#The only thing that he should be sneaky about is what over-the-top celebration he’s planning for Tav’s birthday | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

xjoonchildx · 4 years ago

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greedy | myg x reader | epilogue: bases loaded

summary: being a loner has never bothered yoongi until now. until you.

pairing: yoongi x reader

genre: mafia AU, pining, eventual smut

rating: 18+

word count: 1.3K

notes: thank you endlessly for reading, reviewing and sharing this story. i’m so in love with this tough-but-secretly vulnerable yoongi and you’ll never know how happy it makes me that you guys love him, too. i hope you enjoy how the story ends. either way, i’d love to hear from you! please send me an ask here and tell me what you think.

Chapter 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | EPILOGUE

*******************

Fuck, it’s hot.

The forecaster called for a high of 91° today, but he must have missed that mark by at least a hundred degrees. There is no breeze and absolutely no respite from the unforgiving sun here in the cheap seats.

The Lions batter connects with the ball -- finally -- and Yoongi winces as he watches it sail right over the foul line.

Beneath his sling his arm feels sticky, itchy.

He’d love nothing more than to rip that sling off and go to town on his arm with his fingernails, but any moment now you’ll be back from the concession stand. You’ll probably hold his hot dog hostage if you catch him.

So Yoongi tries to focus on the game, not the itch. But the game sucks and Yoongi curses under his breath when the next Lions batter flies out on the first pitch.

Nine weeks ago, Yoongi never would have guessed that surgery would be the easy part.

Going to sleep for a few hours and letting doctors cut into his skin and bone turned out to be a breeze compared to everything that’s come after. The physical therapy has been grueling and painful. Simple tasks like dressing and showering, even pouring a bowl of cereal have become a complete pain in the ass.

He’s not sure he could have gotten through any of it were it not for you.

By now, he’s lost count of the ways you’ve taken care of him. Lost count of the meals you’ve cooked for him, the loads of laundry you’ve done for him, the very, very creative ways you’ve come up with to make love to him. He’s probably due for a new couch at this point. The damned thing started creaking last week.

So he’ll buy a new couch.

He’ll buy a hundred new couches if it means you come home to him at night.

The days of arduous physical therapy are long forgotten when you shower and slip into bed beside him. When you warm those forever-frigid feet against his under the covers and curl into his side. When you wake up in the morning and make coffee and tell him wild stories about strange objects you’ve pulled from someone’s strange orifice the night before.

That’s how most nights go. But not every night.

So it’s not enough.

It’s not enough because no matter how much Yoongi gets of you, it’s never enough. He still wants more.

He walked to the drugstore before the drive to Daegu today. He bought you a brand new toothbrush, one of those fancy electric ones with all the bells and whistles. And he’s been waiting for the right time to tell you all afternoon, appreciating your pretty eyes and sunburnt cheeks.

Waiting for the right time to tell you that he really wants you to stay.

***************************

“Wow, that line was brutal,” you mutter, and Yoongi looks up from beneath the rim of his snapback to find you balancing two hot dogs and a basket of fries in your hands. You drop carefully into the seat beside him, grinning. “I thought I was going to have to fight this kid for the last ketchup packets.”

Yoongi can’t help but grin back.

The game sucks and the heat sucks and his arm sucks -- but you? You definitely don’t suck.

“Can’t get arrested for fighting kids at the concession stand, Doc,” he teases. “The lockup here in Daegu is not exactly swanky and I can tell you that from experience.”

He reaches over with his one good arm to steal a french fry but you wrinkle your nose, pulling the basket away childishly.

“The hot dog is yours. These are mine.”

“Wow,” Yoongi huffs. “You’re gonna deny a one-armed man french fries? That’s dirty.”

“I’ve seen your bloodwork, Min,” you shrug. “It’s time to back off the cholesterol.”

Yoongi chuckles, shaking his head.

“So how’s it going?

“Bears are still up by five,” he sighs. “Can’t believe I waited my whole life to watch them play this shitty in person.”

“Poor thing,” you tease, cutting your dark, sparkling eyes at him. You begrudgingly hold a french fry out to him; a greasy consolation prize. “Okay, fine. I’ll give you one.”

Yoongi leans into you, pretending to go for the fry but stealing a kiss instead.

“Sneaky,” you breathe, lips soft against his. “But I’ll allow it.”

“Nothing to allow,” Yoongi smirks, grabbing the fry out of your hand. “I already got it.”

You smile, turning away to look out onto the field.

The stadium is nearly empty by now, most of the hometown fans leaving after the 7th inning when it was clear this game was headed straight into the toilet. A Bears batter hits a line drive that whizzes right past the Lions shortstop’s glove and Yoongi claps a hand over his face.

“Swear to God, they haven’t had a season this bad since I was nine years old.”

You tut and hand him another fry.

“Namjoon offered me a job,” you announce, eyes still on the field.

Yoongi freezes, mid-bite.

He knew this was coming, of course. Namjoon had taken him aside one afternoon and spelled out his plan to extend the offer. Yoongi knowing all too well that the Gajog has never been in need of a full-time doctor. The offer is a gift, an extension of family protection.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t know,” you grumble, rolling your eyes. “You’re a terrible liar.”

“Okay, fine,” Yoongi grins. “What did he say?”

“He said he’d set me up with a clinic space,” you murmur, watching another Bears lineman crack a base hit. “Unlimited supplies. Nurses, if I need them. And he said he’d pay me more every year than I think I’ve made altogether since leaving medical school.”

“So are you gonna take it?” Yoongi asks carefully.

You’re quiet for a moment, dark eyes serious before turning to him.

“No.”

He knew that was coming, too.

“I’ve worked really hard for this,” you say softly. “And I want what I’ve earned the right way. This isn’t judgement on you or them, but it’s not for me. You understand, right?”

“Of course,” Yoongi says and he means it. You press your lips to his cheek before resting your head on his shoulder.

Secretly, he breathes a little sigh of relief.

He likes that you’re his piece of peace separate and apart from family business. He likes that you’re his oasis away from the ugliness and bullshit that come far too often in this line of work. He likes that you’re not some hand-me-down from a mothballed church widow or an act of charity from Kim Namjoon.

He’s earned this thing with you all on his own.

“Doc,” he whispers, planting a kiss in your hair. “I need to tell you something.”

“Go for it,” you whisper back.

“I bought you a new toothbrush. It’s super fancy.”

You pull away from him, feigning shock. “How fancy are we talking here?”

“Like, two hundred settings. Video calls. Takes bitcoin.”

“Ooh, that does sound fancy,” you breathe, smiling. “What’s the occasion?”

Yoongi takes your hand into his, laces his fingers into yours.

“I want you to move in with me,” he murmurs. “If that’s what you want.”

You go quiet on him again. Only this time, your mouth quirks into a soft smile before you lean in to press it to his. You kiss him slow and unhurried, lips tasting like peanut oil and salt, and in that moment Yoongi decides it’s his favorite flavor of you.

“So is that a yes?” Yoongi asks, grinning when you pull away.

“Yeah. That’s a yes.”

You both turn your heads when what’s left of the crowd starts to boo. The Bears have just loaded the bases, top of the ninth inning, no outs.

“This game is terrible and it’s blazing hot,” Yoongi groans. “We should go somewhere to cool off. And celebrate.”

“Hmm,” you sigh happily. “What do you have in mind?”

“If you’re up for a walk, I know a place nearby,” he murmurs, planting a kiss behind your ear. “Great milkshakes.”

You smile.

***********************

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST 💕💕💕

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#yoongi smut #min yoongi smut #yoongi x reader #min yoongi x reader #ficswithluv #networkbangtan #btswritersclub #ksmutclub

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ickle-ronniekins · 4 years ago

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home for the holidays || christmas promises

A/N: hiii everyone! ya girls are here to provide a christmas collab entitled “home for the holidays” that we couldn’t stop freaking out about together like a bunch of dorks. we’ll each be writing two installments each for a four-part total series! alexa ( @harrysweasleys ) will be posting chapter two! super excited for this and thank yoooou to alexa for being just as excited about this collab and for being so patient with my wacky schedule!

desc: would it really be christmas at the burrow without a snowball fight just as the clock strikes midnight on christmas? fred’s happy to have you at his favorite place during his favorite time of year, and the excitement of the holidays seems to have him in a lovey-dovey mood.

pairing: fred x reader

word count: 1.4k

alexa and erica’s combined taglist(s): @mintlibri @seppys-return-to-madness @how-do-life-does @fopdoodledane @fredd-weasley @iprobablyshipit91 @laneygthememequeen @snakesonaplane-7 @keoghans @acciotwinz @the-hufflepuff-of-221b @62442-am @wtfweasleyy @thoseofgreatambition @sleep-i-ness @shadychaoticcollection @haphazardhufflepuff @afriendlyneighborhoodhufflepuff @kageyama-i-want-tobiors @letsfightsomeorcs @theweasleysredhair @hxfflxpxffs @wand3ringr0s3 @finecole @angelinathebook @highly-acidic @zreads @susceptible-but-siriusexual @hollands-weasley @andromedaa-tonks @cappsikle @mytreec @imseeinggred @idont-knowrn @auroraboringalis57 @godricsswords @annasofiaearlobe @alwaysasadaesthetic @starlightweasley @thisismysketchbook @izzytheninja @imboredandneedalife @hemmoporro @valwritesx @hannalannno @heavenlymidnight @msmimimerton @oh-for-merlins-sake @grierpilots @mikumana @pit-and-the-pen @diary-of-an-onliner @theweirdsideofstuff @vogueweasley @hufflrpuffforfred @phuvioqhile @marvelettesassemble @almostweepingbanana

“Fred! Y/N! Would you two get back out here! Ginny, blimey, can’t you wait a moment before sending another one my way? Bloody hell!”

George’s yelps echoed from outside the Burrow. His voice sounded very loud, because that’s how it always seemed during a snowfall, didn’t it? It always seemed especially quiet as the ground became covered in a blanket of sparkly white. It’s as if the falling snow could silence the entire atmosphere.

You tried to push Fred toward the snowball fight that was unfolding between his siblings, but he yanked you back to him and pressed you against the side of the house, hidden beneath the shadows of the night. The faint light of the moon highlighted his twisted features of hunger.

“Fred, they’ve called us five times now, I reckon we’ve got to get back out there, haven’t we? Besides, poor George is getting absolutely pummeled by your sister,” a laugh escaped you as you watched another snowball smack George right across the head. He groaned in frustration and shoved Ron into a nearby snowbank for laughing at him.

“Don’t care, that game’s for children anyway,” Fred told you. You could see his breath in the air and it was becoming increasingly difficult to not pull him into the nearby garden shed.

You snorted. “Says the boy who suggested it in the first place.”

“It was only so I could get you alone out here, actually.”

Fred revelled in the sneakiness of your actions. His parents were just inside, his siblings a few mere feet away, and yet he was about two bloody seconds away from pulling your jacket right off --

“Freddie!”

He hummed against your lips and listened intently for that moan he knew all too well, the one that sent him into a dizzying spiral each and every time he heard it. “Can’t help it, love,” he cooed as you pushed playfully against his chest. He secretly loved it, you fighting your own overwhelming instincts and trying to shove him away from you, despite yourself, because he knew how much you wanted it too. Your eyes glistened with obvious yearning.

Against your better judgement, you decided to indulge your own hunger and yanked him closer by the collar of his jacket. “What’s the matter, Freddie? Didn’t get enough last night?”

A slight sigh escaped him and he was immediately transported to your final evening in the castle before returning home for the Christmas holidays. The copious amounts of firewhisky had earned him a night full of heated kisses and a morning filled with a throbbing headache. But here he was, just hours later, and it was nothing that the feeling of your lips on his couldn’t cure. Though, as his mouth moved against yours, he began to feel drunk all over again.

He trailed his hands across your hip bones and underneath your shirt a bit, his fingertips grazing your exposed skin. It’s as though every part of him that touched you was setting you on fire. “No, darling, I definitely did not get enough.”

“Okay, then let me make you a promise.”

You piqued his interest. Fred pulled away but kept close as he waited for your proposition. He couldn’t help but notice the sparkle of the snowflakes that had fallen onto your eyelashes, and how the tip of your nose and cheeks were so rosy from the cold weather. If he didn’t get you alone, and really alone, quick enough, he felt like he was going to spontaneously combust.

“If you behave, and help me obliterate Ron for getting me square in the gut with a snowball, then maybe we can pick up where we left off last night sometime later.”

He wiggled his eyebrows at you as he raked his teeth through his bottom lip, eager for later to be right bloody now.

He nearly growled before pushing you back up against the side of the house, his mouth eagerly finding yours again, before a rogue snowball (definitely charmed by one of his siblings) smacked him right in the side of the head. He heard Ron, George, and Ginny fall into a fit of raucous laughter before running out of sight yet again.

He rolled his eyes and turned back toward you, nearly melting at the sight of your sparkly eyes and rosy cheeks. You sniffled a bit -- the cold always did make your nose a little sniffly -- and you pulled gently on the collar of his jacket. He felt heat rise up in his legs, into his stomach and his arms, and finally felt his face flush a crimson red, all because of how absolutely bloody adorable you looked into your little pompom hat and scarf that was far too large it looked like it was swallowing you whole. And yet, you were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life.

“What?” you asked, raking your bottom lip through your teeth at the sight of him going googly-eyed.

“Nothing,” he said quietly before tightening his grip around your waist and resting comfortably against you, his breathing finding synchronization with yours. “You know mum’s been absolutely dying to have you here, and for Christmas, no less.. I reckon she’ll even make you a sweater.”

You arched an eyebrow in surprise. “Oh really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Well that’s kind of her,” you replied, the rosy colour of your lips resembling that of your cheeks, and Fred found himself internally whining and desperately trying to suppress his feelings of eager want down into the depths of his soul. Later. You were making it bloody difficult though, especially when you said, “I’d love my own sweater knitted by your mum. But there’s nothing quite like wearing yours.”

It sent his heart soaring. He honestly felt himself dropping to his knees with weakness, and he swore to himself that if he had a ring, he’d ask you to be his wife right then and there -- no script, no plan, just unwavering love. He leaned himself further against you to hold himself upright and you giggled teasingly at the weight of him on top of you.

He knew how much you loved wearing his sweater. Or any of his clothing, really, but especially the cozy sweater. You wore it more than he did, actually, but he didn’t mind. Looked way better on you than it did him, didn’t it? He loved how the sleeves were so long it went past your hands, how the oversized material hung loosely over your body, but in that adorable type of way he loved to see each and every time you two would wake up from a nap in the school dormitories. But if there was one thing he loved more than seeing you in it, it was taking it off of you.

Bloody hell, mate, pull it together.

He bit down on his lip and jokingly pulled your hat further down your head so it was almost covering your eyebrows, and you scrunched your nose and giggled, once again making the butterflies in his stomach dance around in delight. “I’m really happy you’re here.”

You batted your eyelashes at him, “Freddie boy, how can you go from being so incredibly alluring to so sweet and sincere in mere seconds?”

“Dunno,” he replied, ignoring the calls from his siblings again, “but I reckon it’s one of the reasons you fell in love with me, right?”

He meant it as a joke, as he did mostly everything. He expected you to laugh, or to playfully punch him in the gut, but was pleasantly surprised when all you did was blink as the gentlest of smiles tug at your lips. “Of course it is.”

Just then, in the quiet stillness of the night, you both heard the church bells in the village begin to ring, signaling midnight and the official start of the holiday.

Cheers from the front yard erupted, and by the look in your eye, Fred could tell that you figured you should both get back out there and celebrate with the rest of them. He agreed, but he forced just a few more seconds, testing fate or destiny or whatever it was, and as you began to walk out toward them, he gently spun you around and caught your lips with his. There was nothing hungry or wild about it; it was, if anything, one of the purest exchanges you’d both ever shared.

When you both pulled away, you hovered close to one another, your breath visible in the cold winter air, and Fred made sure to keep his hands wrapped around your neck and entangled in the strands of your hair. He caressed your cheek with his thumb, gently, tenderly. His voice was so soft, so quiet, his words gently landed in your ears like the snowflakes soundlessly melting into the ground. “I love you, beautiful. Happy Christmas.”

“Happy Christmas, Freddie.”

#fred weasley #george weasley #fred and george weasley #weasley twins #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley reader insert #fred weasley fanfic #fred weasley fanfiction #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley x hufflepuff!reader #weasley twins fanfic #weasley twins fanfiction #weasley twins imagine #weasley twins imagines #fred weasley imagines #christmas collab whaddup #also i too would like to push ron into a bank of snow but only bc i love him so much

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hopeamarsu · 3 years ago

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Of potions and myths

This is for the lovely @clydesducktape and her CDT celebration challenge. Congratulations on your milestone my darling! ❤️

I thought I was just going to write a small blurb, but it got out of hand a little, oops. I also decided to try my hand in something else entirely, namely a whole new character. I hope it’s not rubbish.

My picks: Mythical creature - Love Potion - Blind Date

Will Miller x f!reader (eventually if I can manage a chapter two of this)

Word count 2,1k

Warnings: Predatory behaviour, dangers of date rape drugs and drugging (nothing happens, don’t worry!), alcohol, magic, mythical creatures are known, strong tension. Please let me know if I missed anything!

Chapter 2

“I wouldn’t drink that if I were you,” A deep voice rumbles behind you just as you straighten your body to get back to your drink and continue your date. Your eyes widen, flitting between your drink still on its coaster, your date who looks like he’s about to sweat through his button-up and the stranger standing to your left, one huge hand hooked around his belt buckle and the other twisted outward a little, displaying his intricate tattoos.

He looks calm on the outside, posture all relaxed as he holds your gaze for a moment before turning his eyes to your date and you can practically see them turn into ice and stone. You follow his gaze and take in your date, how the collar of his shirt looks a tad too tight and the perspiration gathering at his hairline. He’s very nervous for some reason, you think but remain silent, waiting for more information.

The blond stranger nods towards your drink, sitting all innocent at the bar top, water pooling around it. “Saw him drop something in your drink as you were turned away.” Despite his calmness, the voice is laced with venom, the ice in his eyes burning as he regards your date with disdain. With slow, deliberate movement, he picks up your drink and gives it a small whiff.

“Love potion.” Two words that turn your world upside down.

It had been a blind date, set up by your co-worker who had assured you that their friend was good and kind and cute, when you first hesitated accepting the invitation. And it had been an okay date so far, if a little lacklustre in conversation. He’d talked more about himself and his work than engaging you in conversation during your two-hour in the bar together. You’d already given up on the idea of a second date, but tried to humor yourself and him by not cutting the date short even if only to please your co-worker, trying to at least make it work.

But to hear he’d tried to lace your drink with love potion? Oh hell no.

“Give me the drink,” You order in a low voice, holding out your hand for it. The blond man agrees, passing the drink to you and you bring it to your own nose, picking up the notes under the alcohol. Once you are certain the stranger is indeed right and you know exactly what the potion was supposed to do to you, you turn your body to look at your date fully.

In a flash of a movement you tip the drink upside down and pour it down his crotch, ice and all. When he yelps and jumps up cursing, trying to salvage the light chinos, you stand up as well and push the empty glass into his chest, growling in his ear.

“You absolute fucker! Next time when you try to use a potion to make someone fall into bed with you, do it with someone who doesn’t study potions for a living. Or better yet, don’t do it at all.”

With another push at the date, you step around him, not sparing him a second glance. Your mind is screaming for you to run, hide and maybe get shitfaced at home to avoid the humiliating feeling already creeping up your spine and you rush away out the door.

The cold air hits you full force and you need to lean back towards the brick wall, trying to gather your shields and thoughts as your mind wanders into unsavoury grounds. Had it not been for the stranger looking out for you... Like called upon, the blond man steps into your eyesight, arms loose and his posture unthreatening even when he fills the air around him with restrained power.

“Are you alright?”

His deep rumble feels like balm against your bleeding wounds and you lift off the wall to fully look at him again. He is taller than you, his blond hair cropped short and his full beard trimmed close to his skin but showing how full it is nevertheless. His eyes search for signs in yours and you feel your mental shield drop a bit as you drown in his blue orbs. Your hand shakes by your side when you let out a soft sigh.

“I’ll be soon. Thank you, for what you did. I didn’t even notice.”

“He was sneaky, using the moment you checked for your phone. I’m glad I caught it, it was very fast.”

“The phone!” You exclaim and dig hastily through your pockets to find the object in question. You turn the screen to him, showing the blank email notification still up on the phone. “The bastard had this all planned. I can’t believe it.” You shake your head in disgust, another wave of cold fear running inside your veins.

“Do you wish to report him?”

“I don’t know…”

“Unauthorized use of a Class B potion is a felony,” He points out casually and you have to nod at his words. It’s true and given that you could also smell the undertone of aphrodisiac potion in the drink as well tells you the man was either playing with fire combining these two potions together or had done it before and gotten away with it and he should be brought in for his offenses.

“If only I hadn’t poured it down his pants. Now there’s only my word against his and who will believe a researcher over… whatever hell he is. I don’t even know if he is mundane or someone who practices the arts.” You feel dejected and upset at yourself. Even after all these years mingling with the supernatural you still don’t know all the clues you need to pick up upon to pinpoint someone.

“Don’t worry, it’ll all turn alright. You have me as a witness, I have a pretty good idea on what he practices,” The stranger tells you, offering you a wry look. He holds out his hand and introduces himself as Captain William Miller, part of the Delta Force and you suck in a surprised breath. Delta is known all around as the elite of the elite, almost exclusively recruiting non-mundanes and mythicals into their ranks and if he’s made Captain within them, he must be at the top of the chain.

“You’d do that for me?” You manage to ask after introducing yourself. William, Will as he asks you to call him, give you a reassuring nod and you find yourself relaxing a little more. He steps closer and suddenly you feel tendrils of something wrap softly around you, offering you reassurance and protection. You find yourself leaning into the sensation, lowering your shields even further to enjoy them snake up your arms in soothing motions.

Your eyes flip up to his and as they lock into place, you swear you see something red flicker in them for a second before the dark ocean-blue hue hides it. Almost like the opposite sides of a magnet, you are pulled closer to one another until your back is pressed against the wall again and he stands right in front of you.

The tendrils are followed by his hand ghosting up near your bare arm as he cages you into the wall, one hand up over your head. “I don’t know what it is, but… Something draws me into you,” Will murmurs as his lips nearly graze your forehead. “I feel it too,” You answer him, your eyes falling shut as the sensation on your skin turns from soothing to electrifying. Something powerful hums between your bodies, just waiting to claim its prize.

He doesn’t touch you and you don’t touch him, both of you knowing unconsciously that the second you do, all bets are off. Your body calls to him and he is clearly having a tough time not answering the song. You can see how he struggles to keep his composure, his eyes flickering to your lips and your neck and back to your eyes. One of his hands curls into a fist as he breathes your scent in, his nostrils flaring at the combination of your natural musk and the bar you’ve left behind.

