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curiositydooropened · 5 months ago

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Ranged • 02: Home

Finally, a day off. You're prepping for your best friend's barbecue when your partner starts pounding on your front door with news that brings you unease.

Pairing: special agent!Steve Harrington x special agent!Reader

Wordcount: 5074

Warnings: very slowburn, this fic is episodic, coworkers to lovers, angst, hurt/comfort, canon-typical violence, canon-typical gore, weapons, fighting, murder, viruses, decay, monsters *This chapter contains mentions of death, cremation, scars, autopsies, etc.

This blog is 18+ only. I do not give permission for any of my fics to be duplicated, reposted, or put into AI. Thank you!

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Moodboard • 01: Firetower • 03: Bayou [Coming soon]

The pounding at your door nearly startled the wrapped gift from your hand.

“Be right there!” You shouted and carefully tucked the card beneath crossed ribbon.

With a huff, you made your way to the door. It was a challenge nowadays, hobbling on one foot, bracing yourself on the back of your couch and the buffet near the front door. The staircase was by-far the worst of it, especially when you were still on crutches.

The pounding continued, a bit incessant and impatient, and you groaned. “Hold on! I’m in a boot!”

The little cover over your peephole swung beneath your fingertips, and you strained to see your partner. His broad shoulders took up most of the frame, and his hair wagged as he checked both sides of your hallway.

You unlocked the deadbolt and inched the door open. “Steve?”

“Les Joplin is dead.” Worry creased his brow.

You sighed and hobbled aside to let him in. Owens had called you with the bad news this morning. It was just a part of the gig. You can’t save everyone. You noticed Steve took these things harder than you’d been trained to.

Steve barreled past you, and until you saw the look of curiosity cross his features, you’d forgotten he’d never been to your apartment before. Suddenly, you felt self-conscious about the lace trimmed window treatments your mom had set up and the Pig-shaped cookie jar on the countertop. His fingertips grazed the couch upholstery and he took in your massive entertainment shelves before turning to size you up.

“I’m sorry, were you going somewhere?”

You tugged your cardigan a little closer, hem of your dress brushing your knee over your hideous boot. “It is our day off.”

He nodded, and you took a moment to survey his own outfit. An oversized sweater was emblazoned with red, white, and blue embroidery. Navy blue shorts barely covered the breadth of his hairy thighs. The way his hair stuck to his temples denoted he’d been out on a Sunday morning jog.

“How’d you find out about Les?” You asked, hobbling back to the kitchen to pour him a glass of water.

Steve met you there, tutting about your bum leg as he reached over your head for a glass from the cabinet to fill for himself. “Owens left me a voicemail.”

You watched the steady rise and fall of his Adam’s apple as he drank. A droplet fell from the corner of his lips and slid down the length of his jaw until he reached to wipe it up.

“Joplin makes six in six months.” He frowned, turning the faucet on to rinse.

You frowned, nodded. It was true, nearly all of the people you’d managed to life-flight out of Hell seemed to have died through some infection or surgical complications.

“Joplin had a broken leg.” Steve tapped at your boot with his toe. “You’re still alive.”

You rolled your eyes. “He’d also been exposed to the elements for two days before we reached him. Vines had wrapped themselves around him. He could have been infected with the Blight and we just didn’t know.”

“He was coherent!” Steve argued, running a hand through his hair. “You don’t find any of this fishy?”

The vulnerability in his gaze was rare, a softness that kicked something up within you, reminded you that this grumpy exterior cared and had compassion.

You chewed on your bottom lip and shrugged. “What do you want to do about it?”

His shoulders seem to relax a little, and he leaned against your counter, crossing his ankles over one another. “I have someone looking into the autopsy of the Garcia brothers.”

You swallowed, remembering the smiling faces of the two boys as they held each other’s hand in the back of the ambulance. They’d died hours after pick-up. You shook your head. “They were cremated, remember? We can’t exhume any bodies.”

Steve nodded. “I know. They’ve all been cremated. Les is being torched as we speak.”

“Steve,” you groaned at his crudity, imaging the frail man with kind eyes being locked in an incinerator.

“Like I said, someone’s looking into it. I’m meeting them tonight.”

You broached your next question with caution. “Have you… spoken to Owens about this?”

Steve watched you, like a caged animal deciding whether or not it could trust the hand that feeds it.

You understood the roots of his mistrust. You barely knew what he’d gone through, how complicated his tangles were with these government entities, but what little you did know seemed reason enough to question everything.

He cleared his throat, shook his head. “No, I want to have more solid evidence before I bring it to his attention.”

You nodded and opened your mouth to commend him when the antique cuckoo clock on your wall chimed 11. “Shit!”

Steve leapt back onto his feet, just as startled as you, and he side-stepped you as you grappled for the gift and wine bottle on the counter behind him.

“Steve, I’m so sorry, but I’m late.” You said as you hobbled to your denim jacket and purse hanging near the front door.

“You’re not driving, right?” He frowned.

You cursed again, reaching into your purse to procure your cell phone.

“Who are you calling?”

“A cab,” you argued, shoving him out your door with full hands. The phone rang, wedged between your cheek and shoulder, and you fumbled in your bag for some keys. “Hold these,” you dumped the gifts into his outstretched hands.

“Hang up. I’ll drive you.” He sighed.

“Capital Cab Company, how can we help you today?”

“What?” You struggled with the key in the lock, and gaped at your partner when he gently removed your phone from your ear and ended the call.

“Let me drive you.”

—

A jagged scar sliced through toned and tanned thigh meat, deep, purple, fresh enough to thrust you back into that cold cave. You taste his blood in the air, feel his pulse slow against your chest.

“So at what point were you going to tell me your partner was this scrumptious?” Your childhood best friend’s voice shook you back to reality.

Steve stood about a hundred feet away, thighs at eye-level and on-show in those tiny running shorts. His white tube socks were stained with flecks of mud and grass. He hugged one hand into his armpit, the other held a beer he’d barely drank since you all stepped into the backyard an hour earlier.

“Or was that confidential information?” Sadie snickered, poking at your side.

You shushed her with a waved hand, trying not to let her see the way you warmed at the idea. You leaned forward in your lawn chair for another handful of potato chips from the card table teetering in front of you. “He is not… scrumptious.”

Steve Harrington wasn’t a hunk. You’d seen him with toothpaste stuck to the corner of his mouth and dribbled down his sleep shirt. You watched him trip over his own shoelaces once.

Sure, he took great care of his body. It was kind of in the job description. Neither of you could climb mountains or fight monsters if you’d let yourself go. And yeah, he possessed handsome features. He had a nice hairline and thick, full hair, rare for a man his age. The handful of times you’d seen his stubble grow in hadn’t made him look haggard.

You could admit there was a kindness in his eyes too, saved for incredibly special occasions.

“I honestly don’t know how you get any work done,” Michelle agreed, pouring herself another glass from the wine bottle you’d brought.

“I’d be taking every opportunity to climb him like a tree.” Tammie played with the pendant on her necklace, perched on her chair like she was waiting for him to look her direction.

You coughed, salty chip wedged somewhere in your esophagus.

Sadie saw your struggle and laughed, slipping your wine glass into a salty hand for relief.

“So tell us,” Rhonda leaned in, covering her mouth with her hand, “have you two ever…?” She waggled her eyebrows.

You sputtered wine back into your glass, and Sadie threw her head back in delight.

You wiped the dribble from your chin and glared at your best friend. “Is this why you invited him in? So you and the girls could torment me?”

“Oh Pigeon, don’t be so dramatic,” Sadie pinched the flab under your arm and grinned. “I invited him in because I wanted to stare at those thighs. Think he’ll play volleyball if we put the net up?”

“Your husband is right there.” You gestured to poor, sweet Jeff, receding hairline and beer gut stretching his cotton polo. He drank his beer and flipped burgers and stared at Steve like he was just at smitten as his wife.

“He can join,” Sadie shrugged.

This sent the other women in a fit of giggles and hoots.

Steve met your gaze. Someone behind you must have waggled their fingers, because the corners of his lips quirked into a confused smile, and he extended a timid wave.

You chewed on your cheeks to avoid laughing with them.

“I know we’ve been talking about those legs, but have you seen the size of his hands?” Tammie whispered into her wine glass.

“Oh I know, I’d like him to - “

“Alright,” you hoisted yourself from your lawn chair and hobbled away from the cackling women. The grass wasn’t ideal for your wobbly boot, but anywhere was better than the warmth radiating from your collar and the call of your best friend for you to return.

Halfway across the yard, you stumbled on a rogue gopher hole, wine splashing from your glass and all over the front of the man who was conveniently there to catch you. Two large hands held you upright at your ribs.

“Why is it difficult for you to just sit and stay there?” Steve asked, chin and throat glistening with white wine. It soaked the top half of his sweatshirt.

Before you could apologize, the crew was on you, a flurry of mom’s pinching and doting, patting you both with paper towels.

Steve waved them off so he could limp you back to your seat, pointing a warning finger your direction. “Stay there.”

“Steve, honey, let me throw that in the wash for you. I’m sure Jeff has something you can borrow.” Sadie shot you a salacious look before beckoning your partner in through the sliding glass door at the back of her house.

“Think they need help?” Rhonda snorted, and the rest of them started to holler again.

—

A summer thunderstorm forced the party indoors. Husbands toted drunk wives out the front door. The kids were hauled into the basement with popsicles and VHS rentals. Only a handful of party-goers remained, indulging in quiet conversation around Sadie’s immaculately floral living room. Her favorite record spun in the corner.

“I’m worried about you, Pigeon,” she tapped at your knee above your boot and offered a glass of water.

You accepted it and shrugged. “Hazards of the job. I survived, didn’t I?” You kneed her back.

She glanced around the room before she lowered her voice. “When Steve changed earlier, I saw those… scars. What exactly are you two fighting out there?” Her eyes were wide, full of worry, of fear.

You felt it, too, sometimes. You thought about her a lot, about a life in a perfect suburban home with a picket fence. You wondered if you’d ever achieve that, too.

“Steve went through a lot before we recruited him.” It was the only explanation you could manage.

You glanced at your partner. He stood in the kitchen, arms crossed over a too-small polo of Jeff’s in a horrid khaki green that still, somehow suited him. You wondered if he’d ever wanted the American Dream. You could imagine him hunched beneath a kitchen sink or flipping burgers outside. You could imagine him coming home after a long day’s work, dumping his briefcase in the hall closet, smelling the air for a home-cooked dinner. You imagined kids and a dog running to greet him.

“I just need you to be careful,” Sadie warned.

You blinked back into focus, and turned to see the look in her eye had changed.

She nodded toward the kitchen, a knowing smirk playing at full lips.

“Sadie, thank you so much for inviting me. Are you sure it’s alright if Wyatt stays here tonight?” A voice from behind you pulled your best friend from her seat on the couch.

“Michelle, of course! Wyatt’s welcome anytime. Just call if you can’t pick him up tomorrow, I’ll have Jeff drive him home.” Sadie kissed her acquaintance on the cheek, bangles on her wrists jingling.

Michelle said your name, reaching out to squeeze your shoulder. “It was really good to see you again.”

“Yeah,” you smiled. “You, too.”

She turned from you both and took a few steps before pausing and turning back to face you. “Okay, I know this is going to sound a bit… I dunno.” She waved off her words, insecurity oozing from a typically-poised frame.

Michelle was such a sweet woman, confident, beautiful. She worked with Jeff in radio advertising. She was a single mom. You’d never seen a hair of hers out of place, nor a pearled button.

You glanced at Sadie, whose demeanor had gone rigid beside you.

“I just um… is there anything going on between you and Steve?”

You blinked back at her, your mouth going a little dry.

“I only ask because he and I had a really nice conversation earlier, and I wanted to give him my number, but I obviously would never step on your toes. I think the world of you. Also like, if it’d be weird at all, that’s totally understandable.” She was rambling now, her pale features tinged a bright red.

Sadie was holding her breath beside you.

You blinked a few more times, processing the word vomit, and eventually your head shook itself. “No. Nope, no, huh uh. No. Um… no.” For God sake, anything else, say anything else.

Sadie elbowed you.

You laughed. “Sorry, just um… Steve? Harrington?”

Michelle ducked her head and smiled, tucking a black curl behind her ear. “Yeah. Is that okay?”

“Chyeah, of course it is. That’s great, Michelle! That’s really great! I’ll put in a good word for you.” The words came out of you like they were flowing from someone else’s mouth. You felt paralyzed in your seat. Sadie’s claws were digging into the meat of your thigh.

“Oh really? Oh that’d be amazing. Thanks so much. Well, wish me luck, I guess, then…” She let out a little eep like a school girl and waggled her fingers your direction before she turned to make a b-line to the kitchen.

“You’ll put in a good word?”

“Shut up,” you hissed, smacking your friend’s hand away.

Steve stood up straight at Michelle’s approach, that stiff kindness meeting his eyes. He struck you a bit like Frankenstein’s monster, a man learning to be human again, movements stilted and face stuck in a scowl.

Michelle took something from her purse and placed it into his large hand, her own fingers lingering softly against his.

His throat turned a bit pink, and his ears, and it looked like he was fighting off a smile like it might hurt him. He nodded and said something back, and they ended their exchange with an awkward half-hug. Her curls caught on the bridge of his nose, his lashes. He met your gaze from across the room.

Then he jumped, apologized as the distinct bell of his cell phone chimed in his pocket.

Michelle left with one last excited wave to you girls, but you were already snapping your fingers for Sadie to grab you your purse from the coffee table.

You dug for your phone, but by the time you flipped it open and dialed into voicemail, Steve was walking your direction.

“Sadie, mind if I grab my sweatshirt?” He shot you a look and said, “We have to go.”

—

The rain thunked heavy on Steve’s windshield, wipers pulsing at a steady rhythm. The warmth of a far-off streetlamp cast reds and yellows across his silhouette and splashed across a bare kneecap.

You sat in a park parking lot. A swing set swayed in the wind a hundred or so yards to your left. A large hill jetted upwards at your center. Trees scattered the area.

Steve’s car idled. The heater puffed warmth that smelled of leather and him, and the faintest sweet of white wine that Sadie’s natural detergent hadn’t managed to squeeze out of his sweatshirt.

“Where are we?” You asked, glancing around the empty lot.

The sun had dipped west an hour ago, just as you reversed out of Sadie’s driveway beside Jeff’s station wagon.

“I don’t know,” Steve grumbled. His leg bounced, shaking the entire car with nervous energy.

You had half a mind to slow his movements, the heat and the sway churning your motion-sick stomach, but the idea of clamping down on his muscled and hairy thigh had you thinking of the girls at the barbecue. You imagined each of them in the backseat of his car, oohing and chanting for you to quit being a baby and just do it.

So you sucked your cheeks between your teeth and stared directly ahead at the beading water on the windshield.

“So…” You breathed. “What did you think of Michelle?”

“Who?” Steve stopped his quake.

You sighed and looked back at him. “Michelle, from the party? Black hair, freckles, drop-dead gorgeous. She gave you her number at the end of the night?”

“Oh right,” he said, like that was the only indication he’d met this woman.

You blinked back at him, waiting for more elaboration. You should have known better. With another deep breath, you pushed a little further. “She wanted me to put in a good word.”

“Okay,” and now he waited expectedly.

“What?” You frowned.

“Tell me something good about her.”

For the life of you, all you could muster was, “She’s a really good mom?”

Steve snorted, though his expression remained unamused. “Great, I’ll ask her to cut the crust off my sandwiches.”

“No, that’s not…” You huffed, adjusting your sweating back against the leather seat. You grumbled and flicked off the heat, suddenly feeling the space around you void of air.

You sat in silence for a moment, trying to organize your thoughts, frustrated that the only image coming to mind was Michelle’s perfectly manicured nails clinging to Jeff’s polo collar. Steve’s hands held her close, sliding down to the seat of her jeans.

Steve cleared his throat, and you blinked back to reality.

“I’m sure I can think of nicer things to say,” you managed to squeak out.

“I’m not going to date Michelle,” Steve spoke low and slow beside you, his voice warming you more than the heater had.

You glanced up at him, strong jaw and defined nose cut through warm lamplight. You pondered his tone, wondered how final it had felt, how far you could press. Maybe it’d be best to leave it there.

“This job doesn’t lend well to… a life.” His voice startled you again, information given before it was asked.

You didn’t dare respond, lips sealed, breath held.

He scratched at the stubble overgrown on his chin. “Doesn’t feel fair to get someone’s hopes up when I could be killed the next day.”

His name fell from your lips in a sigh, and he caught you gaze, lips quirked upward in a wry smile as he waved his words from the space between you.

“That’s just me though. I’m not like… putting that on you. Date a bunch of guys, if you want! Or one guy! Or one gal. I don’t care, I just um…” He coughed into his hand.

You snorted and glanced back out the windshield at the lamplight and the rain.

A shadow moved straight ahead, emerging from the hill top, bowed shoulders and a wide-brimmed hat.

“Steve,” you nodded, reaching your hand into your bag for your concealed weapon.

He adjusted himself upright, his own hand stopping your wrist.

“Is that your guy?” You asked, heart thundering a little louder in your ear.

“I hope so,” he answered, and you both just waited.

The figure seemed to sway down the hillside, walking at too slow a pace, darting through the tree line to be covered in shadow when he could. Finally, as he stepped into the warmth of lamplight and tilted his head to expose round cheeks, Steve released your wrist and dropped his shoulders in relief.

The door creaked and the pitter of rain against the asphalt deafened you for a moment as Steve stepped out to scold the contact. Both men spoke in hushed tones, gesturing wildly to you before admitting defeat and retreating to the safety of the car’s interior. The whole vehicle shook under their combined weight, and they brought with them the sweet smell of ozone.

You eyed Steve, tendrils of his hair dripping onto scruffy cheekbones.

