#also he admitted he only went to the festival so he could ‘test me’ with weird little mind games to see if i would magically change???

[lazylittledragon]

askdfhfjdj thank you to everyone sending me photos of their pets to make me feel better it is much appreciated

i’m about as fine as i can be considering my beloved partner of almost 2 years just left me via text but i have a v good support system so i’ll probably be ok

[theretirementstory]

25/08/2024. Bonjour à tous, I can’t believe that we are hurtling towards the end of August! Where has that month gone? My son had booked his flights out to me towards the end of July and it seemed ages until he was arriving and now it’s just over a week😱. I am so excited, I am like that dog chasing it’s tail 😂.

This week saw 43 years since I passed my driving test 🙈 and I still drive as if I am on the test!

Oyez, oyez, oyez, announcement of the week! “The Trainee Solicitor” is due a name change as with effect from 23 August he has been admitted as a Solicitor. That’s one of your dreams realised now “Mr Solicitor”, it’s great news, 🥳 from a proud mum.

My grandchildren are with “The Photographer” this weekend, being a bank holiday on Monday they will be spending an extra day with him but then he goes back to work on Tuesday and Grandad will be on childminding duties. It’s been a busy week for “The Photographer” as he had a midweek journey to photograph the Scarborough AFC match at Chorley. Last weekend one of his photos was used by BBC Sport so the photos are “getting out there”. As he was leaving work on Friday evening, he was told by a police motorcyclist to wait at the junction and to his surprise heading along the road, flanked by more police motorcyclists was a Mercedes car which he was sure contained “The Queen”. Apparently she made a surprise visit to the Ebor Festival at York Racecourse on the third day (Friday). What a lovely surprise for him to tell his children.

“The Recovery Coordinator” has had “the week from hell!” Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and as her employment is running short-staffed anyway it has been a nightmare. Fortunately she only has one and a half days at work this coming week then she breaks up for her holidays. I am hoping against hope that this lovely weather we are having continues into the first week of September and that she can enjoy some relaxation in the sun.

“The Jetsetter” has been to Maidenhead, for a friends wedding. I do hope it was a fantastic day and that it was a nice break.

Now it’s back to “The Solicitor” who yesterday lunchtime went out to celebrate his fantastic news with his partner, father, brother, niece and nephew. What a celebration. I do hope there are no “thick heads” this morning.

My “Personal Shopper” has returned from holiday, he has been put to good use since he got back, not only did he do my shopping yesterday, but on Thursday he also pressure washed my patio, gates and the top of the letterbox. He then went to order my prescription from the pharmacy.

Monique celebrates her birthday today and I cannot believe that it is two years since I was sitting in her garden playing with her twin grandchildren who were only 7 months old at the time.

Anie has been down to see me, she brought figs, vine peaches and an apple. I thought she might have to do my shopping for me yesterday, however the Personal Shopper agreed to do it. I was pleased she could have a normal Saturday, visit the market and then on a balmy afternoon she was going to visit her garden.

I was up with the larks yesterday as I wanted to walk to the sunflower field down the road to take some photos for the children. We had a video call and my grandson wanted to see my house so I wandered round showing him around, his sister kept saying, I was in there, and sure enough she had been when Daddy brought her over last year. I think my grandson liked my garden if only because it had an airer like Mummy’s. He liked upstairs best, maybe because downstairs is a “work in orogress”, while I am preparing for the visitors.

I was in Paris on Monday, blimey could that driver make the car move! We were doing 160k/hr on a 130 road 🙈. We got there in good time and would have been home quicker if someone at the hospital had phoned and given the taxi office a departure time. I only needed a platelet transfusion my haemoglobin had increased a bit from the previous Friday.

I was then at Troyes on Friday where the platelets had dropped again but not as low as they had been. The haemoglobin had increased yet again but the doctor said it was probably due to one of the injections I have once a week. He said that is better than requiring a transfusion though. To try and sort out my low blood pressure, dosage of my blood pressure tablet has been reduced by half. I now feel like a new woman!

The cleaner has been again and I am going to type a list of jobs to be done weekly/monthly.

I baked a cake yesterday afternoon I don’t know why but I don’t seem to be enjoying some of these foods at the moment.

When my visitors have gone back home, I am going to sort out lots of stuff for the charity shop, decheterie (tip) and anything which could be useful to some of the refugee places.

I had a package arrive from Worcester which included a tea towel, a penguin pin for a coat or jacket and a small penguin “pebble” to keep in my pocket. The penguins have been around the city, lots of them, large and small, doing “The Waddle”.

Then I received a gift from the Îles d’Oleron which was a bag containing some salt, caramel chip biscuits, puffed rice coated in chocolate and caramel plus a lavender bag which smells divine. I have lots of these in wardrobes, drawers etc.

I read in the local newspaper that the fountain which was due to be installed in front of the Town Hall and up and running by July, had been slowed down due to the discovery of an air raid shelter! This work will now be completed during September. I guess that is when everyone is back from holidays.

I had messaged Nicolas (the gardener) to come and cut the lawn and hedges. He said he would try to come and mow on Friday but I guess he must be a busy man as he never came. As he passes my house on his way home he tends to do my jobs if he has finished jobs early and would otherwise go straight home.

I also messaged the roofer, I had phoned and left a message, sent a text message and then sent an email. With the lack of response I can only assume 🙄 that he is on holiday.

I also messaged the plumber who never responded. I don’t think he is on holiday as I have seen his van in the area. Will ring and speak to him I think next week.

Then, I had put off contacting the man to clean the outside walls of the house as I hate speaking on the phone. Anyway I sent a text, he replied saying he is on holiday but will contact me on Sunday. I guess 50% success rate isn’t too bad.

Although my life is still dictated by the hospital visits, I am happy to be dealing with other things I wanted to do. Having a walk is making me feel much better and not being out of breath or as wary, which I have to be but not to the extent that I am wrapped in cotton wool.

It’s difficult to think up songs that have meant something to me over the years. However, I just remembered this one, it’s Lady Love Me (One More Time) by George Benson which was released in 1983.

I can’t believe I haven’t had a song by this next singer, there are a few which I absolutely love but I have chosen this particular song as it reminds me of holidays, being on the night train from York to Bristol (Temple Meads) then a change onto the train to Penzance in Cornwall. It was in the days when trains had compartments (I loved those trains). It was the first time I had been to Cornwall but it was not to be the last time. My sister was coming up three years old and the only bit of the song she could (nearly) sing was “working all day, all day, all day”. The song is Matthew & Son by (as he was then) Cat Stevens and the year was 1967.

Have a good week until next week.

[z-iridest]

My Hero Academia- I am Phoenix

Chapter 18- Test of Heroes:

"All right, that's it for class today." Aizawa told us a couple days later. "There's only one week left until your final exams begin. I'm sure you all studying constantly, right?" I mean, I am, but I don't know about everyone else. I thought. "Don't forget to keep training. The written exam is only one element. There's also the practical portion to worry about. Good luck." With that, our teacher left the room.

"I'VE BARELY TAKEN NOTES THIS SEMESTER!" Mina and Kaminari exclaimed, Kaminari in horror and Mina laughing.

"And with the Sports Festival and the internship, I didn't have time to read the textbook!" Kaminari added in a panic. On the midterm, those two placed the lowest at 20th and 21st specially. 

"It's true that we haven't had much free time lately..." Tokoyami trailed off, having placed 15th, just outside the bottom five.

"We'd barely learned anything when we took our midterms, so they didn't seem all that hard, but I'm kinda worried about these." Sato was telling Koda, both placing 13th and 12th respectively. "We've been through a lot, and they probably won't pull any punches when it comes to testing us." 

"As someone ranked in the top ten, I'm not that concerned." Mineta bragged. Much as I hate to admit it, he placed tenth.

"I still don't know how you managed that, you little shit." I glared at him. I'd placed second behind Momo, but I still didn't know how Mineta of all people managed the top ten.

"WHAT?! YOU WERE TENTH IN THE MIDTERMS?!" They both yelled in shock.

"Aw man, and I thought you were one of us." Mina whined.

"Don't you know weirdo little creeps like you are only likeable if they're kind of stupid?! Who's gonna love you now?!" Kaminari added. I mean, I'm not convinced he's not an idiot... 

"Everyone, trust me." Mineta replied. See?

"Ashido, Kaminari! We've still got time to study! That way we'll all get to go to the training camp together, right?" Ever the optimist, Izuku encouraged both our classmates. Having placed in 5th himself in the midterms, he had a right to be. Iida, who placed in third right below me, raised his hand as if taking an oath.

"Yes! As Class Rep, I have high hopes that we'll make UA proud!" Iida shouted.

"It's pretty hard to fail if you just pay attention in class, isn't it?" Todoroki asked, the Peppermint boy placing in sixth right behind Izuku.

"You're not wrong." I shrugged, but Kaminari acted like we wounded him.

"Why you gotta cut me down like that?!" He whined. 

"Hey, don't worry about it, you two, I can catch you up to speed on the important topics if you want." Momo offered. I swear that woman's too much of a goddess for her own good...

"You're the best, Yaomomo!" Kaminari and Mina exclaimed. Since when has her nickname ever been Yaomomo? She instantly darkened, hanging her head.

"I'm afraid it won't be of any help when it comes to the practical, though..." She trailed off.

"I've been studying but... Could you help me out too? I'm having some trouble understanding quadratic functions." Kyoka had placed 8th, but approached our Yaomomo anyway.

"Really?"

"Tutor me, please! Classical Japanese is killing me!" Seto approached her next. He placed 18th on our midterms...

"Ah..."

"Is there room for one more?" Ojiro asked before Yaomomo could even have a chance to respond. "I'm afraid I'm falling behind a little." He placed 9th in the midterms.

"Pretty please!" They all begged her. She lit up again.

"This is wonderful!" She jumped out of her seat, pumping her arms in the air. "Yes! Let's do it!"

"All right!" They cheered.

"Okay, then. We can hold a study session at my residence over the weekend." Yaomomo went planning.

"Seriously?! I can't wait to see your fancy digs!" Mina squealed. As Yaomomo went on a tangent planning the study session, Todoroki approached me.

"Would you want to study together, Yagi?" He asked. I smiled.

"Sure, did you want to meet up somewhere?" I countered. He shrugged, signalling he didn't know. "Okay, well, there's this little café nearby Tatooine station if that's okay?" I asked. He nodded.

"Sounds good." He answered, making me smile.

"It's a plan then." I replied.

"You think I don't know enough?! Maybe I should be at the lessons into your skull!" We then heard Bakugo (4th place in the midterms) growling at Kirishima (who placed 16th). I sighed.

"I'm counting on it." Kirishima responded. 

"Hah, everyone's panicking right now. But it won't do any good to cram this late in the game." Aoyama stated as Shouji- who came in 11th- walked over to him.

"Shouldn't you be more concerned? You didn't do very well in the midterms." He asked, pointing out that Aoyama came in 19th in the midterms. 

"Are you talking about moi? I did just fine, thank you." Aoyama replied. At lunch, Izuku, Tsu, Toru, Ochaco, Iida, Todoroki and I sat together.

"I'm kinda scared about the practical. I have no idea what it's gonna be." Izuku said.

"Neither do I..." I trailed off.

"Hard to believe they'd give us anything too crazy." Iida answered, making me look at him.

"Considering those of us who weren't at recommendation level had to fight robots in the practical of the entrance exam, I beg to differ. For all we know, they could put us against our teachers." I brought up.

"Please don't jinx it, Hino." Ochaco and Toru begged me. I shrugged.

"I'm not, I'm just saying."

"Anyways, the written exam questions will all be stuff from class, so..." He took a bite of food. "I should be able to do those." At his words, Ochaco stiffened, probably remembering that she came in 14th during the entrance exam.

"Do you really think it's going be that simple?" She asked, sounding nervous.

"It's driving me nuts. I just wanna know what they'll have us doing." Izuku responded.

"It's a comprehensive test of everything we learned from this year." Toru replied, having placed 17th while Tsu had placed 7th.

"Yep, and that's about all we could get Mr. Aizawa to tell us." Tsu added.

"Okay, so then, it'll cover combat and rescue training. Oh, and basic training." Ochaco summed up.

"We can't just study-we have to stay in great physical shape-" Izuku's stomach suddenly hit the table as he got elbowed in the head. I instantly jumped out of my seat, glaring at the blond asshole who caused it, but got yanked back down by Todoroki.

"Oh, sorry, your head's so big that it's hard to miss." He cracked.

"Yours is bigger, should I put a burn mark on that big ass forehead of yours?!" I snapped.

"Hino!" Ochaco's tone was warning.

"He started it." I looked at her.

"You're from class 1-B. Um... Monoma, right? That really hu-"

"I heard you guys stumbled across the Hero Killer. Just like in the Sports Festival, Class 1-A isn't happy unless they're the center of attention." Monoma was really starting to tick me off.

"Maybe if you'd actually brought your A-game, you would have had the spotlight in the Sports Festival, not my fault your battle IQ's at 20. Besides that, it wasn't like we were looking for the Hero Killer." I replied. I mean, one of us was, but the blond Wanna-B didn't need to know that.

"But you do realize you're not in the spotlight because people think you're good heroes, right? It's just that you keep getting into so much trouble. Here's food for thought: Some day, the rest of us might get caught up in your mess, and then we'll all become unwitting victims as well. What kind of horrible villains will you bring down upon us?"

"Can I burn him yet?" I mumbled with my teeth clenched.

"He's not worth it, Yagi." Todoroki told me, keeping a hand on my arm to keep me from jumping across the table.

"What demon-" He got cut off by a girl with an orange ponytail. She caught his lunch tray as he dropped to the floor, Kairi standing over him.

"That's not funny, Monoma!" Kairi chided him.

"You heard what happened to Iida, chill out!" Kendo told him.

"Kendo." Iida spoke her name.

"I apologize for him... I'm pretty sure he has a hole where his heart should be." Kendo apologized. I glanced at Monoma. And I'm pretty sure you knocked him out! I thought.

"So, we were listening... We know you're all worried about what's going to be on the big final practical." Kendo brought up.

"We heard it's gonna be combat against robots like the entrance exam." Kairi tilted her head slightly.

"Huh?!" Ochaco and I both cried out.

"What? Really? How do you know that?" Izuku asked.

"One of my friends who's a few grades up filled me in. I know, cheating but... Oh well." Kendo answered. While the others were talking, Kairi noticed the fact that Todoroki still had his hand on my arm and looked at me, smirking. I looked away from her, hiding the fact that my face was burning.

"What kind of idiot are you, Kendo?" As Izuku was rambling, Monoma woke up. "You just have away our whole strategic advantage! This was our chance to finally pull ahead of that class full of idiots!" He got splashed with water courtesy of Kairi's quirk.

"You're the idiot!" She exclaimed just as Kendo chopped him again.

"Right, they're not the idiots!" Kendo told him before she dragged him away.

"Good luck on exams, guys!" Kairi beamed, hoping onto one foot as she waved goodbye. As I watched her walk away, I noticed Tetsutetsu join her and sling an arm around her, making her lean her head on his shoulder. Awwww, how cute! I thought. 

"ALRIGHT!" Mina and Kaminari exclaimed a while later after we told everyone else the news Kendo had given us.

"This'll be super easy if it's just robots!" Kaminari added.

"Such awesome news!" Mina exclaimed.

"Why do you sound so happy?" Shouji asked. "You both have a hard time controlling your Quirks."

"Yeah, but I can let loose with robots!" Kaminari pumped his fists. Why do I feel like my earlier statement's gonna end up jinxing us? I thought as Mina did the same thing as Kaminari.

"Now you just need Yayorozu to help you study and you'll be all set for finals." Sero was pointing out.

"We'll definitely be able to go to the training camp now!" Kaminari and Mina cheered. 

"It shouldn't matter if it's robots or actual people. Why are you morons so excited?" Bakugo growled out.

"Hey, who're you calling a moron?!" Kaminari yelled.

"Shut up!" Katsuki roared, making Kaminari shrink. "You need to learn how to control your Quirk! Ya got it?!" He then turned to Izuku. "Hey! Deku!" The intensity got so thick you could cut it with a knife. "I don't know what's goin' on with your power, but I saw the way you're using it now and I want you to know... It's seriously pissing me off." 

"Uh oh... He must mean how Deku was flying around like him the other day..." Ochaco trailed off worriedly.

"Oh, yeah, totally..." Mina realized.

"We'll be getting individual scores in the upcoming finals. New rankings. So we'll all know exactly where we're standing! I'll show you how much better I am." He then turned his gaze on our red and white haired classmate. "And Todoroki? I'll kill you, too." Todoroki didn't respond, and Bakugo turned his eyes on me.

"I'm not holding back." I replied before he could say anything... He stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. I rolled my eyes.

"It's been a while since I've seen him that worked up." Kirishima commented after a minute. 

"Think it's impatience? Or hatred?" Tokoyami asked.

"Hatred? He wants to be the best at everything, so that's how he acts. He's just being competitive." I answered, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the side of my desk. With Izuku, it was different though... Ochaco was right, there was a rivalry there, though it seemed one sided. He did seem to hate me just as much as Izuku in the past, but... It didn't have as much bite to it as it did before the Sports Festival if that makes any sense... Anyway, for the next week, I studied and trained on my own and when the weekend finally came, I met up with Todoroki to do our own study group. I had dressed casually, just in jeans, a T-shirt and combat boots with my hair in a low ponytail pulled over my left shoulder. When I arrived, I was a little early, so I just ordered a drink and decided to study a bit on my own while I waited for Todoroki. But, much as I tried, I couldn't focus. The nightmare was happening every night now. I messed with the necklace around my neck as I sat back in my seat, taking my glasses off for a second to pinch the bridge of my nose. You were meant to be just like me.... What the hell does that even mean? And who's voice was it? The more the nightmare kept happening, the more the other voice took over my own until it was all I could hear...

"Yagi? Are you okay?" I looked up to see Todoroki had arrived. He had his school bag slung over his shoulder, and he was wearing gray pants, his usual light blue sneakers, and a navy blue button up that was left open the reveal the white shirt he had on underneath. 

"Yeah, I'm fine." I gave a small smile. "Just lost in thought for a second. I'm glad you made it okay." I answered him.

"The directions you gave were pretty detailed." He shrugged off his bag and sat down across from me before he noticed my drink. He looked confused, making me have to bite back a giggle.

"It's strawberry milk tea with strawberry boba, do you want one?" I asked. He looked at me for a second.

"I couldn't ask that..."

"You're not, I'm offering." I interrupted. He blinked for a couple more seconds before nodding. I smiled. "I'll be right back then." With that, I got up and ordered another one for Todoroki. 

"Quite the cutie you got across from you." Jarsa, the barista that usually works when I come in, commented.

"Don't even, he's just a friend." I told her.

"Really? Because the way he looks at your reminds me of the way my husband used to look at me." She threw back. I felt my face burn, making her laugh as she gave me the milk tea for Todoroki. "You're not denying it."

"We're just friends, I'm not gonna get burnt again the way I got burned with... Well... You know..." I trailed off, rubbing the back of my neck.

"He doesn't give me the bad vibes that blood manipulator gave me." Jarsa was quick to reply. "Go on." She shooed me toward him again. I shook my head before I rejoined Todoroki.

"Here you go." I gave it to him.

"Thank you." He replied. I watched him as he looked at the way it was sealed, looked at the straw, then looked at me for help. A few giggles left me before I motioned for him to give it back to me. Once he did, I showed him how to unwrap the straw and to stab it through the top before giving it back to him. I watched him stare at the cup for a few seconds before I giggled, muffling it with my hand. 

"Go ahead, try it." I encouraged him. Once he took a drink, I put my glasses back on and went back to studying. After a few minutes of silence between us, I heard him speak again.

"Have you always had glasses?" I looked at him to find him staring at me.

"Yeah, I wear them in class all the time." I answered. Had he not noticed this whole time? Then again, he was pretty oblivious so far, so...

"You look pretty with glasses..." He looked away. "Actually, you always look pretty..." Did this guy know what he was doing to me?! I looked at my notebook.

"Thank you." I murmured, feeling him stare at me.

"Are you all right? Your face is really red." I felt him out a hand on my forehead. "Your forehead's really hot..."

"Yeah, I'm fine." I managed to get out, trying to get a hold of myself. I could practically hear the giggle fit coming from behind the counter. Oh my god, kill me now... Once I got a hold of myself, the study session actually went pretty well. Todoroki was definitely smart, logical, and he could solve problems as soon as he saw them. Kinda made me wonder why he'd invited me to study with him in the first place... He probably could have done all the studying on his own in a much quicker time frame. It honestly did help since he knew how to solve the problems I wasn't sure of, and I even helped him figure out the answers to a few things when he wasn't sure. Once I got home, I trained, using everything I'd learned. I suddenly wondered how Kirishima and Bakugo's study group was going, snickering as I imagined Bakugo hitting Kirishima in the head with a rolled up newspaper everytime the redhead got an answer wrong. They probably even got kicked out of the place they were studying because of Bakugo's explosive temper... 

You were meant to be just like me. I got startled out of my thoughts by that same voice again, except this time, I wasn't dreaming. I looked around. No one else was there, and I was home, so I would have definitely heard something if someone had entered... I decided to call it for the day, going inside with a shudder.  The next day, the exams started. It felt like all the written exams passed in the blink of an eye, and before I knew it... "All right, put your pencils down." Day 3 of the exams had arrived. The last person in each row, bring the answer sheets to me." Mina and Kaminari were already out of their seats as Yaomomo collected our row's papers.

"Thanks so much for all your help!" Mina exclaimed gratefully.

"I didn't leave anything blank at least!" Kaminari added. That afternoon, we were brought to the Central Plaza training area after we were dressed in our costumes, only to find ourselves lined up across from all our teachers.

"Now then, let's begin the last test." Mr. Aizawa began. "Remember, it's possible to fail this final. If you wanna go to camp, but make any stupid mistakes."

"Why are all of the teachers all here?" Kyoka asked.

"I expect many of you have gathered information and believe you have some idea of what you'll be faced with today." Mr Aizawa answered.

"We're fighting those big ol' metal robots!" Kaminari had the gall to open his fat mouth. 

"Fireworks! S'mores! Here we come, camp!" Mina exclaimed.

"Actually, this year's tests..." Principal Nezu popped out of Mr. Aizawa's scarf. "... Will be completely different, for various reasons." What is it with our principal and our teacher's scarf?

"Principal Nezu!" Kyoka, Ojiro and Sero all exclaimed.

"You're changing things?" Yaomomo asked in disbelief.

"The tests now have a new focus." Principal Nezu was explaining while he climbed down from Mr. Aizawa. "There will be Hero work, of course. But also teamwork and combat between actual people." Oh no... "So, what does that mean for you? You students will be working together in pairs and your opponents will be one of our esteemed UA teachers! Isn't"t that fabulous!" I felt all the eyes of my friends looking at me. Looks like I jinxed it... Oops... Meanwhile, the rest of the class were wide eyed with shock.

"We're.... fighting the teachers?!" Ochaco questioned.

"Additionally, your partners and opponents have already been chosen. They were determined at my discretion based on various factors, including fighting style, grades and interpersonal relationships. First off, Yayorozu, Yagi, and Todoroki are a team.... Against me." I glanced at Ochaco, seeing her look at me. I'm pretty sure my nerves were all over my face since she gave me a sympathetic look. "Then, we have Midoriya paired with Bakugo." They both were as shocked as I was, looking at each other, but our teacher wasn't done. "And their opponent is..." That's when Dad showed up and my eyes went wide.

"I am here to fight!" Dad exclaimed as he stood upright. I looked at Izuku, nervous for him. It wouldn't have been a problem for me to go against my Dad, considering I knew the exact time limit he was on and his weaknesses. Thinking about it, that's probably why Mr. Aizawa didn't put me against my own Dad, but to put Dad's number one fanboy and successor against him with the kid that hated said successor... This wasn't good...

"We're up against All Might?!" They both exclaimed at the same time. 

"You're going to have to work together, boys, if you want to win!" Dad told the two. One glare from Bakugo directed at Izuku told me he wasn't going to listen, though. Dad chuckled. 

"And now, let's announce the teams and teachers they'll be fighting in order." Principal Nezu announced. First up would be Sato and Kirishima against Cementoss, Tsu and Tokoyami against Ectoplasm, Iida and Ojiro against Power Loader, me, Todoroki and Yaomomo against Mr. Aizawa, Aoyama and Ochaco against Thirteen, Mina and Kaminari against Principal Nezu, Kyoka and Koda against Present Mic, Toru and Shoji against Snipe, Mineta and Sero against Midnight and finally Izuku and Bakugo against my Dad. Oh great, that fight's gonna be last? "To complete the exam, you'll have 30 minutes. In order to win, your objective is to put these handcuffs on your teacher. Or, you can win if one of you manages to escape from the combat stage." Principal Nezu explained.

"So, we've either got to capture the teacher or run away. It's basically like the combat training." Kaminari summed up.

"Yeah, but is it really okay to just jet?" Mina asked.

"Yup." Principal Nezu answered her.

"It's going to be much different than that combat training you all went through earlier. After all, you're up against people way better than you!"

"Better? Really?" Kyoka mumbled under her breath. "Wait, aren't you just the announcer?"

"Hey, watch your mouth, girl- Have some respect!" Present Mic answered.

"This time, your exam will be very similar to a real battle. As strange as it is, please think of us as villains." Thirteen told us, though her words only made me picture my Dad as a villain that towered over everyone and was too strong for any hero to fight. The thought honestly made me shudder. 

"Assumin' you come across your enemy, if you think you can win against them, then fight. However..."

"In instances where you're outmatched, it would be smarter to run away and find help. Todoroki, Iida, Midoriya, Yagi. I'm sure the four of you understand." Mr. Aizawa finished Snipe's thought. 

"I won't make that mistake again. I will pass this test and prove that I'm a hero!" Iida exclaimed.

"So, we fight to win.... Or run to win." Izuku murmured.

"That's right! It's a test of your decision-making skills. But with these rules, you're probably thinking your only real choice is to flee. That's why the support course made these super clever accessories for us." Dad held up some kind of... metal bracelet?

"Behold! Ultra-compressed weights!" Present Mic told us.

"These babies will add about half our body weight to our physiques. It's not much, but they will eat up our stamina and make it harder for us to move around." Dad explained. I mean, in your case, you're adding double your body weight since you have four while the rest have two... I thought, just as Dad grunted. "Oh shoot... These are heavier than I thought! We had a contest to come up with these designs, and Young Hatsume ended up winning it." The girl with pink hair and goggles that was zipping across the second obstacle during the sports festival? I thought.

"You think we need a handicap to win against you?" Bakugo growled. "Well think again." 

"You seriously think you can take All Might without it?" I countered. Dad just laughed.

"This'll be fun." Dad replied.

"Let's begin. The teams will take the practical exams in the order you were called. We have a stage prepared for you. Sato, Kirishima, you're up."

"Yes, sir!" They exclaimed before the teachers filed into the building.

"Those waiting their turn to fight can either watch the exams or strategize together as a team. It's your choice. That's all." Mr. Aizawa told us before following the other teachers.

"Ojiro, I'd like to discuss how we might be able to coordinate the use of our Quirks." Iida was the first one to speak.

"Great." Ojiro replied.

"Tokoyami? Let's go come up with a plan." Tsu replied.

"Agreed." Tokoyami replied while they went inside together.

"We've got to figure out a way to destroy Miss Midnight's costume!" Mineta exclaimed.

"You are such a little scumbag." Sero mumbled as he followed Mineta inside. 

"Come on, Momo, let's come up with a plan." I told her before looking at Todoroki. "You coming?" I asked him. He looked at me before walking away. I sighed. "He already has a plan." I shook my head. Knowing him, it would be having us make a run for the gate while he holds off Mr. Aizawa. 

"Then my plan won't work..." Momo answered. I looked at her.

"Hey, not every plan works, we should still strategize just in case his doesn't pan out. Knowing Mr. Aizawa, I don't think the plan Todoroki has in mind will work." I told her. She looked unsure, but nodded, going with me into one of the waiting rooms. But, not even two minutes after we had sat down to talk, the buzzer went off.

"Sato and Kirishima have been knocked out! Exam over!" The automated system announced.

"Seriously?!" I asked, looking up. 

"That was fast." Yaomomo commented.

"Yeah, too fast... Looks like the match will be harder than we thought, I'm glad we agreed to strategize about this together." I told her. "What's the idea you have?" I asked after a second. She looked away from me. "Hey, don't close up on me. Please?" I tried again to get her to answer, but to no avail. "Momo, we're a team..."

"Team Tokoyami and Asui have passed the final!" The announcement came. Momo stood up.

"So Tokoyami and Asui have passed their exam... I'm not surprised." She finally spoke, leaving the room with me right behind her. 

"Team Ojiro and Iida have passed the final!" The automated system announced the end of Iida and Ojiro's match just as we arrived to our arena. We met up with Todoroki.

"It's our turn now. Let's go." Todoroki told us. Momo was still holding back, and she looked unsure of herself again.

"Yaomomo." I called her by her nickname, which snapped her out of it.

"What's wrong, are you nervous?" Todoroki asked her.

"Oh... No."

"It's okay... With our opponent, I don't blame you." Todoroki, she just said she's not nervous! I thought, but Todoroki wasn't done. "Don't worry, I have a plan in mind for us." 

"Todoroki, don't you think we should..." Before I could say anything more, I was cut off by the buzzer.

"Team Todoroki, Yagi and Yayorozu. Practical Exam. Ready. Go." The announcement went over the speakers. Shit, so much for hashing it out... As we ran, Todoroki told us his plan. "Yayorozu, listen, I want you to keep making small objects. When you stop being able to, it means Mr. Aizawa's close by." I knew it...

"Or at least we're within his line of sight... Todoroki, we should have-" I added, once again trying to get Todoroki to listen.

"Our success will depend on which one of us finds the other first. Once we spot him, I'll draw him to me. Then, you two can run to the escape gate and win this thing for us. Just stay close to me until then." Aaand once again, my protest fell on dead ears. This is oddly familiar... Momo opened her mouth to say something, drawing my attention to her. She does have a plan, I knew it! I thought. Todoroki noticed our focused had changed and spoke again. "C'mon, hurry up and start making things." She looked down.

"Sure... No problem..." Momo replied. No, no, you have to tell him your plan, Yaomomo, come on! I wanted to scream at Todoroki for not listening to her, but Yaomomo wouldn't speak up for herself either. As we continued to run, Yaomomo created Russian dolls, small and easy to store away. I will admit one thing, seeing Todoroki's look of utter confusion was hilarious.

"Um... I guess those work okay, but what are they?" He asked.

"Oh, these things? They're just Russian nesting dolls." Momo answered. 

"Right... Let me know if either of you notice your Quirks acting strangely at all." Todoroki activated his ice side before continuing to run. I noticed Yaomomo hesitate. 

"Yaomomo, if you have a plan, voice it. The only way we're going to pass is if we communicate with each other." I told her. She shook her head.

"It won't work... Come on, we gotta catch up to Todoroki." She told me before hurrying after our teammate, making the Russian dolls as she went. I sighed, following after her as I activated my fire on one hand, at the ready for a fight. "I'd expect nothing less from you, Todoroki."

"What'd you mean?" He asked.

"You were able to come up with a plan to use against Mr. Aizawa so quickly. You knew exactly what was best as soon as we started." It's not the best plan... 

"This is nothing." Todoroki waved off her compliment. Yaomomo stopped.

"No... You're wrong." Todoroki and I both stopped to face her. "As students who got into UA through recommendations, you and I started from the same place, Todoroki. But, in terms of the practical skills that a hero needs, I haven't really managed to do anything that stands out. During the Calvary battle, I just followed your orders, and then when it was my turn to fight, I failed before I could do anything..." That was when I noticed that my flames had stopped burning and the dolls were stopped.

"Yaomomo, the dolls!" I pointed out.

"He's coming!" Todoroki realized.

"I'm sorry!" Yaomomo apologized.

"If you know I'm here, then you should be acting." Aizawa spoke from above us. Todoroki and I turned as he dropped down from the telephone wires. "I would suggest that you prioritize evasion since I've taken your powers from you."

"Yayorozu, Yagi, go!" Todoroki attacked Mr. Aizawa.

"Would you pull your head out, there's gotta be another way! We need to regroup and actually talk about this like we should have before the rest even started!" I flared up in anger as Yaomomo ran for it, trying to get him to listen to me.

"Don't argue, just go!" He yelled back. I grit my teeth.

"Todoroki, listen to me-"

"I can handle this myself, Yagi! I don't need your help!" Todoroki shot at me, interrupting me. I stepped back a bit, his words stinging me a bit. Did he really believe that? That I wasn't strong enough to handle this? After everything? "Yagi, go!" He shouted again. I ran after Yaomomo. If Todoroki wouldn't listen, maybe I could get her to listen... I lost track of her after a minute, and despite it being risky, I jumped into the air to look for her with a bird's eye view. I saw Todoroki get captured before I spotted Yaomomo going the opposite way of the escape gate.

"What is she doing?" I asked myself before flying toward her, landing in front of her and getting her to a shadowed area in one movement. She was panting on a panic attack and looked extremely out of it. "Yaomomo, can you hear me?" I asked her. She nodded as Mr. Aizawa passed where we were hiding. "Name five things you can see." I told her. She gave me a weird look. "Just do it." 

"The sky, the street, the wall, you and my nesting dolls." She seemed a bit calmer as she answered. 

"Name four things you can feel." 

"Your hands on my shoulders, my heart racing against my chest, the ground below me and the wall behind me." She was continuing to calm down more.

"Good. Three things you can hear."

"Your voice, my own, and Mr Aizawa looking for us close by." 

"We're out of his line of sight for the moment, we're fine. Two things you can smell."

"My sweat and... Hino, are you wearing perfume?" 

"Yeah, I didn't go for too strong of a smell. One thing you can taste."