You struggle against the pull too, trying to gather your shields again but it’s so hard when you want to drop them completely for him. You desperately want him to swoop down and just kiss you, erase everything and anything that is not him. It makes your head spin, the intensity of it all and you are glad of the wall offering you support and grounding you so you won’t fly away.

“Allow me to take you home and come pick you up tomorrow? We’ll go and report the creep first thing but now I need to know you are safe. I need to keep you safe,” His voice grows husky, tender and possessive and you shiver under his whispered words.

“Please,” you mumble, unable to deny his plea. With great effort Will pushes himself off you and steps away a little, your head clearing as the distance grows between both of you. It seems to have a similar effect on him as the hue in his eyes lightens. You can still feel his presence tingling in the base of your skull and you are already itching to explore your books to find more about this unexpected and intensive connection you seem to share with the handsome Captain.

He gestures towards his car and you walk side by side to it. As the engine roars into action, you can feel the air get thicker as you are once more in close proximity. You want to open the seat belt and touch him, sink your fingers into his hair and feel the beard scratch along your chin and neck. One look at his white knuckles gripping the steering wheel tells you that you are not alone in your thoughts and it makes heat flare up inside you.

By some miracle, or his ironclad will, he gets you home, following your quiet instructions to a tee. As you step to the curb, you feel the intensity simmer down again and file it away for later research. You turn to the open window after closing the door and offer your thanks for the ride and for catching the would-be predator. He has one hand still on the wheel anchoring himself in place, and just as you are about to turn around and walk to the front door, he speaks out your name.

“After you’ve filed the report, can I, uh, can I take you out for a coffee?” Will sounds almost bashful as he speaks. Is he afraid you’ll deny him now that your mind is a bit clearer? You know he felt the magnitude of whatever it was surrounding your bodies earlier too. You can clearly see the remnants of it on his body pulled so tight, the muscles tense and poised to pounce under his Henley. You chuckle softly before offering an affirmative.

“I would love that.”

“Good! Great. Wonderful.” Will coughs to hide his eagerness. “I’ll pick you up in the morning then?” Now it’s your turn to nod, before bidding him good night. You feel his eyes tracking your every move as you walk away from the car, every cell in your body rebelling against the movement of your legs. It takes all of your concentration not to rush back but to finally open the door and step inside.

The lock clicks into place and you sigh as you rest your forehead against the wood, hoping you’d invited him in. But for now, this is for the best, you remind yourself. You have some research to do. You need to get to the bottom of this connection before anything rash can happen. No matter how much you wish for it to.

Hours later you step into your bedroom and a soundless whisper calls to you from the window. You walk next to it and push the curtain to the side a little. Will’s car is still parked on the same spot where he left you and even if you can’t see his face, you see his figure in the front seat, reclining a little as he’s gotten comfortable.

He’s going to be there all night, you realize suddenly. It should feel creepy, but it only fills you with warmth. He’s going to keep you safe, just like he said.

#william miller #william ironhead miller #will miller #will miller x f!reader #tw: date rape drugs #tw: drugging #cw: alcohol #will miller fanfiction #triple frontier fanfiction #charlie hunnam #charlie hunnam characters #my w #cdt celebration challenge

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keilemlucent · 4 years ago

Text

daddy keigo: christmas special

mostly sfw, suggestive content

warnings: daddy kink, christmas, gift-giving, keigo getting a wittle weapy, uwu

...

hello! better late than never, here’s my little christmas drabble for the day. enjoy loves!!!!

...

“Daddy, come on, I gotta get up!”

You hoped Keigo would be unsuspecting, as it was quite early in the morning for you to be hauling yourself from bed. How hard would it be to convince your mostly-asleep partner that you just needed to piss-- obviously, there wasn’t anything else going on.

Keigo grumbled, wings fanned out and rippling in his sleep as he reluctantly let you go from his arms.

“Get back here soon,” Keigo said into the pillows, eyes still shut and body still slack. “Miss ya’, little bird.”

Your heart squeezed with glee as you gave him a final kiss before beginning your mission.

...

Keigo had been spoiling you. Gifts, treats, and presents for the past month as Christmas loomed. Despite all of the many treasures he purchased for you on the spot, a large pile of well-wrapped gifts had been appearing under your tree as the snowy month has gone on. Whenever you tried to worry about it, insist to Keigo that, “I know you’re my daddy, b-but isn’t this a lot--?”.

He was always quick to quiet you, quick to hush you with greedy hands and knowing words, “You’re daddy’s good little bird, and daddy knows best.”

He did know best, you trusted him and knew that he did, but that didn’t mean you didn’t have your own plans for the holidays up your sleeve. The compulsion to make this holiday a particularly special one ran strong, as this was your first holiday together and able to celebrate it properly.

You flicked on the bathroom light and shut the door from the outside, hopefully fooling Keigo in his sleepy-state. Slipping into the guest room, your dropped onto your tummy, fishing with open hands under the bed. One by one, you pulled out wrapped gifts, one you’d collected and hid over the past several months, well and secretive.

Keigo was kind enough to help you have an existence that didn’t require a job, not now at least. You’d dropped your full-time position sometime ago, after thorough discussion and a lot of internal turmoil. Keigo was more than happy to provide, feathers ruffling at even the opportunity to truly provide for you in such a way. Being home more meant Keigo could stop by at nearly anytime in his tumultuous schedule for a bit of welcomed and easily-given affection.

It also gave you time to spirit away during the day and gather presents and supplies for the holidays.

You had an allowance to spend, one that you’d greedily gone all-out with in the weeks prior. There were more than enough enchanting markets and places to wander and gather from.

...

Pulling out the last gift, you carefully, quietly, began padding to the living room and positioning your new parcels under the tree. They joined the stacks already there, fineries and kindnesses Keigo had amassed.

He deserved his own, of course.

You wondered how he did it. Keigo was one of the nations best heroes, who had the world on his shoulders most hours of the day, yet he still managed to make time for you, have energy for his little bird and all of your whims, so often mutually held.

You wanted to spoil Keigo as well.

He deserved it and you decided to provide if you could.

Once you arranged everything as you liked, you clicked the lights on and finished your own preparations. Slipping into a soft two-piece set (coordinating with one for Keigo, wrapped under the tree) and knit stockings that you settled at your mid-thighs, you started slipped away once more to make coffee.

Notably, it was early for you to be awake, especially after such a... long night before. Once or twice while you were on your knees arranging the gifts, you nearly gasped at your residual aches and pains. But, it was all worth it, even with your soreness and sleepy eyes.

It caught up with you as you yawned in the kitchen, patiently waiting for the gurgling coffee machine to finish brewing.

You gaze went wide as arms looped around your waist, clasping between your ribs.

“Thought ya’ said you were coming back to bed,” Keigo whined against your neck. “Not making coffee. It’s too early, we need more sleep.”

You let a smile play on your lips, one he wouldn’t be able to see.

“But I wanna open presents,” you whined, facing him with a spin and nuzzling your nose into his. “... Please?”

Keigo rose to his full height, eyebrows raised and looking as stunning as ever. Despite the bedhead and T that littered his shoulders the neck, he was still as effortlessly gorgeous as always.

He gave you a grin, golden and glowing and all for you, “Greedy, and this early too?”

You pushed out your bottom lip, giving him a sweet frown, “It’s Christmas, Kei’, please?”

Keigo dropped a quick and sharp slap to your outer thigh, one that had you falling against him with a yelp.

“Only because you’re so cute.”

He has no idea.

...

And Keigo didn’t.

You dragged him by the wrist to the living room, decorated and fragrant with the lingering smell of evergreen and cedar candles. He slowed as the tree, something not-too grand but decorated with a hodgepodge of shared and crafted ornaments, came into view.

Reverently, you watched his expression shift. He was most honest through his wings.

His hand squeezed your own, thumb rubbing yours as his wings fluttered a few times behind him, unbridled and unhindered in your presence (no pun intended.)

His gaze was glued to the extra stacks of gifts, done up with your own glimmering wrapping paper and handmade bows, “... What?”

You couldn’t contain yourself any longer.

You tugged him to the tree, dragging him down to the soft fabric at its base. Keigo was still somewhat frozen, almost rigid in your grip. Swallowing down any potential anxieties, your shifted so your knees touched, parallel.

“I am a little greedy, but I mostly wanted to surprise you,” You beamed, grabbing one of the most flimsy gift from the top of the stack. “You should open to this one first.”

Keigo’s gaze was still wide and owlish as he accepted the parcel from you, “... Why?”

“Look and see, daddy. I think you’ll like it.”

...

And fuck, did he.

It was a simple set, just a soft long-sleeve and bottoms, lightly patterned with faint stars and moons. Still, Keigo noticed immediately as his gaze flickered from the fabric stretching over your thighs and the bundle he held in his hands.

“They... match?” Keigo wondered aloud, unable to stop the way his jaw fell open.

You beamed even brighter, if that was possible, “They do! So we can match today, and that’s just one of the things I got you!”

And Keigo got it. That entire fucking mountain of presents that rivaled the one he’d amassed for you belonged to him.

He must’ve been staring at his, mouth still agape, for sometime.

Your wobbling voice pulled him from his stupor, “... Is t-this okay, daddy?”

Keigo perked up, breath catching as you pawed at your face, eyes shining with little tears, “I wanted to surprise you, but I-I understand, t-this is a l-lot--”

“Hush,” Keigo quieted you, trying to keep his voice firm and authoritative enough while his wings flexed and trembled behind him. He gave his own shaking breath, tsking under his breath, “My little birds been planning and hiding such a big, precious secret from me? And got away with it? I’m impressed.”

You sniffled, tears already drying, “I was r-really sneaky. You had no idea.”

He didn’t. Keigo had hardly noticed any sneaking around, and surely what he had picked up on, he didn’t connect to the sweet pile of gifts you acquired for him and the matching fucking pajamas--

His breath caught in his throat, eyes welling with his own tears, rare and precious.

You wiped a bit of wetness off his cheek with a thumb, giving him a little, ever-attentive smile, “Do you want to change into those? Then we can open the rest?”

Keigo tugged you forward, into his lap, thighs over his own to tuck you cheek into the crook of his neck, “I’d like that a lot, little bird.”

(You took care of him, as much as he took care of you, even if it was more implicit.)

And he hoisted you over one shoulder, starry loungewear over the other, carrying of with a flourish of high giggles and excitement for the day.

#salem writes #hawks x reader #hawks #drabble #tw daddy kink #enjoy uwu #this is just a little treat for now but #i want keigo to cry on christmas

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thewritewolf · 5 years ago

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Running to Catch An Airplane Trope

Adrien has lost just about everything now that his father has been unmasked as Hawkmoth. But he isn't about to lose her too.

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Adrien watched as Nino walked up to the podium and took his diploma, to general applause and the loud cheers of his family.

His hand tightened around his own diploma. There hadn’t been much of either when Adrien walked up, the first name called.

Barely any applause. Mostly just whispers. Some worried. Some… accusing. He supposed he couldn’t blame them, after everything that had happened still so fresh in the mind of the public.

There weren’t any loud cheers from his family. Mostly because there wasn’t much of one left anyway. He’d known for years that his father would never attend something as plebeian as a high school graduation, but…

Adrien hadn’t thought it would be like this. He’d had no clue at all about any of it.

It had taken all five of them - Ladybug, Chat Noir, Carapace, Rena Rouge, even Queen Bee - but they’d finally done it. Hawkmoth and Mayura, unmasked for all the world to see. No going back, no sneaky tricks to get away from it.

The only cost? Adrien’s family. His father and Nathalie, jailed. His mother, gone for a second time. His home, leveled in the pitched battle that followed. All his life except for his heartbeat is what it took to bring Hawkmoth to justice.

His teammates still didn’t know why he’d left so quickly afterwards, how he’d immediately detransformed and broken down. For most of them, they would never know. After all, no need for the secondary heroes now that the terrible Hawkmoth had been unmasked. Paris would rest easy under Ladybug and Chat Noir’s watch.

There is more clapping and Adrien mechanically joins in, only to be startled when everyone begins standing up around him. The ceremony is over, just like his days of childhood. His classmates are chatting excitedly amongst each other as they head across the street. It takes him a moment to gather the strength to stand up, but when he does, he is surrounded by his real friends.

Nino. Alya. And…

“How are you feeling?” Marinette asked softly.

This was the worst part. It was their graduation! Everyone should be happy and celebrating and here he was, dragging down the mood with his own misery. Just like always. It wasn’t fair to them, not in the least. Swallowing his emotions, he offered a strained smile.

“I’m doing better,” he lied.

Marinette didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t say anything. Nino threw his arm around Adrien’s shoulder and they all followed after the rest of their class. For a moment, the prospect of having Dupain-Cheng pastries was almost enough to make Adrien forget it all. It was a good choice of venue for them - what better place to end their time together than the site of so many of their happiest memories?

Adrien was just about to sink his teeth into a passion fruit macaron when he started listening into what his former classmates were saying.

“-Going to school for botany, so I can open my own flower shop!” Rose said, giving Juleka a hug out of excitement.

Adrien shoved the macaron in his mouth and walked toward another part of the shop to find another. There, he overheard what Alix was saying.

“Yeah I got a plan to skate with the best in my new university. Gonna try to keep the family tradition of historians alive since clearly big bro ain’t up to it with all his conspiracy stuff. But that doesn't mean I gotta be a stick in the mud about it.”

Eventually, Adrien found a place in a corner, a good ways away from the rest of his friends. Some of them cast glances his way, but no one made a move to talk to him. What could they say anyway? ‘Sorry your dad was the magic terrorist that turned every single one of us into super villains at one point or another?’

And he certainly wasn’t about to approach them either. Not if they were going to be talking about the future. They all sounded so hopeful and excited, he didn’t want to bring them down with his uncertainty.

Having his entire life charted out in meticulous, color-coded detail, he wasn’t very confident in his own planning abilities. Even in his superhero career he was more often than not following someone else’s plan. What was he going to do with his life now, when even his superheroics weren’t necessary?

The party was still going on when Adrien sneaked out. He was sure nobody would miss him from there. No doubt the mood might even lighten once he was gone. Nino and Marinette would at least have a better time now that he wasn’t bringing everything down.

The only good thing he could say about his father now was that at least he’d actually paid Adrien for his modeling. Even if Adrien only recently got access to that bank account, it meant that he could afford a house to rent now that his childhood home was cinders.

Turning the lights on as he entered, he shuffled over to the television and hesitated. He used to like turning it on to have some background noise, but it was hard to escape the news about his family these days. Backing away from the TV, he opted instead to turn on a music playlist.

Adrien collapsed onto the couch, the weight of his loneliness bearing down on him now more than ever. Maybe he could have handled everything else, but on top of all of it, the defeat of Hawkmoth meant that Ladybug had basically gone off the grid. No akuma battles, no late night patrols.

His mind wandered - Where was Ladybug? What she was doing?

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

Long after the party had died down, Marinette went up to her room and pulled out a letter that she had hidden away months ago. It almost felt like another lifetime when she had sent out that application. She had sent it not because she had intended to go but because it was something she was expected to do.

Someone like her, with her hopes and dreams worn on her sleeve since she was twelve, didn’t just ‘forget’ to send out her university applications. It would’ve looked suspicious. So she sent the letters, knowing in her heart that she would never be able to leave Paris because walking away from it would mean leaving it defenseless.

But now the danger was gone. She didn’t need to protect her beloved city anymore.

Holding the acceptance letter to a semester long fashion internship in Milan, her heart pounded in excitement. After so long, she could finally start living her life again.

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

There weren’t a lot of people left in Adrien’s life.

He’d never been super close to most of his classmates, so that wasn’t a huge loss to him. But the retiring of most of the super hero team, plus Nino, Alya, and Marinette being super busy these days did cut deep.

But, as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop as Chat Noir, he reflected that at least he had Ladybug. Getting a call from her out of the blue was surprising, but he jumped at the chance to see her again after the maddening quiet of the last couple months.

A part of him was worried, however. Why did she want to see him? Ladybug didn’t do anything without good reason. And what good reasons were there left for them in a post-Hawkmoth world? Did she want his miraculous…? His hand brushed over his ring. No, she would never. She knew how much being Chat Noir meant to him. Besides, if she wanted to disband all of them, she would’ve taken his ring along with the other miraculous.

Heart pounding for more reasons than one, Chat Noir landed on their favorite meeting spot in one of the towers of Notre Dame. As he spots her iconic red and black outfit, he pushes aside his worries. Everything else aside, Ladybug was here - that alone was a huge load of his shoulders.

She turns around at the sound of his boots landing on the ground.

“Just the cat I was waiting on,” she said with a smile.

“I hope I didn’t keep such a beautiful woman waiting for long,” Chat replied, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to it. “What’s up, bugaboo?”

“I’ll get right to the point, chaton.” Ladybug took a deep breath. “I’m going to be going away for a few months. I got an internship in Milan. I’ll be leaving next week.”

His heart dropped and he took both of her hands in his. Eyes locked onto their interlocked hands, he murmured, “Lovebug, I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it that long…”

She freed one hand to cup his chin, pushing it up until they were looking eye to eye. There was a soft but sad smile on her face.

“I know its a whole new world for us, and I’m sure its been rough for you. So I’ll make you a promise-”

“A purromise?” He punned half-heartedly.

“...sure, a purromise,” she replied. “The first time I see you after I get back, chaton, we'll blow this whole thing wide open.”

He frowned. She couldn’t mean…?

“We'll reveal our identities, I swear." To prove her sincerity, she held out her pinky.

“But… why can’t we do that now?”

"To give you something to look forward to, of course," she said with a smile. “So what do you say?”

Staring at her pinky for a long time, he eventually grabbed it with his own pinky. The promise had been made.

They chatted for a little while after that, but eventually Ladybug had to leave. People would notice she was missing if she was gone for too long.

Chat watched her leave, turning into a dot on the horizon. After all, who was going to notice, even if he was out for an hour more?

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

The days run by, lost in a blur of video games and books and other distractions that kept him in his room. There was no Nathalie to force him into his usual activities. No father to breathe down his neck. Just him slowly losing track of time as the days ticked past, unnoticed by Adrien. He didn’t even realize it was the day that Ladybug had said she was going to be leaving for Milan until his phone lit up for the first time in days.

It was Nino, of course. He was practically the only one calling him these days, except for the group chats that he was in. And even then, the last few calls had been a bit of a blur, running on autopilot like he was.

Adrien answers the phone. “Hey, bro, what’s up?”

“More like - what’s out? And the answer is me. I’m outside. Open the door, my bro.”

Nino hung up, leaving Adrien to blink in the darkness of his living room, illuminated only by the light of his paused game. Standing up, he rushed over to the door and opened it a crack. Sure enough, Nino was standing there.

“‘Sup dude?” He pushed open the door, letting the sunlight filter into Adrien’s house for the first time in days. Nino scrunched up his eyebrows in concern. “T-shirt and sweatpants this late in the day, my dude? You feelin’ alright?”

“Same as usual, I guess,” Adrien said with a shrug. “What’s the occasion?”

Nino let himself in and pulled open Adrien’s curtains. “Don’t really need one to hang with my best bro, do I?” He saw Adrien’s face. “Okay, okay, so I needed some time outta the house. Can you blame me? With everything going down with Marinette, I could use some space away from that bummer fest to take my mind off things.”

“Things going down with Marinette?” Adrien asked. Did something happen?

“Yeah man, Alya was a wreck last night. We helped Marinette pack up and honestly, watching those two say goodbye just about made me tear up." Nino tugged at his cap, getting ragged from the years.

Adrien takes a moment to shake off the gray stupor that's been hanging over him for months, that had been doubled because of Ladybug’s absence.

“Uh... what? Is Marinette going somewhere?” That is someone he should make more effort to keep in touch with, if he's being honest with himself. Maybe once she comes back from her vacation or whatever, they can get coffee.

"Dude, you never listen to anything I say anymore,” Nino said, clicking his tongue and rolling his eyes disapprovingly. “I know it's tough with your dad and all, dude, but you've got to get out of your own head. Marinette's leaving."

"What? Leaving? Like, leaving leaving?"

"Might as well be, dude. She's getting on a plane this afternoon and not coming back for 6 months." Adrien got stuck by deja vu. Something about that time frame sounds familiar... "She wanted me to tell you she'll miss you while she's gone."

"I... can't believe I didn't say goodbye. Where is she going? Why is she going?" He’s more alert than he has been for months. He took a seat next to Nino, leaning forward a little as he hung on Nino’s words.

"A sweet fashion internship dude. Way over in Milan."

And it clicks. Internship. Milan. The whole semester. There’s no way… it can’t be a coincidence.

If Adrien is wrong, he doesn't lose anything. He'll see his lady and his friend when they both return. But if he's right - and he's got to be right! - then she's gone. She's gone and he won't get to say goodbye, to tell her that he loves her, that he's always loved her.

Nino's still chatting away in the background, "...and to be honest, I'm surprised she didn't come see you before she left. Alya said she wanted to clear the air about that massive crush she had on you in high school-"

"I'm sorry WHAT?" Adrien tries and fails to keep his voice level.

Nino raises his eyebrows. "Dude, I thought you knew by now.” He shakes his head. “Everybody knew."

That raises far too many questions for Adrien’s liking, but he is too focused to be sidetracked now. He leans into Nino’s space, clarity in his eyes for the first time in a long time, one question on his mind.

"When does her plane leave?"

"What? Like in, an hour or so, dude.” Nino’s eyes widened as he realizes what Adrien might be planning. “But there's no way-"

"-igottagoniceseeingyouninobye!"

Adrien throws on a pair of converse sneakers, tongues sticking out in his haste out the door, untied laces flying. Nino is shouting something behind him, but Adrien doesn’t have the time to listen. Once he was out of his friend’s line of sight, he transformed and ran. He runs faster than he ever had in his entire life, his rooftop blurring under his feet as they carried him across the city.

He can't believe it took all this for him to figure it out. At this point, he doesn't care that she might reject him. The only thing that matters is that he has to know for sure. Nothing was more important to him in this moment than to look in those bluebell eyes and tell her he's figured it out. Figured her out.

He can't have her disappear for six months and forget about him. About what they could be.

Getting to the airport took longer than expected. Getting across the whole of Paris wasn’t easy, but he did it. Even if he had to stop way outside his destination to detransform. Nothing was about to stop him. Not even his own body, wheezing and protesting the sudden activity after a summer of slacking could slow him down. There was something more powerful than muscle and sinew at work here.

The airport was busy and Adrien froze at the front door, catching more than a few odd looks from people. He didn’t have any time to spare for them, however. His eyes, his heart, were too busy frantically searching the crowd for just the barest sign of her. Despair that he was too late had begun to lace its tendrils around his heart when the crowd parted for a split second.