He grimaced and pushed his hair from his eyes, gesturing from you to the man in the seat behind him. “This is Dustin Henderson, Henderson, this is my partner.” He introduced you.

“My real name, Steve? Really?” Dustin snapped, pulling the fedora from wild curls.

Steve shrugged. “She didn’t know it was your real name until you just confirmed it, dipshit.”

Dustin rolled his eyes.

You blinked back at a the two of them. There was no family resemblance, but they bickered like siblings, and you realized this was the largest glimpse you’d gained into Steve’s private life in the year you’d known him. You knew his parents’ names, that he grew up in Indiana. You knew he was captain of the swim team. You knew he enjoyed sports. You knew he knew far too much about the movie Labyrinth. You knew his go-to sit-in diner order (a cheeseburger with no onions and a strawberry shake). But somehow this connection, with this strange young man, was the greatest insight you had into who your partner really was.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” you extended a hand.

Dustin Henderson smiled at that, a big, warm, round smile. His hand was cold and clammy from the rain, but the handshake was strong and firm. “Likewise,” he nodded. “Steve was right, you are a beautiful woman.”

“Hello? Can we talk about the autopsy reports?” Steve snapped his fingers to get you both back on track.

“Okay, Jesus Christ,” Dustin hissed like a scolded middle schooler. He reached into the inside pocket of his oversized trench coat and pulled out a few pieces of paper. He handed half the pile to Steve and half to you.

You squinted down at a handful of coroner’s reports, the names of the deceased all familiar to you. Les Joplin sat at the top of the pile. Cause of death: prolonged exposure. You swallowed and handed the paper over for Steve to read.

He shook his head. “So could you find anything?”

Dustin tapped his fingers on the bottom of the pages. “All of these autopsy’s were done by the same man. No matter what part of the country these people were in, they brought in the same guy. George Humbolt.”

You thumbed through the remaining papers to find the signature he’d indicated.

“George Humbolt no longer works for the United States government. He actually recently retired and bought a very large mansion in Key Largo. He was a very difficult man to track down, and when I called him earlier to ask him about the Garcia brothers, his phone line was disconnected.” Dustin explained through grit teeth.

You glanced up at the young man, peach fuzz barely cresting his upper lip. You wondered what got him into this life, if he’d been thrust into conspiracy theories chasing his older brother-figure. You wondered if he’d seen as many horrible things as Steve had, as you had. You hoped not. You hoped nothing would come of this snooping. You hoped he was being safe.

“Humbolt didn’t do Joplin’s,” Steve exchanged you papers again. In script, you could barely make out the name of a woman, Caroline Something. “Maybe we can track down the new person?”

“I did some digging into her too.” Dustin nodded. “Her supervisor is one Samuel Owens.”

You watched Steve’s expression shift, harden. You watched him watch you. You watched the trust fall from his eyes, wariness making his shoulders and jaw rigid.

He swallowed, nodded, folded the papers in his hands. “Well, Henderson, thanks for this, man. I think maybe it’d be wise to lay low for a little while.”

“Sure, man. You know I’m always careful though.” Dustin could sense the shift in his friend. His face seemed to screw up, too, in concern. He offered you a sad smile.

Steve nodded, solemn, and cranked the heat again. The noise from the fan cut through the tension. “Do you need a ride home? How the Hell did you get out here?”

“Walked.” Dustin sighed and folded himself back into his seat, reaching for the seat belt.

—

The rain calmed to a soft sprinkle that dotted your cheeks. Droplets caught on your eyelashes and cast stardust in your vision under streetlights and the entrance to your apartment building. You blinked them away, keys jingling at your side as you let yourself in.

Steve held the door to let you hobble past, and he followed you in quiet silence onto the elevator.

You pressed the button to your floor and relaxed into the handrail, taking some weight off your aching foot in its boot.

Dustin had made sweet small talk on his way home, asking about your life and your interests. You’d learned he was a computer programmer. He had a pet turtle, and Steve was his best friend.

When he exited the car, the two exchanged a cute handshake that Steve seemed nonplussed to reenact, despite both of them being silhouetted in the headlights.

Steve didn’t speak a word to you the rest of the way home.

“Thanks again for sticking with me at Sadie’s today. You really didn’t have to stay.” You said, voice hoarse, as you stepped off the elevator and onto your floor.

Your partner shrugged, rubbed at the back of his neck. “I had fun. Sorry about Henderson, by the way. He can be a bit…”

“Endearing? Wholesome? Adorable?” You smiled.

Steve snorted. “I was going to say obnoxious, but I’ll tell him you said that. He’ll probably buy you flowers.”

You hummed. “Flowers are nice, and so was he.”

You put your keys into your lock and twisted. Steve was warm behind you, a towering presence of protection and safety. You thought of Sadie’s warning. Be careful. Never had you doubted where you stood with Steve. Even though he’d been a stranger to you, you never felt threatened, never felt afraid.

You turned to look at him.

He swallowed, glanced down the hall. “Listen, I’m really sorry about today. Sometimes I can’t handle that I can’t save everyone, and I get a bit carried away.”

Your heart sunk, and you tilted your head to catch his gaze. His brown eyes were nervous. You shook your head. “No, you were right. Something weird is going on, and we’re going to figure it out. We can’t save everyone, but we can save someone.”

He took a few beats, searching for a falter in your certainty, searching for that trust in you, before he nodded.

A soft meow startled you apart, and your front door clicked open. Mrs. Song’s cat began rubbing his black and white butt against Steve’s ankle, purring loudly.

You both chuckled, clutching at startled chests before Steve leaned down to give the cat some much-needed pets.

Your heart pittered a little in your chest, and you found your face warming once again at the thought of Steve returning home after a long day’s work to greet his pets.

You cleared your throat and backed into your apartment, tossing your purse on the nearby hook and shrugging out of your jacket. “Well, goodnight. Thanks again for the ride.”

Steve stood up straight, all thick thighs and broad shoulders, cheeks pinched pink. He nodded. “Sure, no problem. Do you uh… do you need a ride to the office tomorrow?”

You tucked a hair behind your ear and shrugged. “Sure, um… sure, thanks.”

He nodded again. “Alright, pick you up at 7:45?”

You nodded. You felt paralyzed in this moment.

Steve stood in the precipice of your doorway, the green of your wallpaper bringing out the green in his eyes. You thought back to the teasing words of the women at the barbecue. If any of them had a man like this in their doorway, they’d invite him in, offer him a drink, do anything but stand and stare and wonder what could be, hearts racing.

He wrapped his knuckles against the doorframe and pushed off, a smile quirking at the corner of his lips. “Alright, then. Night.”

“Night.” You managed.

He stumbled a bit around the cat during his turnaround and bent to give her one last little pat.

“Steve!”

He stopped and stood back up to look at you over his shoulder.

“Don’t let the job discourage you,” you released a shaky exhale.

He frowned, confused.

“From having a life,” you explained.

Realization flooded his features, but the two of you remained rooted to the spot. You thought of Dustin and his turtle, and of Sadie and Jeff and their sweet little home. You thought of kids screaming on the trampoline. You thought of all of these things you never thought you’d have, unsure if you wanted them, unsure where Steve stood, if you’d be dragging him down, stealing his happiness by dying on the field. Maybe that’s what happened to Robin…

You cleared your throat, smiled, nodded. “You should really call Michelle. She’s a really sweet person. She’s funny. She’s very intelligent. She makes excellent brownies. Her son, Wyatt, is a really cool kid, too. I think he’s in karate.”

Steve nodded, taking another step backwards into the hallway, spell-broken. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” You smiled. “Night.”

“Night.”

The peephole carved a divot into your forehead once the door was closed.

---

Moodboard • 01: Firetower • 03: Bayou [Coming soon]

#stranger things fic #steve harrington fic #steve harrington angst #steve harrington coworkers to lovers #steve harrington slowburn #steve harrington #dustin henderson #ranged fic #ranged wip #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you

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way-of-eywa · 9 months ago

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Hearts in Training

Pairing: Neteyam Sully x Human Reader

Wordcount: 2.998

Genre: slight angst(?), fluff

A/N: I'm just getting back into writing after a long time. Obsessed with Avatar atm, and seeing these Challenges going around sparked some inspiration, so here it is. This will be my first post on this blog and I hope it's readable and enjoyable for you guys. There will be use of (Y/N). Feel free to let me know what you think or if I'm missing something.

This is for Day 1 of the #Crybabies14DOL2024.

You were hanging out with Lo'ak on the beach near Awa'atlu village. You were lying on your back, having eyes closed and enjoying the happy squeaking sounds the Ilus made, the sound of the sea, the soft noises the waves made, crashing against high, towering cliffs. In the distance, you could hear other people talk and laugh. A smile spread on your lips.

"What you smiling at?", Lo'ak asked, curiosity swinging in the undertone. "Thinking about him?" You could hear the tease in his voice, which cracked slightly. "Huh?" was all you managed to say. You opened your eyes to your right, where your best friend sat, leaning backward and holding himself up on his elbow. "Oh, you heard me!" A smirk plastered on his face. A feeling of being caught in something [unholy, forbidden] rushed through your body. "What do you mean?" trying to play the innocent card, you sat up straight, trying to look everywhere else but at that tall blue Na'vi.

„(Y/N), really? Come on, It's obvious", he stated and sat up straight too. "The crush you have on my big brother." In protest, you gasped and quickly turned to him to talk back, but Lo'ak threw his hands up. "No allegation. Just an observation." Dang it, you thought. Was it really that obvious? You were indeed crushing on your best friend's brother, Neteyam. This fact alone already sucked, but what made it even worse was the fact that he was trying to teach you how to use a bow and some other basic hunting skills. The few lessons you already had, ever since the Sullys had moved to the East Coast, taking you with them, were tiring. Not alone the fact that aiming simply seemed like a task your brain couldn't really figure out how it was done, but also how nervous you were near him, unable to think straight or continue doing whatever task you happened to work on right before he was there.

Lost in thoughts, you stared at the ground and sighed, pulling your legs to the chest, wrapping your arms around them, and resting your chin on the knee. Finally, looking up at Lo'ak. Two of his braids were falling over his face, caused by tilting his head to the site. "Is it really that bad?" your voice was no more than a slight whisper. There was still a tiny spark of hope inside you that this wasn't the case, but the look in his big yellow eyes said enough, and he smiled apologetically. "Do you think he knows?" with a shaky voice, you asked the question that lingered on the top of your tongue. Your best friend thought about it for a second. Then he frowned and then slowly shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so. He might be the older one, but not necessarily the smarter", he joked and showed his white teeth with a big grin.

Then, from one second to the next, Lo'ak's smile vanished from his face, his ears dropping a bit, his tail swayed a little less relaxed from side to side, and he looked pretty serious. "Speaking of…" Right when the boy next to you wanted to say something, you could already hear someone call for you, and that someone put a harsh tone on. "F-" You caught yourself before you started swearing. Having a relaxing time with your bestie made you forget… "Too late to run?" you breathed and didn't dare to move a single muscle as if you were the prey, trying to hide from the predator, hoping not moving made you magically invisible. "Yeah"

"(Y/N), I was looking for you everywhere!" Neteyam's husky voice was loud and clear when he came to a halt before you, blocking the sun from your sight. He slightly leaned over you and squinted his eyes in disappointment while stemming his hands on his hips.

"You're late…again", he growled, and it was easy to tell how annoyed he was. His ears were pinned against his head, and the way his tail moved furiously around. "I'm so sorry, Neteyam." Jumping to your feet, apologizing. The older one shook, barely noticeable his head and made a clicking sound with his tongue. If you had these cat-like ears and a tail, both would be as close to your body as they could be to express how bad you felt.

"I thought you wanted to learn to defend yourself and use a bow. Listen, if you don't want to learn…" - "It's my fault bro", interrupted the younger one his brother, standing up. Compared to you, a human, both were giants, yet in comparison to each other, Lo'ak was half a head smaller than Neteyam. "I was distracting her. Wanted to have a swim and needed some advice. Pressing his lips to a thin line, the older yellow eyes returned to his younger brother. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second before he turned his attention back to you, asking if you guys wanted to start training now, to which you nodded yes. Neteyam seemed to relax a bit before he nodded toward the nearby forest. "Let's go then," he said, and he started walking. You were quick to follow him, leaving Lo'ak behind. __________________________________________________

"Okay, okay. Try again! The last one wasn't that bad. You improved definitely", sending you an encouraging smile while not completely sounding sure of it. You appreciated the comforting words regarding your almost nonexistent skill of shooting an arrow. Neteyam had marked a few trees as targets with differences in height & distance. Most of the time, you missed a fairly wide range around the targets that are on focus.

He nods his head towards the target, meaning for you to shoot. You took a deep breath in, holding the bow into place. Pulling the string back, the back of your hand touching your cheek. Holding the arrow between your pointer finger and middle finger. You could feel his presence on your back and how he softly let his fingers glide over the skin of your forearm, holding the arrow in place and correcting your position. Feeling a little overwhelmed by the touch of his four-fingered hands, trying to ignore the tingling sensation that spread through your body, you closed your eyes, letting out a shaky breath. "Good, just like that," he whispered in your ear. You could feel his breath on your neck and you slightly shuttered. Without realizing it, when turning your head to look at him barely, you let go of the string, and the arrow landed somewhere between two bushes.

With every missed shot, your frustration grew, and you complained about how this didn't make sense, and it was a waste of time, which wasn't helpful with the tension between the two of you. "Maybe if you would take this whole thing more seriously, practice more, and actually show up on time," he snapped back and crossed his arms over his chest while leaning against a tree behind you. Holding your stance, you turned your head back to him, eyebrows almost touching. "I am trying! As if I don't have any other things to do." Trying to defend yourself, your voice got a bit louder. Neteyam huffed, ears pointed back. "Right. Hanging out with Lo'ak must be so tiring for you that you can't take the time for practice. Poor (Y/N)", his voice oozed in sarcasm. You stared at each other with dislike, noticing how his tail infinitely wagging in every direction possible.

Your grip on the bow tightened while your stomach felt like it got eaten by a wormhole. Him pulling the Lo'ak card took you by surprise. Yes, Lo was your best friend. Yes, you did spend time with him, but you hadn't had that in a while, before that. Since Kiri had that seizure while connecting to the spirit tree in the Cove of the Ancestors, you had helped Max & Norm research the cause. Neteyam actually knew that, but apparently, he didn't care. Just as you opened your mouth to point that out, he spoke and his voice was cold and distant. "I have better things to do than trying to teach your incompetent ass something you don't seem to care about. What a waste of time." The last part was almost a whisper, as if he didn't mean to say it out loud. Shocked, your eyes open wide. Now that was really mean. The anger that had built up was instantly replaced by a stinging pain in your chest. It hit so hard that your eyes burned, and your vision blurred.

For a second, you couldn't move. Your body felt like it weighed tons, pulling towards the ground and keeping you in place. Not wanting him to see you cry and how much he just had hurt you, you let your head drop and looked somewhere else. Not really seeing much more than colored blobs. Neteyam had noticed. Yet, instead of calming down, he got more angry. Most of this was directed towards himself but he let it out on you. Partly because you were the reason why he was so frustrated. He liked you. A human, but that wasn't the problem. Even though his mother wouldn't enjoy that part. He was the oldest. He was next in line to become Olo'eyktan. He had to be this perfect son and warrior. He was expected to watch his little bro constantly and is responsible for his actions. They were like yin and yang, the complete opposite of the other. He didn't understand how and why you would enjoy time with Lo'ak more than with him. At least he tried to help you improve and learn how to survive and fight. What did Lo'ak teach you? Or was exactly that the problem?

Neteyam couldn't believe what happened and turned around and lowered his head, covering his face with one hand and rubbing his eyelids while letting out a deep breath. "What the heck, bro!?" Both of you flinched at the unexpected voice and turned in that direction. There he was; Lo'ak. He quickly glanced at you before staring furiously at his older brother. Just for a second, you wondered how much Lo'ak happened to hear, then without intention, you dropped the bow, and your short legs ran as fast as they could, away from that situation, away from him. _________________________________________________________

Not sure how long you ran, you just knew that with every second you got faster and faster, out the woods and along the beach, past the village marui. And it felt good. You didn't want to stop. The only thing that mattered now was putting one foot in front of the other. Something you could do. Moving set your mind on a break.

It only lasted so long, till you got tired & your moves got a little sloppy, resulting in stumbling over your feet and falling face-front in the sand. Heavy breathing you turned onto your back. Luckily, you had a mask for breathing, so you had no trouble with sand ending up in your nose, mouth, or eyes. The glass fogged up while your breath slowly calmed down. For a while, you just stared at the already-setting sky. Calming down, your mind started playing again and went through every word Neteyam said, the way he acted. Like you were such a pain in the ass. It was his idea to teach you. Stuff like that wasn't your thing, but it meant spending time with him, and that was something you were really interested in. If you had known that it was so hard for you to understand the basics or execute the right pose, it would be so embarrassing and humiliating for you. Not being able to concentrate cause all you could focus on was how he moved. The look in his eyes. The way he smiled, moved, talked.

The lump in your throat prevented you from taking a breath, causing you to twitch till you finally let out a loud sob, which turned into a small scream. The force it took to let that out had massive pressure on your head and eyes. Feeling like they were about to explode. __________________________________________________________

In the meantime, you weren't aware that Neteyam finally came back down to Pandora & his senses. While he usually was the taller, older one lecturing his younger brother, it was different; Neteyam shrunk a couple of inches, tail tucked between his legs, ears flat against his head. Guilt was written on his face. Lo'ak shook his head in disappointment & stood tall, head high, in front of his brother. "Why you acting like such a skxawng? What's wrong with you?"

