualified.” Reiner said with a broad smile, meeting her outside of the arena, “Although I’d be lying if I said that I had doubts.”

She bowed her head slightly in thanks.

“What about you?”

“I’m done with the preliminaries too.”, the blond giant informed her, “And Bert has one more unfortunate fool to crush before he’s done too.”

His voice softened a bit and Reiner hunched down to be on an eye-level with her.

“You should call your dad Annie, I’m sure that he watched the fight and wants to congratulate you. Besides, we are all going to the states soon anyway, so you should let him know.”

“Yea but…”

States meant not only her dad but also Armin, and feelings that Annie wasn’t ready to face. She thought about him more often than she would like, especially in these vulnerable times before falling asleep or after waking up. But Reiner didn’t need to know that. Just as she was about to say that talking to her father is not exactly pleasant, Annie’s phone rung. It was no one else but dad, proving that Reiner was correct in his assumptions.

“I should… I should probably take this.”, she murmured.

Reiner clapped her on the shoulder in a silent show of support before turning around and leaving her alone. With a deep breath, she took the call.

“Annie! You did so great!”, her father did sound very excited, “The way you wiped the floor with that man, that was incredible.”

“Thanks dad,”, she replied flatly, “It wasn’t half bad.”

“Anyway, this means that you are ready for Vegas, right?”

“Yes. We have to wait until Berthold finishes his last fight and then we will all be coming.”

“That’s so amazing. I’ll prepare everything, you guys won’t have to worry about rooms or such.”

Annie might not be on the best terms with her dad, but she had to say that he was an amazing couch. This extended to his abilities of having exactly what he wanted where he wanted, so turning his offer down out of spite would be downright stupid.

“That would be great, I’m sure the guys will appreciate it.”

“It’s the least I can do. But listen, Annie,”, her father’s voice lost its cheerfulness, “You should know that the girl you used to train with, Mikasa Ackerman, will most likely also be there. A few days back she knocked the favorite of her bracket out, so there is no one else of significance standing in her way. She still has some matches to go but honestly, they don’t’ stand a chance against her.”

Annie could feel her empty hand balling into a fist, heart beating faster. Yes, she expected this, but hearing it confirmed made the confrontation a reality. She would see Mikasa again. Unless something unforeseen would happen, she would fight Mikasa again. Hearing her go silent, her father continued.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you won’t let me down and…”

“No dad.”, Annie interrupted him, “I won’t let myself down. Sorry, but in this, you are secondary.”

He was quiet for a moment, taken aback by these bold words.

“I… I understand.”, he finally said, voice heavy, “You’ve grown, Annie. I… I’m proud of you.”

Not sure how to respond to that, Annie had to cut this conversation short, to prevent her feelings from spilling out.

“I’ll see you soon dad, okay?”

“Of course. Take care.”

Beep. And she was alone again. Gripping the phone in her white-knuckled grip, Annie let the ice-cold indifference wash away these treacherous emotions. She had grown, but Annie doubted that Mikasa was sitting on her hands the whole time. The raven would develop too, and it came to the simple question of which one of them did it better. Annie would have her second chance, she would have her confrontation, and she would show Mikasa that the rainy night was a one-time thing.

Soon.

#snk #eremika #fanfic

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