He saw her.

Not just Marinette, in a cute floral summer dress, hair tied back and lugging her bags behind her.

No. In that half of a moment, he saw Ladybug and Marinette as one. The strength behind her eyes, the determined squaring of her shoulders even though he knew she was scared. If he had any doubts before, they were gone like mist before the sun. He was only barely aware of himself bolting towards her, parting the crowd in front of him to a tune of a host of disgruntled French travelers.

His hand snags her wrist just before she reaches the security checkpoint. She turns, part of surprise, part out of curiosity. Her eyes widen when she sees him, but he doesn’t have the chance to savor it. He’s already pulled her into a hug, pouring all the love he’s bottled up inside himself into it.

Hand cradling her head, his mouth close to her ear, he can barely manage to pant out a few words, the exhaustion of pressing himself so hard so fast finally catching up with him.

"M'lady.... princess....found you..."

In a voice so quiet only his senses, made keen by years of using the black cat miraculous, can make out, she whispered, “...Chaton?”

He grins, gasping, and nods. Her eyes tear up and she hugs him back twice as hard. "How did you know?"

"Internship in Milan. Had to say goodbye. Had to tell you...Mari, I love you."

She's stunned for a moment, and pulls back to look him in the face. Matching her gaze, he feels himself falling inescapably into those bright blue eyes. He never thought he could fall even more in love, but today seemed to be the day for revelations. The moment broke only when she rolled forward on her tiptoes, placed her arms around his neck for leverage, and pressed her lips to his.

Time began again when a booming voice called out a flight number overhead. Marinette, kiss-drunk, pulled back and bit her lip, making Adrien’s heart do a backflip.

“That’s mine.” She pouts, then brightens and smirks, "You know, I hear Milan is lovely this time of year. You should come visit me sometime, Mr. Moneybags."

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

Two months later

Adrien rose with the sun, one of the few habits from his teenage years he’d never managed to shake off. Marinette was a few rooms over, taking the guest bedroom of his Italian villa while they lived in Milan. He started to make breakfast.

It wasn’t a miraculous cure - their relationship, her being here with him. His life was still in shambles. There were moments where he couldn’t be strong. He still felt lost most of the time.

But she was a constant. He could build a life around her - together. She was there when he needed to be weak. And her steady determination that he’d find his way was more often than not enough to ground him.

He put his breakfast on a plate and left Marinette’s on the kitchen counter, knowing the smell would do more to coax her out of bed than any amount of knocking or reminders. In the meantime, he pulled out his laptop to get a head start on his online class work for the day. It was just general requirements, but it gave him time to test the waters, see what he liked and what he didn’t.

No matter what, though, he knew she was going to be there every step of the way, cheering him on just like he knew he would be right there for her. A perfect team, just like they’d always been.

Yesterday was rough. Today would be better. And tomorrow? Adrien smiled as he heard Marinette's morning grumblings down the hall. Tomorrow shone bright with possibilities for both of them.

#Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrienette #Chat Noir #Ladybug #Ladynoir #Nino Lahiffe #ml fanfiction #my writing #Running To Catch An Airplane Trope

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one-piece-but-smitten · 3 years ago

Text

Midnight Baking Lesson

Sanji × Reader

Tags/TWs: Minor injury mention

~~~~~~~

It all started with the wrong decision on how to hold the knife. Your index finger had been perched atop the back of the blade as you roughly sliced the vanilla bean pods. You didn't know why, but it was somewhat impossible to get under control. You had tried to reposition the bean pod, and that was when your finger and the knife slipped.

You quietly nursed your cut finger with a damp washcloth, glaring at the herb in frustration. It was the middle of the night, you couldn't risk waking up your friends, especially Sanji. He was the one you were trying to make this for, after all.

A month ago, he had mentioned his birthday, and despite offers from the crew of having a party, he declined for some reason. It had only been about a year since you had been traveling with the band of wild pirates, but you had gotten to know them all pretty well, and you knew Sanji wouldn't pass up a celebration. You looked at the clock through the dim lighting of the moon, frowning. It was about 12:14 A.M., Sanji would be awake by sunrise. You had time, but if you kept slipping up like this that wouldn't count for much. You sighed, picking up a small bandage and tying it around your finger before going back to the cutting board. Initially, you had planned to make him a pie, but you thought it would just be easier to make him a little cake instead. The rough handling of the bean pods had made little noise, but it was enough to stir Sanji and put him on high alert. He crept out of bed, convinced Luffy was attempting to break into the refrigerator again. He snuck down the stairs stealthily, his sock-padded feet silent on the wood as he made his way to the kitchen. He opened the door, blowing his sneaky cover out of the surprise of seeing you.

"[Name]?? What the hell are you doing in here?" He asked, startling you. You hadn't heard him come in, so it was a bit of a cold shock to see him out of the blue. You set down the knife quickly, making a futile attempt to hide the sloppy slicing job behind you.

"S-Sanji!! I could ask you the same thing, why are you up so late?"

You asked, internally twinging at the nervous edge of your voice. He frowned at you, his eyes wandering to the mess behind your back in curiosity.

"I thought I heard Luffy gorging himself in here, so I was going to surprise attack the shithead.. But instead I found you."

He explained, raising one twirling eyebrow at the cutting board.

"What were you trying to do in here...?"

Damn, you were caught. You sigh, looking down at the ground.

"Well, when we were all talking a month ago, you mentioned your birthday. I know you said you didn't want a party, but I thought I should.. Well.. Let you kick your feet up for the day, and bake you something special.."

The last few sentences were mumbled, your face growing flustered as you revealed your birthday plans to him. You look down at the floor, feeling dumb and expecting no less of an insult from the ship's cook. You heard nothing, and looked up to see the cook with a rather surprised look on his face. Not only that, his cheeks were tinted a rosy hue.

"You.. You wanted to do that... For me??"

He asked in confirmation. You nodded, looking up at him sheepishly. You watched as he took a moment to process, looking a little red in the face as he faced you again. He let out a huff, your face burning as he came up behind you and started to correct your mishandling of the pods.

"W-Well, let's start by showing you how to actually deal with these."

He picked up his own paring knife from the block and took a piece of the butchered pod, focusing on his cutting as he explained your mistakes.

"First, you gently make a slit through the center like so,"

his knife gracefully glided through the vanilla, and he spread the newly-cut wings of the bean pod. You clumsily followed, your large chef's knife feeling a little clunky for this job. He nodded in approval, looking around at the assortment of ingredients in mild confusion.

"Before we go further... What exactly was your game plan here?"

He inquired. You blushed slightly, feeling dumb with the gradual realization that you forgot to plan ahead of that.

"I.. Was going to wing it. I would have flipped through some of your cookbooks to see for a recipe."

You admitted. He sighed, but it wasn't out of exasperation. You were surprised to hear a small chuckle follow as he lit a cigarette, opening a few windows to let the cool night air in. His laugh is kind of cute, you realized, blushing more. He took a drag from the lit cigarette, chuckling again.

"What am I gonna do with you?"

He asked rhetorically. You were left to sit for a bit as he put away and pulled out new ingredients, but you let it go as soon as he brought out the buttermilk from the fridge. You frowned, you may not be an expert in the kitchen, but you knew buttermilk wasn't something you'd usually use in cakes.

"Buttermilk?"

You asked aloud, wondering what the blonde was up to. He looked back at you, grinning as he pulled the griddle from it's hanging hook on the wall.

"I figured we make something quick and easy, and breakfast is a pretty easy start to a day, so why not some old-fashioned pancakes?"

Well.. It was technically morning. That, and pancakes were fun too. You nod, getting out some whisks and mixing bowls from the cabinets. With that, Sanji started instruction.

"First order of business, Mise en Place."

He stated. You cocked your head to the side, unfamiliar with the phrase. He took a drag from his cigarette before elaborating.

"It's a phrase that helps with organization while cooking. Getting out equipment and measuring everything beforehand to make the process easier."

He explained. Ah, so getting everything ready. You nod, looking around you to see the equipment was mostly there. The only thing needed was measuring cups and bowls for the measured ingredients. You got to work, being stopped almost immediately by the blonde.

"[Name], you need to sift the flour first. If you mix it in like that, there will be clumps."

He instructed gently, coming from behind you with the sifter to do it. It was only about a few seconds, but the warmth from his proximity almost made you want to scream. However, you let none of this show as you continued to work under his supervision, listening diligently as he showed you small tricks on how to make your food better. You got to the point of mixing everything, and he once again came up from behind to guide your hand as you whisked the wet and dry ingredients together.

"See, you need to watch how much you mix it, because it's super easy to let all of that air out of the egg whites we fluffed."

He explained. You nodded, letting him lead the way as your hand relaxed into his. The blonde's cheeks were dusted a light pink, but he dared not comment on it. He cleared his throat, separating before gesturing to the skillet. On the counter beside it lay a butter try with about half a stick settled on top of it. Sanji took out a butter knife from the drawer, cutting off a bit before flicking it onto the hot surface. A soft hiss sounded, letting you know it was ready to go. Before starting on cooking the pancakes, he glanced over at you.

"Would you like to do the honors?"

He asked. You chuckled nervously, feeling a little inexperienced compared to him. Even so, it was his birthday. You needed to at least do something to lighten the load. You grabbed a flipper, giving him a determined look.

"Yeah I do!"

He laughed, stunning you for a second. It was still so pretty, even if you'd heard it so many times before. You snap out of the daze as he goes over to the batter bowl, taking up a ladle and dropping small amounts of pancake batter into the skillet. The butter and mix hissed dully, letting you know that it was cooking. You shuffled over to the stovetop, monitoring the pancakes carefully.

"Make sure you don't flip them prematurely, then it's going to take longer. You'll know it's done when the bubbles rise up from the backside."

Sanji said, peeking over your shoulder. You stiffened a bit, something Sanji managed to notice. He frowned with mild concern, looking at you.

"Are you okay? You're acting a little weird, [Name]. Have you had any water lately?"

He asked. You shake your head vigorously, anything to get him from being so damn close. You see bubbles rising to the top of the batter, but you wait. You watch as more bubbles come up, and you decide to flip. To your surprise, the pancakes are a beautiful golden color, the outside browning crisp thanks to the butter. You look back at Sanji eagerly, and he returns the smile you give him twofold.

"Look at that! Not bad for the first batch. They usually turn out pretty iffy when I flip the first few."

He said. You rolled your eyes, knowing it to be a lie. You punched his shoulder gently, chuckling.

"Don't pull an Usopp on me, blondie. I know everything you make in here comes out perfect."

You retort lightly, surprised to see Sanji's blush of a reaction. You turn back to the pancakes quickly, feeling a blush creep up in your cheeks as well. A small silence settled on the both of you as he poured batter and you flipped. As it progressed, your thoughts ate at you. Looking at the situation clearly, your plan was backfiring. Sanji was being forced to cook on his birthday, all because you were too ditzy to handle baking him something. These intrusive words shifted your attention, causing you to use more strength than necessary to try and flip a pancake. Alas, the spatula slipped, and so followed your hand. There came a yelp, a clatter, and small shouts of concern from Sanji. Your hand had made contact with the sizzling skillet only for a moment, but your pinky and palm still hurt like hell.

"[Name]!!"

In an instant, he snatched up your arm, taking you over and plopping you down in a chair before moving the skillet off of the burner and grabbing a clean washcloth off of the counter. He ran it under the tap, squeezing out the excess before gently setting it against the burn. You winced, feeling horrible. He squatted down next to you, emotions in turmoil within those blue eyes of his. You avoid his gaze, feeling ashamed.

"[Name], please look at me."

You bit your lip to keep it from trembling, your good hand curled into a fist as it sat in your lap.

"I'm sorry, Sanji, I really am.."

You whimper shakily.

"Why are you apologizing? It was just an accide-"

"That's not what I'm talking about... I mean I'm sorry you had to cook on your birthday because of me."

There was a small silence before Sanji finally chuckled, taking your good hand into one of his. You blushed, it was rough and somewhat calloused from cooking over the years. You look into his eyes, unable to stop the tears from rolling down your cheeks. He was so sweet, even on the day he should be treated like a king he was there, tending to you. His eyes softened as he wiped your tears away, a smile on his lips.

"You're too kind, [Name], but you don't realize.."

He softly squeezed your hand in his, turning red as he gave you his best grin.

"Being able to cook with you makes this one of my best birthdays."

You burned a bright scarlet, registering his words. You can almost see the steam pouring out of your ears from the heat in your cheeks, uttering out incomprehensible babble. He laughed, letting out a little sigh before kissing your forehead. You jumped at the affection, looking up at him in silent bewilderment

"Alright, now no more tears from you. Hang tight over there, you can't cook with your hand seared like that. I'll be done shortly."

He stated, standing up to his full height before going back to the flapjacks. All you could manage was a dumb nod, watching him intently as he focused. You let out a little sigh, unable to help the rush of affection you felt for him. Despite being a weirdo sometimes, he was one of the most polite, gentle people you had ever met. Soon, he had finished the work the both of you had started in a timely manner, even managing to wash the dishes as well. He went to plating, breaking out some fresh fruits for additional garnishes before setting down two beautiful plates of food on the table. One was topped with raspberries and lightly drizzled with honey, and the other happened to be topped with your favorite fruit along with honey garnish. He slid the latter plate towards you, handing you a small bundle of silverware tucked neatly with a napkin. You chuckled, taking it.

"You can't go without being a little fancy, can you?"

"You're acting like it's a bad thing."

You smiled at each other before digging in.

Without fail, both plates were without a speck of food. You let out a contented sigh, looking over at Sanji. He had lit another cigarette, the stick sitting delicately in between his fingers as he looked out at the sea through the window. He was so pretty, you had always known that, but you had never bothered to acknowledge it. You were pulled out of your thoughts as he got up from his seat, letting out a sigh.

"Well, I'm gonna go."

Sanji said, giving you a smile before turning to leave. You got up from your own seat, getting in front of him before giving him a hug. Surprised, he took a moment before reciprocating, his arms holding you close. If you couldn't manage to express it through his field, maybe you could do it in a way you both understood.

"Happy birthday, Sanji."

You whispered. He chuckled, resting his nose in the crook of your neck.

"Thank you for making it happy, [Name]."

~~~~~~~

This is a repost from a book I have on my Wattpad, a friend suggested I put it here so you all know how I write (although this is very, VERY old)

#sanjionepiece #reader insert #one piece #one piece oneshot #vinsmoke sanji #straw hat pirates #writing #strawhatscribe

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vintagedolan · 5 years ago

Text

forgetful (egd)

it’s not like Ethan to forget things, so there’s no way he forgot your birthday... right?

word count: 4.2k

requested by: anon (thank you beeb!)

warnings/tags: sad!ethan, forgetting of a birthday, panic attack, mentions of sean, angst (but it’s resolved cause im a weak fluffy bitch oops)

feel free to send in requests! i’ll write most things! hope you enjoy :)

This was one elaborate plan, you’d give him that. And he was hiding everything so well that you were ridiculously impressed. You went along with it, not wanting him to think that you were suspicious of anything.

“You all packed?” You asked, pouting a bit as he zipped up his bag and stood it up on its wheels.

“Yep. It’s just for a few days, I’ll be back on Thursday. Need some family time with Mom,” he reassured you.

Thursday. Your birthday.

You never really made a big deal out of birthdays but after you had gotten Ethan two new custom longboards for his, he had promised you an epic celebration for your big day. And he hadn’t let you in on the secret at all. It took all your self control not to pry and ask questions as you followed him out to the car where Grayson was waiting. Was he even going to Jersey? Or was this all some big ploy? You wouldn’t put it past him. Either way, you knew you weren’t going to see him for a few days, which pulled at your heart strings a bit.

“Okay, well fly safe, and let me know when you all get there,” you wrapped your arms around his torso, squeezing tight. He nuzzled into your hair for a moment, squeezing you even tighter than he usually did. Between the way he was talking and that, you could tell something was definitely going on.

“I will. I love you,” he said, leaning down to kiss you goodbye. It was quicker than usual. It only convinced you more.

“Love you too,” you smiled at him, letting go and moving to hug Grayson goodbye. You waved until they were out of sight before going inside, with a million thoughts of what he could be up to running through your head.

He text you a quick made it safe about 6 hours later, right on time for a landing in New Jersey. You sent back some hearts and a response.

Have fun hanging with your mom, I know you’ve missed her. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you! It was a subtle way of trying to assure him that he didn’t need to be talking to you when he should be visiting with his family.

He sent back a I will baby, I love you too and you left it at that.

The next day went by fairly slow for a Monday. You piddled around the house, getting some work done and generally just relaxing. Ethan FaceTimed you around noon, and was acting even weirder than before. Something was definitely up, and you couldn’t help but get a little bit excited. He must be planning something big if he was this nervous about it.

Tuesday was even weirder. He sent you a good morning text, but you didn’t hear from him again until that evening, and when he called you could tell that he was exhausted and wasn’t much in the mood for talking. It puzzled you some, but worried you more than anything.

“Are you okay baby? You seem a bit off,” you asked.

“Yeah, I’m just tired. I need to go to bed. I love you.”

“I love you too, get some rest.”

By Wednesday, you were actually starting to get concerned. You considered texting Grayson - if Ethan was actually upset about something, his brother would probably tell you. But you felt bad at the idea of going behind Ethan’s back so you waited.

It was 9pm your time, which was midnight back in Jersey, when he finally facetimed you. He was in a bit higher spirits, which made you smile. His day was much more interesting than yours had been, so you listened to him talk about anything and everything, just content to hear his voice. When he finally got through all the events, he asked all about yours. There wasn’t much to tell, but you walked him through.

“I’m sure tomorrow will be more eventful,” you teased, rolling your eyes a bit.

“Yeah, about that. Cam is coming to surprise mom tomorrow, and Gray and I are gonna stay an extra day so we can see her. It’s been ages since we’ve all been home,” he explained. You balked. Was he kidding? You watched him closely, trying to see if he was joking or not. You noticed that he was fidgeting a little bit, one of his nervous habits. Something else was up.

It clicked for you then - he was probably setting up the surprise, wanting you to think that he wasn’t even going to be in the state. Sneaky.

“Okay, that’s fine,” you responded, secretly looking around the screen to see if you could spot a camera. He would be filming this for sure if there was a video, and you didn’t want to ruin it.

“I was wondering if you could do me a favor tomorrow though. Louis Vuitton is getting a shipment of new stuff in for me and Gray, and we’re supposed to pick specific stuff by Saturday, do you think you could go get it and bring it home so we have more time to decide once we get back?”

There it was.

The weird get-you-to-a-certain-place excuse that was customary with any Ethan surprise. You breathed out a sigh - for a second there you really thought that he had forgotten. This was one of his less creative ideas, but you rolled with it anyways.

“Yeah, I can get it. What time am I supposed to go?”

“Whenever is fine! Thank you baby,” he offered you a soft smile.

Weird. Usually he would be specific on a time. Oh well. He definitely just needed you out of the house so he could set up whatever it was.

“You’re welcome. Isn’t it like 1am there now? You should be asleep,” you reminded him.

“Yeah, we’ve gotta get Cam pretty early in the morning so you’re probably right. Well, I love you, I’ll check on you tomorrow. Goodnight!”

“I love you too, goodnight baby.”

It was hard to sleep that night. Your mind was racing with a million different things, trying to think of what he would be planning. He was probably on a plane already. You woke up throughout the night, convinced you were hearing him sneaking in. But eventually you fell asleep with no dreams.

And when you woke up the next morning around 9am the house was empty and quiet. You didn’t feel any older, and to be honest it didn’t feel much different from your past few birthdays - you usually spent them alone. You walked around the house cautiously, peeking around corners to see if someone was there to jump out and surprise you. No one showed, so you simply went to the kitchen and made yourself a quick breakfast.

Once that was done, you went back to Ethan’s bathroom and started getting ready. It had been awhile since you’d done a full face of makeup, and you put on one of your favorite outfits as well just to make you feel nice.

As you were putting your shoes on, you felt your phone buzz.

Morning baby! what’re you up to? was the text from Ethan that came across your screen.

morning! I’m headed to louis to get your alls clothes

You felt the butterflies starting to mount as you headed out to the car. Who knew what was gonna be there when you got back. Deciding to make the most of it, you stopped by your favorite coffee shop and got a drink on your way to the store. The workers were nice as always, even helping you to get all the garment bags into your car before waving as you drove off.

The excitement mounted with each minute that passed on the way home. You were practically bouncing by the time you got to the driveway, opening the gate and pulling in. Nothing looked different - of course, he would have hidden the cars somewhere.

You gathered all the garment bags, holding them high above you so they didn’t drag the ground, hoping you wouldn’t drop them if someone jumped out.

Opening the door slowly, you braced yourself.

And nothing.

Nothing happened.

You kept walking, placing the bags down over the couch.

“Hello?” You said, listening to the echo. There was no response. And then it hit you like a ton of bricks.

No one was here.

No one was coming.

You’d been forgotten.

The tears came quickly, hot and angry down your cheeks. It took a moment for you to realize that you were actually embarrassed. You’d made up a whole scenario in your head that your boyfriend was planning some major surprise for you, when in reality he was actually across the country with no idea what day it even was. It stung much more than you thought it would.

And so, you sat on the floor and cried, leaving tear stains on your outfit and throwing a full on pity party. You felt stupid, and childish, and unloved all at the same time. A tiny sliver of hope remained, but when you got a snapchat from Grayson of them in the car with Cam, it faded too.

After about an hour you managed to get yourself up off the floor, going through the motions. You hung the boys clothes up in their closets, cleaned up your makeup; it was still your birthday. You were going to try to have a good day if you could. So you went back out to the grocery and bought yourself a cake. A whole ass cake in your favorite flavor, and you had the bakers write “happy birthday to me” on top of it in white icing.

As you drove back to the house, your sadness started to turn into anger. You didn’t deserve this shit. You deserved to be celebrated on the one fucking day of the year that was about you. And you were happy that Ethan was getting to see his sister - you really were. If he had told you about it and been apologetic that he couldn’t be there for your birthday, you would have understood. But it was so very obvious that he’d completely forgotten, and that was what bothered you the most out of anything.

When your phone rang with a facetime from him, you knew better than to answer it. You would say something that you really, really regretted. You let it ring through as you pulled in the driveway, carrying your cake inside and sitting it on the counter. Your phone rang again, and you ignored it.

He seemed to give up, and sent you a text instead.

Hey baby, we ended up needing to get a flight tonight so I should be home around 11 or so your time. didn’t want you to get scared if you heard me. can’t wait to see you, I missed you!

You closed your phone. You didn’t trust yourself to not be an asshole. You knew that as soon as Ethan realized what was going on he was going to feel absolutely terrible. So you didn’t want to be a complete asshole. But... that didn’t mean you couldn’t be a little bit petty.