Neteyam looked like he got a few years older in a matter of a few minutes. He let himself slide down on a tree nearby and closed his eyes. Lo'ak waited for his brother to answer his question, but he didn't plan to answer anytime soon, so he sat beside him. He wouldn't leave before he finally talked to him about it. For a few minutes, they just sat there in silence. "So?" The older one took a deep breath and opened his mouth. __________________________________________________________

The next few days, Neteyam tried to find a moment to talk to you, but you managed to stay out of his way. Every time he was close or entered the room you happened to be in, you quickly left. The talk with Lo'ak was helpful, and now he wishes to apologize. His younger brother's words lingered in his mind. "Go apologize. You seriously have to talk to her. You messed up big times."

With time passing, the motivation and optimistic view that you would forgive him and the hope that it wasn't that bad faded. He had just returned from training with his dad and was now strolling on the beach, wishing for some quiet time to think and relax. His gaze was directed towards the ocean. He missed his home, the forest, the Omaticaya clan but he had to admit that it wasn't that bad here. His feet carried him to the cave where you, the sully, and Metkayina kids used to hang out a while ago when everything and everyone were still on somewhat good terms.

Lost in thoughts he didn't notice that someone was already hanging out there. Only when he was standing right in front of that person, you. It took him a minute to realize you were actually sitting there, and he wasn't imagining that cause if that was the case, you would look more happy. Not having such puffy, red eyes. Your face was swollen from dehydration, which was a result of your constant and unstoppable crying sessions. You still felt miserable ever since the argument.

On the other hand, you had noticed Neteyam right away when he entered the cave. Yet you didn't show any signs of trying to leave as quickly as before, yet you turned away from facing Neteyam. Without saying a word he sat down next to you. No one said anything for a while until a breathy "I'm so sorry" left his lips. Waiting for him to continue, you sat silently, taking a deep breath. "I was frustrated and let it out on you. I'm sorry. What I said was wrong. It's just that.. that I'm.." He struggled with finding the right words. He closed his eyes briefly, fiddling with his fingers before looking at you. "I fell in love with you and got jealous about being so good friends with Lo'ak and spending so much time with him."

Surprised, your lips parted a bit, and you quickly shot a quick gaze at him. Was he serious? Your heartbeat made a jump. You stared at him. He stared back at you. "Really?" questioning, you raised your eyebrows. He gulped and nodded slightly. Feeling ashamed of opening up and telling you how he truly felt, he quickly guided his eyes to the horizon where it was about to dawn. "I thought when I help you train, we could spend time together and show you how I feel about you. But you seemed to care less and less about it."

"Well… I was excited at first, but then you got meaner and stressed about taking the time for that when I clearly don't have the skill to perform", you answered honestly. "Being around you makes me nervous and it seems like I'm not good and…" Your voice was shaky. "You know, we used to be friends too, but then you had so much training and were focused on that. So I agreed to the training with you, to spend more time with you."

Trying to make eye contact, you leaned forward to gather his attention. He finally looked back at you. "I know… I'm sorry." apologizing again, he picked his skin on his finger. Seeing how nervous he was right now, you slowly put your hands on his to stop him from doing that. A soft smile appeared on your lips, which Neteyam returned. "I didn't mean to neglect our friendship." His voice sounded husky. The stare between your eyes got deeper and longer, and without you guys noticing, your faces got closer. "I'm sorry," he whispered slowly while intertwining your fingers with his. His tail softly tapping your leg. Your cheeks turn into a soft pink. "Stop apologizing. I got it", you said in a jokingly serious tone.

"How about we do something tomorrow.. something fun" he burst out. "As friends," he added and slightly squeezed your hand. The soft smile on your lips grew, and you nodded. "That sounds good," you replied back. "What do you have in mind?" Now it was his smile that grew a bit devilish. "You'll see," was all he replied, his tail wagging more in excitement. There wasn't much space between your faces by now; only your mask kept some space between your faces.

#𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐛��𝐛𝐢𝐞𝐬𝟏𝟒𝐃𝐎𝐋𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 #james cameron avatar #avatar the way of water #neteyam x reader #neteyam sully x human reader #neteyam sully #atwow #oneshot #avatar #neteyam te suli tsyeyk'itan #x reader

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maxsimagination · 10 months ago

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𝗶'𝗺 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗺 - 𝗰.𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗱

summary: drunk guys can’t seem to take a hint when girls brush them off.

-> bit spicy near the end

𖦹 masterlist

𝗜𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧, and i was standing in caitlin's room getting ready. we were going out for drinks with some of the other arsenal girls; leah, alessia, katie, steph, lia and lotte. they had won the game they just played the day before so i thought that warranted a night out for drinks.

plus i hadn't been out with caitlin in a while. we were always balancing her career and training with mine, especially since she was a footballer and i was a physio.

i had just finished the light makeup that i could be bothered to put on and pulled two dresses out of the closet. i held them both up to my body trying to decide which one; there was a pale green, almost teal, dress with glitter that shone in the light and small silver chains as the straps, or a light blue slip dress that could be tightened at the back.

cait came out of the bathroom then, dressed in her black pants and white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and the first two buttons left undone. she circled her arms around my waist from behind me, head leaning on the crook of my neck.

"i think the green one." i paused and held the two pieces to my body once more before hanging the blue one on back up and throwing the green one on the bed. "the green dress it is."

i turned around in her arms and she settled into my embrace. i pried myself away from cait's hold and starting slipping on the chosen garment. i pulled the straps up and cait was already moving my hair out of the way to zip the back up.

"thank you, caity." she pressed a kiss to my lips in response and i let out a light giggle and picked up the heels i'd chosen. i might regret it at the end of the night but for now it was worth the pain to look good. i grabbed my bag and sling it over my body, putting my phone, wallet keys and chapstick in there before i was ready.

"okay let's go."

we went out to the car, cait jumping in the drivers' seat. she had volunteered to stay sober so i could have a couple of drinks if i wanted to. it was a short drive to the bar we were meeting at and the other girls were already waiting out the front for us.

we both hopped out of the car and i gave each of them a hug. i hadn't seen leah or alessia since before the world cup when they were playing for england. the instant we entered the bar, there was people everywhere and music pumped through the building.

we grabbed a table in the corner and got settled. i volunteered to grab the first round and stood up to go to the bar when caitlin pulled my hand back and placed her card in my hand. "i can't use this cait, take it back."

i tried to give it back to her but she insisted.

"at least use it for the first round. i needa take care of my girl." i grinned down at her. "only the first round." she smiled and relented, sending me on my way. the bar was crowded but i found a seat and flagged down a bartender soon enough.

while i was waiting for the drinks, i was approached by a guy, he looked decent but i already knew how it was going to go. "hey, can i buy you a drink?" it started off okay, i politely declined. "no thankyou, i'm waiting on some already." he nodded and sat down on the stool next to me.

"what are you doing here?" he was blunt and straight to the point, i appreciated it and the lack of cringey pick up lines. "just on a night out with the girls." "could i get your number?" i knew it was coming and this was my favourite part of letting guys down. "no, i have a girlfriend."

a slight nod towards cait made him look over and he smiled back at me. "ah ok, apologies for overstepping." he collected his drink and gave a last smile before walking over to his group of friends. it was guys like him that i appreciated when i told them i was taken.

the bartender got all the drinks to me on a tray and i walked them back over to my table. cait had a hand on my thigh the second i was in the seat. "what did he want?" she spoke into my ear. "he asked for my number, but i told him i had a girlfriend. he was chill about it though." she nodded and rubbed her hand a little higher up my leg, slightly under the hem of my dress.

——

it had been about an hour and i was only on my second drink. alcohol had never been my thing and it didn't help that i was usually blackout after 7, minimum. the group decided it was my turn again so i stood up and this time cait came with me. we placed the order, me and cait both getting plain sprite.

we were waiting patiently when one of the previous guys' friends approached the bar next to us. he was clearly running on more alcohol than i was and i tried my best to ignore him. "can i get you a drink, pretty lady?"

i internally groaned, i didn't want to do this again. "no i'm good." my polite responses had left my body after the first guy, there was only so much i could take. "how about your number then?" he persisted and i tried to ignore him again.

"hey, i'm talkin' t'you. can i have your number?" "no." it was blunt, but this guy wouldn't leave it alone. thank goodness i had cait with me this time. she hadn't said anything but was watching if anything happened.

"why not?" there was a slur in the guys' words as he tried again. "because i have a girlfriend." he wasn't surprised at all when i said that, i figured his friend had already told him. cait bought our conjoined hands on top of the bar surface so the guy could clearly see. "it's fine, she can come too." he was slowly inching closer to me and i was getting uncomfortable.

"we aren't going with you. please leave us alone." it seemed that it was then that he got bold.

he placed his hand on my thigh and i jolted away from it. "don't touch me." cait was immediately on her feet and standing in front of me. "you need to leave us alone. now." her voice was stone cold and she was glaring at him, hard. if looks could kill, that guy would be dead.

apparently that wasn't enough for him to stop his advances, however and he tried one last time to ask me or us for our numbers. i had enough and stepped forward. "you just won't stop, will you? here's something you won't forget."

with that, i pulled my leg up and kneed him hard in the groin. he buckled onto the seat and let out a pained groan. i couldn't care less and grabbed cait's hand, grabbed the drinks that had probably been sitting there for a bit and stalked back to the table. the girls had been watching from their spot and they were grinning at me when i made it back.

"that was amazing, yn." i thanked them and we all sat back down but i wasn't happy anymore. i just wanted to go home.

cait could tell, "you wanna get out of here?" "please." so we stood up, and told the others that we were gonna head back. "just not feeling it anymore, sorry. you can have free range of the two sprites though." they were all happy then and started squabbling over who got the free drinks. me and cait went out to the car and drove home.

she had one hand on my knee and the other on the wheel, and slowly she slid it further up my leg. i was impatient and she was making me feel things so i grabbed her hand and placed it further towards my crotch and crossed my legs.

her hand was essentially stuck there. she wasn't complaining and had a smug look on her face. we finally got home and i couldn't open the door quick enough. once we were inside, cait kicked it closed and locked the door. she had me pressed up against the wall, hands above our heads.

"jump."

her voice had gone low and boy, was it hot. i followed and jumped up to wrap my legs around her waist. she pulled me back in for a kiss and somehow walked me to our bedroom.

"that guy couldn't do this, could he?"

i think it's safe to say that the guy definitely couldn't do what cait spent the rest of the night showing me.

#woso #woso x reader #woso community #caitlin foord #caitlin foord x reader #caitlin foord imagine

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diazsdimples · 7 months ago

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Fuck It Saturday

I'm not sure if it's friday anywhere anymore so we're fucking it on a Saturday!! I've been super lax on writing this week because I've got a beefy 3k word report on care for transgender/gender diverse parents during pregnancy due on Monday and I am not even halfway done dfkjds. BUT I did get a small trickle of Frostpunk AU beans so I thought I'd share! Snippet below the line bc it's kinda long

Tagged for Friday & Saturday by @smilingbuckley @thekristen999 @dangerpronebuddie @spotsandsocks @bidisasterevankinard

@cal-daisies-and-briars @daffi-990 @theotherbuckley and @kitteneddiediaz, I will be getting to your snippets tonight!!

Buck’s reading to Christopher when it happens.

Ever since Christopher woke up, Buck has been keeping a near-constant vigil at his bedside, keeping the boy entertained and comfortable where he can. He’d even snuck into the Children’s Shelter to borrow some toys for Christopher - a set of cards, a rainbow puzzle, a small, plastic dinosaur toy, and a fluffy rabbit that Christopher had kept tucked under his arm ever since.

So, it’s not entirely surprising that Buck is there when Edmundo wakes up.

The first indication is the bleeping on Edmundo’s heart monitor begins to increase in speed. Buck stops midsentence and turns in his chair. The first thing he notices is that Edmundo’s eyes are open, wide and fearful as he looks around the room.

In a flash, Buck is on his feet, book clattering to the floor, and he rushes over to Edmundo’s bedside.

“Hen!” he yells, praying his friend is close enough to hear. “Chimney! Someone, come quick!!”

Edmundo’s chest begins to heave as a heavy panic sets in and he raises his arms to claw at the breathing tube down his throat. Buck grabs his wrists and pins them to his size, and is surprised at the strength of the man. It takes no small amount of effort to keep him from ripping the tube out, or scrabbing at the IV lines in his arms.

“Hey, hey it’s okay, Hen and Chimney are coming, just breathe for me,” Buck says hurriedly as he watches Edmundo gag around the tube. He knows the man will be getting oxygen, but that won’t be stopping the feeling of suffocation, the feeling of obstruction in his throat.

Edmundo’s eyes bug out as he looks at Buck, gaze boring into him in a silent plea. Help me. Make it stop.

There’s a clattering of feet on linoleum as Hen, Chimney, and another medic Buck doesn’t know the name of all sprint into the cramped med bay.

“What’s going on, what happened?” Hen asks as she comes screeching to a halt, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on. Before Buck can even open his mouth, Chimney is grabbing the extubation equipment and barking orders at Hen and the medic, all three swarming Edmundo’s bedside.

Buck’s in the way, he knows it but he cannot make himself move. Instead, he takes both of Edmundo’s hands and laces their fingers together, squeezing lightly to give Edmundo something to focus on.

“Look at me, Edmundo,” he says as Hen peels off the tape keeping the tube in place. Edmundo’s eyes flick back towards Buck, his eyebrows scrunched together, and Buck’s stomach twists uncomfortably as he sees a tear slide down Edmundo’s cheek.

“That’s it, just keep your eyes on me.”

“Okay, extubating patient now. Hen, have suction at the ready. Jess, get the O2 mask,” Chimney orders, and there’s a fluffy of movement as everyone gets in position.

Buck looks away. He doesn’t want to watch the tube come out. He’s never been the best with medical things at the best of times and this.. well he’s not exactly sure why the thought of Edmundo in particular being in pain makes him so unhappy but it does. So he doesn’t watch, instead keeping his eyes trained firmly on his and Edmundo’s hands. It doesn’t escape his notice the way Edmundo’s knuckles go white as he clings to Buck for dear life.

There’s horrible wet noise followed by the sound of suction and a volley of wet coughs, before Buck hears a deep breath in. He chances a glance upwards and sees Edmundo, eyes open and sans tube for the first time he got to Sector 118. There’s an oxygen mask fitted over his face, fogging up with every breath Edmundo takes.

Instantly, relief flows through Buck like warm honey, filtering through his veins until he’s lighter and warmer than he’s been in days. Edmundo’s awake. Edmundo is breathing on his own. Edmundo’s alive.

Buck grins, unable to contain his joy. “Welcome back to the world of the living, Edmundo.”

“Eddie,” the guy croaks, and Buck blinks.

“Huh?”

“Name’s E-Eddie. Not Edmundo,” he rasps, before breaking out into a coughing fit. Buck rushes to help him upright, takes off the oxygen mask, and holds out a container as Edmundo – Eddie spits into it, his chest heaving from the force of his coughs. Buck rubs his back, murmuring reassuring words until Eddie takes a shaky breath and allows himself to rest back against his pillows.

No pressure tagging (for Friday or Saturday) @hippolotamus @watchyourbuck @neverevan @babybibuck @aroeddiediaz

@bibuckbuckgoose @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @nmcggg @jesuisici33 @wikiangela

@loveyouanyway @exhuastedpigeon @epicbuddieficrecs @hermscat @worriedbisexual

@slightlyobsessedwitheverything @actuallyitsellie @idealuk @dangerpronebuddie @simpingforhotfictionalcharacters

@houseofevanbuckley @loserdiaz @elvensorceress @underwaterninja13 @rainbow-nerdss

@steadfastsaturnsrings @thewolvesof1998 @jehdogg @ohlookitsthearkhamknight @revenge-of-the-assbutt (lmk if you want to be added/removed)

#james writes #buddie wip #frostpunk au #buddie #911 abc #eddie diaz #evan buckley #911 buddie #911 #911verse #911 fanfic #eddie x buck #HE'S ALIIIIIVE #GOD i'm so glad I can finally write alive eddie #also the fact that I'm at 16k and not even a quarter of the way through...#help

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bcdrawsandwrites · 3 months ago

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[ID: A Team Fortress 2 fanfic banner in the style of the game's achievement icons. A tattered yellow-white ID card is shown on a gray background. On the left side of the card is a stylized portrait of Miss Pauling, and on the right of the card is a stylized globe. On the right of the banner is the chapter's title in yellow-white, reading "CHAPTER EIGHT: IDENTITY THEFT" /end ID]

Flickering

Fandom: Team Fortress 2 Rating: K+ Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship Characters: Spy, Pyro, Miss Pauling, Medic, Heavy, Scout, Sniper Warnings: General references to trauma Fic Description: After the events of the comics, the mercs try to go back to how things were, but it’s never that easy.

Spy can see his teammates going through their own struggles… but something seems to be very, very wrong with Pyro in particular.

And since no one else seems to be doing anything about this, Spy makes it his mission to get to the bottom of what is troubling Pyro. For no particular reason.

Beta Readers: @mechmolar, @gonturan0, @junuve

---~~~---

Chapter 8: Identity Theft Summary: In which Spy makes use of his disguise kit.

---~~~---

Once again, Spy found himself staying on-base overnight. The drive out to the bookstore and back had been quite enough time on the road for him, after the little sleep he'd gotten the night prior, so he opted to stay rather than make the trip back home.

Fortunately the Pyro had not attempted another absurd bonfire that night, so those who chose to stay were able to sleep as well as they could. Which, for some, was not as well as might be hoped.

Spy woke before sunrise to the sound of voices—Medic's was the first he could identify, calm and authoritative and mildly annoyed, while the second was Heavy's, a low, quiet rumble. While normally he would not bother eavesdropping at such an early hour, the smell of blood from his dreams lingered in his nostrils, and he could do with a brief distraction. So, slipping out of bed, he crept to the door and listened.

