#They definitely don't switch out their gloves unless you ask them and even then it's a gamble

[noodyl-blasstal]

Bench Stress - Best Served Cold Part 2

It's day two of @tazsapphicweek! So here's chapter 2 of Best Served Cold.

You can read below or on Ao3. Missed part 1? Catch up here.

-

The advertising starts appearing three days before the grand opening of The Good Lick Store is scheduled. It would have been nice if they asked before they put the posters on her shop windows, but Istus can appreciate an industrious attitude. Raven, however, does not.

“They got your windows too?” Raven is framed beautifully in the door, long leather coat streaming behind her like the wings of an avenging angel. She holds a small stack of crumpled posters in her hand.

“It’s nice that they’re enthusiastic!” Istus tries her best to smile soothingly. The stress won’t do Raven any good.

“They didn’t ask you either then?” Raven’s undeterred.

“Well, no. But…”

Raven strides forward and rips the three posters down, Istus can’t stop the fond smile, Raven’s always looking out for her. Before they met she couldn’t remember ever having someone who cared so much, so fiercely, it means she appreciates everything after so much more.

Raven feeds the posters through Istus’ shredder with a look of grim satisfaction. “There’s no need for this many, especially not on your shop. They’re being unfair. I’m going to go and talk to them.”

It takes Istus a solid 15 minutes to calm her down enough not to storm over there and ‘tell them exactly how unjust this is’.

“We don’t need another situation, my love.” Istus says, soothing a hand over her shoulder.

“They were wrong!” Raven’s indignant, and, of course, entirely correct.

“Of course they were, they shouldn’t have put up signage that covered part of your shop, but taking the saw to it wasn’t the best response, was it?”

“I was just cutting off the bit on my property.” Raven crosses her arms defensively and Istus tries not to laugh.

“And then you…?” Istus asks.

There’s a long silence.

“Go on.” Istus prompts.

“Fell off the ladder and broke my leg.”

“And that was when you promised me that you’d be slightly less impulsive in your quests for justice.”

“I did do that.”

“So therefore…” Istus leaves the sentence dangling.

“I shouldn’t go and tell them off and make them better people by force of will alone.”

Istus pats her shoulder, it’s a brave sacrifice.

“I’m not sorry about the shredder.” Raven adds, defiant until the last.

“Do you want me to let you in on a secret, my love?” Istus leans in close to whisper in her ear. “I’m not sorry either.”

–

The opening is a huge event, there’s a runway into the shop which must have been erected overnight. The blasting music means poor Raven has to use her earplugs all day, not even the music in her shop covers it. The light show seems somewhat unnecessary in the daytime but it’s always nice to see effort and care, Istus supposes. At least it’s only one day.. No one will go over there with her, even when she gives her very best wide eyed sad face, so she goes alone. It’s important to support local businesses afterall, she wants them to do well even if they don’t seem to want to engage with the other shop owners - mind you, it’s hard to come into an established group. Maybe they’re shy and that’s why they’ve ignored all the invites to community meetings.

Strutting her way up the runway to the door is inescapable, grumbling knee be damned. She swishes her skirts as she goes and can’t help but smile as she joins the queue. This is the energy it’s nice to have an injection of! New doesn’t always mean bad! Now that all of the decorating is finished it’s light inside the shop, big windows ensuring that customers can see every detail, and there’s so many details. A world different from Boyland’s cosy shop and it’s a work of art, truly. For all Happy Scoops is a mix of bright colours and fun touches, The Good Lick Store is the manicured antithesis. The retro styling combined with the sharp uniforms is delightful, and the selection of toppings look beautiful laid out in the glass fronted display, golden swans curling from the frame at each side.

Istus smiles as she reaches the front of the queue. “Oh you both look wonderful! How is the Grand Opening going?” Neither Lydia nor Edward has a hair out of place.

“Wonderfully, darling!” Lydia smiles at her, hat sat at the perfectly jaunty angle, apron sticking out over a skirt with reams of petticoats holding it in the perfect flounce.

“You probably won’t be used to queues like these.” Edward says conversationally, adding a small sprinkle of toppings to the last customer’s cup of frozen yoghurt and looking for all the world like he has no idea how insulting he’s being.