"My spit?" She was back to herself now.

"Gross, but it counts." I smiled back. "Now that we have a second, we can regroup."

"How are we supposed to get Todoroki back?!" She whisper-shrieked.

"Simple, I cause a distraction by shooting my flames away from the direction we're going to go. When Mr. Aizawa's back is turned, I use my wings to get us both back to Todoroki so you can tell us your plan. We'd be well out of eyeshot before he realizes what's happening."

"You're that fast?" She asked.

"Were you paying attention during the Sports Festival?" I countered.

"Besides, I doubt my plan will work." And we were back to the lack of self confidence.

"Well, I don't have a plan besides getting past Mr. Aizawa to get Icy Hot's dumb butt out of capture, so it's either we try yours or we fail this." I pointed out. She blinked.

"Hang on, did you just use Bakugo's nickname for Todoroki?" She asked.

"That's not important right now, do you think you can tell Todoroki and I your plan if I get us to him?" I asked. She stared at me, looking unsure for a minute before nodding, the look on her eyes changing. I smiled. I shot some fire out from where we were, which landed in the alley across from us just as Aizawa was passing by us for another patrol. Just as he turned to look where it landed, I shot into the air with Yaomomo in my hands. I flew as fast as I could, using my fire at my feet to go faster. That dumbass half and half... I wanted to smack him so hard for the comment he made. I knew he only said it to get me to run, but it still hurt... Besides, part of being a team was relying on each other. This wasn't like the Hero Killer, Mr. Aizawa knew what our Quirks were as well as our limits. He should have talked his plan over with us before all this...

"Todoroki!" Yaomomo and I both called to him as I landed, the two of us running toward him. 

"Yaoyorozu! Yagi!" He looked so surprised, I wanted to laugh, but remembered I was mad at him.

"I'm sorry I came back! I couldn't-"

"Hey, watch it! Mr Aizawa's coming!" Once again, Todoroki interrupted her, but it was to warn us that Mr Aizawa caught up to us. 

"So much for the distraction I caused..." I mumbled before noticing Yaomomo was starting to panic again. But, before I could say anything, Todoroki spoke up.

"Yayorozu, you've got a plan, don't you? I'm sorry to bother of you, I should have asked before and not told either of you what to do! But, you have an idea, right?" 

"Your plan didn't work, so there's no way mine will be any good. All of us are gonna fail." 

"That's not true." I put in.

"Spit it out already! I'm saying that you're the one who's the better at this kind of stuff, not me!" She looked up at him. "When we were voting for class rep, you had two votes, remember?! One of those votes was mine, because I thought you would be the best at leading our class!" I could see that his words really struck her, but before she could say anything, Mr. Aizawa jumped into the air above us.

"Giving up?" He asked.

"Not yet!" Yaomomo cried out. "Todoroki, Yagi, close your eyes!" She tossed them up into the air, Mr. Aizawa looking confused.

"What are these?" He asked, kicking one open midair. I realized the same that the doll opened what she had actually been making and shit my eyes, turning away for a second as the flash bangs exploded, blinding our teacher. "Flash grenades?" I heard him question.

"You're right! I have an idea. A plan for us to win!" Yaomomo told Todoroki as she let Todoroki down carefully. "This final exam isn't over." We both stood by him as the binds around him loosened, freeing him. "We can still beat Mr. Aizawa!" Just then, our teacher recovered.

"So, you've got a strategy."

"Yes, I've been thinking about it from the beginning. His weakness."

"Just tell us what to do, Yaomomo." I told her before Mr. Aizawa moved to a higher vantage point. We all knew that because of Mr. Aizawa's injuries from the USJ attack, he couldn't use his Quirk for as long as he used to, and he had to rest more between erasures. 

"Guys, watch it!" I warned as we all jumped back, avoiding Mr. Aizawa. Todoroki went to use his fire, but Mr. Aizawa used his quirk and erased it. 

"Yagi, Todoroki, we have to hide together!" All three of us ran, and I was honestly glad to have our rhythm back on track. "Since he was injured, his Quirk has become unstable!" Yaomomo was pointing out the very weakness that I had been thinking about just a second ago.

"Because of what happened at the USJ?" Todoroki asked. 

"We're going to exploit that." I added.

"Not yet. For now, we just need to get out of his field of vision. It's all a matter of timing. We're going to pass this final!"

"That's our Vice President." I grinned. 

"Timing? How is getting out of his line of sight gonna help us with that?" Todoroki questioned. "He can still take our Quirks whenever he sees us. 

"Just do as I tell you." Yaomomo replied as he turned a corner. "Keep checking to see if you can use your ice power, okay?" 

"Not fast enough, kids!" Mr. Aizawa shouted, his scarf heading toward me.

"He's wrong to think he'll be able to keep our Quirks erased the whole time. There will definitely be a single moment... A brief interval when Mr. Aizawa blinks before he can use his Quirk again!" Todoroki's ice power kicked in a second later. "And I'll be counting on you in that moment to attack like you did in the Sports Festival! A giant ice wall!" He used his ice power to create just what Yaomomo was looking for.

"I blocked him with the wall the moment my Quirk came back. We can use our powers again." As Todoroki activated his flame side to counteract the frost that has started on his right side, I noticed Yaomomo moving the sides of her shirt, and I immediately put my wings up to give her privacy. Considering how much shorter I was, I was barely covering her, and I looked away to give her more privacy as her Quirk activated. "So, can you tell me the rest of your plan now?" That was when he turned. Considering the top of my wing only came to just above her chest, it was probably a weird sight to see me standing with my wings out and covering Yaomomo who had her shirt open while I was looking away. Todoroki looked away, sounding hilariously strained as he spoke again. "Is that Aizawa's scarf you're making?" He asked.

"It is. I don't know the material it's made of or precisely how it's constructed, so it's not exactly the same. But, I created my own version with a special material woven into it. Since this is a residential area, we must keep the collateral damage to a minimum. And he moves his own restraining bonds so quickly, it makes it difficult to catch him. So, you see, here is my plan..." After she explained it, it made total sense, and I honestly knew it would work better than Todoroki's plan had. "What'd you think, Todoroki?" She asked our teammate as we looked at the catapult she had made a long with the scarf. "I believe this has the highest chance of success. Or at least... It's better than trying to run." She sighed softly. "We'll only get one chance." She looked at him. "So, is this all right with you?" She asked. I nodded.

"Let's make it count." I replied before looking at Todoroki. He nodded.

"Yeah, no complaints here." He replied before we put cloaks over ourselves and ran the opposite way that Mr. Aizawa was. "Hey, Yagi... I wanted to say to you... I'm sorry for what I said earlier." I looked at him as we ran. "I wanted you to run during my plan, and I realize that I must have hurt you with what I said by focusing on trying to keep you and Yayorozu out of harm's way." 

"I know you were doing what you thought was the best thing, Todoroki. Now, let's pass this final." I smiled at him, showing him that I forgave him. Just then, Aizawa took our bait, the cloaks being ripped off us, revealing the mannequins the three of us had been carrying. Yaomomo went to hit the latch, but missed it by a hair. I saw panic cover her face again. "Stay on target, Yaomomo!" I encouraged her, hitting it with her as Mr. Aizawa jumped back, giving us the opportunity to recover. "Todoroki, let's light it up!" I called to him, both us us using our flames before Mr. Aizawa could have a chance to react. Since Mr. Aizawa was in the air, we both aimed at the lowest part of the scarf Yaomomo had made.

"I'm not sure we would have a chance of beating you in a full battle, Mr. Aizawa, but that's okay! Tell me something: Have you heard of nitinol alloy? When heated, it returns to its original shape in an instant. It's a metal with shape memory!" The scarf tightened around Mr. Aizawa with the combined heat of mine and Todoroki's flames that same instant, capturing our teacher. We put the cuffs on him once Aizawa landed. 

"I told you it would work, Yaomomo." I gently nudged her.

"It went exactly according to your plan. It was almost a little too smooth." Todoroki piped up.

"Honestly, it shouldn't have worked out... When I was about to trigger the catapult, I made a big mistake. Mr. Aizawa noticed, but still jumped away, even though he could have stopped me easily. I think he allowed himself to be captured by my plan on purpose."

"I was just trying to see what Todoroki would do. Yagi and you were both in my sights, but he still has a cloth over him, remember? I thought he's try to freeze me. So, I decided it would be best for me to back off. In doing so, it looks like I ended up playing right into your hands." Mr. Aizawa revealed to us.

"It really was just a matter of timing like you said, huh? Thanks, teammate." Todoroki thanked her. 

"Exactly." I smiled at her. She started tearing up again, probably realizing what we had been trying to tell her the whole time. She covered her mouth.

"What's wrong? Do you feel sick?" Todoroki was instantly worried.

"No, it's nothing, really!" Yaomomo replied.

"If you feel nauseous, there's a pressure point you can press to-"

"No, I told you, I'm fine." Yaomomo interrupted him as the buzzer sounded.

"Team Todoroki, Yagi and Yayorozu have passed the final exam!" The announcement came, and I felt a sense of relief washing over me. Our test was finally over...

(Taglist: @iheartbarbie @qweenexplosionmurder13

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[alaffy]

Nancy Drew, Ep. 1x2 – The Secret of the Old Morgue

Like the previous episode, this will be less of a recap and more of a sort of list of events that happened in the episode.   I sill haven’t really gotten into the show, although I did find this episode to be less…annoying then the first one.  

Nancy’s dad tries to explain what’s going on between him and Karen, but Nancy can only wonder about the dress.

George is with Ryan, when the phone rings.  He leaves the room, but not before George hears that they want to do an autopsy on Tiffany and Ryan seems upset.  

Nancy goes to the police station to get the cold case file for Lucy.  She overhears Ms. Exposition, er, Keren say that Ryan has gotten an injunction and that he’s moving the body somewhere else for the autopsy.  Police can’t touch it.

Nick asks Nancy to be his date for the Seawater Ceremony.  She agrees to go.

Nancy and her coworkers talk about the murder.  Nancy admits she didn’t show the cops the video.  Nancy also tells them what she heard at the police station.  George defends Ryan, although Nancy and Bess don’t know why.  Nancy says that Ryan could be doing this because he’s hiding something.

Nancy realizes that there’s a toxicologist who owes her a favor and Nancy can get that person to run some tests of Tiffany’s blood; so long as Nancy can get some of the blood.

Nany tries to figure out a way into the morgue, but she needs a key card. While she’s there, she sees a ghostly image in the window.  But of course, when she turns around, no one is behind her.

Nancy goes back to the restaurant to convince the other in helping her doing some after dark B&E. Ace says they can’t go to the morgue after dark as Lucy haunts it and blah, blah, blah.  

They need to get the key card, which they can get at the ceremony.  However, they also have to make sure no one picks up the body first. So, they’re going to find out the medical examiners name that the body will be sent to, pretend to work for Ryan, and cancel the pickup.  To do so, they need to steal Ryan’s phone.  George tells them where they can find Ryan.  George goes to get the phone, while Nancy goes to get a tool to break into the car.

She gets the tool from Nick. She lets him know why she’s breaking in, but not about the morgue.

George tries to get the phone; but run into Ryan.  And she asks him why he’s moving the body.  Ryan tells her it’s because Tiffany liked to heavily medicate and so he’s making sure that no one finds out and sells it to the media.  George lets him know people think he’s hiding something and he sounds like every villain from a Lifetime movie ever.  

George pretends that Ryan dropped his phone, but I’m not sure he believed her lie.  Also, Nancy is watching the two through a pair of binoculars (WTF?!).  

Ryan goes to town and tries to hire Nancy’s Dad as a way to help his image.  Carson basically tells him what to do with that offer.  We do find out that Carson used to be a lawyer for Ryan’s parents and Carson also promised his wife he would never work for another Hudson.  (Please tell me Carson didn’t hide evidence for a client and that’s why he has the dress).

George tells Nancy she couldn’t get the phone.  Nancy lets George know that she saw them in the woods and knows George is sleeping with Ryan.  So she’s either helping a killer or she is the killer as she would be removing the wife. After-highschool bs happens.  But when Bess and Ace ask what happened, Nancy says the plan is off because Ryan took the phone with him when he went jogging.

So, new plan, delay the van. Which they can because there’s only one road to the morgue and Ace has a car.  Meanwhile, Nancy goes to the festival to get the key card.

Ah, the bucket thing is creepy.  Everyone gets a buck of sea water, places it by their front door, and kicks it over at midnight. ��If the water has turned to blood, you die.  

Ryan is at the ceremony trying to act like he’s part of the town.  It works. George is also there and tries to tell him something, but she is brushed off.  

Nancy gets the keycard. As she closes the car door, she sees what looks like blood coming out from under the car and then she sees Dead Lucy in the window.  She looks at the ground again and it’s bone dry.  Bess thinks it’s a warning that Lucy doesn’t want them going into the morgue, Nancy brushes her off.  

Nancy goes inside the morgue and hides from the cameras.  Bess and Ace stop the van by pretending to have a flat.  The person driving the van stops to help.  

Cutting to the chase, Nancy gets a vile of the blood, but as she goes to leave she hears a noise.  She sees what looks like a body; but when she pulls back the sheet, there isn’t one there.  And then, one of the doors opens.

It leads her to the tissue sample room, where she finds a box of evidence for Dead Lucy.  A vile of blood and a crown with her hair strands stuck to it.  All of a sudden the alarms start to blare and Nancy discovers she’s trapped inside.  

But George appears and breaks a window in the door.  As the police arrive, George convinces Nancy to give her the blood.  She gives her the blood and the evidence from Lucy’s case. George runs away and Nancy is caught.

It seems that Bess is interested in girls, but she doesn’t really date anyone.

George comes to the restaurant with the evidence, which she hides in the refrigerator.

Karen tries to convince Nancy not to get involved anymore as it makes her look guilty.  In turn, Nancy asks for a cup of coffee and, after Keren leaves, starts to go through Karen’s computer.  She finds records from Tiffany’s cell phone.  Turns out she texted someone about a package being in the car just before she died.  But the contact is unnamed, so Nancy writes the number down on the underside of her shirt.  

Carson comes as Nancy’s lawyer and tells her he’ll try to get the charges dropped, but there’s only so much he can do.  Also, he knows Nancy broke into his files.  They have an argument but Carson also figures out a way to let Nancy know that Nick wouldn’t have known who testified against him because Tiffany did so behind a screen.  

Nancy asks about the dress in the attic.  Carson says it was a prop that he used to scare her mother with.  Nancy also mentions she saw them digging up the trunk when she was a kid.  Carson says that an old relative of theirs had buried it years ago, with her valuables in it.  Nancy asks what valuables and Carson gives her a list of things.  

Nancy finds out her dad has paid her bail, but asks how he got the money.  Apparently, Carson has taken on Ryan as a client, to get her out of there.  

Nancy goes to the restaurant, gets the parts, and mails them to her friend.  Then she visits Nick, who’s fixed up her mother’s old car.  

So, the bucket thing is done.  

We find out that Ace is giving up info to Weed Guy (McGinnis?) and that Weed Guy wants updates from the reports Nancy’s friend sends back.  

Carson burns the pink dress.

George knocks over her bucket and it’s blood.

Nancy calls the number of the person who Tiffany texted.  She doesn’t get an answer, but the phone is in Nick’s loft.  

[thrndlngs]

three times shinsou misses the opportunity to kiss you + the one time he seized the moment.

── pairing, shinsou x fem!prohero!reader ── request: x times shinsou wants to kiss fem reader??? pLZ I NEED IT ── author’s note: this was super dope & cute to write. tysm for sending this in. i hope i did this justice and it wasn’t to out of character.  also reader has a water quirk & the two of you are in your early twenties.  ♡ 

i.

     "'toshi,” you whispered, chest against his as the two of you currently hid from the group of villains. your two agencies had partnered up in attempt to take down a new gang of villains who were transporting drugs from the city to the waters, the two of you were partnered because of how the two of you excelled in your respective agencies, shinsou was sent to aid in your patrols of the waters  ──  which is why the two of you are currently hiding in a storage closet on a ship. 

  “shut up.” you don’t take it to heart, you’re sure he means it as nicely as possible - he just lacks a few pages in the ‘vocabulary’ department. 

  “we need to do something.” you tell him, trying your best to meet his gaze in the tight space (which was nearly impossible because he’s towering over you at the moment). he doesn’t reply, not at first at least, if you looked hard enough you would probably see the gears in his head turning. 

  “──stop talking, it’s distracting me.” 

  your mouth quickly shuts, fidgety hands are now at your side, you were starting to get antsy and there was practically little to no room to move around without being heard - or seen for that matter. 

  “they switch the guards every ten minutes, in the middle of the switch, we run.” the purple haired male explained, taking a peak at the time on his cellphone. the two of you had to endure this for three more minutes. just three more minutes and you would be free.

  “three minutes,” you repeated, more to confirm this for yourself. you’re sure you wouldn’t last that long, after all, this was shinsou, the male you’ve had a crush on for quite some time now. how were you expected to last that long?

  “──think of it like seven minutes of heaven.”

  “we haven’t played that since── “

  “yeah, yeah i know, but just think of it like that. don’t think about the closet, just the game.” 

  you nodded quickly, meeting his gaze as the two of you stood there in silence. you’d be lying if you said you weren’t thinking about kissing him. it seemed like the perfect moment - it was just the two of you. if it were the last day on earth, you at least wanted to go out with a bang. you know?

  “let me get comfortable, you can do the same after.” you watched as he places either hands besides your head, slouching a bit against the wall so his back could have some sort of support. he nods to you, signaling for you to do the same. 

  it takes you a moment, the position shinsou is currently in causes your heart to skip just a few beats. were you disappointed in yourself for letting your mind drift.. elsewhere during a mission? for sure. did you care right now? absolutely not.

  you cleared your throat, widening your stance and trying to balance the weight in between your legs to help ease some of the weight  ──  but there wasn’t really much you could do.

  “two minutes.” 

   this had to be the longest three minutes of your life.

   “i think i just tasted my own sweat.” he complained. it feels like he’s sweating in places he shouldn’t produce sweat in.

  “i feel like a fish out of water,” you added.

  “──gonna start passing out if i don’t throw you in the water soon?”

  “says the one whose sweating to death.” 

  “and you’re dehydrated. guess we’re both shit out of luck aren’t we?”

  “yeah, but, i think this isn’t the worst way to die.” 

  he takes another peak at his cellphone, noting that there’s a minute left before the two of you could finally get out of this damn storage closet. “you’ve got a minute to tell me anything worse than dying like this.” 

  in hindsight ── there’s a lot that could happen in a minute, that’s the only reason you said something to begin with. “alone, i could die in this closet, alone and then you know, it would be lonely.” 

 “are you serious?” 

  “oh come on! that’s pretty serious!”

  “it ── it really isn’t,” he’s trying to laugh as quietly as possible and you playfully slapped him in his shoulder. 

 “okay, well, i wouldn’t want to die alone.”

  “mhm, scaredy cat.” his smile is infectious and for a moment, he forgets that the two of you are stuck in a storage closet. maybe now would be the perfect time to kiss you, when it’s just the two of you, waiting to make your grand escape, when the two of your are just centimeters apart. 

  “now’s our chance,” he whispered, straightening himself to get out first just in case. he doesn’t want to act off of impulses. if he kisses you, he wants to make sure it’s because you want him too.

ii.

     “good to see you when you’re not acting like a goldfish who just hopped out of it’s bowl.” the familiar voice teased from behind you, hands folded behind his head. if it were anyone else, you might have tripped them.

  “──don’t you have to go buy hair dye now or something?”

  “no that was after i made sure a fisherman didn’t take you on the way home.”

  “is this what do you do on your spare time? think of jokes that revolve around my quirk?”  

  he rolls his shoulder lazily, leaning against the apartment railing across from your front door. “they come naturally, no extra thinking required.”

  “and here i thought all the hair dye went to your brain.”

   this wasn’t out of the norm for the two of you, he would make the first jab and then you would follow suit. sometimes, the bickering could go on for hours  ──  regardless of task at hand (like the time the two of you were trying to detain a villain and shinsou had told the woman you were a water sprite), it’s an old nickname of yours, he had given it to you back at the sports festival when you were kids. you had earned it when you had almost drown mineta because he wouldn’t stop making inappropriate jokes and you had brought the entire water fountain down on him. 

  as the two of you stood there in silence, you, had your back against your door, hands folded behind you while he stood parallel, arms against his chest he wonders: is this the time he kisses you goodnight? 

  “d’ya want to come inside? i have leftovers? we could pull an all nighter like we used to do back in the dorms?” there’s a hint of hopefulness in your eyes and he would feel like absolute shit if he declined the offer.

  “only because you have food.” 

  he doesn’t kiss you goodnight then. and he doesn’t kiss you goodnight when you fall asleep on his shoulder after the second horror movie either. if you were anyone else, he would’ve left without a care in the world, but it’s you and you are different. 

  so he stays and tells himself that tomorrow will be a new day and tomorrow, he can try again.

iii.

     “i don’t dance,” shinsou tells you as you so desperately tried to bring him onto the dance floor. it’s a hero’s gala, everyone from your respective classes at U.A. were here, pro heroes from all around the world and some of your old instructors as well  ──  these aren’t his thing, you know that. you remember his attitude during the first two hours of the third year’s ‘goodbye party’ - not much had changed. he’s taller, a bit more handsomer and smiles more often. 

  “you do tonight, come on.” while you had dragged him by one hand, the other desperately tried to loosen his tie because it feels like he’s suffocating. 

  “──you’ll be the death of me woman.” he’s mumbling under his breath, one hand resting in yours as the other found its place at your waist.

  “because i asked you to dance? might i say this is on your list of horrible ways to die?” you teased, offering him that infectious smile that makes him go weak in his knees. he hates to admit the pull you have on him  ──  he might even go as far as saying you might have him wrapped around that finger of yours and you don’t even know it yet.

  “if it’s by your hands i would say it’s a merciful death.”

  “a merciful death? i’ll keep that in mind.” 

  “don’t test your luck,” you know he’s only messing with you  ──  

  you’re to busy enjoying the moment to think of some witty comeback. it’s something about the way your hand seems to fit perfectly in his. or how the two of you are able to move in sync without any words spoken in between the two of you that’s driving you insane.

  if you would’ve told your past self that you would be slow dancing with the hitoshi shinsou at a hero’s gala while the world around you disappeared you would’ve laughed at the idea. it would’ve seem silly to you  ──  stupid even. shinsou and you weren’t rivals like you and bakugou were, but, you had always found yourself trying to one up him. 

  yet here you were, swaying to the slow tune as you managed to snake your arms around his midsection and rest a head against his chest. maybe this was his chance: with the little distance in between the two of you, dim lighting and dressed to the nines. surely, this would be a good memory to relive later down the road wouldn’t it? 

  but he wanted to savor the moment. so he decides it against it  ── despite the ache in his chest.

  iv.

     "we did it.” shinsou muses, an awkward hand offered in your direction for you to shake. it’s been six months but your agencies had finally shut down the smuggling operation and you could finally take the break you had so desperately needed. you weren’t sure what to do with the outstretched hand, but, you give in anyways, resting your hand in his as he gave it a firm shake.

  “pleasure doing business with you.” you tell him, lips curving into a bittersweet smile. teasing, bickering and ‘playful’ sparring aside, you were going to miss him. you were used to patrolling and doing missions on your own but this was different. 

  “try not to end up on the other side of fishing hook, yeah?” it’s his way of telling you to be careful in shinsou’s teasing nature.

  “make sure i’m the one to grant you the merciful death.” please be careful, is what you want to say. though you couldn’t bring yourself to say it aloud - if you did, it would only confirm that you care about the purple haired pro hero more than you should. 

  he shakes his head with a laugh, “you’re the only one who gets the satisfaction.” 

  “it better stay that way ‘toshi.” 

  he doesn’t know for certain if your agencies would cross paths again. your agency was closer to the waters and he was closer in the city, the chance that you would run into one another again would be slim to none. 

 he clears his throat for a moment, retreating his hand from yours and placing them at your waist instead. he’s pictured this a thousand times but now that he’s in the moment he couldn’t manage to find the right words. it’s frustrating, really.

  “──hi.” you’re holding your breath in anticipation, was this another one of his games? was he going to kiss you? tell you a secret? use his capture weapon and tell you that he’s not letting you go until you admit something embarrassing?

  he doesn’t care anymore. doesn’t care if it makes him look like a love sick idiot when he kisses you like it’s the last thing he’s about to do before he dies, he doesn’t care if anyone’s watching or for the wrinkles you’ll cause since you’ve got a fistful of his shirt in a desperate attempt to close whatever little distance the two of you had between you. 

  you pull away first causing him to pout (which was actually cute but you’d never give him the satisfaction of knowing that) but you do laugh.

  “you know,” he muses, a hand reaching up to rub at the back of his neck sheepishly, a habit you hadn’t seen in years. “──i didn’t want to let you walk away without something to remember, my little water sprite.” 

  you rolled your eyes at the choice of nickname but were flattered nonetheless, your own arms finding their way around his neck, “who said i was walking away?”

[devils-malady]

AU where Ethan convinced the 4 lords to flip on Miranda and are learning to function in a world that is unfamiliar to them.

•Alcina was shown the internet by her daughters and eventually found a way to make a post saying:

"Tall, single white female seeking maidens for my blood wine and what my daughters call 'Netflix and Chill'."

The post goes viral and she has more applications than she can handle with volunteers willingly donating blood for her and her daughters to use as needed. (And A LOT of offers for Netflix and Chill)

•Moreau is able to contact some ecologists to help him clean up the reservoir and bring back more of the native wildlife. But it has become a popular wildlife park and fishing destination and people are actually nice to him. He is ecstatic.

•Donna absolutely started a YouTube channel on doll making and sewing. Has become a major hit, receiving an offer with a big company to help distribute her own line of custom designs of doll parts and clothes. The site is almost always sold out because she makes relatively low stock because she still wants to make sure everything is up to her own quality standards (responding to people's comments and emails had helped her begin to address her social anxiety and she discovered online therapy). While Angie has blown up on tiktok for her prank vids. 

"My name is Angie and you're watching me turn other people into jackasses."

"*Ethan, off screen, behind the camera* Language!"

•Heisenberg has started making found metal sculptures and is making a killing off something Ethan and Mia called "hipsters". He doesn't know what those are but they sure love to spend money on the weird shit he's been making. He's really quite content with this turn of events and it's the first time he's actually liked his powers. But he would never admit it.

After discussing this with my friend, here's something we came up with in honor of the upcoming festivities:

The 4 lords want to make Ethan and Mia, the resident Americans, feel more at home, so they plan a surprise 4th of July cookout for them.

First and foremost: 

Angie is the kid from that vine, you all know the one.

Donna: "What do you have?"

Angie: "A KNIFE!"

Donna: "NO!"

Later, Donna, out of breath and holding a squirming Angie: "Who gave Angie a knife? Today of all days?"

Cassandra: *whistles innocently, slipping to hide behind her mother.*

Auntie Donna is not above using her gifts on the Dimitrescu daughters when they are being overly cheeky. Just a little zip to remind them to behave. Alcina calls it "tough love". Mia and Ethan have both told her that's not what that means.

•Heisenberg is the grillmaster. But he's shockingly (heh) horrible at it. Everything gets burnt.

Karl: "Ah, Ethan and the Winterses! Welcome to the party! Hamburgers or hotdogs?"

Ethan: "That's charcoal. That kills people, Karl." (I absolutely couldn't resist)

Someone pointed out that the Duke should be cooking to which Heisenberg responded with: "Shut yer fuckin' hole!" And went back to his grilling, doing a better job purely out of spite.

-It was Angie. Angie pointed it out.

-Heisenberg was the subject of her next prank vid as retaliation.

•Alcina and her daughters exclusively eat blood sausage for the party, while Alcina is getting wine mom drunk asking Mia questions about the American holiday, while also providing endless entertainment for baby Rose. Alcina gives the best hugs and cuddles (you cannot convince me otherwise). It is ridiculously adorable to watch her in all her 9' 6" glory, coo at and baby talk to her. (We also discussed at length the boob nest she could create just by leaning back and setting Rose between her cleavage. Hands free baby holding ftw!) (Somebody artsy please draw this, I have a need)

The daughters get jealous and start pestering her for attention before eventually having a game of chase with Moreau in their swarm forms while he's out for a swim in the reservoir. It makes him feel included.

•Moreau has been setting up a little water park for the festivities. He had a slide and water guns put in, with a water balloon station and there's also an extreme slip-n-slide that Angie has been absolutely vibrating to try (The one that decapitated those crash test dummies). Angie had to wait though because she was put in timeout for the knife debacle. But when she gets out of Angie Jail (Rose's turned over baby play pen), she waits until she can get all 3 of the Dimitrescu daughters like a bowling ball taking out pins, sending them crashing into the lake.

•Somehow, Donna was put in charge of the music, which turned out better than Ethan and Mia had expected when they saw her with the sound system set up. She gives off big old school victrola record player with opera vibes because of her aesthetic, but it turns out crowdsourcing ideas on her YT gave her a playlist of epic proportions. She also ended up messing around with a mixing program someone sent her, and the list has a few of her own mixes tossed in.

Angie (with a lot of help from the Duke and Karl) got her tiny little gremlin hands on some fireworks. That also turned out better than anticipated with only one occasion of someone getting partially set on fire. (It was Karl and it went viral on tiktok.) Angie was put back in Jail for the rest of the party.

[bakugosbratx]

can you do a baku fluff fic with an old soul s/o 🥺👉👈 like youve been through kinda a lot in your life and can’t really find the energy to give every single this your best. like sorta sad but more of a numb feeling than anything. like of course baku would never let you give up and you’re never planning on it yourself. i’d imagine after talking with him and getting him to understand how you feel he’d be super nice and gentle about it- helping you out with things, even the simple ones (1)

SFW Strong - Katsuki Bakugo x Angst Reader

WARNING: Cursing, talks of parents, angst, depression, fluff, soft Bakugo, cuddles, etc.

A/N: Thank you so much for your submission! I hope you like it. If y’all have any request, my inbox is open. I am still learning to do one shots and especially ones about fluff. I try to keep it true to Bakugo’s personality, but I will get better overtime. Also, I didn’t mention a quirk because the request didn’t state one and it honestly wasn’t relevant to the story, but it can be anything you want.

Check out my other works here

Smoke covered the training field as Bakugo Katsuki landed you in the dirt. His hand was on your head while one of his feet was on your back. Part of you wondered if it was more for personal reasons than it was for training purposes, but you tried not to get in your feelings about it.

"I win again." Bakugo said aloud, but for once, it wasn't cocky. More disappointed which ripped you apart inside.

Bakugo got off you so you could get up and cough up any dirt that filled your lungs. He was looking at the empty stadium while his back was towards you. You could tell he was angry, but he was doing his best to compose himself. You are his girlfriend, after all. Even though Bakugo Katsuki was a bit harsh with his tongue, he still did his best to not be as harsh to you.

"The Sports Festival is in a month." Bakugo stated, still not looking at you.

"I know."

Bakugo turns to face you, his glare running through you.

"Then why the fuck aren't you giving me your all then y/n? I gave you so many opportunity attacks to get me, but you didn't even try to beat me. Is my quirk not worthy of yours?!" Bakugo snapped with clenched fists.

You just looked at him then down at the ground before letting out a sigh.

"I'm sorry.." You mumbled.

Bakugo walked over to you then pushed your chest. Not in an abusive way, but to get you to train properly.

"Then prove it. Fight me."

"What?"

"Fight me. Use your damn quirk. Give me your all. I'll even let you go first this time."

"Babe, I'm tired. I want to go home."

"And I want you to fight me, dammit!"

Silence overcame you two. Tears filled your eyes, but you refused to let them fall. You didn't want to make Bakugo even more angry and you also did not want to seem like a scaredy cat.

"I have nothing left in me, Katsuki..." You whispered, "I'm sorry."

Before Bakugo could process what you were saying, you ran off the field. The tears you were trying so hard to not let fall came pouring down your face as soft sobs began to escape your lips. The only thing you wanted to do was find the exit and go home. Just as you were about to exit the building, a hand pulled you into a strong chest.

"The fuck is wrong?" Bakugo said in his harsh, but concerned tone.

You couldn't answer right away as you began to cry even more. He let out a sigh and rubbed your back as you let all your feelings out. He didn't know what to say or do, so this is what he thought would be best. Once you calmed down, you and Bakugo sat on the stairs together, your head on his shoulder as his arm was wrapped around you.

Bakugo sighed.

"What's wrong, dumbass? You have not seem like yourself lately. What happened to my smiling, go lucky, always giving it your all lover?"

As much as you wanted to cry, you had no more tears left. Instead, all you can do is sigh.

"I was going to wait to tell you until we started dating longer, ever since my father left when I was born, my mother is either never home or brings different men home a lot. I'm left with keeping the place clean and doing so many things on top of worrying about school and being under pressure about being a pro-hero. It's just too much to handle. It's hard for me to keep up the impression that I'm always happy when I'm not. I don't even know if I want to be a pro-hero anymore."

Bakugo listened. He didn't know the right things to say, but he was processing the words you were saying. His heart was breaking underneath and all he wanted to do was make everything better for you.

"If you think I'm going to go easy on you in training then think again, dumbass. I'm always going to push you to do your best." Bakugo stated, still comforting you.

"I wouldn't expect any less from you." You admitted.

"Good," he kissed the top of your head before he stood up, holding out his hand for yours to help you up. "Let's go home."

•time skip•

It's been a week since you told Katsuki what has been going on, he has been super helpful. Which is surprising since he didn't say much when you told him this information. He still pushes you to do your best, but understands when you need a break. He helps you study, clean your house, and is overall more sweet. He still calls you “idiot” and “dumbass” because that is equivalent to calling you “prince(ss)” and “love” in Katsuki language.

Today you were feeling overwhelmed studying for the test that was this Friday. Bakugo came upstairs after cleaning the dishes in the kitchen to see you stressed. He leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed against his muscular chest, gazing at you for a moment.