"...have spoken with Herr Engineer about this, and no, it is not possible."

"Da, I know this."

"Then you did not have to wake me up at four in the morning."

"I did not mean to wake Doctor up. Only to check."

"That will not be necessary. If I am ever in mortal danger again, I will be sure to let you know."

Silence. No footfalls followed.

Medic went on, lowering his voice. "If it makes you feel better, you're not alone. That schweinhund keeps showing up in my nightmares."

"This... does not make Heavy feel better. Would like to help."

"You can do that by letting me sleep." The Medic sighed. "Tell you what—I can train Archimedes to come get you if there is a problem. Would this make you feel better?"

"...Da. I think so."

"Good. I can also prescribe you something to help you sleep."

"Maybe. Will see." A pause. "Goodnight, Doctor."

"Yes, good night."

Finally Heavy moved away, while Medic shut his door.

Spy stood for a moment, wondering if he should ask Medic for some sleep medication as well, but shook his head. No, he just needed to sleep in his own bed again, is all.

Yawning, he trudged back to the other side of the room and slipped into bed.

Everything was fine. They would be over this soon.

—-

Upon entering the mess hall, Spy abruptly remembered the events of yesterday when he found it near devoid of chairs and with multiple of his fellow mercs standing about awkwardly. Sniper lurked in a corner, nursing what was surely not his first cup of coffee; Engineer leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, eating a plate of eggs and bacon; Demo knelt awkwardly next to one of the tables, leaning his head against it; and Soldier sat in the only chair, shoveling burnt pancakes into his face.

Sighing, Spy turned away—perhaps today would be a good day to rest at home.

"The chair problem's bein' corrected," Engineer said, and Spy looked back at him. "Miss Pauling said she'd come deliver them herself."

Spy raised an eyebrow. "Good to know, but strange she would make the delivery herself."

Engineer shrugged. "I don't question these things."

"I don't expect you to," Spy muttered as he stepped past him and into the kitchen. Perhaps it would be beneficial for him to stay around a little while longer, if it meant he could speak with another potential source.

Breakfast went by quickly enough, and he hoped it wouldn't be much longer before Miss Pauling arrived. He had no desire to hang around the other mercenaries for the time being, and retreated to his bedroom, cracking open the window so he could hear Miss Pauling's vehicle when she arrived. He'd grabbed his book from his smoking room, but upon entering his room, he found his gaze drawn to the mirror.

Spy set down his book on his table and stood before the mirror. In one swift motion he whipped out his cigarette case and opened it. His gaze fell not upon his cigarettes, but the disguise kit. A few quick taps and a puff of smoke, and he found himself staring at the Engineer.

"Yee-haw, I struggle to pay attention to anything that is not made of metal!" he said mockingly in the Engineer's voice.

Rolling his eyes—invisible beneath those stupid goggles—he tapped the disguise kit again a few more times. A puff of smoke later, he was adjusting Medic's glasses. "I give pointless diagnoses and extremely unhelpful advice, and my lab reeks like a badly-maintained zoo!"

Spy shook his head, glancing down at the disguise kit again and looking through a few more disguises.

He paused.

He could, of course, turn into dead people. It was part of his modus operandi in battle—killing one of his enemies and then disguising himself as them in order to either sneak around or kill more of the enemy team. But...

For a long moment he stared at the name on the device, and, after a brief hesitation, hit the confirmation button.

When the smoke cleared, he was staring at Beatrice, the pyro of the former gray team. The disguise included her mask, but he removed it in order to stare at that face he remembered seeing what felt like a lifetime ago—the gray hair, the burn-scarred face, the singular eye. Yet... no, she still didn't look quite right.

Spy thought for a moment, then replicated a calm, smug grin.

There she was.

He would not soon forget that smile, nor the way it had twisted her face in dark, eager excitement as she looked at the Pyro.

"I like a challenge."

Spy shuddered as he spoke the words in her voice.

Admittedly, he sometimes felt joy at seeing his own enemies in pain. He might occasionally twist the knife—quite literally—but for the most part, he just did his job.

That was not, he knew, the case for this woman. This woman, who, when charged to interrogate them, asked Soldier one question before continuing to torture him, very clearly must have taken pleasure—joy, even—in what she did.

So what had she done to Pyro?

Spy lowered his head in thought. Off the top of his head, he knew what could be done to hurt most of his fellow mercenaries. Soldier, who took joy in his own torture, would have taken a severe blow to being told that he was not a true member of the United States armed forces. Heavy valued his family, and would potentially bend under threats made toward them. Engineer would be pained to see his hard work destroyed—not merely his beloved buildings, but his blueprints, which allowed him to rebuild them. He could go on, but there was no point. He knew what could hurt the others.

He did not know what could hurt Pyro—what had hurt Pyro. What had drained its life of color. What had brought it down to the point where if it dared to make a noise, it would degenerate into a panicked mess.

Looking up, he stared into Beatrice's eye.

"What did you do?"

He arranged her face into the same smug grin he saw the day she tortured Pyro, the day she died. And again he repeated the words he remembered her saying:

"I like a challenge."

Realization hit him like a sniper's bullet, and the disguise faded in a puff of smoke, leaving Spy staring wide-eyed at his own reflection.

His chest began to burn, and he stumbled over to his chair. A cigarette soon found its way into his mouth, hoping to cloud his disturbed thoughts, but his hands searched for his lighter, only to come up empty.

A motor rumbling outside interrupted his dazed thoughts, and initially he wondered where Sniper was off to before he remembered. Jumping up from his chair, he looked out the window and spotted a truck pulling in front of the base, and a familiar purple dress on the person stepping out of said truck.

Drawing in a breath, Spy straightened his jacket and exited his room. Perhaps he could talk to Miss Pauling about this—she may know something that he didn't.

But as he neared the front of the base—

"—I mean, you didn't have to come all the way out here just to see me, Miss Pauling!"

"I didn't. I came out here to deliver this myself because I knew if we sent someone else, you guys would shoot the delivery driver. ...Again."

Scout and Sniper had met Miss Pauling at the door, the latter sizing up the furniture in the back of the truck, and the former flexing his arms at every opportunity.

Scout shrugged. "Well, while you're here—"

"While you're here," Miss Pauling countered, "why don't you help me haul this stuff in." As she was turning away, she added, "Hi, Spy."

Scout looked over his shoulder, only to do a double-take. "What's with you? You seen a ghost or somethin'?"

Abruptly Spy realized that he'd been staring, and that the blood had drained from his face. But Scout was already shrugging and stepping out the door, followed by Sniper, who gave Spy a knowing look as he left.

"Yeah," Scout was saying outside. "I don't blame you for wanting first row tickets to the gunshow!"

"Oh! I'm going there with Heavy in a couple weeks, actually."

Gritting his teeth, Spy stormed into the mess hall, and, from there, into the kitchen. While normally he wouldn't bother with such menial tasks here, he removed his jacket and slipped some rubber gloves over his usual ones and began to wash the dishes that had been left to pile up in the sink. It would get him out of their way, and give him something to do while he waited for Scout to stop bothering Miss Pauling.

The sound of chair legs shrieking against the floor soon let him know that they were replacing the chairs in the mess hall. Above that, he could hear Scout's attempts at flirting, which might have amused him had it not made him remember a more dazed version of Scout's voice cracking jokes, when—

"Hey—hey! Heavy! Since when are you goin' on a date with Miss Pauling?!"

"What is Scout talking about?"

Seizing his opportunity, Spy yanked off the rubber gloves and whipped his jacket back on before hurrying out to meet Miss Pauling. He skirted past the utterly stupid argument unfolding in the mess hall and rushed out the front door, where he caught Sniper and Pauling both hauling in a new chair for the lounge.

"Miss Pauling," Spy said, and she gave him a grunt of acknowledgment. "May I have a word?"

"Yeah, sure, just let me—"

Spy approached one of the free sides of the chair and helped lift it up, bearing some of its weight.

"Oh, thanks!" She gave him a relieved smile, and the three of them carried the chair through the base and into the lounge, where they set it down. Wiping her brow, she heaved a sigh. "Sheesh, Pyro did a number here, huh?"

"Yeah," Sniper said, leaning against the chair. "Like I said, you shoulda' seen that bonfire it made!" He gestured with his hand in an attempt to indicate the height.

"Actually," Spy cut in, "that's what I wanted to talk with you about."

Miss Pauling raised an eyebrow. "The bonfire?"

Spy gave a quick look around—he hadn't seen Pyro yet today, but he didn't want to take a chance that it was anywhere nearby. Frowning, he motioned for Miss Pauling to follow him outside.

"Is it the furniture?" she asked, bewildered, as she followed. "I'm sorry, Spy, but we can't afford stuff that's as nice as what you have in your smoking room for every—"

"It's not that," Spy said as they stepped out the front door again. He looked back to see the Sniper had followed them out, but there was no reason to send him away. "It's... about the Pyro."

"Pyro?" Miss Pauling echoed. "I mean, it's not that weird for it to be setting fires."

"No, it's been acting strange. More violent on the battlefield, and strangely silent. It... managed to communicate recently that it no longer sees color."

"Oh, man..." Miss Pauling's brows knit with sympathy, and she lowered her head for a moment, only for it to shoot back up. "Oh! Do you think this is from whatever the enemy pyro did to it?"

"That is exactly what I think." He automatically tried to take a drag from his cigarette, only to remember it wasn't lit to begin with. With a growl, he tossed it to the ground and stomped it. "While I have yet to figure out the specifics of what happened... I may have figured out at least one of the details."

Both Miss Pauling and Sniper leaned forward in interest.

"Pyro has been silent, but I do not think it wants to be. However, whenever it does vocalize, it falls into a panic."

Miss Pauling looked down in thought, frowning. Meanwhile, Sniper hummed, and Spy wondered if some gossip about the incident at Medic's lab had gone around.

"Furthermore," Spy went on, "the enemy pyro took an interest in our Pyro when that idiot Soldier let slip that it could not talk."

He let that sink in for a moment. Sniper's brow furrowed, while Miss Pauling's head suddenly shot up, her eyes wide.

"I believe," he said, eyes narrowed in disgust, "the enemy pyro may have punished it for saying anything other than the information she desired."

Sniper scoffed. "That's ridiculous. Pyro can't talk—not with normal words, anyway."

"Exactly my point. She—"

"She saw it as a challenge!" Miss Pauling exclaimed, her face going pale. "She wanted to see if she could force Pyro to talk!" She wrapped her arms around herself. "Poor Pyro..." After a moment, she straightened, jabbing her thumb at the truck behind her. "I mean, all this is still coming out of its paycheck, but still."

"Bloody wankers," Sniper growled. "But what'd they even do to it?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Spy said, and looked at Miss Pauling. Sniper followed his gaze.

"...Wait," he said, pointing at Miss Pauling. "You knew about my birth parents, and where I came from. You gotta know something about where that bloke came from, or what it even is."

Miss Pauling winced. "Look, the Administrator wouldn't even tell me about it, so I'm as much in the dark as you are. Heck, she only told me about your parents because they were a lead on the world's remaining Australium."

Gritting his teeth, Sniper turned away.

"Surely there must be something you know?" Spy asked.

"Yeah—a lot! Just nothing in particular about Pyro, other than that it's not human." She rubbed her forehead. "Look—Medic might know something—"

"His knowledge is limited, as Pyro does not cooperate with examinations. What little he does know is classified."

"Ah, right. Just between him and the Administrator, huh?" Heaving a sigh, she tipped her head back. "Look, Spy... I'd really like to help you—or help Pyro, anyway—but I'm not sure what I can do."

"Well, Miss Pauling, given your unique position, I think there might be something you could do to retrieve the information I need. Even just to persuade the Administrator to—"

Miss Pauling gave a forced, humorless laugh. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Sorry." When Spy gave her a look, she softened. "No, seriously, I am sorry. But with how badly everything went with that last mission, I—" She cut herself off, and swallowed.

Spy looked at her for a moment, and she looked back, and he nodded slowly. "I understand."

"Thanks," she replied, her shoulders drooping. "I hope Pyro will be okay. It's nice of you to look out for it."

Spy shrugged. "It was merely a mission I gave myself, since no one else was looking into it."

Feeling the hair rise on the back of his neck, he knew Sniper was staring at him—for what reason, he didn't know, but he would not look back.

"Great!" Miss Pauling smiled, oblivious to the tension between the two mercenaries. "Sniper, could you help me get the last one?"

"Sure thing, mate." The Sniper followed Miss Pauling over to the back of the truck, but as he passed, gave Spy another look—one that seemed to say, we need to talk.

Absolutely not.

Frowning in thought, Spy hurried back into the base, heading down a few hallways until he neared the medical wing. There he stopped, looking around to make sure there was no one else around. There was no sign of anyone else heading this way, and, creeping up to the doors and listening, he could only hear Medic's voice speaking softly to Archimedes.

Casting one last look to assure himself he was alone, Spy whipped out his disguise kit.

A moment later, Miss Pauling burst into the lab. "Medic—? Oh, good, you're here."

Medic looked up, his eyebrows raised, while Archimedes fluttered up to the ceiling and Aristotle squeaked. "Ah, Miss Pauling! Good to see you!" the Medic said, smiling as he strolled up to meet her. "Finally come for your follow-up appointment? I've almost got the blood type separation technique worked out—"

"Uh, no, not today. I'm in a bit of a time crunch—since we set up office again, the Administrator realized she's missing some of the mercenaries' medical files, and I haven't had the chance to come out here until now."

Medic sighed. "Very well," he said, turning toward his filing cabinet. "Which ones did you need?"

"Just Scout, Soldier, and Pyro," she replied.

"Oh, you're in luck! I just updated Pyro's file recently."

"Yeah, great." Distractedly Miss Pauling looked around the lab, her eyes falling on Aristotle's, which were narrowed at her suspiciously. "Oh, uh, is... that the monkey you got from—never mind."

"Ja, he is!" Medic smiled as he went through the folders. "Say hello to the lady, Aristotle."

Aristotle hissed and scampered up to Medic's side.

"Now, now, that's no way to behave around patients like Miss Pauling!" Turning around, Medic wagged a finger at the baboon. "Only the bad patients. Now!" He held up the papers and looked up at Miss Pauling. "I'll make some copies of these and send you on your way. Stay here."

Miss Pauling held out a hand to protest, but Medic was already hurrying out the door. She watched him leave before turning back to Aristotle, who continued to glare at her. Then, in a deep, masculine voice that was not Miss Pauling's, she said, "What are you staring at?"

Shrieking, Aristotle scampered up on top of the filing cabinet and hid behind a pigeon nest.

Sighing, Miss Pauling crossed her arms, looking around the lab as she waited. Hearing the door open, she spun around. "Thanks, Medi—" The word caught in her throat.

Sniper stared at her from the doorway, holding out the copies of the medical records. "Looking for these, ya bloody wanker?"

"Uh, hi, Sniper!" She gave a nervous grin. "What are you doing here?"

"Dragging you out before Medic gets back." With that, he grabbed Miss Pauling's wrist and yanked her toward the doors.

"Sniper, what—?!"

His head whipped back to look at her. "Medic nearly chased the real Miss Pauling out the door to hand her these. I offered to run them out to her myself." He rushed her out the med bay doors and further down the hall, taking a couple turns before he slowed.

Meanwhile, Spy's disguise faded as he yanked his sleeve away from Sniper's hand. "I hope you've been washing your hands," he grumbled, dusting his sleeve off.

"You're welcome." Sniper stopped, and turned to face him.

"Now..." Spy reached for the papers. "Hand them over, bushman."

Sniper held the papers further away. "Tell me what this is about first."

Spy glared. "You already know what this is about."

"Oh, I do. It's you I'm not so sure about."

Rolling his eyes, Spy made another grab for the papers, only for Sniper to hold them away again. "You heard what I told Miss Pauling. I'm on a mission to find out what's happened to Pyro, and you are currently withholding vital intelligence for said mission."

"Yeah, you keep tellin' yourself that," Sniper said, his voice low.

"What are you talking about?"

Sniper leaned in closer, and Spy leaned back. "Funny, ain't it, how the one you decide to buddy up with is the one who can't talk back. Can't ask you what's wrong, or what you're running away from."

Anger bolted down Spy's spine. "Are you accusing me of being a coward? You're the one who hides in one place for an entire match!"

"You know that's not what I'm talking about, Spy." Even with his sunglasses, it was clear that Sniper was glaring at him. "Don't you. Or d'you have it buried so deep you don't even remember what you're buryin' anymore?"

"Stop talking nonsense and give me the papers!" Spy growled, making another swipe for them.

This time, Sniper let him snatch the papers, and leaned back. "...You really don't know, do you?"

Quickly he folded the papers and shoved them into his inner coat pocket before they could be grabbed away again. "What?"

Sniper went quiet for a long moment, before shrugging and turning away. "Nothing. Guess maybe you'll have to dig it up on your own."

Spy glared after him, but he was already heading away. He wasn't going to be digging anything, thank you—not in his suit, anyway. Instinctively he dusted off his sleeve again and hurried back up to his room, where he hopefully wouldn't be bothered any further.

Once safely in his room, Spy whipped the papers out of his pocket, unfolded them, and sat at his desk to read them over. For a moment he was confused at Soldier's papers being at the top before he recalled he'd asked for three of the mercs' medical records to avoid suspicion. He set the pages aside, and his eyes brightened at seeing the Pyro's class logo printed on one of the pages. He'd read this one before, when he'd first sneaked into Medic's lab, but now he had free access to all the information he needed. Setting aside the first page, he looked at the second.

His eyes were immediately drawn to the large text, reading:

DO NOT attempt to clean skin!!