She supposes they haven’t seen the inside of her shop, or the outside on the days the queues wind out the door. They’ll learn eventually. Istus smiles politely.

“One of whatever you’d recommend, please.” She says instead of answering. She can’t foresee there being a ‘right’ answer to his question.

“What a charming idea.” Edward looks positively delighted then turns to Lydia. “Make sure it’s nothing too…” He looks Istus up and down. “…sophisticated.”

Istus just smiles pleasantly, she can never ever tell Raven about this, she’d never forgive them. It’s fine though, Istus doesn’t mind, they’re probably just used to being in a place where businesses were in opposition. They’ll adjust, it’s just going to take time for them to realise things aren’t like that here.

Lydia creates a beautiful swirl in a paper cup, and hands it to Edward. “Prepare for a taste sensation.” She says with more smugness than Istus would like. She’s not entirely sure where the concept of her store being bland has come from, but the whole point is that they cater to a range of tastes. There’s nothing wrong with basic flavours, people know what they like, and Istus has a knack for using that knowledge to find something they’ll love.

Edward studs it with six tiny slivers of strawberry and places a small handful of sprinkles on top. “I think you’ll be able to handle this.” He says and hands it over with a smile. A genuine one that the cynical side of her says is from the joy of insulting her, but she hopes is actually just the cracking of the ice she didn’t know had built between them.

She takes it with a passive smile, manages not to flinch at the price, and thinks it tastes just fine.

“This is shit.” Carrie says, throwing the tiny spoon in the recycling in protest.

Killian just nods and throws her spoon away too.

“It’s just not what you’re used to. I thought it was really lovely.” Istus thinks a lie in kindness is probably fine.

She mentions the opening event to customers she thinks will enjoy it, or those too afraid to investigate the source of the music and lights themselves. It’s the right thing to do. But she can’t say she’s not relieved when they keep coming back to Happy Scoops, or slightly (shamefully) smug when they mention the service being better as well as the ice cream. But why shouldn’t she be proud? She’s worked hard to build this place.

–

RE: Happy Scoops Obstruction

Dear Istus Queen,

We are writing to inform you that due to the volume of complaints about the obstruction of the walkway outside Happy Scoops the furniture there must be removed.

This is a formal notice and must be acted upon within 14 days or the management company will be forced to facilitate their removal and you will be charged for this process.

Please do hesitate to contact us if you require any further information.

Kind regards,

International Products and Rockin’ Experiences outdoor mall management.

Raven puts the letter Istus had handed her down on the counter. She doesn’t know what to say, so she settles for opening her arms to Istus instead.

“It’s okay, it’s important that we don’t block the walkways.” Istus says, face tucked against Raven’s collarbone.

Her voice is thick enough that Raven’s ready to go to war with whoever sent the letter.

“It’s not blocking the walkway, no one has complained in the last twelve years.” Raven tries not to let her tone show how angry she is. Istus doesn’t need to worry about her blood pressure too.

“They have now.” Istus says too quietly.

Raven pulls her closer and they sit in the endless peace of the morning.

Istus pulls away and smiles brightly. “It’ll look nice in the garden, don’t you think?”

“What?”

“The furniture. We can take it home. It’ll brighten things up, the colours are so fun.”

“They are, love. They are.” Raven pats her hand soothingly and tries not to worry too much.

“Did you see that I need to hesitate to contact them?” Istus gives Raven her biggest shiniest smile, Raven wants so badly to believe it’s genuine.

“I wasn’t sure if it was a typo or not.”

“Honestly darling, I don’t think it is.” This time Istus’ smile looks more genuine. “Remember the flood?”

Raven snorts derisively. “Don’t remind me.” She takes Istus’ hand in both of hers. “Are you absolutely sure about this? I can go and speak to them?”

Istus’s reply doesn’t come as quickly as it usually would, it’s worrying that she’s tempted to let Raven go to bat for her. Not that Raven won’t in a heartbeat, but she’s the impulsive one when it comes to right and wrong. Istus so often holds her back when she’s full of idealism.

Istus slowly forces another smile onto her face. “Yes. I’m sure, my love. It’ll be nice to have them at home. Maybe the boys will use them for a photo shoot or something when they come to visit. Taako’s magazine is doing awfully well.”