So you decided to stay up until he got home. And by stay up, that meant waiting in the kitchen for him with your cake on the counter so he could realize exactly what had happened. Petty. But justified.

The wait was long, but worth it when you finally heard them coming down the driveway. You started eating the cake, making sure to just get the corners because you wanted the words to stay visible.

The door clicked open and shut, and you heard the rustling of the boys coming in.

“Tell Y/N I said hey if she’s up, I’m going the fuck to sleep,” you heard Grayson explain, not even coming into the kitchen.

Good. You didn’t want him in the middle of all this anyways.

Ethan almost passed you on his way to his room, but you caught his eye. His entire face lit up when he saw you, and you felt your resolve to be petty crack a little. He was so damn cute, it was hard to stay mad at him.

“Baby you didn’t need to stay up! I figured you’d gone to sleep early since you didn’t answer earlier,” he grinned, coming over to you.

“I’m awake.” Your tone stopped him in his tracks - he was on his way to kiss you, no doubt. You were even surprised at how mad you sounded. It wasn’t like you to pick a fight.

“I can see that. Are you okay?” He was more cautious now, looking around to see if he could figure out what was happening. You gave him a minute before you took another bite of cake to give him a clue.

He looked down at the icing, and you watched him mouth the words as he read it.

“Did you buy a clearance cake or something? What’s going on? I’m confused.”

“I can wait until you figure it out.”

You watched the gears turn in his head. When he looked up from the pastry, his eyes were wide.

“What’s today’s date?” He asked, his voice meek.

“I’ll give you one guess,” you murmured, taking another bite.

“Oh no. Oh no no no no,” he said, hands coming up to his hair. He held his head for a moment, and you noticed that his chest was rising and falling too fast. He stumbled a bit, reaching back to catch himself on the counter. His hand slipped slightly - was he sweating?

You pieced it together immediately.

Panic attack.

Any anger, any pettiness you had flew out the window. You dropped your fork, running over to him and grabbing his hand.

“C’mon, come with me Ethan it’s okay,” you said, guiding him as quickly as you could to the room you shared. They always resolved quicker if he was in his most comforting place, so when you got him in the room you immediately guided him to sit on the bed.

You knelt in front of him, holding his hands in yours.

“Breathe in while I squeeze, out when I let go, okay? Just like we always do, and it’ll stop. I’m right here,” you reassured him, squeezing his hands. To your relief he was able to take a deep breath in with you, but he exhaled immediately, panic still overriding.

“You’re. You’re gonna - leave.” He was gasping through the words.

“Ethan I’m right here. I’m right here, I’m not leaving, no matter what. Just breathe baby, just breathe.”

It took almost 15 minutes to get him fully calmed down, and you only knew it was over when he opened up his arms for you. You climbed onto his lap, no hesitation, wrapping your arms around him.

It didn’t matter how angry you were - nothing was worse than seeing the man you loved in pain. You couldn’t stand it.

“I am actually the biggest piece of shit to walk the face of the earth,” he mumbled into your shoulder a few moments later. You shook your head, pressing a kiss to his hair.

“No you aren’t, I’m -”

“If you apologize, I swear to god,” he cut you off and you fell silent as he sat up and looked at you. “Please, please do not try to make me feel better right now.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?” You asked honestly. You felt guilty that your pettiness had caused him to panic so quickly.

“Yell at me, scream at me, be fucking pissed off that I literally forgot the most important day of the fucking year,” he said, exasperated.

“I’m not gonna do that.” You couldn’t do that was the correct answer. “Besides, I already had my fun. With the cake.”

Ethan looked like he was going to explode.

“So I forget that today is your birthday. Not only do I not have a whole party and surprise for you, but I don’t even say happy birthday. And you spend the entire day alone, while I’m just fucking around on the other side of the country.”

“You were with your family, that’s not fucking around.”

“While I’m just fucking around on the other side of the United States-” he repeated. “And your revenge on me was to buy yourself a cake...”

“And be petty about it,” you shrugged. He looked at you in disbelief. And honestly, you were surprised at yourself too. You’d been so hurt and mad earlier, but all that anger had left you somehow. Something about being with Ethan put you at peace, even in the most unsettling of situations.

“That wasn’t even being petty! What do you even mean!? How are you not screaming at me right now!?” He practically yelled.

“I mean yeah, I was sad, but I pretty much hurt my own feelings.”

His face was actually red with frustration.

“Please explain what ridiculous way you’ve convinced yourself of that.”

You hesitated.

“It’s gonna make you sad.”

He didn’t say anything, and you sighed, knowing he was gonna make you tell him. You looked down, toying with the hem of his shirt as you explained.

“Well, I thought it was kinda weird that you were going home so close to my birthday, so I kinda convinced myself that maybe you were surprising me or something. Like pretending to be gone, but actually you were gonna be here. And you seemed off while you were home, so I thought maybe you were just planning stuff, or maybe you were nervous about pulling it off. And I thought you asked me to go to Louis to get the clothes so you had time to set stuff up. But then when I got back I realized you were still in Jersey. So really it was only bad because I thought something was happening.”

“I am a piece of shit,” he repeated after a moment.

“What was going on in Jersey that had you acting so weird?” You poised, trying to change the subject. He was going to continue beating himself up over forgetting, and there wasn’t much you could do to stop him, but you were genuinely curious as to what had been going on. You knew him well enough that you were sure that it was something - you’d just assumed wrong when guessing it was about you.

His arms tightened around you slightly, pulling you to his chest while his cheek rested on your shoulder. Sometimes, he found it easier to talk about things when he wasn’t looking right at you.

“It was Mom and Dad’s anniversary last week. It’s always really hard for her, and Grayson and I wanted to go see her to make sure she was alright, but we couldn’t get out there on the actual day. But we went to his grave on Tuesday, and I realized I hadn’t been back out there since the funeral. It stirred up a lot of emotions for everybody, but it was really nice being home with my family, even just for a little while. We facetimed with Cam while we were there, and she got upset too and wanted to see everybody so we got her a flight to come up for the day.”

You took a minute to process everything, and then you leaned back so that you could look at Ethan.

“Baby why didn’t you tell me? If I’d known all that I would have told you to stay longer.”

“I just... I didn’t want it to be a big deal. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”

“Yes it should. Your family is the most important thing to you, it always has been and it always will be. That comes before anything,” you reassured him. “If your mom was having a hard time, you did the right thing by going to see her when you could.”

“My dad always handled everything so well. Always had a million things going on at once and never dropped anything. And I can’t even remember two fucking things.” His voice was getting rougher, and you could tell his throat was tight. You put a hand behind his neck, running your fingers through the hairs at the nape of it.

“I just wish I could be more like him. I always fuck everything up.”

“You don’t Ethan. You’re more like your dad than you’ll ever know, he raised you to be an amazing man. I see parts of him in you everyday.”

And for some reason those words broke him down, and he began to sob. You hadn’t seen him cry like that in a while, but when you had, no words could comfort him. So you just held him tightly and let him cry his way through it, running your fingers along his back gently and occasionally pressing a kiss to his temple.

When he had finally cried himself out he just melted into your shoulder and let you hold him for a while. It was a few more minutes before he spoke.

“This must be a wonderful birthday for you. Your asshole boyfriend forgets about it, then comes home and spends the last hour of it in a panic attack and then bawling like a baby over his dead dad. I sure do know how to bring the party huh.”

You leaned back to meet his eyes, and he had been so monotone through the whole thing that you couldn’t help but laugh. Your giggle caused him to start to crack, and before you knew it you were both cackling so hard you were crying.

“We’re quite the duo,” you teased, taking his face in your hands and wiping his tears away.

“I really am so sorry baby. I feel terrible.”

“It’s alright Ethan. You had a reason, and to be honest it was kinda fun being petty for a minute. I don’t get to do it often,” you said. He was already forgiven. To your surprise, instead of arguing, he took your wrist in his hand, turning it to look at the time on your watch.

11:58

“It’s still your birthday. Can I give you your present?”

“You got me a present?” You perked up.

“Of course I did, I’m not that shitty.”

“Gimme,” you smiled, holding out your hands. He smiled at that, putting his hands on your hips and lifting you off his lap. You watched him as he went to his closet, reaching behind one of his shoe boxes to pull out a small blue wrapped box, followed by an envelope. You made a grabby hand at it, making him chuckle as he handed them over.

“Which one should I open first?”

“You’re the birthday girl, you decide,” he grinned.

You opted for the envelope, pulling it open and looking inside. There were a few pieces of paper, but you chose the one with Ethan’s handwriting on it first. In his messy scrawl you read:

plus a shopping spree for anything you want to take with us :)

“Take with us? Where are we going?!” You exclaimed.

“Open the rest of it,” he urged.

You reached in and found two plane tickets to Maui.

“Holy shit! We’re going to Hawaii!?”

“We leave in two weeks. I figured it was about time we went there by ourselves. I got us a nice little villa to stay at, and we’re gonna go clothes shopping for whatever you want. Though, I do request you pick out many, many bikinis.”

You smacked his chest before you kissed him.

“This is too much. Way too much.”

“Not possible. Here, open this one. It’s not as exciting, but I think you’ll still like it.” He passed you the box and ripped off the paper. What else could he have possibly gotten you?

When you pulled open the box, you gasped. It was a beautiful ring, with a raw black crystal on it that had a tiny blue stone nestled in it. It was obviously hand crafted, and it was just your style.

“Ethan this is beautiful,” you said, picking it up and admiring it. “What kind of crystal is this?”

“It’s black tourmaline, and the little stone is zircon, which is my birthstone. Black tourmaline is for protection, so it’s my promise to you that I’m always going to keep you safe.” He took the ring from your hand and slid it onto your finger.

“I love you,” was the only response you could form as you crawled forward and settled yourself back in his lap. You kissed him hard, trying to say what you wanted without the words. No one had ever gotten you a gift so meaningful. He kissed you back, responding to each move you made, reciprocating as you lead, hands wandering.

He took you by surprise when he stood up, hands moving to your ass as he lifted you and carried you towards the door.

“Where are we going?” In all honesty, you didn’t care.

“I’m declaring it birthday week, and we’re celebrating every day. So we’re starting day two with cake.”

“I have sad news.”

His feet stopped and he looked at you, quirking an eyebrow.

“It’s not dairy free.”

He gasped a bit in mock hurt, but it turned into a smile that you kissed off his lips a moment later.

“Well then, I’ll just watch you eat cake and think of all the ways I’m going to spoil you until your next birthday to make up for this one.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

#this was so hard because I KNOW he would spoil the shit out of his girl for a bday #so this was the only realistic thing I could think of happening #i hope I did your request justice beeb!#thank you!!#lynds writes #ethan imagines #ethan dolan #the dolan twins #dolan twins imagines #ethan dolan imagine

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starrysupercell · 4 years ago

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So... Now that your writing bug is back... Could we get a drabble of Belle and Byron with the sibilings theory? Go ham :)

Lmao. This was at the top of the list ahaha what do you mean

Anyway, I'm still getting a feel for Belle, but for now I'm going for a mix of Kissing Kate Barlow's montage (not the backstory- the tone. Important.) and a very, VERY light dose of Azula... mostly for the siblings thing!

......and yet again I make it a set-up to a story rather than a drabble or one shot. Like some of the other stuff I've written, I wonder if there should be oneshot followups? x.x we'll see..

•🐍• Risk & Reward •🦝•

"Byron." Piper said sternly.

"That's odd. I don't remember hearing a knock.." Byron said lightly. He sat in his chair, faced away from the door, from her, from the world. "Or saying come in."

"There's been reports of the Goldarm Gang being seen around here." Piper went on. "We need to take action. Either hire more security, or outfit the building with further measures."

She heard the rustle of a newspaper page being turned. "There's no need for concern." Came his nonchalant response.

The woman placed her fists on her hips. She would not be casually dismissed like this. "You're looking at the news yourself. You know this isn't just another band of petty criminals."

Byron closed up the papers, folding it up neatly before swiveling around and turning to face Piper. "You're right. I do know that."

He was smiling, in that particular way where he knows something she doesn't. How infuriating... but begrudgingly comforting.

She sighed silently, then smiled passively. "I know there's no use trying to find out what's going on with you. I also came to let you know I'm putting in a request for a week off."

He leaned his head in his hand, frowning. "You have no faith in me, Piper."

"I have some faith in you." She smirked, "I do have matters to attend to, actually. This isn't a luxury getaway. A couple of old friends are looking to start bounty hunting. I wish to lend my support."

"I see." He muttered, looking to the side. "Very well. We'll find a way to manage without you around here. Thank you for letting me know."

"It's no problem." She said, recognizing that tone and demeanor. "If things go well, I can be back sooner?" She offered.

Byron shook his head. "That won't be necessary... You take care of your business, Piper," He looked pointedly down at the grainy quality of the main headline's picture. "And I'll take care of mine."

[ ($) ] [ ($) ] [ ($) ] [ ($) ] [ ($) ]

The rumors were only just starting, so he figured that there would be some window of a time frame to prepare some things. Currently, he was recording inventory, and had plans over the money and several safes he had. (Even without this Golden Arm threat, he was a very careful man.)

He wouldn't be surprised if she had already started to scope the area around here. That no-good, sneaky turncoat, gold-lifting thief of a sister..!

Byron frowned, his jaw clenching and his temper easily flaring at the thought of her.

He sighed, smoothing out a part of his hair with his fingers. There was no use for paranoia or anger here. It'd only hinder him.

He focused about which modifications to his place. Piper was right, but he knew brute force wouldn't work. His sister was crafty, but still lazy no doubt. When you take the easy way out, you're bound to always be a weaselly, good for nothing...

He blinked. Focus.

[ ($) ] [ ($) ] [ ($) ] [ ($) ] [ ($) ]

That week's work of preparation went for both sides. Belle sat with her drink as she checked out the lobby of the place. She had a more casual set of clothes to avoid detection. Jacket, gloves, no trademark glasses. She would stay low.

This place was popular for sure. Reports from other members confirmed as such.

She wasn't so surprised, considering who owned the place, but she was surprised at the ambiance. Cheery piano music, tame audience and a prim and peppy bartender. If this wasn't just a cover for anything on the sidelines, he turned out to be such a sellout!

Belle's grin was shrouded by the held to her lips. Too bad her little brother never grew a backbone and left those control freaks. For him that is. This was just a pit filled with gold just begging to be tapped. And she intended to answer those calls. The sooner, the better.

She downed her drink, and stood. She left enough to cover it and then plenty. As she passed by the performing bot, she left a generous tip for him as well. He gave a grateful bow, and continued his musical jig.

The heist pulled here would more than cover these 'losses,' but anything that goes towards bots was well worth it. Belle idly tugged at her jacket sleeve as she walked out.

They would strike soon.

[ ($) ] [ ($) ] [ ($) ] [ ($) ] [ ($) ]

The first day of the following week, Piper returned. She hummed a tune as she walked into the bar, and headed to the back.

Things went swimmingly. Poco and Primo's friend, Amber, got her start thanks to Piper's investment. Her first job went well enough.. in the end. It was a productive week overall. The group even went out for a celebration afterwards, where, Piper recalled with a fond smile, that mysterious woman left quite an impression on her. She looked forward to seeing her again.

Her recollection of that magical night came to a screeching halt when the ruins of the place came to her attention.

"What in the..?" She muttered, looking around at the broken tables and more.

"Watch your step!" Barely advised, working on cleaning up a section of the room.

"Oh, Byron didn't heed my warning, did he?" She lifted her dress slightly to walk around the mess. "It'll do him well, if he has to learn this way." she complained as ladylike as always, "Maybe now he won't dismiss me, though I still won't think it likely. I still expect to be paid to work too."

"So that's what you really think." Byron said, leaning against a wall. He was amused, and straightened up. "Follow me. Both of you."

The robot and lady glanced at each other, but followed the owner of the place.

"We may have been hit, but I assure you that not a thing of value has been taken." He monologued as he led them down the hall. "The destruction of the place was only superficial, caused by the anger and frustration of an uncouth band of petty bandits."

Piper listened and noted they entered his office. So what kind of trick did he pull?

"Praytell, Sir. You're saying the only thing we have to worry about is the funds and time to clean up the mess?" Barley asked.

"That's right." Byron responded, a tint of pride to his voice. "I've replaced every precious gem and all the gold we've had stashed with lookalikes and Fool's. They've got nothing!"

He walked over to a section of a wall behind his desk and let a laugh escape him as he removed a frame from it. The wall behind was removable to show an empty space. "To add insult to injury, I left the most valuable item we owe in here." He reached in, pulled out the fake back cover and revealed a medium-sized box. "So it was right under their noses, and they left completely empty handed!"

"The most valuable?... Byron..." Piper frowned. "I trust you know well, but don't you think that was a risk? That precious statuette is sought after by everyone. It shouldn't be used as a trophy."

"Quite." Barley agreed. "With all my respect, Sir, you did this without even informing me." He sounded upset.

"...It's still here," Byron said weakly to his defense after a pause. He sighed. Maybe he had let more of his emotions guide his defense of their business. "I suppose.. I was letting things get personal. I'll admit it." He turned the box toward himself, and went to press the combination of numbers that would open the safebox. "Perhaps, I haven't been completely honest either. The leader of the Gold Arm Ga--" As he pressed the last button of the lock, the box lid flipped open and a light electric shock ran through his body, freezing him in place.

Piper gasped. Barley's arm reached out, roughly smacking the metal box out of Byron's hands and into the ground.

The box landed, and the only thing that fell out was a single slip of paper.

"It's missing!" Piper exclaimed.

Barley was near Byron in an instant. "Are you alright?" He asked the man leaning heavily against the wall.

The salesman didn't answer. His eyes were hyper-fixated on the single spilled content of the box. He pulled away from the wall and the service bot and leaned down to pick up the torn scrap.

'Dumbass!' was the only thing scrawled on it. Byron scrunched it up in his fist.

[ ($) ] [ ($) ] [ ($) ] [ ($) ] [ ($) ]

"Shelly!" Belle cheered, "Pass me our winnings!"

A young woman with dark hair and an eye patch grabbed the shining figure of a cactus, adorned with priceless jewels.

She tossed over with a grin, and Belle caught it.

The leader of the Gold Arms stepped on a chair, then the table. "Look here, folks!" She called for attention. Her bandits instantly quieted their idle buzz. "We all did great last night. That slippery eel may have thrown us for a loop, but as usual, we united prevail!! Together, we've hit the jackpot!" She held the statuette up for her crew to see and cheer on. "When they cover this, the Golden Arm Gang will be unforgettable! And if we stick together, we'll always be untouchable!"

Cheers, and their celebratory times went on. Drinking, chatting, cheerful.

Belle grinned and hopped off the table at the crowd's energy. She pocketed the figurine. Life was finally good.

She sat and eyed the bag of loot they took along despite its worthlessness.

Maybe it wasn't so bad? The false gems could be used in a scam, she supposed, Some folks didn't know how to separate reals from placeholders.

She looked through it, and noted a box that had been unopened. Oh. That might have been when they were trashing the place when they discovered a lot of the valuables were actually cheap fakes.

She clicked the simple lock mechanism of the box open, just to sate her curiosity. There was a small, square sheet that was neatly tucked into the recently-opened box that held the mystery fog.

'Dunce.' It said, written in a very neat cursive.

"Ah, shit," Belle said, feeling lightheaded. She realized far too late. "That little...." she slumped forward, out cold. Her golden arm dropped the container.

A poison fog traveled from the box throughout the room, slowly knocking out the rest of the thieves in the hideout. They were fine, but all would wake up in an hour or so with pounding headaches and heavy nausea for days to come.

Just a little gift exchange amongst siblings, nothing more.

#siblings conspriracy theory #sct #Brawl Stars #Goldarm Gang #Belle #Byron #Siblings Theory #Bartenders #yes there was a Piper/Tara mention bc I'm weak #Ms. Fortune 😍#Skins #my writings #I have so much to say but I'll let it be #request but also self indulgent sibling rivalry that was set into motion bc of shitty parent(s)..... whoops is this too personal #anyway enjoy! i really like the dynamic between byron piper and barley now #expect more of them too

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blackfemmecharacterdependency · 4 years ago

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09. That’s How Hope Died

My apologies friends and familiars, but I absolutely don’t think that I can continue to do this story as standalone pieces anymore and to add on to the possibly not great news, there’s more chapters of story to be told here. But, those who can stay, I’m glad to have you here. 2721 Words, Trigger Warnings: Mental health issues, abuse, child death, grief

The key to having a successful “challenge” video or a hot “remix” was to have a plan proactively. Grace would have about a dozen different new choreos in mind at any given time, and she worked on beats a lot when she probably should be doing other things. She had various number outfits in mind. She had remix beats in mind and the clips of videos that she might want to add to such remixes. This was her happy getaway. The hours that she put into all of her dance training, her classical music instruments, and her academics made her feel like she earned a few to just create things that she enjoyed. And she had an outpouring of creativity from 14-16.

Whenever a new hot song would come out, she would hear it and wonder how it might sound if she remixed it with the R747 (she named all of her creations with “stock numbers” until they became associated with a released song). She might think to herself, the choreography C929 will be perfect for this! Even her performance outfits, “And if I wear the W23… well… This is gonna be fire!”

So, she might hear, for example, a new song by Ghairrisahn ft Fr8-Tre/in (for the old folks, that’s pronounced Garrison, ft Freight Train… See, Garrison is how it’s pronounced, but she spells it that way to stand out and well, Fr8-Tre/in’s name is Treyvon, they called him Tre growing up and you know, Freight TRE and add the “N,” sound like a play on words?) Her parents absolutely wouldn’t have listened to her explain. The hired help often had to, though, especially if they happened to be around while she was creating or putting together creations for presentation…

She would hear the song, decide and type into her phone’s notes: Shucky Ducky by Ghairrisahn ft Fr8-Tre/in. R747. C929. W23. As soon as she got home, she would check to see if any challenges or remixes of the song were released yet, because the Internet was fast and she was at school all day and sometimes, rehearsals well into the night. If it wasn’t already a thing, or if it was a thing, but the thing was null, she would make the remix of the song with her remix beat, then play it as she wore the outfit she prepped and performed the choreography she created. Then, she would post it, atting the artist, and hashtagging the song, TheApex, ApexChoreo, ApexBeauty,ShesBeautyShesGrace,Gracecore, (song title)remix and challenge, among others.

All of those would always skyrocket. Her favorite artists would always eventually see them, sometimes soon. Ghairrisahn even said that she wanted her to be in one of her videos. (Her mother was attentive to that bit of information when she shared it).

When she called Simon to tell him, he already knew. Of course he did. That dude was always on his computer. He always had hella tabs open. He was working on maybe 4 assignments for school, at least 2 of his stories, keeping up with his favorite fandoms, and checking social media - which he hardly ever got on to talk to people that he knew in real life, but he still was entertained by many of them and usually kept watch of all of her pages, whether or not it dawned on her.