"Oi dumbass, are you okay?"

"Yeah just overwhelmed." You sighed, closing your text book.

Katsuki walked over to you and kissed the top of your head.

"Let's take a break and cuddle. We can watch an episode of your favorite anime. How does that sound?"

A smiled appeared on your lips at your boyfriend's idea. You and him went downstairs to cuddle on the couch and watch your favorite anime. Katsuki let you sit in his lap while he put his strong arms around you. Your head rested on his chest. He whispered sweet nothings into your ear occasionally which perked up your mood a lot. It's rare to see this side of Katsuki Bakugo, but you are the exception. Especially in private.

An episode turned into a few. Your tired eyes could hardly stay open. You didn’t want to go to sleep. You were having too much contentment with your boyfriend. Bakugo being the observer he is, he noticed your eyes getting tired.

“Is my love tired?” He coo’d, already knowing the answer.

You nodded, snuggling closer to his warm skin. Bakugo turned off the television and carried you to your room. His strength always made you feel small, but in a good way. He is your protector, after all.

Katsuki gently laid you down in your bed and tucked you in. He placed gentle kisses on your forehead.

“Sleep tight, babe.”

Just when Katsuki was about to walk out, you grab his hand.

“Don’t go.” You whine.

“Idiot, I have to make dinner and clean up some more. Plus I’m not tired.”

“But..but..” You gave him puppy dog eyes that you know he has a hard time resisting.

“Fine, brat, but just for a little bit.”

You smile as he climbs into your bed to cuddle you. As much as Katsuki claims he hates cuddling he sure does give the best cuddles. Especially to his favorite person on this planet.

“I love you.” You mumble as you cuddle into Katsuki’s chest.

You couldn’t see it due to your eyes being closed, but you knew he had a smile plastered on his face.

“I love you, too, baby.”

©bakugosbratx

All Rights Reserved

[shelby-love]

JAY HALSTEAD

Bomb Squad Alternative

Requested: yes

Prompts: none

Warning(s): none

Author's note: Here is another crossover between firefighter Y/N and Jay Halstead. Hope you enjoyed since I’m really proud lol. Personally I think this would be a great episode. 

Requests for Jay are open again so send in your ideas! I’m thinking about putting out Christmas prompts since I’m feeling festive. Also, I’m quarantied :( went to test yesterday and I’m waiting for the results to kick in. I feel fine so I shouln’t worry but I still do yk? Anyhow, school is a b and I’m doing online atm (maybe high schools will switch to online completely until Christmas but who knows at this point). 

It’s also exam weeks so that’s why I’ve been lacking time to get back to writing.

Now perpare for me to get on my knees for you at the end of this one shot. <3 

~

“Everyone get out of the station!” You exclaimed, barging through the train station with the rest of 51. Your loud voices and heavy gear alerted everyone enough to get them to move back.

“What do you think you’re doing?” A police officer questioned, throwing an accusing eyebrow your way.

Your lieutenant left you to the police officer’s mercy with a nod of his head. You sighed, turning to the man but still keeping a steady pace with the rest of your team. “There is a bomb threat, we need to evacuate the train station.”

“A bomb threat? I didn’t get a call,” He fought, looking around as if the bomb might be anywhere. Which was true.

“The intelligence is on their way, but I suggest you give us some room to do our job,” Matt joined his voice with you to explain. Although he quickly returned to shouting. 

Soon enough, you saw two dark clothed figures march down the stairs towards you. Your boyfriend came striding down towards all of you, his blue eyes assassinating the surrounding situation. 

Until they fell on you.

He looks good, you allowed yourself to think. Admiring his lean figure - the leather jacket covering his muscular arms and proud CPD badge at his hip - you watched as he stalked towards you. The old lady that was clutching to your side shakily suddenly became invisible to your eyes.

You weren’t surprised to see his jaw tick at the sight of you, which made you shake your head in annoyance. Helping the lady catch the arms of a fellow firefighter became your priority. You watched as she walked outside on unsteady legs.

“Y/LN, Casey.” Your chief grabbed your attention, “What’s the situation?”

“Still no sight of the bomb chief,” Matt said. “We’re trying to get out as many people as possible.”

“It’s rush hour Chief,” You breathed, glancing at Jay for a second before giving Wallace your full attention. “The next train will be here in 10 minutes. If this bomb has a timer then that’s exactly when it will go off. We need the bomb squad here now.”

“Understood. Voight?”

The sergeant looked at Jay who shook his head. “Stuck in traffic.”

You caught Matt muttering a violent curse under his breath, which only tempted you to do the same. 

“Chief we need help!”

Severide’s shout brought you and Matt to your senses immediately. There was no time to think as you both ran towards him with your heavy gear on both your shoulders. 

“Y/N stop!” 

It was Jay who made you halt in your tracks to turn around. “What?”

He reached for your elbow, and with ease pulled you away. “Look I...”

You knew what was going on in his head. His protective nature over you often interferes with many things, including your job. But not today.

“I know you’re worried Jay, okay?” You reasoned, gloved hands grabbing his forearms in reassurance. “But this is my job. Trust me - I hate that we’re put in this situation but there’s nothing we can do except have each other's back.”

Jay let out a loose breath of fear before masking it under a facade of blankness. He waved his hand at the police officers, giving them a sign to follow him. “Be careful.”

You bobbed your head before planting a kiss to his cheek and running back to the scene. 

The sight in front of you broke your heart.

A tiny boy with tears coloring his face sat at the bench with his foot dangling over the edge, connected to what looked like a time bomb. He was all alone - barely even 7 years old, with a bright yellow beanie covering his blonde curls. Rosy tear stained cheeks, and blue eyes filled with fear made you drop on your knees immediately.

Carefully, you approached him. The fear that brew inside was pushed aside and you plastered on a smile. “Hi buddy. My name’s Y/N. We’re here to help you”

You seized the ticking bomb and managed to decipher the numbers. Shaking your head, you ignored the buzzing of your anxious heart and grabbed your radio, dialing. “We have three minutes chief. No time to wait for the bomb squad. I have to do it.”

***

Jay looked at the police officers who surrounded him in an uneven half circle, and shook his head. He could see the men trembling, hands shaking and beads of sweat appearing at their foreheads. 

“Alright listen up,” He boomed. “We need to evacuate immediately. Threaten with arrest, I don’t care. Just get the civilians out of here.”

They nodded in sync, each man letting out a different toned response before leaving him be to watch what was revealing a few yards away. Jay wouldn’t admit it, but he was shaking inside. His fingertips itched to grab your heavily clothed body and swing you over his shoulder in an attempt to keep you safe... No matter how chauvinistic that sounded.

But Jay Halstead had decided to date a strong woman. A dedicated feminist at that - a woman that refused to be manhandled unless it was to take her to bed when she desired.

Now he watched her - you - shout and shove around the train station, desperate to do what his job was too. Was he a bad man for not really caring if that man that just brushed his expensive suit against his shoulder came out of there safe? He only had eyes on you, so that’s why he spent moments watching you work around like a hawk.

And then you kneeled, and your colleagues stepped out of the way. Without his permission, his dark brows bunched together and his eyes narrowed at your stature. What are you doing?

His answer fell from the sky quickly - although not literally. Voight and Boden strode to his side to discuss the situation. 

“There is no time to wait for the bomb squad,” Boden said roughly, his jaw clenching. “If that bomb isn’t deactivated within the next 3 minutes not only is that boy going to die...everyone on this block will.”

Voight knew what he meant by that. Thousands of casualties. Not only will Chicago lose millions of dollars worth of repair if the block blows up - as first responders what came to their minds were the civilians. How many of them will die or be injured because of a simple mistake of following protocol and waiting? They had a firefighter there, on the scene, ready to disable the bomb and save them.

Only that firefighter was you. And that made their decision ten times harder to make.

But Boden was sure in you, and so was Voight. “Okay. Do what you gotta do.”

Wallace nodded, griping his radio. “Y/N. Go for it.”

Y/N? Jay couldn’t believe his ears. It completely slipped his mind that you had been trained for this. At that moment, his body and mind said no. He forgot all about equality you have been trying to tattoo into his mind. You were you at that moment. A simple girl he fell in love with and wanted to protect.

“What the hell Sarge?!”

*** 

“Okay,” You sighed enthusiastically, hoping to divert the boy’s attention to your relaxed posture. “I need you to be really still for me. Can you do that?”

The boy could barely nod as Sylvie held his head still in the cervical collar.

“What’s your name?” Sylvie asked him, ignoring the fact that two minutes were left on the clock. You went straight to work the moment his attention was diverted and his leg was no longer shaking.

Swiftly, you grasped the leg of his pants and pulled it up, revealing the leather that was sunk in his flesh. You winced, “His leg circulation is bad.”

“Just focus on the bomb,” She reassured you quietly. 

You grabbed the equipment and started to work on disabling it. Each step was more difficult than the other. You felt yourself tremble as the end seemed to never come any closer to you no matter how much you reached for it. “Go.”

“What? We’re not leaving you.“ It was Severide who spoke, only a meter or two away from you. Shaking your head at another trap within the system you decided that you needed all the help you could get. 

1 minute.

“Jay?” You murmured against the radio - Jay’s reply was instant.

“Y/N you can do this,” his voice was raspier through the line, more prominent and harsh. Nevertheless, his words soothed you.

“I need help,” you told him. “You said this man is crazy right? Well I think there’s a story here. These wires mean something. Blue, white, yellow.” 

You weren’t allowed to go for it... not when so many lives were at risk. This man was smart, that much you knew. There has to be a meaning behind the colors.

Jay could help you more than anyone. You knew it. He knew it too.

Blue, white, yellow.

***

“Blue, white, yellow.” He mumbled, not allowing himself to look at his watch. You didn’t have much time, he knew it -  Jay just didn’t want a definite reminder of it.

He rocked his brain for explanations. For a clue within this case. Something.

30 seconds.

“Everyone evacuate now!” Boden shouted into his radio. Jay shut it out. His voice didn’t matter. Only you did. 

Like an eagle, he searched for you and found you: crouched in front of the yellow capped boy, acting like his anchor he could hold onto. He couldn’t see how shaky you were from afar, he could only hope you were okay.

10 seconds.

“Jay!”

Yellow.

“This kid was his last target. He looks for the details,“ He explained to you. “Yellow.”

***

Like his beanie. You casted a stray glance at the boy, flashing him a tight lipped smile. The puffy beanie that was supposed to protect him from the cold just became the thing that saved his life. And the poor boy didn’t even know it. 

3...

This is it.

2...

You didn’t think, only did what Jay told you. You cut through the yellow wire and stop the ticking destruction at the last second. 

No sound is heard.

No man moves.

Only rigid breathing of your own manages to make its way inside your ears.

And then the boy starts to wail. His cries turn into what look like never ending sobs. You were glad he’s crying, and not in a bad way. The sound he started to make was a clear indicator of your survival. The bomb didn’t go off. You were safe. You never felt more alive.

Your friends swiped you in their arms immidiately. Every firefighter gave you a congratulation you never thought you would recieve. You just disabeled a bomb.

And it looked like you were the only one shocked.

Still shaking, your eyes searched for the man that helped you. 

But Jay was already there, and by the time you turned around to search for him he had his fingertips around you. With a clean tug he pushed you against his chest and hugged you. His breathing was just as harsh as your own, but inside - he never felt prouder. 

“You had my back,” you mumbled. Jay pulled a moment later, his blue eyes gazing down at you before he laughed. Laughed. “You were amazing baby.”

“You really think so?”

“I do. Now let’s get you out of here.” He smiled, slipping his hand into yours and pulling you towards the exit. You were cheered after of course, it made your heart swell with pride. 

On your way outside you saw the bomb squad, standing in lines next to their equipment. “Nice work guys.” Jay said sarcastically.

The two of you made your way to the shaky boy to make sure he was alright. People were gathered outisde, now that the threat was removed. Each and every one of them had their eyes glazed with tears of relief. 

Their homes were safe. Their families were too.

Boden gave you the rest of the day off, and Jay was the one to drive you home.

“Let’s hope our work doesn’t clash like that ever again.”

“I agree,” Jay said quietly and pressed his lips safely against yours.

MASTERLIST

###

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Download the app and sign in. Once you see the option to give yourself a display name, under that you’ll see the option to enter in a code, and that’s where you enter BARB048X. Not only will you get 200 ink if you decide to continue reading, you’ll help out this charity that is ME.

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[marvelsdc22]

Heart Full Of Love

Intro: Hello, lovelies!! I hope you guys are having a good pride month so far!! Here’s the next fic for you guys!! Enjoy!!

Note: College AU. Wanda just joined you, Steve, and Natasha, Steve decides you all should go to pride, after the first day was successful, along with your newest purchase, things get very heated in the hotel room. Poly.

Warnings: Double penetration, sex with multiple people, voyeurism, uhhhh maybe more? I suck at this XD

Word Count: 2904

I would like to request a pride fic with reader and Nat or Steve has just added Wanda to their group and they are going to their first pride festival and they have a great time there and if you feel comfortable with once they get back to their hotel room they show how much they love each other with NSFW activities.

No minors!! 18+ please and thank you

Running around your room, packing everything you could into your small suitcase and your backpack, you were super excited since Steve had suggested that you guys headed to pride that weekend since it seemed that everything was tame college wise, plus this would be your first date with Wanda being added to your group, you, Natasha, and Steve having been together for about a year until you met Wanda in your Psych class, the four of you hitting it off and you having been the one to fully ask Wanda to join you guys once you all were in agreement, her accepting since she had been curious but also very interested in testing these waters.

As you’re zipping up your backpack, you heard a knock on your dorm room door and you went over to it “Steve!” You exclaimed, smiling at him and pulling him into your room, your roommate, Sydney, not there at the moment “Just the guy I was looking for, can you grab something for me?” You asked, giving him puppy eyes and watching as he laughed “What do you need me to grab?” He asked, wrapping an arm around you before you led him to your closet and pointed to the hat you had tossed up top at the beginning of the year, watching as he reached up and grabbed it for you, you smiling as he handed it to you “Thank you” you said, giving him a quick kiss before going over to your bags and putting your hat in your suitcase.

“Are you ready for this weekend?” He asked, you surprised he had been able to escape his RA duties for the weekend to go “Duh! I’ve never been to pride before” you said, you having known about your sexuality for a while but it only got confirmed when you fell for the blond RA and his red-head girlfriend who was also the softball captain for your school “Really? You’re in for a treat then” he said, smiling as he watched you finish packing from his spot on your bed “Good… I think I’m good to go, want to get lunch while we wait for the others?” You asked, looking at him and watching as he nodded before he stood up, the two of you heading to the cafeteria on campus for a quick lunch.

Later that night, you climbed out of the car at the hotel with a smile, throwing your backpack over your shoulders and grabbing your suitcase out of the trunk “Excited?” Wanda asked, cautiously taking your hand, you lacing your fingers together and knowing she was still nervous about this whole thing “Very, how about you?” You asked, following Natasha and Steve, who were walking with an arm wrapped around the other “I’m excited, I’ve never been” she admitted, looking at you as you led her into the hotel, standing off to the side a bit while Steve and Natasha handled the hotel room “I haven’t either, guess we break or pride virginity this weekend” you said, earning a laugh from Wanda which made you smile, you wanted to make her as comfortable as possible with this whole thing.

You and Wanda stood there talking until you felt arms wrap around you, causing you to jump slightly before you turned your head slightly and saw Natasha’s red hair, smiling and turning enough to press a kiss to her cheek “Room ready?” You asked, looking at her and glancing at Steve who wrapped an arm around Wanda, who tensed slightly before relaxing into it “Yup, all ready” Natasha mumbled against your shoulder, giving you a squeeze before she pulled back and the four of you headed for the elevator and up to your room.

Getting into the room you dropped your stuff down by one of the beds before belly flopping onto it and groaning “This is comfy” you muttered, hearing a chuckle from one of the girls as Steve went and set his bags down by the other bed since him and Natasha were sharing on while Wanda shared with you since she seemed more comfortable with you at the moment, feeling the other side of the bed dip slightly and you peeked out to see Wanda getting situated, pulling her shoes off, you pulling yourself close enough to her to wrap your arms around her, her resting a hand on your arm as she set her shoes down on the floor “Come on, lets change then we can cuddle, hm?” She suggested, lightly rubbing your arm and hearing you groan before you reluctantly pulled away and did what she said.

The next morning, the four of you got some of the hotels breakfast and with a bit of convincing you got Steve to take you guys to get Starbucks, walking down the street with your F/D in hand while your other hand held Natasha’s “Wow” you said, looking at everything in awe and smiling “This looks awesome” Wanda said, coming up to you and placing a hand on your back “What should we do first?” Steve asked, coming up behind you guys and placing his hands on Nat’s and Wanda’s backs as you guys looked around “I want to see you with rainbows on your face, sir” you said, looking back at him and earning a laugh from the girls “You would look cute with a rainbow on your cheek, Stevie” Natasha teased, watching as his cheeks got dusted in red “Face painting it is”.

After dragging all of them everywhere, you guys were all on the tipsy side and you clutched your bag that had your newest purchase in it that you had bought when you made the excuse of going to the bathroom, letting none of them see what it was, you guys sitting at a table, you sitting on Steves lap while Nat had Wanda on hers, you trying to get them all to pose for a group picture as you held your selfie stick out and taking several pictures since you knew at least one of you would blink in a few of them “This one’s cute” you said, showing Steve before leaning over to show the girls when you felt Steve shift under you and grip your waist a bit tighter, showing the girls the picture before you pocketed your phone and turned enough to look at him “Do you want to take this to the hotel?” You whispered in his ear, making sure to wiggle a bit on his lap and bite his ear gently, causing him to groan “I’m going to take that as a yes” you smirked, pulling back before hopping off his lap, much to his disappointment.

Leading everyone back to the entrance after snagging the keys from Steve since you had drank the least out of the group, having only had one, driving them all back to the hotel and dragging them into the elevator, barely letting the doors closed before Steve lips were on yours, which you melted into, looking at Natasha and Wanda when he started trailing kisses down your neck, causing you to gasp as their eyes filled with lust, watching the scene, you pushing Steve off you gently when the doors opened and leading them to the hotel room “No” you said when Steve tried pinning you against the door, looking at Wanda “Are you up for this?” You asked, knowing she had only been in the relationship for about two weeks now “Can I… Can I just watch… Until I’m comfortable?” Wanda asked, looking at you and you smiled, nodding before you pressed a brief kiss to her lips “Of course, you get comfortable, okay?” You said, watching as she gave you a relieved smile before you turned and saw Natasha and Steve already heavily making out on the bed “Let me know if it gets to be too much” you told Wanda, reaching over and giving her hand a squeeze before you grabbed your bag and set it by the bed Natasha and Steve were on.

Watching them for a moment, you watched as Natasha locked eyes with you once Steve moved to kissing her neck, her reaching out towards you and you took her hand before she pulled you onto the bed with her, pressing a heated kiss to your lips as she moved her hand and tugged on your shirt, her moaning into your mouth when Steve had managed to push her shirt and bra up to where he could latch onto one of her breasts, you pulling back long enough to tug your shirt and bra off before you pulled Natasha back into a heated kiss, reaching over and tugging on the back of Steve’s shirt, causing him to release Natasha’s breast and watch as you pulled away from the kiss from her before pulling him into a quick on before pulling his shirt over his head, the two of you kissing while Natasha pulled her shirt off, along with her bra before reaching up to undo Steve’s pants, tugging them and his boxers down just enough for his shaft to spring free before taking it into her mouth, causing him to groan into you mouth and weave his fingers into her red hair.

After a moment, you pulled away from Steve’s mouth and gently grabbed Natasha’s hips, turning her so she was on her hands and knees, her hand never leaving Steve’s cock as she turned to look at you, you staring at her as you stood on the floor and pulled her pants and underwear off, tossing them somewhere onto the floor before you leaned down and ran your tongue along her cunt, hearing her moan before she turned and took Steve’s cock back into her mouth, you focusing on her until you felt her start to shake “Your close, aren’t you?” You asked, keeping two fingers inside her as you looked at her and hearing her moan of confirmation before you pulled away completely, hearing her whimper at the loss of contact “Lay down” Steve said, pulling her away from him, you watching as she reluctantly followed his instructions, her very rarely being the bottom, but when she was, she could be a brat, watching as he teased her with the head of his cock before he slowly sunk into her, causing her to groan and let her head fall back against the pillow.

You looked over at Wanda who was on your shared bed, her jean shorts undone and her hand in the front, her breathing heavy and you couldn’t help but smirk, her coming undone was quite beautiful, you watching her for a moment before you focused back on what you were going to do, taking your pants and underwear off before you dug in your bag and pulled out your newest toy, a strap-on for yourself, Natasha had one and you guys had double-ended dildos, but this one was yours and you were excited to use it, fixing it onto yourself before you returned to the two of them and grabbed the bottle of lube from the bedside table, squirting some onto your hand and gently rubbing it on your fingers before reaching over and gently running it over Steve’s hole, hearing him groan as you did, his pace faltering as he pounded into Natasha “You like that?” You hummed, this not being his first rodeo with this “Yes” he breathed, moaning and stopping his movements as you pushed a finger into him, much to Natasha’s disappointment, two ruined climaxes, the punishment would be real later.

Once you knew he was adjusted, you pulled your fingers out before you got on the bed behind him and positioned the dildo against him before you slowly pushed in, hearing him groan as he gripped Natasha’s hips tighter, you repositioning some once you were all the way in, which caused him to move in Natasha, hearing her moan and wrap her arms more around Steve’s neck, you waiting a moment before you started moving, smirking when you heard both of them let out a groan at your first movement, reaching forward and getting a good hold on Steve’s shoulder as you thrusted into him, only stopping when he started moving himself, the three of you getting lost in the pleasure until it ended with you pounding into Steve, hearing Natasha cry out his name before she released, Steve following after a few more thrusts from you.

“I love you guys” Steve muttered, his face buried in Natasha’s neck as you slowly pulled out, you right on the edge “I love you guys too” You said, leaning down and kissing Steve’s sweat soaked head before pressing a kiss to Natasha’s lips, which she returned “Me too” she said softly, gently touching your arm as you reached to take off the strap, but before you could you were pushed onto your back and you looked up to see Wanda, looking disheveled “Please” she begged, looking down at you and you smiled before nodding “Okay, let me just clean this off” you told her, watching as she nodded before letting you go, you going and cleaning the dildo off before you came back.

When you got back, you saw Wanda and Steve kissing heavily while Natasha played with Wanda’s clit idly, not giving her enough to get off, but enough to drive her crazy, you smiled some and watched them for a moment before you returned to the bed and laid down, reaching over and grabbing Wanda’s hips, tugging her and watching as she let you tug her over until she was straddling you “You sure about this?” You asked, reaching up and gently running a hand over her cheek “Yes” she breathed, grasping the dildo before you could say anything else and watching as she slowly sunk down onto it, you groaning as you watched her slide down onto it and grasping her hips once she was fully seated “Fuck” she muttered, closing her eyes as Natasha came over and turned Wanda’s head enough to kiss her, the two of them making out as Wanda rolled her hips and you let out a strangled gasp as you felt the little nub rub on your clit once more.

After a bit, Wanda’s rolls got frantic, you held on to her and watched as Steve stepped up behind her “Think you can handle two?” He whispered, you watching as she shivered before nodding and you watched as Steve gently pushed her back, causing her to lay almost flat on you, not like you were complaining, you reaching up and pushing on the back of her head, capturing her lips with yours to help give some sort of distraction as Steve prepped her other hole, the two of you making out as you kept your bottom half as still as possible, grunting when she accidentally bit your lip when Steve teased her with the head of his cock before he pushed in slowly “Relax, it’s okay” Natasha said, gently rubbing Wanda’s back just like she did all the time ago when they did this with you, you rubbing her arms gently as Steve finally bottomed out with a groan from him and a silent gasp from Wanda, who was tearing up.

You reached up and gently wiped her tears from her eyes “You okay?” You asked softly, looking at her and watching her nod “I’m just so… Full” she said, looking at you and gripping the bed sheets underneath you “I know, it’s okay” you assured, letting her take all the time she needed to adjust “Okay” she said softly after a few moments, that being the confirmation you guys needed before you and Steve slowly started moving, her groaning as you guys moved.

After a bit, the two of you were pounding into her, you hearing Steve give a small grunt and his brow furrowing before you watched as he released, you feeling the slickness of his release on your thighs as you watched him slip out of her, earning a whimper from Wanda, who was struggling to hold herself up, so you flipped you both over, pounding into her while Natasha reached over and rubbed her clit before you both pushed her over the edge, you finally following shortly after as you grabbed onto Natasha’s shoulder “Wanda, I-” you cried, feeling Natasha gently grab onto you to hold you up, waiting for you to come down from your high before she helped you take the strap on off and pull you into her arms.

Once you all were cleaned off and ready for bed, the four of you squeezed onto the small Queen sized bed, you snuggling more into Natasha’s arms as she held you, Steve holding her from behind while Wanda held you from behind, her having passed out shortly after getting into this position “I love you” you said, saying it to all the people in general “We love you too” Natasha promised, pressing a kiss to your wet hair before giving you a squeeze “Now get to sleep, we have a long day tomorrow” she whispered, her on the edge of sleep, but she wanted to make sure you fell asleep first, so you snuggled into her some more and did as she said, your heart so full of love for the people in the room, you were finally happy.

End Note: I hope you guys enjoyed!! If you’d like to be added to a Taglist, shoot me an Ask or a DM!! Have a good day/night!! :)

Requests Open

Pride Requests Closed

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 152

I’m not going to jinx it, I’m not going to jinx it, I’m not going to jinx it...

Okay, maybe I am. I managed to queue up the chapters I had in the barrel! Yay!! Which also means that I have a super duper exciting chapter coming up, which I can’t wait to write and can’t wait for y’all to read. I just need it to be perfect.

That said, thank you to @baelpenrose and @charlylimph-blog for your help with this particular chapter.  I love when we are all three in one of these sessions and just descending into chaos in the chat. Also, @mamayoda (who I can’t tag but I do want you to know I see your likes in my notes!) for love-bombing my notes recently.

“Is it just me or is everyone really jumpy?” Charly asked as I set my food down across from her.  It was our thrice-weekly lunch dates in one of the public mess halls, and she definitely had a point.  I had already noticed three people scowl distrustfully at the food consoles, hugging closely to the prepared food side of the room instead.

I sighed. “It has to have been Derek’s stress test.  It wasn’t supposed to impact systems we didn’t design, but…”

She snorted loudly. “Tell that to the week I spent taking cold showers again.  At least this time, the doors didn’t play any music when I walked through them.”

“Did your doors at least open consistently? I was stuck in my quarters for a whole day until we figured out that I could walk through if I had an escort.”  I laughed and shook my head before digging in to my food. “And, come to find out, we actually do manage the water systems, thanks to BioLab 2.”

Contrary to myself, Charly was entirely unperturbed at this revelation beyond sniffing her hoodie and shrugging. “My doors worked fine as far as I know, but Coffey and I tend to work the same hours, so… Maybe that was it.  Oo!” Her cheer of enthusiasm caught me off guard as she started bouncing in her seat. “OOOOO! I bet he activated the routine Xiomara had running when you and Jokul weren’t friends yet!”

“There was a routine!?” I asked, exasperated. “I behaved, thank you. It wasn’t necessary.”

“Meh. Just in case. What do you think her deal is?” She tilted her head to the side, at a table near us.

Sure enough, the woman at that table was darting glances around the room, her shoulders hunched, elbows close to her body, eyes wide.  I could practically feel her shaking from where I was. “I can’t tell if she looks suspicious or afraid,” I murmured, hoping the woman couldn’t hear me. “But the fact that I’ve met mice and chihuahuas who shook less, I’m going to go with afraid.”

As I watched the woman, weighing whether or not a stranger trying to comfort her would make it better or worse, Mona’s familiar face approached her instead.  She was speaking softly enough that I couldn’t make out words, but the woman clearly recognized her and only jumped slightly.

I was so focused on the sight of Mona comforting the woman that I nearly hit the ceiling when Parvati’s voice came from entirely too close to my right shoulder. “Rebecca.  She lost her family twice, first her parents, some cousins, and an uncle when the hack happened, and then her partner and children in the After.  It’s understandable that she’s terrified right now, after the stress test. Too many bad memories.”

My face flushed in humiliation. “Pranav and Zach sent a ship-wide alert that the stress test was happening - “

A perfectly manicured hand clapped over my mouth, one dark eyebrow arched in eloquent disbelief. “Sophia. You of all people know that mental scars do not heed logic.”

Charly’s hair flew around her face as she nodded enthusiastically. “After day three of cold showers, I flinched every time I went through a door in case that stupid song started playing again, no matter how many times I reminded myself that it was a stress test and I had decidedly not given Derek boba tea again.”

Both my hands flew up in surrender. “I stand corrected, I just feel awful to see people react like that.” Gazing around the room, I was suddenly much more aware of all the darting eyes, protective postures, seats turned so that backs were against walls.

Charly had obviously seen the same thing. “We may need to talk to Pranav about limiting the tests to one or two systems at a time.”

“I wish we could,” I admitted, stabbing a potato out of my pie slightly harder than necessary. “His department was passing the tests with flying colors when Derek was limited to one or two systems at a time.  But they failed this last test miserably, it turns out.  As soon as they would react to one thing, Derek would switch to another system, and they couldn’t be everywhere at once as well as they convinced themselves that they could.  And they can’t just be good at small scale attacks: the revolt that happened before the End brought everything down at once, from multiple access points. It was… kind of elegant, in a terrible way.  Very clean.”

Charly squinted at me and Parvati in suspicion. “Are you supposed to know that they crashed and burned in the test.”

I rocked my hand back and forth while I chewed on a mouthful of crust.  It had way too much butter in it, but at least it was actually crust this time. A week ago it had been something pretty close to paper mache. “Technically we don’t officially know that.  Officially, all we know is that Pranav has requisitioned enough additional staff to increase his team of programmers by seventy percent.”

“Asses handed to them, got it,” Charly nodded in understanding.

“We also officially know that Pranav currently owes Hannah quite the enormous favor,” Parvati confided.

“How big?” Charly ventured slowly.

“Big enough that his grandchildren may be indebted to hers,” came the laughing response.

Charly shook her head and clucked her tongue. “He should know better than to bet against Derek.  He breaks the systems for fun, and they asked him to really go for it. What did they expect?”

“Apparently to put up a better fight at least.” I forced a smile, but guilt weighed on my heart as I studied the room again, fully seeing the microexpressions of anxiety, fear, and anger.  It felt like the entire Ark was constantly swinging between hope and fear. The random drills weren’t really helping, either.

“They aren’t,” Parvati agreed, letting me know that I had been thinking out loud. “Everyone is sleep deprived, on high alert, and then all of a sudden all the computer systems went on the fritz for a week.”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, pushing what was left of my pot pie away from me, appetite gone. “We need to talk to Grey and Antoine about getting counselling for everyone, seeing as how Xiomara and Pranav pretty much just triggered the entire ship. I mean, everyone knows counselling is available, but I think allocating training and resources to the therapy teams is going to take priority over Pranav’s request for the moment.”

Charly tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Do we have the space for some quiet rooms, like you set up for the Food Festival a few years back? That may be a good idea.”

Snapping into work-mode, Parvati flicked her datapad open, bangles clattering as she started making notes. “The quarters left by those who relocated closer to the Archives are still uninhabited, those can be used.  We may be able to convince some people to relocate so we can spread the rooms out more evenly, but even if we can’t, just having those rooms available will help.”

“Make a note to add in the proposal for Grey: possibility of having specific vendors permitted to serve food in BioLab 2.  Encourage mental health days and picnics.”

Parvati nodded in acknowledgement of my request, before adding her own spin. “As a contingency plan, find vendors who will pre-package picnics.  Between the current distrust of the consoles and the fact it will remind everyone of the annual Festival, the good emotions will help.”

“I like it,” I confirmed. “What else?”

“Paintball tag day in the corridors,” Charly announced, without preamble or warning. “Make it a holiday, everyone is off work, limit it to one end of the Ark.”

I shook my head. “Guns, not the best idea.”

“Ew, no. No pew-pew.” She wrinkled her nose. “I was thinking more paint-soaked splash bombs.”

Finger guns deployed, dual wielding. “I am so here for a paintball tag day in that case.  The flavored paint?”

“Not the scotch bonnet please,” Parvati begged. “I just know someone will get that in the face, I don’t care how much Else likes it.”

“Got it, no more pepper spraying people,” Charly agreed seriously. “OOO! I could test the new arrows out!  With something like buttered popcorn paint, obviously. Maybe kiwi on the other team.”

“Just limit the pull on the bows, okay? I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

“Fiiiiine…”

Parvati smiled and added to her notes. “So, we probably want someone to correlate the current date to whatever the date would be on Earth… Just in case we need to get a consultant for Holi.”

“Good point. Conor is alarmingly good at that, so I can ask him.  It would be a nice cultural event if we could do that. If not, we can totally work on celebrating Holi when it comes around.”

“Final suggestion for right now, because I have to get back to work,” I sighed happily. “This is going to be the biggest ask, and the smallest at the same time…” Both nodded at me to continue. “Care packages, for everyone. And I mean everyone on the Ark.”

“Sophia,” Parvati scolded me. “That’s almost ten thousand people and sixteen animal companions.”

“Well aware,” I forged on, “We’ll talk to Sam about the bows, I can wrap them. Commission some of those really nice chocolates, or maybe some taffy from Simon. And something salty.  I know there is someone on the Ark who makes aromatherapy candles, Tyche is bananas about them.”

Shaking her head, she added it to the list. “If you insist on that, I insist on a celebration for the drop out of FTL.  Hannah and I can use some of the plans from the Food Festival, include Charly’s paint tag - “

“And Kink Night!”