Raven is convinced that Taako will be just as willing to go and fight whoever put the complaint in, Kravitz too, she raised him right. Maybe if she sends a picture of the benches outside they’ll ask why and then they can come and help. Istus doesn’t need to know… “That’s a wonderful suggestion.”

“Can we move them today? It’s best to be proactive.” Istus’ voice doesn’t wobble.

“Of course. Whatever you need. I’ll send a message and see who can help.”

It turns out that having a wife who is generosity personified is helpful when it comes to recruiting assistance. Within the hour they have offers of two different vans, plenty of strong arms, and many, many questions about who on earth complained considering it had been years and there was lots of space to move past the furniture.

Istus bakes when she’s happy, she bakes when there’s something to celebrate or something to mourn, she bakes when she’s stressed. So she bakes, of course she bakes. The helpers arrive to lemon loaf, glistening fruit tarts, and agua fresca. Offers of all the ice cream they can eat. It turns into stories, a backwards and forwards of “remember when…” and “we sat here after…”, Raven helps as much as she can, but she lets Sloane, Hurley, and Noelle take the last bench.

It’s only on the off chance that she notices. A glance towards the shop that shows her Istus through the window. She’s crying. Full, open mouthed, silent sobs, one hand pressed to her mouth the other to the counter. Raven wants more than anything to go and smooth the tears from her cheeks, to hold her and tell her it’ll be okay, the business will be okay, people will sit inside and it’ll all still be lovely. But Istus needs, whatever her reasons, for them not to know she’s hurt. Istus needs Raven to pretend everything is okay, and Raven is going to do that. Well… Raven is going to do that to her face.

She might not be tech savvy, but she knows how to make a group chat.

Istus’ Army Raven: We need to find out who put the complaints in. Sloane: Fucking finally! Killian: YES! They’re going down. Carey: No one hurts Istus on our watch1!! Sloane: Hurley’s in too. What do you need us to do? I’ll get my kit. Hurley: Just a casual reminder for absolutely no reason that anyone, not us, because we’re not planning to, but anyone who might be planning to do any crimes might not want to do that in writing. Sloane: <3 Raven: Istus has knitting club tonight. Meet at ours at 6.

--

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed! The next chapter is here.

[webdollzz]

💦 of konig jiji love u!

hi angel! thank you for requesting. my first könig request! enjoy <3 ps, my 400 post >> here warnings kinda a mix of rough / soft dom König x fem!readerr, teasing, mild kinks, my headcanons so don't come 4 me saying ohhh he'd never do that!!! in my head he do!!! shush!!

Lemme start this off with size. fucking. kink. he's 6ft4. Big. Burly, you could say. So if you're smaller than him (which isn't necessarily hard), fuckin hell he's gone wild. but, to my lovely tall girls, don't fret!!! if your nearly his height or taller, gods you've wrapped him around your lil finger. But he definitely likes it when he's able to toss somebody around - he doesn't ask to switch, he just switches you and carries on about his business. Not just in bed, either - wrong stance at a line up? His hand is firmly sliding up your spine to make you straighten your back, his gloved hands putting your hands where they need to be, not where they carelessly were.

I reckon in bed he switches. all soft touches, whispered praises, gentle kisses to your temple, but the minute his tip lines up with your entrance and he pushes in, your wetness coating him and giving him easier access to you? he is not responsible for his actions. bruising grip on your hips, his body leaned over yours as his lips are pressed to your ear. "Fuck, this pussy so fuckin' tight. Gonna be a good girl f'me, ja? gonna come all over this dick?" He'd grumble.

but, if you were ontop, taking what you needed from him, his hands tied with the ropes he puts terrorists in so he can't touch you? fuck. might as well kill him right now. "Bitte, meine Liebe(please, my love)..lemme touch you, ja? Will make you feel so good." and when you shake your head no, for the first time ever, you hear him whine. he tries to buck his hips up to meet yours, but you force them down, making him groan. "When I get out of these ropes, Du bist in großen Schwierigkeiten, engel." (you're in big trouble, Angel.)