When they were 15, she was invited on a summer tour with Ghairrisahn, to dance. It was a dream come true for her, even though her parents were very reluctant to agree to this. Filming a music video was one thing, but gallivanting across the country all summer was another thing entirely. “Mom, this would be just like if I had gotten the ballet spot in Germany!”

“No it isn’t. THAT was a world renown dance troupe and you BLEW it. THIS is some girl who sounds like she’s singing underwater, never wears a full sized blouse and almost unquestionably engages in recreational smoking.” Simon was typing on his phone. He didn’t get involved.

“She is a Grammy award winning icon! Everybody knows her. You know who knows that dance troupe? Ballet heads. That’s who. Mom, to be successful, in this day in age isn’t just about money and high standing. It is about fame and visibility! AND, if I’m on tour, I have that many places to use my products and promote the brand and bring in revenue to the company!”

Mrs. Monroe sighed, “Alright. That sounds like a good idea. But, I’m sending you with your team. You’re not to be in the same vehicle as that marijuana girl. You’re to only interact with her and her team for business purposes and you will adhere to the schedule that your team provides.”

She clenched her fists and jumped up and down, excitedly. Simon’s eyes looked up from his phone to watch her, but he didn’t react in any other ways until she rushed over and hugged him, “We’re going on the road with Ghairrisahn!” She squealed.

He sighed and wiped a hand down his face, “Grace, I can’t go on the road with you this summer. You know I have like 6 different major things that I need to do this year.” Her face fell. “I wish I could. I love Ghairrisahn. She’s my top five celebrities whose hair I wanna smell…” Grace and her mother both made disgusted and confused faces that he ignored and kept talking, “But I literally have a major engineering program, a science camp to prepare for this upcoming school year, the journalism workshop, orientation for the early college courses path, the Dean’s meet and greet, and I’m heading some things for the scouts that I signed on to before I realized that I’d have to do some of the other things. I can’t go right now. Junior year is the most important year of my high school career. Not to mention, you know that I’m being emancipated next year. I just… I don’t have time to tag along this time, Grace.”

She nodded her head, sadly. “Well, that’s cool. But, I mean, I’ll be able to fly you out to a show or two, right?”

He shrugged, “Send me the tour schedule when you get it, and I’ll let you know.”

“What’s your mom gonna do while you’re doing all of that?” She asked. He frowned and stared at her. She was concerned. He knew that she didn’t mean any harm. But, asking about his mother while her mother was still around was pretty inconsiderate, even for her. She must’ve realized from her face that it wasn’t something he wanted to discuss. Because she fell back and clasped her hands together, “Well, since we’re both still around, let’s go do something in town together. You do have a little free time right now, right?”

“Yeah,” he said defeatedly.

“Yeah,” she imitated and reached out for him with her hand to pull him up off of his favorite cushioned lounging chair. “Mom, we’re going!” Grace called. Her mother had stopped paying attention to them several minutes ago, pretty much whenever the conversation no longer concerned her. She didn’t even hear Grace excuse herself.

“It’s hot! Why do you ALWAYS have on a hoodie?” Grace asked.

“I don’t have one at school.”

“Because they aren’t allowed.”

“Exactly. We’re not at school. Nobody can tell me what I can and can’t wear,” he said.

They were quiet for a moment. She didn’t know what was wrong with him, but she knew that something was. “Hey, do you wanna record ourselves doing skateboard tricks?” She asked.

“Is that your way of asking me to record you doing some skateboard tricks, Grace?”

“You can do yours too!” She laughed.

“I just wanna walk right now,” he said. She bit her lip and danced alongside of him, singing Shucky Ducky. Simon looked over at her and the smile of his features returned. She was good for that. Making him feel better about things that really just didn’t feel good. After a while, some thought, letting it rush around in his head, he said, “She’s going to go live with my grandmother.” Grace stopped dancing and stared at him with wide eyes. “She refuses to go to a hospital. I can’t get dad to come home right now and I just… don’t have the time to care for her. I was gonna be gone in a few months, anyway. Leave it to her, I never did anything to even help her over these years. The story that my grandmother believes is actually quite different from the events that my mind has collected.” Grace rubbed his back, but didn’t say anything. Simon had tears welling up in his eyes. “Do you know how many times she’s taken a swing at me, and I’ve had to restrain her to keep her from connecting? How many times she’s yelled at me, berated me for innocent missteps and mistakes that children simply make? All of the times that I wanted to just put that pillow over her face and not let go until she stopped moving?” He was shaking. “Now, apparently she has bruises all over her that I supposedly put there and my grandmother just believes that I’m capable of it, because I killed my sister, why not try my mom too?” He roared at the sky and covered his face with both hands.

Grace looked around for some place to sit, and just decided on the grass under a tree. She led him over, sat him down and rested on her knees, looking at him, but not knowing what to say. He didn’t really talk much about his sister. What she knew about it was what she had looked up on news sources on the Internet (only to understand more, not to be sneaky or harm him in any way), and she never brought up what she learned, because she knew it would be very painful for him.

According to every source that she had found, the little girl’s death was an accident. She and her brother had been playing, they got into an argument, she ran off, he gave chase, she climbed up a ladder to try to hide in the attic, he pulled her leg and she fell and hit her head. It was an accident. A freak accident. She shouldn’t have been able to die from the fall. There were a few reports that the boy had possibly “thrown her hard” to the floor, but even knowing how angry Simon could get and not actually putting it past him to accidentally get that angry, she rationalized that even still, at 10, he wouldn’t have had the strength to cause reasonable damage to a 4 year old. She wanted to tell him that right now, but he didn’t know that she knew that much about it and it seemed like it might only upset him more to find out that she looked into it.

He was red in the face, hot, breathing hard, and crying, and he didn’t want her near him or looking at him at the moment. But, there she was. Where else would she be?

“Simon, I’m so sorry that your mom… is the way that she is. But, on the bright side, she’s not gonna be your problem anymore. She’ll be your grandmother’s and I mean… that’s her daughter. Who knows what she might have done to contribute to the person that she became…”

He looked up suddenly and stared at her in horror, “Do you think I’ll be like that? Do you think… I mean… I get so angry and I get violent, and I lash out… Do you think I’m like her? Am I gonna treat my family that way? My kid?”

Grace leaned forward to place her hands on Simon’s shoulders and said, “I think that you’re the best person I’m ever going to meet, that is of course until you have kids, because then they’ll be the best people, because you’re not going to make the same mistakes your parents did. I think for what you’ve been given, your anger and violence and lashing out is totally justified. And it isn’t like you just go around beating up the defenseless. I mean, yes, sometimes… we’re a little quick on the draw and maybe hurt somebody that probably didn’t deserve it that much, but there are actual school shooters and like… pedos and stuff out there. A kid who beats on people who deserve it every now and then, destroys some stupid property or whatever is like nothing compared to like… those types.”

“So… I’m not a good person, just not the worst,” he said.

“You’re the best person I KNOW.”

“You know like 3 people.”

“I know plenty of people!”

“Outside of your immediate family and me, name ONE.”

She stammered and he laughed a little. She was grateful for that, even if she was flustered. “The red… um… shirt… Cameron!”

“Cameron… The… guy who works at the Target right outside of the gated community?”

“Yes! See… I know people.” Now, he laughed heartily and threw his head back.

She knew kids at school who gave her presents’ names. She would always thank them and say something nice to them about their presents, whether or not they liked them. It was a trend to give her things and IF someone noticed her using or having the thing later, they had bragging rights, though no matter what anybody gave her, she preferred anything that Simon gave her over all of them. They never understood why, but she did. She knew that their presents came from wanting her to love them. His presents came from already loving her.

“Hey… do you want to go visit her?” She asked.

“Visit who?” he wondered.

“Hope,” she said. He looked startled. He knew that he never told her his sister’s name, but now that he was calm, she was testing the waters to see how he felt about her having at least some portion of knowledge.

He whispered, “I never go there.”

“I won’t try to force you,” she said.

After a moment, he said, “I want to…”

His hands were shaky until Grace took them in hers and smiled up at him, “Then let’s do it. We’ll stop by a shop and get her a nice bouquet.” She let go of one of his hands and pulled the other to follow her. He still didn’t want to say more about his sister, but some part of him wished that the visit would change something inside of him. He didn’t want to think about the word “Hope,” to describe his desires. It felt wrong.

He cried a lot. Grace smoothed her hand across his back and remained quiet. After a long while, and he was seemingly out of tears, she said, “Maybe I should skip the tour. I’ll probably have opportunities like this in the future. I’m pretty hot right now.”

“You always are.” He wanted to tell her not to do that. That she deserved to go on the tour and that she should have fun, but just like when she wanted to tell him that he didn’t have to write about his family to get into the academy, he didn’t have the nerve to openly oppose what was best for him.

What was best for him was that the one person that he could cry in front of was there for all of the summer nights that he was already certain that he would cry from stress alone. But it was up to her, just like it had been up to him to decide that he wanted to be at school with her, even if he was going to have to hurt a little to get there.

The difference was she ultimately decided that it was best that she went. He didn’t like it, but they had been apart before in the past and even if she had been in town, he was going to be constantly busy anyway. Still… he emotionally logged it as a time that she was not there for him when he needed her to be. Was it fair? Maybe not. But… it was simply how he felt about it.

#If They Didn't Get on the Train #AU Infinity Train #Infinity Train #Nesha Fanfiction #Infinity Train Fanfiction #fics

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chimswae · 4 years ago

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BTS Caretake CH26

Summary: She may think she has Bangtan Sonyeondan wrapped around her fingers. She may think it is easy to love the members equally without hurting any soul. She may think the boys wont fall head over heels for her. She assumes it is okay to show a little love and affection towards the boys, what if she gets it all wrong? What if it only brings more complication to her already complicated life? Can she survive their charms? Will she be able to resist them? What if they just wont let her go?

- Pairing: BTS x Oc ( Yoongi x OC, Jungkook x OC)

- Genre: Fluff, Slight Angst, Romance, Idol!au

- Word Count: 4,918

- Author Note: Happy December everyone! Slightly late update~ sorry!

Previous | Next

Chapter 26

D-day

Few hours before the actual event took place, the boys would be walking down BBMAs Magenta Carpet along with other renowned celebrities creating their own history. Everyone had started running here and there since morning, hectic day indeed. Not to mention, the boys woke up as early as 8 in the morning to get their makeup done. Early bird Kim Seokjin was the first one in line looking annoyingly stunning and cheerful like he always does.

“You are early Jin” Semmy chuckled.

“Good morning to you too nuna” Jin chortled moving his head a little, showing off his so called adorable side. “So, where is Seul?” he clasped his hand in anticipation to see the other girl to appear behind Semmy.

Semmy raised one of her brows, bemused “Aren’t you being a little too clingy Jinnie? You may chase the girl away” she teased, placing the box down on the floor.

Jin pouted in his seat “I am being a responsible person here, since I am the one who suggested her to come along with us. I may as well use this chance to show how much I care” he defended himself earning a soft chuckle from others.

His personal manager retorted “You mean a chance to show how much you value her?” Jin gasped dramatically, placing his hand over his own chest. “Hyung, how could you betray me? I thought we are best friend!” he pursed his lips in protest.

“I thought you are Jungkook’s bestfriend. You guys hang out a lot without me anyways” he hummed nodding at Jin’s way. Before he could open his mouth to protest again, Seul’s chirpy voice ended the morning bicker, “Morning everyone!” the small girl pushed the stainless-steel clothes rack inside the room.

Namjoon beamed watching her making an entrance “Morning Seul. Did you get a good rest?” said the leader with a concern look. She nodded giving him a thumb up and shifted his attention to Jin “How early are you that you already working those magic on your handsome face” she giggled.

“I couldn’t even sleep, this anxiety is killing me” he claimed.

“You will be doing great, I am rooting for you Jin! Oh unnie, I bring their outfits, so who should I assist first?” the bright girl smiled flustering Semmy.

Jin and Namjoon exchanged glance smiling away, Semmy signalled Seul to the room next to her “Jungkook and Yoongi are inside, maybe you can see whoever is done with their makeup” she laid all the accessories on the coffee table.

The mention of Jungkook and Yoongi names twitched her heart, however she had to show her professionalism. She was not allowed to involve her personal feelings in her job. Risky and dangerous. Without much complain, she went straight to check those guys inside. Sprawling on the leather couch was Jungkook with gadget in his hand, his lips twisted in the cutest manner probably frustrated with the game battle that he had.

Meanwhile on the other side, Yoongi was sitting with his eyes closed facing the vanity table. The older woman applied a little colour on Yoongi’s lid, keeping his makeup minimalistic and as natural as she could. She slid silently beside them, watching the woman moved her fingers skilfully blending the colours which suit Yoongi’s pale skin. In all honesty, any colour would look good on him, and Seul found herself smile unknowingly at the thought.

Realizing Seul’s presence beside them, the brunette was about to greet her but Seul quickly placed her finger over her own lips signalling her to keep it low. Seul gave a polite bow mouthing her a good morning. The woman let out a silent giggle, sending her a wink before returned to her work.

‘Min Yoongi you are better and hundred times nicer, if you just keep your mouth shut like this’ she approached Jungkook hesitantly, waving her hand in front of his face to snap him out from his little world.

Be professional, said Seul. As soon as their eyes met, Seul couldn’t help the blush from making its comeback on her skin. His bunny smile was not helping either only to worsen it even more. Deadpanned, Seul fan herself with a soft huff “Are you done with your hair and makeup?” she quickly asked.

Jungkook’s round eyes blinked cutely as his nose scrunched up cutely in response “Makeup, checked. I haven’t done my hair though. What do you need stylist nuna?” he teased. Seul cleared her throat averting her eyes from meeting his, wherever but just not Jungkook.

“Oh, if you are done then you can call me over. I will just assist someone else for now” turning her heels as fast as lightning, she was ready to make an escape. Jungkook grabbed her wrist right on time “You can still dress me up anyway. At least I wont ruin the hair later on” the corner of his lips was tugged upward into his usual flirtiest smile.

“Let me get your outfit Jungkook-ssi” she pulled her hand and expelled a relief sigh. She mentally cursed herself from acting awkward around him. How could she stop thinking about her moment with Jungkook a day ago? It had been bothering since then.

Afraid to appear irresponsible, she grabbed Jungkook’s outfit and returned to the golden boy again this time forcing herself to act professional. Whiny Jungkook on the other hand didn’t give her a hard time, thankfully. She could properly assist him with his outfit and as soon as she’s done with him, Seul passed the job to Semmy. It was evident the younger guy requested Seul to style his hair but she’s quick to reject it.

It was not a request.

It was a way for him to commit sin.

That sinful Jeon Jungkook.

She gave this thing a deep thought as Seul decided to look for Hoseok and Jimin. Assisting the two-fluffy sunshine were the best resort at the moment. Just no Yoongi and Jungkook for the time being. While waiting for Hoseok getting ready, Seul lend her hand to style Jimin’s hair. She might not be a real professional, but she could do a simple thing start with the spray and how to style one’s hair. For some reason her practice with Hoon was quite useful.

Running her fingers in Jimin’s fluffy hair, she carefully smoothed the area that needed her attention. His gaze fell on her as he watched Seul caressed his hair from the reflection. Chewing his lips excitedly, it would be a lie that he didn’t enjoy it even a bit. Hell, he’s over the moon to see her face.

“I like this hair colour, it fits you” she murmured as a soft smile plastered across her face.

Jimin eyes shrunk in process allowing him to smile handsomely through the mirror “Don’t you like my pink hair?” she shook her head without hesitation. “Not a fan of it, I like your dark brown and black hair better. I always go for natural colour” she took a quick glance and grabbed the hairspray.

“Said the tangerine head” he flicked tongue his mouth, smirking.

“Hey, I am planning to change it back to black. Blame my stupid best friend. She forced me to try out this colour. She apparently thinks having your hair coloured is the process of adulting. It is absurd but whatever, I don’t really like it” Seul pouted keeping her hand busy spraying his hair carefully not to hurt his eyes.

He chuckled heartily “Adulting is never easy babe” Seul froze upon hearing the last phrase. What a sneaky mochi! He did not just call her babe out of the blue in an open space especially with the presence of other staffs.

Seul knocked his head a little using her knuckles to bring back some sense in him “Don’t babe me. Who allow you to say that” she snickered, frowning in disapproval. “Ow! Why are you using violence to punish me” he rubbed the top of his head, puckering his lower lips adorably hoping that Seul would spare his life.

“Let’s set a clear boundary here Park Jimin-ssi” she turned the swivel chair, so the mouthy guy could face her. Puffing her cheeks out of annoyance, she palmed the arm of the chair trapping the adorable guy in between. Her hard stare caused Jimin to shrink in his seat “Ya, Ji Seul you are scaring me” his head neck almost disappeared when she leaned forward intimidating him.

“First, you are not allowed to show your affection towards me in public. Make it physical contact or through your words. When I mean affection, limits your touchy side. Keep your hands to yourself” her stern voice sounded super serious and scary to him.

“It cant be hel-“ Seul silenced him with single glare. He pressed his lips together firmly, recollecting his thought and continue to listen to the girl sulkily.

“Secondly, don’t babe me. I have a personal vendetta against it especially when it comes from you. It is disturbing. We are not dating or anything so-“ “YET!” Jimin cut her off and once again her fiery glare penetrated his eyes.

He placed his hands on his lap like an obedient kid “Okay sorry, I will shut up”. It took a lot of strength to not laugh at the scene in front of her, but she had to make things clear. Seul didn’t want thing with Jungkook repeated by its own. The trios are dangerous and contagious to her fragile heart, it needed to be put on pause before bad things happen.

“So, we are not dating. Just don’t call me babe. I don’t do cliché thing, just call me anything but not babe” she cringed.

Jimin tilted his stupidly cute head in a slow motion as if he’s thinking about something “I will call you bunny then” her eyes rounded at the nicknames earning a soft chuckle from Jimin “Or do you want to make it sounded sugary, hunny bunny?” his plump lips rounded imitating Seul’s eyes.

“Ew, I prefer none”

“Should I call you berry, like strawberry because you smell like strawberry”

“Stop it”

“Or should I call you baby?”

“That is even worse”

“How does yeochin* sounds like?” (*A slang for Yeoja Chingu=Girlfriend)

“PARK JIMIN IM NOT YOUR YEOCHIN!” she hissed lowly careful not to attract any attention to their side. Seul stood in front of him, crossing her arms defensively.

Jimin pouted out of habit driving her up the walls, she hated it when he pouted.

She despised cutesy stuff, yet Park Jimin’s cutesy side was beyond her control. She couldn’t control her heart from drumming crazily. Like right now.

“Alright this is impossible. I will just set the last rule. No nicknames, just call me Seul” with that she spun the swivel chair back facing the mirror in front of them. Jimin inaudible protest could be heard clearly and it tickled her heart.

Seul ended up spending another thirty minutes styling Jimin before moving to sunshine Hoseok. His smile pleased her heart as usual and finally she’s taking a break from handful guys like the trios. At least with Hoseok, she could act naturally without getting flustered most of the time. Plus, the light conversation that she had with Hoseok always end up playful and cheerful.

After all the members were ready, they would be interviewed by some Korean and American medias before heading to the venue. She swore she heard Bang PD beyond the door talking to the boys and it made her scared to death. He’s the big boss, to be in the same room as him, was nerve wrecking. Especially when she’s illegally replacing her mother place as their caretaker.

Seul sat together with other staffs taking their short break whilst the boys had their short interview and photoshoot outside. She had fun exchanging stories with the rest of the staffs and they had been nothing but awfully friendly to her since day one. Not to mention, BTS’s managers were as friendly as Sejin but bear in mind their goofy side would disappear once they were on roll again.

Their conversation died down upon seeing Bang PD followed by the boys behind him entering the room, everyone stood up bowing politely. Bang PD nodded “Thank you for your hard work, it must be tiring. I appreciate your dedication and passion” he fixed his glass at the bridge of his nose accompanied by a wide smile afterwards.

The moment his eyes landed on Seul, the latter watched the older man nervously and bowed again out of respect “You must be Ji Seul? Mrs Hwang’s daughter, am I right? Thank you for coming despite the short notice. I hope you are not burdened by it” he stated.

“No Sir! I am glad that I could help” she rubbed her hand together sheepishly.

“It must be hard to leave your mother alone. Is she doing alright? How’s the therapy treating her?” she steadied her breathing not to appear silly in front of him. So, she answered calmly “My mother is doing fine. It is hard for her part, but we are waiting for the donor. Thank you for asking” Seul bit her lower lips hoping the topic of caretaking the boys left untouched.

To her distaste, his next question taken her aback a little.

“Hm, I was quite worried that she wanted to continue caretaking the boys when she’s in no condition to work. She explicitly stressed her worries on the contract, but we can give her a long break from the job if she want. Will it be alright for her to work in that condition?” the boys exchanged worried glance in any case Bang PD might catch her lying to the company.

Seul broke into a cold sweat, “My mother is very stubborn. She insists on keeping the job because she’s worried of them. Technically, she takes care of Bangtan like her own son in fact she seems to love them more than me” she joked, letting out a small chuckle to ease the tension.

The older man laughed “Right, these boys did mention about that. Your mother is a kind lady and her dedication towards her job, I admire that. Maybe, you can fill in her place for the time being as their caretaker until she recovers” baffled Seul didn’t expect such proposition from the man in front of her. Bang PD had bigger heart than she imagined. He’s a thoughtful man.

Sejin’s face hardened as he too did not expect to hear such things from Bang PD. However, it would be a good thing meaning he had no secrets to keep from the company. BTS looked satisfied and their nervousness now being replaced by excitement.

“Me? But I am not married”

“What is wrong with your marital status young lady?” he eyed her with curiosity.

Seul mumbled “My mother told me that Bighit only hire people that’s married” she exclaimed timidly.

“Yes technically. We improvised the rules last year and changed it to in light of the recent events” he glanced at Namjoon’s way causing the younger man to lower gaze in guilt. “It is done to protect these boys from malicious rumours. Don’t worry, you are an exception since your mother has been working with the company for years. I was grateful for her hard work, taking care of these boys despite we couldn’t pay her much back then. She went to extra length feeding these boys using money coming from her own pocket. Your mother is an angel, this is the least that I could do for her to repay her kindness” he said genuinely.

She was losing her words and without she realized her body moved by its own bowing again, as soon as she lifted her head, Yoongi’s eyes explored hers. His heart stung to see the obvious tears in her eyes.

“Thank you, Sir. I will deliver the news to my mother soon. We’ll work on that” with this closure that she obtained from the head of the company itself finally put her mind at ease. She no longer had to sneak in and out like a criminal. Bang PD acknowledged her presence, that was enough for Seul to tend her job without fear of getting caught.