“- and Kink Night, apparently… have several events going on across the Ark, since we already discussed declaring a holiday.”

“Get Bash’s permission to use the Undine again, and I won’t object,” I surrendered before standing. “On that note, I really do have to get back to work.  Come on, Vati, we have work to do apparently.”

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[writerofthecourt]

the rhyme and reason for lying

pairing: suna rintarou x reader

summary: when you and your husband are called to your daughter’s school for a meeting with the principal, the last thing you were expecting to hear was that she had punched a classmate

warning: time skip spoilers

a/n: here you go, anon. this was a request from my 200 followers event. thank you to my followers for your continued support of this blog and my writing!

“Rin, can you please stop scrolling on your phone and help me clean up the house?” you asked with an annoyed glare from across the living room.

It was a calm Monday morning. The sky was clear, and the weather was beautiful. Today also happened to be a rare day off from volleyball practice for your husband, so you thought it would be a great idea for the two of you to get some chores done around the house. However, the prospect of getting Suna to even help you was beginning to seem more arduous than the actual chores themselves.

“Rin,” you repeated with an unmistakable tone of diminishing patience.

Picking up on your anger, Suna silently placed his phone on the coffee table and got up from the couch to go wash the dishes from today’s breakfast. After being married to you for so long, he knew when to stop testing your patience.

“That’s what I thought,” you said to yourself, a victorious smirk now plastered on your face.

Turning your attention back to the shelf that you were cleaning, you made sure not to knock over any of the framed photos that were in your way. There were a few photos from high school, family vacations, and your wedding day.

You paused to smile before you picked up a particularly lovely photo. It was from two summers ago at a tanabata festival. Dressed in matching yukatas and standing under the glow of various paper lanterns, you thought it was a perfect family photo.

Your reminiscing was soon cut short, as the house phone started to ring. Putting the photo back down, you went to answer the phone.

“Suna residence,” you greeted with practised ease. “Yes…oh, well…all right, we’ll be there soon. Yes, goodbye.”

“Who was it?” Suna questioned as he exited the kitchen, finished with his task of washing the dishes.

“It was Suzune’s school,” you replied with a worried expression on your face. “Apparently, she got into a fight?”

“What?” Suna asked, his eyes easily giving away his disbelief. “No way. Not our Suzune.”

“Yes, well, the principal wants to see us now,” you explained as you hurried to get your purse and put on your shoes.

After grabbing his phone and the car keys, Suna joined you at the genkan to also put on his shoes. “Did she at least win?”

“Not now, Rin,” you said with an exasperated sigh before turning away with a proud and subtle smile. “…But yeah, I think so.”

Suna only smirked. “Nice.”

As the two of you drove down to Suzune’s school, a thousand questions ran through your head. What could have possibly happened to set off your mild-mannered Suzune? For the most part, she was a calm and quiet child, similar to her father in many ways. Nevertheless, after arriving at the school, you and your husband found yourselves sitting in the principal’s office, signalling the end to your peaceful Monday morning.

“For starters, thank you for being here this morning,” the principal said as he addressed the three parents in the room. “Now, I assume you’ve all been made aware of the current situation, yes?”

“I heard Suzune got into a fight with one of her classmates?” you asked with great trepidation in voice, casting a glance to your sulking daughter who sat next to you. Suna, who sat on the opposite end of the office couch, tried his best to not look bored with the whole situation.

“I’m afraid so,” the principal gravely responded before he gestured for the other mother in the room to speak. “Yamada-san, if you will.”

“Please, call me Karin-san,” Karin said with an all too polite smile on her face. “Now, my Satoshi-kun said that your daughter had punched him for no good reason. Clearly, your daughter was in the wrong because my son would never do anything to provoke someone.”

“That’s wrong!” Suzune shouted angrily before pointing to the quiet Satoshi who sat next to his mother on the opposing couch. “He kept bothering me and making fun of my height!”

“Are you calling my son a liar?” Karin scoffed.

Suzune frowned before looking away. “No, but it wasn’t completely my fault.”

“So you did punch him!”

In the midst of this argument, you and Suna both exchanged looks of disbelief with one another. While you didn’t condone Suzune’s choice of violence, it was quite obvious to you and your husband that there was more to this story.

“All right, no more arguing,” the principal announced as he quickly tried to defuse the situation. “In any case, Kagami-sensei informed me that you did indeed punch Yamada-kun, so please just apologize, Suna-chan.”

“I refuse,” Suzune responded plainly.

Not liking this answer, Karin raised her nose to the air with a haughty huff. “Well, you’re going to have to apologize if you want this matter to be resolved, little missy. I could easily sue you if I wanted to.”

“Don’t sue them, mom,” Satoshi mumbled.

“Hush, Satoshi. She is the one who is clearly at fault here,” Karin maintained with an unbelievable level of smug confidence.

No longer having the patience to deal with this woman’s behaviour, Suna was the next one to speak up. “Weren’t you listening? There’s obviously a reason why Suzune punched your son. Maybe if you stopped throwing out blame left and right, we could actually resolve this problem in a timely manner.”

“Suna Rintarou-san, yes?” Karin asked with disinterest in her voice. “My husband is a big fan of you and your team.”

“Thanks,” Suna drawled out, making no effort to pretend as if he actually cared for the compliment.

“In any case, I would have to disagree with you,” Karin replied before she sent you a patronizing smile. “Perhaps if your wife did a better job at raising her child, we wouldn’t be having this problem.”

The room fell silent as all of the other occupants inside the office stared at Karin in complete shock, unable to believe that she had said something so bold and uncalled for. You were about to shoot down her claims when your husband promptly stood up, his arms crossed as he glared down at the woman across from him.

“You apologize for that right now or else-”

“Or else what?” Karin challenged, immediately copying Suna’s defensive stance, crossed arms, and seething eyes. “Are you threatening me?”

You could do nothing but bite down on the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from swearing up a storm. If it weren’t for the current situation and anger that you felt towards Karin right now, you would have applauded her for being able to stand her ground against your professional athlete of a husband. She was strong-willed and unwavering in her determination, you’d give her that.

“Okay, it was my fault!” Satoshi proclaimed, fearfully staring at his mother and Suna. “It was my fault, so please stop fighting!”

“Satoshi? What are you talking about?” Karin asked in total surprise and bewilderment.

“I-I kept bothering Suna, so she punched me to make me go away,” Satoshi admitted. “I only told Kagami-sensei that she punched me first because I didn’t want to get in trouble…”

The room returned to silence once again. With the truth now revealed, Karin could only blink slowly before she realized her absolute mistake. Her face began to burn hot from all of the embarrassment and drama that she had stirred up, and while she was too busy trying to think of ways to save face, you and your husband only grinned in victory.

“I’m sorry for everything, Suna,” Satoshi quietly apologized.

“I accept your apology,” Suzune said with a smirk, only to stop once you gave a look that told her she also needed to apologize. “I-I’m sorry too. For punching you, I mean.”

With everything now resolved, the principal smiled, simply glad that a fight had not broken out in his office that day. “Well then, if there are no more problems, Yamada-kun and Suna-chan can go back to class. Thank you to both sets of parents for being here today. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

“O-of course,” Karin answered nervously before both families quietly exited the principal’s office

Once out in the hallways, Satoshi turned around to happily chat with Suzune. “It’s almost lunchtime. Wanna play some volleyball later? My team could use your height.”

“Sure,” Suzune replied with a small grin, causing Satoshi to smile and look away with a faint blush on his face. Noticing this curious behaviour, you soon found yourself lightly chuckling as all of the puzzle pieces came together. It all made sense now.

After Suzune and Satoshi were dropped off at their classroom, you, Suna, and Karin all awkwardly walked together towards the entrance of the school. Clearing her throat, Karin stopped to look at you in the eyes.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” Karin began mournfully. “It was ignorant and rude of me.”

“Yeah, it was,” Suna agreed harshly, making Karin flinch at his straightforward response.

You jabbed your husband in the ribs before you sent Karin a strained smile. “I accept your apology. I can understand why you were so protective.”

“T-thank you,” Karin said with a wobbly smile. “Well, I need to go buy some groceries for dinner tonight. It was, um, nice to meet you. Hopefully, our next encounter will be less…confrontational.”

Wishing Karin farewell, you and your husband silently made your way to the car. You couldn’t help but chuckle once again as you thought back to your new found discovery. It just made so much sense now.

Your husband gave you a strangle look as the both of you got into the car. “What’s so funny?”

“You mean you didn’t notice?” you asked with an amused raise of your eyebrow. “He obviously likes her.”

“Who?”

“Suzune and her classmate,” you clarified. “He likes her.”

Your answer only made Suna more confused. “I don’t see how you came to that conclusion.”

“Didn’t you hear Suzune? He kept bothering her, making fun of her height, and when she agreed to play volleyball with him, he blushed,” you said as you listed off your reasons out loud.

Your husband continued to flatly stare at you. “Yeah, so?”

“Well, if I remember correctly, there was a certain somebody back in high school who used to steal my lunches and bother me all the time because he had a crush on me and wanted to get my attention,” you explained. “Sound familiar to you?”

“I never did any of those things,” your husband defended with a frown. “I just asked you out like a normal person, remember?”

“I know. I was talking about Atsumu,” you casually threw out, causing Suna to freeze and stare at you in pure shock.

“What?! He never told me he liked you!”

“Well, it only lasted three days before I told him that I liked you,” you graced the corner of Suna’s mouth with a quick peck, “why are you even worried? I married you, didn’t I?”

Your husband made no effort to hide his blush, only starting up the car to drive back home. “Yeah, whatever…I need a nap. It’s only noon, and I’m already too tired for any of this.”

“Great! After your nap, you can help me with the chores. Right, honey?” you asked with a sickeningly sweet and innocent smile.

“Y-yes, dear.”

Later that day, in a totally different prefecture, Atsumu nervously approached his teammates with an uneasy smile on his face.

“Um, hypothetically speaking,” he began, looking to his teammates for help. “What does it mean when someone sends you a picture of a knife and tells you to stay away from their wife? Hypothetically speaking, of course.”

Bokuto and Hinata furrowed their eyebrows in confusion, while Sakusa simply shook his head.

“It means you’re going to die,” Sakusa answered bluntly.

“Maybe they sent it to the wrong person?” Bokuto suggested.

“Why do you ask, Atsumu-san?” Hinata inquired with a curious tilt of his head. “Did someone do that to you?”

“Of course not! Totally hypothetical,” Atsumu replied with a nervous laugh. Thinking back to Suna’s cryptic and ominous text from earlier, Atsumu reasoned that he would have to talk to his old teammate sometime soon, but perhaps not in person…

Yeah, definitely not in person.

fun fact: suzune’s name is written with the characters for ‘bell, sound’

[thran-duils]

Lost In Zero Gravity (P.8)

Title: Lost In Zero Gravity (Part Eight) Summary:  Fem!Reader x Mob Boss!Tony Stark x Mob Boss!Steve Rogers.  Reader is a call girl who runs high end parties. She catches the attention of Tony Stark who invites her back to his room with his friend. She might have performed too well because she becomes their new favorite play toy and they don’t like to share. Words: 2,685 Warnings (for the fic in entirety): Smut, prostitution, infidelity, angst, domestic violence, stalking, possessive behavior

Author’s Note: **MUCH ANGST**

Part Seven || Part Nine || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost

Instead of going to his office, Tony marched straight to Steve’s without so much as a fleeting greeting for anyone who he passed on the way. He barged in and closed the door loudly behind him.

Steve looked up from his laptop, pausing for a moment. He saw the look on Tony’s face, “Something wrong?”

Stopping in front of his desk, Tony glowered down at him. “I don’t know. You tell me after I tell you about the interesting question Y/N had for me today.”

“What was that?” Steve asked, looking back at his laptop, clicking away on the keyboard. He seemed to relax when he heard it was about Y/N.

“She asked who Cecile was,” Tony stated. Steve stopped then, his fingers hovering over the keys, suddenly interested again. Tony gave a wry chuckle. “Oh, that got your attention, did it? You suddenly give a shit now, don’t you?”

Steve’s hands left his keyboard, his face screwed up in confusion. “How did she—”

“You slipped up,” Tony pointed at him accusingly, running his tongue over his bottom lip. He came to sit in the chair across from Steve’s desk, sitting back, staring at him. “You called her Cecile in bed.” Steve looked like he had been slapped. “Do you have no recollection of this?”

“No,” Steve admitted reluctantly.

“Hmm… well, it apparently happened.”

“Did you—”

“No. No, I didn’t tell her,” Tony interrupted forcibly. “I left her at the apartment. She’s busy with the cat.” Tony exhaled sharply, running his hand over his face, distressed. “Did… did I not tell you to keep your marriage shit out of it? Didn’t I?” Steve threw his hands out and started to defend himself and Tony pressed on, “I did! I distinctly remember it! I know things are not great right now with her but if you can’t keep a lid on it, what are we even doing messing around? And yeah, I say we because I’m tied in with this if you haven’t noticed!”

Steve clicked his jaw, pushing back from his desk, hands planted on the arms of his chair, silent.

As the silence stretched on, Tony relented in his anger slightly. His voice was less harsh, “I mean, come on, man. That’s a rookie mistake.”

“We’re trying to work on it,” Steve finally said. His voice was sad when he said, “I haven’t told you she’s pregnant.” That piqued Tony’s interest. “Yeah. A couple months along.” He gave a humorless laugh and said, “But you know the bitch of it is I don’t know if it’s mine. Or… if it’s that… little fuck.”

“I’m not sure what she sees in him,” Tony offered up, trying to be comforting.

“She’s always had a thing for younger guys. Plus, he doesn’t come with all the strings of marriage,” Steve said sourly.

“What are you going to do?”

“What can I do other than let it play out and then get a DNA test?”

“And… if it’s not yours?”

Steve sighed loudly, throwing his hands out again. He looked defeated. “I don’t know, Tony. I… I don’t want to divorce her. There’s still something to salvage, I know it. And I’m not gonna kick her ass to the curb.”

“I didn’t expect you to.”

“I just… I’m trying to take it day by day. I’m sorry I fucked up with Y/N. I really don’t even remember it. I was high as hell the last time we had sex. It must have just… slipped out,” Steve said. He chewed on his bottom lip, staring off into nothing, Tony silent as well. When Steve looked back at him he said, “I’ll do better.”

Tony apologized immediately, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to just come in here and ream you. I mean, I did. But I should have asked first.”

“I haven’t been exactly forthcoming about it.”

“No, no you haven’t. You could do better at that too.”

Steve nodded in agreement and asked seriously, his hand running over his beard, “Y/N was really bothered by it?”

“I don’t think so. She brushed it off when she saw my reaction to the question. I think she was just curious more than anything. It was an innocent question I think.”

“Well, it won’t happen again,” Steve said firmly. “I’ll make sure of it.”

<><><>

Something was tugging on the other end of the lights that you were trying to hang up. You already knew who it was, and you turned, scolding immediately, “Luna!”

Luna was batting at the end of the orange Halloween lights and when you said her name, she immediately stopped, booking it away towards the couch. She got up on it and sat down, her tail swishing.

“Don’t glare at me! You’re the one being naughty! You have so many damn toys and you are trying to sabotage me!”

She laid down then, turning away from you. Rolling your eyes, you resumed decorating. You loved that cat but you also wanted to strangle her sometimes.

In the middle of hanging up little bats, you heard the key in the lock. You stilled, seeing Steve walk into the apartment. He was carrying a small bag and his eyes ran over the living room seeing all the decorations you had hung up. A small smirk appeared on his face as he closed the door behind him, locking it.

“What?” you asked.

“Looks like you’re going all out. Halloween isn’t until next month.”

“It’s September 30th,” you pointed out. “Who decorates for a holiday days beforehand?”

“Touche, ma’am,” Steve joked coming over towards you. He stopped to reach out and scratch Luna behind the ears.

“Can you put some up higher?” you asked him, gesturing to continue the swarm of bats you had put on the wall.

Steve placed the bag down and came over to you, taking the rest of the small stack of them. You rolled the tape handing each piece to him and he worked in tandem to place them on the wall, continuing your pattern.

“I’ve almost finished my 31 days of Halloween list too,” you told him.

He cocked an eyebrow and asked, “And what exactly is that?”

“You must never have fun,” you jested, handing him another piece of rolled tape. “It’s a list of horror or Halloween related movies for every day in October. I’ll send you guys the list so you can plan visits around it because I will not be missing a day. And if you don’t like a movie, well, then just don’t come on that day.”

“Wowww,” Steve drew out, chuckling.

Shrugging, you told him, “I’m serious. One hundred percent.”

He still laughed as he finished putting up the last couple bats. “Noted, dear.”

Stepping back, you nodded in approval at the wall. “It looks good. That was the last part! I can’t wait to see all the lights I hung up at nighttime! It’ll set a really nice ambience.”

“I can see that,” Steve responded, looking around at all the strings of lights. He looked amused by the sight of it. His eyes met yours again and he said, “Way to be festive.”

“Always. Just wait until Christmas.”

That drew a laugh out of him and then he said, “I did come here for a reason though.”

Moving past you, Steve went for the bag and picked it up, holding it out to you.

“What’s this?” you asked him, taking it from him cautiously.

“A gift,” Steve told you.

“Christmas isn’t for months.”

Steve chuckled, “Consider it an early one.”

You opened it, taking out a small box. Upon opening the box, you found a key and realized immediately what it was. It was the key to the apartment. Only took them a month and a half.

“Trust me enough now, I suspect,” you commented, looking up at him.

Steve nodded, “That was the stipulation wasn’t it?”

“Sure was…” you said, trailing off. You walked past him with the box and went to the door to grab your keyring that was hanging there. You slipped the key onto it and replaced it. Turning back, you said, “Glad I was impressive enough to earn it.”

Steve came up to you, a tickled look on his face at your wisecrack. He leaned down, kissing you on the forehead.

“Good job.”

“Thanks,” you returned. “Tony too busy to be here for the ceremony?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Well, you get some brownie points. Speaking of brownies, I did make some. Want one?”

You moved out from around Steve, not waiting for him to answer. You smiled to yourself, your back to him feeling the weight of being locked in one place taken from you now that you had a key. You could not wait to be able to go out without an escort. Freedom was at your fingertips.

<><><>

Tony was gripping your waist and hip tightly as you rode him on your bed. They had come over late in the night and it was early, 4:30am. Steve had gotten out of bed to get showered and clean himself up. Tony had elected to stay in bed and have another go at it, which you were not complaining about. They had not come over for a week having been away on a trip and you had missed them.

You barely heard the door open, thinking it was Steve coming back from the shower. But, you noticed Tony freeze, his eyes drawn to the door, widening alarmingly. His hands tightened dangerously, and you stared down at him confused, stalling.

“No, do—” Tony started to say loudly.

You barely turned your head before someone grabbed your hair, dragging you off of him across the bed. You tumbled to the ground, looking up terrified seeing a dark-haired woman looking wild, her eyes filled with hatred.

“Alessia!” you heard Tony shout from near the bed as the woman dove at you.

Your vision was obstructed by a fist hitting your face. You cried out in pain, trying to curl up into yourself.

“Bitch!” you heard her yell.

Another hit landed but with less force, and you heard her being drug away, her shouting incomprehensively. Nervously, you uncovered your face, shaking like a leaf.

Eyesight clearing, you saw Tony dragging her away.

“Alessia!” He shouted again as she fought ferociously against his iron grip around her arms, his hands locked together against her chest.

“You fucking absolute bastard!” she shrieked, trying to get away from his grasp. “Is this where you were last Monday night? You missed your daughter’s preschool Thanksgiving play to fuck a whore? And one of the first things you do when you get back from a week long trip is come here? Let me go! Let me GO, Tony! Get your fucking hands off of me!”

She tore away from his grip when he loosened up and shoved him into the doorway, before slapping him with all the force she could muster across the face. Tony ate the hit, turning back with his jaw clenched but he did little to respond beyond glaring daggers at her.

Steve was there outside in the hall looking stricken, his hair wet from his shower but dressed. Aleissa let out a disgusted laugh seeing him.

“You too?” she spat at him. She pointed dangerously at him and said, “You both can fucking rot for all I care! Cecelia will fucking know about this, you piece of shit!”

Alessia’s rage was directed towards Tony again as she spat, “I can put up with the running around on me because god knows I’m not a saint. But you cannot start neglecting your family! I won’t fucking put up with it!”

She took off down the hall and Tony swore loudly, turning back to the room going towards the ground for his pants. His eyes ran around the room, discombobulated. His eyes landed on you and his mouth fell open, like he wanted to say something, but he could not form the words.

“Go! I got it!” Steve exclaimed at Tony quickly, gesturing him out the door.

Tony only hesitated for a moment before throwing his pants on and taking off out of the room after her.

Steve came to you quickly, his fingers brushing your cheek. You winced and he retracted his hand. “Fuck,” he hissed.

“What the hell?” you demanded, tears spilling over. The shock was wearing off, you feeling the pain in your jaw and cheek now.

Steve sighed heavily, telling you in explanation, “The wife.”

Terrence was in the doorway then and Steve grabbed the throw blanket from the end of the bed, tossing it around you to cover you.

“What the fuck?” Steve shouted at Terrence, over his shoulder as he tucked the blanket around you. “Why did you let her in here?”

“She had a goddamn gun pointed at me, boss! I didn’t want to cause a scene!”

“You don’t think this a scene?” Steve exclaimed, gesturing wildly at you.

“I meant in the hall. And I also didn’t wanna get shot! She’s psychotic!”

“Get the fuck out,” Steve snapped at him. “Go get Tony. Alessia is probably causing another scene down in the lobby and I don’t trust Tony and Daryl to be able to handle it by themselves! Especially with Tony half fucking dressed.”

Terrence did as he was ordered.

“Come on. Come up here,” Steve encouraged you, helping you stand and sitting you on the edge of the bed. He was trying to be calm, but you could pick up on the edge in his voice. “Sit tight.”

He left the room too. You sat on the bed, grasping the blanket tightly around you. Your breath was shuddering, trying to process what had just happened. Steve came back with a towel. Sitting on the bed next to you, he raised it and pressed it to your jaw softly. You realized he had put some ice cubes in the towel tied off with a rubber band to make a makeshift ice pack.

You should not need an ice pack because you got punched in the face, you thought, your shock of the situation melting away to anger.

You jerked away from him and he gave you a confused look. Tears came again then and you took the ice pack from him.

“Y/N, I’m sorry,” Steve said sincerely. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“You know where this wouldn’t have happened? Back home!” you spat at him, meeting his eyes. His expression hardened and you frankly did not care. “But no, you two forced me to come to this stupid apartment! I would’ve been safe back at the brothel!”

“Now, Y/N—” Steve started to say, sounding very much like he was going to try to talk you down, but you cut him off.

“No! You know I’m right!”

“Y/N—”

“Just get out!” you shouted at him, losing your temper. Steve was staring at you in disbelief, and he was not moving. You repeated with more force, standing up in a fury, holding the blanket tightly around you. “Leave me be! Get out!” You tossed the icepack onto your bedside table. You dove for Tony’s clothes, wallet, and his cell phone, storming towards the door and tossing them out into the hallway. You could not lock them completely out of the apartment since they had keys but goddamnit you were going to have your space in your bedroom.

You whipped back around to find Steve still sitting on the bed, stunned. You were openly crying now, and you hysterically told him, pointing out the door, “Are you fucking deaf, Steve? Get the hell out! I don’t want to fucking see either of you!”

He stood then finally, controlled, masking the shock he had displayed moments before. He walked towards you and the door, his eyes boring into you. You met him with the same ferocious gaze he was giving you as he passed, his eye contact not breaking with yours. As soon as he was clear of the door, you moved, and slammed it close behind him.