when he's been away on deployment and he comes back, getting to bury himself deep in your cunt, he's needy. Babbling incoherent german in your ear as he gets close, grunting, hissing, groaning, and even whimpering softly when your warm, tight pussy clenches around him, making him immediately spill himself deep in you. "Fill you with my baby, ja? gonna be the prettiest mama..fuck." He cooed, fucking his cum into you, his half hard cock already getting hard again.

soft!!! choking, hair pulling to get your attention, leaving his marks, breeding, size difference, and funnily enough, guns, are his main kinks. and I'll explain every one for you. choking because knowing he has that control over your body and pleasure makes him tremble. he'd immediately stop if you told him to - but you haven't. and he enjoys the fact he can control your pleasure. hairpulling for when he's fucking you infront of the long mirror he had put at the end of your bed, and your head bows down from overwhelming pleasure so he gently grabs your locs, forcing your head up to look at your perfect arch, your fucked out face, and him slamming into you from the back. "Keep those pretty eyes on me, ja?". leaving his mark cus then everyone knows who the fuck you belong to. bites and a few hickeys decorating all over your throat, chest, thighs, stomach - anywhere he can get, but especially your throat so he gets to see you sweat when you try to hide them. breeding is sorta linked to leaving his mark. but permanently. his little children running around the house, one on your hip as you cook and he cleans, fuck. It makes him crazy. That's why he makes sure to fuck his cum deep inside you. size difference explained before but I'll say again - he loves tossing you around like a ragdoll if you're smaller and he likes to be able to either look up at you or you be at eye level. Both get him uncomfortably hard. now here's the cray cray one, guns. he wouldn't fuck you wit one..(unless you into that..no judgment.) he just likes seeing the way you can handle yourself with one, quickly reloading and firing several bullets, your enemies dropping dead seconds later. if he wasn't on the battle field, he'd be getting a boner right now.

his aftercare is soft kisses all over your face, him cleaning you up gently with a rag wet with warm water, him putting you in a shirt of his, giving you food and water and cuddles. the whole shebang. running his hands up and down your sides. "did so well f'me, meine Liebe. I'm so proud of you. you took it all." He whispered in your ear with a soft kiss to ur temple!!

.•°.•°.•°.•°.•°.•°.•°.•°.•.•°.•°.•°.•°.•°.•°.•°.•°.•.•°.•°.

hope I did okay, thank u for ur request <3

[sillystardew]

Bachelors and lending clothes

As the title says, different head canons about bachelors lending you their clothes!

Requests are open!

Gender neutral reader 🦇

Shane

-100% willing to lend you his shirts to wear as pajamas, even if he thinks you’re a little weird for wanting that (he secretly loves it)

-loves it when you borrow his jackets and hoodies, especially if you’re smaller than him by any margin. seeing you drowning in the fabric just warms his little heart

-don't even get me started on HIM borrowing clothes. 

-he loves being able to smell like you, whether it be his clothes you gave back or clothes that he borrowed from you

-would definitely be a little embarrassed for you if you wore his blue jacket in public - why in the world would you want people to see you wearing it?? It’s covered in holes and stains?? But he also likes knowing you aren’t afraid to show people how much you love him

Harvey

-ohhhh this man.

-he really isn't used to anyone being this cheesy or romantic with him

-he blushes like crazy if you ask, and is even worse if he finds that you did it without asking. His wee heart can't take it

-honestly a little surprised that you would even WANT to borrow his clothes

-he’s tall and pretty thin, so unless you’re 6ft-ish, his clothes are going to be wayyy too long on you

-he thinks it’s adorable when you try to do tasks while pulling the sleeves up

-he’d love to sleep in one of your t-shirts, going to sleep knowing you trust and love him like this

-He definitely bundles you up in the winter. If you didn't own any scarves or gloves before, YOU DO NOW

Sebastian

-loves seeing you wear his various band tees

-He’s a bit on the smaller side, so it's possible his clothes are too small. Though lots of his clothes are baggy

-he will 100% be stealing ALL of your hoodies and sweaters. You’re not getting any of them back

-his clothes are very heavily scented with cologne. He doesn't want you to get grossed out by the smell of cigarettes, so he always washes or sprays down his clothes before giving them to you

-might get a little annoyed if you work in his clothes, he doesn't like them getting dirty

Elliott

-is probably the one to offer

-would love to see you in one of his button-ups

-again, like Harvey, he is TALL. Lots of his clothes won't fit you properly

-will wear it after you’ve borrowed it to be able to smell you on his clothes

-not really the type to borrow clothes imo. He would love to get matching pjs with you though

-do a little fashion show for him. I promise he will be blushing like craaazy 

Alex

-TOTALLY into letting you borrow clothes, especially his jerseys (AFTER WASHING.)