Brows furrowed, he skimmed some of the writing after that, but there was no further information written on this point. Of course, he should have expected that—these were mainly for the Medic's reference, after all. Still, the other notes might prove useful. There was a recent date written, followed by more information:

Patient has submitted to a partial physical! Can be bribed with candy.

However, patient strongly resisted blood pressure and thyroid tests, likely due to recent trauma/shellshock. (Will try again later.)

"Goggles" seem to be a form of eyelid. Dense transparent lenses protect eyes beneath. Seems to be incapable of blinking.

Spy paused for a moment, and shuddered.

Heart rate elevated, though may or may not be due to anxiety. Normal heart rate unknown. More examination is necessary!

The notes on that page ended there, and Spy nearly crumpled them in frustration. Instead, he read them over again, his eyes drawn to the larger text once more. The previous page had noted the layer of soot coating Pyro's body, which Spy had witnessed himself. Could the soot be a protective layer? Or, perhaps, attempting to wash Pyro's skin resulted in injuring whatever poor sap attempted it. It did have a higher body temperature than normal—warm enough to burn someone, perhaps?

There was something there, he was sure. But what, he didn't know.

Sighing, he set the page aside, only to realize there was more beneath it.

Name: Jeremy—

Spy knocked a vial of ink over the papers, by complete accident and nothing more.

Some time later, he exited his room, and nearly bumped into the Pyro. Before he could stop himself, he held out the crumpled, ink-stained papers. "Here," he said. "Take these and burn them."

Pyro perked up and took the papers, but stared back at Spy, tilting its head.

Spy snorted. "How often does anyone give you kindling?"

Pyro stared at him a moment longer before turning back into its room, fishing its lighter out as it went. Spy watched it go, until it shut the door behind itself. With another sigh, he made his way down the stairs, only to stomp his foot on one of the steps.

That was his lighter!

#tf2 spy #tf2 pyro #tf2 sniper #miss pauling #team fortress 2 #tf2 heavy #tf2 medic #tf2 scout #my art #my writing #fanfic #flickering fanfic #OKAY! here's another chapter!#we've got three more after this

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fantomette22 · 3 months ago

Note

What are some Maria headcanons that you have?

( @izunias-meme-hole)

Lady Maria headcanons post (part 1) :

Alright! Well I already share those a while ago : https://www.tumblr.com/fantomette22/743244500505378816/lady-maria-vs-keeper-of-the-old-lords?source=share +couple of other around my blog

So I will try to share other things not just related to « Maria could do pyromancy from her living if she really wanted to but was actually terrified by it! Because she didn’t want to use her own blood to inflict pain and death. » also I won’t explain in detail how I hc she got her Rakuyo : by directly going to the East herself! (Yamamura’s country).

🍂But why did she name it like that? The Rakuyo? Well Rakuyo means « fallen leaves » right? Well, when she finally got her blade she needed to baptise it, to use it properly for the first time. And guess on what she uses it? A fallen leaf! (naturally falling in autumn). Cut it straight in two halves. And that’s how she knew how she was going to name it.

Enjoy the ride t's going to be long ;)

⚔️She got an Evelyn gun during her teenage years and before the Rakuyo she often train & fight with both a chikage and a reiterpallasch (she really like dual wielding 😎 or maybe with another sword like the shadow could have been a thing she fight with 🤔 but yeah I guess she was trained with all type of weapons) I wonder if she could have been a bit ambidextrous too.

⚜️Ok now concerning her family (tree) I have at least 5 different headcanons for it 💀but let’s just go with my main one aka the fic verse one (where she’s just Annalise’s cousin XD). Because if you get me started on the alternatives it’s just never gonna be over XD (those are really in very different timelines. It’s not really the same characters & events are different)

🩸I imagined she had quite a mixed relationship with her family. It’s like when you love them bc it’s your family, you like the good memories and nice moments you have, this little chill & special outings etc but there’s also some stuff you’ll never be able to forget or forgive them. You feel you need distance and be autonomous to not get hurt by them anymore, to not get frustrated and misunderstood. Just have news and share things outside.

She never really fit in with her peers. Kinda an odd one who just masks really well to fit into the mood when asked of her. I prefer to say « a (white) wolf » in a pack of hounds in context but yeah black sheep in a white flock if it’s easier to understand x) She had a lot of pressure on her shoulder as well (being the last pyromancer and not far in the line of succession)

But she really likes her close cousins which she grew up with (Annalise, Vled), a couple of other friends (Charles, Svetta, a couple of future young knights etc) as well as younger relatives and kids (Leo etc)! But she doesn’t get that much along with the others. Like she goes along better with the servants probably.

⚜️She mainly grew up between Cainhurst and where her parents had lands and their manor (in the north, near a coast). Her parents are often not there because they are sent by the crown to places so it's complicated . When her mother is in a good mood that’s mostly fine, her dad is a bit more chill (he taught her how to play a lot of card games and poker too! She probably played 2-3 times with money at stake. She prefers amical things. She will absolutely beat your ass at it too. She’s the definition of having a poker face XD)

👑She was a lil bit raised like a future lady in waiting but more as future knight (page (of the king), squire, knight training etc really rough training too 💀 very dark shit hm like beat the shit out of people while wearing a full weight armor, swim in a ice lake and idk shot hm dead things… I swear there’s more fun things but hm yeah…)

That one really isn’t fun as well but i imagined that during her teenage years she already had to deal with mental health issues (due to well some pb with her family etc). Thankfully, she did get better after spending a summer a bit far away at a friend's home (to simplify). Still she got scared for some years afterwards that some of those dark thoughts would eventually return. Thankfully it didn't for most of her life. She got some happy times…Bad times too but not that bad until well probably more than 15-20y later where you know… she would sadly not make it out this time.

🌌She was accepted as Byrgenwerth and went to mainly study sciences, astronomy, but did learn a bit of theology as well as medicine (basic medicine stuff, nurse & help midwife etc). She did 5y and got a master degree. She also participated in underground expeditions arranged by Byrgenwerth.

⭐️She probably know how to speak way more than 2 languages : whatever they speak in Yharnam, latin/pthumerian language, whatever the equivalent of Japanese is and probably a bit of other European languages too. Oh a north/slavic languages as well, because she had ancestors from there too).

🐴When she was very little they got some borzoi I guess but most of her life at Cainhurst she got 2 siblings crows (I have Phobos & Deimos names in my draft) as well as her own horse, named Filan. (mean little wolf in gaelic/irish apparently? Speaking of which Maria's nickname when she was little was "little wolf" maybe in another language too). She probably had a couple of plants too.

(suppose to be almost a full black horse but i’m not 100% settle because i could go full horsemen of the apocalypse aesthetic with other knights if i change the colors… but in my first draft that’s a black horse yes)

🔥When she was very little they discovered she could eventually have pyromancer blood power.It might have been a huge pride for them and honor for her but… clearly Maria didn’t want to become like the shadows of the antics pthumerian royals. A silent and hidden knight who kills without asking questions… clearly she wasn’t really found of this idea 😅 Thankfully for her she don’t know or to use such power and didn’t put much effort to try to learn it (in life she will probably accidentally use it 2-3 time…)

She highly respects a lot of traditions and culture from Cainhurst but there’s stuff like exposing the remains of animal prey that she found a bit barbaric. She doesn't mind others using blood blades and she will do it alone/ for training or even in choreography but she doesn’t wish to hurt or kill with it.*

💔So she was supposed to become a royal guard but things didn’t go like they should have…the poor young knights got into a fight with something by accident… a mortal trap they couldn’t win… only Maria made it out alive. Very hurt and slightly traumatized… She then had a huge fight with her family & relatives about what happened. She couldn’t even send news to her friends bc they forbid it to calm any rumors about what happened…Hm then Maria’s family decide to send her more north where her parents have lands etc so things calm down and she could ya know do her knight work or smt. Anyway she run away at Byrgenwerth💀

Sorry for the meme jebfekb I am not giving lot of details for now but it's highly link with my Knight & Beast of Cainhurst story.

(Why this meme too? Well due to rumours her friends legit thought she died 💀 she went to Byrgen only 1-2 months later. During the holidays. So she sent to like Ludwig & the other who weren't there letters to tell them she was ok. That's were came this meme XD)

❤️‍🩹Anyway she was partially disowned of some stuff for a bit and didn’t came back at Cainhurst for while. But after some times, her and her family wanted to both apologize and reunite, but without an occasion it would be complicated. Well, until a CERTAIN SOMEONE stole the forbidden blood to Cainhurst and tell them Maria helped 💀 (she had no idea, and he only did that bc he owns her one). So she didn’t approve but she kinda reconciled and they gave her the occasion to do a mission for them later on, in JAPAN (the Eastern land) and well you know the rest.

⚓️She had the occasion to go to « Japan » and have her dream of becoming like half in charge of a ship after getting her master degree! (she just did navigation stuff with the stars but maybe she was captain lol that’s what she wanted to do when she was little actually. But reading Evelyn diaries and not just the novels she realised how hard it was to always have such life h24)

Congratulations Lady Maria!

After really hard years.. and trauma… and a exhausting presentation

You win :

a master degree in astronomy (sciences & other things)

a nice meal with your parents & family that congratulate you

a big part of your inheritance back!

a super wine bottle to share with your friends

a trip to japan

finally your promised personalised double sword

a personalised hunting attire when you came back

to able to work with gehrman’s hunters & the healing church when you came back

So proud of you ❤️👏

✨Other lil hcs :

Laurence made her very interested in religion. I am not joking, I sincerely believe he converted her somehow. / Made her very interest into great one religion etc

Gehrman saved her life more than once, she did the same. They went into lot of hunt training/camping trip as the beggining of being hunters.

She became great friends with Ludwig, Rom, Caryll, friends Damian too etc back at Byrgenwerth. With Micolash it was a bit more nuanced for a while. Before becoming close friends they were roasting each other often XD but respected each other too.

Her brooch either came from her mother or the late queen (aunt) so a family heirloom I guess. Ressemble a lumenflower.

She helped the early healing church with treating people, make food, teach kids etc

She was highly respected by all the old hunters. Even if she had some tensions with dear Izzy at like the beginning they knew each other XD She earn their respect and everyone ended up very liking her being her kindness, abilities etc

When she was sent alone or with a couple of hunters to help in a secluded villages, people were of course really skeptical at first but she quickly proved them her worth.

I think sometimes she wears dresses… but hey she never wears high heels or ballerina shoes (she hates it so hey she still has her special style! aka huge boots XD) It’s often very simple ones as well. Except at Cainhurst, it’s not very extravagant.

She loves to read tons of books (cainhurst library is there for smt XD)

With her cousins they loved to explore and wander the castle! At night too.. got them into trouble more than once.

Sometimes she wears sunglasses when it’s very sunny (poor girl has white eyelashes you see! she have an excuse)

She really loved the lumenflowers too like i explained last time.

She got some scars at the base of her neck. That’s why she almost always wear a jabot with her broach. (maybe on the hands too. that’s why she often has gloves).

She made (with a bit of help) Gherman’s red scarf while in japan.

“Of the Astral Clocktower” because she basically funded its construction with her own money. So like it’s partially hers on papers. (She did mostly astronomical studies & took care of the patients kind of like a nurse during her time at the research hall

She could play a couple of instruments (especially violin and cello).

Of course she know many ballroom & court dance and taught other to others when they were invited to some places.

She actually can “sing” very well (but more music without real lyrics like the dream ost for exemple) ! She would probably almost never do that in public too.

Some books at the workshop are hers

Oh, did I already told she was very scared of pthumerian pyromancers before she fought the keeper of the old lords?

Ok now because I didn't know what to add to the post I asked some of my friends to help me with questions they wanted to know about! Thanks @heraldofcrow & @fareehaandspaniards there you go:

Was she comfortable with life at Cainhurst? (Before the Vileblood)

I think I answered that above ^ it’s very complex and complicated. Sometimes it goes well (especially in childhood) but sometimes it’s very complicated and not so good… (especially during teenage years and during some events where she got a lot of pressure and all. It got better after all this mess and Vilebloods mess of course (even if some distance was left compared to before).

🩸🐦‍⬛Bloody Crow’s relation to Maria?

In my main hc he’s the son of Maria’s cousin (Vled, the knight). So her little cousin basically. But to simplify I often say he’s like a nephew to her. I named him Voron! (I know very imaginative it means raven XD) Still unsure if he’s born before or after the hamlet (probably after too) but in all cases Maria was around to help with the birth and to help take care of him for the first couple of days. She loved him very much. Also In the case something were to happen to his parents, well the king & queen would take care of him but if somehow they can’t/something were to happen to them too, Maria promised she would be the one to take care of him.

Still, she died when he was very young. Probably like 3-6 years old. So he does remember a bit. But just a little and he has very good memories of her. But he also saw his family hurting from her disappearance and all and so he grew more mixed feeling but mostly it stays positive. He really looks like her in a lot of ways.

🕷️Rom and Maria friendship 🥺?

I see you want to know more about their friendship! I think They had a wholesome friendship overall! But it didn't begins great. I am trying to write it in my fic since a few months but it's all hard and idk how to do that exactly XD

Like they were doing a group exercise and Rom was pretty bad and it (supposed to be quite easy) and Maria who got frustrated to explain it so much lash out a bit and tell her like “are you dumb or something?”

Everyone in the class isn't very nice to Rom (and Maria) and said worst things behind her back so she thought that was, you know OK somehow and not that mean. But she quickly realized afterwards her mistake, that Rom was the Provost daughter and that she had some disability. But despite that, she was still trying hard and she must be very strong to have the lvl to be here you know!

Maria feels very bad about it (Micolash had dark looks to give her too lmao) but after a while (talking with other people cough cough) she decided to come to her and apologize sincerely and even try to help her on a few things.

Rom was quite surprised at first because nobody, you know approaches her like this to apologize and that's a huge thing considering Maria is from Cainhurst and a noble.

I mean she didn't even have hard feelings against Maria because everyone else is way meaner and she kinda forgot about it. She was quite surprised but also very thankful and they began to talk more. Micolash was the most surprised and he told Rom to be careful to not get walk over, to not believe lies and stuff but he quickly realized that it was genuine. And Rom had to reminded him (with Damian) that well, when he first meet Rom he was kinda of a bully at first! Before becoming a mother hen with Damian.

So yes the two girls began to talk about a lot of things! She even got invited to Rom’s room. There’s tons of insects and underglass and stuff but generally people don't like that but Maria found it cool! She got some back home too and found it very interesting actually! So they quickly became friends with all the little gang. And also they are basically the two girls of the squad! I mean Caryll is in the girls squad too but they can also be in the boys squad so yeah anyway you know how girl besties can be x) you don’t share the same things exactly. Plus Caryll & Rom are really in the must protected squad.

Maria even defends Rom from her family when she came back for the holiday and they asked her if she made some friends and who they were and stuff. And you know uh Mara had to told them in a very exaggerated manners that « oh I'm friend with the Provost daughter you know! » (You know because that's what they want to know, if she made strong connections with interesting people before anything else…)

But of course, you're going to have very rude comments from some relatives or something who’s going to say “oh the retarded one?” 💀 And everyone's looking at him like “can you please not say it like this?” Poor Maria just standing there and dunno what to say because she really cares about her as a friend. She doesn't just want to have friends to show off she has important contacts. She genuinely values those friendships. Sadly, she can’t just tell her family that her friends are mostly “the weird introvert group kids! just like me!”(so she talk about Ludwig too! but don't put too much details on others…)

So yeah they stayed great friends for years. Sadly, in tough moments they didn’t really share what hurt them to the other… (after kos etc maybe a bit but not too much)

🗡️🛡️What or who inspired Maria's path of knighthood in her youth?

History books & knight novels! Her grand uncle, the other knights, king etc, Her family push her/ “let her choose” that way as well.

Lady Evelyn stories (she was like Maria grand aunt/ cousin of her grandparents, mostly an adventurer).

The bodyguard of Annalise’s mother who was at first a mercenary sent to Loran before becoming a royal knight.

🍜What were Maria's food preferences?

Hm i think if it looks/smells average and edible she’s actually not that complicated XD She made a lot of effort through the years to get used to more common and simple food.

My poor girl couldn’t really cooked anything when she arrived at Byrgenwerth besides cutting basic things, make tea, made ramen and skins animal meat (like rabbit) before Gehrman thought her other recipes 😭 (she made great soups afterwards! hunters like it, she cuts aliments well XD but yeah my boy cooks well for everyone he made her liked many simple things that if not done well many don’t like. But bro is the only one who probably likes some chard gratin or something out of everyone…)

Like most of her family, i supposed she would very much enjoy some rare/medium rare meat XD but when it’s EVERYDAY she got very tired 💀 I mean she tried to tell her family it was too much so they respected her wishes and gave her only vegetables for a couple of days… but not like normal meals no! like a whole ass not decorticate salad or full ass carrots with skins and all! 💀 She rapidly apologized like you can guess. (still she can’t stand those damn carpaccio when there’s too much!)

Besides that yeah only non meat dishes don’t bother her at all, she would even prefer most of the time. She likes both sophisticated but also very simple dishes she discovered. Exotic food from the east. Of course my girl liked sushis, fish, sea fruit etc. I mean she used to like it way more before… you know… afterwards many hunters couldn’t just smell white fish for a few days without feeling nauseous…. for Maria she just couldn’t bring herself to eat like 95% of white sea fish anymore… (I guess salmon and thon and lobster were still ok but that’s it really).

And well of course deserts are always so nice so whatever 🤤

🌻Her relationship with Adeline? /Who is Adeline to her in your interpretation?

(Yeah both of you asked me this one! x) )

Well depending on the interpretations I have two main interpretations for her! (in the AU/very different timeline where Gehrman is like Maria's dad, that's her girlfriend lol) but in my main interpretation that’s not really the case. I prefer to see them as friends and very close friends I think? during her early time at the research hall. Another close friend she made who’s mainly outside of her main group. But both have quite an evolution through the years they knew each other.