The lock fell into place.

~~~

Forever tags: @coconutqueen21 @undecidedsworld

Fic tags: @icant-hangout-imdrumming @oceaniamaddness @multifandom-superlover @imsonick @holl2712 @here4thefanfics

[hadtochangemyurlquick]

here’s 7.1k of Toni pining and Shelby and Toni being childhood friends and also far more character analysis of Rachel than I was expecting? also Marcus is real and I made him a gorgeous himbo. it’s based off that poem by @theycallmedizzy and you can find it here. lmk if you want a second chapter from shelby’s perspective, tho i literally just finished this one. like literally ten minute ago.

Mr. Williams finishes reading the poem and looks over his spectacles at the class. Yes, they’re spectacles, those kind of tiny thick ones that make his eyes too big because he’s much too old to be teaching.

It’s eight am on a Tuesday, Toni walked the three miles to school because she missed the bus only to walk into her shitty honors English class and hear the teacher reading a poem aloud to the class. Her poem. She’d sat down after a momentary pause and listened to him read the final damning stanza.

And then he looks at Toni.

He reads her essays right? What if he recognizes her writing voice? Is that a thing? Or maybe her handwriting or—

“Toni, I was just explaining to the class that whoever wrote this should submit it to the state literature festival,” Mr. Williams says, Toni almost sags against her chair. “I was hoping someone would come forward,” He turns back to the class, eyes hovering over Quinn and Monty, two of the more sensitive guys who sit in the back and ruin the curve for everyone. “But I’ll leave it on the board here,” he clacks it on with a magnet and Toni flinches, “and hopefully someone will come forward. Now onto today’s lesson.”

After class Martha goes up to the board and takes a picture of it, her eyes a little starry at the words and Toni grits her teeth.

“You have to admit it’s pretty,” Martha says. “Even you can’t deny that.”

“It’s dumb,” Toni says flatly, crossing her arms.

“Well I’m keeping it anyway, maybe someday someone will write a poem about me,” Martha says.

“How do you know it’s not about you?” Shelby asks coming out of nowhere and uninvited too. Toni glares at her, letting her open disdain shine through like sunshine through clouds after a gully washer.

“No guys notice me,” Martha informs Shelby sadly. “I bet Andrew wrote it for you.”

Shelby purses her lips and looks over the poem, “I doubt it. He’s more of a doer, I think. Besides, I’m sure that guys notice you, you went on a date with that boy Sam last month.”

Martha sighs and before she can launch into what a disaster that date was, Toni tightens her hands around her backpack.

“I’ll see you in science,” She tells Martha and manages to escape Shelby’s eyes burning at the back of her neck.

———

reasons not to kiss her

1.) this sort of love is not allowed. you are both too soft, and the world around you is all knives and chipped teeth

Toni had played about every sport she was allowed to growing up. Basketball was her favorite, but she loved beat it ball, the game she made up with the other kids in the neighborhood. It was basketball but without rules, devolving into fist fights within the first half. Nothing tasted better than her own bloody lip on a hot summer day. Not even the cool glass of lemonade Mrs. Blackburn always had ready when she ran all skinned knees to Martha’s telling her about how she beat guys two years older than her.

She got angry when she had to stop playing, moving to a different neighborhood. Apparently, Mrs. Blackburn had figured out that she wasn’t only getting her split lip from the older kids in the neighborhood.

The new foster parents were a little stricter, a little richer, and signed her up for youth soccer when she complained about how there was nothing to do without beat it ball.

Martha Blackburn would always be her person, but Toni didn’t expect to find her people so young. Dottie killed as goalie, and Becca’s sweetness made her defense all the better. But it was Shelby and Toni who were the dynamic duo. Toni had a never ending amount of energy as a midfielder and Shelby’s precision made her the perfect striker. It worked the same way every game, Becca would kick it to Toni, who got it to Shelby, who scored a goal. It got to the point that Becca didn’t even need to do much and the coach had to pull Toni aside to tell her to pass to the other girls too.

At the end of the season they sat together at the team party, wearing orange slice smiles. With sticky fingers they held hands and Toni kinda wondered how someone’s eyes could be so green.

Toni doesn’t remember why Shelby’s parents were so angry about them holding hands, but she knows Mr. Goodkind talked to her foster parents and Toni was off to a different home, in a different district, and she lost even Martha for a few months.

———

At lunch everyone’s talking about that fucking poem. Martha sent it around to the whole school and Leah is discussing its merits with Rachel and Nora. Even they don’t seem bored with the topic, though Nora is sure Quinn didn’t write it.

“It could be Monty,” Leah says. “I wouldn’t have thought he had an eye for this stuff.”

“I don’t think it’s Monty,” Rachel says. She looks at Nora, “C’mon, you know what I’m talking about, right?”

“What?” Nora asks.

“I mean it smells like Anna Akhmatova had a baby with Adrienne Rich,” Rachel says.

“Who had a baby with who?” Martha asks.

“Please,” Fatin says. “You’re not exactly the world’s leading expert on free form poetry.”

“Uh, I know when something’s written by a girl,” Rachel says. “I bet you fifty bucks some closet case wrote this.”

Everyone looks at Toni. “You caught me,” Toni deadpans.

“Rachel’s right,” Nora says. “A girl definitely wrote this. Toni, do you know anyone?”

Toni glares at her. “I’ll shake the lesbian phone tree and see what comes out.”

“Well, could it be Regan?” Martha asks. “Maybe she wants to—”

“It’s not fucking Regan,” Toni grabs her books and stalks out, kicking a chair randomly strewn around away as she did.

She hears Shelby sit down just as she leaves, “What’s got her madder than a baptized cat?” Shelby asks and Toni rolls her eyes.

———

2.) no one ever taught you how to love. your war paint and scarred hands could never hold her like she deserves

The worst of it was that Shelby was gentle. Her hands were warm and soft around Toni’s callouses, and there was a crinkle between her eyebrows as she focused on Toni’s hands. No, the worst of it was that Shelby didn’t let go of Toni’s hands when she finished, kept holding onto them as she met Toni’s eyes.

“Well?”

Toni swallowed hard, “I’m not gonna apologize.”

Shelby sighed, her thumb traced little circles around Toni’s hands. “I know today ain’t easy for you.” Toni scoffed and looked away. “But you know you were pickin' a fight. Andrew promised to leave you alone.”

Toni ripped her hands away and jumped from the bench of the locker room. “What the fuck do you know? You weren’t fucking there.”

Shelby’s calm only made Toni’s anger redder, “You ain’t denying it.”

“Why the fuck are you dating him? He’s a self-satisfied little asshole who just wants a little trophy girlfriend to—”

“Toni,” Shelby cut her off sharply and got to her feet, meeting Toni’s eyes.

“You’re not denying that either,” Toni spat.

She could’ve screamed at the hypocrisy. She wanted to scream. She wanted to pound her fists against the walls and bleed all over the bandages Shelby wrapped around her knuckles. She wanted to hurt, to make Shelby hurt. She wanted everyone to see and feel how hurt she was, and hurt them with that hurt. Finally level the playing field.

“Andrew is my business,” Shelby said. “Not yours.”

“He becomes my business when you—”

“When I what?” Shelby asked.

Toni looked at her hands, “Never mind.”

Shelby sighed, “Martha’s helping you move in today, right? Shel’ll be there the whole time?”

“Don’t pretend you give a shit.”

“Of course I care. The last time you lived with your mom you didn’t eat for a week.”

“I was five, not fifteen,” Toni said. “And seriously, stop pretending you give a shit.”

She shoulder checked Shelby as she walked out and winced at the sound of Shelby hitting the gym lockers. Her hands still sting where Andrew’s teeth had scrapped them.

———

Regan approaches Toni during science, her eyes serious. Martha straightens, and Toni does her best not to make eye contact.

“It’s not mine,” Regan says.

“Yeah duh,” Toni mutters.

Regan frowns, “I just—I didn’t want you to—”

“You made it perfectly clear what you want,” Toni says.

Regan sighs and leaves and Toni regrets it.

“Shelby thinks it’s Marcus,” Martha tells her. Toni blinks up at her and Martha nods. “She thinks he wrote it for me.”

“Martha, that kid is dumber than a box of rocks,” Toni says.

Martha furrows her brow, “Maybe he has hidden depths.”

“If you think it’s him ask him out,” Toni says.

“Shelby thinks it’s him,” Martha is quick to correct. “But he doesn’t even know who I am.”

Toni rolls her eyes. Marcus had been in love with Martha since the ninth grade. They had gotten placed as lab partners and he literally didn’t take his eyes off her the entire time. Every time there was a dance he would always look like he was about to say something, shoot his shot, when Martha would loudly proclaim she couldn’t wait to go with her friends.

Toni would’ve pulled the guy aside and told him to grow a pair, but a guy who’s not brave enough to go after what he wants wasn’t good enough for her Marty, not by a long shot.

“Rachel still thinks a girl wrote it,” Martha says.

“Maybe Rachel wrote it,” Toni mutters.

Martha’s eyes light up.

———

3.) no one has ever loved you this full surely you would drown in it all

Being a lifeguard was the worst. It was super boring, the pay was shit, and also Toni would probably get someone killed. Like, they pretended she was CPR certified but she absolutely had no idea how to do it. She went to some hour long course, slept through it, took a test that was just: should you kill people? And then they wrote some bullshit on some papers about a three week long set of classes.

But Shelby was tanned and golden looking and on their shifts they’d text back and forth about which kids they were betting on to win sharks and minnows. Tweenage boys in all their adolescent infancy would gaze open mouthed at Shelby and Toni alike but Shelby was the only one who let them down gently. Toni would ruin them for girls forever with something enough to cut through even the thickest skin.

On the fourth of July the pool paid for fireworks and Toni found a blanket and Shelby found her and they sat watching the reflections of the lights together. Shelby rested her head on Toni’s shoulder, all gentle, like she was afraid Toni would spook.

“I know this ain’t much of a holiday for you,” Shelby said. “But thank you for spending it with me.”

She had her hand on the blanket, splayed out like she was waiting for Toni to take it, there in front of everyone. Toni imagined a world in which she did.

———

“Yeah it’s not me,” Rachel says. “I wish I could write that good.”

Which is such bullshit because Toni knows Rachel could say well if she wanted to. Rachel’s weird inferiority complex about Nora pisses off Toni to no end. Nora’s the smart one, Rachel will be the first to say, and Rachel’s the athletic one. But Nora has a six minute mile and Rachel has perfect pitch so Toni hates them both.

“Maybe it’s Dot,” Toni suggests and Rachel, Nora, and Martha snicker.

Out of all of them, Martha’s the best driver, but they always end up in Rachel’s car after school anyway.

“Most of the school seems to think it’s by Andrew,” Nora says. Toni’s fists clench.

“Yeah,” Rachel rolls her eyes, “I’m sure he would love to take the credit. C’mon Toni, you don’t know any lesbians who could’ve written this?”

“You’re a lesbian too,” Toni says. “You don’t know any?”

“I don’t have a life outside of the pool,” Rachel says, “and none of them have picked up a book since Hop on Pop.”

“Regan says it wasn’t her,” Martha cuts in helpfully. “But maybe it’s another kid in theatre. Shelby says—”

“Oh my god,” Toni grits out. “What is everyone’s deal with her anyway? Why is everyone still obsessed with her? She’s just another basic Jesus bitch.”

The car goes quiet and Toni wishes she could melt into her seat cushion.

“I didn’t mean that,” Toni says.

“Except you did,” Martha snaps.

Toni winces.

“What’s your deal with her?” Rachel asks. “You guys were fine last year.”

“Quinn says there’s a poetry club,” Nora says. “Maybe it’s someone there?”

No one takes the bait and they don’t talk the rest of the way.

———

4.) she belongs in a museum, and you are merely here to gaze. look around you, all the signs scream ‘do not touch’

“Shelby?”

Toni grabbed the shoulder of the girl and pulled her away from Marcus. Shelby was bruised lips and ruined make up and Toni took her by the hand. Thank god Martha wasn’t here, thank god Andrew wasn’t here, thank god Marcus looked just as trashed.

“Toni?” Shelby sorta stumbled, her ankle twisting painfully on her heel and Toni steadied her.

Shelby could do a cartwheel in six inch heels.

“I’m gonna get you home, okay?” Toni called over the music.

Shelby didn’t really respond, just leant into Toni as she led her away and outside. The party had spilled into the backyard and front yard some, the cops probably already on their way, but everyone was too fucking hammered to notice them making their way out.

Shelby’s house was only about a twenty minute walk but it was cold and Toni was only wearing her basketball shorts and her mom’s jacket that she promptly put over Shelby’s shoulders.

“Are you still—” Shelby swallowed hard, “You’re still living with your mom?”

“Mostly with Martha,” Toni said.

“Martha’s great,” Shelby said. “She’s so pretty it makes my eyes hurt.”

“One of our finest,” Toni grunted as Shelby nearly fell on her heels again.

“She could be a model,” Shelby told her. “We should get waffle house.”

“Shelbs, we’re nowhere near a waffle house.”

“What was Becca’s order? At waffle house?”

Toni sighed, looping an arm around her. “I dunno.”

“Neither do I,” Shelby said.

“I’m sorry, Shelby,” Toni said.

Shelby shook her head and stopped right there, circling her arms around Toni and pressing her into a hug. Toni closed her eyes, holding her back as tightly as she dared.

“Oh, Shelby, I’m so fucking sorry.”

———

“Day two!” Mr. Williams calls. He taps the poem again, “I will investigate the handwriting if the poet doesn’t come forward by Friday. I know it’s someone in one of my classes.”

His eyes narrow as he takes them all in and his eyes don’t linger on Toni. Not even for a moment.

There’s a part of her that wants to march up to the front of the room and write her name down, make eye contact with everyone who never even considered her before. But no one expects shit from her, and even if he does go over the handwriting he won’t really be able to pin it on her. He might not even bother checking to see if it matches.

Toni tries not to jump when Marcus takes the seat in front of her during quant lit. It’s not like they have assigned seating but everyone sticks to the same seats anyway. Marcus won’t get shit for it though, perks of being the quarterback.

“So, listen,” he scratches the back of his head and Toni rolls her eyes at him. “I know we aren’t really friends but I—um.”

“Marcus,” Toni says.

“I wanna ask Martha out,” Marcus rushes out. “She’s like the nicest, smartest, coolest girl in the school and like her eyes are out of this world radical.” Radical? “And I would take her somewhere nice like Olive Garden. Or Cheesecake Factory? And pay for it, and open all the doors for her, and I’d carry her books to class—”

“On your date? This is happening during school?” Toni asks.

His eyebrows furrow as he tries to connect the dots. Football players.

“Oh no! I meant like, after, if she wants me to,” He says. “Can I?”

“Can you what?”

“Can I ask her out?”

Toni blinks at him. “What?”

“My buddy said if you want to get with a girl you get close to the best friend first, and I figured I’d ask you for your blessing because that’s what they do in old fashioned stuff right?” He bounces up in down in his seat. “Can I? Or like, do you wanna give me your blessing?”

She feels like she’s having an aneurysm.

Listen, Marcus having feelings for Martha is one thing. Everyone on the planet who’s ever met Martha falls a little in love with her. That’s kinda just how she operates. Toni narrowly avoided that pitfall by being lucky enough to know her since she was five, but it was a tough time. But Marcus was never gonna act on it. Marcus can’t—he’s the quarterback.

It’s basic math, Marcus is a six foot five football player with shoulders wide enough to bench press the Subaru Forrester Toni’s legally required to buy when she turns thirty-two. He’s got that all American boy smile that shows of perfectly white teeth, and dark hair that sweeps in front of his eyes. His face looks like it was sculpted out of marble, like literally he looks like some sort of roman god, except if that roman god volunteered at the humane society on the weekends and called his mom Mami.

Martha is a res girl who’s best friend is the dyke with anger issues. And like yeah, she’s stupid pretty, but Marcus has exclusively dated varsity cheerleaders since the seventh grade.

So yeah, even if Marcus may have feelings for Marty, everyone fucking does, and there’s a host of reasons why she doesn’t have a date to every dance and a new guy every week. And most of them are the cliche high school movie hierarchy sort.

“It’s really none of my business, man,” she says.

“Dude, it’s totally your business,” Marcus says. He leans closer, “you two are like sisters right? What do I gotta do to prove I’m not gonna hurt her? I’ll do your math homework for a month, no two months.”

A thought occurs to Toni and it’s a terrible one. But when has that ever stopped her?

“You’re in my honors English class right?”

Marcus’s face screws in, “Uh, yeah. But I don’t think you want me doing your homework in there, I’m like totally failing.”

“I have a better idea.”

———

5.) she touches you like youre fragile, and if you break you wont be able put yourself together again

Dot was asleep which was Toni’s first indication that something was deeply wrong. The second was that Shelby wasn’t. She was definitely trying her darnedest, but Toni could tell she was awake. Awake in her arms.

Toni shifted, just enough to let Shelby know she was awake too. The movie was some horror flick, something dumb and flashy and almost muted it was so quiet. It was the only thing rated R that they could all agree on. Dot’s house was the only place they were allowed to watch anything rated R when they were still thirteen, so it was all they watched there.

She felt Shelby shift up, so her head rested on Toni’s chest, shifted until her lips met Toni’s clavicle.

Toni wondered if she’d die.

Shelby went up instead of down, pressing kisses up the length of Toni’s neck, soft barely there things that made Toni’s breath catch as she watched Dot snore on the couch next to them.

Toni’s hands moved to the inside of Shelby’s thighs and they stared there, tracing delicate patterns that only made Shelby curl closer.

“I think you’re probably the most beautiful girl I ever saw,” Shelby whispered.

“I—”

“I’m not done.”

Toni’s mouth clamped shut.

“I think about you all the time,” Shelby whispered. “Even when I—”

“Shelby,” Toni warned. Shelby pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

“You’re right,” Shelby said.

Neither of them slept that night.

———

Toni walks into class three minutes late with Mr. Williams, and takes her seat with a sulk.

“He still won’t let me redo that paper,” Toni mutters to Martha who’s eyes are wide.

“Toni, Marcus just—” She nods her head at the poem where Mr. Williams is studying it too.

“Marcus Gonzales?” Mr. Williams asks.

Marcus gets to his feet.

“You wrote this?”

“Yessir.”

“This poem right here?”

“Yessir.”

Mr. Williams blinks and takes off his spectacles, setting them down on the desk. “We’ll talk after class. I should hope everyone has a copy of—”

“I wrote it for Martha,” Marcus doesn’t sit down and the entire class stares at him.

“—Franny and Zooey and I would like you all to turn to page 52. Begin by annotating—”

“Martha, can I take you out on a date?” Marcus asks.

“—this first section, and on to page 64. Remember what Seymour serves as in—”

Martha blushes hard and glances at Toni who smiles before she looks back at Marcus in all his golden boy 6’5” glory.

“Um, okay,” she mutters out and he grins.

“Cool.” Marcus finally sits and gives Toni a thumbs up. She rolls her eyes.

“—this story and compare that to his roles in the other parts of the work we’ve read.”

“I told you it was for you, girl,” Shelby says on Martha’s other side. “People always have a way of surprising you.”

———

6.) she is all bubblegum skies and chapped stick kisses, and you cannot watch the love run out of another persons eyes

They were all a little bit slap happy by the end of the night. A little bit drunk, a little bit high, and laughing far too hard at one another.

“I’m scared,” Shelby told them, still grinning wider than any pageant smile.

“Girl, you picked dare,” Fatin said.

“I did,” Shelby bit her lip. “But all y’all dared Leah to do was finish the vodka.”

“That was—that was bad vodka,” Leah slurred from her position on Dot’s lap.

“But now we’re out of vodka,” Martha sang. “You picked dare.”

“I’ll go with you,” Toni got to her feet, surprised when they were more steady than she assumed they’d be. “Two chairs right?”

“Alright,” Shelby said. “And you’ll hold my hand?”

“Sure princess,” Toni rolled her eyes.

It was an office supply place, probably. The parking lot had this killer decline, and it was one of those spring nights where nothing could really ruin anything. Not forever.

The rolling chairs were kinda gross, left there but not yet picked up by the garbage men. They had to do a special pickup for that, which costed extra. No one in the office had done it for the weeks the girls had been going there after parties.

“Be careful,” Nora urged.

“Don’t fall,” Rachel suggested.

“Hold on, I’m not recording yet,” Fatin said. “Okay now go.”

They pushed off in their rolling chairs, holding hands, and sped down the decline laughing as they barely managed to hold on and steer at the same time.

Toni went flying as she bumped into a patch of grass and for some reason, Shelby went flying with her, landing on top. Toni grunted, but she wasn’t in pain, not really.

They met eyes.

“Sorry,” Shelby said. She didn’t sound sorry.

“You okay?” Toni asked.

Shelby smiled, this real soft thing, Toni wondered what it’d taste like.

“Fuck yeah bitches! I’m so putting that on snapchat!” Fatin screamed and Shelby pulled away, turning white.

“God if this is you in in freshman year, I’m terrified of you as a senior,” Toni called back.

Shelby’s hand slipped out of her’s and Toni tried very very hard not to overthink it.

———

“So I’ve been thinking,” Leah said. Toni took her gym bag out of her locker, pretty much the only thing she kept in there.

“Oh no.”

“Rachel was right about that poem being written by a girl,” Leah continued. “Which meant Marcus lied. And Marcus would never do that unless someone gave him permission to take credit. And since Marcus lied so he could ask Martha out that means the person who wrote the poem wanted Martha to be happy.”

Toni swallowed hard and tried not to fumble with the lock, stumbling with it.

“Toni,” Leah walked over to her. “You need to face the facts: Shelby’s into you.”

Toni blinked, “What?”

“She wrote that whole poem for you, don’t tell me you don’t see it. It’s about you!”

“She—” Toni stopped and furrowed her brow, finally making eye contact with Leah, “You think she wrote that poem for me?”

Leah nodded, “And she let Marcus take the credit. Listen, I know I’m right. I’ve been thinking about it for ages. Whatever fight the two of you had—you need to get over it. She’s into you, Toni. She’s been into you.”

“You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about,” Toni told her. “Seriously, fuck you Leah and fuck off. This is none of your fucking business.”

“You aren’t denying it,” Leah crowed. “Shelby likes you.”

“No she fucking doesn’t!” Toni spat at her. “She fucking hates me! She didn’t write that poem Marcus did! For Martha!”

Leah’s brow furrowed, “But… but you wanted her to. Didn’t you?”

Toni looked away.

“Shelby’s actually straight, isn’t she?” Leah asked. “Fuck Toni.”

“I’m happy for Martha,” Toni said, and marched away.

———

7.) if you jump, she might catch you, and then youd have to watch as she tumbled through the dark

“What if we ran away?” Shelby asked, which was Toni’s third indication that the punch was spiked.

The first two were her arms wrapped around Toni’s waist, swaying in the soft breeze to the distant music of Junior prom.

“Oh yeah?” Toni asked. “Where’d we go?”

“Peru,” Shelby said. “Or LA, or New York or—” Shelby sort of trailed off, losing her thought halfway through it.

“Our parents,” Toni pointed out. She’d moved in with Martha a few months ago but her mom had taken it as a wakeup call, promising to get her shit back together as soon as she could. Toni couldn’t help but believe her, even if it put her in stasis.

“Right,” Shelby sounded cold, “Our parents.”

“Are things worse with them?” Toni asked.

“No,” Shelby said. “The same, really. They’ve lightened up since—since Becca. Have you heard from your mom?”

“Every week or so,” Toni said. “And if you ever need a break you know—“

“Martha is happy to have me,” Shelby finished.

Toni smiled and pulled away enough to meet Shelby’s eyes, her hands slid from behind Shelby’s neck to either side.

“Did I tell you you look beautiful tonight?” Toni asked.

“You did,” Shelby said.

“Can I say it again?”

“You can.”

“You look beautiful tonight.” Shelby closed her eyes and Toni tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “You’re gonna get out, you know that right?”

Shelby nodded, leaning into Toni’s hand.

Later, Toni will learn that was one of two lies Shelby told that night.

———

Martha gets home at 11:30, exactly when Marcus promised, and Toni smiles as her sister collapses backwards into her bed.

“Toni,” she actually giggles, giggles like a little school girl. “It was amazing.”

“Where’d you go?” Toni asks.

“Olive Garden, I think he was trying to win points with you,” Martha says.

“As he should,” Toni nods.

“He was the perfect gentleman,” Martha swoons. She rolls onto her stomach and looks at Toni and oh god, Toni knows that look. “He did tell me something about you, though.”

“Oh yeah? How I’m better in quant lit than him?” Toni asks.

“He told me you wrote the poem,” she says.

Toni looks away, “Okay, and?”

“You told me you were over Regan,” Martha says.

“It’s complicated,” Toni decides. “And whatever. I wrote it awhile ago anyway.”

“Have you thought about submitting it to that contest Mr. Williams was talking about?” Martha asks.

“Can we go back to talking about your date with Prince Charming?” Toni says. Martha acquiesces, she’s too damn giddy to do anything else.

———

8.) her gaze is too gentle. you will not be the one to tell her that not everything can be fixed with a smile

“Toni,” Dot began, and Toni could tell she was looking at her. “Toni, is Shelby—is she gay?”

Toni snickered, “Dot, Shelby is possibly the biggest straight girl in our school. Maybe our state. She’d sooner give herself a buzzcut than she would ever even kiss a girl."

“Andrew said Shelby got a job as a counselor at this church camp—Guiding Light—in Plano,” Dot said. “I wanted to find the address so I could write to her and it’s a conversion camp.”

The breath left Toni’s body.

“What?”

“And I got to thinking,” Dot said. “About what a mess she was after Becca died this year. Ignoring us, going to all those parties, signing up for a crazy number of pageants. Hell, it was only once you two started talking that she talked to us again.”

“Stop it, Dot.”

“Toni is Shelby gay?”

“Dot,” Toni said.

“Because if she’s gay, if she’s not there as a camp counselor—Toni, did you know about this?”

“Of course not! Jesus!” Toni said. She jumped to her feet and started to pace, “Jesus Christ. Oh my god.”

“Toni is Shelby gay?”

Toni looked at Dot and Dot sighed, her entire body sagging.

“What do we do?” Toni asked.

Dot, her solid, steady, friend since fucking youth soccer was silent.

“Dot, what do we do?”

“Dot, what the fuck do we do?”

———

Shelby finds her before school, Toni smoking like she hasn’t since ninth grade when Bernice gave her a stern lecture about lung cancer. It made Toni cry, actually. Not because it was so stern but because Martha and Toni had been separated for three years and Bernice still cared enough to get angry with her. She promised then and there to stop, and each drag she took now makes her feel like she’s committing treason.

“Smokin’ kills,” Shelby tells her, like they didn’t all go to Dot’s dad’s funeral last year.

Toni takes another drag, just to watch Shelby roll her eyes.

“How’d Martha’s date go last night?” Shelby asks.

Toni glares, “Seriously? You avoid me all year and now you’re asking about Martha’s date?” Shelby looks away. “It went fine. Whatever.”

“I just—I was surprised Marcus wrote that poem is all.”

“You literally said multiple times you thought it was him,” Toni says.

“I know, I know but—”

“Still holding out hope for Andrew?” Toni sneers. “Marcus may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but he cares about Martha. Even a fucking idiot could write a half decent poem if they had someone worth writing about.”

Shelby meets her eyes and Toni’s breath catches.

“Know a lot about poetry, Toni?”

Fuck fuck fuck.

Toni flicks the only half used cigarette away. “I have to go to class,” She says, aware it’s just about the worst thing she can do.

Shelby doesn’t even need the last word, she’s aware she’s already won.  

———

9.) she is so good. she is so good, and you cannot ruin one more good thing

It hadn’t been the first time Toni found her mom overdosed on the couch, but it’d been the most terrifying. Toni had waited in the school parking lot for a pick up for twenty minutes before Shelby had offered her a ride.

When they trooped inside, after having to use the key Tamera kept tucked away in a loose brick, her mom had been passed out on the couch. And the stupid thing had been that Toni had known her mom hadn’t been doing great. Like she’d known Tamera had lost her job, and was close to losing the car, that the pain in her back had been getting worse again from stress. Toni had known that.

But for some stupid, naive reason, Toni had never thought she’d pull this, go back to who she was.

Her tolerance was low, the doctors had told her, because she’d been clean for so long. She hadn’t realized it and had taken more than she could handle.

Shelby had taken the three of them to the hospital, helped carry Toni’s drooling mother into the ER, and held Toni’s hand until the other girls showed up, who she texted to come.

Shelby had been there when the police and social services came to talk to her about going back into foster care. Shelby had never left her side.

Toni couldn’t help but contrast that to the Shelby she saw now. The Shelby who showed up for senior year was barely christian, barely anything, just sort of blank and empty and waiting to grow up so she could have daughters that'd also wait to grow up so that they could have daughters that’d also wait to grow up so that they could have daughters that’d also

Shelby didn’t even look at her, for the first week of senior year she didn’t even look at Toni. She talked with Martha in that faux friendly way, she passed off on lunch invitations to do school work and Toni felt like she was going insane.

Sometimes she would just stare at the back of Shelby’s head in English class, writing whatever gibberish came to mind, and not listening to Mr. Williams at all. Just stare, for forty-five minutes, at a girl who wouldn’t even make eye contact, Toni’s pencil moving rapidly as she barely even glanced at the words her hands produced.

On the last day of the semester Toni finally looked away and came to two realizations:

a. Her mother was never getting better. Not really. b. Toni had written P E R U over forty times in her notebook.

As quietly as she could she tore the page out, and maybe about fifteen pages behind it, filled with similar drivel and recycled them at the end of class.

When the next semester started the seats were changed and something she’d written that she barely remembered was on the board.

Her mother was still in rehab.

———

Toni watches Marcus carry Martha’s backpack to class and watches as Martha giggles at him, argues with him. She is literally so happy it makes Toni’s heart burst.

“Shelby’s quite the matchmaker, huh?” Fatin asks.

Toni looks at her.

“Leah told me,” Fatin explains.

Toni rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, that’s what I said too,” Fatin says. “Leah’s good at noticing things but putting the pieces together is not her strong suit. So I called Dorothy.”

This makes Toni’s shoulders tense and Fatin wraps an arm around them.

“Dorothy didn’t want to talk but what she didn’t say was enough.” Fatin sighs, “I’m all for a little drama but this is cutting into my me time.”

“What going from twenty-four hours a day to twenty-three and a half?” Toni asks.

“God forbid,” Fatin nods sagely. “I didn’t know you could write.”

“I can’t.”

“Clearly not.”

Toni slips out from under her arm, and follows Martha into class. Mr. Williams glares as she comes in and Toni realizes if Marcus came clean to Martha he definitely came clean to Mr. Williams. At least the poem is off the board.

When he passes out papers from a recent essay her’s has a “see me after class” sticker that makes Toni slide down in her seat. Martha doesn’t even notice enough to give her an odd look because she and Shelby are yukking it up about the quarterback.

When everyone files out she hangs back and he looks at her, over his spectacles.

“I’m disappointed,” he says at last.

Toni scoffs.

“You write essays based off spark notes, you never participate, and half the time you don’t even do the homework. But you write this.” He slides the crumpled paper over his desk, her poem shining back at her. “So all I can conclude is that you’re lazy.”

Yeah, obviously.

“Why did you have Marcus tell everyone he wrote it?” Mr. Williams asks.

“So he could ask out Martha.”

“He didn’t need to have written the poem to do that,” Mr. Williams says.

“Can I go?” Toni asks.

“I want to submit this poem to a contest, I want you to start trying in this class, and this,” he hands her a slip of paper with about twenty sets of numbers on it, “is a list of Dickinson poems I want you to read by next week. Pick at least three to write me at least a page about. Single spaced.”

“What?” Toni asks, “You can’t make me do that.”

“I know half the kids in this class write off spark notes, I can easily have them all—including you—fail. So yes, yes I can actually.” He takes off his spectacles and Toni glares at him. “You’re a smart kid, Toni. You’ve got a talent for this.”

Toni shakes her head, “I’m a one hit wonder.”

“You know Britney Spears said the same thing after Baby One More Time.”

“That’s not true,” Toni says.

“Yeah,” Mr. Williams says. “Because she kept working at it.”

And Toni takes the slip of paper with the numbers on it, and marches to her next class and he watches her the whole way, not bothering to put on his stupid spectacles.

———

10.) you will not watch her crumble under the weight of your sins. she is too light, too breathless to be caught up in the dizziness of your heart

Dot didn’t invite them all to the funeral but they came anyway, even Shelby who Toni knew had been waffling back and forth.

Some of his army friends showed up, a doctor or two, and Mateo—the hot nurse Dot steadily ignored. It was a small and quiet service, and the seven of them sat towards the back, holding steady for her.

There was too much on Dot’s shoulders, there always had been, but she didn’t look any freer now that the burden was lifted. She just looked scared, small, and sad.

Toni couldn’t help but wonder if that was what she’d look like, if she got the call about her mom. It was a terribly selfish thought but who could blame her?

Shelby’s hands interlocked with hers, in broad daylight, and stayed there for the entire day. When Toni met her eyes she saw pure terror reflected back at her.

God, were they really only seventeen?

———

Rachel is complaining at lunch about owing Nora five bucks, how she was so sure some closet case wrote the poem but it’s no surprise Nora got it right.

Fatin and Leah don’t contribute and Martha probably wouldn’t have either except she was eating lunch with Marcus, they had found their own little table and were smiling at one another.

“They’re certainly cute together,” Shelby says, glancing back at Martha and Marcus.

“I say it’s weird they have the same name,” Rachel says.

“Says the girl who dated a guy named Raymond,” Nora says.

Rachel throws a straw wrapper at him, “That was a phase and you know it.”

“Marcus is sweet,” Shelby says. “If anyone deserves someone sweet it’s Martha.”

“Don’t you think he’s a little,” Leah trailed off and they all looked at her. “You know a little…”

“Spit it out, Leah,” Rachel says.

“Like the porch lights on but no one’s home?” Leah says.

“Martha is smart enough for the both of them,” Toni says. “And thank god because I was sick of doing his homework in quant lit.”

“That’s literally the easiest math class there is,” Fatin says and Toni shrugs.

“What’s that?” Shelby asks, pointing at the yellow slip sticking out of Toni’s binder.

“Some extra credit stuff, from Williams. Apparently I’m not doing so hot in that class,” Toni says.

Rachel leans way over from the other end of the table. “What is that, Dickinson?”

“It’s a list of numbers,” Shelby says. “Why would it be Dickinson?”

“All of Dickinson’s poems were numbered. It was only after she died that other people named them,” Nora says.

“And Nora said it so you know it’s true,” Rachel smirks.

“Join the fucking club,” Dot says to Toni. “I don’t know why y’all didn’t take non-honors English twelve with me. We just sit around and talk about whatever football game was on the most recently.”

“Well I’ve never liked football so.” Toni gets up, “I’ve gotta talk to my science teacher. I’ll see you guys after school.”

“I’ll go with you,” Shelby smiles and Toni clenches her jaw. “Ms. Roberts said I needed to rework my psych paper.”

“See you guys,” Rachel says and as they leave she’s arguing with Dot about why football is stupid and Toni can feel Fatin’s eyes on her all the way out.

———

reasons to kiss her

1.) she loves you, and her eyes are closed, and didnt your mother ever tell you not to leave a good thing waiting

Toni hated the magnet program kids at her middle school. Like everyone not in their cluster she found them annoying, rich, and privileged as fuck. They only hung out with each other and it was clear they’d never give—

———

“Toni?”

The stair well is empty, it’s the short cut through the language hallway and no one goes there during lunch.

Toni is working hard on ignoring Shelby but is forced to turn around when Shelby stops halfway up.

“Ms. Roberts doesn’t need me to rework my psych paper.”

Toni stares at her.

Shelby takes a step up, one step closer to Toni.

“I had hoped maybe you wrote it for Regan,” Shelby says.

“No such luck,” Toni croaks out.

“That’s a lot of reasons not to kiss someone,” Shelby says. “You’d think if you really shouldn’t kiss someone you’d only need the one.” She takes another step up, until they’re only separated by a few inches.

“I guess,” Toni says.

“Are you really gonna keep me waiting?” Shelby says.

Toni blinks, “You mean you still—”

“I have to do everything myself,” Shelby says.

She kisses her.

[diavolodigitale]

Stare

So... there’s this. I wrote most of the text like half a year ago and I was reeeeeally happy about it, but then I finished reading the novel and just kind of dropped it. Anyway, I came across this story among some other trash in my folders some time ago and decided that I was strongly determined to finish it as it would be a shame if I wasted so much work.

Me: the beginning was so good, I am upset about the way I finished it :C well, nobody’s going to read it anyway, so who cares.

AO3: psst, you wanna 1000+ hits on this?

Lately, Lan Xichen had been feeling uneasy all the time. No matter where he went, he would feel apprehensive and tense, as if something threatened him, pricked him in the back. Perhaps, it was high time for him to finally turn around and face what had been lurking in shadows this whole time.

Genres: Romance, Fluff, Comfort, Eventual Romance

Pairing: Lan Xichen/Jiang Cheng

Characters: Lan Xichen, Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Jin Ling, Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi

Rating: G for God why is it so long

Size: whopping 16000 words (all 5 chapters are in this post)

Chapter 1: Aggressive 

Standing in the doorway of the Cloud Recess reception hall, Lan Xichen slightly turned his head to face the inside of the spacious room. The feeling of uneasiness he had been experiencing for the last couple of minutes reached its peak, which made him resolute to find out what exactly seemed so wrong to him. It was the time of what one might call a sporadic celebration held by the Gusu Lan sect together with the Yunmeng Jiang sect every once in a while with the purpose of strengthening the bonds between the two sects. The guests had already gathered and now were merrily chatting around him, yet from the very beginning of the ceremony he had been feeling as though something was odd, and this feeling did not let him be at ease.

His gaze slid swiftly from one corner of the room, passing the members of both clans resting at their tables, each on their respective side, and stopped abruptly at the face of Jiang Cheng, who was sitting stiffly, holding a cup with liquor in his hand, and fixedly staring at him with an unusually grim expression on his face. The moment Lan Xichen caught him doing that, he tried to avert his eyes as if he hadn’t been looking that way at all, and gulped everything that was in his cup at one go.

Not unlike Jin Guangyao, Lan Xichen was very much concerned with the well-being and comfort of his guests, so he immediately thought that something must have happened that angered the leader of the Jiang sect, who was, in addition to everything, quite infamous for his short temper. With Jiang Cheng diligently hiding his gaze, the atmosphere, to which Lan Xichen was quite susceptible, lightened quite considerably, so he concluded that his feeling must have appeared because of Jiang Cheng’s dissatisfaction with the Gusu Lan sect’s ceremony.