-also not really the type to borrow clothes, but he’ll definitely say yes if you offer

-just make sure you tell him not to work out in your clothes because he will forget

-he's cool with you working in his clothes, and even finds it cute. You can both wear his clothes and work out together! As long as you return them with minimal dirt, he doesn't care

Sam

-would love if you wore a t-shirt from his band

-definitely the type to go “lol what if we swapped shirts” and just tear it off on the spot to switch with you

-he actually doesn't have too many non-winter jackets or zip-ups. He has one leather jacket (Seb has a matching one, they got them when they were teens) but it's a little small on him. If it fits you he would love to see you in it

-he will definitely forget or not notice if you take a shirt for a long time, and gets all blushy if he realizes you're wearing it

[desultory-novice]

I wonder if Meta & the other knights are of the same species as Kirby... Or are they a species made to *counteract* Kirby's species?

Wow, this is an amazingly timely ask! I happen to have a post talking about something VERY similar, so I'm just going to paste the contents here, if you don't mind!

“Meta Knight's Eyes”

...First off, I'm a BIG fan of the white/silver-eyed Meta Knight from the early games and wish they hadn't changed it. But now that they have changed his eyes, I'm left wondering - what does this mean for Meta Knight’s lore?

Most of us assume that Meta Knight is part of Kirby's species. Older, most likely. At least, he likes to make himself (themself, truthfully) out to be that way. 

He looks like Kirby, down to the big, adorable eyes and cute cheek blush, and because he looks so much like Kirby (aka, CUTE) he hides his face with a mask - or so we tacitly accepted for years

But modern Meta Knight doesn't have the blush anymore. And his eyes are...weird now. Back when they were white, and he was sprite-based, you could generally guess at details like where the iris might be, or where the light reflection was in them. But now...?

They didn't just change his eyes to yellow. 

If they'd changed his eyes to yellow, he might look like this...

(...Maybe darker cheeks, not lighter. Unless he were bio-luminescent)

They changed his eyes to JUST glowing yellow.

And they've stayed that way through ALL the lore heavy Kirby games. Why should Meta Knight look LESS like Kirby the further along the series gets?

I wonder if this change may be leading up to a reveal that Meta Knight is NOT part of Kiby's species at all. He could be something...completely different. A mimic? A shadow?

Edit: Or an enemy/counter of some kind, as emeraldcoloredwinter’s ask suggests. Note that since we haven’t seen Galacta or Morpho without their masks, all this stuff about Meta’s eyes and existence can apply to them as well.

I always took it for granted that Meta Knight hid his face because he didn't wish to be seen as cute. It was an old (and maybe somewhat troubling/binary-leaning) cliche in anime at the time that cute or pretty people would have to hide their looks in order to appear “strong.”

But even if we look at a maskless Meta Knight and think “cute!” it's hard to describe his current appearance as "ohh, that’s definitely so cute that he NEEDS to hide it." (Especially without the blushing cheeks.) 

It's also hard to say that he hides his face because he looks identical to Kirby because....well, he doesn't really look that identical to the puffball. Not anymore. With Meta’s eyes being entirely different, the only thing he has in common with Kirby is the round shape of his body and how his limbs (he already disguises the shape of his hands with gloves & gauntlets. That OR his hands are different) attach. And he does nothing to hide those. 

Just his face.

That’s what he wants to hide. If his face hides a secret...then all I can say is that his face looks quite different compared to Kirby. It feels to me like what modern Meta Knight is trying to hide is not his face but those big old lighthouse eyes of his.

It’s his eyes he doesn’t want anyone to see.  Not his resemblance to Kirby.