A trace of genuine smile could be seen on his face “I will inform the management team about it. It is set then. Be a good daughter to your mother and take care of her alright?” Seul nodded with her usual sunny smile. Bang Pd turned to the face the seven guys “She will be your caretaker from now on, no funny business boys” Jungkook pressed his lips into thin line trying not to break any silly smile.

“Even if you do have some funny ideas in your head, keep it under radar. Just.. hmm don’t get caught” he shoves his hand inside the pocket before leaving the room following Sejin for his next appointment.

Dumbfounded, Seul tried to decipher Bang Pd’s final words and she glanced at those silly boys, who had funny smile on their face as if mocking her. Did they just get a green light from their boss? Today was their lucky day, indeed.

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

Seul had already left with other staffs to the backstage considering the guys still had the magenta carpet to slay before they entered the venue. People started to fill all the empty seats. It didn’t take that long before the crowd grew bigger and the seats filled rapidly. Her eyes scanned the venue diligently and she spotted Armys in their seat with their Army Bombs and fancy placards. She smiled to herself complimenting their cuteness.

Shortly after, the cheers erupted embarking the entrance of BTS inside the venue. She could tell the flabbergasted face from the non BTS fans inside the venue trying to look for the source of the scream. Their fans started to cheer even louder while chanting “BTS” all over again until the boys settled down in their seat.

The boys didn’t see it coming and for once they were proud of themselves knowing Armys were there with them. They were no longer felt small and ashamed of themselves. Armys were as huge as other fanbases. Jungkook drummed his fingers on his thigh nervously, glancing around watching some familiar and unfamiliar faces flooding the arena.

The boys spotted their favourite celebrities from afar but too shy to make the first move. Some of the celebrities would casually come up to them and they had small talk, taking pictures together rendering them speechless. Everything was too dreamy for them but what else could they wish for.

“Seul-ah lets fix their look one last time before the event start” Semmy shoved the small bag in Seul’s embrace and the shorter girl walked after her and two of the staffs entering the arena. They gave a light touch up on their makeup, making sure they shone amongst the biggest stars in the arena.

Seul went to Taehyung, leaning down a little fixing his hair, “Good luck Tae. Don’t be nervous” he smiled beautifully with a soft murmur “Not anymore, now that I have seen your face” Seul rolled her eyes with a straight face.

“Right. See you later” after her final touch, she moved to Namjoon’s side. The leader seemed a little tense probably since they were nominated, it was the craziest feeling. He softened as soon as he noticed Seul’s fingers fiddle with his tux, smoothing it in process.

“Are you scared?” she took mini hairspray in the sling bag, before spraying the mist a little. He nodded, expelling a deep breath “You can do it. Whatever happen, Bangtan will always be the winner in Army’s heart” she fixed his hair to the side with her delicate touch.

“What about your heart?” his eyes glimmered.

Seul chuckled “We will see how you guys behave, since I am your official caretaker now” Namjoon pursed his lips in protest. “I will see you later, enjoy the show” she straightened up, not wanting to prolong the conversation any longer. There were eyes everywhere. Armys had eagle eyes, that was the scariest part.

Her body momentarily froze when she realized the next member, Min Yoongi. Yoongi burning gaze making Seul shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny. She kneeled as her back started to ache a little after the quick session with earlier members.

“You have been avoiding me ever since we reached here” his raspy voice was low. Seul tried to not get affected by that voice of his and did her job with a serious face. Neither she made an attempt to respond him nor she looked Yoongi in the eyes.

He clicked his tongue in disbelief “You are impossible Ji Seul. I will spare your life for now. Wait until everything is over” she looked unamused by Yoongi’s empty threat. She purposely squished his shoulder with greater pressure pretending to fix his tux to clean the so-called dust, making the rapper to jerk backwards in his seat.

Seul ran her fingers to the necklace around his neck, with a little tug, the guy coughed a little realizing the girl before her was about to choke him to death. That was exaggerating though, it acted as some sort of warning from the fierce Ji Seul.

Clenching his teeth together, his jaw tightened “Are you trying to choke me?” his forehead creased into a deep frown. Namjoon stole a glance at the couple and shook his head, resuming his conversation with the 95-liner.

“Attempt murder that is the word” she stated with her nose scrunched in bafflement.

Yoongi scoffed his disbelief “More like giving me a glimpse of how you want me to take you in bed” he looked up. She shot him a death glare looking eager to chop his foul tongue. Min Suga always know how to irk her. Seul gritted her teeth sending him a last hard stare before tailing Semmy behind. He watched the girl disappear from his vicinity following the rest off the staffs.

‘And no good luck for me? Impolite much’ he cursed in his head out loud. The urge to pull the girl back in his arm thickening.

He had to admit Seul could be somewhat confusing. One time she would be an angel in front of him, acted shy and very responsive to his teasing and touch. However, at one-point Seul could be a little aggressive only with him. He wondered if that girl had a personal vendetta against him. Why was she treating him like he’s her number one enemy? Gosh, she’s complicated.

Halfway through the shows, the announcer finally announced the winner of Top Social Artist Award and it was surprising though some already predicted BTS victory in this category. They practically beat Justin Bieber here which was a big deal. They were losing their soul as soon as they were announced as the winner.

None of them expected it to happen overnight considering the invitation to BBMAs alone were beyond greater than anything. Namjoon did his speech in English and added a little Korean in the end before they left to the backstage celebrating their glory together. They were at the verge of shedding tears, yet they had to compose themselves. It is not Korea, they must look good since they were carrying their country’s name on the shoulder.

Upon their arrival at the backstage, they were again welcomed by a loud clap and cheer from the crews and Bighit staffs included Seul. She was standing at the corner, watching them diligently with a proud smile. No words could describe her feelings that time. She was as overwhelmed as them.

Jungkook scrutinized the large area looking for the one face that he hoped to see and soon grinning from ear to ear once their gaze locked. Seul mouthed him a congratulation with big two thumbs up. He winked at her way and muttered a thank you before shifting his attention to the cameras in front of him.

They were supposed to do a quick backstage interview after winning the trophy, so everyone had moved to another side of the area. It was hectic with crews running from one place to another making sure everything ran smoothly.

On the other hand, Hoseok took a deep breath trying to calm down his aching nerve. His heart was racing, almost like it wanted to get off his chest. He stood behind Namjoon together with Jimin, whilst others paid attention to the interviewer. Soon, Hoseok felt a painful knot in his stomach and throat.

This heavy feeling tugging his heart making him hard to breathe. Jimin noticed his rapid breathing, he reached out to touch the older guy’s back “Hyung, are you alright?” he whispered. Hoseok steadied his breathing and shot the latter a small smile “I need to use the restroom, am I allowed to leave for a moment?” he murmured.

Just about time, their interview with the news outlet was done and they were ready to move to the next one before Jimin interrupted. “Hyung, Hoseok hyung need to go to the restroom, can he?” Namjoon patted his shoulder, looking concern “Are you alright Hobi?” he blinked.

“Y-eah… just nature call…” one of the managers came to his side, assisting him out from the crowd to find the restroom.

Squishing between the crowd was dizzying and he was lagged behind trying to catch up the man in front of him. Hoseok felt like throwing up as he clutched onto his belly refraining it from coming out. The vision in front of him was blurry and he’s drenched in sweat. Not caring of the surrounding, he dragged his heavy feet to escape the crowd and to find a quiet place to calm himself.

He bumped into something more like someone along his journey. It was not hard to recognize the owner of the voice, Seul only her. Seul grabbed his hand, holding onto it tight “Hobi, are you alright? You don’t look good?” she looked at him in sheer horror.

Hoseok tightened the grip around her wrist, as his hand shook followed by his heavy breathing. Seul pulled his arm in daze trying to find a more secluded place for him to regain his composure. Hurriedly Seul made a sharp turn at the corner and opened the door to a random room which appeared to be empty, thankfully.

She closed the door behind him and sat the panic guy on the chair. “Alright, calm down your breathing, take a deep breath, take a deep breath Hobi” she knelt down at his level, giving a soft squish on his hand.

“I c-ant” Hoseok clutched onto his chest, continue breathing loudly through his nose.

“You have to hold your breath for few seconds before releasing it. Think of happy thought, something that can calm you” Seul said in panic.

Hoseok weirded out upon hearing her statement and his chest moving heavily following his unstable breathing “Okay wait! Just try to hold your breathing!” desperately Seul held onto both his hand tight “together with me 1, 2, 3” Hoseok followed her but failed to do so.

“OH GOD! What should I do” Hoseok squeezed his eyes together forcing the air out from his lung and made another attempt. Seeing how Hoseok struggled, she had finally decided to take the matter in her own hand. Hence, without wasting any time, Seul cupped one of his cheek “I am sorry I have to do this” she closed the gap between them, hovering his lips with hers.

Hoseok’s breath hitched for few seconds as she drank in his gasps and sighs.

He couldn’t breathe.

Momentarily paralyzed.

His mind was in a haze.

The way how their lips intertwined onto each other, darken Hoseok’s thought. He never thought of having such close contact with her. How was he supposed to react to this?

She pulled away staring blankly at Hoseok hoping the techniques worked to stop his panic attack. And, it did. Hoseok breathed softly and forced the words out “How did you do that?” he uttered in bafflement.

Seul licked her lower lips, smiling meekly “I read once, if you hold your breath, it could stop your panic attack” the older guy was trying to recover himself from the sudden kiss that they shared. Even though her intention was to help him but why was he feeling fuzzy over it?

Hoseok shrugged the thought off from his mind, blinking few times and finally breathing normally again.

“Are you okay?” she felt self-conscious after the kiss. Not that she wanted to make it sounded like it was very special to her, still it was a kiss. The skinship was intimate not just a mere hug.

Did she just get herself into another trouble?

The two of them stayed in the room for ten more minutes giving Hoseok a space to regain his sanity. Now that his breathing normalized, Seul felt her blood rushed on her face, tainting her cheeks red. None of them dared to speak a thing, still bewildered by their own action.

“I..think we need to go find others. They must be worried” Seul broke the silence and making her way to the door.

Hoseok bit his lower lips, surpassing his grin “Thank you Seul, for….yeah”

Seul moved her head, nodding slowly at his way as they were back in the scene searching for others before they made a fuss over Hoseok’s disappearance.

#btscaretaker #bts series #bts fanfiction #bts fanfic #bts fic #jungkook x oc #yoongi x oc #bts romance #jin x oc #hoseok x oc #bts idolau #jungkook fluff #yoongi romance #yoongi x reader #yoongi fluff #jimin x oc

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whatwouldyourbiasdo · 4 years ago

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Finding Cinderella | Series | Chapter Two

Title: Finding Cinderella

Pairings: Donghae x reader,(Primary) Heechul x reader (Secondary), Kyuhyun x reader (Secondary)

Author’s Note: I have been planning this story for a while but have been battling many writers’ blocks in doing so. This story will mainly focus on Donghae and the reader but will have branching stories between Heechul, Kyuhyun and two secondary OC characters.

Sidenote: Yes, this series will include Kangin and Sungmin. This was originally started back when the two of them were still active members and in my heart they will always be members so I will include them wherever I see fit.

SM Entertainment plans to host the event of the century and you are invited!

The news headline offered as click bait got a lot of people talking. It wasn’t a complete lie as SM Entertainment was gearing up to host what they believed to be the event of the century and even a handful of lucky fans were going to be granted access to this exclusive party. But there was a catch.

Only a few lucky fans were going to receive a V.I.P. invitation to the party, a chance to meet all their favorite artists and celebrities as well as experience the best food and music they had ever come across.

In order to be considered for an invitation, fans had to record a video message stating why they loved SM Entertainment, what they felt like the company’s artists changed their lives and why they should be one of the honorable guests for the party. SM Entertainment artists would judge the videos and each group would collectively vote on one fan to personally invite to the party.

Some netizens criticized the requirements, stating that they were basically begging for people to praise them on video so they could use that to their advantage later as part of a sneaky promotional stunt, while other netizens praised the company for including fans who helped the company gain so much success over the past year.

Videos came flocking in as soon as the signup had opened, people had to create a personal account on the official SM Entertainment event page, fill out their profile and personal information and upload the video. On the first night, the event page managed to crash due to the traffic from all over the world though many netizens claimed the company would end up picking fans within Korea as they always seemed favorable to their country.

Not all the applications were valid to the competition, however. Some people thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get their own rise to fame and uploaded a video of them dancing, singing or acting in a desperate attempt to get discovered. Paying tribute to their favorite artists they sang their hearts out and tried to mimic the complicated choreography for as much as possible to showcase their own talents and abilities. Unfortunately for them, SM Entertainment wasn’t looking for new trainees and took no heed of these desperate audition attempts. And then there were the desperate fans who were just grasping the chance of conveying their messages to their favorite idols, hoping that their love confession would set off a series of events only seen in dramas.

Some, however, took it to the extreme. This platform was also the perfect opportunity for the so-called “sasaengs” to come forth with extreme and desperate messages stating that their “oppa” needed to love them and whoever would love them instead would face serious consequences. Most of them would receive a message that their account had been disabled for not following the rules and the company even issued a warning that those would continue sending disturbing messages would face legal repercussions.

Lee Chanhee had hesitated several times about signing up and giving it a shot. She had been a big SM Entertainment fan for years, their artists and music ignited a light within her which sparked her passion for singing. There had even been people who told her she had actual star potential, the only thing that held her back was her fear. A fear to audition and get rejected. A fear of people who were supposed to be experts, rejecting her and crushing her dreams, killing the fire that fueled her passion. And the idea of the stress and demanding schedules she had heard about, it definitely made the idea of signing as an artist less favorable. Having all eyes on her, judging her every action and movement, commenting on anything she did or said or didn’t do or say, the pressure of being perfect… That was something she rather lived without. Instead, she decided to keep it low and sing for fun. Releasing online songs under a pseudonym to keep the mystery going, she gathered quite a fanbase of followers and viewers. And that was enough, for the time being.

But a chance to be invited inside SM Entertainment, to meet, greet and party with her favorite artists and get an idea of how the people she admired were in real life, without the cameras and the pressure to keep up their good image, that intrigued her. And so her mouse hovered over the signup button on the event page. But she didn’t click.

“Signing up means I have to record a video...” She let out a soft sigh as she considered her options. “Which means people will see my face… And they’ll judge my story...” They made it quite clear in the promotions that the artists were actually going to be reviewing the applications themselves and personally pick out a fan to invite. Which would mean she could have the chance to personally convey her feelings and experiences with her favorite artist, but that could also mean making a great fool out of herself. She could just imagine the groups watching her video, laughing at how ridiculously cringeworthy she looked.

But what exactly did she have to lose? None of them knew her and if her video was laughable at best, they wouldn’t invite her over which means that they would just as easily forget about her embarrassment. And if she did get invited then maybe, just maybe her video wasn’t as cringeworthy as she imagined it in her head.

“Yah! Chanhee-ah!” A voice called from the hallway as she heard the front door slam shut. Footsteps approached her bedroom door and a second later the door flung open revealing the dark haired girl that had burst into her apartment. Sometimes she regretted giving her the password. “Aish, there you are!”

“Oh, Miya-ah!” The curly haired girl nodded as she finally moved from her spot behind her computer and greeted her friend. Miya was a student at the Korean National University of Arts, majoring in vocal and dance courses whom Chanhee had met online right after she released her first ever song online under the pseudonym 월광 신데렐라 (moonlight cinderella). Miya was her first subscriber and commenter and had proceeded to comment, like and even promote every song she released after that. When Miya sent her a message asking if she was a student at her university and that she could introduce Chanhee to one of the music producer majors, she took the plunge and met up with Miya. And they have been friends ever since.

“Sorry, I’m late since the semester is ending they are killing us with exams and preparations,” The slightly shorter girl huffed as she dragged her bag over the floor.

“No problem!” Chanhee smiled as she inched closer to the girl with a curious gaze down on the bag she was dragging along. “So… You got the goods?”

“Ah?” Miya exclaimed, looking up at the taller curly haired girl with a somewhat confused gaze before realizing what she meant. “Oh! Yes! Miya's goody supplying service has done it again!” She grinned proudly as she crouched down and rummaged her bag until she pulled out the small USB stick. “Tadaa! I swear, Yunghwa was going to have a mental breakdown since his program kept crashing and it deleted his final project, you should have seen his face!” She mused, showing no signs of consideration towards her music producer friend she put in charge of helping produce and mix Chanhee’s releases.

“Aigoo, please thank him for me!” Chanhee humbled as she held her hands out for the USB stick, impatiently waiting to hear the final product. She had worked hard on this release, usually, she only produced covers of popular and lesser known songs, but this was the first re-write of a song she composed and she was eager to hear how it turned out before releasing it online.

She did feel sorry for putting so much pressure on Miya’s friend who she could imagine was under a lot of stress as was with finals creeping up. And to top it off, Yunghwa wasn’t even getting paid for the producing he did. Chanhee did offer, but Miya somehow found a way to have him do it without any reward. Chanhee decided not to ask questions.

“Psh, all he needs is a couple of cups of coffee and he’ll be good to go!” Miya smirked as she placed the USB in her hands. “So what were you up to?”

“I was wondering if I should sign up for the SM Entertainment event...” She muttered as she made her way back to her computer, playing with the USB in her hands.

“Oh, right… The fan event where they’re asking you to stick some feathers up their butts to make them feel good,” Miya hummed thoughtfully. She had heard about the event, not surprising since it was advertised everywhere and several of her fellow students had signed up. Not to mention her former roommate had been talking about all the things she had to arrange for it seeing as she found a full-time job at the company after dropping out of university.

Personally, she didn’t feel the appeal of the event, she highly doubted those lucky fans would even catch a glimpse of their idols and would most likely be stuffed in one corner of the venue. She could imagine most of the people that signed up merely did so to get to meet their wannabe husband or wife.

“It would be a chance of a lifetime to attend… Even if it’s just for the food.” Chanhee explained. “But I’m not sure if I’m so comfortable with recording a video message. Especially since the artists will hand pick the winners themselves.“

“Huh, you would think they’d have better things to do than to go through millions of fan videos.” Miya clicked her tongue as she brushed her fingers through her already messy hair. The thing about college students was that after a certain amount of time you stopped giving a crap about your appearance, the dress code was pajamas and dark eye circles most of the time anyway. “But these idols don’t know you, right? So what’s the worse that could happen? You’ll be one of a million rejected and they’ll probably not even remember your face or voice or anything.”

“See, that is what I was telling myself but still...” She bit the inside of her lip as she stared back at the signup screen.

“C’mon! Just do it, you know you want to or you wouldn’t be hesitating so much!” The smaller girl pressed her finger onto the curly haired girls to make her point. “Don’t think too much and just do it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!”

“Yes! Yes, you’re right! Let’s do it!” Chanhee encouraged herself as she finally clicked the sign-up button and filled out the information they requested. It also asked for a preferred group, seeing as they were going to divide the applications between all the groups to limit the amount of time their artist had to spent on watching and judging the videos. After thinking about it, she decided to sign up for Super Junior, reasoning that the group barely seemed to take themselves too seriously so if she ended up making a fool out of herself they would most like just brush it off as adorable at least. Or that’s what she kept telling herself as encouragement.

“Lemme know how the track sounds before releasing it and if you need anything changed hit me up and I will pester Yunghwa into fixing it!” Miya mentioned as she hoisted her bag over her shoulder again. She didn’t have enough time to stick around unfortunately, a student’s duty called and she had to get back to campus for a couple more classes.

“Thanks a lot, Miya!” Chanhee beamed as she turned to look at her friend. “I owe you a lot!”

“Aye, what kind of fan would I be if I didn’t go to the extreme for my precious unnie!” She flashed her a cheeky smile and winked as she finished her words before heading out. “Good luck!”

Chanhee waited for her friend to leave and the sound of the door falling back into its automated lock before opening her recording program and turning on her camera. She stared at her own reflection in the screen, huffing as she brushed her fingers through her soft curls trying to get them to twirl a way that would look decent on camera. Patting her cheeks she wondered if she needed to add some more makeup or if it were best to just go with the natural look to give them the right idea of the girl proclaiming her love to the company.

“Ok Chanhee,” She took a deep breath, her finger hovering over the record button. “It’s now or never, I can do this!” She cleared her throat and hit the red button.

“Annyeonghaseyo, Lee Chanhee imnida. Twenty-five years old, veterinary assistant... “ the curly haired girl introduced herself with a shy smile and soft voice. She was fidgeting with her curls as she seemed to try and think of the right words to say.

“I guess I should be answering some of these questions…” Her eyes darted off to the words on the screen for a moment as she mouthed the question first before turning back to the camera with a thoughtful look on her face.

“Um… How has SM Entertainment influenced my life? I guess I would say it has turned my world upside down...” A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she finished her words. “Ah, but not in a bad way! Not at all… It has shown me that music is so much more than a simple melody and some words. It’s about the feeling and message that it’s trying to convey. Connecting people with a mutual feeling, regardless of boundaries set by society… I think that’s what makes it beautiful.”

She seemed to really be contemplating her words as she no longer focused on the camera and as her mind wandered off to the message she was trying to convey, she seemed less nervous. “The first song from SM Entertainment that I had ever heard was sung by Super Junior, and it seemed to speak to me in a way I never expected music to do… In particular when Kyuhyun’s part came up. His voice managed to capture the words and the message, touching every heartstring by singing. It felt like he was conveying the message straight to my heart without ever having met. That’s the power of real talent, it says a lot about the artist's abilities.”

A soft hum escaped her lips as she let her own words sink in for a moment, hesitating whether or not she should keep speaking. It was clear that there was more to say, but she wasn’t sure if she could. “Music has saved my life in more ways than one. And to show gratitude I have always supported all the artists. If I ever had the chance to meet them, I would like to thank them for all the strength their music has given me…”

Her eyes moved up to the question on the screen again as she read the final question. “Ah… In all honesty, I’m not sure if I can answer the last question. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who would deserve being invited more than me. So I’m not going to answer why I think I’m more deserving or special than all the other fans, everyone has their own reasons for being and their own story to tell. So if I get chosen I will feel blessed and thankful, but if not then I will still be right here, supporting the artists to the best of my abilities, that’s the least I could do.”

As she spoke her final words the screen turned to black as the video had finished. The boys stared at the screen for a moment as they let the message sink in before speaking.

“Wow, that has to be the most genuine message we have seen so far...” Sungmin finally spoke up, breaking the silence filling the Super Junior office.

So far they had seen fans declaring their undying love to the company and them as artists draped in every single Super Junior merchandise they could find. Swinging lightsticks, screaming out their names, high on energy drinks and showing the posters that covered their bedroom walls.