His smile as kind and genuine as ever, Lan Xichen elegantly but promptly approached the table at which Jiang Cheng was sitting.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” he greeted and bowed politely, joining his hands in front of himself.

“Sect Leader Lan,” murmured the greeting Jiang Cheng, standing up from his mat and also bowing in respect.

Despite the fact that Lan Xichen would frequently personally greet all of his guests, he had been unprecedentedly busy before this particular celebration and hadn’t had the opportunity to welcome the disciples and members of the Yunmeng Jiang sect when they had just arrived. He was wondering if that might have become the cause for Jaing Cheng’s displeasure.

“Are you enjoying the ceremony, Sect Leader Jiang?” he asked, his eyes slightly squinted because of the smile blooming on his face. He was sure the ceremony would satisfy the needs of all of his guests as Lan Wangji had personally attended to all of the matters that concerned its organization. In spite of that, he still wanted to make sure nothing out of the ordinary had happened that might have spoiled the mood of his guests.

“Yes, I am,” nodded Jiang Cheng, taking a seat on his mat again. He abruptly turned his eyes to Jin Ling, who, he had noticed earlier, was frantically spinning and turning at his own table beside him. Sending him a condemnatory look, he turned back to Lan Xichen and added, “Do not bother, Sect Leader Lan. You could not have held a better ceremony.”

Lan Xichen bowed lightly in gratitude. Jiang Cheng was a difficult person to deal with, so he, of course, would not have let it out even if something had really displeased him, especially to the sect leader’s face, so Lan Xichen decided to stick around for a little longer and entertain the Yunmeng Jiang sect leader with his presence, just to be on the safe side.

“I sincerely hope you do not mind me joining you,” he said politely, kneeling beside Jiang Cheng’s table.

Jiang Cheng’s eyes widened a bit from surprise as it was not common for a sect leader to sit beside their guests instead of taking their seat at the head of the main table.

“No… not at all,” he replied, trying to make his voice seem emotionless and rigid.

Jin Ling stared at them with overt interest, having abandoned the food he indulged into only moments ago. Jiang Cheng sent him another killing stare, reminding him to watch his manners, and the young man was forced to mind his own business yet again. He was extremely bored to sit there all alone with nobody to chat with, but even more than that he was afraid of a future scolding, so in the end decided not to test his uncle’s patience.

“How do you find the liquor from Gusu, Sect Leader Jiang?” asked Lan Xichen, carefully filling his cup from the liquor bottle standing on his table.

Jiang Cheng accepted the cup and looked into the clear liquid inside of it, reflecting on the question. Not a single muscle on his face twitched as he gulped it and set the cup on the table with a quiet tap.

“It is to my liking,” he said briefly and threw a quick glance at the bottle in Lan Xichen’s hands.

The man in front of him smiled vividly and busied himself with filling his cup yet again.

Some visitors of the Cloud Recess felt quite uncomfortable when served the liquor there as the Lan sect members wouldn’t join them in drinking it, and Jiang Cheng was definitely one of them. Yet he could not admit it as it seemed impolite for him to refuse a drink offered by the sect leader himself.

“Young Master Wei mentioned quite a few times that he preferred it to the liquor from Yunmeng,” said Lan Xichen, offering the filled cup to Jiang Cheng once again.

“I am sure he did,” murmured Jiang Cheng and pouted for reasons unknown to his interlocutor. He took the cup from Lan Xichen but did not down it and instead continued to hold it in his hands, as if warming it.

To avoid the uncomfortable silence that arose after mentioning Wei Wuxian in the conversation, Lan Xichen sighed with pretended disappointment and said, “I myself was never able to try it, so all I can do is believe Young Master Wei’s as well as Sect Leader Jiang’s words. Could you, perhaps, describe the taste to me, Sect Leader Jiang?” The smile not fading from his face for even a second, Lan Xichen tilted his head a bit and added, “If it would not be too much of a bother for you, of course.”

“It is...” started Jiang Cheng, still looking into his cup instead of lifting his head to face Lan Xichen, and squeezed his lips.

Jin Ling was gawking at them again, leaning a bit on the wooden surface before him, his puppy eyes gleaming at the sight of something even slightly more interesting that the plates on his table he was rearranging this whole time. Jiang Cheng only sighed at the annoying youngling’s behaviour and continued after a short pause.

“It is sweet with a bit of spice in it. It does not sting like some other wines I have been lucky enough to sample and because of that it is quite easy to be tricked by its mildness and drink more than one should.”

After blurting out the last part of the sentence, Jiang Cheng hurried to drink the wine in his cup, this time savouring the taste.

Watching him drink, Lan Xichen nodded a few times as if understanding what Jiang Cheng meant.

“Has Sect Leader Lan ever felt like tasting the wine himself?” asked Jiang Chen, not giving him back the cup for refilling. Immediately, though, he seized the question, not letting Lan Xichen even consider his answer. “My apologies if I am being disrespectful, asking such a thing. Please, disregard my question.”

La Xichen shook his head, smiling.

“I was curious. There is no shame for anybody in wanting to try the unknown. I am only inquiring about it because, if I am being completely honest, I still am curious,” he squinted his eyes in a guilty smile, his hands lying flat on his knees, not able to get a hold of the cup to fill for his guest. “It is the fragrance, you see,” he continued. “I can feel a very strong fruit aroma enveloping the room every time we hold a ceremony in the Cloud Recess, and it piques my curiosity.”

“It must be tough for the Lan sect disciples if even Sect Leader Lan feels this way,” exclaimed Jin Ling surprisedly. Jiang Cheng immediately turned to him with his whole body, the sight of his clenched fist silencing all further remarks of his nephew.

Lan Xichen laughed softly, taking the cup from Jiang Cheng’s tight grip and startling him with an airy touch on his fingers. He seemed to hear the fragile porcelain almost crack in Jiang Cheng’s hand and decided to save his guest from likely injuring himself, even if it came at the cost of him looking a bit insolent.

“Indeed, it is tough, but they have many other things to enjoy here,” he said, filling the cup yet again. “Sect Leader Jiang, do not be angry at Young Master Jin. Let children be children, as inquisitive and restless as they can be. At least during such festivities.”

Jin Ling’s eyes lit up when Lan Xichen himself stood up for him. He glanced at his uncle, awaiting his reaction, and felt satisfied, seeing how Jiang Cheng ended up following the advice of his senior and only sighed again defeatedly, accepting the cup.

“Children are not easily entertained during such events. Perhaps, Young Master Jin would like to leave the reception hall and join the Gusu Lan sect disciples who right now happen to practice archery in the training yard? Of course, with the permission of his sect leader,” said Lan Xichen, glancing kindly first at Jin Ling, and then at his uncle.

Hearing the proposal, Jin Ling grew even more agitated and pressed his hands hard on his knees, silently praying for Jiang Cheng to let him go.

As soon as Jiang Cheng gave him a short nod, he sprinted out of the hall, thanking both him and Zewu-Jun as he ran towards the exit.

“Running is prohibited in the Cloud Recess!” rang the voice of Lan Qiren from somewhere on the other side of the room, but Jin Ling was already too far to care or even notice.

Lan Xichen gracefully covered his mouth with his long white sleeve, letting out a short laugh. Jiang Cheng clicked his tongue, his brows furrowing as he looked in the direction Jin Ling ran in.

“I will bring the brat back and make him apologize for his behaviour,” he said through gritted teeth.

Fearing he would really stand up and follow his nephew, Lan Xichen rushed to stop him.

“No need to worry, Sect Leader Jiang, Young Master Jin will be able to make amends for it later. I am sure it is not the last time you are in the Cloud Recess after all.”

Having been positively influenced by Zewu-Jun’s wish to keep the ceremony as peaceful and tranquil as possible, Jiang Cheng seemed to quickly calm down, and for once stopped thinking about how his nephew always allegedly brought him trouble and shame in the eyes of the surrounding people.

Lan Xichen noticed that Jiang Cheng still did not drink the wine he poured him previously, so he tried to redirect his attention to that instead.

“Ah, now that I think of it, Sect Leader Jiang has just mentioned that it is quite easy to drink more wine than one should, and I am now hurrying him to drink even more without offering a single bite of food. How improper of me,” he said and bowed slightly, feeling a bit foolish.

“Please, do not apologize, Zewu-Jun, I am treated well, and I have everything I need here,” awkwardly replied Jiang Cheng and took a grape from one of the small plates standing on the table in front of him as if to assure the host he was really fine. “What is more important,” he muttered, “I feel like I am stealing the attention of Zewu-Jun from the other guests. Please, do not feel obliged to entertain me exclusively, I do not require others to keep me company at all times, Zewu-Jun.”

His words sounded a bit harsher than he wanted them to, yet there was no going back, so he just sat and looked at Lan Xichen. The expression of the latter one, however, did not change the slightest, he only shook his head again with the same mild smile.

“Sect Leader Jiang is our most important guest, so there is no other person here today more entitled to get my attention. Moreover, I do not feel forced, so Sect Leader Jiang has nothing to worry about. Only if my presence burdens him, will I take my leave,” he said, screwing his eyes. One might say the words would sound somewhat shamelessly if it was not for the person who uttered them.

Having felt the air in the room become significantly livelier and lighter after he came to keep Jiang Cheng company, Lan Xichen decided it would be best to stay and personally make sure his guest did not need anything and felt comfortable and satisfied, thus, the condition he put forward.

“No-no! It is not that… I did not…” blurted Jiang Cheng, gravely afraid to offend or anger his most powerful ally who also just happened to be the calmest person ever known to the cultivation world. He managed to quickly compose himself and went on, “I would not want Zewu-Jun to have sore knees because of me.”

He looked at how Lan Xichen had been sitting on the bare floor this whole time and clenched his teeth and the jawbone below his temples jutted.

“Then I will take a cushion not to trouble the sect leader and join him shortly,” answered Lan Xichen, not leaving Jiang Cheng any other choice than to comply.

Lan Qiren shook his head, disapproving of the sight.

Wei Wuxian conspiratorially leaned to Lan Wangji sitting beside him and whispered to him, covering his mouth with his hand.

“What are they even doing there? Lan Zhan, why is Zewu-Jun not sitting at his table today?”

Lan Wangji did not answer and only continued to look at how his brother was arranging a seat for himself near Jiang Cheng.

Wei Wuxian hmphed and mumbled to himself.

“Well, if Hanguang-Jun doesn’t know, then there is nobody in this room I can possibly ask apart from Zewu-Jun himself”.

Watching intently as Jiang Cheng was constantly huffing and puffing, his face shifting from grim and pale to anxious and bluish, while Lan Xichen was smiling, and smiling, and smiling his warm and amiable smile, filling his cup again and again, Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but chuckle at how helpless his shidi looked.

“Wei Ying, stop staring,” whispered Lan Wangji, his glance pricking Wei Wuxian as he reproached him for his inappropriate behaviour.

“Lan Zha-a-ang,” uttered Wei Ying slowly, giving Lan Wangji a few reassuring pats on the back, “don’t be such a bore. Even if you don’t want to look, I do, because this is truly a sight I do not indent to miss even a second of.”

Chapter 2: Threatening

Another eerily similar episode happened to Lan Xichen in a few weeks’ time, during the nighthunt under the supervision of the Yunmeng Jiang sect. Both of the sects participated in it by mutual agreement.

The hour was late and the night air was fresh. No animals or any other wildlife could be seen active in the proximity of the cultivators’ makeshift

camp situated on the clearing in the woods. Long arms of trees reached out far and intertwined, creating the illusion of closed space around the clearing, but the area in the middle of it was brightly illuminated by the moon light on a par with many lanterns brought by the cultivators. The atmosphere was calm enough, despite the fact that many people were agitated and anxiously looking forward to the grandiose fight, some of them making practice swings with their swords while the others fought their urges to start a bonfire and nestle cozily beside it, falling asleep, surrounded by dark wilderness.

“Brother, the beast has fled from Young Master Jin’s trap,” uttered emotionlessly Lan Wangji, having approached his brother. Zewu-Jun was graciously standing near a tall branchy tree at the side of the clearing and watching the cultivators roam around and try to find the track of the beast they came to hunt down.

“As expected,” he said knowingly, “having been wounded by it, it is now enraged and will soon come to seek its revenge.”

Lan Wangji nodded agreeingly. They knew it was not the best idea, to put a trap for such a huge beast, as it was clearly not able to hold it back, much less kill it. Nonetheless, they chose not to raise their concerns as this time they were only the guests of the Yunmeng Jiang sect. Jin Ling’s methods differed from those used by their disciples, but he seemed to have quite a lot of fun, nighthunting using all of the means provided to him by his uncle, and there was enough of adult cultivators around to take care of the situation in case something went wrong.

Hearing Jin Ling, Lan Sizhui, and Lan Jingyi happily chattering over the enormous footprints the beast had left along a narrow path in the woods, Lan Xichen smiled. His goal had always been to discipline his disciples so that he could later let them wander around the world without having to worry for their safety. It was achieved by teaching them to control themselves, be careful and aware of their surroundings, and putting as much knowledge into their heads as it was humanly possible. Nevertheless, at such moments he wanted to give them as much freedom as he could, understanding how thousands and thousands of rules of the Gusu Lan sect could impinge on the young minds such as theirs.

He looked at Lan Wangji standing proudly beside him, his face so similar to his own, yet so different at the same time.

“Wangji, where will you go after the nighthunt is over?” he asked inquisitively.

“Don’t know. Let us catch the beast first, then think,” he answered with no emotions colouring his voice.

“I will be glad to see you in Could Recess, but if you have other plans…” Lan Xichen hesitated before smiling with the corners of his lips as he looked at Wei Wuxian, who pretended to teach something extremely valuable to the juniors standing with their mouths gaping, and continuing, “I do not mind either.”

Lan Wangji bowed to him in gratitude, knowing that it was not easy for his brother to let him go and take all of the responsibilities of leading the sect onto his shoulders. Anyway, he did not intend to leave before the beast was dealt with, and Wei Wuxian’s extreme desire to glance at how big and wild it was was only one of many reasons for that.

It was rumoured that the beast was a giant scorpion with a head of a snake coming out of its tail instead of a sting. As tall as four horses stacked atop of each other, it supposedly could kill a negligent passer-by in more than a hundred different ways: crush them by its weight, swallow them completely, strangle them with its wriggling snake body; and those were only the methods mentioned briefly in the tavern of the nearby city by its owner, who was so eager to discuss the beast, the cultivators did not even have to pay him for his tongue to loosen.

Nobody knew where such a beast could come from or where it could possibly be hiding at, as nobody ever lived long enough to see it leave. In any case, tales told by common folk were rarely to be trusted in such circumstances, as quite frequently the beasts that were frolicking around the forests and killing hundreds of men turned out to be mere animals that grew a bit too large in size and scared one or two villagers on their way home. What one misheard, the other one overexaggerated, and so the stories of hellish demon spawns were born to reach the ears of the members of the cultivation sect that was the closest to the infested area.

Experienced cultivators knew not to hope too much to encounter what they were promised, but the juniors still held a youthful lust for adventures, the tales of which they would be able to share with each other afterwards as a part of their competition for the title of the bravest and most talented swordsman. They wandered around the area of the forest not too far away from their seniors and tried to determine what was the beast’s movement pattern, veering, as Wei Wuxian was lazily sitting on the tree branch and pointing with his flute to the spots they should inspect, his leg swinging casually.

Should the beast really be as incredible and mighty as it was described by the villagers, the amount of negative air enveloping the members of the two sects would be overwhelming at best. Despite that, the only thread of threatening energy Lan Xichen felt was the one directed solely at him. It was far too weak to affect him in any way, but its pricking still made him

feel uncomfortable and a bit twitchy, even though he did not display it. The energy was not scattered all over the place and instead bothered only him, which made him think it must not be the beast who was emitting it.

As he was pondering over where this energy could possibly be coming from, he noticed his brother standing quietly, directing all of his attention at a particular spot on the other edge of the circular clearing the cultivators were occupying. He followed his gaze, but could not see what he was staring at.

“What is the matter, Wangji?” he asked.

“I thought I saw someone,” replied Lan Wangji with notes of concern in his voice, only discernible by Lan Xichen.

“Behind that tree?” asked Lan Xichen, seemingly not worrying even a tad.

Lan Wangji nodded, clenching the hilt of Bichen.

Lan Xichen put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head lightly before rising noiselessly up into the air with the intention of flying over to the other side and not scaring away a person that stood there, hiding. His snowy robes and ink-black long hair fluttered in the wind when he suddenly stopped and descended back down, hearing a familiar voice ringing out further in the woods.

“Uncle Jiang! What are you standing here for? I almost didn’t notice you!” yelled Jin Ling, slamming into the tree Lan Xichen previously wanted to approach to stop himself from passing by Jiang Cheng.

Without saying anything, Jiang Cheng came out from behind the tree, his fists clenched, eyes bulging, and lips pouting. He couldn’t make up his mind as to how we could scold his nephew for what he had done, so instead only stared at him, hoping that the stare would be as effective as the words he was now at a loss for.

Jin Ling did not understand why in the world his uncle was angry already since he did not yet do anything to cause this. He did his best to ignore this sudden fit of rage and continued as if nothing happened.

“I was looking for you everywhere! Uncle Jiang, Uncle Wei showed me how we can track the beast’s way starting at my trap. Will you go in search of it with us?” he beamed, not being able to stand still from the excitement that filled him.

“Uncle Wei?” mocked Jiang Cheng, the corner of his lip twitching. “If he is your uncle now, what do you even come to me for? Next time we are in Lotus Pear, why don’t you collect all of your belongings and join him on his journeys instead of staying?” he raged.

Jin Ling’s eyes reddened a bit and lips started to tremble. The situation seemed so unfair to him. Having lost one of the few relatives he had and suddenly having found another one only to be chided for it by the closest person he had, he felt like running away immediately and never speaking to Jiang Cheng again. He was used to his uncle yelling at him left and right, but the topic of family had always been his weak spot, and he knew that Jiang Cheng was well aware of that.

“Maybe I will!” he shouted with a wobbling voice. “If you don’t want to see me in Lotus Pier, you can just say so, you don’t have to look for excuses like uncle Wei!”

Everybody directed their attention to the two yelling at each other. The disciples of the Yunmeng Jiang sect were, of course, long accustomed to such squabbles between their leader and his nephew, but this one in particular seemed to be a tad worse than most of the previous ones.

Fairy ran towards its owner, barking loudly, as it sensed how upset he was. It sat close to Jin Ling’s feet, flattened its ears against its head, and pushed its black snout into his hand in between his trembling fingers.

Jin Ling, being almost on the verge of crying, carefully petted it with his hand and fearlessly looked Jiang Cheng in the eyes.

Looking at them sticking so close to each other in search of support, both confused and distressed, Jiang Cheng felt extremely guilty. He knew that he shouldn’t have said what he had, but it was also incredibly hard for him to admit his mistake, especially in front of so many people that included his own subordinates as well as the prominent cultivators from the Lan sect. He was breathing heavily as the feelings of remorse and spite fought inside of him. As always, spite won.

“Jin Ling! You-”

“Sect Leader Jiang,” interrupted Lan Xichen, appearing out of nowhere beside him. Everybody was so focused on the argument that didn’t even notice when he managed to approach the two. The expression on his face was gentle, yet he was not smiling, feeling it would be completely out of place at the time.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” he repeated to get Jiang Cheng’s attention, “please, let us consider this incident a misunderstanding. Both you and Young Master Jin need some time to cool off, so why don’t you speak again after we finish the nighthunt together?”

Lan Xichen wanted to lay his hand on Jiang Cheng’s shoulder, but it seemed to him that he would get a scorch from how furious he was, so he dared not. He gave Jin Ling a sympathetic look and nodded encouragingly,

taking his chances to persuade at least one of the sides to settle for a temporary peace.

Jin Ling sniffed, trying his best not to let a single tear slip out of his eyes, crossed his hands on the chest and turned away, showing his unwillingness to continue the talk.

“Fine,” roared Jiang Cheng and determinately fled deeper into the forest, not to be bothered by anybody else. Lan Xichen, however, did not agree with his decision, so he followed him, waving his hand for others to stay away. Meanwhile, Wei Wuxian gingerly approached Jin Ling, pushing Lan Wangji to the front as he went to get an obstacle between him and the huge spiritual dog panting at Jin Ling’s feet. He was not yet ready to overcome his fear, but seeing his shijie’s son at such a state was more than he could handle.

“Sect Leader Jiang!” called Lan Xichen, almost catching up with Jiang Cheng. “Please, wait.”

Jiang Cheng stopped abruptly and sighed, still clenching his fists.

“I know that my behaviour was ill-advised, Sect Leader Lan. I apologize that you had to witness it, but I cannot make up for it right now. Maybe, it would be best if you joined your sect members and defeated the beast for the nighthunt and everything about it to finally be over.”

“Sect Leader Jiang’s disciples are all extremely skilled and talented, I am sure that my help is not needed at the moment,” said Lan Xichen consolingly and couldn’t help but let an awkward smile slide onto his face.

Jiang Cheng turned around and faced the only person that had the audacity to follow him. Other cultivators having stayed behind, there was nobody to hold a lantern and illuminate the place, so his face was completely submerged into darkness. Despite that, Lan Xichen still managed to discern what a guilty and upset expression he was wearing. One single ray of moonlight managed to slip through thick branches above, and for a second it seemed like Jiang Cheng’s eyes were shimmering.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” started Lan Xichen again, seeing how Jiang Cheng could not find any suitable words, “lately, I have noticed that something is bothering you. Has anything happened?” Similarly to Wangji’s, his robes possessed a peculiar feature of giving the effect of shining in the darkness, even without a proper light source nearby. His hair descended in soft waves onto his lapels and blew in the late-night breeze. Holding his hands behind his back, he was the epitome of tranquility.

Jiang Cheng had always envied such people and how they never lost control over anything.

“No,” he uttered, raising his head to feel the wind roaming up in the tree branches and rustling the leaves above them.

Lan Xichen was drawn away from gazing onto his tired face by the sudden gust of hateful energy brought about by the wind. It was indeed strong, stronger than what he had expected to find in the forest that night. Immediately he became more alert and reached for the xiao hanging on his waist.

“Seems like we are not alone anymore,” smirked Jiang Cheng, stroking the ring on his index finger.

For a moment, complete silence fell onto the forest. Then the beast emerged.

Should the other cultivators be with them at the moment, Wei Wuxian and all of the younger disciples would be glad to learn that at least the tales of it having a hideous snake head instead of a sting were true. Its eyes were dangerously gleaming in the darkness as it menacingly approached the two sect leaders. Its size was truly terrifying, even though it was quite difficult to determine if it was really as tall as rumoured. The cloud of resentful energy it produced was so overpowering that both men were taken aghast. It was impossible to understand how such a large beast with this much dark power managed to sneak up on them.

Not taking even a second of delay, Lan Xichen grabbed Liebing. The sound, cold and clear, enveloped everything around them, and the beast immediately staggered on its way to attacking him. Lan Xichen took a few careful steps back, still playing his xiao. The beast roared and squelched because of the melody piercing it right to its essence, but still followed him. It would not be a difficult fight for the leader of the Lan sect, seeing how he was able to take control of the creature at the very start of it, but it wasn’t meant for him to finish off the monster that night.

With a low growl, Jiang Cheng made an abrupt movement of his hand, and a neon-purple whip traced its pattern, hitting the ground beneath his feet and making a dent in the soft undergrowth. The beast turned its ugly head to the startling sound and took a giant step towards Lan Xichen, wanting to escape the newly emerged threat. With no hesitation at all, it sent his tail with a snake’s mouth wide-open towards Jiang Cheng in an attempt to drive him back.

Engulfed in the ghostly sound of the flute, Jiang Cheng glanced in the direction the beast was advancing to, and his body moved without him even having to make a conscious effort. He dodged the bite of the giant snake, almost completely dropping to the ground, and instantly rose up to press on the creature. He hit the ground with Zidian a few times on both

sides of the monster, scaring it and not letting it use any other route to escape.

Disturbed by the flute’s lethargic melody and blinded by Zidian’s glare, the beast cried again in despair before Jiang Cheng raised his whip one last time, swaying it high in the air for the hit to gain force, and landed it with a crack dead on the center of the beast, cutting both of its heads together with its body into two perfectly even parts. Lan Xichen hurriedly jumped away, hearing how the tree behind him snaped in half, also stricken by the whip.

Still holding Liebing in his hand, and for some reason holding his breath, he glanced at Jiang Cheng. His heart was pounding loudly as he continued looking, enchanted by the sight.

Zidian glared with vivid purple light and crackled, sparks flying all around its owner. Even the fresh nigh air seemed to feel crisp as small flashes of lightening pierced it here and there, making it impossible to even approach Jiang Cheng. With his face austere, chin slightly protruding upwards, and eyes full of resentment and haughtiness towards the fallen opponent, he stood there, amid the dark chilly woods, illuminated by the ghastly glow of his spiritual weapon. His combed hair seemed to be the colour of a ripe dark plum while his face resembled a light and tender thistle, in addition to its paleness remaining unmoved and, thus, making him look more like a ghost than human. Without moving his head, he slowly turned his eyes to Lan Xichen who was breaking a certain rule of his own sect, still staring at him, and pierced him with his scornful glance in return.

After what seemed to Lan Xichen as eternity, but, in reality, turned out to be a mere few seconds, they were approached by a noisy crowd of cultivators, rushing from the camp to the sounds of a battle. Hurrying at the head of the group was Lan Wangji who understood something was wrong hearing the first notes of his brother’s xiao ringing in the distance.

“Brother, have you been hurt?” he asked, examining the destructive aftermath of the whip’s work around them.

“I am completely unharmed, thanks to Sect Leader Jiang,” answered Lan Xichen slowly, taking his time to regain his composure. He added, still looking at Jiang Cheng, “Sect Leader Jiang, I am much obliged for your help.”

Holding Liebing, he locked his hands in front of himself and took a deep bow to Jiang Cheng, staying in this position for a few more seconds than needed.

“Wah, how scary,” whispered Lan Jingyi either to himself or to Lan Sizhui, who, as always, was standing not too far from him. They were afraid to even look at Jiang Cheng at the moment.

Jin Ling only pouted more, throwing furtive looks at the body of the beast he wanted to catch so badly and at his uncle who was at the centre of everybody’s attention. He was proud more than disappointed, but did not want to admit it even to himself.

Fairy happily wagged its tail a few steps behind him.

Jiang Cheng’s whip vanished, and he bowed to Lan Xichen in return.

“Zewu-Jun has nothing to thank me for. The nighthunt was a joint venture, and both of the sides have put in an equal amount of work,” he concluded, straightening himself up.

“Then it is my delight to pronounce this nighthunt successful,” said Lan Xichen for everybody to hear. “Now the Lan sect will take its leave and-”

“We shall all return to Lotus Pier and rest. Let us leave long travels as well as cleaning up the mess for tomorrow, Sect Leader Lan,” said Jiang Cheng in a tone that did not condone any dispute.

“Then we will avail ourselves of your hospitality once again,” yielded Lan Xichen and smiled politely, lowering his gaze.

Wei Wuxian sighed.

“He could have at least been more respectful and not interrupted Zewu-Jun,” he said for only the juniors around him to hear. They happened to be shielding him from Jin Ling’s Fairy who was peacefully minding its own business.

“Mn,” agreed Lan Wangji, and the others actively nodded, as always devotedly supporting the opinion of their seniors.

Everybody having departed in the direction of Lotus Pier, Jin Ling was the last one to leave the scene. First, because he had to drag away Fairy that already started nibbling on one of the beast’s many legs, and, second, because he did not want to walk in depressing silence all the way home. After all, his place was always beside his uncle. He decided to keep his distance and lagged behind on purpose, but no matter how hard he tried, there was still another person that just would not leave.

Wei Wuxian leaned against a tree a few meters away from him and toyed with Chenqing in his hand.

“Are you still angry at him, Rulan?” he asked quietly.

Jin Ling hmphed, hearing his courtesy name being used.

“Don’t be. You know how stupid your uncle is sometimes, and he’s generally not very good with words. Don’t learn from the worst, learn from the best,” he grinned and pushed himself up from the tree. “And call me your martial uncle, that way he will not find fault with you. Now, send your dog away, and let’s go.”

Jin Ling stood, not granting Wei Wuxian his request, and waited.

“A-Ling, don’t be like that!” shouted his martial uncle and stamped his foot onto the damp grass.

Jin Ling smiled mischievously and slapped Fairy’s butt a few times.

“Go, find uncle Jiang. Follow him all the time until he gives you food,” he murmured to it, and the dog sprinted off, obeying its master’s command.

The dog having increased the distance between them significantly, Wei Wuxian came to Jin Ling and pulled him with one arm around his neck right into his bear hug.

“Now that is my shizhi! I will treat you with my favourite pie when we return.”

“For this,” grumbled Jin Ling, struggling in his grip, “you will have to make it at least two, Wei shishu.”

Chapter 3: Unreadable

Down in Lotus Pier all of the guests were let back into the rooms they were residing in the day before the nighthunt and fed richly to commemorate the hunt’s successful outcome. Even though most of the cultivators clearly understood that their contribution to the nighthunt was close to nonexistent, nobody refused the late-night dinner or, as some called it, the early-morning breakfast.

Along with spicy, but, nevertheless, quite delicious food, they were treated with the news that what the leader of the Jiang sect meant by “tomorrow” was, actually, the day after tomorrow. The nighthunt ended almost at dawn, and by the time they arrived at Lotus Pier, the sun had already risen. It was only natural for them to assume that they would take a short rest before setting off for their journey home, but Wei Wuxian was kind enough to explain to them that it was not how they did it here, in Yunmeng. Sect leader’s guests came a long way to participate in the nighthunt and helped the local dwellers by making the roads safe again, so the least he could do was express his gratitude in such a way. It goes without saying that nobody dared to disagree.

Despite his body being tired and mind telling him he was long late according to his sleep schedule, Lan Xichen felt like neither eating nor resting. He looked out of the window of the vast guest residence he was granted. It was already light outside and birds chirped loudly in the crowns of the trees growing in the inner yard. He hanged Shuoyue on his waist and ventured outside to enjoy the beauties of the region he bitterly regretted visiting so rarely.  

He strolled down a wooden bridge that stretched over a small pond with countless lotus flowers blooming on its surface, remains of morning dew covering their light-pink petals, and marveled at how different everything here was from misty and brisk Cloud Recess where he and his brother grew up. There it had always been eternally peaceful and predictable, calm and lofty, as not even animals dared to disturb the ever-present air of tranquility. Here he never knew what expected him behind the next corner. The nature of the region and the city of Yunmeng looked almost exotic and breathtaking in their untamedness. It seemed to him that this really was the only place that could bring up such people as Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng. They went through their lives like wild mountain streams, not contemplating, not doubting, acting on their impulses and doing the way they saw fit. Even when looking back or faced with regret, it was not for the foreign eyes, but only for themselves. Never did they let out any word about what they really cared for or were bitter about, instead holding it deep inside of them, carrying it in their proud hearts.

Lan Xichen smiled with the corners of his lips, unwillingly comparing himself and Lan Wangji to the people who called this place home. They were the extremities, two different sides of one coin, but, perhaps, such people really got on best.

“When I see such a smile on Zewu-Jun’s face, I can rest assured that he is pleased with the time spent in Lotus Pier,” said Wei Wuxian confidently and grinned. He was squatting down on the broad steps leading to the clear surface of the pond. Jin Ling was submerging his feet into the lukewarm water beside him.

Lan Xichen approached the skillfully carved railing of the bridge, his hands as always locked behind his back, and smiled again at Wei Wuxian.

“I enjoy it here a lot. Perhaps, even too much. This feeling always makes leaving incredibly difficult,” he replied with a meditative look on his face.

“Then why not stay here for longer? Uncle Jiang will always find a room and some time to spare for Zewu-Jun,” said Jin Ling and quietly yawned, exhausted by the nighthunt’s occurrences and lack of sleep.

“Maybe, someday,” answered Lan Xichen kindly. After a moment of silence, he inquired, “Is Young Master Ling feeling better now?”

Jin Ling nodded and splashed the water in the pond with his dangling foot.

“I know it might look strange for Zewu-Jun, but my uncle…” he inhaled more air, struggling to utter what he had in mind, before continuing, “he is not that bad. At least, not always. I don’t know what got onto him, but it will not apply to the Lan sect in any way.”

Wei Wuxian beamed proudly and dragged Jin Ling closer, squeezing his forearm.

“A-Ling is right. Sect Leader Lan should not worry about Jiang Cheng’s temper influencing his stay at all. He will come around sooner or later. He always does. And if he doesn’t,” he squinted his eyes threateningly, “I am here to help him come to his senses. After all, that’s what family is for.”

Lan Xichen looked down, his face full of understanding and contentment.

“And Wangji is…?” he asked, not really intending to finish the question.

“Sleeping, of course,” waved his hand Wei Wuxian. “He still has half an hour or so left before this creepy habit of his will tell him to rise and shine.”

Having made sure his brother was fine, Lan Xichen had only one more thing that bothered him at the moment, so he directed his thoughtful gaze at Wei Wuxian.

“Young Master Wei, I wanted to ask you…” he started, but lost his confidence mid-sentence. Instead of continuing he looked at Jin Ling, who, having been listening to them only moments ago, was already peacefully snoring on Wei Wuxian’s shoulder, clenching the hilt of Suihua in one hand, and an unfinished pie in the other one.

“Yes, Zewu-Jun? Is there something I can do for you?” urged him Wei Wuxian with enthusiasm.

Lan Xichen shook his head slowly, reserving the question. Maybe for later, maybe for himself.

“If Sect Leader Jiang is awake at the moment, I will pay him a visit. He may be too busy for us to speak during the day,” he said instead.

“He is resting in the pavilion on the other side of the residence, contemplating about his behaviour. At least I hope so. Does Zewu-Jun want me to show him the way?” asked Wei Wuxian. He did not move a single muscle of his body and sat in quite an uncomfortable position with a hunched back, afraid to wake up Jin Ling.

“There is no need. Please, take care of Young Master Jin and have some rest as well, Young Master Wei,” said Lan Xichen and bowed respectfully before departing.

Wei Wuxian watched him leave, awkwardly covering his eyes from the bright morning sun. Jin Ling produced a quiet growl of displeasure, so he hurried to move the hand back where it belonged. He knew it was too early for the question to be voiced. The time would come later.

On his way to the pavilion, Lan Xichen barely encountered any other people. The cultivators of the Yunmeng Jiang sect rarely woke up so early, so it was uncommon for somebody to practice at such an hour. He stumbled across one of his own disciples, who could neither fall asleep nor fully wake up and instead only sat all alone and played on his guqin. It did not take Lan Xichen long to recognize the sounds of his music and determine that it was Lan Sizhui. Not wanting to wake anybody up, he carefully plucked the strings, barely even touching them, but the melody was still as precise and smooth as it had always been when he would be playing in Cloud Recess. Zewu-Jun complimented him and advised to try and meditate if he could not fall asleep, to which Lan Sizhui readily agreed.

The pavilion stood solitary amid the clear waters of the lake, with only one narrow wooden bridge leading to it. Fluttering in the warm wind, ribbons of different hues of purple hung down from the beams while semi-transparent curtains protected the inside from the sunrays. The figure inside was sitting with its back to him, facing the view of the placid lake with only a few small ferries crossing it.

“Sect Leader Lan,” uttered the figure, still looking into the distance.

Lan Xichen entered the pavilion with careful gracious steps, not a single wooden floorboard creaking beneath his feet.

Jiang Cheng turned around and offered him a seat at the opposite side of the table that stood in the middle of the pavilion. Lan Xichen sat down and adjusted his robes, never disregarding his appearance.

“I apologize for bothering the Sect Leader. I do not have any pressing matters, so I shall leave if Sect Leader Jiang is willing to be alone now,” he said despite already having taken a seat.

Jiang Cheng offered him a plate of lotus seeds he had been mindlessly peeling while sitting in the pavilion for some time, the expression on his face milder than the last time the two saw each other.