(It’s here I note that Golden Glowing Eyes(tm) give off strong Ancient vibes.)

I can't help but wonder if Meta Knight might then be some kind of ghost or phantom? Maybe he WAS a living member of Kirby's species once and isn't anymore? Maybe it happened off-camera, in-between the very games where the eye switch occurred?

Boy, wouldn’t that be sad? Meta Knight now existing only as a phantom. But it could also be used to explain a lot of the mystery about him. The fact that he can wish on a Clockwork Star without it backfiring on him. The fact that Forgo couldn’t possess him. I’m really reminded of Auron from FFX with this particular theory.

...Also, if he was dead, could a Meta Knight Soul be on the way? Or is the Meta Knight we know NOW actually Meta Knight Soul? :imagines Meta Knight growing a second pair of wings and maybe a second set of eyes too:

I-ignore the fact that Meta Knight died and went to the underworld once. That was novel canon. It doesn't necessarily reflect on the games! :sweat: Also, ignore the fact that it may be impossible to die for good on Popstar. (He, uh, died off planet, clearly. Cough cough...)

Otherwise, maybe he's some kind of Ditto like creature, and the eyes are a tell? (Again, maybe there was a real "Meta Knight" for several games and this one copied him?! And that switch explains the eye change!)

Or maybe he was a science experiment? A captured voidborn who was experimented on? (Poor Meta, always having run-ins with evil science.) Or perhaps he was an attempt to create one? Or to create an antagonist to the voidborn speices? He sure does like to fight...

Is that something he was programmed to do?

What if the “knights” were made to fight against the void and their kind by a society that fears what they can become? (Or wants to capture them?)

Perhaps the shift in his eyes from bright white to lantern yellow means that, whatever he is, he's burning out now? Like how a star gets bright before it goes supernova and eventually dims. There’s a LOT of star imagery in Kirby after all. Will Meta Knight's eyes dim further from this point in the series on until they (...and his life...) burn out for good...?

I mean, he's sort of the Kirby series' Protoman figure - showing up without a word, looking just like the protagonist and then he challenges you to a duel, so the whole “limited lifespan” thing isn't that out there of an idea. 

Or maybe it won’t kill him. Maybe the eyes are only tied to his sight, and he’s losing his vision as they go from white to yellow to eventually dark...?

Either way, I sense angst potential in ALL these ideas! Fufufu...

[dantelionwishes]

At what point in the school year do you think Kiyoko would learn about Hikari's quirk, fighting style, and costume? Asking for No Reason At All of course. 🙂 Kiyoko definitely doesn't have Very Strong Opinions about it.

Also, do you think the teachers would take any actions in Hikari's training to basically teach her to switch tracks entirely - teaching her a fighting style that focuses on Quirkless fighting and its potential, and doing everything they can to teach her to close that dependency gap, between her abilities and having to rely on her quirk? Or does she already fight like that, doing everything she can to increase her chances of not Game Ending in the field?

If the Teachers don't step in to support Hikari, Kiyoko WILL. And she'll be disappointed in them.*(But dw she's not disappointed in you and I enjoy all your characters immensely. And the drama? THAT'S THAT SPICY STUFF RIGHT THERE👏👏👏👏👏)

*The teachers, not Hikari. Assuming all of my assumptions aren't too far off, she'll just...feel so sad for her. And then determined to help. Even if Hikari ends up hating her for her strong opinions on Hikari's situation.

YEAH OK SO kiyoko my beloved Y-President, ur true on the fact that hikari is technically quirkless unless she does her Game Ending (tm) in the field thing, but I also did want to say she did inherit some interesting stuff!

copy pasted from her profile I wrote on toyhouse:

Heat Resistance: Most likely inherited from her father, not only does she have a higher body temperature than others, but she also has an extremely high heat tolerance to temperatures that can go up to 2000°C and has next to zero chances of getting burned at all. She takes advantage of this endurance to fire and gets support items that can work with fire.

so she has some pretty interesting fighting abilities thanks to some support items! she has these specifically in her hero costume:

Flamethrowers: A ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire, designed to deliver maximum firepower.