If i remember the draft in my head correctly it goes like this :

After Maria graduated (and came back from her mission trip) she went to help the early healing church develop itself and its activities between hunts and going in the pthumerians labyrinth and that’s where she met Adeline.

I supposed Adeline is a Yharnamite? but she lost everything (her family. not sure what happened) and basically didn’t have a home anymore and clearly saw herself as worthless (poor girl had terrible self esteem issues all her life afterwards…) So the early healing church took in some people in need, gave them a place to sleep, eat and heal them if they were sick. Maria took care and helped Adeline during that time (after it was Laurence too).

And so the 2 became friends! In the end Adeline (who had nothing left) decided to dedicate her life to the healing church and helped others as well, so they saw each other with Maria afterwards! They advised each other and could have been a bit confident of each other as well. Of course Maria wasn’t very hyped when Adeline became a blood saint fully (seeing the bad things it could do to people) but she respected her choices.

During the research hall, before Adeline took part in the experiments, she helped Maria, Rom, Caryll etc around with the patients & other things. I suppose because of some dreams/ exposure to something, the decline of everyone's mental health, and maybe other people asking her... she decided to give herself fully to those experiments as well in the end… Her death was one of the last straws for Maria...

----

I know I have more questions left but I am reaching Tumblr word limit soon so I will reblog/make a 2nd post (or even a 3rd)💀 with the rest of the most interesting (and huge) questions! It's not quite written yet but for now this should be a nice distraction and a good reading I hope!

#my asks #bloodborne #bloodborne headcanons #lady maria of the astral clocktower #bloodborne fanfiction #lady maria #my art #fantomette22art

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muzzlemouths · 3 months ago

Note

Were the DMD boys ever witnesses to a baby's firsts? Like first words or first steps?

Superstar Shopping Center, circa 1977

“Did you need help with that?”

Sun moseys up to a mother who looks like she’s got her hands full – literally. Four shopping bags balanced on one arm and a baby in the other. A second child — five or six, if he had to guess — clings to the tail of her mother’s jacket in lieu of a free hand, dressed in her Sunday Best. She ducks behind her mother’s arm as Sun nears and addresses him with a look tied between awe and apprehension.

Contrarily, her mother regards Sun with nothing but relief, handing over all but one of her bags the moment his hands extend to take them. “Well, thank you!” She reorients the remaining bag to sit at her elbow so the little girl at her side has a proper handhold and gently scolds her for continuing to hide.

“It’s quite alright,” Sun assures her with a kind smile. He crouches to be more at eye-level with the child and offers her a little wave, taking no offense to the way she peeks only slightly out from behind her mother. “That’s a very pretty dress,” he says. It’s a Carter's collared plaid, Christmas-time red, with a white dog-eared collar and rabbit embroidery. Perfectly suited for the season. “Are you headed somewhere special?”

“Just down to Shutterbug,” the mother laughs, answering Sun’s question when her daughter doesn’t budge. “I know it’s still early in the season, but I have an endless list of things to get around to before the month’s end, so we’re just going to get our photos done now, and the family will just receive their cards a little early, this year.”

“Oh, certainly,” he nods sagely, as if he’s even once sent a Christmas card himself, “better to get it over and done with before everyone and their mother realizes they’ve forgotten to sign and seal their envelopes!”

“Exactly!” She laughs again. “I figure, well, I might as well get some gift shopping done since I’m already here, but–”

Right on cue, the infant in her arms begins to wail his poor little head off, and she grimaces.

“Finding it hard to get anything done with your hands full?” Sun asks, waiting for her nod before continuing. “Well, that’s nothing I can’t fix! I could carry your other bags for you, or–”

“Could you babysit?”

He straightens with a jolt, nearly dropping the bags he already carried in the process. “Oh! Well, um, company policy doesn’t exactly allow me to–”

“It would just be for a few minutes. An hour, at most.” She gives him a pleading look. “You’re coded with childcare protocols, aren’t you?”

“I–” Sun scrambles for an answer. “My training extends to some childcare etiquette, but–”

“Perfect!” She lofts the infant into his arms like he is nothing more than a small sack of potatoes. “This is George. He’s nine months old as of last week, was just changed, and ate an hour ago, so he should be an angel for you.”

“W-What about his shoes?” He tucks the child against his shoulder and gestures worriedly towards his itty little toes, clothed in nothing but the navy blue footie he wears.

“Oh, don’t be silly, he’s still too young!” The woman insists, “George has only just learned how to crawl, I doubt he’ll be walking any time soon. You have nothing to worry about!”

“But–”

“I’ll come find you in an hour when I’m all finished up. Thank you again!”

The mother turns on her heel like she’s being chased out by fire, leaving Sun there in the center of the mall aisle, still as a statue and stunned into silence.

There was a kernel of truth to his words. Both he and Moon had been programmed with the know-how in terms of child rearing basics, and in fact it was the very first frame of coding that he recalls having. For what purpose, he isn’t sure. It has lied dormant beneath layers of more relevant protocols for years and only ever makes an appearance when he’s interacting with the few children the mall sees from time to time. Even still, it is nothing in the way of proper training for how to care for an infant so small, and for so long.

Needless to say, he was panicking.

The first thing he does after quieting the infant’s cries is find another employee and hand off the bags, instructing them to be brought to Shutterbug and kept behind the desk for the time being.

With his hands freed he can focus all of his attention on the child who, for what it’s worth, has been a perfect angel in the short time since he was haphazardly carted into Sun’s arms. Quiet as a church mouse after that first little outburst, and just as cute, too, the little bundle of joy looking up at him with big brown eyes full of wonder.

Sun returns his gaze with a long sigh. “Now then, what are we going to do with you?”

The protocols that once were dormant now rose to the surface and screamed at him to engage the child in “stimulating activities“, whatever that meant. Instructions for playtime involved everything from games like peekaboo and patty-cake to more developmental activities, such as playing music, coloring, or toying with building blocks. Sun doubted that Bee Gees’ hit single “Stayin’ Alive” was anything in the way of educational for the tiny tot as it played over the speakers, and — to the best of his knowledge — he can’t recall ever having access to building blocks or coloring books. That left nothing but the traditional baby games, tried and true, and easy enough!

He borrows a small blanket from a store nearby and finds a cozy spot on the floor, tucked safely between two plant boxes, to set him down. Sun finds that playing these games comes almost naturally to him — but that’s a given, isn’t it? He follows the instruction manual in his code to the letter, pride and joy overwhelming his stint of uncertainty each time he comes out from hiding behind his hands to the sound of shrill laughter, every “Peek-a-boo!” earning him a motley of giggles and a baby-toothed smile.

Distraction arrives in the form of an employee struggling to carry a stack of boxes into the store behind him. He’s on his feet and across the room in an instant as one protocol briefly overrides the other, and it’s only for a moment — just a moment — but when he turns around again it is to the sight of an empty blanket.

His charge has gone missing.

Panic overwhelms every one of his sensors, rushing along his circuits like adrenaline through veins gripping him with a fear so potent it threatens to shut down his system right then and there.

No, think! His mother said he had only just learned to crawl, which meant little George couldn’t have gone far. Unless the infant hadn’t gone anywhere by himself at all, and rather, someone had come along and–

Sun shut down that train of thought the moment it struck him. He would never forgive himself if something so terrible happened on his watch, saying nothing of what management would do to him if a child was abducted right from under his nose.

He decides the best course of action right now is to follow the same protocol he would use for any other “lost” child. Yes, lost, that’s all they were. It’s so easy to get lost in a mall as large as this one. Sun comforts himself with the knowledge that he has never let a lost child go unfound before. His success rate is a perfect 100%, and he intends to keep it that way.

First, he scans the security cameras for any sight of the child. He is sure to look in every nook and cranny, and he deflates with growing dread when that little navy footie doesn’t appear anywhere on the screens. His voice cuts through the employee radio a moment later and describes the child with every possible detail he can think of, asking that any sighting of the little straggler be reported to him immediately. He hopes against every star in the sky that the mother doesn’t happen to overhear from an employee nearby.

Lastly, he heads out in search of help.

Moon is meant to be working on the upper floor today, helping Sun handle the usual holiday rush, and his lack of response to the radio call is concerning. Not too concerning, though, given that Sun finds him right where he’d been expecting to.

That is, sprawled atop the lockers in the employee break room, one arm dangling over the side, the other resting casually over his waist, and a VOGUE magazine draped over his face.

‘Lazy’ doesn’t even scratch the surface of the words Sun wants to use. They’ve talked about this, the bad habit having put Moon in trouble a number of times already, but that’s an argument for another day.

There’s no time to mince words right now, and so he doesn’t. Instead, Sun stalks across the room and slams his fist against the lockers beneath his sleeping coworker, who sits upright with such force that his head makes contact with the ceiling and crashes through like a train into glass.

It might have been funny if Sun wasn’t as whipped up into a panic as he is, but as it stands he can hardly even keep from raising his voice when he addresses Moon with a scowl. “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Sun hisses, arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently. “I take it you didn’t hear my radio call?”

Moon serves him with a glower of his own, snarling deep within his voicebox as he runs his hand over the glassy side of his faceplate to ensure that it’s still intact. He has the decency to look a little guilty, if only for a moment, cerulean blue eyes lowering to the radio attached at his hip that is visibly turned to OFF.

“Of course not,” Sun tuts.

Griping, Moon dusts the ceiling powder from his shoulders. “What could be so important that you had to–”

“I lost a baby.”

The words render him speechless, a long, uncomfortable silence taking up the space between them for all of a minute before Moon blurts out, “Sun, you don’t have a baby.”

“That’s because I lost him!” Sun shrills, beginning to pace. “I was helping a mother with her bags, and she asked me to babysit, a-and I know we aren’t technically allowed to, but– but it all just happened so fast!” His arms flailed for emphasis. “She said he wasn’t even walking yet, I thought it’d be easy! Everything was going so well, too, we were playing a game of peek-a-boo and then – then someone needed help. I only had my back turned for a minute, Moon. Maybe even less! But then I turned around, and…”

“You lost a baby,” he mutters to himself. Moon runs both hands over his face, sighing into his palms. “You lost a baby,” he repeats. “How do you lose an entire child?”

“I don’t know!” Sun answers, voice cracking with guilt. “Will you help me find them?”

“Obviously.” Moon hops down from the lockers (pointedly ignoring the massive hole in the ceiling – he’d come up with an excuse to tell management later) and is already crossing the room when he speaks again. “Management will take it out on both of us if they find out, so you need to get a grip. Your face looks like you just watched someone plummet to their death, for fucks’s sake.” He pauses at the door. “Did you get a scan of their face?”

“O-Of course!”

“Good. Transfer the image to me along with any other information that might be helpful. I’ll search the exits, you take the first story department stores.”

“What about the second floor?”

He fits him with a quizzical expression, going as far as to form an eyebrow with the stars on his faceplate screen and arch it pointedly. “You said this kid wasn’t walking yet,” Moon reminds him. “If someone ‘napped the little guy, they aren’t going to stick around, much less be caught shopping. They’ll head for the exits, first.”

“I guess that’s true…”

“And if you just coincidentally happened to have been babysitting the world’s fastest crawler, they would still be stuck on the first floor,” he continues, “which is why we’re checking there first.”

“Right. Right. You’re right.” Sun’s nod is shaky at best. His hands wring together with a tension that threatens to pop the joints out of place with each anxious tug.

Moon sighs and crosses the room again to place a hand on Sun’s shoulder. “We’ll find him,” he comforts, giving the shoulder a gentle squeeze, “but we need to go now. You won’t fix anything by standing here worrying.”

“Right,” he repeats, working to smother his nerves for the sake of focusing on the task at hand. “You check the exits, I’ll check the department stores. We’ll meet up at the fountain in thirty minutes if neither of us find anything?”

“Ten minutes,” Moon asserts. He wastes no further time, leaving Sun with only that and a firm nod before pacing out of the room.

Sun hopes they aren’t already too late.

Their search yields nothing but more disappointment. Ten painfully long minutes of searching that ends with them meeting at the fountain equally empty handed and with no further leads.

“We’re too late,” wails Sun, already catastrophizing. “How am I going to explain this to their mother? She’ll never forgive me, I’ll never forgive me–” His fingers hook around the rays beside his chin, the thin metal groaning beneath the force and threatening to snap right then and there, “–and management — stars, Moon, we’re going to be dismantled over this!”

“Lower your voice!” Moon snaps. He looks around, ensuring that that their crime — Sun’s crime — hasn’t been overheard. Luckily, it appears the fountain has drowned out their conversation sufficiently. “You need to calm down,” he continues. “I’m sure they’re somewhere around here.”

“We’ve checked everywhere!” His left ray bends under the pressure, molding to the shape of his fingers, slowly but surely. “I should have never let this happen. What was I thinking, turning my back on them? Now they’re all alone, o-or hurt, somewhere, or–”

“Hey, hey.” Moon takes him by the wrist, careful yet firm as he pries Sun’s fingers away from his mangled ray then holds his hand at a distance, so he can’t hurt himself further. “You made a mistake,” he agrees, “but it’s not fair to hold all of that blame yourself. You have no frame of reference for this sort of thing, we aren’t meant to be taking care of children in the first place.”

“I should have known better!” Sun insists. “How can I be expected to run a daycare if I can’t even look after one kid?”

Moon freezes, his optics flickering in a blink. “We–” slowly, he releases Sun’s wrist, “–we aren’t a daycare, Sun. We’re a mall. Are…are you feeling okay?”

“I…” Alarms and notices flood his screen, blocking Moon from view. Corroded files long since forgotten behind firewalls and newly instated protocols. He looks for answers in their overwhelming code and finds nothing but more questions; a lingering sense of awareness always just out of his reach. Then they’re gone, swept away all at once as his system tidies itself up, and he can think clearly again. “We’re in a mall,” he echoes, nodding to himself, “we run a mall. We’re mascots, not – not–” He faces Moon with a calmer disposition, forcing a smile, “I’m alright, now.”

“I always preferred the term Icon,” says Moon, “’mascot’ makes us sound like those people in animal suits waving around signs outside of businesses.” He laughs, and Sun laughs, too, but it’s strained. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

He sighs with the last crumb of uncertainty. “I’m fine, just…confused, I guess. I think the anxiety is getting to me.” When he straightens again it’s with newfound gusto, a determination to make things right. “None of our employees have reported seeing anyone carting off with a baby that fits George’s description, so he must still be here. Do you want to try the second floor after all?”

“I guess it’s worth a shot,” says Moon. He takes another look around, eyes scanning the area for any possible lead, until his star-studded eyebrow arches downward. “You said he was wearing a blue footie?”

“Navy blue,” Sun nods his confirmation, “with a little white pocket on the front.”

“Like that?”

He follows Moon’s point all the way to the escalator, where good ol’ George is sat, halfway up to the second story, already, suckling at his thumb like this is any other Tuesday.

“That’s–” Sun feels like he’s going to scream, “that’s him!”

“Huh. Baby on an escalator,” he mutters inquisitively. “Never seen that before.”

“Moon!”

Not wanting to risk any more dillydallying, Sun rushes past him and beelines through the crowd, anxiety pulsing through him tenfold as he gets caught up in a group of customers gathered on the escalator themselves.

Moon takes an alternative route, opting to skip the escalator steps all together. Instead he leaps directly onto the handrail, steady and practiced, and carefully avoids his customer’s fingers as he races upward.

Sun meets him at the top an excruciating few seconds after and feels his composure slip further upon seeing him empty handed. “Where–?”

“I don’t know,” Moon interrupts, looking just as confused. “He was already gone when I got up here.”

“Seriously?” He braces both palms across his arms, hugging himself tightly so he doesn’t just rip out his rays all together. “He’s a baby, for Pete’s sake. How far could he have gone? How does this keep happening?”

“There!” Moon points a little ways off, where little George — somehow, someway — is spotted riding a runaway janitor’s cart, its wheels spiraling uncontrollably forward and headed straight for the wall.

“Stop that cart!” Shrieks Sun, already halfway across the room and hot on the cart’s tail.

The crowd is thick, clusters of customers all aiming to get their holiday shopping in before the real chaos begins, and it makes the already out of hand situation that much harder.

Sun hears the crash before he sees it, and feels his battery operated heart sink. The sight he’s met with upon finally reaching the end of the balcony is disastrous at best. The cart rests in a broken mess on the floor, having evidently bounced into a pair of trash cans rather than collide with the wall. One of said cans has toppled onto its side from the impact, and the trail of garbage leading out of it paints a perplexing picture.

Moon catches up with him a minute later, fans whirring like he’s out of breath. “Is he–”

“Gone,” Sun answers, aghast. He points to the breadcrumbs (literally) that trail out of the toppled can. “I think he fell into the garbage.”

“Well, that’s better than the wall,” hums Moon. “Maybe it cushioned his fall? And then the trashcan fell over…” he trails off.

“And he just…crawled out?” Sun finishes the thought, then raises his chin. The two share a dumbfounded expression.

“Sun, what kind of mutant child did you agree to babysit?”

“Don’t be rude!” He chastises. “George is just…special.”

“Yeah, specially designed to outwit us. They should have called him Curious George.” His eye follows the garbage trail until it peters out a few feet down. “Where do you suppose he went now?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Sun groans. “Should we split up?”

“Good idea. You take the east wing, I’ll go west. Reconvene in thirty minutes?”

“Ten,”‌ corrects Sun, grimacing at the deja vu. “His mother promised an hour, and it’s already been over half of that. If we can’t find him in ten minutes, then we - we–”

“We are going to find him,” Moon assures, bolstering Sun’s confidence as best as he can. “We just need to focus, alright? No more running around like chickens with our heads cut off.”