“Please, be my guest, Zewu-Jun. I do not want to limit you in any way when you are visiting Lotus Pier. You are free to go wherever you like whenever you want,” he said.

Lan Xichen nodded and accepted his offering, taking a few seeds from the small porcelain plate decorated by lotus ornaments.

Hearing quiet breathing coming from below the table, Lan Xichen looked down and saw Jin Ling’s spiritual dog sleeping tight beside Jiang Cheng. It laid its head on one of his feet. He did not seem like he wanted it to move away.

Following Lan Xichen’s gaze, Jiang Cheng smiled with the corners of his lips and rolled his eyes, scratching the dog behind its black floppy ear with his slender pale fingers.

“It followed me all around the place and I could not get rid of it no matter what I did. It has always preferred Jin Ling over me, but today it seems to have set as its goal not leaving me alone for even a second.” His smile faded, and he spoke again. “Sect Leader Lan, I am truly sorry for what you had to see in the forest. My behaviour was inappropriate. I hope it will not diminish the relationships between the Lan sect and the Jiang sect. I also hope you will be able to forget this incident,” he said calmly.

Zewu-Jun looked at him, and their eyes met.

“It is not my task to judge if Sect Leader Jiang’s behaviour was wrong, so, please, do not trouble yourself with such thoughts. We are here to support the Jiang sect, be it on the nighthunt or beyond it. If Sect Leader Jiang wants me to feel comfortable, then my only wish would be for him to settle his relations with his nephew. We never wanted to disturb the peace in Lotus Pier with our arrival.”

“It is only fair for you to ask for that,” agreed Jiang Cheng and petted Fairy’s huge head that was now resting on his knees. The dog was drooling a bit on his neat clothing, but he did not mind.

“In fact, I came to Sect Leader Jiang with a proposal. I humbly ask for him to lend me his ears and see if it might interest him,” said Lan Xichen and laid his right hand atop his left hand on the table before him, not saying a word before Jiang Cheng agreed.

“It will be my honour,” replied Jiang Cheng with a nod.

“I understand that Sect Leader’s way of cultivation and of seeing the world is different from mine, but I cannot help but worry for his well-being,” started Lan Xichen carefully, checking if Jiang Cheng got upset over his words. No negative reaction followed, so he continued. “No matter the cause, Sect Leader Jiang seems to worry a lot lately. I am not here to annoy him with questions, of course, only to offer a helping hand. Even if Sect Leader Jiang is not experiencing any major inconveniences concerned with his accumulated emotional and physical exhaustion at the moment, the consequences of the qi deviation…” he gulped, gasped for air, and forcefully continued a bit louder to stop his voice from shaking, “the consequences might be dire. The last thing I would want to see is another person suffering from it because of my noninterference.”

“And Zewu-Jun’s proposal is…?” asked Jiang Cheng, his eyes opened wide and voice more curious than angry or displeased.

“The song of clarity. I could play it for Sect Leader Jiang once in a certain period of time if the offer does not seem too impudent,” finished Lan Xichen, looking up with tiny sparks of hope twinkling in his amber eyes.

“Could Sect Leader Lan play it on the xiao for me?” asked Jiang Cheng, turning away nonchalantly.

“I tend to play it on guqin, but if Sect Master Jiang prefers the xiao, then I will consider his wish,” replied Lan Xichen, his face lighting up.

“Then so be it. When shall we start?”

“Why not start today?” asked Lan Xichen, gently stroking Liebing.

Jiang Cheng laughed sonorously and leaned back against the wooden pillar behind him.

“Is Zewu-Jun afraid I will reconsider and refuse his offer if given the time? I would not take such a risk after I have already agreed out loud.”

“If Sect Leader Jiang says so, then I dare not have even a sliver of a doubt,” said Lan Xichen softly and took the white jade xiao in his hands, getting ready to play. In a matter of seconds, his weariness after the nighthunt seemed to disappear completely.

With a delicate musical instrument caressed by his fingers, snowy white robes of outmost cleanliness lightly tugged by the breaths of wind, and a cloud patterned ribbon coiling around his forehead and sliding down with the waves of his hair, he looked completely out of place. He eclipsed everything around him, and the surrounding looked duller when juxtaposed to his presence. And so, the gaze of an observer could only be directed at him, as nothing else was able to compete with the sight.

Jiang Cheng sat straight and closed his eyes. It was time for him to meditate.

Chapter 4: Intense

A few months have passed and not a single session of meditation was called off by either of the sides. What Lan Xichen defined as a “certain period of time” at first turned out to be two weeks due to him worrying that he might be too persistent, then gradually dwindled to one week, and finally ended up being only five days. As much as Jiang Cheng tried to persuade him not to come so often, worrying that he had to travel from Gusu to Yunmeng and back each time they arranged for a meditation, Lan Xichen was unshaken, seeing how Jiang Cheng did not really mean what he said. He wasn’t a very good liar and only said it out of courtesy, perhaps, not even trying to sound convincing.

Each time Lan Xichen mounted his sword to go to Lotus Pier, his disciples circled him in the yard and wished him good luck on his way there. They strongly believed their sect leader to be the most righteous and unselfish person to ever exist and were simply lost in admiration to him. Lately he tried to spend more time with them and dedicated every free minute he had to their teaching so that they wouldn’t miss their Huanguang-Jun so much. As Zewu-Jun was known to be an extremely kindhearted and gentle person, it did not take him long to make them cling to him every time he had to depart to play the song of clarity to the leader of the Jiang sect.

As much as Lan Xichen enjoyed staying in Lotus Pier, he still always tried to return as soon as he could, remembering that in his dear Cloud Recess there were these younglings that demanded constant attention and care. He would often hurry back without even giving the sect leader the honour of dining with him.

This time was no different.

He hung Liebing back on his waist, noting with delight that Jiang Cheng seemed much calmer after their regular meetings. He would still roll his eyes in irritation when Jin Ling suddenly barged in with his dog at his feet and a stupid question on his tongue and interrupt their session, but it was just a part of who he was. Notwithstanding, he never let himself repeat the nighthunt incident.

Zewu-Jun wanted to bid farewell and leave so as to get to Gusu before the sunset, but Jiang Cheng called to him, seeing how he had almost fled the main hall already.

“I know that Sect Master Lan is incredibly busy and already makes me a great favour by coming to Lotus Pier so often, but there was one more thing I wanted to ask of him,” he said, still sitting in his lotus throne on the dais.

Zewu-Jun turned around with overt curiosity in his eyes.

“I am anxious to hear what it might be,” he uttered.

“Jin Ling prepared some tea for Zewu-Jun and really wanted him to stay for a little while longer. Between the two of us, this child has never previously tried to do something for others out of his own volition, so I thought this opportunity could not be missed. Is there any chance that Zewu-Jun will find another hour to spend in Lotus Pier before departing? I am afraid, I will not be able to join in, but Jin Ling will surely keep the Sect Leader company.”

“If that pleases Sect Leader Jiang, then I will not refuse it this time,” bowed deeply Lan Xichen.

A sect disciple entered, greeted him politely, and proceeded to lead him to the chambers in which Jin Ling was awaiting their arrival.

The youth already squatted at the table behind a beautifully painted screen. His dog sat at the door as if guarding the room from intruders. It barked playfully when Lan Xichen entered.

“Zewu-Jun,” greeted him Jin Ling, bowing down with the sword in his locked hands. “Please, take a seat here, I will arrange everything. Why isn’t uncle Jiang with Zewu-Jun? Is he going to be late?”

“Sect Leader Jiang is unable to take part in the ceremony, Young Master Jin,” replied Lan Xichen, confused by Jin Ling not knowing about that.

“Wha-?”

Jin Ling stood with a teapot lid in one hand and glanced at Lan Xichen.

“Did he…? How unfair!” he muttered indignantly.

Remembering who sat before him, he pulled himself together and continued brewing the tea, annoyed at his uncle’s behaviour.

While waiting, Lan Xichen looked at a small exquisite object lying on his side of the table.

“Young Master Jin, could it be that this is one of Jiang sect’s clarity bells?” he asked, touching it gingerly.

“Yes, it is! Does Zewu-Jun like it?” asked Jin Ling in return, discarding the first brew and preparing the next one.

The bell looked fragile and sophisticated, with lotus petals of extreme detail carved on its surface. It was similar to the bells worn by Jiang sect disciples, but looked much more intricate and very carefully put together. When shook, it produced a clear sound that was pleasing to the ear, and, as known by many, due to the abundance of spiritual force inside, could easily clear the mind of its owner and help them regain their balance. Strangely enough, this one in particular had light-blue tassel attached to it instead of a purple one usually worn in Yunmeng.

“It may very well be the most beautiful one I have ever seen,” replied Lan Xichen, involuntarily starting twirling the tassel around his finger.

“What a relief! Uncle Jiang was worried Zewu-Jun would not see it fit,” said Jin Ling with enthusiasm and offered Lan Xichen a small cup of clear steaming tea.

Lan Xichen looked at him, his eyes testifying that he absolutely did not understand what Jin Ling was talking about.

Jin Ling mirrored his facial expression, his hand having stopped half the way to the bell on the table.

“Did he not even…? I…” he lowered his eyelids and let out a tired sigh. “I am sorry. Sect Leader Lan, this is a gift from uncle Jiang. He really appreciates your help and feels obliged to express his gratitude in this way. This clarity bell was made specifically for you, so not only does it hold more power than the regular one, but it also is a sign that you are a friend of the Jiang sect and to be respected all around these lands.”

Cursing his uncle for the fact that he was the one who had to say all of this, he took the bell and offered it to Zewu-Jun on the palms of his hands.

Lan Xichen silently took it, the long light-blue tassel so soft to the touch dangling as he held it. He thought that he could not accept such a gift, but Jin Ling was looking at him with eyes so full dignity for the quality of the object entrusted onto him, that he simply could not utter the words of refusal. After all, it was not the youngster’s decision to offer it.

He cupped the bell in his hands and bowed. After he hung it on the belt on his waist beside Liebing, he took the cup with tea that was now acceptable to drink, and made a small sip.

“Was there anything that Young Master Jin wanted to ask me while I am staying in Lotus Pier?” he asked, wanting to show how appreciative he was of the gift. He remembered that Jiang Cheng said something about Jin Ling wanting him to stay, and assumed it was for some particular reason.

Jin Ling’s eyes rounded in astonishment as it sounded as if he once again did not know of something necessary to understand the meaning of the question. Having realized the reason, he clenched his fist under the table, similarly to how his uncle would do it, and forced himself to smile.

“It is good that Zewu-Jun asked. There was this one thing about, eh, hm… about guqin that I do not quite… do not quite comprehend…” he began. His attempt was so feeble that was it not for how Lan Xichen always rejoiced over the younger generation seeking his wisdom, he would definitely understand that something was wrong.

“How interesting! What is it?” he asked, carefully sipping the tea.

“Well, um… so, there are these strings, and…”

Fairy yawned with its mouth open wide and stretched its front legs before lying down. It felt like letting down its guard for once.

Taking such a valuable and thoughtful gift, Lan Xichen, of course, was not able to not give anything in return. Being in Cloud Recess, he meandered around the disciple housings and chambers of the residence for the next day, musing over what he could give as a gift as worthy as the one he had received. His disciples followed him like little ducklings follow their mother, thinking that he had a complicated dilemma on his mind and wanting to be there when he would finally ask them for help.

Since the clarity bell was a very symbolic object for the Jiang sect, the only other thing of similar significance he could think of was the Lan forehead ribbon, but it was not even an option worth mentioning. Some sect members would consider even thinking about this to be unacceptable. Discarding it, he tried to remember what the leader on the Jiang sect liked.

The young disciples noticed the troubled face he tended to have every time he was thinking deeply about something, and exchanged worried glances.

It was certainly dogs, he thought to himself. Dogs and fighting. Also eating traditional Yunmeng dishes. For sure, not having to deal with other cultivators’ clans and being able to stay in Lotus Pier, watching over his sect. What he enjoyed occupying himself with while staying was training, spending time with Jin Ling on the nighthunts, some more trainings, and…

Suddenly, Lan Xichen’s face brightened up. He abruptly stood up from the bench, and his disciples stood up with him. They waited for him to finally say something to them, but all he did was leave them hastily without any explanations.

Lan Jingyi sighed disappointedly and followed the others to the library pavilion. There was nothing else for them to do at this time of the day other than study.

A few days later, Zewu-Jun yet again arrived in Lotus Pier, carrying a light oblong wooden box in his hands. The box looked elegant, but it was difficult to guess what was in it.

He came across Jiang Cheng in the training yard, exactly when he was teaching his disciples the sword stances. They repeated the movements in unison while he corrected every motion that seemed wrong to him.

“You, raise your hand higher! Are you holding your sword or a plough?” he yelled at one of them, hitting with his stiffened hand the shoulders and legs of those who stood too awkwardly or did not follow the guide with enough precision.

His disciples did not whine or cry for him to stop, only thoroughly obeyed his commands as best as they could.

Lan Xichen did not want to interrupt their lesson, but Jiang Cheng had already noticed him arrive.

“Sect Leader Lan,” he said and bowed, “I am sorry to keep you waiting, but I need to finish the training before I can join you in the great hall.”

He threw a quick glance at the bell hanging on Lan Xichen’s waist and hastily turned away so that his guest wouldn’t notice. However, the white box in Zewu-Jun’s hands immediately drew his attention back, and he started examining it with interest.

“It goes without saying, Sect Leader Jiang,” replied Zewu-Jun.

Jiang Cheng was not able to hide the curiosity in his eyes, so Lan Xichen spoke again before he got the chance to ask anything.

“This is just a little something I brought for Sect Leader Jiang,” he said and smiled, his eyes adopting the shape of crescents.

Jiang Cheng gulped and nodded. It was so obvious that he wanted to immediately find out what it was, but since he asked nothing, Lan Xichen just proceeded to the great hall, not to disturb the training with his presence. He expected having to wait for at least half an hour, but Jiang Cheng joined him about five minutes later.

“I sincerely hope the training is over not because of me arriving so early today,” remorsefully commented Lan Xichen, sitting at one of the tables in the hall.

“Absolutely not. We were… already finishing anyway,” murmured Jiang Cheng and halted a few steps into the room as if musing about something. He then took a seat on his throne, unable to hide his excitement.

Zewu-Jun stood up and approached the dais. He held up the box in his hands and bowed his head ever so slightly, presenting his gift to Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng hesitated before extremely carefully opening the lid. Inside on a soft white pillow laid a long xiao made of lavender jasper. It looked unusual due to the colour of the stone being uneven and at places pierced by white and yellowish veins.  

Confused, he did not find anything he could say to such a gift, and only took the xiao out of the box with his slightly trembling fingers, for some reason being infinitely scared to drop it on the floor. It looked like it would instantly break to pieces from taking such a fall.

“I was reflecting a lot upon the gift I could give to Sect Leader Jiang, and having remembered all of the sessions we have conducted so far, I realized that the best gift I could give to him was this,” said Lan Xichen proudly.

It was true that he had put much thought into the gift he decided give to the leader of the Jiang sect. After carefully considering all of the possibilities, he arrived at the conclusion that xaio was indeed the most meaningful and symbolic of all of them, as he intended it to become his display of trust, sincerity, and care. Despite the instrument being so similar to his own, it actually was only recently created by skillful masters specifically for this occasion. The material, the carvings, and even the shape was chosen by Lan Xichen personally with him taking into account peculiar personality and likes of its future owner.

Jiang Cheng smiled awkwardly and inspected the instrument in his hands.

“Now that I can learn to play myself, I will not have to bother Sect Leader Lan and ask him to come to the sessions…” he mumbled unconfidently.

“That is certainly a possibility,” replied Lan Xichen, still smiling, “but the song of clarity is infamous for its difficulty, so I wouldn’t expect that to happen in the nearest future. If the Sect Leader is willing, I could try and teach him to play something, be the moment suitable.”

“If I am willing?” asked Jiang Cheng and raised his eyes from the xiao. “I thought, Zewu-Jun gave me this gift so that I could learn how to play and…” he finished uncertainly, not knowing what was it exactly that he wanted to say.

“I only thought Sect Leader Jiang enjoyed these meetings, and wanted to give him something that would remind him of them. It also seems like Sect Leader Jiang finds pleasure in listening to the sound of xiao, so I would be eager to teach him if he decided that he wanted to play on his own someday,” said Lan Xichen, a little upset by Jiang Cheng’s rection.

Jiang Cheng positioned the xiao as if he wanted to try and blow in it, but then decided not to. He noted that it was quite nice to the touch, the stone being smooth and cool. He put it back into the box and took the box from Lan Xichen’s hands, bowing deeply.

“Thank you, Sect Leader Lan, I will treasure it. I don’t think I am ready to learn yet, but, please, know that I view this as a very thoughtful and useful present.”

“Does… Sect Leader Jiang really like it?” asked Zewu-Jun, unconsciously tugging on the bell on his waist, unconvinced by his words.

“Its beauty is unparalleled and it is remarkably strong as a spiritual weapon. Much to my displeasure, it would simply be disrespectful towards such an instrument if I used it before giving it a proper name,” answered Jiang Cheng and smiled, this time more sincerely. There was kindness in his eyes, so it seemed like he did not make up what he was saying anymore.

Lan Xichen sighed with relief. When it came to Jiang Cheng, one could never be sure of what his reaction would be to anything he was presented with, at least if it was not puppies he was gifted.

“Shall we begin the session then?” he asked.

“It is high time,” replied Jiang Cheng. He went back to his throne and sat down, putting the box close to him.

As their meetings passed, they gifted each other a few more other things, though, less significant than the clarity bell and the xiao.

Chapter 5: Charming

Lan Xichen knew that he might not get another opportunity like this in a very long time. It was quite a lucky coincidence that Wei Wuxian just happened to be visiting Lotus Pier again when he himself felt like he could not keep the unanswered questions in him any longer.

“Young Master Wei, may I take a few minutes of your time?” he asked, running into him near the same pond they spoke at a few months back.

“Of course, Zewu-Jun. I am all ears,” answered Wei Wuxian and curiously peeked at Lan Xichen’s worried face.

“I wanted to speak to you about… Sect Leader Jiang. If you have nothing against it.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Zewu-Jun, but doesn’t one of the Lan sect core rules prohibit discussing others behind their backs?” asked Wei Wuxian mockingly.

Lan Xichen barely ever felt like the rules of his sect were unfair or obliging them hindered him in any way, but it was really starting to become a much bigger problem when the outsiders knew of them as well.

“It looks like I have been exposed,” he said and let out a nervous laugh. “But if you know me well, Young Master Wei, you realize that I would not have asked, had it not been something of utmost importance.”

“That is true,” agreed Wei Wuxian. “I will answer your question with all honesty and I promise not to tell anyone of your secret,” he said and jokingly raised three fingers as if taking an oath.

“Very well. Did something happen to Sect Leader…” Lan Xichen stopped mid-sentence and shook his head – no, that was not it. “Did I do anything to Sect Leader Jiang?” he tried again. “Did I say something insulting? Was it that he considered some of my actions unacceptable for some reason?”

Wei Wuxian frowned in an exaggerated manner and put a finger to his lips.

“I cannot think of anything Zewu-Jun could possibly do to offend Jiang Cheng, only the other way around. What makes Zewu-Jun think something like that has ever happened?”

Lan Xichen sighed. There was no other possibility for him to get the answer he so desperately needed other than sharing his observations. It was incredibly hard for him to partake in a conversation of this sort, but he managed to persuade himself that he was doing it for the greater good.

“I noticed how Sect Leader Jiang was looking at me. It might be nothing and I might worry for no reason, but I felt like he was deeply insulted by my mere presence. He just looked so enraged and unhappy. It happened a few times, and each time I felt the same resentment coming from him. Unfortunately, I cannot arrive at any conclusion as to what makes him behave like this without any help from the outside.”

“So, Sect Leader Lan is telling me that Jiang Cheng has been staring at him constantly, looking like he is on the edge of bursting?” concluded briefly Wei Ying.

Lan Xichen did not answer as this paraphrasing of what he had said seemed too crude to agree to.

“Well,” blurted Wie Wuxian, not really needing any answer at all, and stuffed his mouth with a bunch of lotus seeds before continuing, “then he must have fancied you.”

“I beg your pardon?” asked Lan Xichen dumbfoundedly. Wei Wuxian found it incredibly amusing and thought that never before had he seen the leader of the Gusu Lan sect having such an odd expression on his face.

“I said that he had taken a liking to Zewu-Jun,” he explained, taking pity on his interlocutor. “But he is probably so undecisive in his attraction that he just struggles with it all the time, and it is reflected in his appearance.”

“But…” stumbled Lan Xichen, failing to finish his utterance.

“He has always been like that as a child – too proud to go the easy way. Always pretends not to care for something he wants for himself so that others would not notice his weakness. Some people just prefer to suffer, I guess. Although, I must admit, never before have I seen him this agitated about something.”

“But…” ventured Lan Xichen again, but still wasn’t able to find any suitable words.

“But what do I know?” laughed suddenly Wei Wuxian. “I haven’t been beside him for so many years, it’s not like he couldn’t have changed during this time, right?”

Lan Xichen did not know if he was to protest or quietly sigh at such a remark.

“Please, Sect Leader Lan, disregard what I said if it makes you feel better. In any case, there is no person that can give you the right answer apart from Jiang Cheng himself, so if he is not talking… You can always make him,” said Wei Wuxian instructively and grinned.

Lan Xichen stood silently and kept looking at Wei Wuxian who was still nonchalantly stuffing his mouth with peeled lotus seeds. He had heard his every word but still somehow felt as if nothing made sense to him. He was confused, but very quickly his confusion started to evolve into something else, something restless and almost raging. All this time he was worried sick that he somehow offended Jiang Cheng, that he was careless enough to say or do something unforgivable, something that made this person hate him so much that it was difficult for Jiang Cheng to be in the same room with him. He would certainly have called this situation ridiculous, had he not spent so many hours contemplating on his own attitude and behaviour because of all this.

“Just give it a try,” said Wei Ying, tired of Lan Xichen standing there, unable to utter a word to him, and pointed to the entrance to the great hall. “He’s in his quarters now, reading one of the books Sect Leader Lan gave him.”

Lan Xichen thought that he would try. There was no point in beating around the bush anymore. After all, he wasn’t sure if he should believe Wei Wuxian. On the one hand, he would gain absolutely nothing by lying about this, on the other hand though, he could still not be trusted so easily. The only natural solution to this problem was speaking to Jiang Cheng, and Lan Xichen already regretted not having done it earlier. Maybe, it would’ve made his life much, much easier.

Not stopping for any distractions on his way, he rushed inside to find Jiang Cheng and finally clarify the relationships between them. He was in such a hurry that he even forgot to thank Wei Wuxian for his help which was something the latter one never expected would happen.

His heart skipped a beat when he finally came across Jiang Cheng’s figure resting with a book in his hand in his private chambers. He took a few deep breaths, seemingly being able to calm down considerably, and entered without even a knock or a cough.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” he thundered, startling Jiang Cheng, “I came here to talk. I hope you will be able to spare me a minute of your time as I consider the topic I want to discuss to be of great significance.”

Jiang Cheng threw a puzzled glance at him, but still closed his book and carefully put it away. He would’ve agreed to whatever Zewu-Jun wanted to do anyway, but seeing him so agitated really convinced him it was a matter that was not to be taken lightly.

“Of course. Whatever it is that Sect Leader Lan wanted to discuss, I will be glad to provide my assistance and insight,” he replied and motioned for Lan Xichen to sit down with him, but Xichen couldn’t be less bothered by that, so he remained standing.

“It is about the feelings of a certain person present in the room. Lately I’ve been experiencing… difficulties understanding them, so I decided to come and ask directly. Please, tell me, Sect Leader Jiang, what do you think of me? I cannot help but become frustrated with your behaviour and… find myself cornered. Is there, perhaps, something you would like to tell me? Something, that would make it all clear to me? I just find continuing like this… really hard.”

Immediately after saying that Lan Xichen felt easier already. Even though he did not yet get any explanation whatsoever, venting about the feeling of frustration that accompanied him for quite some time now made his head clearer and his heart lighter. Now he only needed to hear what Jiang Cheng had to tell him, and everything would fall back on its places, everything would be easy and definite for him, just the way it should be.

Jiang Cheng’s shoulders suddenly curved forward. With a brooding expression overtaking his face, he fixed his eyes at the book on the table and thought that it was all over for him. Nothing would be the same anymore, no matter how hard he tried.

“I am sorry, Sect Leader Lan…” he began, and Lan Xichen already got his hopes up only for them to be shattered by his next words. “I really have nothing to say. It pains to hear me that you felt this way for some reason, but I have nothing to share with you. Now, if you don’t mind…”

All the lightness disappeared from Lan Xichen’s chest. The energy that was flowing out of him suddenly got tied in a tight knot, and he thought that it really was unbearable. Dealing with such a person, constantly guessing what was on their mind, trying to piece together what they told you and what they displayed on their face… One had to be in possession of a constant supply of patience and understanding to be able to put up with it. He realized that he probably wasn’t the one capable of that.

“Jiang Wanyin! Do you think I will not know what you have on your mind if you do not speak up?” he thundered, looking Jiang Cheng straight in the eyes. There was no other way for him to proceed, at least he saw none at the moment when he decided to raise his voice.

Jiang Cheng’s eyes rounded at first, but then screwed as he smiled almost mischievously. He almost felt like letting out a grin despite the situation he was in seemingly being quite serious.  

Lan Xichen immediately regretted asserting himself and tried to retreat. Under Jiang Cheng’s mocking glance, he did not know where to hide, and the tips of his ears reddened a bit from embarrassment for how he behaved. Hearing his own voice being so loud and forceful when addressing somebody who probably also struggled with their thoughts and feelings for some time, he immediately became upset and realized that he shouldn’t have poured everything that he had on his mind with little to no consideration about the effect it would produce.

“I… I did not mean to say it like that, Sandu Sengshou. Please, forgive me,” he muttered and pinched his lips.

Jiang Cheng produced a few harsh laughs and tilted his head to the side, derisive attitude not disappearing from his posture. It was surprising how fast he could go from upset to self-righteous with almost no effort.

“Oh, please, Sect Leader Lan, do not ruin my impression of you with apologies. Seeing this side of you is not something many can brag about. How can I even be mad?” he asked in a frivolous way. He thought many times about how this conversation would go, and he had no doubts that it would take place someday, but not even once did he imagine such an involved reaction from Lan Xichen’s side. Everything was not happening as he had expected and it made him feel excitement mixed with a pinch of fright in regards to what could follow next.

The blush from Lan Xichen’s ears slowly crawled to his face. For a person like him it was a completely disaster, losing control over himself in such a manner.

“Nevertheless, I am truly sorry for using your courtesy name so carelessly when I did not have the right to do it. For us to be even, the only thing I can do is tell you mine, so that you could also-”

“Lan Huan,” said Jiang Cheng hoarsely, purposefully interrupting Lan Xichen and thoroughly articulating every syllable. “Here you go,” he added, delighted at Lan Xichen’s confused face. “I also said it, now Zewu-Jun does not have to worry about being disrespectful.”

After the man before him called him by his courtesy name, hearing “Zewu-Jun” again felt strange to Lan Xichen. Realizing that, he said, almost whispering, “It sounded good.” Everything started to make sense for him suddenly. It turned out that this whole time Jiang Cheng was not the only one perplexed and unable to express what he was feeling.

A smug smile slowly faded from Jiang Cheng’s face. Light pink covered his cheeks, and he sat there, completely lost.

“What?” he finally managed to mumble, frowning to hide his own daze now.

“You calling my name,” said Lan Xichen quietly, beginning to understand. It was probably still a long road for them to go, but with him now having a vague idea of what he wanted to hear and what he wanted to say in return, it would undoubtedly become an easier journey for both of them.

“Lan… Huan?” ventured Jiang Cheng again, this time not confident at all.

“Yes?”

“I thought, maybe we could… practice playing the xiao together?” asked Jiang Cheng carefully. The instrument gifted to him by Lan Xichen was lying in its box on a special display in his chambers.

If it was how he tried to escape the topic, thought Lan Xichen, then it was quite an entertaining attempt. Not that there was even the slightest chance it would work, though, no. He just found it somehow sweet, and so decided to play along, not to rob his interlocutor of his temporary safe harbour.

“Have you already given a name to it?” he asked with sincere interest in his voice.

“I have not. But I also thought… if I continue to do everything the same way I did, nothing will ever change for me,” said Jiang Cheng, and Lan Xichen immediately realized that there had to be more to his words. He also realized he had been standing this whole time, so he hurried to sit down and stop trying to intimidate Jaing Cheng with his erect posture.

“And you want something to change?” he asked gingerly.

“I think so.”

Lan Xichen almost wanted to go ahead and ask what exactly Jiang Cheng had on his mind, but it took him too long to gain the courage for it, so Jiang Cheng spoke again.

“Will you help me find a suitable name for the xiao?” he asked in such a voice as though it was something he had been wanting to ask for a very long time.

“What makes you think I am the right person to ask?”

Jiang Cheng threw a quick unreadable glance at him before shaking his head and turning away.

“…It is nothing, I will do it myself.”

“I do not refuse!” said Lan Xichen, perhaps, more eagerly than he would want to admit. “I am just… curious.”

“I cannot say it,” answered Jiang Cheng, still carefully examining the wall.

“Why?”                      

Lan Xichen felt his heart pounding like never before. He was afraid to admit that he hoped for some specific outcome of this conversation. The atmosphere became so peculiar and tense that he simply did not know how to calm himself down anymore.

“It might change everything for me,” said Jiang Cheng quietly.

“Didn’t you say you wanted something to change, Jiang Wanyin?” asked Lan Xichen. For some reason, he couldn’t stop himself from being persistent in his inquiries.

Jiang Cheng sighed uneasily and frowned again as if overcoming some internal struggles.

“Why is it that you have to suddenly be so pushy today?” he asked, trying to avoid giving any direct answer again.

“I thought you liked it when I was like this,” said Lan Xichen, feeling the wave of heat hitting his cheeks. It was a new feeling to him, wanting to say something like that despite his mind doing its best to prevent him from doing that.

“Mn,” only let out Jiang Cheng.

“Will you answer me?”

“No,” said Jiang Cheng, shaking his head. He stood up and turned away. He felt like his face was burning. He could neither stop this conversation nor suffer through it, so made a decision to go for the door in a very foolish and desperate attempt to escape the room and flee to the corridor which was flooded with people among whom he would feel safe again.

“Why is it that you suddenly turn out to be such a coward?” asked Lan Xichen with a tone of minor annoyance in his voice and grabbed Jiang Cheng by his wrist, reaching out over the table.

Jaing Cheng clenched his fists and stopped.

“I am many things, but I am not a coward,” he said resolutely.

Lan Xichen took away his hand, fearing he had already overdone it and wounded Jiang Cheng’s pride. During those few seconds he held his wrist, he felt a quickened pulse, as quick as his own, beating under tense skin.

“Why don’t you face me when we are conversing?” he asked, trying to make Jaing Cheng stay and bring it all to a least some sort of conclusion.

“I thought the talk was already over,” uttered Jiang Cheng, but still did what Zewu-Jun wanted him to.

“Do you remember what I told you earlier?” asked Lan Xichen.

“That it pleases you when I call you by your name?” asked Jiang Cheng in return. He had to force himself to say that, of course, but he simply could not remain the only one cornered because he had to listen to something that was so embarrassing for him.

“N-no, not that,” stumbled Lan Xichen and sighed, covering his forehead and eyes with his hand. “I said that even if you didn’t say what was on your mind aloud, I would still know.”

Jiang Cheng had a vague idea of where that knowledge could come from, but decided not to voice his suppositions. It was no use bringing it up now, he would still not escape the problematic topic and only enrage himself.

“If you already know, then what else do you expect me to say? Maybe, you just also find making fun of me amusing?”

“You might have noticed that I am not laughing. And I would not call your behaviour amusing at all,” answered Lan Xichen with a truly straight face.

“Then what would you call it?”

“Charming.”

As abruptly as it came, all the arrogance disappeared from Jiang Cheng’s demeanor and he silently gasped, not knowing how to react or where to hide from Lan Xichen’s gaze. He would give everything to be in his yard, training his disciples, or in the forest, stalking a prey with his nephew. He would take anything, but not this.

“I… I do not know what we are talking about anymore,” he honestly admitted. He was perplexed at how they arrived here, trying to remember how such a conversation could have started.

Lan Xichen unfastened the clarity bell from his waist and displayed it on the palm of his hand on the table for Jiang Cheng to see.

“We are talking about your feelings,” he said more calmly. He realized he had to take the situation into his own hands or else they would never be able to resolve what they both got into. “If you really have nothing to say to me right now, then you can take this bell back.”

“And then what?” asked Jiang Cheng, expecting the worst.

“Nothing, I will just give it back to you. That is all.”

“But it was my gift to you,” muttered Jiang Cheng and Lan Zewu-Jun noticed how hurt he sounded.

“How should I know? You did not give it to me,” he shrugged his shoulders.

“But I… ugh.”

Jiang Cheng gritted his teeth. He could not say that he left the bell there for him and intentionally did not come, hoping that Jin Ling would do all the talking for him. There was really no way out for him anymore.

“It was me who carved it. A certain person once taught me how to do it, so I… I carved it for you. That is why I want you to keep it,” he finally admitted, realizing how funny and unnatural being so honest with someone felt.  

“Thank you. For the bell, and for telling me,” said Lan Xichen and bowed slightly. He attached the bell back where it belonged with a look of contentment as if he did not want anything else.

“That is all?” asked Jiang Cheng. He unwillingly expected that he would have to say… more than that.

“All that I needed to hear,” nodded Lan Xichen.

He reached to the back of his head, where his forehead ribbon entwined with his hair, and untied it, letting it slide.

Jiang Cheng shook his head in disbelief and slowly backed away from the table. Before, it was all just talking, but now he knew how serious it was. He was absolutely not ready to bear the burden of such a responsibility.

“No, I cannot… I cannot…” he mumbled.

“What?” asked Lan Xichen as if completely oblivious to what was happening.

“I cannot… touch it.”

Lan Xichen smiled amiably and laid the ribbon on the table between them. Seeing him exclusively with his forehead ribbon on, Jiang Cheng felt almost uncomfortable looking at him without it, as if it was something too personal, like watching a person bathing. There was no drastic change in his appearance, of course, but something about him still seemed different.

“I made you feel vulnerable, and now I understand that. This is my way of showing you that I realize that and am willing to endure it with you. But it doesn’t mean I am going to let you touch the ribbon,” explained Zewu-Jun.

Jiang Cheng felt his body relax. He suddenly felt very light, but also very empty, as if something abandoned his chest without him agreeing to it. He quietly exhaled.

“I see,” he only uttered in return.

“…As that you will have to earn first,” added Lan Xichen. He tried hard to stay serious, but his lips involuntarily curved into a smile.

Jiang Cheng opened his mouth, but could not say anything. A peculiar mixture of emotion displayed on his face as he was trying hard to figure out if it was him understanding the occurrences correctly or just his wishful thinking tricking him into believing that.

He rose up from the floor yet again, his chest heaving. His eyes were staring intently at Lan Xichen and his top lip twitched a few times. Lan Xichen felt that it was almost the same look that haunted him previously, threatening, aggressive, unpredictable. But it wasn’t scary at all. Charming was still what he thought of it.

Jiang Cheng bent down with determination in his every movement, grabbed Lan Xichen by the lapels of his robes and leaned in for a kiss. He could not tolerate that smile on his face and that confidence in his words. He still felt like he was teased and ridiculed, and so he grabbed the lapels tighter, almost pulling Lan Xichen up from his seat. Their teeth clanked a couple of times because of Jiang Cheng’s vigour, but he did not even care. His only concern was the emotions that he was not able to get rid of for so long, so he clung to Zewu-Jun as if it was the last time he saw him.

When the latter one managed to steady his position in Jiang Cheng’s grip, he slowly stood up, trying to use the fact that he was a bit taller than the leader of the Jiang sect as an advantage, even though the table between them remained quite an obstacle.