Heated Gloves: The gloves are integrated electrical heating devices, similar to electric stoves. They can deal serious burns to whoever touches them.

and of course, she uses them to her advantage with these specific SPECIAL MOVES WOOOOOOO [she will develop these during X and Y's quirk summer training camp where the students are preparing to get their provisional hero licenses]:

Red Sea (紅海 Kōkai): Hikari uses her support items and lets out a sea of scorching fire via her hidden flamethrowers.

Sahara Judgement (サハラ裁く Sahara sabaku): Her close combat technique when she's cornered, relying on another set of support items. She wears gloves that are heated to high degrees, adding a serious, painful burn when fighting someone in hand-to-hand combat. Her height is an added bonus for close encounters, and she discards the coat she wears when fighting.

Kiyoko is such a responsible and amazing president for caring about her classmates in this way and I can totally imagine a stern but serious fight breaking out where she talks to, for example, both miss me and sato where she gets upset that she has to be a hero and rely on her quirk! its a small misunderstanding though, and even if hikari is more than a bit hesitant to even be in UA and do any hero work, it was her decision! Kiyoko standing up for Hikari and showing sympathy for her quirk would be such an important point in her school life (despite the small misunderstanding) esp since it would be the first time hikari would openly talk about her OWN decisions <3

[aricazorel]

"You came back." "I promised, didn't I?" Prompt

Kaidan Alenko x Kori Reese; ME3, post- Citadel II (1465 words)

When the away party departed the shuttle after decommissioning yet another Cerberus base, Major Kaidan Alenko did not count on a personal visit by the Normandy’s XO. Yet there she stood in the docking bay, attempting to disguise her fidgeting with unnecessary fiddling with her Omni-tool. Lieutenant Commander Kora Reese might be able to fool some with her antics but not him. Kori was nervous and worried about something, and he was reasonably sure it had something to do with him.

With a nod to Shepard, the Major made his way over to Reese who stood next to one of the computer stations near the weapons modding table. She glanced up into his whiskey brown eyes and then quickly back at her omni-tool. Maybe nervous wasn't the correct word at all. Worried was but there was something else. Reese wasn't one to avoid eye contact especially with him unless…

Unless she was scared.

That thought set alarm bells off in the Specter’s mind as he came to a stop in front of her. What could have happened while he was on the away mission to cause her to be scared? And what did it have to do with him?

“Hey,” he said quietly, drawing her attention back to him.

“Hey,” she echoed as grey eyes met his again, her omni-tool still open, still running numbers on a simulation for a project she was no doubt working on. She always had multiple projects and sims running, hoping one of her ideas would prove viable enough with EDI’s help to use against the reapers or Cerberus.

Kaidan tilted his head slightly, all too familiar with her tendency to use it as a distraction as well. “What brings the Normandy XO down here? I thought Shepard told you to make sure not to scratch the paint.”

The Lt. Commander made a face at him. “I oversaw the retrofits with Traynor. The only paint that ever got scratched was that ugly-ass Cerberus orange.”

The Major smirked as he said, “Okay. Okay. Fine. But really, why are you down here?”

“Can’t I come down and see how the mission went?”

“Kori, you were listening in on our comms the whole mission. You know exactly how it went and you know that we took out another Cerberus base,” Kaidan said reaching over and switching off her ‘tool.

She opened her mouth to protest but stopped when the rest of the ground team passed them, heading towards the elevator. Shepard called out of his shoulder, “Not a bad ending for your first mission back on the Normandy without your girlfriend along to babysit you, Alenko.”

Kaidan made a face as he waved the first human Specter off. “Laugh it up, Shepard! I'm sure I can ask Liara for some embarrassing stories of her saving your ass.”

“Just because my girlfriend is a Shadow Broker doesn't mean she knows everything I've done or that she’s assed my ass!”

“Are you sure? I seem to remember something about coming back from the dead…”

Shepard scowled as the door shut. The Major just grinned. “You don’t actually babysit me—”

Alenko trailed off when he glanced down and saw the expression on Reese’s face. The same concern laced with what she could only label as fear reflected in her grey eyes. Something definitely wasn't right. Hearing Vega and Cortez banter back and forth as they checked over the shuttle for damage, Kaidan gently ushered Reese to the elevator. “We need to talk, don't we?”