Sun nods his agreement. “Right, okay. You’re right. I won’t let a baby run me in circles around my own mall.” His frazzled expressions calms, at that, and he smiles. “Just a nine-month infant who crawls a little faster than normal, that’s all he is. Easy peasy!”

What happens next is neither easy nor peasy. In fact, calling it ‘running circles’ is an understatement. In the next ten minutes alone, little George sends both of them out on nothing short of a wild goose chase, appearing in nigh impossible positions each and every time and always just out their grasp.

Sun is the first to find him. Tucked into the one corner of a store that the cameras don’t reach, donning a pair of sunglasses of all things (upside-down, mind you), and playing with a silicone whisk from the kitchenware section. Sun is only a short distance away when a customer taps him on the shoulder and asks where they can find the bathroom. Of course, the little tot is already gone when he turns back around.

A few meters down, Moon discovers some discarded sunglasses on the floor. He spots a familiar pair of white padded feet a moment later and finds George climbing the side of an information kiosk. The employee inside is busy with a customer and doesn’t even notice the little rascal scaling the grounded kiosk sign like he was born to climb Everest. They notice Moon, though, and are all too eager to introduce one of the mall’s very own mascots to the customer who is, apparently, visiting for the very first time. It’s all Moon can do just to act polite in front of the woman as his guest-orientation protocols take over, keeping him paralyzed there even as the infant merrily drops from the sign and disappears from his sight.

Five minutes later Sun hears a shrill of laughter and turns around a corner to see George playing in the plant trough like it’s a sandbox, his navy footie all but smothered in dirt. An internal scream rips silently through his system as he grapples with the knowledge that he’s now going to get an earful even if he does successfully get his hands on the kid.

True to character, George is nowhere to be found when Sun winds up in front of the planter. He calms his nerves and protocols alike by fixing the poor flowers back into their proper position from where they had been carelessly plucked out and thrown aside. He knows there’s no saving a few of them, and he’ll need to reorder more seeds to make up for it, but that’s a headache for another day.

The current source of his vexation appears to have shown some mercy, at least. Sun finds a trail of muddy footprints leading out of the trough and down the aisle. An employee glances up from their storefront desk upon seeing him and points to the right, towards the candy store, knowing exactly what he was looking for, already. For the life of him, Sun cannot understand why they — or anyone else for that matter — hasn’t thought to stop the runaway infant. Apparently, a nine month old crawling around without parental supervision is nothing to bat an eye at to anyone in the mall’s entire vicinity.

Moon is passing by Waning Lights theater when he hears a small commotion inside. On a hunch he peeks in, expecting nothing in particular, and instead sees two enormous baby hands covering the screen. That is, two very small baby hands waving in front of the projector.

He’s up the steps in a matter of seconds, mechanics racing with the adrenaline of having finally caught the little devil, only — of course — the little hands have already disappeared, and the seat is empty, leaving only a confused employee where he once was. “You’re joking…” Moon whispers, exhausted. An already irritated customer shushes him from somewhere downstage. Distantly, he hears the telltale sound of infant babbling and begrudgingly follows it out of the theater again.

He bursts through the door and right into Sun, colliding with a loud clatter of metal and recoiling, each holding their heads respectively and groaning in perfect unison.

“Did you find him?” Sun asks around a wince.

“Technically yes, but–”

“He got away from you too?”

Moon nods. “What is it with this kid?”

“I don’t know, but we need to figure out a different plan soon. We’re already over our ten minutes.” He looks around once more for good measure, knowing the child couldn’t have gone too far, already, if they had both just spotted him a moment ago.

That’s when he sees it. Little George, nine months old, walking down the balcony aisle. Rather, the little tike is running like he’s off to the races.

“Well, that explains why he’s been able to get everywhere so fast,” says Moon, following Sun’s gaze. “I thought you said he was only starting to crawl?”

“He’s, um, a fast learner?” Sun answers sheepishly. He watches George go for all of one long, lovestruck moment — feeling like a proud parent himself — before the swell of pride in his chest shatters to make way for circuit frying terror.

See, little George has shown himself to be quite the impressive little acrobat. He can walk, he can run, he can climb, and at that very moment he is making quick work of closing the distance between himself and a stack of boxes pressed up against the balcony railing.

The only thing awaiting him on the other side is a long, long fall.

Sun darts forward without a word, but Moon is faster, weaving through the crowd with a nimble speed that he cannot compete with. “We aren’t going to make it,” Sun gasps, announcing it to himself, mostly, as horror grips him throughout. Even if they reach the railing on time, George is already at the top of the stack, raising himself onto unsteady feet and peering out into the great beyond. He’ll be over the edge before they can stop him, and they won’t make it to the first floor on time to catch him there.

But then Sun hears it; the whir of a wire, quick and sturdy as it races through its ceiling track to Moon’s beck and call. He watches its metal hook begin to lower from a few paces away, just as the infant topples up and over, and his body seizes with fear as Moon leaps over the railing after him.

He hears a click, the wire latching out of sight, going taut. Sun holds his breath until the sound of giggling follows. Peering warily over the railing, hands shaking, he sees Moon dangling halfway to the floor. Little George bounces in his arms, clapping and cheering and laughing away like this is all just another game.

Moon lowers himself the remaining distance to the floor as Sun scrambles down the elevator to meet him. He looks rightfully shaken, his faceplate screen blank of even stars, but his grip remains persistent. He’s not going to risk putting the kid down for a moment, even if he feels like he’s going to bluescreen any second now. Their landing is celebrated with the undeniable sound of George taking the world’s largest shit, and though Moon wants to be angry, all he manages to come up with in response is “Me too, kid.”

A voice calls over their internal radios right as Sun’s feet hit the floor.

“Can someone ring the mascots?” Asks the employee, “I’m stationed at Shutterbug with a customer and she says they have her baby…?”

“I’m on my way!” Sun answers the radio aloud. He takes the baby from Moon, who extends George to him from a distance, grateful — now more than ever — for their ability to turn off their nose receptors.

“What about the footie?” Moon gestures to the dirt-soaked clothes once his hands are free. “I don’t think she’s going to be happy if he’s brought back all dirty – or naked. That might be worse.”

On a whim, Sun turns George over to check the footie’s tag. Relief floods his system when he reads the name. “We carry this brand – I’ll bet anything that we have this exact footie somewhere in the store. Can you go find it?” He makes a face and turns his own nose receptors off a moment after. “Maybe a pack of diapers, too,” he laughs. “Oh! Can you also pick up a rabbit from Fluff-&-Stuff?”

“What about you?”

“I’m headed to the bathrooms so I can clean the little guy up.” He holds George up, then, wielding him like a stinky little weapon. “Unless you want to try changing a diaper?”

“Navy blue footie with a white pocket, got it,” answers Moon, already turning on his heel and heading in the opposite direction.

Ten minutes later, Sun exits the bathroom feeling like a brand new person. A scarred, mortified person, but new all the same. Who knew baby poop could be so traumatizing?

Moon had returned a moment before, toting with him the items that Sun had requested, and together they figured out how to dress the freshly cleaned child in a new diaper. Whoever said it wasn’t rocket science was right. It was somehow worse. Still, they persevered, and at the end of it all they had a clean, happy, freshly diapered baby to show for their efforts. Now it was just a matter of delivering him back to his mother.

“Why did you want the rabbit?” Moon asks as he trades over the stuffed animal, happy to hold little George now that the little tike isn’t a stink grenade.

“You’ll see,” answers Sun, refusing to elaborate. He rounds the corner with Moon following at his heel and steps into Shutterbug, greeting the mother with his best customer-pleasing smile. “So sorry for the wait, ma’am. George here had a bit of an accident on our way back.”

The woman tuts guilty, but is happy to see them all the same. “Oh, goodness, how embarrassing. I can pay for the diapers you used.”

“Nonsense!” He tells her with a casual wave of his hand, “We’re happy to lend a hand, and it’s not like the little guy could help himself.”

“You’re a sweetheart,” she smiles. “And he behaved for you, otherwise?”

Sun glances over his shoulder at Moon, and the two share a look.

Nodding, Moon steps forward and hands the child over when his mother extends her arms for him. “He was an angel,” Moon tells her.

They had both already agreed to keep their mouths shut on the entire ordeal, including and up to George’s newfound capabilities. Aside from how much trouble they would both find themselves in if anyone ever found out about the chase this single child had put them through, it simply wasn’t their place to mention it. Sun, especially, didn’t want to take away that special moment when his mother rightfully deserved to have it to herself.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it,” she sighs with relief. “Thank you again for watching her. You two are a real blessing, you know that? I wouldn’t have been able to get all my ducks in a row without your help.”

“Anytime!” Sun answers. He spots a plaid dress hiding behind her, and lowers himself into a crouch. “Hello, again,” he calls to the little girl using his kindest voice, and extends the stuffed rabbit for her to take. “I noticed you had some bunnies on your dress, so I thought you might like this.”

Behind him, Moon relaxes into a fond smile.

“That’s very kind of you,” says her mother, who nudges her forward gently. “Go on, it’s okay,” she reassures her. “It’s a gift.”

The child hesitant, but eventually she peeks out from behind her mother just enough to take the offered rabbit, which she tucks against her chest in a great, big hug. “Th…Thank you,” she whispers. Then, feeling brave, she rewards him with a gap-toothed smile.

Moon clears his voice-box. “Well, we should let you get to it,” he says, full-well knowing that Sun would stay here cooing at the children all day if he let him.

And Sun, for what it’s worth, knows exactly what the vocal nudge means, and detaches himself from the family with a wave and some merry goodbyes before the two of them depart together.

“That was sweet of you,” Moon comments once they’re out of earshot. “You aren’t hoping for kids of our own, are you? I don’t think I’m ready for that level of commitment.” He elbows Sun with a smile, getting a hearty laugh out of him.

“Moon, I’ll be honest. I will be the happiest bot in the world if I never have to change another diaper again.” This time it’s Moon’s turn to laugh, and he laughs until his vocals strain with effort. “But, you know, it wasn’t too bad. Taking care of a baby, I mean. I think we make a pretty good team – and decent parents.”

“I’m the better parent,” Moon says around a wide grin. “You’re too much of a stick in the mud.”

“And you’re too spoiling!” Sun laughs, “Don’t think I haven’t seen you giving out candy to the kids that sneak off without their parents.”

“I’m teaching a valuable lesson,” Moon insists, hand flying over his heart like he’s offended by the notion. “If parents want to leave their children unattended, they have to face the consequences. It won’t be me dealing with the inevitable sugar rush.”

A gasp in the distance interrupts their playful bickering. They turn halfway, back towards Shutterbug.

“Did you see that?” Chirps the mother, loud and clear. Her giddy voice followed immediately by the shutter of a camera. “Look – look! He’s walking!”

Again, the two share a look. Surprise becomes amusement becomes pride, then joy, and they laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

#dead mall dare au #if anyone wonders how long i hoard asks for #this particular ask is from a YEAR ago #i'm so sorry Star 😭 i didn't mean for it to take so long #or for it to BE this long. frankly #it was supposed to be a small drabble. 1k words at most #why does this keep happening to me #um um anyway hope you enjoy!!#there's actually a crumb of DEEP lore in this one #just a crumb though #i need to answer the other dmd asks but. Tomorrow

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readychilledwine · 2 months ago

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Fields of Poppy

Elain Week Day 1 - Visions

Summary- After being left at your doorsteps by Rhysand, Elain begins to train her visions in ways she had hardly expected

Warnings - None

A/n - Happy @elainarcheronweek. I’m so excited to see what Elain's full potential and powers will be. I'm in love with the idea of her becoming The Fates almost. Able to see everyone's past, present, and future. This little drabble is based on that idea.

🌸Elain Week Masterlist🌸Master Masterlist🌸

Her eyes were hazed over white as you sat across from her, hands held as the two of you meditated. You barely spoke but asked, “What are you seeing?”

Elain didn't answer, focusing on the vision of the field of wild flowers she was seeing. Focusing in the two people in the vision. She could do this. She could push and uncover who they were, and you knew that. “Focus on a physical aspect,” you were firm. “Hair, clothing.”

Elain dug deeper into the vision, focusing in the color of the flowers until they became poppies, until she could hear the laughter in the fields.

“Now, close your eyes,” you whispered to her. “And feel.”

Elain fell so deeply into her vision that it felt as if she was there. Like she was watching Jurian and Vassa as they laughed and ran through the field. It was as if she felt the moment the man lifted the queen by her hips, spinning her. It was daylight, yet there the young queen was, hair blazing in the rays of light like a curtain of fire.

You stood guard, watching as the young seer stayed in her vision, watching as she became the vision of tranquility. Rhysand had brought her to your doorstep, a lost female. You would return her a powerful one. Not for him. Not for Feyre. Not for the Inner Circle, but for herself. Elain deserved that, as you had realized quickly.

She belonged to no one.

Was owned by no courts.

She was no one's puppet, but she could be the Master of Strings if she just believed in herself.

You had been blessed with foresight that manifested differently. Elain's came through visions, previews of what could come. Yours came through cards, runes, omens. Your foresight was messages directly from the Mother, her visions from the Cauldron.

She was limitless, and watching her discover that was becoming the most rewarding thing you had ever done.

Elain moved from her vision slowly, doe like eyes blinking up at you as she came back to. You watched as she processed, as she sipped her water.

“Tell me what you remember.”

Her voice, light as air, began to speak, it commanded attention, “Vassa, in her human form, during daylight hours.”

“Where were you?”

“The human realm, her kingdom, a field of flowers near a creek.”

You nodded, smiling as her ability to recall things was improving. “What kind of flowers?”

“Poppies, red. A sign of hope and peace.” She had picked up on the symbolism she was sent, a skill that had Elain smiling up at you as she slowly went to stand. “And, I don't feel nauseous.”

That sentence, 5 simple words, were a testimony to how far she had come and she knew it. She was improving everyday, her magic beginning to take its own scent of juniper and sweet grass. She tied up her long hair before moving to the table in the shade.

“Can you watch me a little longer? I want to go back. I thought I saw something else.”

You nodded at her question, “I want you to try to talk me through the vision this time. If you can't, stop, okay?”

The Oracle of Prythian nodded, eyes going white as her focus locked in. Her ability to reenter her visions was growing, a gift she'd never be able to fully repay you for.

Her very voice seemed to move the tree, “Jurian is chasing Vassa,” she began. “And they are happy…”

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safetyeduwhitecard · 1 year ago

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youroriginalsublimecupcakestuff · 5 months ago

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The first time that it happened, it was when he was frantically called to return to hq from his mission in France when he learned that dazai have finally left.

Figure that dazai would somehow manage to be troublesome even without being near him, it led him to have to search through the toxic waste that dazai called a home after defeating the numerous trap and having to pass through the bottles of beer and whisky and the cans of canned crab.

It was in an unassuming place in the shipping container that chuuya found a bunch of flowers : Aloe ( grief), butterfly weed ( let me go), Sweet pea ( goodbye, thank you for a lovely time), purple hyacinth (please forgive me, sorrow) , dark crimson rose ( mourning) and Pink carnation ( i'll never forget you) with a single sunflower seed.

And chuuya was loyal he swore his loyalty to the port mafia and It's members, it was his home and family and he intend to follow this vow till his death but chuuya was one of the few that could claim to know dazai and one things is sure bringing dazai back to the mafia against his wish will only end in the mutually assured destruction of him and the mafia, at least that what he told the boss when he asked him what he found.

He didn't tell anyone not even the boss, hirotsu-san and ane-san that his others reasoning was that he knew that bringing him back will be a betrayal to his partner and that he understand the message, while he make his search the mimic conflict stood out for him and while he mourned all their loss and deeply regreted the fact that he couldn't be here, his name lingered on the name of oda sakunosuke.

Dazai couldn't shut up about him and he would never admit him even under the threat of torture but a part of him have feel jealous of his closeness to dazai.

He and dazai others buddy we're gone and while he can't say that he fully understood all that he's thinking and he was really glad for that, those flower let him know that dazai was alive and let him have an idea of why he was gone, he could only hope that he would find what he search for no matter what it was but if dazai won't go after the mafia in retaliation, chuuya would do nothing.

So he went to do an exchange of favors with prof glasses to cover dazai trace, he saw Verlaine and ane-san more often while he wasn't with hirotsu-san or the boss and Elise, he took over akutagawa training, went training with the black lizards, drink with kajii, tachihara and hirotsu, go on mission, proved his loyalty to the mafia and drunk the bottle of petrus that he got from dazai in celebration of his departure and he said nothing about all the flower that he received in the three year that he didn't see that bandage wasting device.

He never told dazai what he learned with kouyou but he somehow learned that he know the language of flower, it's why in all those random place he found an Hydrangea ( gratitude for being understood) in his desk a few days after that he found the bunch of flower, then he found many more flower, in his apartment, in the port mafia lobby, even in his mission or when he went shopping or his vacation.

Yarrow (Everlasting love) , Zinnia ( lasting affection), white rose (a fresh start), blue Salvia (I think of you) as well as red Salvia (Forever mine), Heliotrope ( devotion), Fern ( fascination , secret bond of love) , gardenia (you're lovely),white camellia ( you're adorable), Daffodil ( You’re the only one, The sun shines when I’m with you), red carnation (my heart ache for you), Forget-Me-Not ( do not forget me) , Gloxinia ( love at first sight) and primrose ( can't live without you) we're amongst the flowers that he received, it went to the point that they're was a rumors that he have an admirator secret.

It was even worse on his birthdays when he would never fail to receive flowers and Anonymous gift with a card and a prank that both infuriated him and brought a smile to his face.

And it didn't even stop when he saw him again not after their reunion the first flower that he received when he came back home after having seen dazai in the dungeon was a red camellia ( love, passion and desire) " you set my heart on fire), then after their mission he received a pink camellia ( heartfelt longing for someone)" longing for you" and white roses ( heavenly, i'm worthy of you) " i'm thinking of you".