He finally made up his mind and touched the side of Jiang Cheng’s pale face with his fingers. He caressed it lightly and moved his hand further, passing the ear and the braid that was neatly stuck into the bun on the back of his head. He touched the ink-black hair airily a few times, as if afraid to ruin the perfect hair-do. His heart was loudly pounding in his ears. He put his other hand on Jiang Cheng’s waist and slowly pulled him closer.  

Feeling the grip on his side, Jiang Cheng sprung away from Lan Xichen as if electrocuted. He adjusted his clothes nervously and laid his hand on the side of the neck, avoiding direct eye contact.

“You…”

“My hand slipped. I am sorry,” muttered Zewu-Jun, a bit disappointed that everything ended as suddenly as it had begun. Sorry was the last thing that he was now.

Jiang Cheng pouted either at what had happened or at how shamelessly Lan Xichen tried to lie to him.

“Isn’t Sect Leader Lan late to Cloud Recess?” he asked with indignation in his voice. “I am sure the Gusu Lan disciples are already waiting ardently for his return.

Lan Xichen closed the distance between them in a few swift steps. There was no table to separate them anymore, and he found himself not even caring if somebody walked in on them right now as he slid both of his hands on Jiang Cheng’s waist, drawing him closer.

“Right now, I have some more pressing matters to attend to. I am sure they will understand,” he whispered and leaned for another kiss.

[snapefiction]

#21. Christmas Present - Snapemas Challenge

A/N: Day 21 of Snapemas! I hope you like it! This one is a little bit longer. I hate proof reading so much it stops me from uploading  Christmas is so close now! I can't wait! ahhhhhhhh I will upload more - I promise (I just dunno when)

Idea from @deepperplexity ´s Writing Challenge ! Check her Writings and the other Snapemas posts out! :)

❤️ Please remember that English isn’t my native language and that my Writings will include Mistakes and maybe weird formed sentences. ❤️

Pairing: Severus Snape x Professor!Teacher

Warnings: Mention Cursings, Slight NSFW mention of cookies - might make you hungry - atleast I got hungry - I love cookies

Word count: 5941

Y/N - Your Name, Y/L/N - Your last Name, Y/H/C - Your Hair Colour

#21.Christmas Present

,,O-Oh Professor Snape, before you leave I uh wanted to ask you something." In response he just rose his eyebrow and stared down on you. You laid down the Silverware on your Plate as the other Professors continued to eat their lunch.

,,I saw that you have quiet a big collection of books and I wondered if you're in possession of one I have been looking for to read for very long." Sighing he wetted his lips. He wasn’t even hiding his boredom. What a great Start, you thought to yourself.

,,Which one are you looking for?" Smiling you set your drink aside. ,,It's a rare one from Scotland. ,The correct way of Potion brewing and wild Herbology'." Now his face looked like your answer might actually have impressed him. ,,I am able to call one of these copies mine."

,,Oh really?" Your excitement seemed to confuse him slightly so you fixed your posture, flattened down your dress and collected your words together. ,,Would you mind if i would borrow it?" You followed him like a lost Puppy as he kept walking down the great hall.

,,You can pick it up tomorrow after lunch at my chambers."

,,Thank you, Professor!“ Smiling you first thought about hugging him but as your arms almost flew around him you backed up and held out your hand. ,,Sorry." Thinking about wether he should take my hand or not he finally decided to get up only to turn around on his heels. As always he vanished within seconds into the dark corridors. The Butterflies in your stomach went crazy now so you just tried to hide your smile as got up yourself to walk the other way leading towards your classroom.

In the next Morning you hurried your whole way up to the mountain where you just recently found a dead Acromantula. It has been two days ago when you have had spotted her. Actually you intended to let her rest in peace but you really wished you could give Severus something in return of his grace. So you quickly pulled out something out of your bag to catch the rare venom dripping from it's teeth. Actually it could become quiet dangerous up in here but since you went there almost everyday you felt more than just safe.

After the jar was full you went on your way back to the castle. It wasn't a too long way. It only took an hour and a half and you also got to take some ingredients you needed for your classes with you too. After you got everything secured in your class stocks  and changed your dress you went to lunch. Severus already sat at the unpredictability long table. Smiling you sat down next to him trying to hide your excitement. A good Book was always making you nervous. Not to mention a Book you have been looking for since so long and loaning it from a person you truly kind of liked?

,,Hello Professor Snape, I hope you're doing alright?" You chattered but got interrupted as the food appeared on the table. He wouldn’t have continued the Conversation anyways. After something that felt like an eternity but turned out to just have been 20 minutes you walked next to Severus towards his chambers. You told him about the new Paper you got from the Ministry about magic beasts - even if he didn't asked for it. But you knew if you didn't want to walk in silence you would have to talk yourself.

,,Theres even an article about Muggle Medicine in it. They test it on animals. Did you knew that? That’s so cruel.“ You noticed how he rolled his eyes on your words but you just simply knew he didn't dislike you as much as he disliked Gilderoy Lockhart. As you reached his door he quickly opened it with his wand. ,,Enter." Allowing you to step into his chambers. Nervously you closed the door after you. As he went to his shelf to look for the book you quickly opened your bag. He was quicker than you were so he just stood in front of you and held out the book.

,,One second - I almost got it!" And just by that you were able to grab the small jar. After you held it into the light and put it in his hand you took the book in return. Already admiring the Front Cover.

,,I know it's not much, but I just wanted to give you something as appreciation for the loaning." You Mumbled while scanning the little details stencilled in the edges.

Curious he inspected the label. ,,Where did you get it? So freshly?" Professor Snape quickly asked now, surely interested.

,,I uh - from the left Mountains. I found a dead Acromantula two days ago. I thought the Venom might come in handy for potions." You now looked back up at him. Your smile was wider than usual, you were just so happy about the possibility to finally read this book.

,,It - uh - yeah. Do you know the value of it?" His eyebrows arched.

,,Of course I do. But there's nothing as value as finding something you've been looking for since a long time." You smiled mumbling as you now opened the first pages of the book. Small golden details shined into your eyes. ,,Wow." You mumbled. He didn't even try to hide his stares at you as you looked through the pages and you could feel how he tried to be nice for once.

,,Would you like to sit down and have some tea? You can read it here while I'm brewing and prepare my-“

,,I'd love to." You admitted. Your eyes connected instantly as you closed the book to press it on your chest while sitting down on his couch. The first few moments as you sipped your teas remained silent until you just couldn't take it anymore.

,,Where did you get it? The book I mean." His beautiful dark eyes finally dared to look back at mine and he explained.

,,Hagrid is friends with someone who knew the Author. So as I once helped him out in his garden he just gave it to me." You felt like his voice was more quiet than usual and you had to listen even more carefully. His voice made something blossom inside of you. Butterflies flying, Flowers blooming, Sunshine finally hitting my skin? It felt all the same- incredible sweet and addictive.

,,That's very Kind." The Afternoon continued. Your Conversations were really short but you enjoyed every word. He chooses his words wisely which was the total opposite to you. You spoke as soon as a small thought came to your mind trying to fill the silence. It was like you balanced the Smalltalk out. Spending time with him meant learning to worship his words and worship a peaceful silence. As the Clock strikes 7pm he looked up to you. You grabbed your Coat. ,,Are you going to eat Dinner tonight?“

Shaking his head he pointed to a tower of Notebooks, meaning he was still to intertwined in his Job Tasks.

,,I See.“ Chuckling you pushed a strain of your Hair behind your ear. ,,Thank you for letting me read the Book and the Tea. I really enjoy it.“ For a second he just looked at you before his lips parted.

,,You can stop by and read anything you want, whenever you want.“ Listening close to his voice you noticed how his Perplexity from earlier hasn’t faded yet. But before he’d cancel his Offer you accepted.

,,I’d love to. I´ll see you tomorrow then, Professor.“ Waving over to him you turned around to walk to the great hall. Your Cheeks still beheld the pink touch you got from when you were around him. It was calming you to spent Time with him. You felt more relaxed than sleeping out, hearing rain or hearing your favourite song. He made it all better, he made you feel more safe than anyone else by just offering you tea. Dear Merlin, do you even listen to yourself? How can you be so in love with him after just 5 Months working at Hogwarts?

As your seventh Month at Hogwarts began so did the Winter Time. Christmas was only three weeks ago by now. It was till too long for you liking. Yesterday, a rainy Sunday you started to bake cookies and slightly decorate your room more festive. The Holiday Spirit already took you over in July and now it was finally your favourite time of the year. Smiling you walked over to Severus Classroom to meet him for your daily Meetings. You came here daily to read, grade Papers from your students or just drink some tea with him. It became a loved habitat of yours and he seemed to enjoy it himself as he grew to become a friend of yours. Knocking he almost instantly let you in.

,,I´m already making Tea. I´ll be right there.“ You heard him shout from the Kitchen.

,,Okay.“ You responded as you quickly laid down all your Notebooks you still had to grade and placed the box filled with cookies on his Table. You made some just for him knowing he has a sweet Tooth. Who else would drink their Tea with at least two or three tablespoons of sugar if it wasn’t their sweet tooth speaking out of themselves. Slightly chuckling you sat down on one of the Students Desks to start grading. You could simply work better on one of these as on one of the Teachers Desks. They just seemed too tall and too uncomfortable for your liking.

,,What is that?" Curious you turned around. ,,What's what, Professor?" He rolled his eyes as he heard the name you used. ,,On my desk."

,,I made cookies for you." As he continued to stare at you, you began to explain it to him. ,,I made some chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon ones and some plain ones. I know you like pumpkin so I bought some special cookie cutters at Hogsmead last week." Smiling you went up to the box, opened it up for him and showed him the small pumpkin shaped cookies.

,,See? Do you want to try some?" With caution he carefully took one and bit the half of it off. Waiting for his reaction as he chewed then putting the box aside and going back to your seat. ,,Do you like them?" He still kept chewing.

,,Actually- yes." A small smile made it's way across his lips and he ate the other half too.

,,I really hoped so." Sitting back down you waited until your Cup of Tea which now flew towards you sat in front of you. Severus always made the best tea.

Grading the last Homework you walked over to Severus huge Library Wall only to take the Book you used to read in the Daily. With butterflies in your chest you continued to read the few last pages of the book. You only had one third of the book left and by all means you wouldn't want to lose your tradition. So it happened that you started to reread the pages twice so you would have to spend more time with him or just in his chambers. Actually it’d only take you around 3 days to finish this big book but you didn’t wanted your shared time to end. The time has passed so quickly that you could feel how your body resisted to leave as it was time for dinner.

,,Are you coming with me for Dinner today?“ Severus just smiled. He was already done with his Papers and laid aside the Newspaper he just began to read.

,,Sure.“ He said only to follow you. He told you about something that had happened in his class today and about what he just read in the Newspaper.

,,No way!“ You Laughed grabbing his Arm in disbelief. ,,Imagine this happening to you- Merlin!“ Now he had to chuckle as well. He could make you laugh louder than anyone else. His dry Humor was just the best. After Dinner he walked you to your Chambers and you thanked him as always.

,,Good night, Severus. I see you at Breakfast.“ He put on a slight smile.

,,I´ll see you at Breakfast.“ His dark silhouette faded in the corridors and so did you in your chambers.

The weeks until Christmas was just a few days ago were just stressful. You and Severus almost never talked and just worked which was kind of tiring  you but you knew as closer as Christmas was around as closer was the Relief of all this Stress. After Lunch you planned to head straightly back to Hagrid helping him taking care of new magical Creatures he cared for. The small Bowtruckles were new here in this Region and you were too eagerly happy to get a chance to study them and present them in your classes next year. After downing your Tea you wanted to say goodbye to Severus before leaving but he stopped you at the end of the great hall.

,,Um err- would you mind meeting me later in my chambers? I've got something for you and - err- maybe I can cook dinner for us.“ Severus nervously stuttered while hiding his face with parts of his hair. He always made pauses while talking but you could tell he was acting a little bit shy and nervous. Smiling you nodded in agreement. That’s be a great opportunity to give him his Christmas Present you just finished.

,,I'll be there by 8." He quickly left your side in his well known manner. With his flying cape, showing off his presence. As he was gone and you couldn't hear his footsteps anymore you began to notice how red you turned. Your whole face was warm and your heart flattered. That always happened when Severus is near you. You had to admit, you like him. More than just a regular coworker. More than a friend. Maybe that's why you hurried the whole day to be there perfectly on time in front of his Chambers. Your heartbeat crawled up into your head and your hand was slightly shaking. Nervously you fixed your hair one last time and knocked ever so slightly.

,,Come in.." Severus quickly opened the door. ,,Please, come in." He tried his best to smile warm-hearted but you could see him being nervous again.

,,Good evening." He kept his Head low. You'd love to see his face.

,,Good evening , how are you?“ The both of you talked about your day and silently took a seat on the couch after finishing the smalltalk. The warmth of the Cabin reached you to the armchair. Severus sat across of you and began to rumble with his words.

,,I - Yesterday I went to Hogsmeade. I had to get some books and ingredients. And erm I - I came across the jewellery store and uh something catched my eye. I bought it for you." You felt your cheeks glow again. Severus stood up to grab a small package from above the cabin. For you?

,,But Severus- you didn't have to." Flustered you accepted the package as he handed it to you.

,,But it's almost Christmas and I really wanted to get you something." He almost whispered. With slightly shaking hands you opened it up. A small silver Hair needle fell into your hands. It was very pretty handcrafted and at the top was a green stone. It looked like it belong to a Slytherin and you couldn't help but smile. It was the prettiest thing you have gotten since a long time and it really made your heart flatter. The beautiful silver and the pretty green made it look like it belonged to someone royal.

,,It's so pretty." You looked up to his curious eyes. ,,Thank you so much , Sev. I don't know what to say." Small tears formed in the corner of your eyes and you couldn't help but cover your mouth while looking at the beautiful accessory. The Stone seemed to shine because of the dim light from the cabin. He really got something for you.

,,You like it?" Severus asked and his nervousness faded.

,,I love it." With a bright smile you stood up and fell into his arm. Crossing your arms around his neck and thanking him a million times. As you slightly let go of him you looked at him joking. ,,But you know those aren't my house colours right?" Again he smiled.

,,I know. I - I wanted to give you something that uh reminds you of me." Your smile faded and now the first tears started to roll down your face. It was such a thoughtful gift with a great meaning. You couldn't remember getting such a thoughtful and nice gift ever before.

,,Is everything okay,dear?" He hasty insured while checking your face.

,,Yes." You took a deep breath. ,,Yes. I will just dearly miss you over the holidays." He softly cupped the side of your arms and petted them before pulling you close again. This Time you could directly listen to his heartbeat. It was the first time he hugged you. You always hugged him but he never tried to hug or touch you.

,,I'll miss you too, I guess." He said almost cooing. ,,But maybe we can meet sometime? I mean only if your schedule allows and you're willing to-"

,,I'd love that, Sev." Now he pushed you away a few inches to look into your face. Your Tears already have stopped now by the feeling of being flustered taking over.

,,Sev?" He asked now.

You chuckled. ,,I think that's a cute nickname." You stated and he couldn't help himself but smile as well. He liked it too. ,,Are you ready for your Present?“ As you sat down again , took out the present of your small bag you began to nervously smooth out the edges of your wrapping paper. ,,I feel like I should have get you something else after receiving your gift." Embarrassed you turned red and handed it to him. But Severus didn’t mind, excited he opened it up. After holding it in his hands he began to smile widely. A black scarf which- for once- matched his height and wasn’t way too short like the regular ones.

,,Did you made it yourself?" He asked after noticing his small initials stitched into the fabric as he brushed over them with his fingertips.

You nodded. ,,Yes.“ Smiling he moved closer to you and pulled you into a hug. ,,That's the best thing I've ever gotten." He admitted and enjoyed being close to you in this intense Moment.

,,I'm glad you think so." Feeling relief you noticed how short your breath has gotten by now.  What’d you give to be even closer to him by now. Seconds passed and you didn’t let go of him, you simply didn’t dared to. The Moment he’d let go of you, you’d miss his touch instantly. But when his tall hands slowly stroked over your back you didn’t  felt like he’d want to let go as well.

A loud knock made you both tear apart. Scared you looked back to Severus. He looked as confused as you did.

,,Enter.“ Grabbing your Wand you got up, walking together with Severus to the door to see who interrupted you.

Hagrid almost tripped into the Chambers. ,,Ms. YLN, here you are. I need ya help! It’s about the Babies.“ He looked so panicked and your heart almost ripped apart but you just gave Severus a quick smile.

,,I´m sorry, I erm it’s urgent. .. I uh can be back in an hour. Is that alright?“ He quickly nodded and by that Hagrid grabbed your Hand to rush after him. Following this Giant Man you sighed. There was no worse timing right now. He pulled you right out of your Bubble of being close to Severus.

,,What happened to them?“ You asked him as he continued to hurry towards his hut.

,,Somethin´ in da forbidden Forrest bid them. Dunno know what to do!“ Pressing your Lips together you thought about Spells which could help you. If they were so small it could quickly be too late for any help if they didn’t got the right help. Quickly running to the small Baby Bowtruckle laying on Hagrids Table you inspected their wounds.

,,Shh, it’s okay. Let me have a look.“ The tiny leg was bent in weird directions and a small bite was visible. Taking out your wand you quickly healed the wound and took care of the small lad.

,,Do you have an idea what could’ve bitten them?“ Hagrid just shook his head. Sighing you let the Bowtruckles walk over your hand.

,,I can take them with me. It’s not the same like the forrest but they could grow up being safe.“ Hagrid helped you bringing them to your classroom before you quickly hurried back to Severus. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too mad.

Knocking you flattened the wrinkles on your dress. Severus opened the Door rather slow. He nervously scratched his head. His black hair was now tucked behind one of his ears.

,,I wasn’t expecting you to be back so quickly. Or to return at all.“ He admitted and you could already smell the Dinner he was cooking.

,,It was about the Bowtruckles I told you about. I brought them to my Classroom. Now I’m all yours, I promise.“ He let you slide inside and as you watched his movements you noticed that he was as flustered as you were.

,,If you want to you can keep reading until I’m done cooking?“ His Insecurities were still visible but as you smiled at him his tension faded.

,,Sure.“ Approving his idea you made your way to his living room as he continued cooking. As you watched him buzzing around in his kitchen from afar you opened your hair to adjust the hair needle he gifted you earlier. It fitted perfectly. A lot of hair needles were to short for your long yhc Hair but this one could hold everything in place easily and made you feel like a princess. You walked over to the mirror on the wall to look at your hair. You really liked it more this way. He got you the perfect present. Happy about the present you sadly realised how you forgot to bring your present for him at your chamber. You knitted him a scarf because you noticed how he never had one besides him. The green and black matching the house he was the head of.

,,You truly are beautiful." You slightly got scared as you didn't noticed how he stepped behind you. Your cheeks directly became red again. ,,Thank you.“ He took the Book from the top of the shelf where he lastly placed it only to put it in your Hands.

,,I´ll try to hurry.“ He assured before heading back to the kitchen.

If your students would hear his voice right now they would highly doubt it was him. His usual demanding voice now was low and casual and by that he went into the kitchen. Sitting down on his Armchair you could sometimes hear him mutter some small words like ,Fucking garlic' or something else which made you smile even more.

Who would have thought that you would sit on his Armchair on a peaceful night , reading a book as he was cooking for the both of you? It was almost like a date. Well actually that wasn't true. It felt like the future you wished so deeply for as a kid. The only difference was that you imagined it to be your husband but you didn't mind it being Severus. You knew he would never feel the same as you do. It was okay. It truly was. Sometimes you wished you could show him some affection- but he wouldn't like it. Being friends - which was obviously a huge step to make - was totally enough. You could hide your feelings if you had to. Having a good friend was all you ever asked for so you shouldn't bother yourself or even him with feelings who could ruin it all in a minute.

,,In 10 Minutes Dinner will be ready." He loudly announced from the kitchen. Surprised you looked up. He still hurried around the kitchen. Slowly you turned back a few pages. As you were lost inside your thoughts you couldn't remember what you just have had read. Putting a small paper in the book between the pages and closing it you had to sigh. Soon it will be Christmas and it would be your third one in Hogwarts. Maybe Severus would be here? Lost in your thought you walked over the kitchen where you spotted Severus opening some Wine. His arms pulled the cork without any sign of effort.

He scanned my face with his eyes and then made his way over to the oven where he pulled out some casserole. It smelled like heaven and soon the whole kitchen had it in the air. His movements made your Thoughts wander. His Arms were so strong- you never seemed to notice before.

,,Whats on your mind?“ Carefully he added a few last ingredients to the food as he pulled you out of your thoughts.

,,I erm was wondering how you celebrate Christmas?“ You lied blushing as he caught you thinking about him.

,,Actually I don't celebrate it. I don't celebrate anything." Shocked you now looked at him.

,,Not even your Birthday?" He shook his head which made his hair whip.

,,Not even my Birthday."

,,Severus! Who hurt you?" He had to laugh about your unbelievable expression. While pulling out a chair for you.

,,There's no sense in celebrating alone." Severus simply stated, pushing your chair slightly towards the table.

,,Thanks.“ Mumbling you thought about this nonsense. ,,Of course it is! I do it too." You added.

,,Then how do you celebrate it?" He now asked curiously and looked at you sitting down across of you.

,,I always celebrated it with my Family but since I work at Hogwarts I just.. spend it alone. Anyways firstly I get all the presents for everyone and make sure they arrive at the right place. Then I get a Christmas tree and decorate it. Afterwards I bake some cookies and in the evening I sit down to read a book and eat all those cookies. As simple as that." As you finished you expected him to say something but he kept on listening to you. ,,It sounds a little bit sad but it isn't that bad. I uh I try to enjoy my own company." Severus felt a little bit of pity. He knew you are really attached to other people and knowing you spend days which are important to you alone made his heart sink. He simply knew too well how being alone feels like.

,,As I already said, I uh would love to see you.“ He tried to uplift the Mood and placed some Food on your Plates. Nodding you thanked him. ,,I can’t wait.“ You admitted again and held up your Glas of wine.

,,Thank you for cooking for us and thank you for your present.“ He copied your movements and you slightly pushed your Glasses together. After you both took small sips from your wine you began to dine. His eyes always made sure you weren't spitting it out or something but actually you haven't had any reason for it.

,,It's really delicious. I never knew you were such a great cook?“ He chewed up and answered chuckling.

„I haven’t cooked for you before. Or anyone in general, so how would you know?“ You joined his chuckles and took a sip of wine again. As you tried to stretch your legs a little bit you accidentally touched his leg. Instantly his glance got up to yours and you pulled back your legs. It was like a small electric shock. A good one indeed.

,,S-Sorry." Blushing you locked my eyes with your plate. Your heart was pumping so fast you couldn't taste anything  of the food in your mouth anymore. Your nerves got foggy and your hands numb. Carefully you pushed around some broccoli on your plate. You liked touching his leg but he did he too? Did you reveal yourself? Carefully looking up he did the same thing you did a few seconds ago. Moving around some veggies on his plate. Was he bored of you? You didn’t knew. The air filled with so much tense it got harder to breathe. Biting on your lip you got an idea. It would cost some courage but it wasn't impossible to do. If it would fail you could simply excuse yourself by it being an accident but right now you had to know how he'd react. Laying down the silverware silently you carefully stretched out your leg towards his.

Now your legs were touching and you didn't dare to look up. The silence thickened and as it almost got too much he laid down the silverware himself and put one of his hands on your knee. Too excited your breaths got irregular and you could feel his heat storming through your body. With his thumb he started to draw small circles on your leg and as he continued for a while you looked up to him. Your face was probably fully blushed but he didn't seem to care. His dark eyes which have never looked this dark locked with yours. His expression didn't reveal anything. Was he enjoying it? Was he doing it because he thought it was what you wanted? Well, it was what you wanted but he just isn't the type of guy who'd do anything just because he think you’d expect it. Slowly his hand started to wander. A few millimetres upwards and you almost couldn't help yourself. Your thoughts wandered to things you could never say out loud. Imagining his fingers on places of your body you usually only touch myself.

As you realised how shaky your breath left my throat you grabbed your Glas of wine and flushed it all down. A small smirk appeared on his face.

,,Some more?" Quickly you nodded. You´d say yes to anything he would ask you to right now. He had the full control over you, you thought. How could a simple man make you so weak within seconds?

,,Want to continue this on the couch?“ Quick your legs pushed yourself up from the chair and you walked over to the living room. Not being able to answer him with your words. The whole Situation just became more interesting than you firstly anticipated beforehand. The mood has completely changed. There was something else in the air which you haven't felt before that intensive. Severus again opened another bottle of wine and now sat down directly next to you. He never did that. Usually there was atleast one pillow size distance between you or he sat in his Armchair. But now his legs touched yours and his arm touched yours as he leaned forward to the desk to reach for our glasses.

,,Thanks." You whispered and you felt like as if this wasn't anything you could dream of. The smell of his Aftershave filled your nose and the fabric of his trousers against your bare knees got you shaking. Silently you drank the first glass in silence. But at our second Glas he laid his hand on your leg. Not on your knee. On your Leg. Right before the fabric of your skirt started to hide your skin. Did he knew what he did to you? Could he feel your heartbeat? Could he feel your butterflies?

Closing your eyes I felt the alcohol hitting your nerves. It wouldn't take much to make you drunk but right now you felt like you would need every drip of any type of alcohol you could possibly get. Carefully you moved your head to your side to look at his face. He softly swung his wine in his hand and drank it too. His pink small lips cupped the Glas corner  and his hair flew a few inches back as he put his head into his neck and drank up. As he stood his Glas back down you wanted to be more offensive. He seemed to be interested, you thought. Slowly and with my glance on the cabin you widened your neckline to reveal more of my chest. His eyes hushed over to see what you were doing. Slowly, torturing slowly you revealed a small part of your throat. Continuing you showed him more and more. His hand on your leg clutched his fingers a little bit stronger into your flesh. You continued until you almost revealed your bra. As you looked over to him now he smiled slightly.

,,You're beautiful." He whispered. ,,I can only repeat myself.“ Slowly you pushed your weight a little bit up to sit down on his lap. His Hands instantly guided you. Making sure you were comfortable. Now you could hear his irregular breath as well.

,,I really like you, Severus." You admitted as you hugged him closely again. His Hands again rubbed your back and as you felt him stiffen under you you almost inaudible moaned. Hoping instantly this wasn’t the day he’d break your heart by telling you to back off.

,,The last few months uh I felt like I was acting like a freak and it took me some time until I understood that I maybe just got confused by something. Or someone." You now stopped in your tracks to look at him again.

,,Someone?" You asked.

,,You." His cheeks were red. ,,I really like you." He didn't knew where his courage came from but he knew it was the right time to finally admit it.

,,Really?“ You couldn't move out of fear of scaring him and his feelings away. Your heart beat so hard you feared he could see it banging from your chest. Did he really just say that? Or did the wine you had at dinner fogged your senses. Did he really just admit that to you?

,,You Don't have to feel the same but I wanted to let you know that i like you more than just friends.“ As he intended to back up a little bit you quickly moved towards him and pressed your lips against his. In your chest was a firework exploding and butterflies from the night escaping to your stomach. Softly he kissed you back and put his hands on your hips where they used to rest until the kiss was paused so the both of you could catch some air.

,,I like you too. More than just friends“ You whispered smiling.

His lips brushed against your earlobe. The words he spoke made your emotions going even more crazy. You could scream out of tension, happiness and even more out of lust. Being this close to him made you go crazy. You wanted to have Sex with him all night and at the same time you felt like this was an even more intimate Moment than you ever had before.

,,Would you like to stay for the night?" His raspy dark voice sounded like it just got even darker than before.

,,I’d love to.“ And again his Lips touched yours. Slowly and more passionate this time. The Night continued in more and more Intimacy. The Both of you wouldn’t spent Christmas alone this year nor the following ones.

Taglist: @deepperplexity , @monstreviolet , @wow-life-love4 , @lizlil

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[skellebonez]

What about prompt #3 with the Macaque/Tang pairing? That one art is getting me REALLY curious about what their potential dynamic would be like

I had an idea a long while ago about what could happen to Macaque after episode 9, and I have my Deadpool-seque immortality HC for him as well, so I’m combining those ideas and setting this between episodes 9-10 since we don’t know how long MK was training with Wukong after their fight. This is also very different from how I would write them if they met outside of this very specific circumstance.

Warning: vague descriptions of his injuries, descriptions of his healing abilities, mentions of emotional manipulation in canon (none to Tang himself so you don't have to worry about that here).

I’ve been waiting to get to know you from the moment I first saw you.

There were worse positions that Six-Eared Macaque could have landed himself in, especially after his fight with Sun Wukong’s successor, so all things considered... the immortal monkey was incredibly lucky at the moment.

He was in a very soft bed, firm enough to not give too much when he moved but laid on top of extra plush bedding now that he wasn’t bleeding as much as he had been it was much more comfortable. Half of his body was still coated in bandages, though they were more makeshift casts wrapped around items to keep his limbs still than anything else at this point.

Only his right arm and head had managed to make it out mostly unscathed, both fully healed by now. This meant he wasn’t completely unable to entertain himself, a thing called an “e-reader” held in his hand. And as the door to the house he was in opened he thought about his luck.

There was no way this man didn’t know who he was when he found Macaque. Even if the Kid managed to be taken in, apparently his tale hadn’t been completely lost. This house, what little he saw of it when dragged inside and through the halls, was filled with books and art of the Journey. Not everywhere, but just enough to be noticeable. And the recognition on the man’s face when he found him, laying in the rain soaked ground and covered in blood and mud and looking like death itself was instantaneous.

And yet, despite that... and despite the pictures of the Monkey Kid himself he saw on the walls...

“Macaque, you’re awake,” the man spoke, voice still soft and tentative but with a layer of genuine relief and excitement under it. His name was Tang. “I hope you’re feeling as well as you could be.”

Macaque took note of the fact that he didn’t say “better” or just “well” as he lowered the e-reader, bring pulled from the genre known as science-fiction. “As well as he could be”. He seemed mindful of both his condition and his abilities at all times.

“I suppose you could say that,” He said evenly, watching as Tang prepared some kind of medicine for him. He never bothered asking what it was, just some kind of pills and ointment that numbed him enough to make the pain manageable. “I take it nothing happened today.”

It felt odd. Talking like this. He hadn’t just talked to someone in centuries, not really. But what was there to lie about here? Tang knew that he had manipulated the Kid, he said as much to him when he woke. Tang knew of his history, knew who he was and was apparently angry that he hadn’t elaborated on the fact he could have been the same Macaque from the story and not another one (given the story greatly exaggerated his death... or, well, exaggerated that he had stayed dead).

Tang knew he was evil. Knew that he hurt someone he cared about. Knew that he would have been fine eventually if he left him outside, if in a great deal more pain. So why take him in? Why wash his wounds? Why dress them? Why feed him and give him things to entertain him through his bedridden days? Why talk to him, why ask him about the accuracy of the stories?

He was at first annoyed by all his questions but after a day he had given in and just talked and... and he never realized how much he missed just talking to someone. But he still didn’t know why.

He never built up anything to ask. Tang never explained. It lingered between them like a soft breeze, always there and threatening to grow strong. But not causing any disturbance, not yet.

“No, but there are rumors about something going on with the Demon Bull King...” Tang trailed off, genuine worry peppering his tone. It wasn’t as if Macaque was particularly interested or as if he could actually do anything with the state of his healing as it was... but something about that tone made something sink in his chest and he didn’t like that.

Tang was... different, from most humans he had met. Not entirely unique, he wasn’t that different from others, but still. It had been a long time since he met someone who would talk back to him and tell him to “shut up and let me help you”. Reprimand him, him, for trying to leave the bed before his bones reset. Who took his sass with an unbelieving raised eyebrow and a “yes, I totally buy that” and even had the gall to toss food like pieces of candy into his open mouth when Macaque went on an angry rant just because he could. He knew all about him already and he didn��t take any of his bullshit.

He hated to admit it... but he didn’t hate this human. Tang. He didn’t hate Tang.

Neither said anything as Tang handed him the pills, pain killers he called them, and water once Macaque put them in his mouth. Neither said anything as Tang tested the spots on his arms and legs where there were breaks, his ribs long since beating them both to healing, testing to see exactly where anything needed to be reset or rewrapped due to Macaque’s movements in his sleep.

It had been a long week and a half... Macaque almost didn’t want them to heal.

Healing meant he would have to...

“At the rate you’re going,” Tang started with a mirthful laugh, looking equal parts happy and sad. “You’ll be out of here by the end of the week.

Macaque said nothing, setting aside his water and scowling for a moment. He mulled the thought he just had in over in his mind before deciding that... if Tang had let him stay this long... he may as well say it. It wasn’t like it would change anything except whether or not he was happy when he left.

“What if I don’t want to?”

Tang’s head shot up from where he was inspecting his arm, face one of shock and confusion and... if Macaque looked deep enough into his eyes, he could swear he saw something akin to hope that he was being serious.

So he took a chance.

He lifted his good arm and placed his hand on the back of Tang’s head, pulling him closer slowly as he waited for him to fight back or say something. But Tang didn’t. He let the demon pull him closer and closer until his nose touched Macaque’s and Macaque stopped... and Tang moved forward and pressed their lips together.

Macaque knew then and there that he had made a mistake and both of them would hurt when he left the second a fire lit in his chest and his eyes closed and the kiss deepened.

The next day he finally asked Tang why he had given him a chance.

"I’ve been waiting to get to know you from the moment I first saw you."

(Tang was right. Macaque was ready to leave by the end of the week. So he did, in the midst of the chaos of the Demon Bull King taking everything over. Tang hadn’t come back one day and he watched the news from the house well outside the city. He stayed around outside, just long enough to watch Tang come home, watch him find an empty made bed, watched him grab the e-reader he had given Macaque and slam it into the wall and yell about how stupid he had had been to fall for the demon monkey. How he should have known he would leave.

Macaque left before he allowed himself to actually feel regret and comfort the man who had taken him in and helped him and made him feel something more than hatred and the rush of victory for the first time in centuries.

They both mourned a relationship they never had.

And maybe one day Tang came home to sweets and other gifts after the Lunar New Year Festival.

And maybe one day a dark furred monkey mistaken for Sun Wukong helped a certain Monkie Kid from the shadows because he remembered the sad look his father figure held when he watched him talk about him being hurt.

Maybe one day Macaque returned, angry and confused due to plans unable to be finished as he time after time remembered the human who helped him heal in more ways than physically over 2 weeks and that healing, while not enough to change him then, had lead to him second guessing his decisions for the months to come.

Maybe Macaque would ask for a second chance, gruff and hating every moment that he had to be nice to anyone else who wasn't Tang. But begrudgingly trying. For Tang and no one else.

Maybe.

Or maybe not.

Who am I to tell.)