“I don't—"

“Yeah,” he said as he summoned the lift. “We need to talk.”

Reese fidgeted but said nothing in reply. As the elevator doors opened, Kaidan glanced over at the Lieutenant Commander who continued to stare straight ahead. After boarding the lift, the Major said as the doors closed, “EDI, can you give us a few moments alone?”

“Of course, Major Alenko,” the sentient AI replied as she paused the elevator. “I will inform you when the elevator is needed.”

“Thanks, EDI,” he said as he crossed his arms turning to face Reese. “I feel like we've been here before.”

Grey eyes finally met his as she said quietly, “Hopefully less yelling this time.”

Kaidan's eyes went wide at the remark. Two days after he rejoined the SR2 he confronted her about the fact she was ignoring him. Tempers had flared as they discovered they still had unresolved issues even after rekindling the relationship on Earth. “I.. only meant that we talked in the lift. Not the other part.”

“We didn't talk in the elevator. You kissed me and pressed me up against the wall. We actually talked in the engineering sub-deck.”

Kaidan sighed as she once again corrected him. “Do we really have to go down there or—"

“You came back.”

Her words were spoken in a whisper, her eyes flickering between his gaze and his armor’s chest plate. Dawning struck the second human Specter like lightening. She was afraid he wouldn’t return.

He used a gloved hand to tilt her head back up to his level. “Of course, I did. I promised, didn’t I?”

“I just…” Reese began, her expression showing embarrassment at her admission. “It’s stupid but I just had to see you get off that shuttle. I—”

“Oh, hey! It’s okay, sweetheart,” Kaidan said as he drew her into a tender embrace. His Spec Ops armor really wasn’t conducive to it but he managed any way. “I’m here. I’m back with you where I belong.”

A he cradled her head to his chest the best his armor would allow, he realized she had folded her arms in against his chest. He was effectively cocooning her in his embrace. Reese had never been one to show vulnerability in public and it had taken a long time for her to do it with him on the SR1. Now as they struggled to begin again, he was continually surprised when she did so with him. It was especially unexpected considering the issues the incident on Mars had caused between them. The initial confrontation in the very same elevator after he’d joined the crew was a direct result of that.

On Earth before the Reapers invaded, they had begun repairing their relationship. A foundation of friendship had been remade. Slowly, gradually they had worked towards being more. Admittedly even before the arrival of the Reapers, they still had a long way to go.

But maybe there was more to what Kori worried about though. He knew a part of her still harbored a doubt that he might leave again without a proper explanation. And he owned that. He took every opportunity to prove to her through word and deed that he would not repeat past mistakes.

But Mars? That had been something else entirely. It wasn’t like before during the aftermath of the SR1’s destruction, one of them leaving the other because they chose to. Mars involved the possibility of losing each other because of their duty or succumbing to injuries sustained while in the line of duty.

The Major’s mind began putting together the pieces of the puzzle as he continued to hold the woman he loved to his chest.

His headaches. Her reaction in the hospital. Her accusation that he hadn’t been truthful about the severity of his migraines after his injuries on Mars…

The weekly inquiries into his medical records. Dr. Chakwas and Dr. Michel he expected. But a third party pinged his records on a regular basis as well. One routed through Alliance medical but without a specific name. It had to be Kori. She was that worried about him because of Mars but did not want to tell him. Most likely so he wouldn’t worry.

Kaidan closed his eyes as he continued to hold her close. He wouldn’t tell her he’d figured out her secret. Instead, he would continue to assure her he would always come back. That there was a future for them. That no matter the mission, the injury, or the pain he endured, he would always come back to her.

“Kori, I know things have never been exactly easy for us but I…” he paused as he moved his head to kiss her forehead. “I will always come back to you. Always.”

“You better, Alenko,” she murmured into his armor. “Or I’ll—”

“Kick my ass. I know,” he said with a grin as he hit the button to allow the elevator to resume its journey.

“Damn straight, tech boy,” was her murmured reply as he continued to hold her, not caring if the doors opened to reveal their current state to anyone. He’d spent far too long without her in his life, and he was not going repeat that mistake again.

He’d always come back to her. Always.