But this girl seemed to really take the requirements seriously. She recorded a video and answered the questions diligently and genuinely. Judging by appearance compared with some of the other videos, you could hardly tell she was a fan. But listening to her words, it was clear she thought long and hard about what she wanted to say and she actually knew what she was talking about.

“Tch, unbelievable she chose Kyu’s voice over mine!” Heechul smirked as he nudged the younger male playfully. He had seemed flustered when the girl started speaking about his ability to convey a message. Sure, he had been praised for his voice and talent before but for some reason the way she praised him felt different.

“She knows her stuff, that’s for sure!” Ryeowook nodded in agreement, it wasn’t surprising that someone praised Kyuhyun’s voice. He was one of the main vocalists after all.

“Let’s just pick hers since I doubt there will be any other actual entries on this list!” Kangin stated as he pulled out his phone. They had been watching videos for several hours now, some more cringeworthy and loud than others. He could understand that people were excited to have a chance to meeting them, but after several hours of sitting in one spot and watching these videos, he was in dire need of some change of scenery.

“That wouldn’t be fair towards the other fans,” Leeteuk felt somewhat guilty about the idea of skipping the rest of the entries right away. “I’m sure all of them put a lot of thought and dedication into it.”

“Well, can we at least call in for some food and drinks then?” Shindong suggested, maybe if they had food to keep them busy, enduring these videos would seem a lot less tiring. It was nice to hear all the praise their fans had given them, it definitely made all of them feel grateful for having such a dedicated fanbase.

“Pizza?” Yesung suggested, feeling peckish himself.

“No, chicken!” Eunhyuk protested as he was craving the taste of juicy fried chicken a lot more at the moment, already licking his lips at the thought of it.

“Why not both?” Donghae shrugged, it wouldn’t be the first time they mix and matched their food preferences because honestly, trying to decide on what to eat with ten - thirteen different cravings wasn’t exactly the easiest task in the word.

“Pizza and chicken sound good to me!” Kyuhyun nodded, finally joining in on the conversation. His mind had been replaying the words of praise Chanhee had spoken before, wondering why those specific words seemed to get to him so much.

“I’ll be right back, you guys keep watching!” their manager nodded as he left the room and headed down the hallway. “Ah! Park-ssi!”

The girl stopped in her tracks as she heard her name being called, turning in the direction of the voice as her crimson locks danced around her face. She bowed in greeting as the manager approached her.

“Yes? How can I help you?”

“I need you to order a couple of pizzas and boxes of fried chicken,” the manager told her as he nudged his head back to the office behind him. “The boys are going through the applications and they’re starting to get restless so they need some food to tie them over.”

“The boys?” She arched a brow curiously as she glanced over at the door leading to the office, hearing muffled voices from the other side. “Ah, Super Junior right? Pizza and chicken? Sure, of course, I can arrange that for you.”

“Thank you, I knew I could count on you!” he smiled thankfully as he bowed his head in gratitude. “Don’t take too long, though. They still have a lot of applicants to review.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have them deliver in fifteen minutes,” Eunmi grinned as she nodded in understanding. “You know how persuasive I can be after all.”

#super junior #super junior donghae #donghae #lee donghae #super junior scenario #super junior scenarios #super junior imagine #super junior story #donghae scenario #donghae scenarios #donghae imagine #donghae story #donghae x reader

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willow-salix · 5 years ago

Text

This is a vaguely on prompt offering for @gumnut-logic #irrelief. It's based on the prompt of Gordon and John have something in common for @scribbles97 but also to fulfil the wish of @hodgehegposts for me to make use of my random note idea about Jeff, and for @onereyofstarlight who likes Jeff just happily existing. It will also be a little for the Pen and ink people.

Enjoy!

His hand snuck it's way across the couch cushion towards hers, but she pulled away. Frowning he looked at her, but she wasn't even looking at him, her eyes were focused on his dad, who was staring at them like one would a monkey in the zoo.

Gordon huffed and crossed his arms, scowling. Who'd have thought it would be so hard to get a little time with his girlfriend in his own home? It wasn't like she was there all the time, not like Selene was, and he wanted to make the most of it. But every time he reached for her his dad was there with his too keen eyes and knowing smirk. It was really putting a cramp in his style.

He hadn't actually spoken to his dad about his involvement with Peneolope, but now he was wishing he had because he wasn't sure if his dad was teasing him, judging him or both.

It wasn't like he was trying to hide it from him, it was just that it was still quite new and they had yet to fall into that comfortable place that John and Selene were. He still felt quite awkward when there were people around, although Penny kept reminding him that they weren't doing anything wrong.

It had been three weeks since he and his brothers had taken a hair-raising trip through the Oort cloud to bring him home and in that time there had been a lot of adjustments for everyone.

Now that Jeff was feeling a little better he had reverted straight back to his normal behaviour, which apparently included an ability to embarrass your kids with just a look. His radar for any and all sneaky activity was in full working order.

Penny had been there to meet him the second they had landed the Zero-XL, greeting him with a hug and a quick kiss. Had he known it would be their last private moment he'd have made more of an effort.

Jeff had to have seen them standing together at the graduation ceremony Grandma and Selene had planned. Selene had gone all out, picking up a gown and cap and bringing it with her, although Alan had refused to wear the gown. Jeff had been front and center, beaming proudly, but his eyes had been constantly scanning his assembled family as if he still couldn't quite believe he was there.

He'd focused on Penny standing beside him, her arm through his and his eyes had zeroed in with the precision of a heat seeking missile. Gordon froze on the spot like a rabbit in headlights. What should he do?

A call had come through and they had all scrambled, breaking up the celebrations, leaving the ladies of the house to finish setting up the after party for when they got back. Gordon had never been more grateful for an emergency in his life.

She'd leaned in for a kiss later that night, the party in full swing, only for him to spot Jeff watching them from the other side of the seating area. Quickly he had dodged to the side and started speaking to Brains who had no clue why he was suddenly the center of attention or why Gordon wanted to know if he'd eaten lunch.

The next day Gordon cornered her in the kitchen, wrapping his arms around her waist, intent on indulging in a little make out session. She'd gestured over his shoulder and there was his dad, sitting at the table, a spoonful of porridge halfway to his mouth, staring.

They'd planned a long walk around the Island, but Jeff had called a family meeting to catch up on everything he'd missed.

Later that night, a little restless and a lot horny, he'd taken a gamble and, feeling very much like a teenager again, had snuck out of his bedroom and tiptoed his way to the guests quarters where she was staying.

He would have made it too, if only Jeff hadn't opened his door right at that moment to let Armstrong in. Gordon glared at the cat, who flicked his tail dismissively, sauntering between his father's legs as he vanished into the dark room.

"You OK, son? Can't you sleep either?"

"Erm...no, I mean, I'm OK but I couldn't sleep, I was just going to get a hot chocolate."

"Kitchen's that way," Jeff pointed out helpfully, "hot chocolate sounds good. I think I'll join you."

Each and every time they had gotten close to anything and there was his dad.

Sitting beside the pool and Jeff had sat with them. Eating breakfast meant that Jeff shared their coffee pot. Penny brought a picnic with her from her favourite London deli and Jeff was already waiting on the beach.

They had played the waiting game, trying to outlast everyone as the rest of the house slowly trickled off to bed, but Jeff was made of stronger stuff than them and always won that battle of wills. It was impossible!

Getting desperate, Gordon had gone to the one person he'd never thought he'd have to ask for dating advice.

"How do you and Selene ever manage to get any alone time? You sit with us all day, you go to bed late and your room's right next door to mine so I know you only sleep."

With the experience of a man who had been dating for over a year in a house full of people, John bestowed upon his younger brother his words of wisdom.

"You expand your horizons, little brother."

Gordon frowned, what did he mean by that? Expand his horizons? John only ever went to Selene's flat, which was very rare considering she was hardly ever off the island now, or five. Hey, now that was an idea.

"Can I borrow your elevator?"

"Hell no! No one boinks in my bird but me."

"Then what? Try to be a little more cryptic next time, will you?" Was that a sarcastic tone? John thought it was.

"If you really need me to spell it out for you, then I can't help you."

"Dude, I'm trying here, help a brother out."

John's eye roll was a thing of beauty.

"We have an entire Island and the Villa is not the only building with beds, " he explained patiently.

Gordon actually facepalmed. It was so obvious! How could he not have thought of that?

"You're a genius!"

"I know," his brother answered seriously, he had the paperwork to prove it.

Gordon shook his head at that, his brother might have lightened up a lot the past year, but he was still John.

***

Gordon met Penny at the end of the pathway later that night. It was almost two in the morning, the night was still and the crescent moon shone brightly in the clear sky above them, surrounded by glittering stars. It would have been a very romantic night to have a picnic on the beach if he hadn't been so desperate to get his hands on her.

Grabbing her hand he towed her along, making her giggle at how eager he was. It had been a long few days and it would be nice to be able to blow off a little steam as well as spend some quality time together.

He put his palm on the door lock of the round house, but instead of the little beep that accompanied the opening of the door, it gave an ominous bong.

"What's wrong with this thing?" He tried again. Bong. Rejected. He pushed at the door but it remained locked.

"What the hell?"

His comm beeped on his wrist and the bare torso of his brother popped up.

"Not this one."

Gordon's eyebrows rose in shock as Penelope dissolved into fresh giggles.

"This one has good soundproofing," Selene's head popped into view, her evil grin in full display.

"I did NOT need to hear that!"

John vanished, leaving them both locked outside.

"Cliff House," Gordon decided, doing an abrupt about face.

***

From his desk chair Jeff could monitor everything that happened on his island, and tonight was no exception.

He chuckled to himself as first his middle son and Selene had snuck out of the house and then, just over an hour later, first Penelope and then Gordon had exited their rooms and met up outside.

He was sure that they thought they were being inconspicuous, but they forgot that he had been young once and knew all their tricks.

It was strange to see how much his sons had grown up in the time he had been gone, especially with his youngest two.

He knew that he was probably being a little unfair on Gordon, but it was just too funny to see the way he reacted whenever he interrupted them.

It had taken all his self control to keep a stern look in his face and not burst out laughing at the look on Gordon's face whenever Jeff leveled his disapproving gaze in his direction.

It wasn't that he really disapproved, far from it, in fact he was very happy for his son. Penelope was a wonderful woman, one that he had always liked and thought of as family, but that meant that his protective streak extended to her as well. He needed to make sure that his son was serious about her, they didn't need their top agent to be distracted or for things to become awkward.

All Gordon needed to do was stand up for himself and talk to him man to man, but until then he would continue to have his fun.

#gordon tracy #john tracy #jeff tracy #Penelope Creighton-Ward #Pen and Ink #fluff #Fun #irrelief2020 #irrelief #thunderbirds #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfiction

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sairenharia · 5 years ago

Text

Why Chloe Does Things

‘She doesn't do good things to be altruistic, but to receive recognition.’

Which is true, but framing it as solely bad thing is completely ignoring the fact what recognition means for Chloe is Validation.

Chloe is very much a product of how she was raised. She had a father who was very busy and would give into her every little whim. She had a mother who could barely remember her name and was the kind of person who would tell Chloe the only thing of worth about her was her mother. In front of people important to Chloe and on TV after it was obvious she was having a breakdown. A mother who taught Chloe love was not unconditional, that you had to be exceptional AS A CHILD to have attention and love.

Does it make it right she’s been malicious and cruel? No, but it explains why she does what she does.

Much like Adrien’s own childhood explains much of how he is. Adrien has a hard time standing up for himself and others because rocking the boat could make his father upset. So he let’s Chloe be a bully for so long, and let Lila lie because Adrien was raised to NOT rock the boat by a controlling father who expected his son to be perfect. And what it’s made is a boy whose willing to sacrifice himself for others to the point it’s deeply worrying. He can be overbearing and entitled to Ladybug because that’s what he learned from his father. He doesn’t understand when people like him unless it’s stated because he hasn’t been around people. These are all traits he gained from his own toxic home, but because none of these things make him ‘lash out,’ he’s forgiven for a lot of it. And since Emilie is said to be kind, Adrien at least knew how to be nice and kind despite these flaws.

Chloe, however, is someone who grew up in a toxic home who learned to lash out. If someone is competing with something for what she wants? Her father has taught her to destroy her opponent. If someone does something to displease you? Her mother taught her to tear them down and get rid of them if possible. If there’s an obstacle in your way? Throw money and influence at it. Unconditional love does not exist. Chloe’s parents taught her to be rude and overbearing and aggressive, and if that doesn’t work, be sneaky and underhanded.

And what happens if someone isn’t like that? If they’re nice and step back and don’t demand attention?

Then they’re like Adrien, constantly denied things he wants. Or they’re servants, ordered around.

Everything in Chloe’s life has taught her to be aggressive and mean or else she will be walked over and ignored. For all Bustier may not be a good teacher for the rest of her students, she is right. Chloe needs to LEARN how to be a better person and to do that, she needs people to SHOW HER.

And unfortunately, no one’s been truly following through on the lessons.

Despair Bear. Adrien puts down his foot and Chloe tries to be nice. She decides to bring Tom to the party On Her Own. No Mister Cuddly, no butler, no Adrien. She decided this was a nice make up thing herself. And yes, she gets mean after, but that’s also the moment where Adrien should have told Chloe ‘hey, no, calm down,’ and Chloe would have most likely course corrected.

But even with that, Chloe’s rate of Akuma’s went down DRAMATICALLY. After having her cause most of the Akuma’s in the first season, to have her only causing a few afterwards, is extremely telling. It means she’s pulled back her hostility, and aggression. And while absence of cruelty isn’t kindness, it’s still an Improvement and a good one.

We have Zombizou and Chloe was acting out because she didn’t get a gift for a teacher she liked and it was pointed out how her mother didn’t remember her birthday. We saw her forget Adrien’s birthday too, this is clearly a kind of trauma for Chloe. And she acted out because of it. Then at the end, she sacrificed herself, and she took responsibility, and she apologized.

And most telling.

She gave Bustier a present. Moreover, she gave her a present and HID THE FACT SHE DID THIS. Bustier would be the one to know and no one else or so was her plan. This wasn’t Chloe doing a good thing to be recognized. She did a good thing because someone gave her love and validation and she wanted to show she CARED.

With Style Queen, Chloe put herself in HARMS WAY for Adrien. She quick talked an Akuma, who she distracted and lead around to buy Ladybug time and safety. She tried to free Adrien. She had to deal with the fact her own mother may hurt her and she still did what good she could and was fairly effective at it. Because someone she cared about was in danger because she never even bragged about this. She didn’t talk about helping Ladybug, she didn’t even brag to Adrien. She didn’t seek recognition at all because it was about helping Adrien.

We have Queen Wasp and the whole ordeal is a mental nightmare for Chloe. We don’t even know what Chloe had PLANNED to do for the Miraculous. We don’t know if she always planned to reveal her identity, or if she planned to just show up at an Akuma attack, or anything. What we do know is she hadn’t planned to show herself then.

Chloe’s always had a problem with Marinette. For all Alya is the more aggressive of the two, it’s Marinette who gets under Chloe’s skin. Marinette basically gets everything Chloe wants no matter what she does. Which is nice from the viewer perspective to see, but Chloe sees it as Marinette stealing things that are her’s. To have Marinette in particularly get her mother’s attention, her admiration, to get an offer to come to New York to be her protege when Chloe hadn’t even been on a TRIP to VISIT...

Then to have her mother tell her she’s not exceptional at all, that she’s useless in her mind, of course she revealed she had the Miraculous because superheroes are exceptional. If she can be a superhero, then she has to be exceptional.

Chloe’s first run as Queen Bee wasn’t an attempt at fame and glory. It was a desperate plea to be loved, to be seen. She wanted to be approved. She wanted to be useful. To thing of note, Chloe has no growing pains. She knows to use the top, she doesn’t hesitate to run, she even knows her weapon works as a phone. She knew how to USE her powers which meant she learned what she needed to do.

And when she runs from Ladybug, we don’t see her mad once she’s alone. She’s sad. When she’s deakumatized, she’s sad. She begs to be given a chance. She’s in tears. Chloe’s mother hammers in that she’s not exceptional and she’s holding onto that Miraculous even more. Then Chat Noir and Ladybug show her kindness, they offer her understanding, and encouragement, and she hands it back and apologizes, even offering them a smile.

And when she’s alone, she’s upset and doesn’t want to see anyone because she’s hurt her mother doesn’t love her and she’s allowed to be hurt. It’s at this moment Chloe realized her mother wasn’t going to love her, but she had done the right thing. The heroes had approved of her even if her mother didn’t.

And what happens next?

Marinette brings Chloe to Audrey and then talks about how Chloe is exceptionally mean. Surprising Chloe then making her mad, saying she’s the worst person she’s ever met and a rock is more capable of love. So she gets mad.

And then Audrey finally acknowledges her. And she uses the fact Sabrina is her only friend as a bragging point, even though we know it HURTS her that no one likes her later. She’s doubling down on her behavior to get her mother’s approval and when she gets the hug, she looks so relieved to get it.

Chloe was ready to accept her terrible mother wouldn’t approve of her, but the superheroes did, and it could have been a moment to change, but then she’s encouraged to be exceptionally mean to impress her mother.

Much like the end of Zombizou where Chloe showed kindness to the one who gave her validation, after Queen Wasp, Chloe did what the person who gave her validation wanted. She became Exceptionally Mean.

Malediktator rolls around and while her documentary was vain and over the top, having her mistakes thrown in her face, and then having Marinette, Marinette who had HELPED WITH HER MOTHER, tell her off was probably a whiplash that Chloe wasn’t ready to deal with. Really, Alya and Alix had said just as much as Marinette, but it’s Marinette she focuses on. Then Chloe decides she wants to shut down the school and banish Marinette, which is extreme even for her. She’s usually for petty brands of nastiness and revenge, not life ruining levels. (Kung Food is the only one on that level, but it was also clear Chloe didn’t think it was a serious contest.)

And the fact she came in with Audrey, she probably complained to her, and they fed into a cycle of anger and meanness. Because Audrey gave Chloe validation, so Chloe listened and trusted her. But even when she couldn’t be mean, she just decides to leave. And when her father shows up Akumatized, promising her what she wants, she’s conflicted. Everything she wants, but her father is also an Akuma.

By the time she talks to Ladybug, Chloe gives in to tell the truth. It takes prompting, but she always struggles to admit the truth. Nobody likes her, she has no friends, she’s useless. Ladybug is a superhero and she serves a purpose. And by the end of the fight, she hands back the Miraculous without prompting, and is surprised by a fistbump. And the thing is, she’s not the one who goes out of her way to get the attention.

In fact, what she does do is decide she has to do things for herself. She has to clean up her lair.

Then Marinette throws a party together for Chloe. Chloe whose utterly shocked that she’s being celebrated. Chloe didn’t expect it, she didn’t arrange it, she didn’t do any of that, Marinette did.

And what Chloe learns is she’s given admiration, attention, and VALIDATION when she’s Queen Bee. Left alone, she would have cleaned up her lair, and feeling useful, like she helped Paris and her family. She was in a good place and I wouldn’t say the party hurt the progress she was waking on that front.

What it did do was encourage her bragging tendencies. She would bring up she’s Queen Bee more and more, she would brag, which had it’s pros and cons. On one hand, she was bragging a lot and seeking more importance than she really had. But on the other hand, she was also quick to act. She was getting protective of Sabrina and was quick to get somewhere that Ladybug could find her and recruit her. And when Chloe is Queen Bee, we see she’s on task and she’s quick to work with people.

When Chloe is being a superhero, she’s actually GOOD at the job. She adapts and focuses and is ready to do what she needs to. Braggy, sure, but she’s still doing GOOD.

And Miraculer happens and of course Chloe is hurt. Of course she lashes out. Because Ladybug doesn’t explain anything to Chloe. She let’s her hope longer and longer with no sign. Chloe is yet again ignored by someone she adores. She hopes that Ladybug still believes in her and will recruit her.

And Chloe says no to an Akuma. Because she believes in Ladybug. Because she wants to be a superhero. Because she wants recognition.

And this is where it’s a disservice to Chloe to treat recognition as a bad thing.

Because Chloe said NO. To an AKUMA. Because she wanted this recognition. This isn’t someone just wants to be popular, or have bragging rights. This is a need for recognition that overcame all of Chloe’s anger and resentment and fears. It was strong enough for Chloe to want to do this the RIGHT way.

This is Recognition in the need for Validation.

Validation is something humans need. Validation is necessary for humans to learn they have worth. Marinette in Origins needed Chat Noir to tell her she could be a hero because she’s already saved one life, he validated her as being able to do this by pointing out the positive effect she already had. She could only see her mistakes, she needed validation.

Adrien in Syren also needed validation. After having his partner lie to him and not explain anything, of course he doubted his worth, and he needed Plagg’s encouragement, for Plagg to say he had value before he started to believe he had worth. Adrien is minimizing his rebellion in hopes his father will validate him.

Chloe doesn’t have validation. Chloe sees herself as useless. Really think about it. It’s not that Chloe messes up or makes mistakes, it’s that she’s useless and has no purpose. That is a deep well of self deprecation there that Chloe covers up with hostility and arrogance because everytime she confronts those beliefs, she’s brought to tears.

She has a mother who barely paid attention to her. She had a father that spoils her rotten, and teaches her bad lessons. She learned to rely on that power to get what she wanted instead of earning what she got.

She never learned how to be a good person. She didn’t learn how to be empathic. She barely knows how to love.

But she wants to. She just doesn’t know how.

Because the people we see Chloe truly admire besides her mother are kind people. She adores Ladybug. We see her adore Adrien. Prince Ali is the only celebrity we’ve seen Chloe treat with admiration. These are kind people. These are the ones Chloe chooses to admire.

Chloe doesn’t do things with altruism because she doesn’t know HOW to. And no one is teaching her how to. Everytime she’s about to do something that would help her start to overcome emotional issues, things get in the way.

She is ready to give up on her mother and she’s encouraged to be exceptionally mean.

She accepts doing a good job as Queen Bee and is given a party. She’s given validation and appreciation that doesn’t depend on being mean.

Except then she can’t be Queen Bee. She tries to double down on that more then being mean because the only Akuma’s she causes after Queen Bee is Stormy Weather and Miraculer, and Stormy Weather reeks of her being terrified she can’t change. With arguably helping Animaestro and Gamer 2.0, but that was a fire already. Because what Chloe wants is to be Queen Bee.

Chloe wants to be USEFUL. And she uses it to gain attention because she can’t be Queen Bee, so she just has to convince everyone she’s still that awesome because if they believe it, maybe that will be close enough.

Chloe doesn’t have the tools to be altruistic. She doesn’t know how to do it, what it means, not really, and no one in her life is helping her. The only person to really push her to try is Adrien, but he isn’t enough of a force to try, and Ladybug is Marinette who still doesn’t want much to do with Chloe. Bustier and her Butler is too passive. Sabrina is a trashfire of a person.