And this day on june 19th the day dazai was born , he decided that this time he will be the one to surprise him , it was easy to send an anonymous tip on a day that dazai was away on a mission with his birthday, it was also easy to send a subordunate to have the agency go on a mission to suribashi city where the subordinate dispersed a bunch of peach blossom after all he remember that when he was drunk and he asked dazai what was his favorite flower, it was this flower who mean i am your captive and your charm are unequalled that was his answer. And send others subordonate to brink dazai to an izakaya in funabashi where they put homemade amanattō,pan,natto,dango, soba, Tsukemono, tempura ,sashimi,kasutera, unagi , miso soup,tofu as well as a fruit salad with banana .

He then had others subordonate bring him to bar lupin where he paid the owner to store a curry that he bought in Osaka and to give dazai a signed manuscript of the first edition of the complete guide to suicide with never seen before annotations and another manuscript of the draft of Oda sakunosuke book that he found in an antique shop thanks to a strange calico cat as well as have him drink whisky on ice with prof glasses.

Then he have made this wild goose chase one by one with the member of the agency and even send the akutagawa siblings and hirotsu it was then easy to have him eat chazuke with his mentee but also have him enjoy many others food like Nikujaga, sukiyaki,yakitori, taiyaki,seafood hot pot and Tamago Kake Gohan.

Then he went to buy a new console and game that dazai couldn't stop talking about, as well as an expensive bottle of alcohol and booked a restaurant to a seafood restaurant renowned for his crab dishes, flower in hand he saw a smiling dazai that just left his birthday party at the agency.

But of all things what make dazai eyes sparkles was when he finally agree to wear the damned maid dress, dazai while putting a sunflower in his hair had a bright and real smile on his face that made his heart skip a beat let him know how much he apprecied his birthday and it made him happy that he can make dazai enjoy a day that he loathes so much.

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marie-miele · 7 months ago

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Four

-Master List-

words:3413

- ┈┈┈┈┈┈ - -- - ┈┈┈┈┈┈ -

"Get yourselves suited up and meet me at Training Ground Beta!"

"Yes, sir!"

- ┈┈┈┈┈┈ - -- - ┈┈┈┈┈┈ -

Everyone was raving about their costumes as they all walked around you in the locker room as you stood there staring at yourself in the full-length mirror; dissecting everything about your suit. You had forgotten what you'd even requested in your quirk registration form, and welp, this is what you got;

A black long-sleeved bodysuit with openings in the sleeves that stopped at your crotch and showed off way too much hip for your liking, black thigh highs with cut-outs along the sides, a black shawl, and of course some nice thick combat boots. It could be better; could also be worse. Either way, you were satisfied with how it looked and were excited to test out its mobility.

With one final glance at yourself, you made your way down to Ground Beta.

- ┈┈┈┈┈┈ - -- - ┈┈┈┈┈┈ -

"They say that clothes make the pros, young ladies and gentlemen and, behold, you are the proof!" All Might spoke with a booming voice.

All of class 1-A walked out of the tunneled hallway in their new and shiny costumes as All Might continued with a smile plastered across his face; "Take this to heart. From now on you're all heroes in training."

Your eyes were observing all of your classmate's costumes, you thought most of the suits fit them very well and how others stood out; like some green gauntlets, how flashy you grinned. But to your obliviousness, the boy wearing them was glancing back at you. His crimson eyes were locked on you in a soft gaze. He tried to look away but every time you fixed your stance his eyes would dart back to you.

With his hands placed on his hips, the pro hero asked; "Shall we get started you bunch of newbies?"

And with that, you began.

- ┈┈┈┈┈┈ - -- - ┈┈┈┈┈┈ -

All Might started with discussing combat training and how it would work going on to tell us that we would be fighting indoors against each other in groups of good guys and bad guys.

"Isn't this a little advanced?" Tsu interjected. Which caused a domino effect.

Momo was quick to ask if the pro would be deciding who won the matches.

"How much can we hurt the other team?" Everyone standing near blankly stared at Bakugo as soon as the words left his mouth.

A few more students voiced their concerns when All Might growled about not finishing what he was saying.

"Listen up!" He commanded. He explained the rules of the upcoming matches; The 'heroes' have to stop the 'villains' from setting off a nuclear bomb by either catching the bad guys are recovering their weapon and vice versa.

After his brief commentary, he began drawing two cards at a time from a box of all the student's names. Pulling out the pairs; we were then placed in lettered teams. Finally pulling your card you were team E and your teammate was Mina, thankfully you liked her enough. Once All Might was done announcing the pairs, he reached into two more boxes putting one hand into each box to pull out lettered balls to show who would be starting the training.

"I declare that the first teams to fight will be...THESE GUYS!" He shouts while holding the black and white balls above his head. D and A; Bakugo and Iida were the 'villains' while Ochako and...Midoryia were the 'heroes'.

"The perfect match" you mumbled to yourself. You could imagine exactly how this would play out. The thought made you rather nervous.

You and the rest of the students were instructed to go to the monitor room to watch the match, doing as you were told you made your way there reasoning to yourself that Midoryia would be fine and Bakugo definitely wouldn't go overboard, right? As you walked you couldn't help but look back; only to see the two boys having a stair off, Midoryia looked timid as Bakugo snarled at him.

Kirishima noticed your tensed face as he walked next to you. Even though the two of you never spoke to one another he tried his best to reassure you everything would be fine.

Right.

- ┈┈┈┈┈┈ - -- - ┈┈┈┈┈┈ -

Your eyes made their way to the dark monitors as you entered the room. Quickly you found a good place to stand until the match started.

...

As all the monitors lit up showing off the training grounds All Might called the beginning of the match through an intercom system.

Not even three minutes into the match Bakugo went straight for Midoryia with a sneak attack. Thankfully Midoryia dodged him and was even managing to fight back, tossing the blonde over his shoulder. Unfortunately, his mask was partially destroyed during the small explosion Bakugo caused.

Carefully inspecting the screens you watched as Bakugo was getting angrier by the second. Bakugo had sent off a large explosion after the five-minute mark causing Midoryia to go flying backwards.

"Sir, isn't this getting out of hand? That Bakugo is acting real crazy. He's gonna kill him!" Kirishima petitioned. But All Might disagreed with the red-haired boy standing next to you.

As the fight went on students began commenting on how hard it was to watch, and they were right. It was tough, but Midoryia wasn't giving up-

"He's running away!" Mina said gravely

"Not very manly," Kirishima had countered making you give him a side glance, but he also acknowledged "but he doesn't have a choice. He's outgunned."

"Unless he has a plan." you retorted, feeling confident. You've known him since childhood, and you know that he always has something up his sleeve. It's just a matter of time before he unveils it. Your eyes followed him across the screen when- the building was shaking

Midoryia punched a burst of air up toward the ceiling causing more damage to the building than Bakugo had caused previously.

In the end, the 'heroes' won the match.

With everyone back in a group All Might began reviewing the match, but you weren't listening; instead, you watched Bakugos rising shoulders tremor each time he took a breath. His head was low so you couldn't see his face, but you knew what it would look like right now.

Your attention was brought back when All Might announced the start of the next match.

- ┈┈┈┈┈┈ - -- - ┈┈┈┈┈┈ -

The next match was between teams B and I; The 'hero' team included Shoji and Todoroki meanwhile the other team; Hagahure and Ojro were the 'villains'. Unfortunately for the 'villains' the match was over in seconds as Todoroki had frozen the entire building.

In the monitor room, most of your classmates were huddled close to the pro hero; his large size distributed a large amount of body heat, but you stood away from everyone as did Bakugo; he looked so unnerved. You wanted to check on him but now wasn't the time you thought; he would have an outburst from being embarrassed in front of future heroes. So instead, you paced around while rubbing your arms attempting to stay warm. You figured now would be the best time to strategize a good plan for your match.

At the end of the match, All Might announced that the heroes had once again. Mostly due to Todorokis quirk; he was one of the kids who had been recommended to UA like you had been. You knew what his quirk was like, but you didn't know he had two of them. He didn't use his heat side during the entrance exams.

As the students complimented Todoroki on being so good, Bakugo became even more irritated.

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After a few more matches had passed it was finally your turn.

"The next round up is~" All Might announced drawing out his word. " Team F the 'villains'; Kods and Sato, and Team E the 'heroes'; Mina and Y/N! You have fifteen minutes to complete the 'mission'."

And with that; the match started.

You and Mina were instantly on the move, keeping quiet in case Sato or Koda were in the halls you began going over a plan with your teammate.

She then brought up how it was unfair that both of you were going up against guys who were much bigger than you. her whining had caused you to laugh.

"Y/N were gonna have to fight a guy who can't even tie his shoes" She wailed sarcastically.

"Well, at least he won't capture us. Can't tie a rope either.

Continuing on you began going over the plan once again and adding some new ideas here and there.

"Distract them?" The pink girl questioned.

"Yeah," You clarified while peeking around a corner. "I'll get their attention so you can sneak around and get the weapon."

As the two of you ventured up a flight of stairs Mina asked "Awhh but why can't we just stick together and take them out?!"

"If we did that then you'd be affected by my quirk" You explained

As you said that Mina had stopped on the step above you "Y/N? What even is your quirk? You never showed it off during the quirk assessment..."

"It's...complicated" You stated quickly brushing past her.

"Hm.." The girl followed suit.

It had now hit the ten-minute mark once you had figured out what floor the 'villains' were on.

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Bakugos perspective:

The blonde boy was still moping over his loss to Deku; weak useless Deku who he could beat any day. Just not today, he was so in his head that he never realized you had left for your match until Mineta had shouted out, Bakugo wasn't dealing with this so as he opened his mouth to yell at the small boy Kaminari jumped in;

"What is she doing!?"

Bakugos eyes shot to the monitor; squinting at the screen he then realized it was you he was watching now. Gas was pooling out of you in think waves, watching you brought him back to the day you had disappeared. He didn't quite understand your quirk, but he was certain he was gonna figure it out.

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Prior: Your perspective.

You were once again going over the plan with Mina, with only four minutes left you knew you had to rush this.

"Ready?" You prompted

"You bet."

"Don't forget to cover your mouse and nose, okay? Don't inhale unless you have to." You said picking up a bucket and sneaking up to the corner before the open room where the two boys stood guard.

With one last nod to each other, the plan was in motion with only a few minutes remaining. Mina quickly made her way to the other side of the room, using her quirk to melt the walls and sneak by unnoticed. Deliberately you dropped the bucket causing a loud bang to echo through the halls; simultaneously you activated your quirk after taking a deep breath.

You could hear heavy footsteps approaching, hoping for it to be Koda; you knew he'd be much easier to take out than Sato. They were both bigger than you but Sato's quirk was strength, which you didn't have an upper hand or advantage compared to him.

And you were right, a quick broad hand grabbed your arm and flung you around the corner and into the open space. The force of the impact made you wheeze as you lost your breath, which ultimately led you to do something you planned on not doing. You took a breath in.

"Got you." Sato said with a smug grin pulling out the capture ropes each group was given.

With an appalling grin shot back at the boy you abruptly brought your free hand and covered his mouth and nose realising gas right as he took a breath in from panicked reflexes. He retracted his face from your soft palm to let out a reverberating cough and in doing so he closed his grip on your restrained hand. Taking your chance you escaped his grip. People like him were hard to frighten with only a small amount of gas, unlike Koda who was already frozen with fear Sato kept strong trying to keep you down. So your only choice was to rapidly release gas from all the openings your hero costume had as you made your way towards the middle of the room only to be tripped by Sato grabbing your ankle. You tried to kick him off but he kept regaining his grip. Falling back down into your gas wasn't good at all, you tried to hold your breath after getting the wind knocked out of you but it wasn't working, you had to breathe again.

He was yelling out in fear "I can't make it stop! I need to get out of here, I need help, please help me!" Trying to fight him off was exhausting.

You were beginning to inhale a hefty amount of gas, you were begging to panic like the boy attached to you led. Kicking him one last time you called for Mina. She managed to create a hold in the wall close to the weapon while you were busy on the floor. In one swift motion, she jumped out of the wall and slid toward the weapon using her acid. Kota's eyes trailed after her but he didn't even budge.

Close...Closer! Her fingers were so-

Berrr!

As Mina approached the weapon, we could feel the adrenaline pumping through our veins. We had worked tirelessly for this. We were determined to succeed, and victory was within Mina's grasp. We could see the weapon, glinting in the dim light, just a few feet away.

Our hearts were pounding as she lunged forward to grab it, but suddenly, we heard the sound of the timer ringing. Time had run out, and we had failed. The disappointment and frustration hit us like a ton of bricks. We were so close to achieving our goal, yet it had slipped away from us in a matter of seconds.

She stood there, stunned and deflated, trying to process what had just happened with her hands still on the weapon. We knew we had given it our all, but it wasn't enough. She looked at me lying on the floor, when panic crossed her face. She forgot to cover her face.

Then, chaos ensued.

All Might was aware of your situation with your quirk and Aizawa, in preparation they had a plan set up for cases like this. All Might was quick to turn off the monitors and notified the nurse robots that they were needed.

You were being escorted out on gurneys along with your three other classmates when you spotted Aizawa waiting outside the building wearing a facemask. He deactivated your quirk as you were still releasing some gas from your body. Staring at his covered face you could feel the lightbulb in your head turn on.

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Bakugos perspective:

"That's a wrap! Super work. You really stepped up to the plate. And, we didn't have any major injuries, except for Midoriya." All Might said "You should be proud! Excellent first day of training!" The pro hero was grinning at us that we were his kids.

Bakugo couldn't care less, he wasn't proud at all. And seeing you covered in bruises didn't help his mood either. He wasn't worried about you of course, why would he be?; except he was, you weren't the little girl who followed him around and relied on him to protect you anymore. No, you were grown, and strong.

"It's nice to hear some encouraging words after our homeroom class. Mr.Aizawa was kind of a buzzkill" Tsu said.

Still, seeing you wince in pain just from laughing made his stomach churn; he hated this feeling.

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Your perspective:

After all of the training matches, we were excused to go to our afternoon classes. Once those were finished we all went back to our homeroom and everyone began chatting.

The first thing you did was go to your seat and pull out your notebook and a pen. You started to jot down ideas for costume improvements when Mina came up to you. You moved from topic to topic, she was an easy girl to talk to.

"Hey Mina, when you slid on your acid earlier, how did you get it under your feet so fast?" You asked with pure curiosity.

"Oh!" She exclaimed as she lifted her leg to show the soles of her shoes. "They have holes in the bottom of them so when I activate my quirk it just goes right through." She was smiling so brightly telling you about them until you both turned your heads to the sound of Mineta oogling over the pink girl. Thankfully Jiro jabbed the small boy with her earjacks. Thirty minutes had gone by and you had successfully met everyone in your class and were properly able to apologize to Sato and Koda.

You had decided it was time to leave as it was getting late but on your way out you passed Midoriya. "Hey, I'm glad to see you doing okay." You smiled softly at the battered and bruised boy as you continued on.

Yet just a few moments later the boy was now passing you sprinting down the hallway.

As you stepped outside the first thing you heard was shouting and knew exactly who it was.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Enjoy that win, Deku. You won't get another!"

You watched as Bakugo stomped past the school gates, he's was crying...Shifting your gaze to Midoriya and moving to the other side of the bush you were hiding behind. Then as soon as you were about to come out of hiding All Might came dashing out of nowhere.

You were gonna be stuck here forever you sighed.

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You were leisurely walking down the sidewalk, taking in the sights and sounds of the bustling city. The sun was beginning to set, casting a warm golden glow over the urban landscape. As you strolled along, you found yourself drawn to a small park nestled in the heart of the city. The park was a serene oasis amidst the chaos of the city, with tall trees providing shade and rows of swings lining the far end of the park. You couldn't help but feel a sense of childlike joy at the sight of the swings. And then you saw him in the middle of it all: Bakugo. He sat slouched on a swing.

As you approached the swings, you moved with care, taking soft and gentle steps. You didn't want to startle the blonde who was lost in thought. You placed your bag on the ground and walked over to him, your heart reaching out to him. You sat down on the swing next to him, feeling the cool metal chains of the swing against your palms.

"There are eight other swings and choose the one next to me?!" He growled without even acknowledging who you were.

You watched him for a few moments, trying to gauge his mood, before speaking to him softly.

"Suki..." You spoke softly to him.

The gentleness of your familiar voice made him raise his gaze to yours; the whites on his crimson eyes were a light red and his mouth was ajar. Which had confirmed the fact he was crying. You'd never seen him upset before, not even when you were small children.

You lifted your hand towards Bakugos face to wipe away his tear-stained eyes, but he abruptly swatted your hand away, insisting he didn't need your help.

His pride and independence were palpable as he struggled to maintain his tough exterior, pushing you away despite the vulnerability that seeped through his tough facade. It was a stark reminder of his reluctance to show weakness and accept help, even in moments of emotional turmoil.

Standing up with a sigh you slung your bag over your shoulder. You stood in front of the sitting boy causing him to look up at you.

Reminding him carefully you stated that "You don't always need to be the strongest, y'know?"

He was so enamored with how you looked right now he didnt have time to process you whipping away the rest of your tears with the soft, gently swips of your finger pads. You were assuring him he wouldn't melt if he'd just let her help in the first place.

But he knows that's not true, he could feel himself slowly melting for the girl in front of him.

He hated this feeling.

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Authors note:

ouuu were getting things started!!!!

hope you enjoyed this one!

@confused-smol-fan @reads-stuff-quietly

#bnha #boku no hero academia #boku no hero acedamia #mha x reader #my hero academia #bakugou x reader #mha bakugou #bakugou katsuki #fanfic #mha

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