The only way Chloe is going to change is because she gets the validation to encourage her to do so. Because humans NEED VALIDATION. Because validation is what let’s us learn how to think and relate to others. If a human doesn’t need validation, doesn’t need other people, then they see things just from what they want out of things.

Which may work if the person has a nice enough disposition, but more often it’ll result in a selfish asshole. Chloe tries to pretend she doesn’t need recognition or validation because she’s that awesome and amazing. A Chloe who truly does not seek out recognition just means Chloe is still Chloe except she doesn’t have crippling self doubts and a belief she’s useless.

Chloe does good for recognition. And once she’s given recognition, she repeats that behavior. When she repeats that behavior, she does good in the world. And if she does that enough, she will LEARN what is good, what is right.

Because right now, Chloe does one good thing, and then she’s left alone, or encouraged to do something directly counter to what else she’s just learned. She needs positive reinforcements, she needs positive influences, because no one becomes a good person in a void, especially if they were a bad person. They need good influences and no one is GIVING THAT TO HER.

She doesn’t need the Bee Miraculous back.

But she needs friends. Marinette may not owe Chloe to help her, but Adrien sure as hell does. Adrien has seen himself be a positive influence on Chloe and if he gave her encouragement, she’d improve. And if Marinette did commit more to helping Chloe be a better person, I think she could help to. Chloe was willing to work with Marinette. Hell, she let’s Marinette sit with her in the library unharrassed, there is potential there for Marinette to influence Chloe to help her learn.

Teasing her with a Miraculous and expecting her to suddenly know how to be a good person without any help is frankly unfair to a girl whose obviously extremely messed up and suffering extreme self esteem issues.

If she does good for recognition, then THERE IS STILL GOOD BEING DONE IN THE WORLD. And she is finally learning what it means to be good.

Saying Chloe has to be altruistic for her goodness to be valid undermines everyone whose ever struggled to be good because they didn’t know how to be. It tells kids that hey, if you’re not good for the RIGHT REASONS, then you might as well not even bother trying to be better at all. If you’re good because someone said good job, it DOESN’T COUNT, and you’re still a bad person.

No, that is not growth works. If you want Chloe to be good for the ‘right reasons,’ then you have to give her the chance to grow out of them and you can’t expect her to learn that on her own. She needs people for it. It’s like Bustier said, she needs the good examples because she’s responded well to those, only to have them snatched away before she had her feet under her.

LET CHLOE BE GOOD FOR RECOGNITION. Because she is desperate for validation and it’s a psychological human need. Then you build from THERE to make her a good person.

Because guess what, Thomas.

She’s goddamn fourteen years old and she has a lot of growing she needs to do and kids learn by being validated by the people they learn from.

#ml spoilers #ml salt #chloe bourgeois #chloe deserves better

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peteywillproceed · 5 years ago

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The Devil In Disguise - Part 1

A/N: Hi guys, wow this has been a long time coming! I’ve been writing this whilst being sick in bed, so I hope it’s not that terrible! As always, I hope you like it, constructive feedback is appreciated, and if you wanna be added to the taglist just send me an ask! x

Summary: Y/n belongs to The Circle, a criminal gang known for its ruthlessness and brutality. Given a mission to kill Spiderman, Y/n attends Midtown High undercover to seek him out, not intending to feel more for one of her new friends than she should. Meanwhile, Spiderman must deal with the increasingly dangerous Huntress, never suspecting her true identity might hit closer to home than he could ever believe…

Word Count: 4,150 (the very defintion of getting carried away!)

Prologue

The New York skyline glittered in front of you as you stepped into the street and the sun began to rise. Ribbons of orange and yellow light were scattered through panels of glass lining the roads, buildings stretching so far into the sky you had to squint to see the tops. The acrid smell of smoke from exhaust pipes burnt the insides of your nostrils, but the feeling was so new, so exciting, that you barely thought about it, choosing instead to glide along the pavements as horns honked and the city came alive.

All it had taken was a three-hour flight from Minnesota and awkward introductions to your cover family for you to get here; now it was Monday, the first day back for the kids at Midtown Tech, and your first day period. Your school bag felt foreign on your shoulders, the weight of textbooks and assigned reading an alien feeling. You’d almost ignored the homework, like you’d always done when your dad tried to assign you extra reading for your training.

But you knew if you wanted to fit in, the bad girl image you’d worked so hard to create over the years wasn’t going to work, so instead you’d stuffed the suit Brenton had given you into the dark depths of the bag and buried it with chemistry. Begrudgingly, you’d cast an eye over the pages in an attempt to figure out what you’d be expected to do at this school, and you hadn’t understood a word. How Brenton had wangled your entrance to the best science school in the country was truly a mystery.

You swung through the gates and pushed your sunglasses up on your head, ignoring the surprised looks from students who weren’t used to newbies. You winked at one of the boys staring with his mouth open and spat the gum you’d been chewing into the nearest bin, catching yourself before you let yourself go too much. You were Brooke Loader, chemistry nerd and all around good girl, whose wardrobe consisted solely of grey cardigans and granny skirts. You weren’t Y/n L/n anymore, and you had to be careful.

“Excuse me?” you caught a guy’s shoulder as he rushed past you and looked up at him through your lashes. “Can you tell me where B27 is?”

“You’re new?” the guy ran his eye over you questioningly “I’m Flash.”

“Err, nice to meet you. But I’m really just looking for homeroom.”

Flash nodded, a smirk appearing on his face. “That’s round the corner, good luck with Harrington.”

Without another word he spun on his feet and disappeared into the throng of students that had appeared in the corridor. You glanced down the hallway he’d pointed to and noticed a bunch of kids streaming into a classroom, figuring that was where you needed to be. You glanced at your watch, noting you were perfectly late, and strode towards the door.

“Ahh, Miss Loader, I was wondering when you were going to show up,” a voice dripping with sarcasm drawled as you poked your head through. You glanced up at the male voice and saw the guy you guessed was Mr Harrington, giving him a small wave as you stood awkwardly in the door. You’d never played the quiet, unsure girl, and it was taking all your energy to bite back your retort.

“Well, please take a seat. There’s one next to MJ,” he pointed towards a girl with long, brown hair, whose head was buried in a book. As you swung into the seat, you clocked the title and leaned over to whisper to her.

“To Kill A Mockingbird? That’s my favourite.” Of course it wasn’t, you’d never read the stupid thing. But it was Brooke’s favourite.

MJ raised her eyebrows, squinting as she tried to make you out. Her gaze was so penetrating that for one, awful minute you thought she’d figured you out and your cover was already blown. But a smile soon spread across her face and she closed the book.

“Mine too,” she nodded, reaching her hand out “MJ.”

“Brooke,” you grinned, glad you’d got through to her. You glanced nervously towards the front of the class, but Mr Harrington was busy at his computer and you reckoned it was probably safe to talk.

“So, you’re new then, how’d that happen? It’s senior year.”

“Parents moved,” you shrugged, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear “guess they just couldn’t leave me behind.”

It was a simple cover, but MJ burst into laughter and your joke, earning herself an annoyed look from Harrington. “What’s your specialty?”

“Chemistry. But I gotta be honest, I didn’t really think I’d get in here.”

“Really?” MJ raised an eyebrow “why’s that?”

“I bombed the entrance tests,” you pretended to look ashamed, glancing back down at your desk “I kind of feel like I don’t belong.”

“Don’t be stupid, what have you got next? The bell goes soon and I can walk you there.”

“Wow, thanks. Err, I think I have History,” you pointed at the print out of the timetable you’d grabbed from reception and MJ smiled.

“Me too. You’ve got lunch the same period as me and my friends, I’ll introduce you guys. You’ll meet more friendly faces like that.”

You didn’t know why you felt so relieved, you hadn’t been worried about making friends, but there was something about MJ that made you want to impress her, even if you were lying through your teeth to do it.

The bell rang, a screeching sound you definitely had not been prepared for, and MJ laughed as your hands flew over your ears. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

“It’s like a fucking banshee,” you muttered, eyes widening as you realised what you’d just said. Brooke Loader definitely didn’t swear. “I..I mean…”

“Brooke, chill, you can swear, I don’t care!”

“Oh okay,” you took a breath, bracing yourself for anymore slip ups. You’d been here less than half an hour, and already you were royally screwing up the only job Brenton had ever entrusted you with.

As MJ walked with you to your next class, you chatted animatedly about the city and everything there was to do. You kept trying to slip in Spiderman, but she brushed off any mention of the superhero, and changed the conversation back to what you’d been talking about originally. She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who’d be interested in what celebrities got up to anyway, and you made a mental note to try and bring him up in a different way.

At last, the class started and you could lose yourself in rudimentary history you’d never cared about. There was way too much bias in the subject, you remembered one of your tutors telling you, and the only thing you could learn from a class like that was just how dedicated they were to the government. You scribbled notes like your hand was on fire, staying as quiet as you could, but none of what you wrote down was what the teacher was lecturing. Instead, you made a plan of attack for finding more about the webslinger you’d been assigned to take out.

You seriously doubted that any of the students knew his identity, and even if they did they weren’t just going to outright tell you. No, you had to be sneaky here, and you had to bring it up subtly. You decided that, every chance you got, you’d slip in a question relating to Spiderman that would be innocuous enough. After all, why wouldn’t you be curious? You’d just moved to the city that was home to an Avenger!

When the final bell rang, you knew exactly what you had to do. A buzz in your pocket let you know you had a text, the only possible source the burner phone Brenton had given you before you’d left.

‘Status report’

You rolled your eyes. Jesus, you’d been here less than twenty four hours, what did the man expect? Full details of identity and credit card info?

‘Give me a chance. My bed’s barely gone cold.’

Hoping the response was snappy enough to get him off your case, all you had to do now was pray your plan of action worked - if it didn’t, you didn’t want to think about what the consequences might be.

***

“Guys, this is Brooke,” MJ introduced you to the circle of people crowded round one of the cafeteria tables who stared at you like you were the last sandwich at the picnic.

“Hi,” you smiled, casting your eye over them. They were all the same age, and at least you recognised one. Flash was leaning back in his chair, his feet kicked up on the table with a wicked glint in his eye.

“Hey sweetheart, find homeroom alright then?”

“You’re friends with him?” you raised an eyebrow in MJ’s direction and she stifled a laugh.

“Not really, he just hangs around because he can’t convince anyone else to put up with him.”

“Now that makes sense.” Flash rolled his eyes at your comment, but you simply took a seat in front of a brown, curly haired boy who hadn’t taken his eyes off you. “Brooke,” you introduced yourself “nice to meet you.”

“Pe…Peter,” he stumbled, and you bit back a smile. Somebody wasn’t used to talking to girls, you thought, spying the awkward rub of sweaty palms against jeans. He was kind of cute, in a nerdy, never had sex kind of way – his jumper was ruffled and his hair was a mess, none of that nasty gel stuff you’d seen in the movies. He didn’t seem that sure of himself, too busy clutching a pen between his fingers as he scribbled what looked like equations into a book.

“And I’m Ned,” the other guy interrupted, and you mentally shook yourself. You were here for one thing and one thing only, and it wasn’t to be going after guys.

“Nice to meet you, Ned,” you nodded, scooping up some of the brown sludge you’d had slopped on your plate by a slightly grumpy cafeteria lady. “God, the food really isn’t good anywhere is it?”

“Just wait until you try the lasagne,” Peter laughed, suddenly animated. “I’m pretty sure they use cardboard instead of pasta.”

“Good to know,” you smiled, itching to change this conversation into something more interesting. Luckily, MJ swooped in with the perfect question, and you knew exactly how to work that to your advantage.

“So Brooke, what do you like about New York so far?” she asked, and you pretended to think.

“Well, I’ve not seen that much, but I hear Spiderman lives here,” you shot a conspiring look at MJ who shifted uncomfortably in her suit “he’s pretty cool.”

“Uh, yeah,” Ned coughed, and suddenly the atmosphere grew a lot tenser than it had been twenty seconds ago. That was odd, you thought – for a city so hung up on having its own Avenger, these people seemed…awkward. Why? What did they have to hide?

“Do you see him on the streets?” You asked breezily, happily tucking into your food as you felt eyes burning your skin.

“Err, well, he’s pretty busy I guess,” MJ coughed, and you glanced over at Peter who’d remained suspiciously quiet throughout the whole conversation.

“Pete?”

“Wha- oh, uh, Spiderman? Yeah, uh, he’s cool, he’s a cool dude,” Peter stuttered, turning bright red. You were feeling the second hand embarrassment here, and you wanted to scream.

“Do you guys just not like him or something?” you tried to play your comment off, laughing and flipping your hair, but the tension was still thick in the air and you cursed yourself for alienating them already. It was pretty clear they knew more than they let on.

“No, no, nothing like that,” Flash grinned “it’s just he’s only usually about at night so none of us really know that much about him. People make out that he’s Queens’ little superhero but he’s an Avenger, he’s not really hanging about on the streets.”

You nodded, stuffing your face with the disgusting mash before you could say anything else. Another beep in your pocket and you turned away from the group, letting them dive back into their own conversations whilst you slid the burner phone out of your pocket.

Need you to go to Warehouse tonight. Pick up a package and keep it safe. Address to follow.

You let the words wash over you, processing what they meant, and bit back the squeal that threatened to erupt. Finally, you got to go and do something – these people might not be giving you anything, but at least the mission wasn’t completely boring.

“What ya doing?” a voice interrupted your thoughts, and on instinct you slammed the phone into your pocket. Peter cocked at eyebrow in surprise and you let out a little gasp.

“Err, nothing, just, uh, texting my mum.”

“Oh yeah? About what? Plans for world domination?” He smiled at you, and it was so endearing that you couldn’t stop yourself from smiling back. Brown hair curled around his ears and he pushed his glasses further up his nose as he stared at you, making you laugh as he crossed his eyes and pulled a stupid face.

“Something like that,” you finally replied as the bell signalling the end of lunch rang through the cafeteria.

“Hey, what have you got next? Let me walk you to class.”

You were taken aback by Peter’s offer, and were half tempted to refuse him before you remembered how flustered he’d become over the mere mention of Spiderman. Maybe there was something there…

“Sure,” you said, dumping the remainder of your food in the bin. “Spanish, but I can’t speak a single word of it.”

“Ahh, it’s not that hard, sneak Google Translate in if you have to.”

“Didn’t peg you for a cheater, Parker.”

“Didn’t peg you for a Chemistry specialty, but here we are.”

You placed a hand over your heart, mock offended, and rolled your eyes. “You wound me. Only Spiderman can save me now.”

“I’m sure Spiderman would love to,” Peter replied, exaggerating the ‘love’ a little more than you liked.

“I hear he’s rumoured to be a high school student,” you wiggled your eyebrows, spotting your opportunity. Your little risk had been worth it though, because suddenly Peter looked like he’d been caught in headlights, and his entire body went rigid in shock.

“What?” he asked, panic lacing his voice.

“Oh you haven’t heard?” the faux innocence in your voice was annoying even you, but you bit your lip and got on with it, knowing this was the only way to get the information you needed. Stumbling upon these guys was a stroke of luck in your eyes, they seemed to know a hell of a lot about the webslinger. “Yeah, he’s rumoured to be a student here.”

“Yeah, no no, I heard that,” Peter shook himself a little, but started chewing on his lip. Your eyes were drawn to the way his teeth nibbled the skin, but you snapped out of your reverie as he waved a hand in your face. “Y/n?”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” you smiled, hoping that would make you look less like an idiot. Jesus, you just needed to get on with the job.

“I just said, do you think you’ll be able to find your way to your class? I’ve just remembered I’ve gotta go…sort something out.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, of course,” you nodded, confused as to why Peter was suddenly running off. You hadn’t said anything that crazy, and you hoped you hadn’t offended him. But then again, so what if you had? It wasn’t like you were going to be here much longer anyway.

“Awesome, thanks!” Peter called over his shoulder, but it was pointless because he was already tearing off down the hallway.

You were smart enough to figure out wherever he was going was probably related to the person you were trying to kill, but following him felt…creepy. You’d just met this guy, and even though he may very well have been your best lead, it still felt wrong to tail him round the whole of New York. Instead, you made a mental note to run a background check as soon as you got in that evening, and tried to pretend yourself that you weren’t in the least bit interested in the results for anything other than work reasons.

***

It was late when you finally got to the warehouse Brenton had sent you to that night. You’d been meaning to leave well before eight, but your host family had insisted upon dinner, and it wasn’t like you could tell them you had to run an errand. You ended up getting there just past midnight, and you cursed yourself for not texting Brenton – what if the person delivering the package had gone home? What if they just hadn’t bothered?

You were dressed head to toe in the stealth suit that had been specially made for you, and you had to admit you absolutely loved it. You’d been expecting it to fit baggy in all the places it should’ve been tight, but whoever had made it clearly knew what they were doing – the carbon fibre fit snuggly and the vibranium swords strapped to your back were as light as they were deadly.

Sneaking into the warehouse, you shone your torch around the building, quickly realising it was abandoned. Whatever company used to operate here had long since packed up and left, but small traces of the operation still lingered with pieces of alien tech scattered around the floor.

“You’re late,” a gravelly voice said, and you spun to find the source. The beam from your torch landed on a figure hovering in the shadows, and you rolled your eyes at the theatre.

“Oh cut the dramatics. Code word.”

“Heretic,” the gravelly voice replied, confirming the code name you’d been told to expect “And you?”

“Huntress.”

The figure moved out of the shadows and clicked his fingers. Immediately, white light filled the echoing warehouse, lights flicking on everywhere, so bright you could see every cobweb. You covered your eyes on reflex, forgetting how vulnerable it made you, and blinked hard at the sudden change.

“I have some information for you,” Heretic said, and you crossed your arms in annoyance.

“I thought it was a package.”

“That too. But first: Spiderman knows you’re after him. Our sources say he found a hitman had been dispatched once he took down the Manhattan Chapter.”

“He’s probably expecting an old, white man. Doesn’t put me in any danger, he can’t see my face in this,” you shrugged, grateful for the inclusion of a mask in your suit.

“Do they train all the young recruits to be this cocky?” The man sighed, and you let out a hollow laughed.

“Only the bosses’ daughters.” You had plenty of this, the assumption that because you were a young lady you paled in comparison to what older men could accomplish. It was just the way The Circle was, but you were sick of constantly being underestimated. “Just give me the package.”

The man started digging around in his pockets and produced a small, crumpled packet of wrinkled brown paper. An ethereal, purple glow seeped out from the corners he’d failed to wrap, and you knew instantly what it was. You reached out to take it, but before you could, a line of sticky rope shot down from above you and snatched it from the man’s palm.

“That doesn’t belong to you,” a voice said.

Your head snapped upward, your hand flying to your sword as recognition switched on in your mind. Didn’t you know that voice from somewhere? Red and blue spandex swung from one of the lights, and the masked man was waving cheerily from his perch. Heretic started to run, not getting far before he was pinned against a wall in a fresh web, and you rolled your eyes – and he thought you’d been cocky.

“Actually, it does belong to me, and I’d like it back.” You turned your attention back to Spiderman, who let go of the light he swung from and dropped down to the floor, landing almost silently. He tossed the package lazily in his hand, his head cocked as though he had no idea of the power that tiny object held.

“I think you’ll find it belongs to the United States Government, but I’m sure they’d be willing to lend it to you if you ask nicely,” he shrugged, and you bared your teeth, thankful that you’d switched your voice modifier on well before you’d arrived. He, however, hadn’t, if he even had one, and the familiarity of the voice was starting to get on your nerves.

“I really don’t give a shit about semantics, give me back my package.”

“Why don’t you come and get it?” He dangled the challenge in front of you, waiting for you to take the bait, and even though every fibre in your body told you not to, pure instinct won over.

You started running towards him, leaping into the air and flipping yourself high over his head. As you arced over his body, your hand shot out to grab his mask, but he ducked at the last second and your fingers just grazed with the material. You hit the ground and slid along the concrete, looking up just in time to roll away from a web grenade.

“Come on, Spidey, you can do better than that,” you panted, wanting to hear him talk more. If he did, maybe you’d have a better chance at placing him.

He seemed frustrated by your comment, suddenly becoming a lot more energetic, and threw himself towards you. It was a mistake you’d been expecting, and within half a second you’d brought your knife out and thrown it towards his lunging body. The aim was crap, but it caught his side, and he hit the ground with a thud.

You started toward him, sword in hand to finish the job, a smirk on your face as you ran through everybody you’d met so far and their voices, desperate to figure out which one matched, when all of a sudden Spidey’s hand shot out from underneath him, and you were caught by a flying web that threw you back against the wall. Your head cracked against the concrete, and stars swam before your eyes, threatening to make you pass out as black tinged the edges of your vision.

“Is that good enough for you?” he asked, walking slowly towards you. He was clutching his side and you could just make out a river of blood dribbling from a wound you’d caused. “What’s your name?”

“Huntress,” you bit out, regaining your senses and starting to kick against the web fluid.

“I wouldn’t bother, that stuff won’t dissolve for another two hours,” he shrugged, collapsing to the floor. “Plenty of time to chit chat.”

“I don’t really want to engage in conversation thanks,” you hoped the acid was enough to throw him off guard, and he threw his hands up in defence.

“Hey, lady, you’re the one that tried to kill me, not the other way around.” When you didn’t respond, he continued. “I’d really like to know who’s under that mask.”

“Never gonna happen, this suit’s coded to only come apart when I voice activate it to.”

“Oh, I know, I figured that out as soon as I saw it. I was just musing.”

You stopped, mouth falling open in shock. This guy had just…seen your suit, and figured out how a multi million dollar piece of tech worked? Just like that? So he was smart. No wonder he went to Mid Town Tech.

“Look, I don’t have much longer, if I don’t get home I’ll get in soooooooo much trouble. But have a nice evening!” Spiderman started to get to his feet, the whole conversation feeling surreal to you, and you called out to him.

“Wait! Don’t think this will be the last you’ve heard of me!”

He shrugged in response, pulling the package out of a hidden pocket and turning it over in his hand. “Now that I believe.”

All at once, he was gone, swinging out of the warehouse and leaving you trapped in his web. You tried to wrestle one of your swords from your back, but it was impossible to even move your wrist. Grumbling in defeat, you let your head fall back against the wall and grimaced at the pain. This was all so ridiculous, he shouldn’t have even been able to touch you, let alone pin you up against a bloody wall. You’d let your guard slip because you thought his voice had sounded familiar, and you’d got excited that maybe you’d already run into him.

Next time, you wouldn’t be so stupid.

Taglist:

@jinxfanfics @zabdisamor @jillanaholland @ihopethatwemeetinanotherlife

#peter parker fanfiction #tom holland fanfiction #spider man fanfiction #peter parker x reader #peter parker x y/n #tom holland smut #peter parker smut

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